Hitman (2016) | Hitman 2 | Hitman 3
Following the events of Hitman 2, 47, an assassin working for the International Contract Agency, and Lucas Grey, his Forgotten Fallen Friend from long ago, head to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates on a mission to find the Partners, which comprise of three leaders of Providence, a secret organization of the rich and powerful which influences the world's affairs. Grey recaps kidnapping the Constant and learning of the Partners' identities, the heads of the Stuyvesant, Ingram and Carlisle families; Marcus, Carl, and Alexa, respectively. Their hunt leads them to infiltrating an inauguration party for a skyscraper called "The Sceptre", designed by Omar Al-Ghazali. However, while skydiving into the building, Alexa's helicopter takes off to parts unknown, leaving 47 and Grey to only find Marcus and Carl within the skyscraper's grounds. Diana also informs them that The Constant has escaped — being set free by convincing a sailor to do so. With the plan too far in motion to stop and correct course, they continue on with the plan. Grey disables the elevators to prevent the targets from escaping that way, and, with some help from Grey, 47 kills both men, something that was a long time coming, something Grey thanks 47 for. The two leave the building, and on terra firma once more, 47 and Grey discuss capturing the Constant and his escape, with Grey determined to find him again. Grey also questions if 47 should always follow Diana to the ends of the earth, and that the ICA would expel them both if they learned of what they've all done, but 47 insists that she will "make it right, she always does". Grey mentions that Olivia has managed to have a fix on Alexa and continues to find her. Diana meanwhile, learns from Arthur via a short phone call that he had acquired all the Partners' money and power, and makes her aware of a plan to make "understand" his plan.
Alexa is tracked down to her mansion, Thornbridge Manor, in Dartmoor, England. Following the information gained from a safe in Dubai on her whereabouts, Grey mentions that, once she is killed, Providence will cease to exist, and that 47 and Grey's creators will be dead. 47 muses that Grey needs to start a new life, and Grey smiles, noting that "the world's most wanted fugitive will have to do". 47 infiltrates the mansion, to discover an elaborate murder mystery taking place; the death of Zachary Carlisle has Alexa call in outside help; Phineas Whitmer, a Scotland Yard Private Investigator. Despite this complication, he kills her amidst her preparations of her "death" and takes her file on the Constant. However, as soon as he completes this mission, Diana's comms cut out, and Grey gives a panicked warning for 47 to get out of there. The group is compromised, and 47 rushes off and attempts to find Grey in the forest nearby.
Disguised as an elite Providence mercenary, Grey is surrounded by a platoon of elite soldiers. And while 47 nods at him to get his attention, and clearly wants to attempt to take control of the situation, Grey instead realises the only way out for both of them is to kill himself, for real this time, to keep 47 and his cover safe. Edwards meanwhile catches up with Diana again, revealing a file to her from The Institute's archives, concerning the murder of Diana's parents, carried out by 47 and 6 back in 1989, in the hopes of this making her turn against 47. With Grey dead, and 47 and Olivia the last ones remaining of the group, 47 goes to Berlin to meet up with her.
However, Olivia is chased by a group of ICA agents on her way to Club Holle, one of Grey's base of operations. She kills one of them in self-defense, but notes that there were more out there; 11 more in fact. Despite her suggestion to lay low, 47 instead opts to take them all on. The agents, well aware of 47's prowess, attempt to covertly take him down, but 47's improvisation and cunning proved vastly superior to the eleven remaining agents' comparative tactics, forcing them to flee. 47 calls Olivia that they're no longer a threat, and meets up with Olivia, who notes of his tenacity and will to survive.
While trying to find more about Arthur online, Olivia notes that the Partners ensured his tracks remained hidden. Repeatedly being denied access to the ICA's files, and the ICA now attempting to hack her computer instead, it leaves her exasperated and out of options. 47 decides to hatch a risky play, and figures the only way to get at the files before they find them is by going "the path of least resistance"; leaking the files to the public, and forcing the ICA to shut down. Meanwhile Arthur contacts Diana, offering her to become the new Constant.
