Gangs of Galicia Season 2 Ending Explained: Does Padin Survive?

In ‘Gangs of Galicia’ season 2, the game pieces of Cambados’ criminal underworld are in motion as the Padin crime family faces off against their biggest threat yet. Three years after Ana’s arrival in town upended Daniel’s life, the reluctant Padin heir finally exits prison on parole. It just so happens that around the same time, Ana, who has been on the run so far, decides to return to the place where it all started to get rid of the target she has managed to acquire on her back.

Naturally, as she begins working for some shady individuals, her path once again collides with that of her former lover and the father of her daughter. Consequently, as Jose Maria fights to keep a handle on his reign as the town’s top crime boss, his son’s priorities begin to shift elsewhere. Thus, when the dark clouds on the horizon threaten to wipe out the Padins’ tenancy in Cambados, Daniel must decide where he truly stands as his father’s successor. SPOILERS AHEAD!

Gangs of Galicia Season 2 Recap

In the last three years, since Ana’s dangerous stint in Cambados, the lawyer has managed to live a life of relative safety with her mother and her daughter, Sara. However, this has come at the price of constant relocation and paranoia. Therefore, when she realizes that her past has once again caught up to her in Dublin, she finally makes the decision to stop running. Instead, she books a one-way flight to Madrid, where she plans on finally putting her sour history to rest. The first step of her plan involves meeting Macario, the head of the crime syndicate with which the Padins are in collaboration. Her previous actions had directly affected his business, making him the biggest threat to her outside of the Cambados crime family. Therefore, Ana offers to work for him to pay off a financial debt that would free her and her family from his constant surveillance.

Fortunately for her, Macario has the perfect job for her: setting up an illicit drug manufacturing factory without attracting the attention of the authorities. However, he wants this factory set up in Cambados, which means the lawyer must return to the town and work with a new figurehead who is trying to overtake the Padins while working against them in the shadows. Meanwhile, the Padins manage to finally get Daniel out of prison on parole.

However, in the three years of his imprisonment, the son’s distaste for his father’s line of work hasn’t lessened in any sense. For the same reason, instead of wanting to get back in the game, Daniel entertains the idea of starting a legitimate business and leading a clean life. This proves to be a problem for Jose Maria, who is already in hot water with the dangerous men with whom he’s in business. After a series of blunders, Macario has lost faith in Jose’s ability to lead. As a result, his priestly friend, Paco, has secretly risen up against him by forming a rival operation. In fact, he’s the anonymous crime boss who has been saddled with Ana’s employment. As these pieces move around on the board, the local law enforcement remains suspicious of the activities surrounding the Padins. As a result, the new arrival of a DEA Agent, Walter, ticks Detective Torres off further.

Eventually, things come to a head on the night of a shipment when the two agencies fail to work together, causing friction, while Paco’s men manage to snag Padins’ shipment out from under their noses. The fact that Daniel had agreed to step in for this operation, making it his mess-up, complicates matters further. Soon after Ana’s arrival in town, Daniel learns about her return, leading to a reunion between the former lovers. Moreover, the Padin heir also learns about his daughter, Sara, and even meets her once. However, when her family also falls under Jose Maria’s radar, Ana freaks out and tries to bargain for her mother’s and daughter’s safety with Macario.

In the end, the latter ends up shifting her family ot a safe location. Yet, his refusal to share their whereabouts with Ana becomes a cause for concern, especially once she realizes that he can now use her family against her. Meanwhile, things heat up as Padin attempts to retrieve the stolen merchandise. Nevertheless, Nilo, who is manning the operation, only runs into an ambush that gets him arrested with a truckful of Macario’s product. Although Nilo refuses to rat out the Padins for a shortened sentence, he decides to make a play against Ana. As a result, Torres gains the information needed to connect Ana to the money laundering and drug trafficking schemes, leading to her arrest. Thus, as various plans begin to crumble, it puts Padin in a precarious line of fire.

Gangs of Galicia Season 2 Ending: Does Padin Survive? Who Shot Him?

As Torres makes Ana’s arrest, it threatens the structure of Macario and Paco’s entire operation. If that isn’t enough, a mysterious force also targets the third ringleader in Cambados’ criminal underworld. Jose Maria Padin’s demise has been a subject of concern throughout the season. Early on, the crime boss makes some dubious doctor’s visits, which lead Nilo to find reports about cancer metastasis overtaking his organs. Nonetheless, in the end, it isn’t a disease that comes for the Padin patrich, but rather an onslaught of bullets. On the day of Ana’s arrest, a masked assassin comes for the crime boss, who suffers multiple bullet wounds from the attack. Moments before the attack, Paco, who is at the same cafe as the targeted individual, receives a text, alerting him to evacuate the premises.

