Aahana Swrup
‘Kübra,’ the Turkish drama show highlighting the terrifying power of misguided blind faith, delves deeper into themes of social unrest, corruption, and moral ambiguity with its second season. Gokhan Sahinoglu, the man of faith who garners a cult following in season 1, finds himself treading an arduous path after discovering he put his trust in an AI program, Kubra, mistaking it for God’s guidance. Nevertheless, as his significant social following grows— with people willing to turn on politicians for him— Gokhan believes Kubra is God’s medium and keeps up his facade. In fact, he decides to up the ante by partnering with Kubra’s creator Berk, who wants to seize power for himself.
Consequently, as Gokhan’s battle against inequality and injustice, fought under the veil of people’s misplaced belief, grows, the state declares the man a terrorist. Therefore, as the stakes rise, with Gokhan’s secret remaining a persistent tool for his possible destruction, Kubra’s potential increases, leading Gokhan and his followers down a path they can’t return from. SPOILERS AHEAD!
Kubra Season 2 Recap
After crashing the government’s economic conference and using it as an opportunity to hack into bank systems and break cash out of ATMs for the masses, Gokhan manages to escape the scene with the help of his devoted followers. Afterward, the man and his followers, including his friends and family, set up camp underground in a hidden factory basement as the government declares Gokhan and his group as a terrorist organization. Meanwhile, other tech developers, Selim, Deniz, and Adam, who helped Berk create Kubra become worried about their involvement in the recent events. However, Berk insists that Gokhan and his manic cult is the perfect opportunity to overthrow the government and set up their own control over the nation.
Consequently, Berk continues working with Gokhan, using Kubra to provide him access to information that can take down corrupt officials. Since Gokhan knows the truth about the inner workings of what he perceives as “God’s commands,” he adopts a more mysterious persona within his community. The same leads to significant friction as Gokhan’s lack of transparency and dictatorial rule— paired with a forced fugitive lifestyle— compel people to question their leader’s authority. Consequently, Merve, Gokhan’s wife, ends up following the man when he leaves the camp for a secret meeting with Berk.
Gokhan has no choice but to reveal the entire truth about Kubra to Merve. Although he insists that his path is the same since his intentions haven’t changed, Merve realizes that Berk is using her husband as a pawn to further his power. Nevertheless, in his arrogance, Gokhan fails to see the same. Through their partnership, he manages to secure the minister’s loyalty through asset freezing and blackmailing. As such, with a mole inside the government, Gokhan’s influence grows.
However, in an effort to stop her husband before he crosses a line, Merve colludes with Gokhan’s nemesis, Detective Kara, with conditions of short sentences. Simultaneously, Gokhan’s followers grow antsier as they fail to understand their leader’s actions. Even his sister, Gülcan, becomes suspicious, leading her to discover her brother’s grand secret. Therefore, after a charged confrontation against Gokhan, Gülcan runs away from the camp to be with her secret boyfriend, Sehrat. Soon after, Kara locates the bunker through a tracking device and carries out a raid, which results in numerous deaths.
Gokhan and Berk realize that Merve is to blame for the recent raid— a conclusion many within the community also come to. Berk’s insistence that the woman is a wild card and the people’s calls for her punishment mounts, convincing a heartbroken Gokhan to deliver retribution. As a result, the man ends up killing his wife. In the wake of his cruel actions, Berk’s hold over Gokhan tightens as the latter’s influence brings large protests to the street. Due to the group’s connections with the government, the police remain helpless against the protestors, aggravating Kara further. Yet, the cop finds the perfect opportunity to lead Gokhan into a trap once he learns that Gülcan is back in town, seeking a meeting with her brother.
Kubra Season 2 Ending: Do Gokhan’s Followers Discover His Secret?
