The final episode of Sky’s Amadeus series delivers a poignant conclusion by focusing not on a murder mystery, but on the powerful act of storytelling itself. Rather than solving a crime, the finale explores how the legend of a rivalry was born, leaving viewers to question what matters more: historical fact or a compelling narrative.
The episode, titled “Requiem, K 626,” begins six months after the death of Antonio Salieri (Paul Bettany). A young writer, Alexander Pushkin, visits an elderly Constanze Mozart (Gabrielle Creevy). He reveals that Salieri spent his final year in an asylum, repeatedly confessing to murdering her husband, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Pushkin believes this confession, filled with drama and ambiguity, would make for an excellent play. His visit frames the entire episode, forcing both Constanze and the audience to sift through memory, regret, and truth to understand what really happened in 1791.
In flashbacks to the days before Mozart’s death, we see a sick and feverish Mozart (Will Sharpe). Historical records show Mozart fell ill in late 1791 with symptoms that included severe swelling, fever, and pain. The series depicts this physical decline faithfully, showing him bedridden and struggling to complete his Requiem.
Salieri visits Mozart, but his intentions are complex. He torments Mozart by pretending to be a spectral figure from his opera Don Giovanni, haunting him outside his window and worsening his fragile mental state. At the same time, Salieri presents himself as a concerned friend, spreading false rumors that Mozart’s Masonic brothers have rejected his opera The Magic Flute. In one cruel act, Salieri takes a delirious Mozart to a performance of The Magic Flute, parading him before the crowd in his feverish state.
“He finally confesses that while Mozart as a person offends him, what offends him more is that such beautiful music – something he believes comes from God – could come from someone who is so abhorrent to the behaviour he believes in.” – from the episode’s climax.
This scene crystallizes Salieri’s torment. He cannot reconcile the divine beauty of Mozart’s music with the composer’s crude, human flaws.
The dynamic shifts in Mozart’s final moments. Confronted by Mozart, Salieri breaks down and admits his bitter jealousy. In a heartbreaking turn, a dying Mozart offers comfort to his rival. He embraces Salieri and allows him to listen to his chest, where Salieri claims he can finally hear the music that has constantly filled Mozart’s mind.
With Salieri’s help, Mozart dictates the final passages of his Requiem. As confirmed by the official episode description, Salieri holds Mozart’s hand as he takes his last breath, later describing the moment as “the death of the greatest composer who ever lived”. This intimate, collaborative moment becomes the emotional core of their story—a far cry from the act of murder Salieri would later confess to.
Following Mozart’s death, the show aligns with historical accounts of his funeral. He was given a standard, third-class burial for a common citizen of Vienna at the time, not a pauper’s grave as myth often suggests. Only six mourners attended, and Salieri was among them.
The finale’s central conflict revolves around a written confession Salieri attempts to give Constanze. In it, he claims responsibility for Mozart’s death. An elderly Constanze, in a timeline years later, refuses to accept it. She challenges him to provide details, seeing his story not as truth, but as a desperate attempt to tie his name forever to Mozart’s genius.
“She tells him that to be forgotten is a gift, and watches on as he’s taken away to the asylum.” – Constanze’s final judgment on Salieri.
Constanze’s rejection devastates Salieri. He admits he didn’t poison Mozart, but believes he is responsible for the emotional torment that hastened his decline. His deepest fear is obscurity: “I have lived long enough to see my reputation disappear, while Mozart’s impact has only grown”. His false confession is ultimately a pathetic grab for a place in history, even if it is as a villain.
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The story circles back to Alexander Pushkin and Constanze. Pushkin presents Constanze with evidence: a requiem mass composed in two different handwritings—one belonging to Mozart, the other to Salieri. This proves Salieri’s one truthful claim: that they collaborated in Mozart’s final hours.
Realizing this, Constanze gives Pushkin her approval to write his play. She hands him Salieri’s confession letter but adds a crucial condition: “The real truth of what happened between the two men will die with me”. She understands that the nuanced truth of a complex relationship is less powerful than the simple, dramatic story of envy and murder. With her permission, the legend that will inspire Pushkin’s play, and eventually Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus, is born.
The series then delivers a powerful, meta-fictional ending. The final shot shows Paul Bettany, no longer in character as the elderly Salieri, but as an actor on a modern stage. He performs the closing monologue from Shaffer’s original play, declaring himself “the patron saint of mediocrities” before the stage cuts to black. This moment bridges the series directly to the iconic play and film, showing how the story we just watched is itself part of the enduring legend.
While the series is a dramatic interpretation, it engages thoughtfully with real historical debates.
By ending with Constanze consciously allowing a myth to be created, Amadeus offers a sophisticated commentary on how history is shaped. The finale suggests that sometimes, a good story that explores human truths like envy, regret, and the desire for legacy can become more enduring than the simple, factual record.
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