- Latika speeds through the hectic Mumbai roadways, while Jamal makes his way to the studio. Along the way he receives the blessing and support from virtually every person he sees.
- In a flurry of flashbulbs, he finally arrives on set. Everyone in India it seems is watching. As Jamal walks on set, the entire country cheers.
- Meanwhile, Latika's stuck in traffic. She finally exits her car, desperate to reach Jamal. Before long, she finds a TV shop where she can watch the show through the window.
- On set, Jamal says he's ready to go; the lights go down.
- Prem asks the final question: "In Alexandre Dumas' book, The Three Musketeers, two of the musketeers are called Athos and Porthos. What was the name of the third Musketeer?"
- Smiling, Jamal flashes back on his memories. Even though he and Salim thought of themselves as two musketeers, even calling themselves Athos and Porthos, Jamal reveals he never actually learned the third musketeer. Despite this fact, he declares that he'll play anyway.
- "If you get the answer wrong, you lose everything," the host reminds him. Jamal, however, won't back down. "I'd like to phone a friend," he says. It's his brother's number—but Latika has the phone. She realizes the phone is in the car, and makes a mad dash for it.
- Just when it seems that nobody is going to pick up, she answers, out of breath. Her voice reverberates around the studio. "I'm guessing that isn't your brother," Prem laughs. Salim, somewhere, smiles.
- A flurry of images fly across the screen as Jamal speaks with Latika; Javed realizes Latika is gone, as Salim makes rupees rain into a bathtub, echoing the intro image.
- The phone call is quick; she says she's safe, but that she doesn't know the answer.
- "You really are on your own now, Jamal." But Jamal isn't fazed.
- He chooses answer A. Aramis, "just because."
- Meanwhile, Javed searches the house for Salim and Latika. We see that Salim's locked himself in the bathroom.
- Drums roll as the final answer is about to be revealed, while the gangsters pound on the bathroom door. Millions of people around India hold their breath.
- Sure enough, Jamal is right, and the world erupts in celebration—all while Salim engages in a final shootout with Javed and his thugs.
- After shooting Javed in the heart, Salim takes a bullet of his own. "God is great," he says.