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This video is me giving an ending spoiler for the movie The video is just me talking about how it ends. No video or photos from the movie are used.

Here is the spoiler written out, so you can follow along:



Smiley is brought out of retirement by Oliver Lacon, the civil servant in charge of intelligence, to investigate an allegation by agent Ricki Tarr that there was a long-term mole in a senior role in British Intelligence. Control had had a similar suspicion earlier. Working from outside the Circus, Smiley chooses a few men and begins to interview people who left the Circus at the same time as he and Control. One is Connie Sachs, who had been sacked by Alleline after claiming that Alexei Polyakov, a Soviet cultural attaché in London, is a Soviet mole-handler. Another is Jerry Westerby, who had been duty clerk on the night Prideaux was shot. Westerby reveals that on that night he called Smiley's house for instructions, but Smiley's wife, Ann, answered. Shortly afterwards, Westerby recalls, Haydon arrived at the Circus and said that he saw the news on the tickertape at his club. Smiley realizes that Haydon must have heard the news from Ann Smiley, with whom he was having an affair.

Smiley finds Tarr hiding at his home. Tarr tells him that he had been sent to Istanbul to investigate Boris, a Soviet agent. Boris' "wife" Irina, herself a Soviet operative, tells Tarr of the existence of the mole run by Soviet spymaster Karla. Tarr had informed London of this revelation and, after a critical delay, is ordered home at once. Boris and the British station chief in Istanbul are both killed by the Russians and Irina taken back to Russia. Tarr, discredited and accused by the British of defecting and murdering the British station chief, goes on the run. Smiley instructs Peter Guillam, an intelligence officer but one of his team, to steal the Circus logbook for the night Tarr called: the relevant pages have been removed, suggesting Tarr's story about the mole is true.

Smiley finds Jim Prideaux, who had been repatriated and sacked from the service. Prideaux reveals the true purpose of his mission to Hungary: to learn the name of the mole. Control had codenamed the suspects "Tinker" (Alleline), "Tailor" (Haydon), "Soldier" (Bland), "Poorman" (Esterhase) and "Beggarman" (Smiley himself). Prideaux tells of his brutal interrogation (during which he apparently witnesses Irina's execution) but reveals that the Soviets already knew of Control's investigation into the mole, and were only interested in finding out how far that investigation had progressed.

Smiley learns that Alleline, Haydon, Bland and Esterhase have been meeting Polyakov at a safe house, giving him what they believe to be low-grade British intelligence (thinking that, in the eyes of his Russian superiors, he is a loyal KGB agent, and needs something to show them) in return for Witchcraft material. In reality, the mole has been leaking genuine high-grade British intelligence to Polyakov while the Witchcraft material was mostly "glitter" rather than "gold", designed to persuade the Americans to share intelligence with the British, which the mole could then pass to the Soviets.

Smiley pressures Esterhase to give away the safe house address by threatening him with deportation. Esterhase, born in Hungary, would almost certainly be killed were he sent back to the Soviet satellite state. Smiley's trap is to have Tarr reappear at the Paris office, to "announce that he knows of the mole". Upon learning this, the mole (still unknown) will then want to meet Polyakov to inform Karla to neutralise Tarr. Smiley waits at the safe house and captures the mole: Haydon. At Sarratt, the Circus interrogation centre, Haydon reveals that he seduced Smiley's wife on Karla's instruction, in order to distort any suspicions Smiley may have had of Haydon. Before his mission to Hungary, Prideaux had visited Haydon, his close friend, and tipped him off about Control's suspicions, thus inadvertently sealing his own fate. The Circus plans to exchange Haydon back to the Soviets, but Prideaux, having learned of Haydon's treachery, kills him. Smiley is restored to the Circus as its chief.