The Warriors Movie Site Forum

Throughout the entire movie, Swan is real tough on Mercy and tries real hard to get rid of her. Until the end when he wants her to leave for her own good. However, when they first meet her, Swan has this look in his eyes and this faint smile that makes you think he digs her attitude. Also, he grabs ahold of her when they get in the train after the Orphan "rumble".

So the question here is why did he treat her like crap afterward?

My answer: He really did like her, but wanted her to leave because 1. She was a distraction and he needed to keep his wits about him. ANd 2) he didn't want her getting hurt by associating with the Warriors while they were making it through other gang's turf. Any thoughts?

or 3) He liked her from the beginning, but figured she would be with any guy who would give her some attention. He was to proud and needed to be sure of her feelings, treating her like that all the time, telling her to leave. But she stayed... so he knew.

This is a vast topic. But I'll say this. The only moment that she was a distraction was during the Punks fight. There was a point where Swan was trying to participate in a weapon packed gang fight and help her out of a stall at the same time. It turned out ok but it could have cost him.

yer i think the attraction was there immediately but he thought she was easy and he didnt like the fact he felt this way for her,because he didnt respect the way she lived her life,but at the same time he had these strong feelings he couldnt shake off ,so he put up a front and pretended to hate her,its the usual guy likes girl ,girl likes guy trick....cmon we all do it lol

I never thought he cared for her much at all simply because---IF fox wouldn't have been killed/grabbed---she would never have been open to Swan, cause Fox was the one who wanted her, and Swan didn't care. She wasn't someone he would have chosen to be with.

He would have looked after her because as leader it was his responsibility to do so,and at first he may have thought he was just helping Fox out, and then when they actually started communicating, he started to accept her. And after she started making some sense, and being on the same dissatisfied page as he was on---he let her get closer.

I also agree da-warrior---he did figure she was there for anyone-and that did NOT appeal to him either at the beginning, until they had reached more of an understanding.

He shows some glimpses of liking her. I really think maybe he was afraid of the clap!!!!! LOL.

maybe a distraction to the others!

You can see in the Orphans Scene when she's walking down the stairs Swan gives her a look that shows he likes her.

I never thought I would disagree with Ranchgal, here's a first. But, when Swan first sees Mercy he has the faintest smile on his face and you can tell he likes her "moxie". Afterward I think he had questions about her, her lifestyle at least. But you have to ask yourself. Why does Swan care about how she lives her life. So she does what she does. If Swan didn't have some feeling for her, or at least an attraction, her lifestyle wouldn't bug him so much.
I don't think he was helping Fox out. Fox, really didn't seem to care for her all that much when he called her a whore. The biggest point for me is when they get on the train after the cocktail party they threw at the Orphans. The Fox leads Mercy into the train car, but Swan hooks her arm and makes sure she stays close to him. If he were helping Fox out that wouldn't be the way to do it.

Hate to disagree with you Ranchgal we been eye to eye things before this. Give your idea on this. You always have good reasoning. later.

Most guys with testosterone and adrenaline running through their systems-would smile at a female walking down like Mercy was---lets be real--everyone of them came to attention when she walked out.
AND they all noticed!! And Swan was nothing if not alpha male, I didn't say he didn't notice her, I said he wasn't going to do anything towards her as in be interested in her. He really didn't care one way or the other, he, like all of them, was seeing her as more trouble than she would have been worth, hence he was not really interested. Swan may have appreciated her courage, but in being judgemental of her lifestyle---he was also commenting on his own, and he wasn't impressed with either. His smile was not Swan to Mercy----it was alpha male to female. Didn't mean a thing, it was an opportunistic size up.

And fox calling her a whore didn't mean anything really either---he was simply trying to be as insulting to her as he could be cause she was trying to engage them in a confrontation they were trying to avoid---it was payback for her trying to get the orphans to make war on them, when the situation would have been resolved quicker without her, and her trying to get one of their vests. They were trying to get past without actually fighting, and she was egging the fighting on.

Yes, he grabbed her arm when they got to subway car, but if you noticed, Ajax was just a jump away, and he stopped her before that run in. that also could have been just him making sure everyone knew who was in charge too---and he let her go right after then she was with fox. It certainly could have meant what you are seeing, it just doesn't seem that way to me.

And when they left the car she was strictly with Fox, and Swan wasn't looking for her---and didn't care where she was. It is probable that perhaps he wasn't "helping" fox, as much as just taking care of everyone, her included because that was his place in the group, and by position, she was there so she was also part of the group. but when they met again, he expected her to be with Fox, and that she wasn't was a problem to him, that he had to deal with, before he ever looked at her in a different context.

Their relaionship is certainly open to interpretation----but I always feel like Swan always looked at Mercy more as a opportunistic male in general than SWan's really being "interested" in Mercy as a person---that did not come until right before the Punk fight. The fact that she was still around and trying to help them---that is when he let her get closer to who he really was and that was when they started to connect for real as people as far as MY own view of the relationship. Until she showed loyalty to him, he didn't care if she was there or not. But your view is certainly valid, and you make some good points. So it just amounts to a difference in perpectives-there really isn't a right or wrong-So if you can agree fine, otherwise we'll just have to say "to each his/her own" on this perspective.

And it does seem kind of funny, cause yes we ususally are writing on the same page so to speak! Nice to at least be aware there are always different sides to every situation.

i think swan cared about mercy, but in a way that maybe a brother cares. he may have had thoughts about her being a lover but i think they were dashed when she recited her history in the subway.. i think that would have been a turn-off for swan. he was most probably more sympathetic to her than attracted. i also don't think that they took off together, and if they did, i don't see them staying together.

Ranchgal, I agree that we will have to agree to disagree. That's the true beauty of this movie that people can interpret things and try to figure out what's going on underneath the surface of the characters. Always awesome to talk Warriors with you, I'll discuss with you any day of the week.

Totally agree Warriorchick with your last sentance for sure.
I am also quite sure that they did not stay together for any length of time even if they did actually take off together, which I too doubt alot.

People under stress can easily be drawn into relationships because of proximity more than actual attraction, and just like soldiers in wartimes---they very seldom work out because there was not enough time for either parties to actually know and realize the others expectations. I don't see S/M together once they came down from the running experience/adrenaline rush of the night.

looking at it this way.swan and mercys partnership was strictly business.the business part being they had to get through the rest of the night together.they looked out for each other at the time of the meeting with the punks.mercy telling swan that the punks were tailing him and swan looking after the welfare of himself and mercy when they were in the gents fighting.i agree with the person who previously mentioned that once the adrenaline rush had subsided the partnership would have dissolved and a relationship between them was far from the cards of happening.

They have as good as a chance as anybody. I've known some couples that seemed storybook who split.(not me) And some that seemed ready to fall apart but didn't.(me) Now then, the Fox situation. Before his death and afterward, Mercy has a different importance to Swan. That long walk along the beach could be a defining moment. That last frozen shot(original cut) is very intimate. By then, they were ready to make the plunge. How and where is anybody's guess. But in the words of John Lennon, all you need is love.