Diksha Sundriyal
Netflix’s ‘The Old Guard 2’ brings back the team of immortals, led by Charlize Theron’s Andy, as a new enemy rears its head. The sequel picks up six months after the events of its predecessor, where Booker was banished into exile by Andy, Joe, Nicky, and Nile for collaborating with Steven Merrick in capturing and torturing them for his greedy schemes. It has been six months since the group last saw Booker, who is caught off guard by the return of Quỳnh, Andy’s partner of many centuries, who was doomed to eternal torture after being thrown into the bottom of the ocean. Now, she has returned, but she is not the one Andy and her friends should worry about. SPOILERS AHEAD.
The Old Guard 2 Plot Synopsis
Since Booker’s exile, Andy and her group, joined by Copley, have been tracking down an arms dealer. They have foiled this person’s attempts to make major arms sales, but soon, they discover that there is someone else working behind the scenes. This woman is revealed to be Discord (or at least, that’s the name she goes by currently). Andy’s old friend, Tuah, reveals that Discord is the first immortal who has amassed great wealth and power over the course of the last couple of centuries. She is interested in finding Andy and her friends for some mysterious reason. It also turns out that she is the one who finally found and rescued Quỳnh from 500 years of torture.
When Quỳnh was in the ocean, she thought Andy, too, was suffering similar, if not worse, torture. But when she comes out and discovers that Andy has been free for centuries, she becomes angry at her. She joins Discord in her plans, though she isn’t entirely aware of what she really wants. Quỳnh meets with Booker and, through him, sends a message to Andy. When the duo meet after five centuries, Andy is regretful for not having tried harder to find her friend, while Quỳnh cannot shake off her anger. Meanwhile, Nile crosses paths with Discord, who reveals that Nile is the last immortal. And because Discord is the first immortal, they are both connected to one another. This revelation sounds ominous to Nile, and there is a very good reason for that.
How did Booker Lose His Immortality? How does He Die?
Discord’s return and Nile’s status as the last immortal lead Tuah to dig into some history, and he discovers a startling fact. It turns out that the last immortal has the ability to destroy a person’s power of immortality by drawing blood. The first time Nile and Andy met, the former marine cut the immortal on her shoulder, following which Andy lost her immortality. Tuah also reveals that once the wound has been inflicted, there is a short window within which the wounded immortal can transfer their immortality to someone else, but it has to happen willingly.
When Booker discovers this, his first thought is to help Andy become immortal again. He has spent centuries walking the earth, but he was never more miserable than the past six months when his group banished him, and he thought he might never see Andy and the others again. This time away from his friends has led him to reflect on certain things, and he feels the only way forward is for him to transfer his immortality to Andy. For this, he seeks out Nile and has a playful duel with her, where she draws blood by cutting him on his arm. As soon as that happens, Booker seeks out Andy, and while they are in each other’s presence for a while, he doesn’t say anything to her about what he is planning to do.
The movie doesn’t show the transfer, but by the time the group is on their next mission, it turns out the transfer has been completed. At first, Booker is uncertain about it, but then, he notices that Andy’s wounds are healing, while he has lost his healing power. When the time comes, he points this out to Andy, revealing that he has given her his powers and has made his peace with whatever comes next. As a group of Discord’s soldiers attack the duo, Booker takes it upon himself to deal with them, while Andy watches helplessly from the other side of the door that Booker trapped her in. The fight ends with all the soldiers dying, but Booker’s injuries are too severe for him to recover without his immortality, and he dies on the spot.
What Happens to Joe, Nicky, Tuah, and Nile? Why does Discord Kidnap Them?
Initially, it is believed that Discord is an immortal who has walked the earth for too long and is entirely disillusioned with humanity. She amassed wealth and power so that no human could touch her and harm her the way they harmed Quỳnh. Now, her hatred has expanded to the point where she has become offensive towards humanity and doesn’t care how many innocents she is killing. Later, Andy discovers that Discord has lost her immortality, and all of this fuss has been about her trying to get it back. Since Nile is the last immortal, she is the only one who can initiate the process, but at the same time, Discord also needs some other immortals who can be cut by Nile and be willing to give up their immortality to her.
