Wait, who was behind the attack? Explaining the wild ending of Netflix’s Zero Day

Zero Day is Netflix’s brand new thriller starring Robert De Niro, all about a deadly cyber-attack which brings the former US President out of retirement to crack. There’s nothing like a political thriller to get your blood pumping, but those finale revelations might have left you more confused than freaked out. Luckily for us, Tudum gave us a full rundown explaining the wild ending of Zero Day.

So, who was behind the Zero Day attack?

via Netflix

In episode six of Zero Day, both Speaker Dreyer and Representative Mullen explain that the cyberattack was a way to unite the nation, even if it meant being against a common enemy. With the country divided and the government unable to agree on anything, Speaker Dreyer was the one behind the attack, and with a few of his colleagues, they brainstormed a solution.

Eric Newman, the showrunner, explained the reason why this worked so effectively.

“They weren’t looking for money, they weren’t looking for revenge; they were looking to make the world a better place. And a lot of the worst endeavours in human history begin that way,” he said.

Elizabeth Caplan who plays Alex and Matthew Modine who plays Speaker Dreyer both knew from the very start that Speaker Dreyer was suspicious.

“I think I told them both in the casting process, ‘and by the way, you’re the bad guy, but no one will know that until the end,” Eric Newman said. To be honest, it sounds like a great part to play.

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“We were always protecting what we call the ‘second watch,’ ” he continued. “Whether anyone watches the show twice doesn’t necessarily matter, but we were always thinking, ‘Oh, if you watched it knowing that she’s a part of it, does it still play?’”

What really is Proteus?

In case you didn’t understand, Proteus was the cyber weapon that was developed on the show by the national security agency which would “inflict a traumatic brain injury from a distance with surgical precision,” that could never be traced back. It was then used for the Zero Day attack. Absolutely scathing!

But how did it spread so widely? Well, in episode six, Pennington, who works for Zero Day Commission, lays out exactly how it happened. Tech billionaire Kidder pushed it through automatic updates on her app, which was “downloaded on 80% of the phones in America.” It then made it onto any phone it came into contact with via Bluetooth, USB, and other methods, ensuring wide distribution. It’s actually so scary how easy it was to spread.

But why did George Mullen burn the draft of his memoir?

via Netflix

George Mullen burned his memoir at the end of the show, after revealing all the names of the congress members who were involved in the Zero Day attack. Co-creator and executive producer Noah Oppenheim explained to Tudum that he did it because he “probably has realized his decision in the House Chamber is going to define his legacy moving forward, regardless of what he wrote before. So those pages have been rendered obsolete.”

“Being at peace with himself and having his integrity intact, that’s what really matters,” Noah said. What a message to send, eh?

Zero Day is available on Netflix now. For all the latest Netflix news, drops, quizzes and memes like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook.