What’s the Story of Hitman?
Now, before we talk about the Hitman 3 ending, it’d be better if we started things off with what the game’s story is about and what led to the events so far. The World of Assassination revolves around the mysterious assassin, Agent 47, who is a contract killer for the International Contract Agency. However, after taking out a series of hits under Diana Burnwood, Agent 47 discovers that his kills weren’t so random. Instead, most of the hits were members of the secret organization, Providence, with the Shadow Client, yet another secret organization, behind these contracts. In Hitman 2, Providence somehow manages to convince Burnwood to set Agent 47’s sights on the Shadow Client instead. Agent 47 agrees, but only if he receives more information about himself, in particular, his past. After carrying out yet another series of hits though, Agent 47 finds out more about his past, which convinces him to work with the Shadow Client instead, who turns out to be one of his old pals, Lucas Grey. The two of them find out that behind the Providence are three partners, as well as a second-in-command, referred to only as The Constant. The Constant, who is eventually revealed to be Arthur Edwards, then attempts to rebuild the Providence by setting up a series of hits against the three partners. He even manages to convince Burnwood to turn on Agent 47. He reveals to Burnwood that Agent 47 was responsible for taking our her parents and convinces her to join his side by offering him his position as The Constant. During the game’s last few chapters, it will appear that Burnwood had accepted the deal. She even goes as far as to knock out Agent 47.
What Does the Hitman 3 Ending Mean?
If there’s one constant theme in the Hitman 3 franchise, it’s deception. As we later find out, Burnwood planned all of this. The reason why she agreed to give Agent 47 over to Arthur Edwards was so he could get the assassin close to The Constant. After Edwards takes him inside a train so that he could turn him into his own killing machine, Agent 47 wakes up, does his thing where he kills everyone on sight, and eventually confronts Edwards himself. At this point, the players will have two choices: kill Edwards or wipe his memory. Either way, the outcome is the same. Burnwood ends up being the chief decision-maker of The Providence, an authority she plans to use to dismantle the entire organization from the inside.
How the Hitman 3 Ending Sets Up the Future of the Franchise
The game’s epilogue leaves the series open for a sequel as Agent 47 gives Burnwood a call to let her know that he hasn’t hung up the proverbial gloves just yet. But, unlike before, he wants to focus his efforts on taking out powerful people, perhaps wanting to prevent shadow organizations like Providence from rising up and assuming control. But, wait, there’s more. Apparently, there’s a third and secret ending to Hitman 3. When facing off against Edwards, you can choose not to inject Edwards with the serum or kill him. Instead, if you wait for about a minute after picking up the serum, you’ll be given the option to wipe away all of the memories of Agent 47 by injecting yourself with the serum. After this, you’ll see Agent 47 waking up inside a padded room where a mysterious voice wakes him up in a scene that feels all too familiar as this is the exact same sequence from the original Hitman game that released way back in 2000. So, in a way, everything still comes full circle because of the Hitman 3 ending. Now, IO Interactive has yet to come out and confirm which of the game’s three endings is canon, but regardless of which one is canon or not, the door is open for more Hitman titles in the future. Of course, we’ll have to wait for a while to see if IO Interactive will release a sequel to the game or not. As of the moment, IO Interactive is currently busy working on a James Bond game while releasing more content for Hitman 3.
