What was Eve recruited for, and will she go back to her old life? We try to answer the big Killing Eve season 3 questions.

Season 2 of Killing Eve went way beyond our expectations. The character development, the deaths, the story…! But, as expected, the season finale left us with many questions.

Thankfully, Killing Eve season 3 has already been given a go-ahead, and we’ll hopefully see it sometime next year! In the meantime, our questions need answering… so let’s lay it all out for examination, shall we?

What was Eve recruited for?

At the start of season 1, we thought Eve was being recruited by Carolyn to track down Villanelle because of her unique instincts when it came to female serial killers (or, well, at that point just Villanelle). But the end of season 2, all of this was thrown into question.

Carolyn clearly groomed Eve into becoming what she is now. She saw Eve’s latent potential for impulsive, irrational action — and obsession with Villanelle — and decided to harness it for MI6’s purposes. But the question is: what purpose was it?

We thought Eve was originally meant to track down Villanelle and arrest her, but at the end of season 1, Carolyn called quits, while simultaneously being way too close to Konstantin. It made no sense to order Eve to leave with the way things were — not unless Eve was meant to take Villanelle out at the end of season 1 and rid MI6 of the problem, without having them be responsible for murder.

That would mean the clean-up crew in 2×01 wasn’t the Twelve at all. (Unless the Twelve, through Konstantin, were allowing MI6 to take care of the problem because Villanelle was getting out of hand.)

In that case, upon Eve’s return, her mission had been sort of fulfilled… but Villanelle was alive. Could this be why Carolyn’s boss was so mad at her? The Peel investigation was a natural fit for Eve at this point, but her connection with Villanelle only became stronger. MI6 must have seen a connection between the two cases, and carried out its plan to use Villanelle — and eventually deliver her to the Twelve. At that point, Eve could either be disposed of (by leaving her to her own devices, which probably meant death in Villanelle’s hands) or kept as a murderous asset.

But this still leaves too many questions: Why was Hugo assigned to join Eve at all, and why was he subsequently stabbed? Were those henchmen MI6’s, or the Twelve’s? Is Carolyn’s boss really MI6? And, of course…

Who does Konstantin really work for?

Konstantin’s connection to Carolyn continues to be confusing. As I see it, there are two options: either Konstantin is a double agent, mainly allied with Twelve but being an informant to Carolyn on the side, or he’s a liaison between the two organizations.

Everything seems to point at MI6 and the Twelve operating separately until Carolyn set foot in Russia in season 1. That’s when everything went to hell — and we never really got answers for it. At this point, Konstantin seemed to forsake the Twelve, forcing them to set Villanelle on him, but by the time we get to season 2, Konstantin seems pretty secure in his position. He’s in witness protection under MI6, but he’s still leveraging some sort of position with the Twelve to make a deal: They’ll let Villanelle kill Peel, and they can take out their rogue killer afterwards.

So at this point, Konstantin is effectively working for both sides, and about to comfortably join his family. But why join Carolyn’s side in the first place, back in season 1? He could have safely continued, shielded Villanelle, and sidestepped MI6 entirely. How exactly are his loyalties tied to Carolyn? And why hasn’t any of the Twelve killed him yet?

Who are the Twelve?

Are they twelve people? If so, are Carolyn, Konstantin and Raymond — all of whom seem to occupy equally important positions — three of the twelve? Or are they twelve organizations? If so, will we ever see them all together?

And what is their purpose? So far, they have eliminated key players in international crime and distribution of information. They don’t seem to have particularly nefarious plans (unless you’re a powerful man who oversteps his bounds somehow), but their methods are decidedly illegal. Villanelle seems to have been no more than a pawn for them, but will Eve catch their eye, now that she’s killed Raymond? Or will they set someone new on her and on Villanelle?

Killing Eve has been very careful about revealing very little about this organization. Hopefully, season 3 can give us more.

Can Eve return to her old life? Does she want to?

Villanelle just shot Eve, and the last we saw of her was her lying motionless on the ground. She doesn’t seem to have been wearing a bulletproof vest, but if Villanelle really wanted to kill her, wouldn’t she have aimed for the head? Villanelle is very precise.

Eve is probably alive (I suspect Kenny will rescue her somehow), and will be recovering in the first few episodes of Killing Eve season 3 (mirroring Villanelle’s start of season 2). But what’s next? Having abandoned her plans with Villanelle, and probably put herself in danger of being shot again, given Villanelle’s vengeful obsessive tendencies, she can’t exactly start a new life and still be safe… especially after murdering Raymond.

