John Wick: Chapter 3 Ending Explained

Warning - This Article Contains MAJOR John Wick 3 SPOILERS! John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum can [...]

Warning - This Article Contains MAJOR John Wick 3 SPOILERS!

John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum can be looked at as the end of one chapter of the John Wick saga, and the beginning of a brand new one. The third movie's storyline follows John Wick (Keanu Reeves) as he suffers the consequences of his drastic act of killing a member of the underworld's "High Table" at the end of Chapter 2. With his membership in the assassin order rendered null and void, and a contract put on his head, John spends most of Chapter 3 on the run and fighting every step of the way.

Of course, eventually even the mighty John Wick has to admit that he's outgunned and quickly headed for a violent death. To avoid that, Mr. Wick calls in some very old favors from some old allies that he knows can't refuse his claim. One of those old allies is Sofia (Halle Berry) manager of the Casablanca branch of Continental; through Sofia, John is able to negotiate (read: murder) his way into seeking a meeting with "The Elder" (Saïd Taghmaoui), the Middle Eastern warlord who resides deep in the desert, and is the ruler of the entire assassin underworld.

The third act of Parabellum sees John make an unholy deal: he cuts off the ring finger on which he wears his wedding band, offering the ring (and symbol of his dead wife) to The Elder as a symbol of re-pledging his fealty to the assassin order. The Elder excepts, but has a painful condition to Wick being re-instated in the order: John must become an assassin again and remain one for the rest of his days (despite getting out of the life), starting with one particular contract: killing his old friend Winston (Ian McShane).

John returns to NYC to carry out his mission and get himself in the clear, but when the time comes, he can't pull the trigger. Instead, John rebukes The Elder's ultimatum and allies himself with Winston and the staff of the continental, and defends the underworld hotel against a kill squad dispatched by the assassin order's litigious "Adjudicator" (Asia Kate Dillon) on behalf of The Elder. After a violent shootout, John and the Continental forces end up winning the day, forcing the Adjudicator to negotiate terms of a peaceful resolution.

Unfortunately for John, Winston's play was to secure his own reinstatement as head of the Continental - not to help John Wick take on the whole underworld. When the negotiation with the Adjudicator reaches the question of what should be done with John Wick, Winston turns shoots his old friend, knocking him off the roof in an apparent fall to his death.

Of course John Wick doesn't (can't?) die. In Parabellum's final scene, the big twist is revealed that the Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne) - who was seemingly murdered by the Adjudicator's assassins earlier in the film - is actually still alive. Bowery King has the Tick Tock Man (Jason Mantzoukas) steal John Wick away before Winston and the Adjudicator can finish him, taking Wick underground to the Bowery King's lair. There, the King offers John and attractive option: now that the underworld has turned against the both of them, they are going to take down the underworld!

It's left somewhat ambiguous if Winston knew (or hoped) that John would survive his "betrayal." He knew Wick's suits would stop the bullets, but the fall is different story. Either way, the Adjudicator knows John is still alive; The Elder wants John's head; and the Bowery King is ready for a war. That's set up John Wick 4 for a major civil war over the future of the underworld - and maybe John will come out of it as the new king of assassins?

John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum is now in theaters. You can watch our video review above.

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