After watching the events of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum play out, viewers are still wondering why Winston shoots John Wick at the film’s end.

After watching the events of John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum play out, viewers are still wondering why Winston shoots John Wick at the film’s end. Parabellum opens with a bounty being placed on the titular character’s head, prompting a legion of guns-for-hire to chase Keanu Reeves’ John Wick down. In some ways, it’s a far cry from the events of the first John Wick film, which chronicles the once-retired hitman’s attempts to seek revenge against the men who murdered his dog. However, in the same way John Wick‘s criminal underworld has its rules and rituals, the franchise’s series of events fall in line like dominoes.

In John Wick: Chapter 2, Reeves’ action hero is forced out of retirement once more in order to fulfill a blood oath to a crime lord, Santino D’Antonio (Riccardo Scamarcio). When that assignment results in the unauthorized killing of Santino, a member of John Wick‘s High Table, Reeves’ character is a wanted man in the franchise’s third installment. Played by Ian McShane, Winston Scott is a pivotal part of John Wick 3. As the owner and manager of the New York Continental Hotel, a kind of neutral safe zone for criminals and killers, Winston loves to abide by the rules — even when his friend, John Wick, is involved.

Winston Shoots John Wick To Save Him From The High Table

Since the Continental’s grounds are a neutral zone, criminals can’t conduct business on Winston Scott’s turf. If those rules are violated, there are brutal consequences — ones often doled out by Winston. “Rules. Without them, we live with the animals,” Winston says, thus underscoring his no-nonsense approach. In John Wick 3, the High Table takes a special interest in John, who previously killed one of their ranks, Santino. A council of crime lords that governs the underworld’s most fearsome organizations, the High Table is respected by every bounty hunter, criminal, or interloper. Unfortunately, Winston Scott’s support of “Jonathan” lands him on the High Table’s bad side.

A John Wick spin-off film, Ballerina, is set to be released in June 2024.

Later on, the High Table’s Elder offers John forgiveness in exchange for his unending subservience, and that includes killing Winston. When John arrives at the Continental, he refuses to end Winston, prompting The Adjudicator (Asia Kate Dillon) — an agent of the High Table who assesses offenders like Winston — to revoke the grounds’ neutrality. With High Table enforcers after them, John and Winston team up for an epic brawl. On the roof of the hotel, The Adjudicator negotiates with Winston, who swears his fealty to the High Table. When John shows up, Winston shoots his long-time ally, allowing John Wick 3‘s ending to set up the fourth film.

Winston Did Not Intend To Kill John Wick In Chapter 3’s Ending

John Wick 3‘s director confirmed why Winston shot John: to save him. In Peacock’s prequel TV series The Continental, viewers learn more about Winston’s High Table backstory. In fact, the character’s killing of The then-Adjudicator (Katie McGrath) foreshadows Winston’s ongoing defiance of the High Table in the John Wick movies — even if he claims to respect them. By shooting Reeves’ character in John Wick 3‘s ending, Winston was actually saving them both. On the surface, he seems to be following through with his fealty to the High Table, but, clearly, he doesn’t shoot to kill. Backed into a corner, Winston saw shooting John as the only way forward.