Once Berk and Gokhan get the minister in their pockets, there’s little left that can shake the foundation of their following. Despite the growing tension in his community, Gokhan’s devotees have realized that they can only be safest under the man’s command since their actions have marked them terrorists to the state. Furthermore, petty grievances and moments of doubt aside, most people still cast their utmost faith in the man, believing him to be in communication with God. For the same reason, Kara knows that his only chance at dismantling his enemy from power is to expose his actual truth to the world.
Due to his momentary collaboration with Merve, Kara knows about Kubra and its role in Gokhan’s success. If he could find a way to uncover the same for the population, the “Semavi” following would drop out largely, and even his followers would brand Gokhan as a sham. Yet, there are few ways to do so— save for Gokhan’s personal confession. Eventually, Kara realizes he can achieve the same after Gülcan’s arrival. Since Gülcan went missing, Gokhan has been searching doggedly for her, equipping Berk’s technology to no avail. Therefore, after Serhat sets up a meeting between Gülcan and Gokhan, Kara simply has to track Serhat down to get the drop on Gokhan.
Even though Gokhan knows the risk of following Serhat’s message, he prioritizes his sister above all else and arrives at the agreed-upon location with his most trusted men, Cemel and Salih. Predictably, Kara uses the instance to apprehend the trio and imprison them inside an abandoned building. Coincidentally, Deniz, Berk’s coworker, under her guilty conscience and decides to go to the police, reporting the truth about Berk, Kubra, and Gokhan to the chief. Initially, Kara attempts to let time work in his favor— but resorts to a more hands-on tactic to get a confession out of the cult leader.
Therefore, after Salih’s life is put under duress, Gokhan finally reveals details about his partnership with Datakraft’s Berk and his artificial intelligence program. The reveal blindsides Salih and Cemel, who realize they have been fighting under Gokhan’s commands without any divine intervention. Likewise, the confession also allows Kara to arrest Gokhan— a feat aided by the police’s recent raid on Datakraft, which led to Kubra’s shutdown. However, just when the law finally seems to be on the winning side, Berk realizes the AI is still active in phones that it downloaded itself onto. Thus, with Kubra at a fraction of its power, Berk breaks Gokhan out of jail and plans to bring Kubra back to its full potential.
Nevertheless, Gokhan’s secret has already been outed, especially due to Berk’s inclusion within the camp. Consequently, people begin to realize they have devoted their lives to a fraud who deceived them using their faith. Even so, many others— like Cemel— realize they are far too deep to escape from Gokhan’s influence. Despite their motivations, Semavi’s cult would have to face dire repercussions for their involvement in widespread terrorist activity. For the same reason, the community keeps following Gokhan, fighting for justice by any means. However, their “means justify the ends” approach is bound to blow up in their faces as they allow Berk to manipulate them for his own gain further.
Does Gokhan Get Arrested? What Happens to Him?
Near the end, Gokhan’s grip on his aggravated situation becomes more and more fragile. In his quest to accomplish his mission, the man has lost his way and isolated himself. After losing his mother and killing his wife in cold blood, Gokhan finds himself alone with his convictions. Even though the man’s intentions align with his beliefs of justice and equality, he starts to realize his actions have condemned him. Therefore, once he gets news about Gülcan, he adopts a tunnel vision focus on her. Once his followers break him out of prison, he decides to pour all his focus into finding his sister.
Gokhan’s followers within his neighborhood barricade the area and hold police officers hostage to buy themselves enough time to bring Kubra back online. Meanwhile, Gokhan and Serhat search for Gülcan. However, unbeknownst to them, the woman is already dead. Earlier, after her brother’s arrest, Gülcan found herself receiving blame for the same as the rumor of her betrayal spread among the people. Likewise, Berk— crazed due to Kubra’s loss— believes the same and chases the woman down, leading her to trip and fall to her death. Since Berk knows Gokhan is an unpredictable asset, he hides his involvement in Gülcan’s death from the man.
