Does John Wick Die in Chapter 4? Explained

We’ve followed John Wick’s storyline since the very first movie when he lost his wife and was forced to return to action to take revenge for the death of his dog. Of course, due to his actions, he became target number one for the High Table, which is a secret organization leading the group of assassins that Wick used to work for when he was an active hitman. John Wick: Chapter 4, the latest installment in his storyline, seems to have something big in store for Wick. So, does John Wick die in Chapter 4?

John Wick dies at the end of John Wick: Chapter 4 due to the wounds he suffered in his duel against Caine. Though he won the duel by killing the Marquis, John suffered wounds that his body could no longer withstand, especially after spending an entire night evading and fighting off assassins.

Despite the fact that we’ve seen John Wick taking down numerous assassins across four movies in such a short span of time, he was never immortal because he still had his limits. He finally reached his limit at the end of Chapter 4, when he suffered too many wounds due to his encounters with the assassins and his duel with Caine. That said, let’s look at how John Wick died at the end of Chapter 4.

John Wick’s Fate Explained

Ever since the first movie, John Wick has been under a lot of stress because he just can’t catch a break. Assassins keep coming at him from left and right due to his status as an excommunicated assassin under the High Table. Of course, his quest for revenge ultimately got him in this situation, as he ended up becoming the High Table’s top target.

In John Wick: Chapter 4, the High Table decided to consolidate its power to the Marquis, who was tasked to be the one to bring down John Wick after everyone in the first three movies failed to kill him. That means that he had the best assassins and hitmen on his payroll to try to kill John Wick. In fact, the Marquis motivated everyone by putting a heavy bounty on Wick’s head.

That said, John Wick knew that he had no escape. As Winston told him, John could kill as many people as possible, but he would never be free. He can even kill the Marquis but will never be able to get rid of the target on his back because the High Table would just simply appoint a new person to take the place of the Marquis. However, Winston knew of the old customs of the High Table.

Winston told John to regain his family’s crest and have a place on the High Table through his family so that he could challenge the Marquis to an old-fashioned duel that only the members of the High Table could issue. Wick regained his position within Ruska Roma, which has a seat at the Table, by killing Killa, who was responsible for killing the leader of Ruska Roma.

As such, Wick challenged the Marquis using his family’s seat at the Table. That was when he and the Marquis agreed on a pistol duel that would happen on the following sunrise. However, instead of facing Wick himself, the Marquis nominated Caine, a blind assassin that was just as skilled as John (a former friend of his), to act as the one that would take part in the duel. If John were to win the duel, he would regain his duel and would allow Winston to reinstate himself as the manager of the New York Continental.

With that, the Marquis issued an open bounty for John Wick’s head so that he couldn’t make it to the duel by sunrise, as failing to do so would lead to his immediate execution. Wick had to defeat numerous assassins on his way to the designated duel grounds. And he also had to face the guards of the Marquis, who was so intent on making sure that Wick wouldn’t be able to reach the duel on time.

There were only a few minutes left on the clock as a tired and weary Wick faced off against Chidi and the other High Table guards. The honorable Caine, who never wanted to get involved in this mess but was forced to do so when the High Table threatened to kill his daughter, decided to help his old friend to make it to the designated duel grounds by sunrise.

Both John and Caine fended off and killed the High Table henchmen to make it to the duel, where they were set to try to kill each other using pistols. The rules were simple as both men were asked to distance themselves by 30 paces at the start of the duel. They would each fire one bullet at each other, and if no one died, they would now step 10 paces closer to one another to fire another bullet.

John and Caine missed vital parts during the first two shots as they were asked to step 20 paces closer to one another. Caine won this round by hitting John in the left portion of his abdomen. But that didn’t kill him.

When it was clear that the duel was still ongoing because neither man died, the Marquis substituted for Caine because he wanted to claim the coup de grace. But when Winston told him that John never fired his bullet in the last round, the Marquis was surprised to see that Wick quickly aimed his pistol at him. John Wick regained his freedom by killing and defeating the Marquis in a duel, as Caine also regained his freedom from the High Table by honoring his role.

But while John may have won his freedom, he subsequently died after he collapsed near the stairway of the church. His death was confirmed when both Winston and King went to his funeral, where he was buried beside his wife. His tombstone read: “Loving Husband.”

How Did John Wick Die?

Of course, we all know that John Wick survived the duel with Caine because he didn’t die just yet when the blind man shot him in the abdomen. That was why the Marquis was so eager to have a final shot at Wick as he realized that he could become a legend in the history of the High Table by being the one who took down the biggest threat that the High Table has seen in recent memory. And that was the opening that Wick needed to kill the Marquis and claim victory in the duel.

Nevertheless, he still died after the duel. He had already suffered too much in one night as his body just gave up on him after he had won his duel with Caine and the Marquis. John Wick fought all night anwasen severely battered and bruised in his attempt to get through countless assassins. He was shot by assassins, hit by cars, fell off buildings, battered by trained fighters, and pushed down a 200-step stairway.

As such, when John got to his duel with Caine, he was no longer in the best physical condition. Any man would have already died at that point, but Wick merely willed himself through to the duel to finally be free. And when he got shot numerous times in his duel with Caine, he no longer had enough in him to survive.

Normally, John Wick would have been able to power through the wounds he suffered in his duel with Caine. But his body was already too battered and bruised at that point. As such, the gunshot wounds in the duel were the nails on his coffin as John died from his wounds and his body’s exhaustion. He pushed his body too far past its limit for it to be able to recover from its wounds and injuries.