Trigger Ending Explained: Who is Behind the Illegal Weapons? Is Moon Baek a Part of It?

Trigger Ending Explained: When a shocking case of mass shooting leaves South Korea shocked, especially when gun-related violence is all but unheard of, Detective Lee Do and arms broker Moon Baek run into each other to get to the bottom of the influx of illegal firearms in the country.

The series has 10 episodes, each with a runtime of around 50 minutes.

Trigger Ending Explained

The episode opens with the viewers seeing Yoo Jeong-tae struggling to keep his violent feelings contained. Dreaming of shooting several people to relieve the feelings in his brain, he makes an effort to make his life better. Elsewhere, Lee Do is called in to look into a suicide case where the police find a ton of bullets. In a country where firearms are illegal, this turns into a huge deal. Meanwhile, having had enough of everyone, Jeong-tae shoots down his neighbours in his sharing accommodation, leading to widespread investigation.

How does Do find the gun supplier?

In the police lockup, Jeong-tae tells Do that the guns in his possession were couriered to him and that there are more people who possess guns. Although Do isn’t convinced, we see other people getting guns delivered to them similarly. Do realises that Won-seong got the same package that Jeong-tae did after going through his deliveries and, while following that lead, bumps into Moon Baek. Following him, they catch U-tae while following the lead to catch Won-seong.

However, the stakes get higher when Won-seong opens fire in the police precinct and Do has to take up arms once more to protect his colleagues. The fight turns ugly, but at least he is able to take the perpetrator down. Returning to a life he never wanted, Do follows the trail from U-tae to Gong Seok-ho to know whether he is the gun supplier. This lead comes up empty, but eventually Do pieces the puzzle together thanks to Baek, who tells him about how he got guns for himself as well.

Who is the gun supplier?

In episode 5, Do realises that the supplier was taking advantage of desperate people and supplying them with illegal guns. However, that’s not all, they were also adding a list of addresses of everyone who ordered a gun from them to expose them to each other. This works as a way to heighten the receiver’s anxiety and almost guarantees causing chaos. Plus, if one person needs more guns, they can go to the other person’s address and get them.

With Do hot on their trail, Baek decides to take things up a notch and asks Seok-do to keep the parcels with the guns in them (that he accidentally stumbled upon) and do with them what they will. With the chaos increasing every day, Baek even uses a bunch of old people to deliver the guns while he runs around working with Do.

Who is Moon Baek?

Coming from a very difficult childhood, Baek presently suffers from cancer and is apparently dying. Trying to end it all, he had ordered guns like the others and used his sob story to work with Do. However, in episode 5, we learn that Baek might just be behind the gun epidemic, as he is seen ordering his subordinates around and berating them for the operation going as badly as it did. We then see how Baek was pulled into the entire gun operation – after he was abandoned by his mother, he was trafficked to the US, where he almost ended up dead. One thing led to another, and a mobster took a liking to his grit and determination and decided to “adopt” him, giving him access to a huge empire of gun smuggling.

Why did he do what he did?

Baek felt abandoned by his country and those around him, and he made this entire ploy to cause chaos in the place he called home. There wasn’t any monetary angle to this; he simply wanted revenge. That’s why he even went back to the guy who had initially abducted him. He had a lot of hatred and nothing to lose.

Is Do able to end the reign of terror?

Seok-ho and Jeong-man start a silent war with the guns in their possession as they both suspect each other of trying to destroy the other. Meanwhile, the police are able to track Mr Kim as the original culprit who started this chain of terrible situations and goes to Seok-ho to get hold of him. Seok-ho, too, realises that Jeong-man is hiding something and, as bait, tells him to get Mr Kim’s thumb to open the phone that he has in his possession. Seok-ho decides to get rid of Jeong-man using Do as it will remove the threat that he has behind his back without any of the messiness.

Unfortunately for Seok-ho, Mr Kim arrives at his place, and he and Seok-ho end up shooting each other to death. In the end, Jeong-man gets away with all of Seok-ho’s money.

With matters out of their hands at this point, Do takes out his gun and gets to work, bringing Jeong-man’s entire organisation to the ground. The only person who remains is Baek, and, taking the investigation further, Do finds tracking chips in the guns. He tries to get to the source of the signal that is being emitted, but before they can plan it, Baek hacks the police’s computers and comes out in front of them. He goads Do to go to an address where another person is about to use illegal guns, and it turns out to be his superior, Cho Hyun-sik.

Do makes a dash to stop him from making a huge mistake, while the other officers try to track Baek down. However, as Do talks Hyun-sik down from murdering another person, a frustrated Baek walks in, guns blazing, and shoots both of them down in a dramatic twist, leaving Do traumatised once again. Baek then announces to the entire world that he’s ready to supply guns to anyone who needs them, without any strings attached.

The world immediately goes into chaos, and a state of emergency is declared. Do promises to come back with a vengeance.

Trigger Episode 10 Explained

With everyone he cared about dead, Do visits Baek, but before he can do anything, Baek causes more chaos by distributing guns for free, which causes a riot as everyone starts to fight each other. In the chaos, Baek dispels a gas explosive and shoots a shot, resulting in scared citizens starting to shoot one another. It’s absolute pandemonium, and as Baek dies, Do spots a young boy in the middle of the chaos crying hysterically. He rushes over to save him, which becomes the only source of hope as horrified people watch from home.

Eventually, the situation comes under control and days later, hundreds of people return the guns that they had bought for themselves. Meanwhile, Do visits Baek in the hospital, and the doctor tells him that it will be difficult for him to recover. However, as it stands, it doesn’t seem like Baek will be given the chance since his supervisor orders Baek to be killed.

Later, we see Do taking care of the child he saved during the riot in a warm turn of events. Although things aren’t perfect, there is still hope.

Also Read: Trigger Review: Fantastic Acting and Action Leave You on the Edge of Your Seat