Patriot Games recap

While visiting London, historian and former Marine Jack Ryan interrupts an Ulster Liberation Army attack on the Prince and Princess of Wales, killing one attacker and helping capture Sean Miller. Miller becomes obsessed with revenge after his conviction, and ULA leader Kevin O'Donnell arranges his escape. Back in Maryland, Ryan resumes teaching and begins helping the CIA identify the secretive faction. Miller's group attacks Cathy and Sally on the highway, badly injuring the child; both survive, and Ryan commits himself fully to the investigation. Intelligence work traces the terrorists' training and support network, but the ULA mounts one more operation during a royal visit to the Ryan home. Jack evacuates his family and guests by boat as the attackers pursue them across Chesapeake Bay. American forces close in, and Ryan captures Miller rather than killing him. The terrorists are defeated, the royals and Ryans survive, and Cathy gives birth to Jack Ryan Jr.

During a family visit to London, American historian and former Marine Jack Ryan sees masked gunmen attack a car. He intervenes, killing one attacker and disabling another before being wounded. The passengers prove to be the Prince and Princess of Wales and their infant son. Scotland Yard investigator Alex Owens questions Ryan and begins assembling the case against captured gunman Sean Miller, a member of the Ulster Liberation Army. Miller's dead accomplice was his brother, turning his political commitment into a personal hatred of Ryan. Jack recovers in hospital and meets the royal family he helped save, while his wife Cathy and daughter Sally cope with the sudden publicity and danger surrounding him. The British government honors his actions, but the surviving organization behind the attack remains at large.

Miller is convicted on the evidence from the London attack, but ULA leader Kevin O'Donnell is already planning to recover him. The organization operates separately from larger Irish republican groups and uses a concealed network of sympathizers, including London bookseller Dennis Cooley, to pass information. Jack and his family return to Maryland, where he resumes teaching history at the United States Naval Academy. His role in the rescue has made him publicly recognizable, and investigators on both sides of the Atlantic warn that Miller's associates may regard him as a target. CIA deputy director James Greer invites Jack to help analyze the little-known ULA, drawing him back toward intelligence work he had previously tried to leave behind.

O'Donnell's organization ambushes the prison transport carrying Miller and frees him, confirming that the threat has not ended with the trial. Miller presses to retaliate against Ryan, while O'Donnell attempts to balance that obsession against the group's political plans. In Maryland, Jack works with Greer's CIA team and FBI official Dan Murray to build a picture of the ULA from fragmentary intelligence. Security around the Ryan home increases, but ordinary routines remain difficult to protect without imprisoning the family. Cathy continues her surgical work at Johns Hopkins, Sally attends school, and Jack tries to combine teaching with the growing investigation. The Ryans understand that Miller is free, yet they do not know when or where his organization will strike.

ULA gunmen attack Cathy and Sally during their drive home. Their car crashes at high speed, leaving Cathy injured and Sally critically hurt. Doctors save both mother and child, and Cathy's pregnancy survives, but the assault turns Jack's analytical involvement into a direct commitment to destroy the organization threatening his family. He returns to CIA work with greater urgency while police and federal agents intensify protection. Miller's personal revenge has also exposed tension inside the ULA: the attack gains the group no political advantage and increases the resources directed against it. Jack focuses on identifying the people, training sites, and foreign assistance that allow the small faction to operate across borders.

Sally recovers from her injuries as Jack joins the CIA effort more fully. Analysts combine imagery, financial clues, communications, and information from British investigators to narrow the search for the ULA's overseas base and its supporters. The work reveals that the group is disciplined but not invulnerable: it depends on a limited circle of couriers and sponsors, and Miller's need for revenge makes its behavior less predictable. American and allied action disrupts part of the terrorist infrastructure. Even so, O'Donnell preserves enough of his force for another operation. The Prince and Princess of Wales plan a private visit to the Ryans in Maryland, creating a gathering that links the ULA's original royal target with the American family Miller blames for his capture.

Preparations for the royal visit bring British and American security personnel to the Ryan home, but the ULA has obtained enough inside information to plan around the protection. O'Donnell, Miller, and their team enter the United States and move toward Maryland with weapons and a coordinated assault plan. Their goals combine the organization's desire for a politically valuable royal hostage with Miller's determination to reach Jack and his family. The visitors arrive and the families spend time together while security teams monitor the grounds and nearby water. Unknown to the people inside, the attackers are already positioning themselves to isolate the property, sever outside contact, and strike after dark.

The ULA cuts communications, kills members of the security detail, and attacks the Ryan property during the royal visit. Jack gets Cathy, Sally, the royal family, and other survivors out of the house and onto a boat, using Chesapeake Bay as an escape route while trying to alert nearby authorities. Miller and the remaining terrorists pursue them on another boat. Military, Coast Guard, police, and FBI forces respond, closing off the attackers' routes. Jack turns back to prevent Miller from escaping, boards the terrorist boat, and overpowers him. Although Miller has attacked his family twice, Jack refuses to execute him and leaves him to face custody. O'Donnell and the surviving ULA members are captured, ending the operation and breaking the faction's immediate threat. After the rescue, Cathy goes into labor and gives birth to a son, Jack Ryan Jr. The Ryans and their royal guests survive, and Jack's renewed place in the intelligence world is firmly established.

The Prince and Princess of Wales visit the Ryans at their Maryland home after Jack has helped identify the Ulster Liberation Army's support network. The terrorists exploit the visit, cut communications, kill guards, and assault the property to seize the royal family and settle Miller's grievance against Ryan. Jack gets his family and guests away from the house and onto a boat on Chesapeake Bay while alerting the authorities. Miller and the surviving attackers pursue them on the water, but Navy, Marine, Coast Guard, police, and FBI forces converge. Ryan turns back rather than let Miller escape, boards the terrorists' boat, and subdues him, choosing capture over revenge. O'Donnell and the other surviving attackers are also taken into custody. Cathy then goes into labor and delivers the Ryans' son, Jack Ryan Jr. The royal visitors and the Ryan family survive, the ULA operation collapses, and Jack's work with the CIA has become a continuing commitment rather than an occasional consultation.