Daredevil: Born Again season 2 episode 4 ending explained: Is [spoiler] dead? Why does Bullseye want to kill them?

After the first three episodes threw us straight back into the action in Hell's Kitchen, Daredevil: Born Again season 2 really takes things up a notch in episode 4. Mayor Fisk's boxing match doesn't just raise the stakes in the ring, it turns out, and Bullseye has proved he's going to make his mark on the show's second season in a big way.

There's a pretty significant plot development in the episode's final act that may have left you with some questions, and we don't blame you – Daredevil: Born Again season 2 brings the political intrigue and vigilante action in equal measure. We've broken down the key events of episode 4 below, which should fill in any blanks and get you up to speed.

But be warned: as you might expect, there are major spoilers for Daredevil: Born Again season 2 episode 4 ahead. Turn back now if you're not up to date and don't want to know what happens!

Daredevil: Born Again season 2 episode 4 ending explained

In this week's episode, Bullseye draws attention to himself by killing off a whole team of Fisk's Anti-Vigilante Task Force after luring them to a diner. That means Matt is finally able to track him down, as Bullseye left a token from Matt's old church at the scene of the crime. Matt visits the church and speaks to the pastor, who reveals that Bullseye lives in an apartment building across the street.

When Matt confronts him, Bullseye says he wants to do "one good deed" to level the scales after he killed Foggy in the season 1 premiere. He wants to kill Fisk, but Matt disagrees – he doesn't want the mayor to become a martyr for the anti-vigilante cause. It doesn't look like the pair will ever agree on the right way to deal with the tyrannical mayor.

Meanwhile, as Fisk gears up for his big boxing match, he sends Vanessa to Albany so she's out of harm's way. After speaking to the governor in the state capital, however, Vanessa is convinced to return to the city and arrives at the match just in time to see Fisk win. Bullseye also arrives not long after and begins killing spectators. In the chaos, Vanessa shoots him as he throws a tacky tourist souvenir towards her and Fisk. Fisk bats away the model with his championship belt, which breaks it, but Bullseye never misses – a broken fragment lodges itself in Vanessa's head.

Is Vanessa Fisk dead?

It certainly doesn't look good for Vanessa, but we don't know if she's dead just yet. The episode ends on a bit of a cliffhanger – she seems to have a pretty severe head injury, but no one has pronounced her dead yet. It looks like we'll have to wait until next week to find out for sure.

Why does Bullseye want to kill Vanessa?

At the end of season 1, it was revealed that Bullseye didn't kill Foggy of his own accord, nor did Fisk hire him to do it – Vanessa pressured him into assassinating Matt's law partner and best friend as a condition in exchange for getting him out of the psychiatric hospital. That's because Foggy had discovered that Red Hook was a free port, which threatened to blow Vanessa's criminal enterprise wide open. And, of course, she'd never do her dirty work herself. Still, Bullseye isn't happy that he killed Foggy, and he wants to kill Vanessa to, in his mind, make things right.

Daredevil: Born Again season 2 is releasing weekly on Disney Plus. Make sure you never miss an episode with our Daredevil: Born Again season 2 release schedule, or check out our Daredevil: Born Again season 2 review.