47 recalls a database in Chongqing, China, which stores the ICA's case files, run by "Hush", an expert in data security, as well as Imogen Royce, a behavioural analysis pioneer. Olivia also notes that only those two people hold the power to authorize any data handling and are key to the facility's top-notch security, and it requires killing both to get at the files to bypass the failsafe. Despite those two factors working against him, 47 manages to sneak into the facility, kill Imogen and Hush, and delete all records of Diana and 47's time at the ICA, while publishing the rest online, causing the ICA to effectively get destroyed overnight. However, while doing this, Olivia misses a hidden trigger in the code, and the entire ICA facility goes into lockdown, forcing 47 into a stealthy escape from the facility. After a tense few moments, 47 and Olivia make their way out of China.
Diana angrily calls up Edwards, and accepts Arthur's offer of being the new Providence Constant, all the while Edwards watches the ICA data leak happening on the news. Edwards notes that "has other candidates", and recalls the time they tied him to a chair. Thus, Diana offers him a way to take down 47 to prove her fealty. Edwards, fully aware of 47's capabilities, cautiously listens to her. Diana reasons that 47 only has one weakness; Diana herself.
47 returns to Olivia, only to find her not there, wisely leaving the group now that she has the chance to. Before she leaves, Olivia gives 47 information of a group of Providence heralds heading to a vineyard in Mendoza, Argentina owned by retiring lawyer Don Yates. 47 also sees Diana among the heralds, clearly needing his help, but also learns of another herald, former CIA asset and security aide Tamara Vidal. Olivia, having given the assassin his two targets, bids him farewell, leaving 47 to head to Mendoza alone. There, he reunites with Diana, who confides in him her plan to become the Constant and tear down Providence from the inside. They both enter the party, and 47 kills both Tamara and Don Yates. The two meet up at the dance floor, and Diana further explains her plan to track down the Constant, and asks 47 to meet her at the olive grove at sunset, so as to not attract attention. However, when the time comes, he confronts Diana, assuming she'd laid a trap for him to get Providence's power. 47 suddenly gets incapacitated by some poison Diana had secretly laced into her gloves, leaving him open for Providence's soldiers to capture him. Diana reveals she finally knows that 47 killed her parents, and 47 tries to apologise, while slowly fading from reality.
In a nightmare, 47 is confronted by Diana's morale breaking speech along with visions of his previous targets. Novikov being crushed by stage lights, Soders killed at the operating table, The Partners' looking on, and Grey's open casket. However, a sudden memory of Grey reveals that Diana's betrayal was actually a means to allow him to get closer to Arthur, with Diana also encouraging him to fulfil his duty by "embracing his past". Waking up, 47 finds himself in a train travelling through the freezing cold Carpathian mountains and makes his way up to Arthur, avoiding soldiers and letting the elite soldiers pass by disguising as one of them. Upon meeting with the Constant, the latter tries to make 47 take the new version of Ort-Meyer's memory suppressing serum, and 47 bluntly refuses. Edwards, unsurprised by his answer, unknowingly taunts his would-be killer into injecting the memory suppressing serum into him. Edwards panics over what 47 had done to him, and says it's a mistake to get rid of him like this, but 47 states that it's "my mistake to make". Edwards, now completely neutered and unaware of what they were talking about, is left on the train, while 47 leaves the train, and walks off into the snowy tundra in an artick parka.
This leaves Diana as the new Constant and allows her to put an end to Providence, with every CEO affiliated with the group standing down from their position. Diana also burns the contract Edwards' gave her, implying that she has, on some level, forgiven 47 for what he's done in the past.
One year later, Diana calls 47 again to resume their operations as handler and assassin. 47 accepts of his on volition, this time as a means to stop anyone from filling in the vacuum left by ICA and Providence's destruction, not because of anyone else, and accepts Diana's offer with a small smile on his face.
