Episode 9 of “Last King of the Cross” ended with an explosion inside Ezra Shipman’s house. John Ibrahim was there when the car blew up. We then see Sam Ibrahim and Anton escape in their car before anyone spots them. But Ezra knows, as well as John, that it is Sam who pulled off the cheap stunt. Sam is out of his mind. And whatever follows will be his fault. “Last King of the Cross” Episode 10 is the season finale and reveals whether it is Ezra Shipman or John Ibrahim who emerges victorious in the power struggle at Kings Cross.
Spoilers Ahead
Change Of Plans
John is awakened from sleep in the middle of the night by a call. Fire has engulfed one of his clubs at Kings Cross. He arrives there, followed by Sam and his biker gang. Sam starts cursing the thugs who did it and declares to his biker friends that they are going to hunt them down. John calmly reminds Sam that it is because he blew up Ezra’s car that the club is now in flames. This is how things are going to be unless Sam stops. John urges him to think before doing anything worse, as their very own home might go up in flames the next time Sam does something like that. But all these words fall on deaf ears, as all that Sam hears is his younger brother trying to be a mother. He scoffs at John’s words and leaves.
Elizabeth Doyle and Luke O’Neil are at Mooney’s house. Mooney has changed his statement, stating that what he said at the hearing was a result of being pressured to make a statement. This isn’t true because the real reason for his changing the statement is the threat he received (“Last King of the Cross” Episode 9). Liz tries to make him understand that if he wants to get out of this whole drama, he will have to cooperate with the cops. Crellan has been released as a result of his flip, but only God knows how he will go about returning to Mooney the “favor” of sending him to prison in the first place. On top of that, Assistant Commissioner Bill Allen will not think twice before giving Mooney up.
That night, Ezra and Big Tony meet Crellan, who has been released after three months, which is quite surprising considering he went in for murder. He doesn’t have the beloved job that he did for the last 22 years of his life as a result of keeping his mouth shut for Ezra’s sake. And Ezra wasn’t even the one to get him out. Be that as it may, he has to pick a side to work for now, and it seems that he has already made up his mind.
Change Of Times
Liz meets John in front of his burned-out club and reminds, if not requests, him to do what he has to do, i.e., cooperate and prevent Kings Cross from descending into a state of war, with Ezra’s Tiens on one side and his brother Sam, who aims to own the streets after Joe Romano, and his Black Flag Bikers on the other. Then she reveals that it was she who sent John the photographs of the garden party at Ezra’s place (“Last King of the Cross” Episode 9). That’s because both she and John want the same thing, albeit for different reasons. Liz wants Ezra so that she can bring an end to the drug trade, while John wants Ezra [this might mean that John wants to get rid of him or have him at his side] so that he can continue his business without any risks. But John tells her that all he is looking out for, for the time being, is his brother’s safety.
Ezra and Tony are making a round of Kings Cross in a car when Ezra spots Sam Ibrahim staring at him from inside a restaurant through the glass wall. As they cross the restaurant, Ezra tells Tony to remind Sam that in the last 30 years, many people have tried to take over Kings Cross, but no one has, and no one will except Ezra himself.
John meets Crellan in the middle of the night. It was he who got Crellan out. Crellan assures John that he will repay the favor whenever John asks for it. But John has to be careful, as his brother seems to have poked the bear. He is making a lot of money, and the last thing he wants is to lose all of it in a drug war, something that he was never even remotely involved in. John has to think of a way out.
Change Of Fate
Big Tony meets the managers of clubs at Kings Cross (including PK, Ashtray, and Steph) and tells them that they will be reporting to Ezra henceforth. The Ibrahims don’t hold any power at Kings Cross anymore, and Ezra can choose to do what he feels because he owns the strip. After the meeting, Steph informs John about this. John meets Tony at the Tunnel and makes it clear that he isn’t going to stop doing what he does just because Ezra wants him to, rather than trying to understand that John is basically trying to avoid a potential war scenario. Tony reminds him that if he goes against Ezra, it won’t end well for him. But John has had enough and tells Tony to tell Ezra that John is cutting him off from Kings Cross. As taken aback as Tony is by what John has just done, he passes the message to Ezra, who tells him that John is thus a dead man. Ezra then calls someone and tells the person to kill the Ibrahim brothers.
The next day, at the Cross, Anton, who is fed up with how Sam has been treating him of late, calls the Tiens. The time and location are set for the death of Sam Ibrahim. So it is the Tiens whom Ezra called and told to kill the Ibrahims. John, who is with Tongan Sam at the Cross, gets a call from Anastasia. She is coming over with a surprise. Sam tells him that he needs to open up to her about her brother, whom John killed. He loves her, and it is important to come out honest.
