Murderbot episode 4 ending explained: Why does Murderbot shoot itself?

Murderbot episode 4, titled Escape Velocity Protocol, was released on May 30, 2025, on Apple TV+. Toa Fraser directed the episode, which was written by the show's creators Chris Weitz and Paul Weitz.

Alexander Skarsgård stars as a private security cyborg or SecUnit named Murderbot who is assigned to protect the PreservationAux crew during their expeditions.

They are unaware that it has secretly overriden the governor module and has autonomy or 'free will,' unlike the other SecUnits.

In episode 4, a hostile SecUnit uploads a combat override module onto its system, forcing it to massacre the PreservationAux crew. However, Murderbot shoots itself to stop itself from carrying out the command.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for Murderbot episode 4.

Murderbot undergoes a hostile takeover in episode 4

Alexander Skarsgård as seen in the Apple TV+ series (Image via Instagram/@marthawellswriter)

The sci-fi series' fourth episode opens at a production factory in the galaxy's Corporation Rim section where SecUnits are created and assembled.

The indentured humans working in the factory are overworked and face frequent power cuts and glitching computers, which compromise the quality of the SecUnits produced.

When a new worker questions why each robot is given a distinct face, he learns from his senior that SecUnits often go rogue and their faces help identify and track them down.

After the credits, the scene switches to the DeltFall habitat where Murderbot is being dragged by the rogue SecUnit that attacked it in the final moments of episode 3.

The titular robot is barely functioning, but his memory bank plays clips from his favorite media, The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon.

The hostile SecUnit drops it onto the metal table and prepares to install the combat override module onto the protagonist's neck. This would override its free will and put it firmly under the rogue SecUnit’s control.

In the midst of the chaos, Alexander Skarsgård's character realizes that the combat override module was used to massacre members of the DeltFall unit.

An image from the hit Apple TV+ series (Image via Apple TV+)

With its mobility close to zero and its voice box and pain sensor override offline, Murderbot decides to buy some time to power up its emergency system and fight back.

It starts singing the theme song of Sanctuary Moon to distract the hostile SecUnit long enough to mount an attack. But despite putting up a strong fight, the rogue SecUnit snaps the override module into the titular robot.

Murderbot realizes that it has 10 minutes before the programme takes over. Just then, Mensah arrives and stabs the hostile SecUnit with a mining drill.

As she guides it towards the exit, her SecUnit's scrambled brain can only recite the company policies to Mensah on repeat.

It calls the crew leader an "intrepid galactic explorer" and, as its systems become more compromised, imagines itself and Mensah as characters inside Sanctuary Moon.

The hostile SecUnit chases the duo outside the DeltFall habitat, but is killed by the hopper driven by Pin-Lee and Arada.

Soon after, the titular robot realizes that the combat override module has programmed it to massacre its crew members.

With only seconds left before it carries out the orders, Murderbot requests Mensah to kill it before it shoots everyone dead.

When Mensah refuses, it takes the gun from her hand and shoots itself. Rest assured, the titular robot is not dead, it's simply injured and offline.

Also read: Is Murderbot based on a book? Explained

What happens to the PreservationAux crew?

An image of Arada and Pin-Lee from episode 4 of the Apple TV+ series (Image via Apple TV+)

At the start of the episode, Mensah is still trying to connect to her SecUnit, fearing for its safety. Despite pleas from her fellow PreservationAux crew members - Pin-Lee, Ratthi, and Arada - she refuses to leave without their SecUnit.

Pin-Lee urges Mensah to stop anthropomorphizing the robot, telling her it's likely dead.

But Mensah, who has formed an emotional bond with their assigned robot, refuses to leave it alone.

Ignoring the team's rules about equality and consensus in making decisions, Mensah orders Pin-Lee to go back to the hopper while she heads inside the DeltFall habitat to look for SecUnit herself.

Frustrated by his leader's actions, Ratthi ventures out on his own to bring back Mensah. He seizes a gun, but does not know how to operate it as he didn't undergo the weapons training.

After hearing Mensah's distress call over the comms, he decides to enter the DeltFall habitat but finds Mensah and their SecUnit out the other door being chased by the rogue robot.

Also read: How many episodes are there in Murderbot? Episode count and more

Viewers can watch all episodes of Murderbot exclusively on Apple TV+.

About the author

Deepti is an entertainment writer at Sportskeeda. She comes with more than 6 years of experience in the creative writing field and has written extensively for the entertainment and travel domains.

She holds a degree in Chemistry, but her true interest always lay in the creative field. A passion for reading from a young age fueled her desire to make a career change later in life and take up writing as her profession.

Apart from reading, her hobbies include watching movies, listening to music, and going to the beach. In her free time, she can be found looking up reviews of new and old films to add to her watchlist. She also enjoys watching foreign language films that help expand her knowledge base regarding different cultures around the world.

Asked to describe herself, she would promptly mention that she is a die-hard Swiftie and enjoys nothing more than listening to Taylor Swift songs on loop while writing.

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Edited by Prem Deshpande