How The Old Guard 2 Commits To Its Gutsy Cliffhanger Ending
The film couldn’t end any other way, according to director Victoria Mahoney.
In 2019, Victoria Mahoney made history as the first Black female filmmaker to get behind the camera on a Star Wars film. Her work on Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker was as affirming for fans as it was for Mahoney, a Star Wars mega fan who’d also been fighting for years to break into the blockbuster big leagues.
“I was embraced on Star Wars with incredible respect and regard by J.J. [Abrams] and Kathleen [Kennedy],” Mahoney tells Inverse. “They knew that this was a chance to allow someone who loved Star Wars, and loves action and drama, to come in and swing it back in a way that had not happened historically.”
Their support gave Mahoney the “leg up” she needed to transition from independent film to genres like action and sci-fi. Six years later, she finally gets her shot with The Old Guard 2, the sequel to Netflix’s 2020 cult hit. Mahoney takes the reins of the franchise from Gina Prince-Bythewood, a close friend who’d used the first Old Guard to pivot similarly into blockbuster fare.
“There’s a very, very specific sort of creative baton that exists on any franchise,” Mahoney says. “Gina and I talked in regards to different choices she made in the first movie that were important to me, and I wanted to make sure I understood why they were important to her.”
Director Victoria Mahoney takes the baton on The Old Guard 2.
The Old Guard 2 thankfully doubles down on the relationships that made its predecessor so unique, but it also takes surprising swings in expanding the world of the franchise. The rise of a new villain in Discord (Uma Thurman) introduces some heady lore about our heroes, led by Andromache of Scythia (Charlize Theron), and their regenerative powers. Where the first Old Guard explored the humanistic inconveniences of living for thousands of years, its sequel pulls the rug out from under Andy and her team. In The Old Guard 2, anyone could lose their immortality at any time, but the film only reveals the beginnings of Discord’s master plan to rid the world of the immortals, saving the rest for what could be the third film in a trilogy.
Spoilers ahead for The Old Guard 2.
The Old Guard 2 Ending, Explained
The Old Guard 2 ends with a surprising cliffhanger.
The loss of Andy’s immortality was one of the more compelling, and tragic, developments in The Old Guard. It served as a clever, poignant curveball in an otherwise invincible life; that its cause couldn’t be explained only added to the mysticism behind the immortals’ existence. The Old Guard 2, however, strives to answer this mystery. With the help of historian Tuah (Henry Golding), we learn that Nile (KiKi Layne), the “last immortal,” can take away another’s immortality by wounding them. Wounded immortals can then transfer their regenerative powers to another, a theory that Booker (Matthias Schoenharts) — a jaded soldier from the Napoleonic era — proves by passing his powers on to Andy.
Even after Tuah and Booker put immortal lore to the test, they neglect to inform Nile that she has this kind of power over other immortals. All she knows is that Discord wants to use her to end the cycle of their kind for good, and the final act of The Old Guard 2 is dedicated to the first part of her master plan. Discord lures the gang to a nuclear facility in Indonesia, where she makes quick work abducting our heroes — including their mortal comrade, Copley (Chiwetel Ejiofor) — and vacuum-sealing them into impenetrable bags. Only Andy and her former flame Quynh (Veronica Ngo), freshly saved from centuries spent at the bottom of the ocean, are left standing... though Quynh notably loses her ability to regenerate after a bout with Nile. It’s a bittersweet reversal of fortunes, one that’s sure to disappoint those who “ship” Andy and Quynh.
Mahoney stands firm in The Old Guard 2’s narrative choices, though she does confess to feeling a little daunted by the reception from fans. “I’m terrified of anyone saying, ‘Why did you do that to this person I love?’” she says with a laugh. “But I welcome it. I will not shy away.”
Mahoney doubles down on the film’s cliffhanger: “All the discussions we had led us here.”
The fandom might also take umbrage with the sequel’s cliffhanger ending. Andy attempts to confront Discord and save her friends by hopping onto the latter’s departing helicopter. It’s a good thing she got her immortality back, because Discord doesn’t hesitate to wipe the floor with Andy, impaling her with a hefty cavalry sword before disappearing. Andy and Quynh briefly retreat to lick their wounds, but before the credits roll, they’re off to rescue their friends, working together like the past 500 years apart is just water under the bridge. It’s not the first action film to end on a “to be continued...” — The Old Guard 2 is riffing on a classic trope, one perfected in franchises like Star Wars and Back to the Future — and though there are no current plans for a third film, Mahoney insists that this ending was the only one that made sense.
“All the discussions we had led us here, and no stone was unturned,” the director explains. “Every other road became a dead end, whether it was emotionally, creatively, aesthetically...” Mahoney was keen to chase the ending that, ideally, “lights your belly and makes you curious and makes you smile.” She’ll even take the other side of that coin, so long as The Old Guard 2 keeps its audience engaged.
“When audiences come up to me on the road and they’re furious about something, and they’re like, ‘How could you do that?’ I smile and I think, ‘We got you...’ Because you can hate it, [but] at least we got you to feel.”
It may not be the ending that anyone expected, especially after a five-year wait between the first Old Guard and the second — but at least Mahoney isn’t afraid to leave her own mark on the franchise.
