John Wick 4’s post-credits scene proves the action never really ends

John Wick has returned for another epic life-or-death fight in his most ambitious (and longest) film yet. You can still enjoy the movie if you keep watching. John Wick: Chapter 4’s nearly 170 minutes, at least you’ll get a small extra reward at the end.

There is a scene in the final credits of the latest installment in the series that features an assassin who wants to give up his guns and live a peaceful life. It isn’t long, and it isn’t completely critical to the plot, but it’s thematically relevant, co-writers Michael Finch and Shay Hatten told Polygon in a recent interview. It’s also pretty cool. It doesn’t matter what, it is still worth the effort. But if you can’t, or you’d just like a little explanation, here’s what happens in John Wick: Chapter 4’s post-credits scene.

[Ed. note: This story contains spoilers for all of John Wick: Chapter 4, both before and after the credits.]

John Wick: Chapter 4 ends on a solemn note with John’s funeral. (No, it isn’t clear whether he’s really dead.) But that isn’t all the movie has up its sleeve. The credits show Caine (Donnie Yien) leaving for his visit to the daughter. He is accompanied by a bouquet. Akira (Rina Sawayama) follows Caine through a crowd and unfurls his blade in preparation to kill her father Shimazu, (Hiroyuki Sanada), whom Caine earlier shot.

Polygon was told by Finch and Hatten that Hatten’s desire for revenge is at the center of the scene.

“One of the themes of this piece was to demonstrate the vertical reach of the Table,” Finch said. Finch mentioned the High Table as the shadowy organisation that oversees the John Wick films’ assassins. “Because of the events that happen in the Osaka Continental, she goes in full-force. What she doesn’t understand, and what we’re trying to demonstrate, is that you once you step into the Table, there is no stepping out. Caine said that she locked her in. […] ‘I’ll be waiting for you.’ He knows that she’s going to come, because she’s a part of the Table. […] She’s all in, she’s gonna go after Caine for revenge. Her story is John Wick story, in a lot of ways.”

Hatten explained that the John Wick series’ themes are based on this cycle of violence, vengeance, and revenge.

“It shows the cyclical and cruel nature of this world, that once you get in there, it is impossible to get out,” Hatten said. “I think that’s why we empathize with John so much. No matter how many people he kills, you recognize, well, he didn’t really have a choice. He fell into this life, and now he’s just trying to get out and honor the memory of his wife. But it’s a really challenging thing to do.”

While all of this plays into the themes of the series, including revenge and the idea that the High Table sits above even the most legendary assassins that serve under it, it’s also just an exciting little cap to the movie’s story — or maybe a tease of what’s to come for the series’ future.