Everything went wrong with Assane in the third part of Lupin, but it was all planned. Assane Diop, a mastermind gentleman burglar, appeared on the stage at a fundraiser for children, as we saw in the concluding moments of Lupin, Part 2. Ever since he exposed Hubert Pellegrini’s confession, revealing his criminal identity to the public, Assane became a well-known and beloved thief, much like Robin Hood in the eyes of the common people. In the third part of Lupin, we see how Assane Diop cunningly executes a theft, but it’s uncertain whether he succeeded in his mission.
Spoilers Ahead
How Did Assane Get Caught?
Lupin Part 3, Episode 1, opened in Paris, where a group of men in formal attire showed a black pearl to an individual named Michael. This precious black pearl had been stolen during the French-Tahitian War in 1847. Michael, who was supposed to deliver the pearl safely to a museum, got into a car. Shortly after, he received an anonymous call, which he answered. It was none other than Assane Diop who called him, telling him to get out of the car as his driver was from a criminal organization. Michael did what he was told and got into a metro, but Assane, who was on that metro, smoothly managed to steal the pearl from his briefcase and escape. However, he made one mistake. Instead of just running away with the pearl, he waved at Michael, letting him know that he had stolen it.
Consequently, some security officers chased Assane and eventually managed to get a hold of him. Assane might have served a prison sentence for the crime, but by 2021, we saw him back on the streets of Marseille. Assane and his only friend, his pet dog, lived together, but one day, when Assane saw TV news telecasting his former wife, Claire, and son, Raoul, being continuously disturbed by the media for his actions, Assane’s blood boiled. He decided to come back home to protect his family. But even though Assane returned and met with Claire, she didn’t forgive him. Instead, she demanded Assane turn himself in; otherwise, the lives of his family would continue to be jeopardized. Assane met his best friend, Benjamin, and told him how his one tiny mistake in Paris got him caught. But this time, he didn’t want the same mistake to be repeated. He wanted to hatch a grand heist that would shake the entire nation. Benjamin agreed to collaborate with him on his mission.
Who Was Bruno?
In Lupin Episode 1, we get a glimpse of Assane’s childhood, when he was in school after Babakar was sent to prison. One day, his former landlord called him and asked him to retrieve some of his mail from their old apartment. He mentioned that these letters were from Senegal, which piqued Assane’s interest. He met the new residents of the apartment and received the mail, among which Assane found his mother’s mail from Senegal. His mother was in Senegal, and for some reason, she couldn’t continue living with her family, which always saddened Assane. Meanwhile, when Assane was reading those letters, another friend of his met him. It was Bruno, who lived with his sister. Bruno called Assane to his apartment, and together, they had a fun time.
Back in the present timeline, we saw Assane, without any disguise, in his normal attire, entering a museum with a letter in his hand. He was asked to take off his helmet, which he did. But as the receptionist saw his face, she was taken aback and on the verge of calling security. However, Assane calmed down the situation, assuring her that he just looked like the famous thief, whose resemblance to him had almost ruined his life. He reassured the woman that the color of his eyes was brown, and Assane Diop’s were not. The receptionist felt relieved and handed the letter to Mr. Imbert, the owner of the museum. Imbert almost had a heart attack as soon as he opened the letter and read it. It was Assane Diop forewarning Mr. Imbert that on a particular date in December, he would be orchestrating a heist in his museum to steal the black pearl. The letter was also written in a very Arsene Lupin fashion, showcasing Assane’s gentle demeanor by forewarning the museum owner so that Imbert could place heightened security, making it even more challenging for Assane to carry out the heist.
What Was Assane Diop’s Master Plan?
Shortly thereafter, Lt. Sofia and Guedira were informed about the letter. A journalist from the newspaper, “The Objector”, Fleur, who was eager to cover Assane Diop’s story, got an anonymous tip about the forewarning letter, which was subsequently published in “The Objector.” Mr. Imbert arranged for heightened security, provided by the SWAT team, in his museum. Among them, we saw the SWAT captain take the looming threat very seriously and promise Imbert that protecting the black pearl meant saving the honor of the nation. Eventually, the night came when Assane was supposed to execute the heist. But Sofia found a raging mob outside the museum. They were all praising Assane, calling him a hero rather than a thief.
Guedira was among them, with an utter confidence that no amount of security could stop Assane from performing his heist. And that’s what exactly happened. The black pearl was gone in the blink of an eye under the nose of the SWAT officers. But as soon as the alarm started to ring, Imbert laid his eyes on the CCTV footage and found Assane wearing a SWAT officer costume running downstairs. He told the SWAT team captain to chase him, and the captain successfully managed to capture Assane. The entire mob calmed down, as they might not have expected a mastermind thief like Assane to be caught so easily. But, well, it was all a ruse.
The SWAT team captain who captured Assane and took him into their police car was not a real cop at all. He was Bruno, the childhood friend of Assane. A few days before the heist, Assane employed Bruno and Benjamin in his plan. Assane asked Bruno to disguise himself as a SWAT officer to remain inside the museum, while from a distant tower, Assane watched over him. From that tower, Assane managed to see the passcodes of the museum through his telescope. And at the end, when D-Day arrived, Assane, dressed as a SWAT officer, sneaked into the museum and guarded the pearl. Afterwards, he managed to grab the pearl and swiftly left the place. Eventually, he intentionally let Bruno and Benjamin capture him to finally get out of the museum successfully.
The next step of the plan was to take a turn and drop Assane in the alley so that Assane could escape from there through the rooftops. But even though everything was done as planned, after climbing the rooftop, Assane was once again spotted by some SWAT snipers. To evade capture by the snipers, Assane decided to jump from one building to another, but during the process, he fell to the ground, unconscious. Shortly, the crowd gathered to rescue him and found it was Assane Diop. Now, it’s a matter of concern whether he just fell unconscious or is dead. Probably, it was part of the entire plan to play dead because Assane was a huge fan of Arsene Lupin, who played dead several times to evade capture by the police. We’ll get to know more about it in the upcoming episodes.
