Contains spoilers for this episode and earlier episodes.
Julia lowers her weapon and reunites with Spike, explaining why she disappeared rather than carry out Vicious's demand. They consider leaving together and visit Annie, only to find their old ally dying from a gunshot wound. Spike arms himself to confront the syndicate, and Julia refuses to let him face the danger alone. Their escape from another attack takes them across the rooftops, where a gunman shoots Julia. She dies in Spike's arms before the future they imagined can begin. Vicious, now controlling the Red Dragon, continues preparing for the confrontation that Spike is no longer willing to postpone.
Spike returns to the Bebop and shares a final meal and a story with Jet. Faye tries to stop him from leaving, saying that recovering her own past brought her nowhere she could call home. Spike explains his false eye and the way his earlier life remains present to him, then goes despite her protests. At syndicate headquarters, he fights upward through the guards with Shin's help until Shin is killed. Spike reaches Vicious, and their duel brings pistol and sword together at close range. Each returns the other's displaced weapon before the last exchange: Spike shoots Vicious, while Vicious cuts him. Spike walks down the stairs gravely wounded, points a finger as if it were a gun and collapses. The final image ends his journey without confirming whether he survives.