John Wick: Chapter 4 is finally here, and
we've got some questions: Who is the Harbinger? What's the deal with Winston? And could this really be the end for everyone's
favorite assassin? The shocking end of John Wick: Chapter 3 saw
Winston shoot John Wick right off the roof of the Continental. When John sees Winston again in Chapter 4,
however, he doesn't seem to have a problem with him. So here's a question: when Winston shot John,
was he really shooting to kill? Winston knows the High Table doesn't pull
its punches when it comes to punishment, so it tracks that he really did try to kill John
to meet the Table's demands. Of course, it also tracks that Winston knows
his way around a bullet-proof suit — he's also more than aware that John can take a
hit and fall off a building without going down for the count. "Very well, gentlemen. The Continental will now be reconsecrated." There is also a clear bond between the two
men, and Winston even seems paternal towards John at times. You can't help but think that he shot John
Wick to save his life rather than end it, High Table be damned. For all of Winston's talk about rules being
what keeps a man separate from the animals, he can't help being a man of instinct himself. While he defers to top dogs like the Adjudicator,
Winston stops at nothing to protect the rest of his pack, even if he isn't always successful. John Wick sets out to bring down the High
Table in John Wick: Chapter 4, but he doesn't start in New York. Instead, he heads to Morocco to chase down
the new Elder. But why does John kill this Elder? In the third installment of the John Wick
franchise, John spends an eternity walking through the desert to find the Elder. John's hope is that this mysterious figure
will reinstate him to the assassin's guild. The Elder demands John's ring finger in exchange
for removing the price tag on his head. In Chapter 4, John is back in the desert,
ready to kill this second Elder for not being able to give him back the wedding ring the
old Elder took. The new Elder clearly doesn't know how to
read the room and tells John he'll only know peace when he's dead. This leads to John killing him and sends the
High Table into punishment hyperdrive. While this kill shot sets off the events of
the movie, it also speaks to the series' tragic arc of revenge. The Elder has been replaced by a new Elder. The Marquis de Gramont will be replaced by
a new Marquis. No matter how many Hydra heads or henchmen
John Wick takes down, new ones will spring back up in their place, ready for a new fight
with the same old John Wick. The John Wick films are stuffed with symbolism
pulled from Greek and Roman mythology. It's a little weird, then, that Winston recalls
the mythic last words of a legendary Australian outlaw in John Wick's last ride. Winston tells Charon that, after hearing he
was to be executed, the infamous Australian bandit Ned Kelly said: "Such is life." Clearly, these words mean something to Winston. To him, Ned's acceptance of his fate was noble
yet unsettling. Winston isn't ready to accept the fate handed
to him and his beloved Continental from the High Table, however, nor does he accept that
John Wick should go down without a fight. Charon then utters the same phrase to Winston
before accepting his own fate. Even if audiences are shocked to see the Marquis
finish Charon off, this moment makes Winston realize that the High Table will always take
more than he can give. When the Harbinger rolls up to the NYC Continental,
he is clearly ready to get down to business. But why is he missing a finger? And why does that missing finger's nub suspiciously
twin with John Wick's? Did the Harbinger try and fail to get out
of the High Table game, just like John Wick? Is there some other reason he needed to cut
off a finger to prove his loyalty to the Table? The Harbinger doesn't seem to take much pleasure
in enforcing the rules, unlike the smugly evil Marquis. However, he doesn't back down from his duties
or try to get creative with the rules, unlike Winston himself. So what's the story? This man's backstory is one of the biggest
unanswered questions in John Wick: Chapter 4. The Harbinger's secret is all in his name. "Harbinger" is another word for a warning
of what is to come. Basically, he is John Wick's Ghost of Christmas
Yet to Come made flesh, here to show John what he could become if he can't escape the
High Table. The Harbinger was likely once an assassin
just like John Wick, one who, judging from his demeanor and tell-tale finger, lived through
a similar story — yet suffered a very different fate. Obsessed with maintaining the supremacy of
the High Table, the villainous Marquis de Gramont agrees to John Wick's terms for an
"old rules" duel and then quickly begins to cheat. He ups the bounty on John Wick's head and
sends his own assassins after him. The Marquis obviously has endless riches at
his disposal, but what's his story? Why does he have so much power and so little
integrity? The Marquis de Gramont represents how the
High Table's absolute power leads to absolute corruption. He worships the etiquette and ceremony of
the High Table. He is happy to exact the pounds of flesh and
pints of blood from those underneath him when they break the rules, but when it's his time
to face the music, he chooses a proxy to fight for him — and still tries to cheat his way
to victory. The Marquis is both a delightfully hateable
villain and a cautionary tale in the Wickverse. His power is orderly but ultimately corrupt,
superficial, and hollow. He demonstrates the dangers of standing on
