The Peaky Blinders finale has finally aired and this unmissable episode contained a special detail only eagle-eyed fans might’ve noticed.
From the moment Peaky Blinders season 6 landed, long-time viewers knew that they were in for a bittersweet journey. Already confirmed to be the final season of the hit BBC show, the latest series saw Shelby family leader Tommy and his ambitious cousin finally face off after Michael Gray's attempt to seize control of the Birmingham gang in season 5.
Family, business, betrayal and love have always been at the centre of the drama as the time period edged ever closer to the rise of fascism and the start of the Second World War.
Now whilst some continue to hope for a Peaky Blinders season 7, there is one detail fans might’ve missed in the Peaky Blinders finale that takes you right back to the very beginning…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nsT9uQPIrk
In the Peaky Blinders finale, Tommy discovered he wasn’t actually dying thanks to a vision of his late daughter Ruby. Instead, Doctor Holford had been in league with fascist politician Oswald Mosley and convinced Tommy he had a terminal illness.
The gang leader deduces that they'd hoped that he would take his own life, believing the only one who could kill Tommy Shelby is Tommy Shelby himself. But in a surprising and emotional twist, not only didn’t Tommy do so, but he also let Holford live instead of taking revenge.
Accepting he’d changed, Tommy headed back to his caravan in the hills where he’d taken refuge. Upon discovering it set alight and all his remaining possessions burning, he climbs aboard a white horse and rides off to who knows where.
And it’s this that could be seen as hugely significant, given that in his first ever scene in Peaky Blinders season one, Tommy rode in on a black horse and has used one throughout season 6.
“BACK WHERE IT ALL BEGAN ON A HORSE STEVEN KNIGHT I ******* LOVE YOU THE ENDING WAS PERFECTION”, one fan wrote delightedly, praising the show’s creator for mirroring Tommy’s spectacular season one entrance in this place.
And they weren’t the only one who noticed this mind-blowing detail, with someone else responding, “A black horse at the beginning and a white horse at the end- very fitting”.
The decision to parallel flawed protagonist Tommy’s entrance and exit from the long-running period drama has lead many fans to speculating about a possible meaning behind it. And as far as they’re concerned, the change from black horse to white horse couldn't be more "perfect".
Many viewers believe that it reflects Tommy’s journey throughout Peaky Blinders and especially season 6, where he lost several family members and faced up to his past deeds.
“Could the change of the horse's colour signify a change of heart for tommy too?” one suggested.
“[I]t needed to be the white horse to show that Tommy had moved on. A white horse symbolises purity, heroism, spiritual enlightenment, and the triumph of good over evil”, another commented.
“And a white horse as well, for redemption, perfect”, a third fan declared.
Whether the redemption symbolism is intentional or not, this throwback to the first season has captured the hearts and imaginations of fans. As he set off on his white horse, one thing's certain - he's not the same Tommy Shelby introduced back in 2013!
