Booker, formerly known as Sebastian Le Livre, had been a part of Andy’s immortal team for almost 2 centuries. But before meeting Andy, Booker was a simple thief, trying to survive the hard times with his family in 1800s France. When Booker received the gift of immortality, he had three sons, and tragically, he had to witness the death of all his children with his own eyes. The thing is, Booker never wished for or desired immortality. He wanted to die with his family, but that choice was taken away from him. According to the first film in the franchise, Booker’s youngest son, Jean-Pierre, was the last one to die. He was 42 when cancer took his life. Till his last breath, Jean-Pierre begged his father to share his gift with him so he didn’t have to die, and Booker just sat there, failing to find the right words to explain to his son that he didn’t know where this power came from, or if it could be transferred. Jean-Pierre died, hating his father, on a hospital bed, and throughout these years, Booker lived with the guilt of not being able to help his family. He had been looking for a means to end his immortality so he could finally find peace in a grave. This was exactly the reason why he shook hands with evil pharmacist, Steven Merrick, so he could discover the secret behind their power and maybe find a way to end it.
Spoiler Alert
Well, yes, Booker had been suicidal from the very first film, and those negative thoughts only multiplied in solitude after Andy exiled him from the team for betraying their trust. In the ending of the first film, Andy and her team of immortals had found a new hope in life: to save humanity from its own evil and help them thrive towards a better future. But Booker, in his exile, was just counting days, waiting for the day his gift would be taken away from him and he would finally be able to rest in peace. And fortunately, life finally gave him a chance to choose. To make the ultimate sacrifice so he could redeem himself of his past mistakes and do the right thing.
In The Old Guard 2, Tuah, a fellow immortal who had been living a secret life, spending his days recording the adventures of Andy and her team, told Booker about an old legend that spoke of the last immortal, Nile, the destroyer, who had the power to take away the gift of immortality. He even told Booker that once an immortal was stabbed by Nile, the wounded had the chance to bestow his gift to another before it was lost. And yes, this was the moment when Booker came up with the idea of sacrificing his power to Andy, not only to help his friend and make amends for his betrayal but also to find the peace that he had been yearning for for years. Remember how Booker had failed to give away his gift to save his son’s life? He didn’t want history to repeat itself. He didn’t want Andy to take her last breath in front of his eyes, and therefore let himself get scratched with Nile’s weapon and quickly went to Andy’s room to fulfill his last objective in life.
Now, in this scene, we didn’t really see Booker making any physical contact with Andy, so it can be assumed that he transferred his power telepathically or something like that. However, till the very end, Booker wasn’t sure if the legend Tuah spoke of was true or not. His wounds weren’t healing, which made him certain that Nile was indeed the destroyer, but Andy’s wounds weren’t healing either, so he was not sure if his sacrifice was worth it or not. Fortunately, in The Old Guard 2’s ending, during the team’s mission in Jakarta, Indonesia, Booker finally witnessed the impossible. Andy’s power returned, which meant Booker could now rest in peace. In the end, he sacrificed his life and died inside the Serpong Nuclear Facility.
But even though Booker was dead, the little stunt that he had pulled off raises numerous questions in the minds of the viewers. Especially how exactly this transfer works and how much time a wounded immortal really has to transfer the power. The reason why these questions are important is because in the next film, The Old Guard 3, Discord will be using a similar trick to get her immortality back, so I am sure that the makers of the franchise are going to shed some light on this transfer mechanism, as it is going to be the central conflict of the next sequel. You might remember that Quynh had lost her immortality too, which means she’ll either die or Andy may end up giving away her power to her lover to unburden herself of her past guilt, just like Booker. This transferring immortality plot isn’t in the comics, so I am just excited to see how it turns out.
