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Grand Theft Auto 5’s single-player campaign may be straightforward, but the opposite is true of GTA 5‘s three endings, which gives people total control over the story’s dramatic conclusion. Stepping into the shoes of Franklin Clinton, the protagonist is faced with a difficult decision and given three utterly different options: kill Michael De Santa, kill Trevor Philips, or team up with both. GTA 5‘s true ending is the series’ best, but at the end of the day, there is no right or wrong answer. With a little bit of additional insight, one can feel confident about their outcome of choice (and what it means for the protagonists).
Prior to the conclusion, GTA 5‘s protagonists rob the Union Depository Bank of $200 million in “The Big Score.“ Franklin goes home to cool down after the heist, where antagonists Steve Haines and Devin Weston approach him, ordering him to kill one of his comrades. Haines wishes Trevor dead because of his unpredictability, which makes him a liability. Meanwhile, Weston failed to have Michael’s family killed as revenge for the accidental death of his lawyer, so he enlists Franklin to finish the deed. Franklin’s third hidden option is to ignore the antagonists, enlisting Michael and Trevor’s help to take down Haines, Weston, and several other enemies.
[Warning: The following article contains spoilers for Grand Theft Auto 5.]
GTA 5: Ending A (“Kill Trevor”) Explained
If Trevor’s good side in GTA 5 is ignored and instead, Haines’ request is followed, Franklin arranges a meeting with Trevor. They begin discussing recent events, and Franklin (perhaps looking to justify his choice to carry out Haines’ wishes) says Trevor’s wildness will get him and Michael killed. He then proceeds to pull a gun on Trevor, but Trevor manages to escape in his truck. Michael arrives to help during the chase, ramming Trevor’s truck into an oil tank.
Injured, Trevor falls into the pooling oil and berates Franklin and Michael for betraying him. Either Franklin or Michael shoots at Trevor, igniting the oil and causing him to burn alive. Michael rants about Trevor’s shortcomings, then he and Franklin agree that “Surviving is winning, […] whatever it takes.” The GTA 5 Union Depository heist’s earnings are then split between the two of them.
GTA 5: Ending B (“Kill Michael”) Explained
Things begin similarly if the choice is made to kill Michael during GTA 5‘s ending, with Franklin arranging a meeting between the two. Michael gets off a call with his wife, celebrating the fact that he finally has money and his family back – but Franklin doesn’t take long to kill the mood, explaining his reasoning for what he’s about to do to Michael. He says, “We both know this […] ain’t over,” meaning they won’t be able to get away with the heist if they don’t appease Haines and Weston. Knowing what’s coming, Michael escapes to the Palmer-Taylor Power Station, and Franklin chases him down.
Knowing that Michael has betrayed Trevor in the past, Franklin says that he felt used by Michael and that he could be betrayed any day since “People don’t […] change.” Michael – who is known for having some of the funniest quotes in GTA 5 – makes one final retort, saying, “You did! You! Two-bit gangster gone three-bit,” meaning Franklin has gone from a simple thug to a full-on, scheming and backstabbing criminal.
Franklin then pushes Michael over the side of a tower, and the choice is given to either drop or save him. However, it’s merely an illusion of choice. Even if the option is chosen to save Michael, he’ll headbutt Franklin in self-defense, which forces Franklin to drop Michael to his death anyway. Regardless of his approach to the situation, Franklin calls Lamar Davis and walks away. Both Trevor and Michael’s families end up shunning Franklin, knowing he was likely the one who killed Michael. Since Michael still has family around (unlike Trevor), his cut from the Union Depository heist is still taken out rather than being split between Franklin and Trevor.
GTA 5: Ending C (“Deathwish”) Explained
If the choice is made not to betray Trevor or Michael during Grand Theft Auto 5‘s ending, Franklin will instead consult heist mastermind Lester Crest. He devises a plan to lure Haines’ FIB agents and Weston’s Merryweather mercenaries to the metal foundry. Under the guise of melting down the gold from the heist, the protagonists will actually be lying in wait for an ambush. After successfully outsmarting and taking out the soldiers, the team splits up to tie up loose ends; Trevor kills Haines, Michael kills an old enemy of Franklin’s named Stretch, and Franklin kills Triad leader Wei Cheng, who had a feud with Trevor and Michael earlier in the game.
Once this is finished, Trevor stuffs Weston in the trunk of his own car and drives it to a cliffside in the Chiliad Mountain State Wilderness. The three push his car off the cliff, and the money from the heist is split among them. This outcome is widely considered to be GTA 5‘s true ending, as it feels most in line with the three protagonists and their character development throughout the game.
GTA 6 May Confirm Which GTA 5 Ending Is Canon
People are free to choose whichever Grand Theft Auto 5 ending they prefer and to speculate about which ending is actually canon, but it’s possible that they may finally receive a definitive answer (and rather soon, at that). After all, considering that the upcoming sequel will take place in modern-day Vice City, GTA 6 can’t ignore GTA 5‘s story. It’s likely that fans will get some sort of off-hand mention of at least one of the previous game’s protagonists.
In fact, Rockstar has done this in the past, both by having Lester reference Grand Theft Auto 4‘s Niko Bellic as an Eastern European “making moves in Liberty City,” and by including a LifeInvader page for him. GTA 4 had two different endings instead of three, and depending on choices, either Niko’s cousin Roman or his girlfriend Kate ended up dead. In GTA 5, Niko’s LifeInvader page includes a recent message to Roman, insinuating both characters are still alive. This solidifies which GTA 4 ending is canon in the series.
It’s quite probable that GTA 6 will follow in these footsteps, confirming the true conclusion to the game’s events. But until the release of the long-anticipated sequel, the fate of Franklin, Michael, and Trevor remains in the hands of the player, through Grand Theft Auto 5‘s three different endings.
