Does Ben die in The Terminal List? Character’s fate explored

With the release of The Terminal List: Dark Wolf, there has been a renewed interest in the audience's curiosity about Ben Edwards.

Played by Taylor Kitsch, the CIA operative had one of the most interesting arcs in the original series, which paved the way for a prequel tracing his origin.

Ben seemed like a true friend of Lieutenant Commander James Reece, who accompanied him in his missions and did not shy away from putting his life at risk for his team. However, his real intentions were revealed in the first season’s finale, marking a complete turn in his character.

By the end of The Terminal List, Reece points a gun at Ben, which makes one wonder does he dies in the series. Yes, Ben dies in the Season 1 finale after Reece shoots him, but the incident happens off-screen.

Ben’s fate in The Terminal List revealed

In The Terminal List Season 1 finale, James Reece shoots Ben Edwards after realizing that he was a traitor who betrayed his team from the very beginning. The story begins when Reece’s life falls apart after a mission in Syria goes wrong. His entire team is ambushed, leaving him as one of the only survivors.

When he comes home, his wife and daughter are killed, and Reece becomes convinced that there is a bigger conspiracy going on. To seek revenge, he makes a ‘terminal list’ of the people he believes are guilty. Helping him along the way is his best friend, Ben Edwards, a former SEAL and now a CIA officer.

At first, Ben seems like the one person Reece can rely on. He provides him with secret information, helps in planning, and even joins him on dangerous missions. Their friendship becomes a highlight of the show as they spend years fighting side by side. With Ben’s help, Reece uncovers a dark secret that a drug called RD4895 was secretly tested on his SEAL team.

The drug was meant to prevent PTSD, but instead gave the men brain tumors. To hide this, people in the government and a private company set up the ambush that killed almost all of Reece’s team.

Reece works through his list one by one, killing those who were part of the cover-up. With Ben beside him, he manages to take down powerful enemies, including high-ranking officers and business leaders. But the biggest twist comes at the end.

Reporter Katie Buranek helps trace payments from a company called Oberon Analytics, and the evidence leads back to Ben Edwards, leaving Reece shocked. When he confronts Ben on his boat in The Terminal List Season 1 Episode 8, the latter admits that he was the one who leaked information that led to the ambush.

He explains that he thought the SEALs would die slowly from their tumors anyway, so letting them die in battle was better than wasting away in a hospital. But he also admits he took a huge payout in the deal.

Ben tries to make clear that he never wanted Reece’s wife and daughter to die. He says helping Reece kill the others was his way of making up for what he did. But Reece has promised to kill everyone on his list, and now Ben’s name is on it.

Knowing there is no escape, Ben accepts his fate and lets his old friend carry out the punishment. However, the moment is not shown on screen and only the sound of gunfire is heard, making it clear that Reece kills Ben.

At the same time, by not directly showing Reece killing Ben, the writers have established a way to bring back the character if they feel the need in the future. Thus, Ben is dead in The Terminal List for now, but the creators can introduce a twist in the future where he could be brought back as his death happened off-screen.

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The Terminal List Season 1 is streaming on Prime Video.

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