Plot and counterplot develop, and Michael becomes the focal point of a web of betrayal and deceit, turned against by those he had sought to protect. Assassination attempts and government probes target Michael, but he fights back using every scintilla of ingenuity he possesses and sacrificing much of his humanity in the process. If the end of the first film was numbing, this one is shattering. The flashback preceding the final scene presents a stark differentiation of how things once were from what they have become. A more comprehensive contrast emerges through the lengthy sequences detailing Vito Corleone's rise from obscurity.
Expansion is replaced by slow disintegration, energy and success by pain and failure.
If young Vito's era is the Corleone's dawn, Michael's is the approaching twilight. Much of the humanity remaining to Michael at the outset is leeched from him with each deception and setback. His flaw is his imperceptiveness and, as is the case for any hero in a story of this nature, its effects are crippling. Visually, many of Michael's scenes have a more gloomy appearance this time around. Especially during the latter portions of the film, the don is shown in severely underexposed settings, appearing as a silhouette.