The Old Guard’s Final Scene Explained: What Happened To [SPOILER]

WARNING: Spoilers for The Old Guard.

The Old Guard‘s final scene shows Quynh return after spending hundreds of years in the ocean. Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, the storyline mostly stays true to the original comic, with the exception of the ending scene, which brought back a character everyone thought was lost. Portrayed by Veronica Ngo, Quynh originally appears as a dream character in The Old Guard. She’s seen by resurrected U.S. Marine Nile Freeman (KiKi Layne), who has been recruited by a group of warriors tasked with protecting humanity.

The Old Guard are seemingly immortal, but each member knows that their powers will eventually fade, and that they will ultimately die. Hundreds of years before, team leader Andromache of Scythia aka Andy (Charlie Theron) first encountered a fellow immortal named Quynh, who had “given up” after spending so much time alone. The two warriors then fought thousands of battles together, but were detained in England and presumed to be witches, primarily because they survived hangings and burnings. Quynh was then placed in an Iron Maiden device and dropped to the bottom of the ocean, where she’s been trapped for the past 500 years.

Six months after the team defeats Steven Merrick (Harry Melling) and banishes Booker for his betrayal, Quynh shows up at Booker’s apartment in Paris and menacingly states, “Booker. It’s nice to finally meet you.” But how did Quynh escape her Iron Maiden coffin at the bottom of the ocean? The Old Guard movie doesn’t explain the specifics, and the character technically doesn’t exist in the source material, at least in terms of her name. The comics feature a Japanese warrior named Noriko who falls into the ocean and disappears. For the Netflix adaptation, Ngo reportedly wanted the character to align with her Vietnamese heritage, so Noriko became Quynh, and the storyline was tweaked to add some extra suspense and conflict.

Even though The Old Guard movie doesn’t spell out Quynh’s motivations, The Old Guard: Force Multiplied comic (which had its final issue delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic) reveals that she wants humanity to suffer. Whereas The Old Guard ends with Andy and the rest of the immortals discovering all the good they’ve done for humanity, Quynh believes that they’ve been chosen as immortals to wreak havoc on the world. It’s a dour outlook, but it makes her the perfect villain, given that she also has a personal connection to the team.

So, that look at the end of the Netflix adaptation is indeed supposed to be menacing and somewhat psychotic, evidenced by a statement made by the screenwriter (and original comic writer) Greg Rucka to Polygon: “The fact that she’s pouring herself a glass of water. You kind of go, OK, the lights are on, but nobody’s in that house anymore.” For The Old Guard 2, fans can likely expect a mid-movie explanation about the specifics of Quynh’s escape from the Iron Maiden coffin.

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Q.V. Hough
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Q.V. Hough is a senior writer at Screen Rant. He’s also the founding editor at Vague Visages, and has contributed to RogerEbert.com and Fandor.

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