 As Salt is being led out in chains , Winter grabs a pair of scissors , apparently to attack her or to defend himself if necessary . She unexpectedly hooks her chain around Winter 's neck and jumps over the stair railing , choking him to death . On the helicopter ride to be interrogated , Peabody questions her . Salt explains that she killed Winter because he orchestrated the death of her husband , and promises to hunt down the remaining KA agents if freed . Peabody is convinced after receiving a text that Salt 's fingerprints were found on the barge where the sleeper agents were killed , supporting her story . Salt is allowed to escape , jumping out of the helicopter into the river below and escaping into the woods . In an alternate ending Salt jumps out of the helicopter and arrives in disguise at the place where she was trained as a child in the Soviet Union , she is then seen by the water as the place blows up and Salt smiles . 
