The Continental Creates A World-Breaking Problem For The John Wick Movies

Warning: This article contains spoilers for the series finale of The Continental!

The Continental: From the World of John Wick has created a world-breaking concern for the rest of the John Wick movies. The prequel series follows a young Winston and Charon as they try to carve out a reputation for themselves in ’70s New York, taking on a cutthroat kingpin in order to obtain control of The Continental hotel. At the center of the battle for power is the coin press responsible for printing the signature gold coins traded among the denizens of the criminal underworld for everything from clothing and lodging to guns and assassinations.

The Continental builds on the lore that has become intrinsic to the world of John Wick and elevates the films from generic action movies into something more interesting and unique. Even though it fills in some gaps in the John Wick timeline, it also presents some ways to alter it. The main plot with the coin press and how The Continental ends with Winston’s control of the hotel presents a potential problem that could shatter the foundation of the criminal underworld upon which the High Table presides.

The Continental Reveals The Coin Press Is The High Table’s Way Of Keeping Order In A Chaotic System

Given the old adage that there’s no honor among thieves, it’s not surprising that it takes something like the coin press to maintain order in an otherwise chaotic system. Its coins set the rules for the criminal world that, if left to its own devices, would descend into chaos. If someone stole the press in order to make their own coins, then they would be able to hold dominion over assassins far and wide, paying out markers as they saw fit and potentially becoming very powerful in a short amount of time.

At the same time, forbidding the High Table from making any more of the coins would also limit the scope of their power. Anyone could establish themselves at the top with enough coins to give to enough assassins to back them up. Previously, only the High Table had the clout to oversee hits and determine which members could live, die, or leave the criminal underworld. With specific gold coins accounting for the payment of everything from suits and weapons to lodging, it’s in the High Table’s best interest to continue controlling that particular flow of commerce.

Why The Adjudicator Ordered Frankie To Steal The Coin Press

When Winston first encountered Frankie, his brother told him that a group called The Nile offered him enough money to walk away from Cormac forever as long as he stole the coin press for them. At the end of The Continental’s final episode, The Adjudicator reveals that she was the one who hired Frankie, and by killing her, Winston sends a message to the High Table that he’s taking control of The Continental whether they like it or not. It’s a powerful message that reframes Winston’s backstory in John Wick and asserts his dominance in a world where whoever controls the flow of gold coins makes the rules.

Whomever has control of the social relationships elicited by the gold coins can, as Winston did, create an army. Knowing that anyone could steal it and flood the market with gold coins, thus destabilizing the entire system, it’s not surprising that a centralized forge, like the one overseen by Berrada in John Wick: Chapter 3 -Parabellum was created. If The Adjudicator was indeed part of The Nile, looking to topple an “organization that predates the Roman Empire,” then they could represent a disgruntled part of the cabal, particularly because of what the High Table did to their face.

The Coin Press Could Be How John Wick 5 Destroys The High Table

The coin press isn’t seen in the John Wick films, but Winston knows exactly where it is; in the vault of the abandoned bank that he bought Mazie and the Bowery. Assuming it hasn’t been moved, then he was safeguarding it the entire time, and it could be the key to John Wick taking down the High Table in John Wick 5. While he killed their ambassador, there are many members of the High Table left unaccounted for, and the true ending to John Wick’s story should involve taking all of them out.

The coin press, assuming that there’s only one and not several in the mints and treasuries overseas, controls the way that John Wick’s world operates in The Continental. Without the distinct gold markers being passed around, none of it has any meaning and there is no agreed upon code of conduct. Destroying the one thing that the High Table can’t function without, or threatening to, could be a way for John Wick to apply a scorched earth policy that rebuilds the criminal underworld into something more egalitarian.