"Everybody Dies" is a line House said a number of times. Of course, he's right, but this time he was talking about himself. I have to admit, the parade of former associates and loved ones (including a never born loved-one) was not a good sign. I hate clip shows, and also have a strong distaste for "cameo" appearances of past stars. But this one, well written by the amazing House writing staff, moved the story forward and wrapped it up nicely.

Sure, House dying in a burning building he himself set on fire (though that was never actually mentioned - it was necessary when you understand his plan) had a certain justice built in. A career built on cheating death, for House to let death come to him made sense. The funeral, with friends and family eulogizing him, was decidely unreal, both in terms of the set design and the drab, color and lighting. It was almost shot in black and white. All the more contrast at the very end, with our heroes riding motorcycles through a heartbreakingly colorful landscape, living out Wilson's final months on earth together. The funeral didn't feel real. And it wasn't.

House's last words in the burning factory, "I can change," meant everything. It was a promise, sealed with his "death," Wilson's telling him he can never practice medicine again freeing him from the life that needed changing. Sure, we don't see House walking at the end, and it's distinctly possible that his cane is attached to the motorcycle, but to not show us such an iconic prop, a tool that defined Dr. Gregory House as much as any medical instrument, at the end must be implying he doesn't intend to use it anymore. Before riding off into Wilson's sunset on two very cool (and most certainly expensive) motorcycles, House doesn't pop a couple Vicodin, he puts his helmet on.

Who knows, maybe his statement in the first episode of the season, that he wanted to leave medicine and start over as a physicist was foreshadowing. If anyone can prove String Theory, after all, it's House.