Taboo – Season 2 (2025) picks up after the dramatic events of the first season, with James Delaney and the remnants of the League of the Damned setting sail for America. Haunted by his past and driven by a vision of a new empire, James seeks to expand his influence across the Atlantic, where secrets, betrayal, and power struggles await him. The second season delves deeper into the world of espionage, political intrigue, and hidden agendas, with James finding himself caught between ruthless enemies and questionable allies.
Upon arriving in America, James is confronted with the harsh realities of a land divided by competing interests. The East India Company may have lost its immediate grip on him, but other forces, including rival trading companies and government spies, view James as both a threat and an opportunity. Determined to carve out a foothold, he negotiates with Native tribes, criminal factions, and rebellious leaders, all while trying to hold together his fragile band of outcasts who each harbor their own ambitions.
The season also explores James’s fractured psyche, peeling back more layers of his mysterious past. His visions and unexplainable knowledge continue to play a central role, suggesting a deeper spiritual connection that ties him to both his family’s legacy and the darker forces that seem to guide him. This psychological complexity sets him apart from his enemies, making him unpredictable but also dangerously vulnerable to manipulation. His relationship with his half-sister Zilpha continues to cast a long shadow, even after her tragic fate, and James must confront his guilt and obsession in order to move forward.
Meanwhile, back in London, the ripples of James’s departure are still felt. The East India Company struggles to recover its dominance, while British intelligence agents plot ways to reclaim control over their rogue adversary. Political maneuvering intensifies, with Parliament and the Crown entangled in the expanding conflict overseas. This tension ensures that James’s enemies are never far behind, and they will go to any length to sabotage his plans, even if it means war on foreign soil.
As the League of the Damned faces trials of loyalty and survival in the New World, fractures within the group threaten to destroy them from within. Betrayals test their bond, and James is forced to make brutal decisions to maintain his authority. The clash between loyalty and ambition drives much of the season, with each character navigating their own path between freedom and destruction.
The climax of Taboo – Season 2 builds toward a bloody confrontation that could redefine James’s destiny and alter the balance of power between empires. With its mix of gritty realism, gothic atmosphere, and unflinching exploration of human greed, the series continues to challenge the boundaries of morality and power. Dark, violent, and deeply enigmatic, the second season reinforces James Delaney as one of television’s most complex and compelling antiheroes, a man whose quest for freedom is inseparable from the shadows that define him.
