Slow Horses Season 4 Episode 2 ending explained: What does River find in Les Arbres?

Slow Horses Season 4 Episode 2 was released on September 11, 2024, on Apple TV+. After the last episode’s cliffhanger revealing that River is alive, episode 2, among other things, shows River's discoveries in France.

Titled A Stranger Comes to Town, the synopsis of episode 2 reads:

“A naive agent makes a discovery about the Westacres bomber. Lamb suspects that David knows more than he’s letting on.”

Following the events of episode 1, in the latest episode, River is in France, probing into the identity of the person whom David shot dead. He reaches a lonely house called Les Arbres, where the person reportedly lived.

There, River comes across a photograph that confirms that the attempt on David’s life and the recent bombings in London are connected. Slow Horses Season 4 Episode 2 suggests a secret organization at work, planning something big.

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Slow Horses Season 4 Episode 2: The findings at Les Arbres

The episode starts with a flashback, recounting David’s act of shooting the intruder. But this time, the event is shown from River’s perspective. Upon discovering what his grandfather had done, River quickly altered the crime scene to create the impression that it was River who was killed.

Also, River examined the possessions of the dead person and found out that he was named Adam Lockhead and that he was to reach a cafe in France called Le Blanc Russe after his job in England was done. Lockhead’s mission was to drug David and make it look like suicide.

In episode 2, River reaches the deserted French town Lavande, trying to figure out why Lockhead was after his grandfather’s life. Visiting the cafe, he learns that Lockhead used to stay at a nearby house called Les Arbres.

The house looks like a training ground for independent agents. Several books on war, gym equipment, and other things suggest that this is where a group has been training to become assassins.

Further, River stumbles upon a photo where four men can be seen. Two of them are Lockhead and Robert Winters. The latter, as episode 1 shows, is the person responsible for the recent bombings in London.

Thus, Slow Horses Season 4 Episode 2 suggests several big operations, spearheaded by an organization, are in the works. Whether Lamb and his team can stop them remains to be seen.

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Who is Robert Winters?

Episode 2 of Slow Horses Season 4 intensifies the mysteries surrounding Robert Winters. At the Park (the MI5 headquarters), an agent named Giti Rahman stumbles upon Robert Winters’ entry while going through the database. This suggests that probably Winters was an entity created by MI5.

Rahman reports this to Diana Taverner, who senses that if it came out in the open that someone had used an identity fabricated by MI5 to carry out terrorist attacks, it would be scandalous. Thus, slyly, Taverner erases Winters’ entry from the database.

Later, she informs Rahman that the database had malfunctioned earlier and that the fake identity created by the Park actually went by the name Robert Winter, not Robert Winters. Taverner is clearly trying to cover up something crucial to prevent a public uproar.

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What is Lamb up to?

Lamb is on his mission in search of the truth. For instance, he questions David at Standish’s house to retrieve information about River’s current whereabouts. David does not tell much or cannot, owing to his failing mental faculties. Cavendish, however, knows where River is.

Lamb is also seen meeting with Moira, who has recently been relegated to the Slough House from the Park. Lamb offers to get her back to the Park again if she uses her connections to find out if David had ever gone to France for work.

The ending of Slow Horses Season 4 Episode 2 shows a stranger following River in Lavande, coming to River's rescue when he is attacked inside Les Arbres. Is this stranger working for Lamb? The next episode might answer that.

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The next episode of Slow Horses Season 4 will be released on September 18, 2024, on Apple TV+.