Who Really Wins The Race In Twisted Metal Season 2 Ending Explained

Twisted Metal Season 2 ends with the showdown fans were waiting for.

Twisted Metal season 2 closes with exactly the kind of chaos the show promised: a stadium of bloodthirsty fans, a death-race built for spectacle, and a winner who is... not who you were expecting.

Big spoilers ahead for the Twisted Metal season 2 finale.

Calypso finally throws the big one

The season ends with Calypso rolling out his dream tournament, a full-on demolition race where anything goes: ramming, shooting, smashing, and whatever else it takes until there is literally one car still moving. The place is packed, everyone is screaming, and the prize is the classic Calypso carrot: one wish.

Mayhem (the concept and the character) ensues

The race wipes out a ton of competitors fast. Most cars are toast before the midpoint. Then Calypso ups the nightmare by unleashing an 'unbeatable' killing machine that turns the arena into shrapnel city. John gets launched out of his ride while Sweet Tooth and Mr. Grimm do their best to scrap with the juggernaut. Quiet and Mayhem sprint to pull John out of the fire, and Quiet’s vehicle gets destroyed in the scramble.

Calypso, very pleased with himself, realizes his plan basically worked: almost everyone is dead or down for the count. No survivors, no winner, no wish. Except... one guy is still breathing.

So, who wins?

Stu. Yep. Stu is somehow still alive, he crosses the finish line, and that makes him the winner. Which means he gets that wish.

About that wish (and the very literal fine print)

Stu asks to be somewhere he and Michael can be safe. Calypso grants it in the most Calypso way possible: Stu is teleported to a spaceship drifting in the middle of space... with Michael’s dead body floating nearby. It is a wish granted to the letter, and absolutely the show’s most monkey’s-paw moment.

Do John and Quiet make it?

They do. John flatlines, but Quiet jump-starts his heart using jumper cables yanked from Sweet Tooth’s ice cream truck. After the dust settles, the two retreat to John’s childhood cabin and snag a brief slice of normal life. Naturally, it does not last long: Calypso goes on TV and frames them, basically lighting the fuse for whatever comes next.

Finale quick hits

• Calypso’s tournament is a last-car-standing bloodsport in a stadium full of fans; the winner gets one wish.
• Most vehicles are destroyed early; Calypso unleashes an 'unbeatable' killing machine to finish the job.
• John is thrown from his car; Sweet Tooth and Mr. Grimm try to take on the machine; Quiet and Mayhem pull John out; Quiet’s ride is wrecked.
• Calypso thinks nobody won... until Stu crosses the line and takes it.
• Stu wishes for a safe place for him and Michael and gets teleported to a spaceship, with Michael’s dead body floating around him. Wish granted, literally.
• John and Quiet survive; Quiet jump-starts John with cables from Sweet Tooth’s truck.
• They hide out at John’s childhood cabin before Calypso frames them on TV, setting up the next chapter.

Twisted Metal season 2 is now streaming on Peacock.