Change Of Power
Anton walks into Stripperama and tells Sam that John insists that he come out and talk to him. Sam is irritated and goes out to speak to John. As John tells him that he didn’t call for him, Anastasia, too, arrives at the spot. Sam notices Anton walk away and realizes that something is wrong. At the next moment, Romeo and a guy drive by, shooting bullets at them. John is shot but okay. Tongan Sam avoids getting hit. Sam has blood on his jacket, but it’s not his. Anastasia has been shot. John and Sam take her to the hospital, where she succumbs to her wounds. Both the brothers are broken. John tells Sam that it was he who killed Anastasia and not anyone else. Had he not taken a step against Ezra, none of this would have happened. Anastasia would be alive. Later, at his mansion, John calls up Madame Tien and tells her that he’s done. She has won.
The same night, John arrives at Li’s restaurant, where he is having dinner with Madame Tien and Romeo. John barges inside, pulls out his gun, and shoots Romeo in the head, killing him instantly. He then assures Li that he is bringing the war to Cabramatta just like Li brought it to Kings Cross. As Li’s men point their guns at John, Tongan Sam enters with a gun and casually takes John away. Li breaks his ties with Madame Tien. Now, she is all on her own. John then dials Crellan for the favor and asks him if he has friends in the press.
The next day, Big Tony hands Ezra the day’s newspaper, with the headline saying that the ex-senator Paul Calandro has been accused of corruption. Paul is subsequently found hanging by his wife. The suicide note recovered carries the names of many high-ranking police officers involved in organized crime, including Assistant Commissioner Bill Allen. Allen is arrested. Unconfirmed reports suggest that the note also carries the name, Ezra Shipman. John has thus begun making his way slowly toward Ezra.
‘Last King Of The Cross’ Episode 10 Ending Explained: What Happens Between John And Ezra?
That night, Crellan arrives at Ezra’s place to check on him and finds him in an indifferent mood, as always. Somewhere else, John meets Big Tony. The reason they are meeting is so that Tony stays alive. Liz is in her office when she hears on the news that there were multiple explosions at the Golden Dragon restaurant, the one owned by Li, after midnight. Numerous bodies have been recovered, including that of Li himself. Liz searches through the photographs she has recently received and sees clicks of John and his bodyguard walking out of the same restaurant. Another photograph shows Li slapping Madame Tien. Liz must have had someone stalk John at all times. It was this guy who took the clicks from Ezra’s garden party earlier. As she is going through the photographs, she receives a call from Luke, who informs her that Ezra Shipman is dead. Liz sets out on her way to the Cross immediately.
The gun recovered from the scene has Ezra’s prints all over it. But we know that it was Crellan who shot him and made it look like a suicide. This was the real favor that John asked from him in return for getting him out of prison. But the question is, who is responsible for the explosions at Li’s restaurant? Is it John? Or is it Madame Tien who did it out of anger at how Li treated her? Meanwhile, Anton is shot dead by Sam in his own room.
Madame Tien meets John at the very spot where he used to meet Ezra. Tien pulls a gun on him, telling him how, despite everything his brother did to him, he never turned his back. It was she who burned down Li’s restaurant, an act to tie up the last loose end that John had left after cleaning house [Bill Allen, Paul Calandro, and Ezra Shipman]. But before she can pull the trigger and claim Kings Cross, she is shot dead by Sam Ibrahim. Liz arrives with a gun and finds the Ibrahim brothers looking at each other and Tien lying dead. Sam has heard what Tien told John about him and apologizes to him for all the pain he has caused him. Sam is thus arrested. However, we see Sam returning to Kings Cross from prison, his sentence having been lowered after Liz’s statement that he shot Tien in self-defense and seeing his brother John Ibrahim. “Last King of the Cross” Episode 10 ends with the Ibrahim brothers taking a round of the Cross, just like in old times, until they hug and go their separate ways.
“Last King of the Cross” ends on a somber note. John Ibrahim retains his Cross, but at the cost of the love of his life, Anastasia. Fortunately, he gets his brother back but knows that he has to take care of the Cross on his own. At the end of the episode, he tells his brother Sam that he is “going.” But where? Is he going home? Or is he leaving Kings Cross? Leaving would essentially make him the last King of the Cross. But can there be a Kings Cross without John Ibrahim? We leave the answer to you.