Nonetheless, the truth comes out once Serhat manages to find Gülcan’s body. The realization that his sister is dead ultimately brings Gokhan to notice the reality of his actions. Therefore, he kills Berk— as an act of revenge as much as justice— and hinders his team from bringing Kubra back online. Furthermore, as a confrontation brews between the police force and his followers at the neighborhood’s entrance, Gokhan leaves the premises with a promise to prevent further bloodshed.
In the following moments, Gokhan buries his sister and realizes his folly— allowing his arrogance to grow beyond belief. His introspection leads him to the beginning of his story— when his crew got killed in the army after an ambush attack in the barracks. Gokhan— who hid under dead bodies— was the only survivor. He realizes that his survival guilt led him to believe he was God’s chosen one, which in turn inflated his ego. On the day of the attack, Gokhan decided to play dead rather than pick up a weapon and fight back. Therefore, he realizes he must now fight to ensure he saves as many lives as possible.
Thus, in the end, Gokhan employs Adam and his tech developer friends’ help to send out one last live stream to the nation. In his message, Gokhan reveals the nitty gritty details of his journey and takes responsibility for his mistakes. Finally, as he urges people to stop fighting for his fraudulent cause, the Samavi cult and protestors realize they have no community left to fight for. Afterward, Gokhan travels out to the same river where he murdered Merve and finds himself in a confrontation with Kara.
Due to his recent actions, Kara realizes that Gokhan’s heart has always been in the right place. By exposing himself as a fraud and tarnishing his legacy, Gokhan proves that he only wants to save lives. He may have lost sight of the same in his arrogance but finds a way back to the light. Even so, the man can’t forgive his own sins and decides to meet his demise head-on. For the same reason, even though Kara tries to save him, Gokhan compels the officers to shoot at him and accepts his death in the end.
Does Kubra Come Online Again?
As the show focuses on Gokhan and his influence over others, Kubra remains an intrinsic part of his story. The only reason the population is putting their faith in the man is that he can perform miracles such as flushing ATMs with cash and bringing change by exposing corrupt politicians. However, none of it would be possible without Kubra and its incredible, expansive abilities. Ultimately, Kubra is the source of all of Gokhan and Berk’s power.
For the same reason, Berk becomes obsessed with bringing Kubra back in the hours that the police raid Datakraft and unplug the server hosting the artificial intelligence. Although the program has managed to survive through individual devices, it must take over another server to return to its full glory. Consequently, Berk assembles his past group to help him hack into Sweden’s server and bring Kubra back online.
Nevertheless, the group remains divided due to the AI’s potential for destruction as well as Berk’s manic obsession with it. Still, Berk manages to achieve his goal on his own and almost brings the program back online. Yet, Gokhan stops him before he can complete the process and destroys his computers, ensuring that Kubra remains offline. The same should’ve been the end of the AI as the dissolution of Gokhan’s cult and the man’s death followed in quick succession.
Even so, as it would turn out, Berk isn’t the only one enchanted by Kubra’s powers. After the dust settles over Gokhan’s misadventure with the AI, Adam, Berk’s closest friend and coworker, brings Kubra back to life. Kubra can’t fully die due to the nature of the program. As such, it continues existing on devices it has previously downloaded itself on. From there, anyone would only need access to one such device and an innate understanding of the AI to plug it back into a server.
On the other hand, unlike Gokhan’s other followers, Cemel’s commitment to the cause hasn’t entirely died down. Even though the man acknowledges that his leader is a fake, he can’t condemn the mission. Therefore, Cemel teams up with Adam to bring Kubra back online and set a trap for another unwitting soul like Gokhan. Consequently, the season ends with an unknown individual receiving a message from Kubra, highlighting that it believes them to be special. The narrative’s end remains symbolic of the cyclic nature of corruption, showcasing how anyone can be manipulated into a similar situation. The open ending casts a dark shadow over the story, highlighting the dangers of blind faith.
Read More: Is Kubra Based on a True Story?
