Legion Season 2 Finale Explained: The True Villain Revealed

This article contains spoilers for Legion Season 2 and discussion of sexual violence.

Legion has always been mind-bending, but the season two finale may have turned the show on its head. David, the seeming protagonist of the first two seasons, is shown to be a villain, controlling and violating his girlfriend, Syd. David flees Division 3 at the end of the episode, promising a chilling confrontation in season 3.

While David’s plan is able to incapacitate Farouk, Syd stops David from killing the Shadow King. In the last episode, Farouk (disguised as Melanie) showed Syd David’s dark side, and so Syd confronts David, afraid of who he is and who he will become. She tries to shoot him, but Lenny intervenes with her sniper rifle. As a result, Farouk is captured, but not killed when Division 3 sweeps in. In the confusion, David alters Syd’s memory.

Related: Legion Season 2 Finale Review: What Worked & What Didn’t

Personifications of David’s other personalities appear, arguing in his head and revealing the delusion that he has been clinging to all season: that he is a good person who is deserving of love. Through the episode, three different personalities argue within David’s mind — a view of David that has hinted at, but never shown to the viewer through the season. Desperately trying to win her back, David visits Syd as a projection and has sex with her.

Farouk’s trial, as it turns out, is actually a trap to incapacitate David. At first, David is horrified at the betrayal of his friends. Syd tells him that the truth is that he both has superpowers and is suffering from mental illness. He is put on trial for “future crimes” and is told that he will need to go to therapy and take medication — or else he will be killed. When David demands that Syd be the one who tells him he will be killed if he doesn’t cooperate, and she responds, “You drugged me and had sex with me,” a condemnation that he wasn’t prepared to hear. David, however, will not be constrained — not by the forcefield that is supposed to contain him and not by Syd’s accusation. He easily escapes Division 3, leaving the rest of the characters wondering what the future holds.

• This Page: David & Syd’s Confrontation
• Page 2: David Is The Villain Of Legion

David’s Plan Explained

The episode begins with David confronting Farouk while singing The Who’s “Behind Blue Eyes”. The two face off mentally in a variety of forms, and while Farouk seems to have the upper hand, Lenny is revealed with her sniper rifle. It turns out that Lenny’s job wasn’t to shoot someone, but instead, shoot the giant tuning fork that Farouk threw at a distance. The reverberation of the tuning fork disables both David and Farouk’s powers, and David beats Farouk unconscious.

The action cuts away to Oliver and Melanie Bird, living together three years later in the astral plane ice cube where Oliver was initially trapped. While the two seem happy, they’ve begun to forget the meanings of words and names of their friends, a side effect of spending too much time in the astral plane. Trying to remember what happened, Oliver asks Melanie why David “turned”, she responds “because she [Syd] showed him his future.”

More: Legion Season 2’s Biggest Mysteries So Far

David and Sydney’s Confrontation

Syd arrives, holding the head of a minotaur, as David beats Farouk to the point of death. To his surprise, she points her gun at him, telling him that they “need to talk.” David tries to reason with her and tell her that she’s been tricked, claiming that he is “the good guy“, but Syd stands her ground. She ponders whether or not David even realizes that he’s been lying to her this whole time. David doesn’t understand, but Syd reveals to him that her future self used him to save Farouk because David himself would be the villain who ends the world. David is mortified, and pleads with her:

David: “You know me.”

Syd: “Yeah, I do. And guess what? You’re not the hero.”

David: “Then who is?”

Syd: “Me.”

With that, Syd pulls the trigger.

Page 2 of 2: David Is The Villain Of Legion

About The Author