ceremony instead of principal and favoring excessive shows of power over actual skill. And that, in the end, is his downfall. "They gave you my name." "Yeah." In Chapter 4, the blind assassin Caine is
pressed into service to the High Table by the Marquis de Gramont. Caine will do anything to keep his daughter
alive, well, and playing violin in the public square — even if that means killing old
friend John Wick. So how does he actually manage this? Okay, so this is less a statement of confusion
than it is an appreciation of Caine's creative and relentless fighting style. For example, the slice of Caine's cane against
glass and steel is a compelling indicator of the pain he's about to rain down on his
opponents. Meanwhile, Caine's heightened sense of hearing
helps him locate John Wick using the crunching glass in the gallery scene at the Osaka Continental. However, one of Caine's most unique techniques
involves the use of cleverly placed doorbell sensors. At first, it's puzzling to see Caine slap
a bunch of electronic rectangles on various surfaces in the Osaka Continental's dark kitchen. It almost looks like he's setting bomb charges,
but he isn't — he's just setting traps. When the High Table stormtroopers invade the
kitchen, they set off the doorbell sensors and give Caine a precise audible target. What a badass. After John Wick kills the Elder, he seeks
refuge at Osaka's Continental. In the neon-lit night, John Wick seeks help
from yet another stern but loving assassin hotel manager, Shimazu Koji. John Wick: Chapter 4 implies that John, Shimazu,
and Caine are old assassin friends. So why does Caine attack John Wick while Shimazu
risks everything to protect him? The answer is simple: For Shimazu, friendship
is a matter of the heart — and when you're in his heart, you're family. Caine draws the line between friend and family
to protect his daughter. His daughter means more to him than his friendship
with John Wick, and he refuses to defy the High Table because he knows they will kill
her if he doesn't kill John Wick. Shimazu, meanwhile, knows the Table will come
for him and his daughter Akira merely for harboring John Wick in their hotel. Shimazu fights just as hard for John Wick
as he does for his daughter, but his choice to be loyal to his loved ones ultimately costs
him his life. Then again, considering the movie's post-credits
scene, it's possible that Caine's choices will do the same for him. There are two things the Marquis loves more
than anything in this world: sparkly suits and sending messages. The Marquis sends plenty of the latter after
John Wick defies the High Table, including killing Pyotr, leader of the Ruska Roma, to
punish the crime family for John's actions. Pyotr might not ring any bells with viewers. Although he is an off-camera adoptive father
figure to John from back in his Jardani Jovanovich days, the Director is the Ruska Roma character
that audiences are more likely to remember. Still, the death of Pyotr has left a bad taste
in the Ruska Roma family's mouth, and John's adoptive sister Katia won't help John by sponsoring
his duel with the Marquis unless he kills an enemy of hers: Killa Harkan. "It looks like we have ourselves a genuine
conundrum." Killa is the baddie who pulled the trigger
on Pyotr. If John kills this boss, he gets branded back
into the Roma family for a seat at the Table and a sanctioned shot at freedom by way of
dueling the Marquis. Mr. Nobody is one of the franchise's mysterious
newcomers, appearing out of nowhere as a fully-fledged adversary to Mr. Wick, but is this man with
a plan John Wick's friend or foe? At first, Mr. Nobody appears to be yet another
long-lost friend of John, emerging from the shadows to pledge his sword and attack dog
to the cause. He fires a shot that saves John's life, but
it isn't because he shares Shimazu's brotherly love for John. Nobody is trying to drive the price up on
John's head, not save it from rolling. While you can totally imagine a universe in
which Mr. Nobody and John buddy up — or even one where Nobody finds a fistful of reasons
to take up John's fight against the High Table — by the end of the film, Nobody is pursuing
a $40 million payday. That would pay for a whole lot of cargo pants,
sure, but why does he really need that much? Well, Shamier Anderson recently told Inverse
it isn't Nobody that needs the cash at all. He said: "Not to give away too much, but it was for
his mother." John Wick: Chapter 4 seems to kill off John
Wick for good. After taking hit after hit and stair fall
after stair fall, John seems to meet his end on the steps of Sacré-Coeur. He slumps to his side in the sunrise, enjoying
one last vision of the wife he lost. Later, the Bowery King and Winston visit John's
grave. He's buried next to his wife, and even though
the two visitors are a little lighthearted with their farewells, John's stone is inscribed
as he requested. So is this a clever set-up for an impossible
beginning in John Wick: Chapter 5, or is it really the end? The John Wick movies are such stunning spectacles
that it's easy to forget how much effort, time, and talent they take to make. Four years passed between the release of John
Wick: Chapter 3 and its follow-up film, and Keanu Reeves and Chad Stahelski have plenty
on their plates aside from the world of Wick. The collaborators have been working together
in one way or another since their Matrix days. Who knows what their creative partnership
might yield if this is the end of John Wick's road? Although it seems like the character will
make an appearance in the Ballerina spin-off movie, it really does seem like everyone's
favorite dog-avenging, grief-stricken husband might be gone for good. Such is life.
