'The Great Pretender' Part 1 Ending Explained: Who has the real 'Snow of London' painting and why?
Spoilers for 'The Great Pretender' Part 1
When you've got a show with as many twists and turns as 'The Great Pretender' does, it can be hard to keep track of just what's going on at any given moment. While the final case of Part 1, 'Snow of London', was perhaps not the Matryoshka doll of twists that 'Los Angeles' connection was, there are still some things worth taking note of -- not least, the tease for Laurent Thierry's (Junichi Suwabe/Aaron Phillips) backstory that will no doubt be further explored in Part 2.
Who has the real 'Snow of London' and why?
Makoto Edamura (Chiaki Kobayashi/Alan Lee) has still now quite gotten the hang of a major con and yet his first real attempt since "going straight" sees him sell an obscure painting called 'Snow of London' for 20,000 euro when it's really worth at least 20 million, undervalued by the underhanded James Coleman (Yoshito Yasuhara). Thus begins a con to not only steal the painting back for Sebastian and Marie, who owned the original painting in the first place. To do this, an essential part of the plan is to involve Cynthia Moore's (Mie Sonozaki/Laura Post) former lover, Thomas Meyer (Daisuke Hirakawa). James is responsible for turning Thomas from a promising young artist into an illegal forger, dashing the latter's many hopes, dreams, and his romance with Cynthia.
Though Thomas is painting another forgery, Makoto recognizes that it is more than just a copy. Thomas has tapped into the heart of the inimitable Sergio Montoya, inspired by his love for Cynthia. Thomas poured his heart and soul into the painting and in Makoto's eyes, that makes it more valuable than the original Montoya 'Snow of London'. Knowing that the con would leave James Coleman with a painting he could never profitably sell, Makoto couldn't bear to see Thomas' masterpiece end up in the hands of such an unscrupulous critic. Makoto switches the paintings in the cases, which leaves the forgery with Sebastian and Marie -- something that is, ultimately, a lot more personal.
However, things don't end up as neatly for Cynthia and Thomas. Though there are no hard feelings left between the two, neither of them are the same people they had been when they were together. Cynthia is able to finally move past Thomas after having gotten revenge on James and meeting Thomas one last time. She drops her penciled engagement ring into one of the rivers running through Nice to say goodbye to that part of her past.
However, she's not the only one of the Thierry gang with a past to get over.
Who is Dorothy?
Laurent Thierry (Junichi Suwabe/Aaron Phillips) is revealed to have set the con into motion in the first place by introducing Makoto to Sebastian and Marie. Talking about the 'Snow of London' in their presence, he would set the whole con into motion to give Cynthia a chance to get her revenge and deal with her past. Unsurprised to find this out, Cynthia points out that this is why no one likes Thierry and no one can trust him after finding out how coldly he manipulates those around him.
Thierry doesn't respond but talks to a sapphire brooch he holds up, speaking about the sorrowful path of a man and addressing it as "Dorothy." Who Dorothy is remains a mystery, but in the past three cases, we've seen backstory reveals of each of the Thierry gang. Thierry himself remains a mystery, however, and whoever Dorothy is, she's obviously an important part of his past. While Part 2 of 'The Great Pretender' has been confirmed, it'll be a while before we get to it, and the Dorothy tease is obviously meant to tide us over in speculation until the series releases. Unlike most anime, 'The Great Pretender' is not based on a manga, meaning there's nothing to look up to unravel this particular mystery. There's nothing to do but wait for the Part 2 announcement from Netflix.
All episodes of 'The Great Pretender' Part 1 are now available to stream on Netflix.