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I have read The Old Guard: Force Multiplied!
Okay, so after yesterday's post I was like "yanno, lemme just read this, it's 5 issues". Firstly: the trade isn't out yet, but the individual issues are actually cheaper on Comixology? The trade is $15, but if you buy each issue individually, it's only $12? And also, now that I've read them, I feel like really issue 4 and 5 are the ones that have stuff that isn't covered in the movie.
Anyways, I'm keeping the details light and relatively spoiler-free for the first 3 issues:
issue 1: backstory about Andy that we mostly know. Some heist stuff. Booker gets captured by Quynh/Noriko. Apparently the dreaming thing works differently because you only dream of a person if you're older than them, so Lykon, being younger than Quynh/Noriko, didn't dream of her.
issue 2: Quynh/Noriko tortures Booker a bit. The team tries to take out a human trafficking ring and finds Quynh/Noriko instead.
issue 3: back story about Quynh/Noriko that we already know. Some punching happens but nothing serious. Andy goes to find Quynh/Noriko
Next up are some detailed stuff for issues 4 and 5, and (random thing that threw me off is that Andy has long hair and Nile has short hair?!!!)
issue 4: Moment where Copley shows Nicky/Joe all the good they've done. Quynh/Noriko and Andy have a conversation, which was a pleasant surprise for me -- I'm glad that their love for each other built over a millenia was not erased by 400 years of pain.
You can see that they have ideological differences, but they still love each other:
Speaking of ideological differences, though ... um... somehow Quynh/Noriko decided that her suffering was some sort of punishment for trying to help humanity and that the destiny of the immortals was to hurt humanity? Something about humans being vermin and them being the exterminators ... but then she's been hurting people by... running international criminal rings and human trafficking???
I... I don't see how this logic works.
Anyways, then Quynh/Noriko decides to show Andy what suffering is like, and (a) traps Andy in a car underwater, and (b) prompts Nile to ask Andy about a law
issue 5: Andy gets out of the car, they go find Quynh/Noriko, who doesn't put up a fight and instead kisses Andy. Later, Nile asks Andy about the law, and it turns out that Andy owned slaves way back in 2000BC or 4000BC. Nile is pissed. Andy's like "yes everyone knew it was wrong but we did it anyway, because humans are vermin, myself included." And Nile is like:
So basically Andy's like "I don't want to do this anymore" and Nile pulls the "you're with us or you're against us" sort of thing, and takes everyone else with her, leaving Andy alone.
And then Quynh/Noriko shows up and Andy joins them.
And it's like ...
yay:
- Andy and Quynh/Noriko aren't really pitted against each other, and there's a clear acknowledgement of their love for each other
- I didn't see the last twist coming, so that's at least novel
nay: All these logical leaps:
- Quynh/Noriko deciding that she was being punished for not being evil and that it's Destiny and Purpose and all that
- Nile deciding that Andy being too tired to fight means that she's part of the problem and just ... abandoning her
- Andy deciding that humans always doing shitty things means that she should ... embrace her war-like roots and her Destiny????
I mean, I'm sure the threads will tie together better by the time the next movie happens, and there's one last series in this trilogy that is forthcoming (Old Guard: Fade Away). For one, Quynh's hatred of humanity makes more sense given how much she's explicitly suffered at their hands. And the author is clearly (a) very pro relationships, and (b) pretty good at threading the themes together (you see some great visual hints of the issue 5 climax in issues 1 and 2.) So it'll probably turn out okay. I hope Andy and Quynh/Noriko get the retirement that they deserve, and humanity is reaffirmed.
Anyways, I'm keeping the details light and relatively spoiler-free for the first 3 issues:
issue 1: backstory about Andy that we mostly know. Some heist stuff. Booker gets captured by Quynh/Noriko. Apparently the dreaming thing works differently because you only dream of a person if you're older than them, so Lykon, being younger than Quynh/Noriko, didn't dream of her.
issue 2: Quynh/Noriko tortures Booker a bit. The team tries to take out a human trafficking ring and finds Quynh/Noriko instead.
issue 3: back story about Quynh/Noriko that we already know. Some punching happens but nothing serious. Andy goes to find Quynh/Noriko
Next up are some detailed stuff for issues 4 and 5, and (random thing that threw me off is that Andy has long hair and Nile has short hair?!!!)
issue 4: Moment where Copley shows Nicky/Joe all the good they've done. Quynh/Noriko and Andy have a conversation, which was a pleasant surprise for me -- I'm glad that their love for each other built over a millenia was not erased by 400 years of pain.
You can see that they have ideological differences, but they still love each other:
Speaking of ideological differences, though ... um... somehow Quynh/Noriko decided that her suffering was some sort of punishment for trying to help humanity and that the destiny of the immortals was to hurt humanity? Something about humans being vermin and them being the exterminators ... but then she's been hurting people by... running international criminal rings and human trafficking???
I... I don't see how this logic works.
Anyways, then Quynh/Noriko decides to show Andy what suffering is like, and (a) traps Andy in a car underwater, and (b) prompts Nile to ask Andy about a law
issue 5: Andy gets out of the car, they go find Quynh/Noriko, who doesn't put up a fight and instead kisses Andy. Later, Nile asks Andy about the law, and it turns out that Andy owned slaves way back in 2000BC or 4000BC. Nile is pissed. Andy's like "yes everyone knew it was wrong but we did it anyway, because humans are vermin, myself included." And Nile is like:
So basically Andy's like "I don't want to do this anymore" and Nile pulls the "you're with us or you're against us" sort of thing, and takes everyone else with her, leaving Andy alone.
And then Quynh/Noriko shows up and Andy joins them.
And it's like ...
yay:
- Andy and Quynh/Noriko aren't really pitted against each other, and there's a clear acknowledgement of their love for each other
- I didn't see the last twist coming, so that's at least novel
nay: All these logical leaps:
- Quynh/Noriko deciding that she was being punished for not being evil and that it's Destiny and Purpose and all that
- Nile deciding that Andy being too tired to fight means that she's part of the problem and just ... abandoning her
- Andy deciding that humans always doing shitty things means that she should ... embrace her war-like roots and her Destiny????
I mean, I'm sure the threads will tie together better by the time the next movie happens, and there's one last series in this trilogy that is forthcoming (Old Guard: Fade Away). For one, Quynh's hatred of humanity makes more sense given how much she's explicitly suffered at their hands. And the author is clearly (a) very pro relationships, and (b) pretty good at threading the themes together (you see some great visual hints of the issue 5 climax in issues 1 and 2.) So it'll probably turn out okay. I hope Andy and Quynh/Noriko get the retirement that they deserve, and humanity is reaffirmed.
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muccamukk's!)
This is interesting! I'm glad to see that Andy/Quynh still seems to be going strong. I guess I can understand some of the logic leaps as a product of trauma--like maybe after everything Quynh has been through, she isn't necessarily thinking logically, but more based on the deeply fucked up ways a mind can go wrong after than much pain. And Nile not getting that Andy's exhaustion (which I thought came through well in the movie) isn't evil seems like something a young and fairly inexperienced person could do.
But I hope they all come out of it okay and that the ending is hopeful! I didn't know the movie was based on comics so this is really interesting, and cool that more of their story already exists whether or not another movie happens. Thank you for making this post!
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Yeah, the comic was definitely good in assuaging my worries about Evil Asian Woman tropes. I can understand Quynh's logical leaps, but I can't really understand Andy's. And re:Nile's ultimatum -- I just wish there was less of the "let's judge the past based on our current values" thing. Can't tell if that's something the author will come back to add complexity to, or if he's just running with it.