Diksha Sundriyal
Netflix’s ‘The Old Guard 2’ brings back Andy and her group as they try to fight the bad guys and protect humanity at all costs. While their cause is noble and selfless, things get rather personal for them when new characters enter the picture. In the first film, it was revealed that Andy used to run with another immortal called Quynh, who met a terrible fate during the witch trials. At the end of ‘The Old Guard,’ Quynh returns, and in the second film, her fractured equation with Andy becomes an important plot point of the story. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Andy and Quynh are Supposed to be Soul Mates
Andy has met and befriended several immortals over the years, but she has never had the bond that she shared with Quynh. She was the first immortal that she came across after spending three thousand years alone. The same held true for Quynh, who was much younger than Andy but had spent a considerable amount of time on her own and was consumed by loneliness before she met Andromache of Scythia. In the movie, their meeting happens in the middle of a desert where Quynh is almost on the brink of death due to dehydration.
Since they met, they promised that they would stay by each other’s side. And for the next few thousand years or so, their words held true. Considering that they spent such a long time together, in the midst of which they also welcomed other immortals to their group, it wouldn’t be wrong to assume that their relationship took a romantic turn after a while. While the film does not specifically allude to this, there is a sexual tension between the characters when they meet, especially in the longing and apologetic looks that Andy gives to Quynh.
The comics also hint towards this romantic dynamic, though again, it is spoken more in subtext. However, irrespective of whether their feelings for each other are those of lovers or best friends, there is no doubt about the fact that they consider each other their soulmates. Being the first immortals to find one another and having spent millennia in each other’s company means that they know each other inside out, better than anyone will ever know them. And such a bond cannot be easily shaken off, no matter how many centuries they spent apart.
Quynh’s Anger Towards Andy Leads Her to Become a Bad Guy
In ‘The Old Guard,’ Quynh is talked about as a thing of Andy’s past, mainly because no one believes that she can come back. When she was thrown into the sea, trapped in an iron maiden, Andy spent a lot of time looking for her. However, considering that it was about five hundred years ago, the resources and technology were terribly limited, which meant that there came a point when Andy had to give up the search and move on. In those five hundred years, Quynh died and came back to life several times, for an unimaginable number of times. And every single time, her thoughts went to Andy, who she believed had suffered a similar fate.
So, when Quynh is finally released and she discovers that Andy moved on a while ago, it makes sense for her to lose her mind. Even in her own captivity, she never gave up on the thought of rescuing her partner, which is why she feels betrayed when Andy moves on so easily. This, paired with the trauma she endured for centuries, leads her to become disillusioned with being a good person. She is angry at humans for subjecting her to such torture, and she is angrier at Andy for abandoning her. She wants someone or something to direct her rage at, and Discord offers her this opportunity. However, this doesn’t mean that she is inherently evil.
Having sided with the villain, Quynh agrees to do some really terrible things, like blowing up a nuclear facility and threatening millions of innocent lives. By the end, however, she has a change of heart, especially after she loses her immortality. When Andy asks her to do the right thing, she decides not to blow up the place, and over time, she warms up to Andy. With the rest of the group abducted by Discord, Andy and Quynh are the only ones left behind, and they spend several nights in Tuah’s library, where Quynh recuperates from her wounds, which don’t heal as easily anymore. Now that she knows what Discord is really up to, she switches sides and is ready to fight next to Andy, just like they used to centuries ago.
Read More: The Old Guard 2 Ending Explained: Is Booker Dead?
