‘Power Book II: Ghost’ Ending, Explained

Warning: This story contains spoilers for the finale of "Power Book II: Ghost."

Fans had a lot to unpack following the explosive final season of Starz's hit "Power" spinoff, "Power Book II: Ghost," which ended in true crime-drama style: murder, mayhem and plenty of drama.

As a continuation of "Power," "Power Book II: Ghost" follows Tariq St. Patrick after he kills his father, James "Ghost" St. Patrick (Omari Hardwick), a notorious drug kingpin. Though he's suspected of the murder, his mom Tasha (Naturi Naughton) decides to take the blame before later pinning it on Ghost's best friend, Tommy Egan (Joseph Sikora), another notorious New York drug dealer.

As Tommy flees to another state to avoid being arrested, Tasha is put into witness protection along with her young daughter Yasmin.

Naughton, who has played the matriarch of the St. Patrick family for ten years, tells TODAY.com that in the final season of "Power Book II: Ghost," Tasha has only one focus: keeping her family safe.

"I think her mindset is just, 'Keep Tariq alive, protect the family and hopefully unite us again,'" she says. "They've been separated, and Tasha has been in hiding for so long that I think this season she's just been popping in a few times to just let Tariq know, just stay safe so that you can get back to your family. That's what ultimately matters to her. The importance of her family is at the forefront."

Season 4 centers on Tariq's deeper dive into the drug game as he attends college, and also follows his new partnership with Monet Tejada (Mary J. Blige), a New York drug queenpin who's as ruthless as she is fashionable.

As he works with her and her family to sell drugs, Tariq encounters a myriad of problems that he miraculously manages to escape from, with the help of his charismatic attorney Davis MacLean (Method Man), who isn't afraid to get his hands dirty for the right price.

Speaking to TODAY.com, Rainey Jr. says Tariq's decisions are fueled by two major things: his ambitions and survival.

"I think that's definitely the two main components, because he wants to survive, he wants to keep surviving so he could provide for his mom, Yasmin and grandma," he explains. "Survival and then ambition, that's just instilled in him from his pops. Like this ambition to be on top, the ambition to be that number one guy."

But, unlike previous seasons, Tariq is now working against two treacherous adversaries: Noma (Caroline Chikezie), the dangerous and merciless British drug lord from Season 2, and Detective Don Carter (Michael Ealy), a respected but dirty cop who has a vendetta against drug dealers.

Over the course of 10 episodes, Tariq must not only navigate the treacherous drug game, but find his footing as he grapples with his own survival and saving the lives of those he loves.

Read on to learn what happens in the final episode of "Power Book II: Ghost."

What happens in the final episode of 'Power Book 2: Ghost'? In the final episode of "Power Book 2: Ghost," titled "Ghost in the Machine," Tariq is given another chance to kill Carter after his previous attempt goes awry. But he hesitates after Carter threatens to have the video surveillance of him and Brayden (Gianni Paolo) killing a local drug dealer released by a member of his police task force if his turns up dead.

Tariq sends Brayden and Effie (Alix Lapri) to Carter's house to find and delete the video, but the original file is only accessible at the police department. However, their efforts aren't a total waste; while there, they learn that Carter was the one who killed Officer Kamaal Tate, the brother of Councilman Rashad Tate.

Using that as leverage, in addition to Davis' discovery that Carter was the shooter in multiple crime scenes, Tariq gets Carter to agree to a truce and to give him Noma's location.

Meanwhile, the Tejada siblings (Cane, Dru and Diana) are back home and still grappling with the loss of their mother. After trying to figure out their next move, they finally agree to ambush Noma now that they have her exact location. But things go left when they get there and realize that Noma is nowhere to be found.

So, they decide to kidnap Noma's daughter Anya (Sydney Winbush) — who recently learned about her mother's criminal ties — as a way to get to Noma.

When Noma returns to find her daughter missing, she vows to get her back even though her brother is against her leaving and advises her to go into hiding. Chikezie tells TODAY.com why Noma is willing to put her life in jeopardy for her daughter.

"Keeping Anya safe, keeping her daughter safe is everything to her," she says. "So that makes her vulnerable, right? And then the other side of it, of the business side, is that she is in a male dominated environment, so she has to be a boss. So it's just about balancing that for her vulnerabilities — her daughter, family, and the business side."

Tariq, meanwhile, tells the Tejadas (Cane, Dru and Diana) that he can get Anya to talk since they have a history together. But he says he'll only do it under one condition: they find a way to delete Carter's surveillance of him and Brayden killing Zion, another drug dealer.

They agree, and Monet Tejada's son Dru (Lovell Adams-Gray) uses his relationship with Carter to get into his office and delete the video while Tariq makes Anya believe that he's saving her from the Tejadas when he's actually setting her up.

As she debates whether she wants to go back to her mom after finding out she's a drug kingpin, Anya unwittingly agrees to show Tariq to her mom's hideout location so she can be reunited.

But as Anya exits the car and walks up the steps to greet her mom, Cane (Woody McClain) and Diana (LaToya Tonodeo) ambush them and Diana kills Anya right in front of her mother.

With Noma now undoubtedly focused on revenge, Dru and Tariq discuss the next steps to deal with both Carter and Noma.

Their plan is hatched: Dru gives Carter a location where he can find Tariq and kill him. But when he shows up, Tariq, Dru and Brayden ambush him Carter and reveal that they now have evidence that ties him to the murder of Officer Kamaal Tate.

"We own you," Tariq says, before telling Carter that his only option is to blame Kamaal's death on Nico, another dirty officer in his task force.

But as soon as Carter agrees, Nico walks in with a gun pointed at him.

"I'm here to take a cop killer to jail," he tells Carter.

Now with Carter in jail, the Tejadas and Tariq turn their focus onto Noma. Their plan is to book her jet and wait for her to show up at the private airport hangar. But when she learns of it, she calls the police on them.

As Dru and Diana are being taken into custody by police, Cane finds Noma, confronts her, and kills her by shooting her in the head.

The police proceed to have a shootout with the Tejadas, but Cane manages to escape.

Later, Davis works to get Dru and Diana cleared of their crimes by putting the sole blame on the now dead Noma as the drug queenpin behind all the recent drug related crimes and murders. Federal law enforcement agrees to the deal, and Davis, who had previously lost his law license, gets it reinstated as part of the agreement.

Cane, meanwhile, is recovering at a local motel room. There, Effie offers him money to get out of town, which he seems to agree to.

Back at the Tejada house, Dru tells Diana that he's done with the family drug business. "It's over," he says, before he packs up and leaves.

Diana, now alone, looks sad and melancholy as she reflects on the past.

In the aftermath, Tariq visits his mom in witness protection and tells her that she will finally be able to be free. But he says she can't stay in New York with him. "I can't keep putting the people I love in danger," he explains.

She's upset with the news, but ultimately agrees to it.

Tariq meets with Effie and Brayden and says there's a new "chain of command" in their drug business. He tells them that everything goes through him, and Brayden can no longer be his partner because of his past indiscretions, specifically his recent erratic behavior and drug use.

Tariq then meets with Noma's brother, Chinedu, who seems unaffected by his sister's death after she took matters into her own hands, to make a new deal. Tariq now wants to lead the New York drug business, with Noma's brother supplying the product, since he now has an agreement with Carter's former task force to fly under law enforcement's radar.

"No one will know where this product is coming from. They won't know where the money is going. They won't even know that we know each other. After today you won't ever have to see my face ever again. Look, the machine is ready to go as soon as I say go. After that I'm basically..." Tariq says before Noma's brother adds, "A ghost?"

"Yeah, a ghost," Tariq says right before the credits end.

What happens at the end of "Power Book 2: Ghost," according to Michael Rainey Jr. "Power Book 2: Ghost" ends with the arrest of Detective Don Carter, a dirty New York cop, and the death of British drug lord Noma Asaju, both of whom are Tariq's biggest enemies.

With his adversaries no longer in the picture, including drug queenpin Monet Tajada, who killed in the penultimate episode of "Power Book 2: Ghost," Tariq can now assert himself as the new leader of the New York drug trade.

To do so, he makes a deal with Noma's brother to supply him with drugs, and works with Carter's dirty task force to ensure he stays under the police's radar.

Rainey Jr. offers insight on the final scene, telling TODAY.com that Tariq's actions are "strategic."

"He makes things happen, so he can end up in positions where he can't lose," he says. "Like all of that. From coming down to him speaking to Noma's brother, like he wanted that position. So all of that had to happen in order for him to get to Noma's brother. And he made sure all of that happened."

He also reveals to TODAY.com, that the last moments of the finale show him finally "at peace" with the fact that he's just like his father.

"So now he's in that position, he sets things up and he's just like Ghost," he says. "Ghost makes sure certain things happen so he can end up in that position that he wants to be in. And he definitely accepted that. He's like Ghost, for sure... (and) he's at peace with it now. He's like, "Listen, man, I'm Ghost, and this is just what it is, I'm here now."

"So that's definitely a scene of him accepting the real reality," he adds.

Does Ghost return in "Power Book 2: Ghost"? Much to many fans' disappointment, James "Ghost" St. Patrick does not make a return in the final season of "Power Book 2: Ghost."

Though Ghost was killed off in "Power" many fans have speculated that he faked his own death and would eventually make a return in his power spinoff.

Hardwick also addressed a possible return to the franchise in a May 2023 interview with the Associated Press . He said Starz asked him to "come back" before Season 3 of "Power Book II: Ghost" aired.

"It would just have to be the perfect thing," Hardwick said. "When I was offered this [role in "The Mother"], when I was in Boston reading this script, I was in Boston saying, 'Okay, then this [salary he requested], and then this went to Starz, and they didn't come back giving me what I wanted."

Ultimately, Hardwick noted that there were two things that he needed in order to confirm his return: an agreement to his terms and the perfect storyline.

In an interview with TODAY.com, Naughton confirmed that Ghost would not be returning to the franchise and said fans needed to finally accept it.

"Ghost is not returning, because he really is dead, and he's not coming back," she says. "And I hate that that is our reality, because I loved working with Omari Hardwick. And it's even hard for me to believe sometimes, like, really, there's no Ghost for real, for real."

She continues, "But for the fans, they need to know this really is the end, and it's the end of an era, the end of the chapter. The end of Ghost was really the end of his life. Now, obviously, if way down the line, he comes back as a ghost, you know, that's always a possibility, but I will say for this, the fans should probably release that fantasy and let it go. He's not coming back."

Though some of the cast, like Adams-Gray, said they could see "a place for him to come back," whether he's an actual ghost or in a another spinoff, Michael Rainey Jr. says the return of Ghost just wouldn't make sense.

"I don't think it would make sense only because of the way he was killed ... he's killed, literally shot right to his heart," he says. "Like, I don't know how you're coming back from that."

Will there be a "Power Book 2: Ghost" spinoff? No, a new "Power Book" spinoff following the St. Patrick family has not been announced.

However, there are currently three other series in the "Power" universe: "Power Book IV: Force," "Power Book III: Raising Kanan," and recently announced "Power: Origins."

Like "Power Book II: Ghost," "Power Book IV: Force" is a spinoff to "Power." It follows Tommy Egan as moves to Chicago from New York to avoid being arrested for Ghost's murder. There, he sets up shop and recruits others to take over the city's drug game.

However in June, Starz announced that the third season of "Power Book IV: Force" would be its the final season.

"Power Book III: Raising Kanan" is a prequel to "Power," it follows the journey of a young Kanan Stark, Ghost's early mentor, as he enters into the drug-dealing game in the 1990s and eventually becomes the antagonist in "Power."

In March, Starz announced a fifth series in the "Power" universe, "Power: Origins." It focuses on the early years of James "Ghost" St. Patrick and Tommy Egan during the 1990s and explores their rise in New York City's criminal underworld. It will feature younger versions of key characters, including Ghost, Tommy, Angela, and Tasha.

A release date for "Power: Origins" has yet to be announced.

While "Power Book II: Ghost" has officially come to an end, Naughton and Rainey Jr. are optimistic about the future of the "Power" universe.

Naughton tells TODAY.com that if Starz were to launch another "Power" spinoff following the St. Patrick family, she'd love for it to be centered on her character's journey after she gets out of witness protection.

"If I had my druthers, I would always do a 'Power' Tasha spinoff and see what's going on with her witness protection and her creating her own," she says, before teasing her character's storyline. "She becomes like a queenpin and really showing a more female driven world of this drug game."

"I thought it would be really interesting to see Tasha be the boss in a way that we don't expect in a new territory," she continues. "And maybe that could be it. And then rejoining with her son, Tariq, I would love to see a world where Tasha and Tommy are actually not enemies anymore ... and see how they can build an empire."

Though Rainey Jr. had similar sentiments on seeing Tariq flourish as the new drug kingpin, his immediate focus for a new spinoff would be to see Tariq and Brayden get back on the same page.

"It's such an open ending. There's so many like ways it could go," he says, referring to the end of "Power Book II: Ghost."

"[But], it bothered me ... seeing him and Brayden kind of parting ways towards it," he explains. "And it's like, 'Oh, not the homies.' It kind of brought me back to when Ghost and Tommy are bumping heads and getting into beef and stuff like that. And I feel if there was a way I could continue it, they (would) get back right and take over. That's what I would do."