WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for The Diplomat season 2.

The ending of The Diplomat season 2 opens up all kinds of possibilities for The Diplomat season 3. Keri Russell leads the cast of The Diplomat season 2 along with Rufus Sewell as her husband Hal, David Gyasi as Foreign Secretary Austin Dennison, Ali Ahn as CIA operative Eidra Park, and Rory Kinnear as Prime Minister Nicol Trowbridge. The Diplomat season 2 picks up after the events of The Diplomat season 1’s ending, revealing that Hal and Ato Essandoh’s Stuart survived the car explosion that killed Member of Parliament Merritt Grove. As The Diplomat season 2 plays out, both Kate and Hal edge closer to the truth about Roman Lenkov and the government officials behind the false flag operation.

The most shocking twist in The Diplomat season 2 finale is that U.S. Vice President Grace Penn was behind the attack on the HMS Courageous. Hal initially discovers this intel from Margaret Roylin, who is also in on the elaborate false flag operation. Roylin was the one who ordered Merritt Grove to hire Russian mercenary Roman Lenkov to attack the HMS Courageous. The attack was intended to inflict minor damage and was not supposed to result in British casualties. Due to supply issues, the Lenkov Group used more powerful explosives in the form of a submarine missile.

All 6 episodes of
The Diplomat
season 2 are now available exclusively on Netflix.

Grace Penn Is Now President Of The United States In The Diplomat

President Rayburn’s sudden death makes V.P. Penn the new U.S. President

Kate discovers the Vice President is behind the attack on the HMS Courageous by the end of The Diplomat season 2. She and Hal are unable to keep quiet knowing that Penn went around the President to authorize the attack on the HMS Courageous. Hal says he will speak to Secretary of State Miguel Ganon, who he has a rocky relationship with and holds the Cabinet position that Hal secretly wants. Instead, Hal speaks directly to President Rayburn over a secure line at the Embassy of London, telling him the truth about the Vice President, Margaret Roylin, and Roman Lenkov.

This upsets President Rayburn, who was known to have heart issues, so much that it kills him. Because of President Rayburn’s sudden death, Vice President Penn will become President Penn at the start of The Diplomat season 3. This is why dozens of Secret Service members are shown running out to her at the end of The Diplomat’s season 2 finale. Penn’s final words to Kate as Vice President are to keep the truth concealed for both of their sake. Penn takes a very stern tone with Kate, revealing a formidable side that has yet to be seen.

Katherine Wyler Can Still Become Vice President

She finally decides that she wants the job by the end of season 2

Now that Penn will be the President of the United States at the start of The Diplomat season 3, she could set her sights on ending Kate’s career and silencing her as she and Roylin did Merritt Grove. It would surely be dangerous for Kate to continue exposing the truth about the HMS Courageous, especially since the death of President Rayburn will be a much bigger story than the leaked geopolitical intel. Kate would ultimately be betraying her own country to reveal the truth about the HMS Courageous, which would also ruin the strong alliance between the US and the UK.

Kate will probably work closely with President Penn in The Diplomat season 3 as Vice President. She will have to learn how to live with the harsh realities of her new role, which was a rude awakening for her in season 2, and understand the tough decision that Penn had to make, one Kate confirmed she would have made herself. Kate’s relationship with Dennison will likely be strained, especially if the truth ever comes to light to him or Prime Minister Trowbridge, which would be disastrous. The Diplomat creator Debora Cahn told Netflix’s Tudum, “Season 3 flips the chessboard. In season 3, Kate lives the particular nightmare that is getting what you want.” This implies that Kate ends up getting V.P. in season 3.

Nicol Trowbridge & The UK Government Investigation

He will stay on as Prime Minister to start season 3

After Trowbridge finds out that Roylin was behind the attack on the HMS Courageous (he is completely unaware that she was covering for Grace Penn), he becomes so angry he nearly strangles her to death. Trowbridge contemplates his wife Lydia’s suggestion that he should resign as Prime Minister and reveal the truth behind the HMS Courageous attack and the assassination of Lenkov. Dennison also recommends the same thing. Despite this, Trowbridge ignores their recommendations and stays on as Prime Minister, which means he will continue to hold the role at the start of season 3. His main objective will be to find out who else was involved in Roylin’s scheme within the UK government but he’s dragging his feet on this, afraid of the answers he will receive.

Eidra & Stuart’s Relationship In The Diplomat

Stuart tells Eidra that they should be together in season 2

Eidra and Stuart are not together throughout The Diplomat season 2 and Eidra works hard to keep things purely professional between them, even with Stuart’s impaired heath following the car explosion. While Kate has mostly softened up to Hal after the explosion despite their constant disagreements, their marriage is still intact and Kate’s budding affair with Dennison is off the table by the end of season 2. As for Stuart and Eidra, Stuart’s persistence finally starts to break Eidra’s impenetrable shield when he tells her that he thinks they should be together. The door is certainly open for Stuart and Eidra to become more official in The Diplomat season 3.

What’s Going On With The Russians?

The Russians want more details on Lenkov’s death

Throughout The Diplomat, the Russians have been mostly out of the picture other than the mercenary leader Roman Lenkov. The MI6 agent Tom mentions the Russians in his final scene in season 2, which possibly sets the stage for a larger Russian presence in The Diplomat season 3. With Dennison in attendance, Trowbridge was planning to inform Tom about the investigation into the UK government and would have to explain that it was not the Russians behind the attack on the HMS Courageous but one of their own, Margaret Roylin. Trowbridge can’t bring himself to tell Tom the truth by the end of The Diplomat season 2.

Tom informs Trowbridge that the Russian Ministry of Defense is requesting the SAS report on Lenkov’s “accidental” death, which the UK has denied. Because Trowbridge pointed the finger at the Russian mercenary leader on television, the Kremlin may have a response of its own to the bad press and lack of transparency surrounding Lenkov’s death. Now that Trowbridge knows the truth, he will be forced to choose whether he can bury the entire thing, which Penn suggested he did, or escalate the matter to clear any potential friction with Russia and avoid international conflict in The Diplomat season 3.