It’s possible that Paco is the one who ordered this hit, and the message that he receives is a warning from the anonymous hitman. Similarly, it’s also likely that it’s Macario himself who planned for Padin’s assassination to remove him from the board once and for all. Either way, the attack takes a toll on the latter’s chances of survival, but doesn’t outright kill him. Ultimately, Padin is taken to the hospital where medical professionals operate on him in an attempt to save his life. In the meantime, Daniel takes off on a path of vengeance. He seems convinced that it’s Paco who is behind the attack. As a result, he storms the old-age home, where the man is keeping his aging father company. Yet, despite pulling a gun on him, Daniel decides against killing him in cold blood and signing away his own freedom.

What Happens to Daniel? Does He Return to Prison?

Daniel’s decision to confront Paco in the heat of the moment ends up costing him quite a lot. By allowing for such a public confrontation to unravel, the Padin heir puts himself in an impossible situation. If he kills Paco, he would be put away, possibly for life, for the public murder. However, by the time he has a chance to change his mind, he has already stormed a public place with a weapon and an intention to kill. As a result, even though he decides to lower his gun, he’s inevitably arrested for unlawful possession and the intention to kill. This puts both him and Ana under police custody at the same time. Consequently, Torres is able to use this to her own advantage by using Daniel as a chip in cutting a deal with Ana.

Torres wants to use Ana to bring down the figureheads above her: Macario and Paco. However, the danger these men pose to her family prevents the lawyer from talking. Therefore, by putting Daniel in greater danger and introducing the possibility of transferring him to a prison with a strong population of the Colombian syndicate, the detective gives her the right incentive to cooperate. In cutting a deal with the authorities, Ana asks for Daniel to be placed in the security wing. Furthermore, she manages to convince them to offer him a slot in their witness protection program. She tells him the same when they’re allowed to meet Sara after their imprisonment.

However, this chance at a new beginning comes at a grave price. If Daniel wants to take the witness protection deal, he has to first agree to testify against the Padin crime family. This means that he would be betraying his father, his cousins, and his closest friends. Alternatively, by turning his back on this deal, he would lose out on the chance to have a life with Ana and their daughter, Sara. In the end, Daniel refuses to play the authorities’ games even if he has to pay a high personal cost to do it. He turns down Ana’s offer and decides to face the reality of his imprisonment. Although he still promises to see Sara and her mother again, it’s clear that Daniel has a tough path ahead of him, and his desire to leave the Padin crime family isn’t as simple as he would like it to be.

Does Marco Testify at Samuel’s Trial? Does He Tell the Truth?

Daniel’s climactic moral dilemma is reflected in another storyline that develops throughout the season. Marco, his godson, finds himself entangled in a dicey court case. Earlier, the Padins had thrown Samuel under the bus, leading to his imprisonment. However, now that his trial is nearing, his defense attorney has a plan to lessen his sentence. If they can prove the severity of the torture the Padins had inflicted on Samuel, he could possibly appeal for a less harsh judicial punishment. However, it’s just his luck that the one person who can prove the reality of this torture is Marco, a member of the Padin family. The young man has had a long history of reckoning with the reality of his mother’s family’s criminal background.

For the same reason, when Samuel’s lawyer approaches him about testifying, it offers him a chance to finally stand up for his morals. Marco is sick of playing the Padins’ game and doesn’t want them to rule his life any further. As such, he considers taking the stand with the truth. Nonetheless, both Daniel and his mother are aware that Marco would be putting a target on his back by going through with his plan. As such, they come up with one of their own. On the day of the trial, an anonymous number sends the young man a video of his mother, giving him the impression that she has been abducted. Consequently, when the time comes for him to testify, he ends up lying in line with the Padins’ interest. However, little does he know that the abduction plot was hatched by Daniel and his mother.

What Happens to Ana and Her Daughter?

In the immediate aftermath of her arrest, Ana refuses to talk to the cops since her mother and her daughter are still under Macario’s control. For the same reason, she insists that unless Torres saves her family, she will make no statement. Fortunately, Walter’s secret operation involves a mole in Macario’s ranks. As a result, the authorities are able to rescue Sara and her grandmother. Even so, while Ana gives up the location of the drug factory in Cambados, it doesn’t quite seal the case. Despite ransacking the location and Paco’s own homes, the police find no direct connection between the priest and the drug ring. As a result, they have no chance of making a solid case against him.

This compels Torres to pitch another plan. She wants Ana to testify, turning herself into the prime evidence in the case. Yet, given the various security measures Paco takes in his line of work, it’s impossible for her to give a believable testimony against him. Consequently, Torres wants her to actually rat out Macario. Ana is reluctant about the idea, largely because of the fact that it would put her and her family in danger. Nonetheless, she eventually agrees to the deal once she’s offered a place in the witness protection program. Furthermore, shortly after Macario’s arrest, a nurse working in Paco’s father’s retirement home also uncovers some damning evidence against the priest. As a result, the latter is also arrested. In the end, Ana gets to drive away from Cambados, finally safe from the town’s various threats. Yet, her involvement in the case will perpetually cast a shadow over her future.