"In the Bleak Mid-Winter": When Tommy Shelby almost returned from the dead in Peaky Blinders Season 2 finale

BBC's crime drama series Peaky Blinders saw an explosive Season 2 finale, which remains iconic to this day. The finale saw Cillian Murphy's Thomas Shelby escape and return from the dead.

Being the leader of a Birmingham gang earned him many enemies throughout the six seasons, but his most haunting brush with death was in the Season 2 finale. An image of Thomas on his knees, awaiting death, with his grave dug on the side, is a haunting image for every fan.

While the beloved character muttered his last prayer and was ready to be sent off to the other side, he was saved.

The prayer 'In the Bleak Mid-winter,' which Thomas recites in his supposedly final moment, is an important part of the show. It is originally a Christmas carol written by English poet Christina Rossetti. Harold Darke's 1909 version is the most famous and sung to date.

More on how Thomas escaped death in the Peaky Blinders Season 2 finale in our story.

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Thomas Shelby returned from the dead in the Peaky Blinders Season 2 finale

While Peaky Blinders always goes with a bang, the Season 2 finale was explosive and remains one of the best season conclusions for the show.

The finale saw Thomas Shelby get picked off by the IRA men during the Epsom races and driven off to a far-off location. While Campbell was always after Thomas, his hatred towards him grew when Grace chose him over the inspector.

While he meets his satisfactory end at Aunt Polly's hands, who shoots him in the heart, Thomas awaits his fate. The IRA men take Thomas to an abandoned field where there is already a grave dug out for him.

Knowing that his final moment has arrived, Shelby heads, lights a cigarette, and regrets his failed relationship with Grace. His infamous lines:

''And there's a woman I love and I got close''

The lines highlight his regret over the failed love with Grace and how he has to meet his end. But just as he gets on his knees and mutters his final prayer, saying 'In the Bleak Midwinter,' one of the IRA men pushes Thomas away and shoots the other two men dead.

He says that Winston Churchill would want to speak with Thomas in the near future, and his life is saved.

While his fans believed that Thomas would never meet his end this way, the Peaky Blinders Season 2 finale was still haunting.

But as the ruthless gang leader said in the series finale:

''The only person who could kill Thomas Shelby is Thomas Shelby himself''

The scene brings home the fact that the character still had a long way to go and even returned from the dead.

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Exploring the meaning behind 'In the Bleak Mid-Winter' in Peaky Blinders

While the iconic scene from the Peaky Blinders Season 2 finale saw Thomas return and eventually marry Grace, the image of a ruthless leader on his knees in an abandoned field about to face death is jarring. The prayer is said during various death and funeral scenes in the drama.

The prayer he mutters during this and many other key scenes in the show signifies the traumas and hardships they have endured during WWI and how they shaped their lives.

As mentioned above, the Darke 1909 version became the most famous, as he was a choir conductor during World War II.

During an emotional key scene in Peaky Blinders Season 4, when John Shelby dies, Thomas explains the meaning of the song. He reminisced about how he and other small heath men used to sing the song when trapped behind enemy lines with no bullets. He honored his dead brother and shared a key detail about the song.

The song is also featured during Thomas' wedding to Grace, which can be interpreted as his wife's eventual death, which also killed the old Thomas in a way, and hence the song.

Also Read: 5 things from Peaky Blinders that could have been illustrated more closely aligned to the original incidents

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