Does 5-8 Die in Black Knight? [Spoiler]

Based on the webtoon of the same name by Lee Yun-kyun, ‘Black Knight’ is a Netflix South Korean sci-fi action drama series. Set 40 years after the cataclysmic event in which Earth collided with a comet, which, among other things, turned the Korean Peninsula into a desert, ‘Black Knight’ revolves around the eponymous group of elite fighters and drivers, tasked to delivering life-saving and sustaining supplies to people. The name of the protagonist is never given in the show; the audience only gets to know him as 5-8 (Kim Woo-bin). A legendary Black Knight or deliveryman, 5-8 is the secret leader of an underground rebellion. If you are wondering whether 5-8 survives at the end of the first season of ‘Black Knight,’ we got you covered. SPOILERS AHEAD.

The Fate of 5-8 in ‘Black Knight’ Season 1

No, 5-8 doesn’t die at the end of ‘Black Knight’ season 1. 5-8 was born a refugee on the outskirts of the civilization. When the series begins, only 1% of the human population has survived on the peninsula. The comet left erstwhile technology and social structure obsolete. As the air is seemingly toxic, oxygen has become a prized commodity, extracted with a gigantic air core from a mineral known as oxyanium. The society is divided into three tiers: General, Special, and Core. Each group lives in its respective district and is distinguished by QR codes.

People labeled as refugees are the unofficial fourth group. They don’t have access to resources and are hunted by agents of Cheonmyeong Group, the private organization that produces oxygen and has as much power in this altered world as the government.

As a deliveryman, 5-8 is an employee of Cheonmyeong, delivering supplies to the residents of General, Special, and Core Districts and then using personal resources to help the refugees. As mentioned above, 5-8 also heads a secret group of rebels made up of deliverymen. Like 5-8, most of them are from refugee backgrounds and know the miserable lives that those people lead.

5-8 and his colleagues have grown concerned about recent kidnappings. All the abductees are boys and girls. He is nearby when another attempt happens. When he gets to the scene, he discovers that most abductors are dead. The remaining one sees him and shoots himself, making 5-8 realize that this group is a suicide gang. As it is later revealed, they have explosives planted at the back of their heads, forcing compliance.

Although the girl abductors came for is dead, 5-8 finds another teenager on the scene, very much alive, even though he was shot in the head. 5-8 deduces that this boy is a mutant, a rumored group of youths who can effectively be considered a new subspecies of humanity. 5-8 gets the boy, Yoon Sa-wol, to safety and later helps him join the deliverymen.

Cheonmyeong has always been a ruthless organization, but especially under Ryu Seok, it begins committing genocide against the refugees. The suicide gang is revealed to be working for Ryu Seok, who uses several of them to kill hundreds of refugees with explosives.

While 5-8 believes that Cheonmyeong can only be brought down by violence, Jeong Seol-ah (Esom), a military intelligence officer and the sister of the young girl killed earlier, wishes to use legal methods to undo Cheonmyeong’s control over the government. She reaches out to the President of Korea, who joins forces with Ryu Jae-jin, the chairman of the Cheonmyeong Group and Ryu Seok’s father, to stop his son. However, her defense minister collaborates with Ryu Seok, organizes a coup, and kills Ryu Jae-jin.

In the season finale, Ryu Seok organizes a vaccination drive for the refugees, promising to let them enter the General District. In reality, he intends to kill the refugees with the vaccines. But 5-8 and other deliverymen thwart his plans. 5-8 also discovers that Cheonmyeong is using air-purifying vehicles to pollute. Ryu Seok has Sa-wol kidnapped in the hopes of using his mutant blood to cure his terminal disease. 5-8 and Seol-ah work together to defeat Ryu Seok and stop his evil plans.

Seol-ah rescues the President, while 5-8 goes after Ryu Seok. He kills the other man and gets Sa-wol out before the air core explodes. Three months later, the government has implemented several positive changes. Both 5-8 and Sa-wol still work as deliverymen. And Earth has begun to heal.

Read More: When and Where Does Black Knight Take Place?