Summary
Warning: Spoilers for Into the Badlands
At the center of the story inInto the Badlandsis a mysterious ability known as “The Gift.” It doesn’t take long for it to become apparent in the AMC series that The Gift is an incredibly powerful tool, and one that could easily upset the balance of power in the Badlands. It’s partially for that reason that it gets so much attention fromInto the Badlandscharacterslike Emily Beecham’s The Widow.
How dangerous the Gift is was on display as soon as it debuted. Temporarily adopting black eyes, M.K. would transform into a nearly unstoppable killing machine. As for where it comes from, its true purpose inInto the Badlands’apocalypse, and other aspects of the ability,the show littered hints and other reveals into the story as the series unfolded across a three-season run, eventually creating an almost complete explanation of the Gift.
Where In The United States Into The Badlands Takes Place
AMC’s post-apocalyptic martial arts series, Into the Badlands, is set 500 years into the future, but where exactly does it take place in the U.S.?
How The Gift Works In Into The Badlands
The Gift Is A Potent Defense Mechanism
People who possess the Gift inInto the Badlandsare referred to as Dark Ones. As demonstrated with M.K., Dark Ones get a boost of strength and speed when they bleed. This activates these enhanced abilities (and a killer instinct), making them extremely deadly in combat. It can easily turn an unskilled fighter into a force to be reckoned with. In this way, it’s easy to see the Gift as an effective weapon, as it protects the Dark One from harm.
While the drawing of blood is indeed a trigger for the Gift, the Dark One doesn’t necessarily have to wait to be wounded before utilizing their hidden talents. AsInto the Badlandshas confirmed, Dark Ones can be trained to unleash their Gift in battle. Similarly, they can be trained to shut it off as well. Discipline and a strong will can help the Dark One shut off the Gift temporarily.
All three seasons ofInto the Badlandsare streaming on Netflix.
Unfortunately for the Dark Ones, there are massive drawbacks to the Gift. The obvious one, of course, is not being in control of who they hurt when it takes over, while another is its long-term effects on the body. Consistent reliance on the Gift can wreck a person’s physical health to a point where it can become fatal. This nature of the Gift was explored in depth duringInto the Badlandsseason 3 through the role of Castor, one of Pilgrim’s top two fighters.
There Are Different Versions Of The Gift
There Are Multiple Powers Attached To The Gift, But Not All Dark Ones Have Them
While M.K. acts as an introduction to the Gift, his character doesn’t define it, as the series makes clear that there are complexities to it that go far beyond his character and his capabilities. In the world ofInto the Badlands, there are some Dark Ones that can do things with the Gift that M.K. can’t or simply never learned. For instance,Into the Badlands’Kannincan seal a person’s memories. It’s also understood that the Gift can be used to heal injuries, almost making it seem like a form of magic.
Based on what was shown inInto the Badlands, it’s likely that the show never revealed every version of the Gift in existence. Clearly, there are all sorts of powers that can come with it, and many appear to be unique to certain Dark Ones. One example of this is the Widow, who possesses telekinesis when her Gift is activated. However, there are constants to the Gift, as the loss of emotion and boosts in a person’s physical abilities are shared by every Dark One inInto the Badlands.
How People Receive (& Lose) The Gift In Into The Badlands
It Can Be Taken Away
Primarily, the Gift is an ability that people are born with. Characters like M.K., Nix, Castor, and the Widow all possess the ability naturally. It can manifest under different situations, meaning that people can go years of their lives without ever realizing that they have it.
While the vast majority of Dark Ones receive the power through birth, there are ways to receive the Gift artificially. It was discovered in season 3 that the people of Azra designed the Meridian Chamber, an extremely complex machine capable of instilling human beings with the Gift. Through the Meridian Chamber,Azra had a way of essentially mass-producing Dark Ones. This comes with a risk, though, as Pilgrim’s use of the machine proved that some people are ill-suited for the Gift, resulting in their minds being tainted.
Just as the Gift can be imparted to someone, it can also be taken away. Pilgrim possesses the unique power to permanently shut off a Dark One’s Gift. The monks at the Monastery also had this ability, which is why the Widow was without it for so many years.
Everything Into The Badlands Has Said About The Origin & Purpose Of The Gift
Into The Badlands Has Dropped Several Clues About Its Origins
In spite of how crucial the Gift is to the story, its origins were kept largely ambiguous. But there were some interesting hints found at certain points in the series. One of these came when The Master said that the Gift “was never meant to dominate or control.“Instead, she indicated thatthe Gift was meant for doing good in the world. That explains the healing power, but its destructive potential demonstrated throughout the series made this argument confusing. But what it did confirm, though, was that the Gift did have both a purpose and a creator.
This corroborates a detail from a 2024Wired Magazinecover featured in the series. It mentioned “Azra,” “slavery,” and “Year of the Robots,” and “Hacking the Perfect Gift.” Putting all of these things together, plus the Master’s comments and the function of the Meridian Chamber, provides a great deal of insight into what the Gift really is. The specifics are unclear, butit looks like the Gift is technological in origin. It’s possible that Azra, the place so many people in the Badlands were obsessed with, were the scientists behind this innovation.
The idea that the Gift is a form of technology helps make sense of how the Meridian Chamber - a machine - can give this power to people. As for why they would do this in the first place, it could be that opposing slavery was the goal. This phrase was mentioned by the magazine, and it’s a notion that’s corroborated by the Master saying that the Gift should be used to “free” people.
Into the Badlands
Cast
Into the Badlands follows Sunny (Daniel Wu) and M.K. (Aramis Knight), who traverse a post-apocalyptic world set 500 years in the future. Premiering in 2015, Into the Badlands was created by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar and aired on AMC until 2019 when its third season came to a close.
