Peaky Blinders had multiple opportunities to kill Tommy Shelby but each time he literally manifested himself into 'The Immortal Man'

It has been years since Tommy Shelby parted from the world in the Peaky Blinders Season 6 finale. He will return for one last adventure in the feature film The Immortal Man.

The protagonist of this 2013 crime drama series had many near-death experiences and metaphorical reincarnations on the show throughout six seasons, but the Birmingham leader emerged stronger each time.

With his many run-ins with death and war PTSD that became worse as the show progressed, Tommy manifested himself as the titular hero of The Immortal Man.

More on Tommy Shelby's many (near) deaths in Peaky Blinders in our story.

Tommy Shelby believed he was living on borrowed time in Peaky Blinders

Tommy Shelby started as a decorated war veteran in Peaky Blinders Season 1, who frequently had night terrors and other symptoms of war-induced PTSD.

During John's tragic death in season 4, he quotes In the Bleak Mid-Winter and explains the meaning behind the song. A Christmas carol, the song was famously used as a death motif in the show, and Tommy even says this on multiple occasions, he thought were his last.

Explaining the song's origins, he tells the group that during the war, he and the Small Heath Rifles were trapped behind enemy lines with no bullets. Thinking this was the end for them and that the Prussian cavalry would soon kill them, the soldiers sang In the Bleak Mid-winter to stay strong during that moment and comfort each other.

However, the cavalry never came, and Tommy and the group were saved. While this was happy news, this event changed Tommy, and he believed that he was living on borrowed time in Peaky Blinders. In addition, his violent life and the many enemies he made convinced him that death would eventually catch up to him, which made him paranoid as the show progressed.

Tommy escaped death on multiple occasions in Peaky Blinders. Will The Immortal Man finally see his end?

Even with this general paranoia, Tommy managed to escape death on multiple occasions in Peaky Blinders. His infamous run-in with the IRA in the Season 2 finale, where he is saved, was sheer luck.

While this near-death experience instilled hope in him and he married Grace, her death was enough to bring him back to his old ways. After Grace's death, Tommy's paranoia around his death increased even more as he blamed himself for Grace's death. She took a bullet meant for him, which made him guilty and regretful as the show progressed.

Finally, the final straw was his whole Tuberculoma fiasco and how he managed to expose Oswald Mosley's conspiracy in the Season 6 finale. Convinced that the disease would take his life, he secluded himself from his family and the world until he learns the disease was a hoax.

Another rebirth, he embraces it by riding out on a horse on an open field in the series finale. While Peaky Blinders resurrected its protagonist from the dead multiple times, it will ultimately catch up with him one day.

With Tommy's next adventure in The Immortal Man, his death might be nearing. The ominous title and Tommy's actions throughout the show hint that death is the only way out for the antihero, and as Steven Knight teased, Tommy will get a redemption arc in the upcoming movie.

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Also Read: I wonder how this Tommy Shelby line from Peaky Blinders might materialize in the upcoming sequel film

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