In the finale of Industry season 3, Eric Tao (Ken Leung) tries to lift the spirits of the Pierpoint & Co. employees after the company is sold to Egyptian investors. He quotes the Denis Johnson short story "The Largesse of the Sea Maiden," saying, "Money tames the beast. Money is peace. Money is civilization. The end of the story is money." While his musings only enrage the traders, whose London office is about to be shuttered, he speaks to the themes of the incredible finale of the must-watch TV series: "The end of the story is always money."
In the final installment of the HBO hit's better-than-ever season (which wrapped up on Sunday, September 29), the core characters who began as juniors on the Pierpoint floor all bought into money, security, and the kind of dealings that fit within their realm of ethics. A lot happened, though, between Harper (Myha'la), Yasmin (Marisa Abela), Robert (Harry Lawtey), and their former coworkers as their old employer imploded and they continued to move on with other ventures and propositions. So, below, we're breaking down what happened in the Industry season 3 finale, which seems to set up the forthcoming season 4.
What happened to Pierpoint in the 'Industry' season 3 finale?
Industry may have started centered around the wheelings and dealings of the fictional bank Pierpoint & Co.'s London office, but that ends up being no more by the season 3 finale. The bank is officially sold to Egyptian investment firm Al-Mi’raj—a sale Eric encourages—majorly selling out after spending too much on "ethical investing."
Eric attempts to bolster morale among the staff about the new Al-M’iraj Pierpoint in a speech about the power of the market and Pierpoint's history of change, but they see right through him. Al-M’iraj then proves to axe the London office, leaving Eric without a job but sitting pretty as he gets a $20 million buyout. In the process, he screwed over his terminally ill friend and former colleague Bill (Trevor White) but came out with a better deal than he ever could—effectively taking a snakey, self-ish note from his mentee, Harper.
What happens to Harper in the 'Industry' season 3 finale?
Harper attempts to make big off of the Pierpoint sale at her company with Petra Koenig (Sarah Goldberg), Leviathan Alpha, but it doesn't go as planned. She learns that Petra stood by her ethics and stopped their short before the two made an exorbitant amount of money. They have a conversation about agreeing not to make any more "unilateral decisions," but Harper seems underwhelmed by their work together. She brings over ex-Pierpoint staffers Sweetpea (Miriam Petche) and Anraj (Irfan Shamji), largely in a move to upset Rishi (Sagar Radia) after he contributed to her firing at Pierpoint. She embarrasses him by bringing him into the Leviathan Alpha office but not giving him a job, leaving him nowhere to go after Al-M’iraj interfered with his former employer.
When she ultimatley becomes bored by her professional life (which has become entwined with her personal), she decides playing it safe was never her game and starts her own venture. With Otto Mostyn's (Roger Barclay) backing, she'll launch an all-shorts fund, going after failing businesses, and be based out of N.Y.C.—returning home to the place she's long avoided.
She also reconnects with Eric, calling him to thank him for the quote he gave for her Forbes 30 Under 30 feature. In his phone as "Harpsichord," there's still warmth between the mentor and mentee, who have learned a lot from each other this past season, even if they no longer share the same desk.
What happens to Rishi in the 'Industry' season 3 finale?
After Rishi gets humiliated by Harper, he faces the grueling consequences of his gambling addiction. He comes home to find the loan shark he thought was his friend, Vinay (Asim Chaudhry), at the kitchen table with his wife Diana (Emily Barber), demanding the millions he's owed. When Diana realizes how much money her husband has lost, Vinay shoots and kills her in the show's most dramatic, thriller-like moment to date.
It's the last we see of Rishi in season 3, but it seems to set up a dicey future for him. Darkness was already looming around the choices he's made professionally and with his addiction, and it seems he'll continue to show the confines of what corrupt men in finance can or cannot get away with.
Why did Yasmin get engaged to Henry Muck in the 'Industry' season 3 finale?
For much of season 3, Yasmin tried to push against the narrative that she had been living off the money her father embezzled through Hanani Publishing. By the end of season 3, she chooses money in what she sees as the most secure way possible.
When Yas joins Rob on a road trip as he interviews for a psilocybin start-up, she suggests they change course on the way back to stop by Henry Muck's (Kit Harington) uncle Lord Norton's (Andrew Havill) estate. She says Henry invited them and neglects to tell Rob that she contacted Henry, hoping they could reconnect. What was meant to be a brief visit—in which Henry tells the two that he's dedicating his life to public service—turns into a weekend stay over Norton's birthday.
Over the weekend, Yas asks media mogul Norton to stop his tabloids from unfairly covering her and the lawsuits against her father's company. He tells her what she's always needed to hear: that her late father's vile, manipulative behavior had nothing to do with her.
"I am fiercely protective of my family, and I always use my not insubstantial power to protect them," he says at one point. "But then again, life is about the family you choose." It's something that Yas takes to heart and listens to, as Norton essentially makes a deal with her that he'll use his power to stop the bad press and economic windfall against her if she gets back together with Henry.
After one thing leads to another, Yas and Rob passionately hook up on the estate grounds—and she delivers on her word that she's good at making people think she's in love with them. Shortly after, in the most devastating moment of the finale, Yas proposes to Henry that they should get engaged. The scene in which they agree to tie the knot flips between her conversation with Henry and Lord Norton's birthday dinner when they share the news. Rob looks stunned but exchanges a look with Yas in which he seems to express that he understands; she appears somewhat remorseful like she wishes he could have stopped her from deciding what she felt she had to.
Having lost her job at Pierpoint and dealing with the problems left in her father's wake, a marriage of convenience seems like the best option for Yas.
