‘The Terminal List’ Season 2: Everything to Remember From Season 1 & ‘Dark Wolf’

The Terminal List Season 2 is about to pick up where not one, but two stories left off.

The new season brings together the events of The Terminal List Season 1 and its prequel series, The Terminal List: Dark Wolf, as James Reece (Chris Pratt) is pulled into a new mission that forces him to confront both his recent past and people he once fought beside.

That means there is quite a bit to remember before Season 2 begins. From Reece’s bloody quest for revenge in The Terminal List, which ultimately led him to confront Ben Edwards (Taylor Kitsch), to the events that brought him together with Mo Farooq (Dar Salim) in Dark Wolf, here’s where both stories left off and what you need to remember heading into Season 2.

What happened in Season 1 of The Terminal List?

Based on the series by Jack Carr, The Terminal List followed Lieutenant Commander James Reece as he sought vengeance after discovering that his Navy SEAL platoon had been betrayed as part of a corrupt military drug trial. Reece and his men had developed brain tumors as a result.

Yes, James Reece is slowly dying from a terminal brain tumor.

Because of this, powerful decision-makers in Washington purposefully sent the team into a rigged, unwinnable ambush in Syria after discovering that the drug had given the men fatal brain tumors. They wanted to wipe out the evidence on the battlefield.

After Reece survived, contracted assassins raided his home and shot his pregnant wife, Lauren (Riley Keough), and his daughter, Lucy (Arlo Mertz), making it look like a botched home invasion. The motive was to silence Reece and prevent his family from discovering the truth after he survived the initial ambush in Syria.

The operation was orchestrated by the pharmaceutical company Capstone Industries and corrupt government officials to protect their illegal drug trial.

How did Season 1 of The Terminal List end?

Reece systematically executed the conspirators responsible, including billionaire Steve Horn (Jai Courtney) and corrupt military commanders. His final targets were Secretary of Defense Lorraine Hartley (Jeanne Tripplehorn) and his former friend Ben Edwards, who had helped enable the conspiracy.

Hartley authorized the illegal testing of an experimental drug on Navy SEALs. She then tried to cover up the conspiracy to protect her career and reputation. Rather than face trial or let Reece kill her, she pulled out a gun and shot herself.

The final moments of the series took place on Ben’s boat, where Reece confronted the man he once considered his brother. Ben’s reasoning? “The admiral swore you were already dead. You and the boys already had tumors. I thought, ‘Let them die with their f**king boots on rather than in some hospital bed.'” There was also the matter of the $20 million Ben received, of which he hadn’t spent a single dime.

Reece shot Ben on his boat, ending his revenge.

What happened in The Terminal List: Dark Wolf?

The seven-episode prequel The Terminal List: Dark Wolf followed Navy SEAL Ben Edwards (Taylor Kitsch) as he was pushed out of the military and recruited into CIA black ops alongside Raife Hastings (Tom Hopper) by spymaster Jed Haverford (Robert Wisdom).

The team also included Ben’s loyal fellow Navy SEAL Raife Hastings (Tom Hopper), unpredictable CIA contractor Jules Landry (Luke Hemsworth), Iraqi operative Mohammed “Mo” Farooq (Dar Salim), who was trained by Reece himself, and intelligence operative Tal Varon (Shiraz Tzarfati). Mo and Raife were ultimately framed alongside Ben after the CIA double-cross, while Tal helped uncover the conspiracy.

Their mission to recover nuclear centrifuge bearings took a deadly turn when Ben discovered Haverford was protecting a secret Iranian asset and had betrayed his own team. After surviving Haverford’s attempts to eliminate him, Ben reunited with James Reece and set out to expose Haverford. Ben ultimately turned over evidence of Haverford’s treachery to the authorities.

How did The Terminal List: Dark Wolf end?

A year later, Ben fully accepted that he could never return to an ordinary civilian life. He met with a representative from the CIA’s Ground Branch to interview for a permanent spot. When asked why he wanted to return to the shadows, Ben declared, “Because I belong here,” completing his psychological evolution into the hardened, morally gray operator seen in the original series

His experience in Dark Wolf left Ben hardened as he began to transform. No longer a soldier, no longer a CIA operative, and betrayed by his savior and commander, Ben was destroyed from the inside out, becoming the Edwards audiences know in The Terminal List. 

How do Season 1 and Dark Wolf tie into Season 2?

Based on Jack Carr’s True Believer, Season 2 will build directly on both The Terminal List Season 1 and Dark Wolf. With Reece’s revenge mission complete, the story shifts into an international espionage thriller that gives him a new purpose: Hunting down his former friend and ally, Mo Farooq, who appears to have aligned himself with terrorist forces in the years since Dark Wolf. The prequel provides the history between Reece and Mo while also introducing other key players who carry over into Season 2, including Raife Hastings and Jules Landry.

The Terminal List, Season 2, October 21, Prime Video

The Terminal List: Dark Wolf, Season 1, Streaming now, Prime Video