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| “ | That's what you do, isn't it? Deliver pain. You have no idea what love is. What Ryder and I had, to love another person more than you love yourself. That's what you resent the most, isn't it? That he wasn't a stone-hearted machine, like you. | „ |
| ~ Jade's final words to Quinn. |
Jade, later known as Baron Jade, is a major antagonist in the AMC series Into the Badlands.
Jade is the third wife of Baron Quinn, the most powerful and feared Baron in the Badlands, even though she is secretly sleeping with his son Ryder and has been since they were children. Following the presumed death of Quinn which Ryder falsely takes credit for, Jade marries Ryder and becomes his Baroness.
She was portrayed by Sarah Bolger, who also played Emelie in the horror film of the same name.
Personality[]
On the surface, Jade seems to be a relatively sweet person, often being very kind to the people around her and willing to help anyone that needed it. She was also shown to be very humble due to her Cog origins despite climbing the ranks of the Badlands society greatly, still showing respect for Cog workers and even on a few occasions trying to convince Quinn and Ryder to make life better for the Cogs that worked under them. Her love for Ryder is also shown to be completely genuine, with them being romantically involved from the time they were children.
However, underneath all of this was an extremely manipulative individual, as Jade freely admitted during their final confrontation that she never loved Quinn and just married him so that it would elevate her status. She also poisons herself and frames Lydia for it, in order to be the only wife of Quinn left in the house. During her time as Baroness to Ryder, she was willing to participate in the Cog slave trade, showing her respect for Cogs dwindled once she gained higher status. After Ryder's death at the hands of Quinn, Jade became overcome with rage and was driven to kill Quinn herself, showing a capacity for violence and vengeance as well.
Biography[]
Early life[]
As a child, Jade grew up in the Armadillo Territory as a Cog working in the poppy fields. During this time, she came to become friends with Veil, a Cog doctor who would one day enter a relationship with Sunny, the most feared Clipper in the Badlands. Once Jade became a house Cog in Baron Quinn's home, she became romantically involved with his son Ryder, with the two of them seeing each other in secret and even sleeping together once they became teenagers. While Quinn was aware of their affection for each other, he was not aware of the full extent to which they were involved, although Quinn's wife Lydia was aware of what was going on between them. One day, Quinn is injured and becomes bedridden, Jade tends to him bringing him soup, which he considered to be the highlight of his day. This went to the point that he became attracted to her, despite her only being sixteen. His infatuation led to him deciding to marry her once she reached her twenties because as a Baron, he could have as many wives as he wanted. This caused jealousy in Lydia, but it wasn't really directed at Jade, it was more anger that Quinn had suddenly decided that she wasn't enough for him, when they had built everything in their territory together. The other Barons do not approve of this marriage, as Jade is a former Cog, unlike Lydia who was a totemist.
Marriage to Quinn[]
Upon the announcement that Quinn and Jade would marry, the other Barons were not supportive of the wedding and did not attend or even send gifts in a lot of cases, due to their disgust at Quinn for being willing to marry a Cog. Despite this stigma, Jade proves to be a competent political figure, often working with Quinn and swaying his decisions and opinions. While there is hostility between Jade and Lydia, the two of them eventually agree to stop speaking to one another to prevent them from fighting, as that could put them both in danger. Around this time, Ryder is injured due to falling into a trap set by rival Baron the Widow. Jade stays by his bedside while he recovers, despite Lydia's protests. Quinn launches a counterattack on the Widow in revenge for her attempt on the Widow's life, which starts a war between the two Barons. Lydia criticizes him for this decision, and further lambasts him for having recently killed their two doctors to prevent the knowledge of his tumor from getting out. To get payback on Lydia for yelling at him, he intentionally has sex with Jade in the room right next to Ryder's so that Lydia has to listen. After they are done, Jade explains to Quinn that she may have a way to help Ryder, but she knows that Lydia will not like it. Quinn tells her that if Jade manages to save Ryder, then Lydia will find it in her heart to forgive her. Jade goes to visit Veil in her clinic, as she is the daughter of the two doctors who were murdered by Quinn. Jade employs Veil's help in treating Ryder, which she agrees to do despite Lydia disliking to idea of a Cog operating on her son. Lydia eventually relents once it becomes clear that Ryder will die if he is not treated immediately. After Ryder wakes up, Jade tells him he won't be fit to replace Quinn due to how easily he fell into the Widow's trap, causing him to angrily tell her that she is just like Lydia, who also questioned his potential as a leader. Jade tells Ryder to not compare her to Lydia, but Ryder rebuffs this saying that she's not even in her league. When Jade questions what he means by this, Ryder explains to her that Lydia is rumored to have killed Quinn's second wife Beatrice by poisoning her, and if it was true then Jade will likely be next.
