The Gunman (2015) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Terrier was targeted because Felix Marti, his former boss from the Congo operation, had built a powerful international security firm that served major clients including the Pentagon. As the firm grew, they decided to eliminate all former members of the Congo assassination team to prevent their past actions from being exposed. Terrier was the first target, and they systematically went after his former colleagues as well.

Foreshadowing: The timeline shows Terrier killed the Minister of Mining in 2006, leaving a trail that could eventually connect back to Marti's organization.

• hit squad
• Felix Marti
• Congo assassination
• security firm
• targeted

After carrying out the assassination of the Minister of Mining, Terrier fled Africa immediately to escape capture. He severed all ties with his past life, including his relationship with Annie, hoping to disappear and start fresh. He retired from the mercenary life and didn't contact her for eight years, though his departure clearly left emotional scars on both of them.

Foreshadowing: The romantic relationship that developed during the dangerous Congo mission was always complicated by the violent circumstances surrounding them.

• Annie
• love
• abandonment
• Congo
• retirement

The Minister of Mining announced plans to renegotiate unfair contracts that benefited multinational mining companies operating in the DRC. These companies hired Terrier's black-ops unit to assassinate the minister to protect their access to the region's rich mineral resources. Terrier delivered the fatal sniper shot, which was intended to keep the profitable mining operations intact despite the political changes.

Foreshadowing: The Congo deployment was described as protecting mining interests, establishing early that corporate profits drove the violence.

• assassination
• sniper
• Minister of Mining
• contracts
• Congo

Felix Marti had built a large international security firm that served prestigious clients like the Pentagon. The firm had grown too big and to risk profitable having its dark origins exposed. By eliminating everyone who knew about the 2006 assassination, Marti protected his company's reputation and lucrative contracts from being destroyed by the truth emerging.

Foreshadowing: Cox reveals that Marti's firm has become huge and serves major clients, making the past liability even more dangerous.

• Felix Marti
• security firm
• conspiracy
• cover-up
• Pentagon

Annie was kidnapped because she represented Terrier's weakness and could be used as leverage against him. Since Terrier had evidence that could expose Cox and Marti's involvement in the Congo assassination, the mercenaries kidnapped his former lover to force him to hand over the compromising materials. She became a bargaining chip in their attempt to silence him permanently.

Foreshadowing: The story establishes early that Terrier still cares deeply for Annie despite leaving her eight years earlier.

• Annie
• kidnapped
• leverage
• evidence
• Cox

Terrier made a deal with Interpol to provide all the compromising evidence about the Congo assassination and Marti's cover-up in exchange for their cooperation. This was a separate negotiation from his plan to trade the evidence for Annie's freedom. By working with law enforcement, Terrier ensured that even if he didn't survive, the truth about the assassination and Marti's crimes would still come to light.

Foreshadowing: Agent Barnes represents Interpol throughout the investigation, suggesting law enforcement interest in the case from early on.

• Interpol
• deal
• evidence
• arrest
• confession

Terrier deliberately chose a bullfight in Spain as the meeting location because he needed a chaotic, public environment where Cox's mercenaries would be at a disadvantage. He used the compromising materials as bait to lure them there, planning to trade the evidence for Annie's release. The bullfight setting allowed him to fight on his own terms in an unpredictable environment where the odds were more even.

Foreshadowing: The timeline shows Terrier using compromised materials to create leverage, demonstrating his strategic thinking despite his injuries.

• Spain
• bullfight
• trading
• Annie
• leverage

During the final confrontation in Spain, Terrier shoots Cox during the chaotic bullfight. As Cox falls wounded, a loose bull charges and gores him to death. This violent end comes full circle, with the man who ordered countless deaths in Congo meeting his fate in a brutal, animalistic manner in a Spanish arena.

Foreshadowing: The bullfight setting foreshadows the violent, unpredictable nature of the confrontation that would unfold.

• Cox
• death
• bull
• gored
• shot

Yes, Terrier is taken into Interpol custody after the confrontation in Spain. However, Agent Barnes promises to do what she can to minimize his sentence due to his cooperation and the evidence he provided against Marti's organization. The story ends with Terrier having served his time and being released, reuniting with Annie in the DRC.

Foreshadowing: The narrative establishes Terrier's willingness to face consequences, setting up his eventual arrest as a possible path to redemption.

• prison
• Interpol
• custody
• Barnes
• released

Terrier returns to the DRC to reunite with Annie and start a new life together, putting his violent past behind him. Despite the scars, both physical and psychological, from his mercenary days, he chooses to seek redemption through a peaceful life focused on aid work. The return represents his final break from the world of assassination and corporate conspiracy.

Foreshadowing: His earlier return as a charity worker building wells established his desire to use his remaining years for something positive.

• Annie
• reunion
• redemption
• future
• DRC

Terrier suffers from severe head trauma throughout the film, a result of the violent attacks and his brutal history as a mercenary. This head injury causes him pain, dizziness, and cognitive struggles throughout the film. Despite this physical limitation, he continues to fight and outmaneuver much younger, healthier mercenaries, demonstrating both his resilience and the psychological toll of his past violence.

Foreshadowing: The meta notes confirm Terrier experiences PTSD and the brutal consequences of his violent past throughout the narrative.

• head trauma
• injury
• PTSD
• health
• combat