Money Heist Season 5 Ending Explained: Deception, Freedom, and a New Beginning

Everything eventually came to a stop as the final five episodes of Money Heist were released this week. This series, filled with emotional losses, unexpected romances, and underwater crimes, has finally wrapped up. What started as a near-canceled show turned into one of Netflix’s biggest international hits.

Its themes of love, greed, and rebellion against capitalism draw fans across continents. At the beginning of the Bank of Spain operation, The Professor (Álvaro Morte) made his bold plan known: he was going to extract large quantities of gold within hours.

The strategy was to melt the gold and then use an oil drill, which he and his brother Berlin (Pedro Alonso) had stolen, to shoot the liquid metal out of the bank very fast. This plan was what his team knew about. But that was all.

Because he didn’t want anyone breaking under pressure from the authorities, The Professor didn’t share the destination of the gold—not even with himself. That little decision ended up being very key.

By the time the episode titled “A Family Tradition” reached the middle, Colonel Tamayo (Fernando Cayo) found himself caught between two impossible choices. Spain’s economy was already on edge, and without gold in the vault, total collapse seemed likely.

But the robbers wouldn’t say where the gold was. Tamayo tried to bribe Denver (Jaime Lorente) with promises of freedom and millions of euros if he gave up the location. Although Denver hesitated, he eventually said no. That forced Tamayo to accept The Professor’s terms.

Those words The Professor kept repeating—that either both sides win or both lose—came into play here. He agreed to return the gold to the bank only if Tamayo guaranteed the safety of his team and delivered a public address. Tamayo agreed.

As soon as he completed the speech, trucks started arriving at the bank carrying what appeared to be gold bars. But if you’ve followed this show closely, you’d know there’s always more than meets the eye. Those bars were not real gold.

They were brass painted to look like gold. Tamayo became furious and threatened The Professor and his group. But The Professor came prepared, as usual. He asked what value gold had except what people believed about it. Since the country thought it had recovered its gold, then the gold was restored.

Countries don’t trade using physical bars, so perception was all that mattered. At that point, Tamayo had two choices: keep the fake gold a secret and be hailed as the man who saved the economy, or expose the lie and throw the nation into financial ruin.

Either way, he wasn’t going to find the real gold. So he had to pick between protecting the illusion or destroying everything.

What Did Tamayo Choose?

The final 15 minutes didn’t give a direct answer about what Tamayo eventually decided.

As Coldplay’s “Fix You” played in the background, a government official publicly announced the supposed deaths of Rio (Miguel Herrán), Bogotá (Hovik Keuchkerian), Manila (Belén Cuesta), Pamplona, Helsinki (Darko Perić), Stockholm (Esther Acebo), Palermo (Rodrigo de la Serna), Lisbon (Itziar Ituño), and The Professor.

But similar to the earlier fake-out with the gold hidden in the ocean, this was another well-planned trick. Toward the end of the episode, all the crew members came out alive from body bags. They were finally free—and about to become extremely wealthy.

The closing scene then jumped forward by 24 hours. Everyone was coming back together. Denver met up again with the rest of the team, and The Professor addressed the group. He admitted that things didn’t go exactly how they had planned.

Not everyone made it to the finish line, but they still achieved what they set out to do. They robbed the Bank of Spain and got away, even with government vehicles escorting them out. That’s not a bad outcome at all.

What Was Rafael’s Role in the Whole Thing?

Since none of the main team members knew where the gold ended up, Rafael (Patrick Criado) was the one responsible for that part of the plan. Berlin’s son and The Professor’s nephew, Rafael, along with his girlfriend Tatiana (Diana Gómez), were tasked with keeping the treasure safe.

And they did just that by hiding it in a house. But things changed when Alicia Sierra (Najwa Nimri) entered the picture looking for some bargaining power. For a moment, it seemed like she might either run off with the gold or hand it over to Tamayo in exchange for a deal.

Instead, she passed a note from The Professor to Rafael. Just like that, she had joined forces with him.

Where Did the Gold End Up in Money Heist?

Though we know the gold isn’t inside the Bank of Spain anymore and also not sitting in Rafael’s house, its exact location remains unclear until the end. When The Professor asked Sierra about it, she answered vaguely.

She explained that she had moved the house and transferred all the gold somewhere in Portugal. Now, these fake dead people had one more task ahead: go abroad and retrieve it.

What Became of Everyone at the End?

Even though the journey was filled with danger and close calls, things wrapped up on a good note for most of the characters. After Lisbon pointed out that The Professor seemed addicted to planning heists—something that even happened in an episode of Rick and Morty—he asked her to marry him.

She accepted immediately, sealing their bond in both crime and love. Denver also found closure. After kissing Manila, he had a change of heart and chose to be with Stockholm instead. One of the last scenes of the series showed the two of them kissing with sunlight behind them, while Manila looked on with happiness.

As for the rest of the crew, they came out of everything as well as one could expect. Rio was still mourning the loss of Tokyo (Úrsula Corberó), and there was a quiet moment between Helsinki and Palermo that showed some form of emotional healing. But eventually, everyone seemed glad to be alive—and incredibly rich.

Their next big job? Who knows—maybe something even more ambitious than robbing a national bank.