But neither can she go back to MI6 as if nothing has changed. Carolyn was very clear: If Eve walked away, she would have to stay away. There’s no job waiting for her, and there’s nothing else, either. Throughout season 2, Eve systematically pushed away her husband and Kenny, the two people who may have taken her side without other interests. Jess has no connection to Eve outside of work, and after leaving Hugo bleeding out in a corridor, I don’t think he’s particularly sympathetic, either.

And what does Eve want, anyway? She doesn’t want to lead a boring life — but neither is she ready to go full psychopath. She knows that now. So is there really a healthy middle ground, or has she now put herself in a vulnerable place she can never escape?

How will Niko be affected by his encounter with Villanelle?

Niko, in particular, has plenty of reasons to be angry at Eve and never speak to her again. After isolating herself from him and killing any spark that existed in their relationship by cutting him out of her life, he tried going his own way, staying at his friend Gemma’s home and trying to forget Eve. In the end, though, it doesn’t seem like he and Gemma ever started any kind of relationship (as badly as she may have wanted it), and it’s clear that Niko didn’t love her. He loves Eve, because she’s still his wife, despite everything.

But all of this got infinitely worse when Villanelle stepped into the picture and murdered Gemma. Now, locked in a storage compartment with Gemma’s lifeless body, Niko has been deeply traumatized. Who will his anger be directed at? At Eve, who brought Villanelle into their lives, destroying his marriage and any possibility of a future with another woman? Or at Villanelle, who has managed to hurt the two women Niko cared about?

With Eve nearly dead after her encounter with Villanelle, will that change anything for Niko? Maybe his fear of losing her, or his anger at Villanelle, will overcome all the rage and hurt he felt toward Eve throughout season 2. Or maybe he will want her entirely out of his life, so he can really start over this time.

Personally, for Killing Eve season 3, I would like to see Niko become an asset in Eve’s pursuit of Villanelle (if that’s what it eventually becomes), and somehow find a way to rekindle their marriage and turn it into something exciting. But all of this, we’ve learned, comes at a price. Do we really want to see Niko lose his compassionate heart and give in to violence, like Eve has?

Is Villanelle bent on killing Eve now? Is the romance dead?

This is the big question, of course. Eve has hurt Villanelle in the most profound way she thinks possible, by breaking her heart. With Anna, Villanelle constructed a fantasy of what their relationship really was, and figured that by cutting Anna’s husband out of the picture, that fantasy would come true. She thought Anna was special. But it turned out that Anna’s reaction to her husband being dead was much different — she reacted like a normal person. She wasn’t special at all. And so, Villanelle left her in the past.

With Eve, things were different. Eve was already dismissive of her husband, and had a penchant for violence and the macabre that Villanelle hadn’t seen in Anna. Eve easily forgave Bill’s murder, and became increasingly obsessed with Villanelle, reciprocating her obsessive feelings. And Villanelle fell in love.

In 2×08, Eve asserted that Villanelle doesn’t know what love is. But while Eve loves deeply, she’s terrible at demonstrating that love. Villanelle, at the very least, makes sure to not leave the people she loves behind (although her tendency to hurt those she loves when they disappoint her might outweigh the positive aspects).

I think that between Eve and Villanelle, Villanelle is the least likely to get over the feelings they shared. Eve is more resilient in emotional situations, and can rise above their relationship. She already showed the ability to say no to something she thought she wanted.

But think about Anna, back at the end of season 1. When Villanelle spoke to her, she cried. And she was unable to shoot. She loved Anna, even after “getting over” her. Her relationship with Eve was much more memorable than that, and will likely leave a much larger footprint.

Eve might get over Villanelle, but Villanelle will never get over Eve. So what will she do? There’s no playful chase now. Villanelle will either run as far away from Eve as possible, or she’ll turn back and seek to eliminate her weakness. She’ll try to make sure Eve stays dead.

And so, in many ways, we’re back to square one. But with much heavier baggage.

A release date for Killing Eve season 3 has yet to be announced, but we’re already excited for the possibilities. This show has not disappointed us yet, and it shows no signs of slowing down. While it’s sad that we probably have to wait at least a year to see more of Eve and Villanelle, we can be sure that it’s going to be high-quality stuff — and that it’ll answer most, if not all, of our questions.