How Does Sully Die in Top Boy
The death of Sully (Gerard ‘Sully’ Sullivan), a central and complex figure in the crime drama Top Boy, marks one of the most explosive and ambiguous endings in recent television history. As the long-running conflict between loyalty, ambition, betrayal, and survival reaches its tragic conclusion in the final season, Sully’s demise represents the inevitable consequence of the path he walked a life defined by violence, power struggles, and personal sacrifices. His death occurs suddenly and without clear resolution, underscoring the show’s core message: in the criminal world of Summerhouse, no one truly escapes their past.
The Final Confrontation with Dushane
Sully’s final episode begins after he brutally executes Dushane’s chosen successor, Jamie Tovell, a decision that cements his position as sole leader of Summerhouse but also ignites further tensions. Dushane retaliates by stealing a stash of Sully’s drugs, setting off a chain reaction. Sully confronts Dushane, eventually shooting him in the chest. Dushane dies in an alleyway, uttering If we are not monsters, we’re foodÂ… and I could never be food, validating the ruthless code Sully has lived by.
Sully’s Revolutionary Rise and Fall
Having assumed total control, Sully’s leadership is shaky. He navigates alliances with dangerous Irish gangs while trying to maintain dominance in Summerhouse. His decisions including the killings of Jamie and Dushane earn him enemies across the criminal underworld. These acts further alienate others like Jaq and Stef, who deeply resent him for the violence he unleashed.
The Climactic Park Confrontation
In the tense penultimate scene, Sully meets Stefan Stef Tovell face to face. Stef had trained with Si to kill Sully as vengeance for his brother Jamie’s death. In the encounter, he points a gun, asking Sully, How does it feel? Sully, visibly broken, responds that he has been numb for a long time. Stef ultimately lowers the gun, walking away and rejecting violence himself choosing moral distance over retribution.
Sully’s Unexpected Assassination
Moments later, Sully sits in his car, preparing to leave his empire in disarray, his allies diminished. Suddenly, a bullet smashes through his car window, fired from a figure walking past. The shot is precise and final: Sully’s reign ends instantly as blood splatters across the windshield. The mysterious shooter is dressed in dark clothing, partially obscured, offering no explanation or identity.
Potential Suspects and Ambiguity
The show deliberately leaves Sully’s murderer unidentified symbolizing that too many enemies surround him. Theories abound:
- Stef: Though he held a gun to Sully earlier, his final hesitation and walk away cast doubt on him being the shooter.
- Jaq: As a devout opponent of Sully, who lost friends and opportunity due to his violence, she had motive and means many believed she was the likely assailant.
- Si or Irish gang associates: Si had grievances over earlier humiliation by Sully. External enemies, especially the McGee Irish gang that lost members to Sully, may have orchestrated the hit.
The Themes Behind Sully’s Death
Sully’s demise underscores recurring themes in Top Boy:
- Unavoidable consequences: Sully’s past actions created too many enemies to ever allow him safety.
- Power’s fragility: Even supreme control offered no protection when isolation and betrayal caught up.
- Moral ambiguity: No clear justice or vengeful hero his death is sudden, impersonal, and final.
Why the Ending Resonates
The finale’s abrupt and unresolved nature reflects Top Boy’s gritty realism. It avoids Hollywood closure and instead offers narrative fidelity: a man consumed by his ambition, destroyed quietly by unseen retaliation. Just as Sully was never the hero, his death lacks ceremony only stark consequence for a violent lifestyle built on fear and loyalty.
Final Reflection with Stef
The conversation between Sully and Stef in the park serves as thematic pivot. Stef’s moral decision to step away contrasts Sully’s tragic inability to transform. Sully’s comment, feelin’ done left me a long time ago, reveals his emotional desolation he embraced violence without meaning, eventually leading to his end at the hands of someone unseen.
Sully dies when an anonymous shooter fatally shoots him through the driver’s side window of his car, moments after rejecting retaliation from Stef and consolidating control over Summerhouse. His death is intentionally ambiguous, leaving fate unsanctioned and identity hidden. It stands not only as a dramatic turning point, but as a commentary on the price of power, the threat of retribution, and the cost of violence. In the final image, we see the shadows of enemies walking away a chilling reminder that in Top Boy, no empire endures forever, and everyone ultimately pays for the world they make.
: