how did peaky blinders season 6 end

Peaky Blinders season 6 ends with Tommy Shelby faking his own death, discovering he is not actually dying, and riding off to start a new life after burning his old one to the ground.

Final episode: what actually happens

• Tommy has been told he has an inoperable tuberculoma and only a short time to live, so he spends the finale tying up loose ends and preparing for death.

• He confronts his enemies, settles scores, and prepares to “clean” the Shelby name and business before he supposedly dies.

Key plot beats in the ending

1. Michael vs Tommy
   • Michael is finally released and plots to kill Tommy as revenge for Polly’s death, believing it is “by order of the Peaky Blinders.”

 * Tommy outsmarts him: the assassination plan backfires and Tommy personally kills Michael, ending that long-running rivalry.

2. The traitor and Finn’s exile
   • Duke and Isiah lure Billy Grade (the informant) to a trap and Duke executes him.

 * Finn sides with Billy, fails to carry out the family’s order, and is disowned by Duke “by order of the Peaky Blinders,” effectively casting Finn out of the Shelby family.

3. Arthur’s revenge on the IRA
   • Arthur sets up a brutal showdown with the IRA cell responsible for Polly’s murder, led by Laura McKee.

 * The Peaky Blinders use gas in the ambush; Arthur kills McKee, finally avenging Polly’s death but remaining mentally shattered.

Tommy’s “illness” twist

• After Ruby’s death, Tommy was told by Dr. Holford that he had a terminal brain tumor and began preparing to die.

• In the finale, a vision/visit from Ruby leads him to realise the diagnosis was a lie and that he has been manipulated.

• Tommy discovers:
  • The doctor is in league with Oswald Mosley and Diana Mitford.
  • The fake diagnosis was a way to remove him from the board without openly killing him.

• He confronts Dr. Holford in a field, holds a gun to his head, but ultimately spares his life, choosing not to become the man they expected him to be.

Family, business, and the “death” of Tommy Shelby

• Lizzie leaves Tommy after discovering his affair with Diana Mitford and, grieving Ruby, takes Charlie, who chooses to go with her rather than stay with his father.

• Tommy has his grand house blown up to create affordable housing for working-class families in Birmingham, literally destroying the symbol of his old power and guilt.

• He rearranges the Shelby empire:
  • Hands control of the legitimate business to Ada, positioning her as the new political and business leader of the family.

* Brings Duke fully into the fold as a true Shelby enforcer while Finn is cast out, signalling a generational shift.

The final images: rebirth, not closure

• After putting his affairs in order, Tommy goes off in a gypsy caravan, planning to die alone once the “tumor” kills him.

• When he learns the illness was faked, he walks away from the caravan, which is then burned, along with the rest of his possessions.

• In the last shots:
  • The burning wagon represents the death of “Tommy Shelby, MP, gangster, industrialist.”

* Tommy mounts a white horse and rides away, alive, with nothing and no one officially knowing he survived, leaving him free to start again.

In story terms, the series ends with Tommy “dead” to the world, but alive and mentally reset — a clear setup for the planned follow‑up film and “next generation” spin‑off.

TL;DR:
Tommy settles scores (killing Michael, avenging Polly, purging the traitor), gives the business to Ada, disowns Finn, embraces Duke, discovers his terminal illness was a fascist plot, burns his old life in a caravan fire, and rides off on a white horse to an unknown future — legally and symbolically “dead,” but very much alive.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.