Fearing for her safety, Jade visits an older Cog woman who was working in the Baron's house when Beatrice died, and asks her what happened. The former house Cog explains that Lydia was extremely jealous of Beatrice, and that Beatrice died suddenly of "natural causes" despite it being very suspicious. Lydia was reported to have seen walking in the fields beyond Quinn's territory, where the poisonous monkshood flowers grow, indicating she may have poisoned Beatrice. Around this time, several of Quinn's poppy field worker Cogs leave to join the Widow's territory as it is a safe haven for Cogs, leaving no one to harvest Quinn's field. Furthermore, the Widow arrives and bribes the field Cogs with gold to abandon the Armadillo Territory while Quinn is absent on a meeting with Baron Jacobee. With no workers left, the poppy crop will spoil. Jade suggests that Quinn and Lydia do more to make the Cogs loyal to them over the Widow, but they both deny this idea. Jade then says that the solution to their current problem is to have the Clippers harvest the poppy crop until a new shipment of Cogs is received, which Quinn agrees to. However, his tumor causes him enough pain to where he isn't able to lead his Clipper force properly and instead has Jade take over. She shows the Clippers how to properly cut the poppy bulbs, leading to a successful harvest. Suprisingly, Lydia arrives to help harvest the bulbs, which causes them to finally gain respect for each other as Jade admired Lydia being willing to work when she doesn't have to and Lydia being shocked at how difficult the work ends up being. Jade and Lydia have one last conversation, where they seem to agree that they do not need to be enemies, having come to a common ground. However, Jade has decided that she wants to be rid of Lydia, so she plants monkshood flowers in Lydia's nightstand and poisons herself with it in order to frame her. After she recovers, she feigns ignorance at what has happened, claiming to have no idea who may have poisoned her. However, Quinn found the monkshood flowers in Lydia's nightstand and thus banishes Lydia from the Armadillo Territory, believing Jade's ruse.
Becoming a Baron[]
Soon after this, Jacobee is killed by a boy named M.K., and Quinn has disappeared, prompting Ryder to take credit for both of their deaths as M.K. has vanished and Quinn is presumed dead. This gives Ryder control over both Quinn and Jacobee's territory, and he takes Jade as his wife, making her the Baroness. The two of them are overjoyed to finally be free of Quinn's influence, and they move into his old mansion. Ryder and Jade discuss his childhood with her, with how he often stayed in his room with only his rocking horse as a companion, until he had her. The two then depart for the oil fields, where they direct the Clippers on keeping their supplies guarded from the Widow, who is coming after Ryder as he has effectively become her primary enemy. The Widow launches an attack on the oil fields as they were originally hers before being stolen by Quinn and thus passed down to Ryder, so she has decided to instigate a war with him to get them back. The Widow's Clippers trigger an explosion that injures Jade, with Ryder attempting run after her but is pulled away by his Clippers, as they have to keep their Baron safe. The Widow pursues Jade and kills all of the Clippers present, only letting Jade live so she can send a message back to Ryder and tell him that the Widow wants the oil fields, and will not back down until they are handed over to her. Jade relays this message to Ryder, and the two of them discuss what potential actions could be taken due to the Widow being significantly more powerful than he is. Ryder decides that he needs to call a Conclave, a peaceful meeting between all Barons, in order to defend Ryder's claim to the oil fields over the Widow. Should the other Barons decide that Ryder has a claim to the oil fields over the Widow and she refuses to stop attacking him, then Ryder will have their support in a war against her. The Conclave is held and both Ryder and the Widow present their case for why they have a claim to the oil fields, and the Barons ultimately side with Ryder due to the Widow wanting to end the Cog slave trade, something they are all against. Despite the other Barons take his side over the Widow, things goes sideways by the sudden arrival of Quinn and a group of loyalists, who has actually been alive all this time.
