The Den of Thieves 2: Pantera ending saw more twists to cap off the exciting heist story which featured the return of Gerard Butler and O’Shea Jackson, Jr. Den of Thieves 2 hit theaters with a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score much higher than the original Den of Thieves. After the relatively gritty original, Den of Thieves 2: Pantera is a more complex and polished heist story that further develops the relationship between Nick and Donnie as they are both working together this time around.

The narrative begins with Nick leaving family court, implying that he was getting divorced, losing custody of his kids, and was very likely due to pay alimony to his wife. That provided sufficient motivation for him to use his authority as a law enforcement officer to continue investigating Donnie after he escaped with the money from the original heist of the LA Federal Reserve, and he tracked Donnie all the way to Nice, France. He reveals that he’s not there to bust Donnie, but rather to join his team of highly-trained specialists from across Europe, known collectively as the Panthers.

What Happens In Den Of Thieves 2’s Ending

The Successful Heist Hits An Unexpected End

After proving himself to both Donnie and the Panthers, Nick replaced two members of the team after a drunken nightclub fight, and bonded with Donnie over their similar backgrounds that ultimately led them down two separate paths. After considerable planning and legwork, Donnie, Nick, and the three remaining members of the Panthers execute an elaborate heist of the main vault at the World Diamond Center, in the process stealing back a rare pink diamond that Donnie had previously used as a way into the vault, and that belonged to the Sicilian Mafia.

After barely escaping the authorities in Nice, the Panthers are ambushed by a team led by their two former members and are ultimately trapped. However, they manage to escape with their lives and with their haul after their ᴀssailants are taken out by the Mafia, who seek their property back from Donnie and Nick. The Panthers appear to get away scot-free and meet as a group to celebrate with Slobodan, the mastermind behind the group. However, their celebration is interrupted by the Pantera Task Force, the law enforcement agents whose job it was to hunt down the group of thieves.

Den Of Thieves 2’s Big Nick Twist: Why He Betrayed The Panthers

The Movie’s Ending Saw Nick Reveal He Was Still A Cop

The Pantera Task Force finally catches up with the Panthers at a seaside resort as they all celebrate over their mᴀssive score with Slobodan, the gangland boss who greenlights all their missions. Caught red-handed with the evidence, they are all hauled away immediately, but Nick is released by Hugo, the Task Force leader he was first in contact with and later met at a church with his children. Nick is revealed to have given up the Panthers to the Task Force despite appearing to be a legitimate part of the team through the entire heist process.

Nick’s betrayal reveals that despite what appeared to be legitimate bonding not only with Donnie but with the entire Panthers team, he remained a cop at heart. Interestingly, he appears to be genuinely conflicted once he’s released by Hugo, and doesn’t appear to enjoy the team’s arrest at all. It’s evident that Nick got in far deeper than he intended to with Donnie and the Panthers, and may have even truly intended to break bad, and ᴀssist in the heist, but somewhere along the line, he decided to stay true to his background.

The Mafia Breaks Donnie Out Of Prison & Recruit Him

Donnie’s Work On The World Diamond Center Heist Impresses The Sicilian Mafia

The airplane hangar heist that Donnie executes at the beginning of Den of Thieves 2: Pantera is just the first step in his ultimate plan to rob the World Diamond Center. He robbed the plane to get the real diamonds that it carried, which would help him pose as a West African diamond dealer and give him a legitimate route into the WDC. Unfortunately, the diamonds that he robs from the plane, including a mᴀssive, seemingly rare pink diamond, belong to the Sicilian Mafia, who eventually discover that Donnie is responsible.

The mafiosos snatch both Donnie and Nick for an oceanic threat against their lives if they don’t return the pink diamond, which acts as a major motivator for both to pull off the heist. When they are trapped by their former teammate Marko in the mountains outside Nice, it’s the Mafia that saves them. Once the pink diamond is returned, they follow a sort of criminal code of honor and ᴀssist them in escaping.

The real Mafia operates on all the major continents with various levels of criminal organization and membership that have changed over time.

Once Donnie is imprisoned after Nick turns on the Panthers, it’s those same Mafia members who ambush Donnie’s prison transport (with helicopters in broad daylight, no less) and break him out of custody. He’s transported to Sardinia, where he meets the protected and hidden Mafia don known as “The Octopus”. Donnie is presented with the opportunity to work directly for the Mafia, as the Octopus was extremely impressed with the World Diamond Center heist.

Did Nick Help Break Donnie Out Of Prison?

He Certainly Seemed To Be In On The Plan

Before Donnie is moved out of the prison in Nice, Nick takes him into a room for a one-on-one chat, where he reveals that most of what he said and did as a member of the Panthers was genuine. It’s implied that their one-on-one conversations in particular were truthful, but even if they might be more alike than different, “a tiger just can’t change his stripes.” Nick appears to regret his decision to turn Donnie in, and that guilt might have played a role in Donnie’s escape.

If Nick was the one responsible for moving Donnie out of the prison to be transported elsewhere, then he may have done so with the blessing of the Mafia, or at least the ᴀssumption that they would be coming for Donnie when he was en route. While it’s never specifically revealed, Nick may have actually broken bad after turning the Panthers in, and could be working hand-in-hand with the Mafia moving forward, as he certainly seems like he was in on the Mafia’s plan to break Donnie out and get him working again.

The World Diamond Center Heist’s Plan Explained

The Plan Depended On Precision Movements And Advanced Technology

All the traditional hallmarks of a heist movie are present, with hacked locks and security camera tricks, but one unique element of Den of Thieves 2: Pantera‘s World Diamond Center heist is how heavily it depended on timing. Jovanna, known as Cleopatra (Evin Ahmad), acts as the overwatch for the mission, and her job is to relay the timing of the security camera to Nick and the rest of the team as they move through the building. As the team notes in their breakdown of the WDC, there are 127 cameras but only 10 monitors are being watched at any given moment.

That means that there are constant blind spots as long as they stay within the areas of the building that aren’t being monitored at each specific 90-second interval. Cleopatra’s guidance helps them move down through the building from the roof without being seen, and from there, a clever array of gadgets and pre-placed chemical solutions help them stay out of sight and get into the vault. Their escape goes wrong when the pole they used to move from the roof of the next building over onto the WDC breaks, exposing their presence and separating Nick from the group.

What Gerard Butler and O’Shea Jackson, Jr. Said About Den Of Thieves 2’s Ending

The Movie’s Stars Gave Their Opinion On The Twist

In an exclusive interview with Screen Rant, Gerard Butler and O’Shea Jackson, Jr. provided their own perspectives on the movie’s twist ending, which sees Nick turn Donnie and the Panthers into the Pantera Task Force. Butler noted that the ending of Den of Thieves 2: Pantera was great because it evens the score between Donnie and Nick, and theoretically means they can go their separate ways with mutual respect.

I love that it is two guys going, “I see you. We’re quits now. I feel like you’ve had your moment in the sun [and] I’ve had my moment in the sun…I’m not quite running off into the sunset with you, but I see you, I’m doing my thing, you’re doing your thing, and maybe [we’ll give each other] a pᴀss.”

Jackson Jr. provided a follow-up to his character’s monologue about his poor upbringing and what drives him to continue to pull off robberies in the interview. In the movie, he noted that for him, the motivation wasn’t necessarily accumulating wealth, it was about the challenge of actually accomplishing the heist, about getting in and getting out unseen. When asked about how Donnie would handle working for the Mafia, Jackson Jr. replied:

With Donnie’s life choice, Donnie is forcing himself into quicksand at every opportunity, [and] every corner. He said it himself—it’ll never stop. There’s a weird, sick part of that guy who likes another challenge.

