Ghosted Ending Explained – How do Sadie and Cole recover the Aztec?

By Marc Miller - April 21, 2023 (Last updated: March 20, 2024)
Ghosted ending explained - how do Sadie and Cole recover the Aztec?
By Marc Miller - April 21, 2023 (Last updated: March 20, 2024)

This article discusses the ending of the Apple TV+  film Ghosted and will contain spoilers.

Ghosted follows Sadie, a secret agent from the CIA, and Cole, a farmer from upstate New York. Sadie meets Cole on a weekend retreat. After a lovely night together, she “ghosts” Cole, and he’s heartbroken. Fortunately, he left his inhaler stamped with an AirTag in her purse. Cole stalks her to London, where he’s captured by a bad guy obsessed with deadly bugs.

Ghosted ending explained

Who is the Taxman?

Sadie is the Taxman, her codename as a secret agent for the CIA. However, when Cole tracks Sadie to her location, he’s taken hostage by a man named Borislov. In a case of mistaken identity and sexism, he thinks Cole is the Taxman. During his interrogation, Cole is about to be tortured with killer insects Borislov has gathered from across the globe. That’s when Sadie appears and saves Cole by killing the bad guys with her handgun. It turns out that saving Cole was just a secondary objective because the first was locating a weapon called the Aztec.

What is the Aztec?

The “Aztec” is a biological weapon being tracked by Sadie, who killed a rival agent, Elena, in an attempt to locate it. Elena was the only one with the passcode to the Aztec, which remains locked away in an electronically encrypted briefcase. We only know that the passcode is a living organism’s entire genetic sequence. The man in control of the briefcase is an illegal weapons dealer named Leveque, who’s trying to sell the weapon to a shady character named Mr. Utami.

Who are the huge surprise cameos in Ghosted?

Ghosted has four surprise cameos by Anthony Mackie, John Cho, Sebastian Stan, and Ryan Reynolds. In one sequence, after escaping Leveque’s bad guys when rescuing Cole, Mackie’s Grandson of Sam takes Cole and Sadie hostage. That’s when Cho’s The Lion shoots Mackie’s self-proclaimed finest bounty hunter in the world.

Now holding Cole and Sadie at gunpoint, The Lion directs the three of them into the front seat of his car. Surprisingly, Stan’s God appears behind them and snaps the second bounty hunter’s neck. When God has them drive to his vehicle, the Godson of Sam appears, still alive, then runs God over shortly after exiting. That’s when Sadie holds the Godson of Sam at gunpoint to demand the location of the drop point.

READ: Movies like Ghosted you must watch

Side note, Ryan Reynolds’ character shows up later at the film’s end as a former agent acquaintance and lover of Sadie’s. He tries to get her back in the middle of a gunfight because he is a more active listener since losing his manhood in a horrible gun battle.

What is the passcode to the Aztec?

After stealing and losing the Aztec back to Leveque, Cole shares that he has figured out the passcode to the Aztec. Cole sees a plant on her desk with a picture of Elena’s dead body at the CIA office. The plant is a crop called the amaranth and was used in Aztec rituals for human sacrifice. Elena knew that the scientist who created the weapon was obsessed with the subject, so the entire genetic sequence of the amaranth must be the passcode.

The CIA asks Cole to go on a mission to meet Leveque and pretend to give him the passcode. However, Sadie is ordered to stay behind. When Cole meets them atop a tower inside a rotating restaurant, Leveque’s men kill the three-person government team watching over Cole. When Leveque and Mr. Utami sit down to intimidate Cole, he stammers under pressure.

That’s when Sadie shows up and demands half of Leveque’s share for the passcode. Mr. Utami transfers the money into Sadie’s untraceable account, which she opened specifically to put a price on Leveque’s head. It’s then revealed that Sadie invited around a dozen bounty hunters pretending to be servers and patrons at the restaurant. Sadie opens the case and grabs the Aztec. That’s when the team of bad guys and trackers begin to fight over Leveque.

How do Sadie and Cole recover the Aztec at the end of Ghosted?

Sadie and Cole recover the Aztec by killing Leveque. During the fight, a malfunction occurs, spinning the restaurant at high speeds. After most of the bad guys are killed, Cole, Sadie, and Leveque are pinned against the windows, which are cracking under strain. Leveque now has the Aztec in his possession. Sadie shoots a chandelier that she knows will strike Leveque and grabs the Aztec out of his hand before falling through the now-shattered window to his death.

The film ends with Sadie living with Cole near his family farm.

What did you think of the ending of Ghosted? Comment below.

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