This is why she was looking for Andy, because she knew that’s where she would find Nile. Eventually, she lays a trap wherein she storms a nuclear facility in Indonesia and threatens to blow it up, leading to a loss of millions of lives. While Andy and her team know that it’s a trap designed to get to them, they still walk into it because they don’t want innocent people to die. While Copley coordinates from the van, Joe, Nicky, and Tuah walk in with the intention of disabling the bomb, but they are all gassed and rendered unconscious and taken away by Discord’s men in body bags. Outside, Copley is attacked by Discord’s soldier, and he goes radio silent.
The same thing is done to Nile, who is the key to Discord’s plan. With her immortality back, Andy tries to stop Discord, but as the duel happens, she realizes that she is no match in fighting skills to the older immortal. The fight is also when she discovers that Discord’s wounds are not healing, and because, by now, she knows about the power of transfer, she understands the true extent of her schemes. Discord confesses that she went through all this trouble because she wants her immortality back, which is why she captured the other four immortals. Though Nile, she intends to put them in a position where one of them will be forced to willingly give up their immortality. If they don’t do it, she will keep torturing them until they change their minds.
What Does Andy Look for in Tuah’s Books?
If one is to defeat their enemy, they must know everything they can about the enemy. When Discord decided to attack Andy and her friends, she found Tuah and used his books about them to find out all about their lives and relationships. This is how she discovered that Booker was one of them, and that he must be used to get to Andy, and eventually, Nile. At the nuclear facility, when the villain reveals her plans about Andy’s friends, the latter realizes that she must act fast and find a way to free her friends, or they will all die. Moreover, once Tuah gets her immortality back, she will become invincible, which would be quite something because she is already powerful enough to beat Andy and capture all her friends.
To understand how to beat Discord, Andy rifles through all the books in Tuah’s library, knowing that he has kept records on all Immortals, even the ones Andy has no idea existed. Because Discord has gone through a lot of trouble to keep her identity secret for all these years, Tuah’s books are the only way to dig up relevant information about her. Andy spends days, if not weeks, in the library to find out all she can. It is when she knows she has exhausted all resources that she prepares to step out and fight the enemy. While it is not revealed what exactly she has found, there is a good chance that she has either found Discord’s friends or enemies, both of whom could prove invaluable in the upcoming fight.
Do Andy and Quỳnh Patch Up?
One of the major points of conflict in Andy’s arc this time is Quỳnh’s return. The duo spent centuries together before they were tried for being witches, and Quỳnh was thrown into the ocean. While Andy tried to find her, she couldn’t locate her. Eventually, she moved on, though she continued to have guilt about her partner’s tragic fate. When Quỳnh comes back, she discovers that Andy has been free for centuries but did nothing to free her. This turns her against her friend, and she teams up with Discord, not knowing what the oldest immortal actually plans to do.
At the nuclear facility, Quỳnh fights with Nile and sustains an injury, which does not heal. She is shocked by this sudden development, but is also forced to accept that she has lost her immortality. While Discord takes Nile away, she leaves Quỳnh behind, who now has the button that she can push to destroy the entire facility and kill millions of mortal humans. This also means that she will die too, but now that she has lost her immortality, Quỳnh doesn’t see the point of continuing anymore. Or at least, that’s what she believes until Andy finds her. Centuries ago, when they used to be together, Andy and Quỳnh were each other’s moral compass.
This time, Andy refuses to tell Quỳnh what she should do, knowing that her friend will eventually make the right decision. When Discord leaves with all the others, Andy takes an injured Quỳnh back home. They stay at Tuah’s place, and as Andy looks through his books, Quỳnh recuperates from her wounds. Once Andy is ready to leave and go after Discord, Quỳnh joins her. Andy asks her to reconsider, but Quỳnh has made up her mind. As they engage in a banter about who is the better one to lead, it becomes clear that they have set aside their differences and have finally patched up. While Quỳnh might still have some resentment against Andy, things are not so bad that she would collaborate with her enemies to harm her. Now, she is ready to fight by Andy’s side, just like they used to all those years ago.
Read More: Where was The Old Guard 2 Filmed?
