Original artwork, not a still
Age is no guarantee of efficiency. / And youth is no guarantee of innovation.
— Skyfall ‧ 2012
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
The film's argument in two lines: can an old spy and an old service survive in a new world, and does the new world still need them? Each man lands a hit and neither wins, which is why it ends in respect and a handshake. It also announced a new kind of Q, a young hacker in a cardigan, who has been a fixture of the Craig films since.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for SkyfallShow the scene
Skyfall (2012). Bond waits in London's National Gallery in front of Turner's The Fighting Temeraire. A scruffy young man with glasses sits beside him and muses on the old warship being hauled off for scrap; Bond sees only a bloody big ship. Then the stranger says he is the new Quartermaster. Bond sneers that he still has spots, and Q answers that age is no guarantee of efficiency. Bond's reply is that youth is no guarantee of innovation. Ben Whishaw was 31, the first Q younger than the actor playing Bond.
Sources (3)
- Wikiquote: SkyfallNational Gallery and train-chase scenesReference checked
- Skyfall script transcript, Springfield! Springfield!Train chase; National Gallery; Silva's islandReference checked
- James Bond Wiki: Q (Ben Whishaw)Introduction and Skyfall biographyReference checked
Context reviewed
