Amidst a number of glaring drawbacks, and trust me, there are many, the worst mistake Netflix’s The Old Guard 2 made was to tease Uma Thurman’s return to action with her portrayal of the villainous first immortal, Discord, only to deliver nothing on its promises. With Charlize Theron’s Andromache in the lead, fans were hoping for an epic clash between two iconic action legends, only to feel cheated at the end as the narrative reserves any major action involving Discord for future sequels. However, given what we know about the character from the backstory hinted at in the narrative, a basic idea about her motive and future course of action can be jotted down.
Spoiler Alert
Discord’s Past Remains A Mystery
The only major details about Discord’s past are revealed through the words of Tuah, with whom she spent a long time learning about Andromache and the rest of her team. Discord is the first of the immortals and has gone through many identities over the course of history without interfering with the flow of human civilization. In her conversation with Nile, Discord mentions having witnessed the crucifixion of Jesus, but it is not revealed how long she has been around compared to Andromache. If I have to take a guess, given Andromache was once treated as a goddess in Greek civilization, Discord’s origin might have a mythological link as well, in the saga of Eris, the strife goddess who is infamous for dropping her Apple of Discord.
The immortals share a psychic bond, which implies Discord was aware of the existence of every immortal who came to be through the ages, but her connection with the last immortal—Nile—is unique. Both of them share an identical tattoo on their arm, which looks like either side of a global map in a spherical shape—even though its significance isn’t revealed, it probably has something to do with the origin of the immortals in the ancient age and the end of their lineage in the present era. It will not be too far-fetched to imagine that all the immortals might be related to Discord by blood—given that Nile’s ability to take the gift of eternal life by drawing blood is very indicative of that kind of connection.
While we are on that topic, it should be mentioned that Discord is after Nile’s unique power, which could help her regain her immortality. Discord’s connection with Nile indicates that she too must have a secretive, unique ability, which will probably be revealed in the upcoming sequel. Also, future continuations might also delve deeper into the origins of the immortals through a look back at how the losing and reclaiming immortality system works. It is also interesting that, except for being present in Nile’s dream, Discord never had any physical connection with any other immortal, living in complete ignominy through and through.
Discord Is A Perfect Foil To Andromache
The more viewers get to learn about Discord’s ideals and motive, the more she appears to be a perfect contrast to Andromache the Scythian. Andy has lived through millennia with the altruistic zeal to use her gift to help humanity carve a better path for itself. On the other hand, Discord has spent thousands of years in the shadows, never meddling with the affairs of humankind and concealing her presence to such an extent that even fellow immortals, except for Tuah, remained unaware of her existence. Andy didn’t turn her back on humanity, even when she and her dear Quynh were at the receiving end of humankind’s worst atrocities. Discord, who had already distanced herself from mortals, grew wary after seeing the cruelty they can dispense, and at once started strengthening herself to take on the mortals in the future. Discord believes that Andy didn’t give her immortal comrades the choice to live their lives in ignominy, made them get involved with humans, and at times, pay a hefty price for doing so.
Discord’s relations with the immortals are not amicable either, as, unlike the rest of the bunch, she is extremely selfish, so much so that to further her plans to regain her immortality, Discord doesn’t hesitate to turn on Tuah and abduct Andy’s immortal comrades. While Booker and Andy relish the chance of losing their gift of eternal life, which they consider to be a curse, given they were unable to experience the essence of life, Discord’s isolated existence has made her desperate enough to stoop to any low to regain her immortality. Even as a mortal, Andy remained indomitable, taking charge of conflict with a head-on approach. Discord, on the other hand, is cunning and pulls strings from the shadows without risking her mortal self. Their respective differences in worldview sent both these immortals down distinctly different paths.
Will Discord Get Back Her Immortality?
Discord’s conniving nature becomes evident from the way she uses Quynh to emotionally weaken Andy, make her vulnerable, and weaken her group by separating them from each other. With Nile and the rest of Andy’s comrades captive, Discord will surely regain her immortality and wreak havoc to bring about humanity’s ruin. Thankfully, this time Andy has Quynh by her side, so she can be her absolute strongest, and together they will try to put an end to Discord’s machinations. It will be interesting to see whether Discord tries to brainwash Nile, the youngest immortal, into believing that Andy’s methods of interference are detrimental for humans and immortals alike. A connection between Discord and Nile has already been shown, and if the sequel doubles down on that aspect and creates an ideological conflict between Andy and Nile, the narrative treatment is surely going to be better than the present entry. For Andy, it will not merely be a rescue mission to bring back her comrades; it will also be a test to prove to Quynh that she doesn’t give up on her close ones, prove Discord how wrong she is in her assumptions, and be the ideal mentor figure to Nile. Discord’s actions have inadvertently given Andy a sense of purpose in her recently regained immortal existence, and it remains to be seen how Andy uses this second chance for greater good.
