Paradise ending explained: Who killed the president and what happened to Xavier and Sinatra in the finale?

The mysterious Paradise took viewers by surprise when it debuted on Hulu, surprising viewers each week with a deepening mystery. Those seeking the truth about the president's death and what happened on the surface had to follow the series, which is very reminiscent of Lost, every week. In the penultimate episode of Paradise, we learned what the catastrophe was that forced people to descend into the underground city, and the finale answered another important question – who killed President Cal Bradford.

Who killed the president in Paradise and why?

The finale brought the answer to the question that viewers have been nagging about since the first episode of Paradise – who is behind the president's death? It had already become clear in the previous episode that it could not have been anyone from Paradise. After examining the DNA sample, it did not match anyone from there, so it had to be a person from the surface, but who would commit such an act? The answer is surprising, but understandable in its own way.

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The president's assassin was librarian Trent, who, as it turned out, was not one of the people invited to Paradise, but snuck in at the expense of others. But why did he do it? Trent was a member of the construction team that was building the underground city. Deceived, not knowing they were creating a refuge for the elite, the constructors were exposed to toxic materials that harmed them. When Trent learned of the danger threatening the crew, he sought to end the Paradise project.

Trent's efforts came to nothing – he was fired, and the constructors, whose lives Sinatra and other major players considered expendable, continued working until they became ill. Trent was driven from that moment by a lust for revenge, which led the man to undertake an assassination attempt on the president on the surface, even before the cataclysm. We saw this scene at the beginning of Paradise, when Xavier saved Cal's life.

Trent went to prison after that, which he got out of when the world began to collapse and chaos engulfed it. So he managed to escape and, knowing where the entrance to Paradise was, he went there. After depriving the lives of a couple who had an invitation to the underground city, along with the woman who was to pretend to be his wife, he took over their identities and got to a safe haven where, living comfortably as a librarian for years, he forgot about revenge. This only changed when one day he saw the president. That's when something set him off and the desire for revenge no longer gave him peace – he had to put to death the person he believed to be guilty of the tragic fate of the constructors of the President and elite's paradise. And he realized his goal. In the finale, however, he was finally found, but before he could be captured, he jumped down destroying the dome above Paradise and killed himself.

What happened to Xavier in the Paradise finale?

After battling doubts after learning about life on the surface, as well as receiving a purported message from Sinatra from his rumored surviving wife, Teri, Xavier, after receiving a few suggestions from others, decided to take a risk he wasn't fully convinced about at first because of his family and how many unknowns there were (Sinatra could have fooled him). So Xavier, in the finale of Paradise's first season, went on a mission to the surface to see if it was safe to go out there and what the world outside currently looked like. He flew the plane alone, without the support of the other agents who have to keep the underground city calm, where chaos has crept in, and the scientists, who may be more useful down there, where they can do something, instead of outside, where they could get killed.

What happened to Sinatra in the Paradise finale?

To say that Sinatra's fate in the finale was shocking is like saying nothing. The woman who pulled the strings and controlled all of Paradise, additionally having assassins under her command, seemed untouchable. And yet, while she kept everyone in check, she didn't foresee everything. Her luck turned against her the moment she ordered Jane to kill the abducted Presley because she knew too much. Xavier's daughter was held by them to force Xavier to follow Sinatra's orders, however, the originator of the underground city ultimately wanted to get rid of both of them.

Jane, who was supposed to kill Presley, in return asked Sinatra for one thing – a Wii belonging to Xavier, on which she played along with Billy. Shockingly, when she didn't get what she wanted, anticipating Xavier, who was heading to kill Sinatra, Jane turned on Sinatra and shot the woman in the neck. It's hard to say whether Jane actually did it because of the console, or to salve Xavier's conscience, or perhaps to keep Sinatra alive, because Sinatra survived her shot, and she might not have been so lucky after meeting Xavier.

After that Sinatra found herself under life support, unable to say anything and losing control of Paradise. In Jane's eyes, this was the punishment the woman deserved. It must be said that Jane has become the most unpredictable character in Paradise, whose next move is an unknown. But she got what she wanted at the end – Xavier's Wii. Sinatra, on the other hand, while fighting for her life, lost control of Paradise to Henry.

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