WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Season 3, Episode 6 of Killing Eve, "End of Game."
Season 3 of Killing Eve has focused heavily on Villanelle (Jodie Comer) wanting a promotion as she believes she's paid her dues and spilled enough blood for the Twelve. She wants to become a Keeper, that is, a handler like Konstantin (Kim Bodnia) as she's sick and tired of receiving orders. She wants to give them, although it looked in doubt after she killed an apprentice in a rush of blood to the head.
In "End of Game," Villanelle surprisingly gets her wish, but it's not exactly what she hoped for and as a result, it leads to her greatest mistake. Unfortunately, it could have dire repercussions very soon and they might entangle other key players in her life.
Villanelle meets with the Twelve's executive member, Hélène (Camille Cottin), who informs her, much to her delight, she's been appointed a Keeper. Villanelle now has all the perks: more pay and benefits, and they pop champagne to celebrate. The joy quickly fizzles out, though, when Villanelle's presented with a target to kill, a Romanian politician. She realizes she's still just a mere assassin and the title means nothing.
She's incensed the Twelve haven't taken her seriously and Hélène condescendingly tells her to just carry out the order and accept the increased salary. Villanelle spends the rest of the episode unwillingly going to Romania where she murders the politician. But it's not a clean kill and a lot of evidence is left behind in what's her sloppiest job to date.
She pretends to be a makeup artist and hairstylist and rigs the electric hair styling hood so that it'll electrocute the politician. But just before that, she loses her cool as she feels like a lackey, and tries to choke him. This leads to a scuffle and he grabs a styling scissors and stabs her before his head gets fried. It's a mess as Villanelle leaves behind the weapon with her fingerprints, not to mention her own blood as well as shoe prints. It's everything she was taught not to do, and the thing is she doesn't even care. She just checked the boxes off, not caring for how the hit looked.
This would certainly put MI6 and Eve's (Sandra Oh) team on her trail, which could then expose her current handler, Dasha (Harriet Walter). The domino effect is most dangerous and when Villanelle gets back to her hotel, she calls Dasha to patch her up as she's mentally broken. Villanelle admits she wants out and while Dasha has sympathy for her, she killed former agents in the KGB which means she could end up putting Villanelle out her misery. Her charge could be construed as a traitor or liability so, in the eyes of the Twelve, this will be a mercy killing and one that safeguards their integrity.
Dasha has to protect herself and her bosses and while she lets Villanelle know there's no leaving this job, as Villanelle wants to run away with Konstantin, it's apparent Dasha will have to clean the bigger picture up. Villanelle is shattered after killing her mom in Russia and her frail state could even lead to her being turned by MI6 due to her connection to Eve. In other words, her going rogue as a disgruntled employee or being careless on the job is something the Twelve cannot afford. And sadly, Dasha's in prime position to kill Villanelle as she won't see it coming, which won't make it any less hurtful as she does consider the assassin a daughter.
Starring Sandra Oh, Jodie Comer, Fiona Shaw, Kim Bodnia, Harriet Walter, Danny Sapani, Gemma Whelan and Steve Pemberton, the third season of Killing Eve airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on AMC and BBC America.