Quinn pursues Ryder to kill him and is confronted by Jade. She begs Quinn to let him go, saying that he knows Ryder has never been as strong as he was, but this does not change Quinn's mind. He hunts down and kills Ryder, leaving Jade to mourn his death. Filled with vengeance, Jade wishes to find and kill Quinn, but as he is no longer a Baron and instead has his own secret agenda and hideout, she does not know how to track down his location. She enlists the help of Lydia, who is now a scavenger following her exile from the territory. Jade tells Lydia that she knows Lydia must hate her, but they both loved Ryder, and want Quinn dead. Lydia agrees to this, and explains that she knows of a secret bunker that Quinn had, which is where him and his loyalists are most likely staying. Lydia takes Jade's remaining Clippers to the bunker, and while Lydia was correct that it was Quinn's hideout, the Clippers are killed by an explosive that Quinn set up at the bunkers entrance, while Lydia herself is captured. Quinn and the Widow then form an alliance to take down the other Barons as they both wish to see them dead, prompting the Widow and her forces to break into Jade's compound and kill her remaining Clippers. Cornered, Jade tells the Widow that she is known for not killing women, which the Widow agrees, but then hands her over to Quinn, knowing that he will likely kill her. Quinn and Jade have a final conversation in which Jade berates Quinn over everything he has done. Quinn states that they are not entirely different, as they were both born Cogs and rose to the position of Baron. He tells Quinn that little Cog girls will tell each other stories of Jade, the girl who became a Baron only to lose her position due to her own ambition. Jade throws this back in his face, saying she was only ever pragmatic in marrying him and loved his son, telling him he could never understand the real love that she and Ryder had, and that his biggest failure was not making Ryder a killing machine like him. Rather than kill her, Quinn decides to banish Jade from the Badlands, making her suffer the same fate that she had given to others. After this, she was never seen again.
Powers & Abilities[]
- Manipulation: Jade's most powerful weapon is her ability to manipulate those with power over her in order to get what she wants, as seen when she married Quinn despite not loving him in order to elevate her status, and successfully tricking Quinn into exiling Lydia. She was also shown capable of swaying Quinn's opinion on the treatment of Cogs, as he considered improving their conditions at her suggestion when they abandoned his territory.
- Leadership: Jade was shown to be a capable Baroness while married to both Quinn and Ryder, as seen when she instructed and led the Clippers to harvest the poppy fields when there were no Cogs available to do it.
- Martial Arts/Swordsmanship: Following Ryder's death, Jade became a Baron and began carrying a sword with her, suggesting that she had some level of proficiency in combat despite never engaging in it on-screen.
Quotes[]
| “ | Why would we cater to a group of rivals who wished us dead. | „ |
| ~ Jade's pragmatic attitude towards the other Barons. |
| “ | I know your instinct is to cut deep, but in this case, just through the top layer of skin, one even stroke. | „ |
| ~ Jade instructing the Clippers on how to work in the poppy fields. |
| “ | He's never been as strong as you are, you know that! | „ |
| ~ Jade defending Ryder from Quinn. |
| “ | Jade: I thought you didn't kill women. The Widow: You're right: I don't, but he might. |
„ |
| ~ Jade's defeat. |
| “ | You were deluded, and I was only pragmatic in marrying you. I loved your son. | „ |
| ~ Jade expressing her contempt for Quinn. |
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Jade alludes to Jade-Faced Princess from the 16th-century Chinese novel Journey to the West, of which Into the Badlands is loosely based on.
- Jade is shown to have a hand tattoo of an armadillo. It is unknown if this is something given to all Cogs of the Armadillo Territory, or a tattoo that Jade personally chose to get.
External Links[]
- Jade on the Into the Badlands Wiki
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 Villains
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