How Den Of Thieves Pantera Sets Up Den Of Thieves 3

The Finale Left The Door Open For Round 3 Between Nick And Donnie

Gerard Butler loosely promised a Den of Thieves 3 already, and the sequel’s narrative plays into that promise perfectly. Donnie’s story is easy to continue and scale up, as he now works for the real Mafia, an organization with seemingly unlimited resources and the authority (unrecognized by the law, of course) to pull off a prison transport ᴀssault with helicopters in broad daylight. He will be able to pull off something even more complex than the World Diamond Center heist, although what that might be remains to be seen.

Nick’s narrative has a couple of open paths, but his arc in Den of Thieves 2: Pantera points in one direction much more clearly. He could continue to act as a law enforcement agent, likely gaining a promotion after taking down the Panthers (he could become a member of Interpol, for example, to track Donnie and the Mafia on a global level). Given the extreme guilt he showed at betraying Donnie and the Panthers, though, the more interesting track for Nick is to see him legitimately break bad, and genuinely put his skills to work for Donnie and the Mafia.

The Real Meaning Of Den Of Thieves 2: Pantera

The Movie Focuses On How Difficult It Is To Go Against One’s Nature

At its core, Den of Thieves 2: Pantera is an examination of how difficult it is to truly go against your own nature. Donnie and Nick represent two sides of the same coin: Donnie is confident in who and what he is, while Nick finds that his motivations may not be as firm as he initially believed once they’re challenged. His specific team on the LASD had already bent the laws at times in Den of Thieves, and his rogue nature was what made him such an effective law enforcement officer.

Nick’s final conversation with Donnie reveals his true belief, in that “a tiger can’t change his stripes,” which drove his actions in Den of Thieves 2: Pantera.

With no family to be a “good guy” for, it was easy for him to fall in with the Panthers. However, once reminded of everything he gave up for law enforcement when he sees Hugo with his ex-wife, Nick turns to what he has always been. His final conversation with Donnie reveals his true belief, in that “a tiger can’t change his stripes,” which drove his actions in Den of Thieves 2: Pantera. However, he had that belief legitimately challenged, and the plot of Den of Thieves 3 could prove whether these words still hold true for him.

How The Den Of Thieves 2 Ending Was Received

The Overall Reception Was Positive

The reception to Den of Thieves 2 was overall quite solid, making it a surprising sequel that actually earned a stronger critical reception than its predecessor. However, the movie’s ending highlighted the more mixed aspects of the reviews with some deeming it a satisfying ending to a fun ride while others feeling like it was a symptom of a bloated action thriller.

In the review for The Daily Beast, it was pointed out that the ending helped to solidify the duo of Nick and Donnie despite the fact that they ended on opposite sides of the law. Indeed, the chemistry between the two characters was regarded as one of the stronger aspects of the sequel that was not in the original movie. This review suggests the ending sets up this relationship to continue:

Nonetheless, there’s no definite resolution to be found in Den of Thieves 2: Pantera; regardless of the momentous choices made by both Big Nick and Donnie, their ultimate fates are left hanging in the air, the better to set up additional sequels designed around their fluctuating love-hate dynamic.

Similarly, the review for The Hollywood Reporter was not overwhelming in its praise of the movie nor particularly impressed by its ending. They also acknowledged that the ending clearly leaves the door open for a sequel and that it is best enjoyed like the rest of the movie — not thinking about it too much:

Den of Thieves 2: Pantera cements its unlikely connection between the two main characters with a twist ending that doesn’t really make any sense but firmly provides the opportunity for the inevitable next installment.

However, not all the reviews were as forgiving of the movie or its ending. In Screen Rant’s own review of Den of Thieves 2: Pantera, the sequel was criticized as an overstuffed thriller that squandered its potential. Its ending was seen as a symptom of the messy writing with developments that were not shocking but rather baffling:

Two of the characters disappear at one point in the film and don’t reappear until the film nears its end. I’m sure it was meant to be considered some sort of twist within the story, but there’s such a shallow buildup to it that I was surprised when they unnecessarily showed back up again.