Howling:Rex is Immortal

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So, does anyone have any guesses as to how Rex gained Jack's immortality? A blood transfusion can't be enough to turn Rex into a fixed point in space and time. As Jack said in The Gathering, there is nothing special about his blood in and of itsself. Since Gwen was wondering why the Blessing had allowed Esther to die right before Rex was shot, the Blessing must be involved somehow. Either it was thanking Rex for giving it mortal blood, or it assumed that Rex was supposed to be immortal since he had Jack's blood.Icecreamdif 17:38, September 10, 2011 (UTC)

I think it's supposed to be the latter, since everything it did was based on blood. They probably won't ever make it more explicit than that, but it's always possible that in a new series of Torchwood novels or series 5 of the show, Rex will ask Jack what happened and Jack will give him some kind of half-comprehensible technobabble explanation. --173.228.85.35 20:52, September 10, 2011 (UTC)

What if Rex is actually Face Of Boe? They have never really said that Jack is Face of Boe more than that hint on Doctor Who and on interwievs with actors and cast. (sorry but i dont know how to add my signature) mattias.nilsson86

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Anyway, I suppose it's not impossible that Rex is the Face of Boe, but there's even less evidence for him than for Jack, so… why? --173.228.85.35 23:56, September 10, 2011 (UTC)

The only real evidence we have for Jack being the Face of Boe is the fact that that used to be his nickname, so there is really no reason to believe that Rex is Boe.Icecreamdif 04:50, September 11, 2011 (UTC)

To catalogue all the evidence:

• Boe is the oldest living lifeform in the universe (or in his galaxy, I forget which); no humanoid but Jack could live that long. Fits Rex as well as Jack.
• Jack's childhood nickname was "The Face of Boe", because he was a model from the Boeshane Peninsula. Doesn't fit Rex.
• Boe seemed to know the Doctor before the Doctor knew him. Doesn't fit Rex, but that could always change.
• Off-camera, RTD hinted that Jack is Boe, but wouldn't confirm it; Julie Gardner insisted he was, and tried to get RTD to confirm it, but RTD played coy. Doesn't fit Rex, but could just mean that at that point RTD was thinking of making Jack Boe, and he could have since changed his mind.

As I said, it's not impossible, but there's even less evidence for him than for Jack—basically, the immortality is it. --173.228.85.35 06:09, September 11, 2011 (UTC)

Yea, Jack is probably Face of Boe. But it wouldnt suprise me if RTD and Moffat would "troll" us with changing it to Rex :P Mattias.nilsson86 21:11, September 15, 2011 (UTC)

The Face of Boe will probably never be mentioned again. If he was, then it would be in Doctor Who rather than Torchwood, and I doubt that Rex will ever appear in Doctor Who, unless they have the entire team appear like they did in The Stolen Earth, and then things would still be centered much more around Jack than around Rex. The Face of Boe is either Jack or the last of the Boekind, but there is no reason to believe that he is Rex.Icecreamdif 21:37, September 15, 2011 (UTC)

Gwen, Jack & Rex: "What?" "What?" "What?" -- Very 10th Doctor. --89.240.251.76 03:22, September 16, 2011 (UTC)

if rex has been turned into an immortal using jacks blood that presumably means the same thing can thing thoeritically happen to anyone. I'm guessing the blessing either mistook rex for jack becuase of having his blood or it was a gift like gwen mentioned. just becuase rex is immortal doesn't necessarily mean he'll be sticking around. I can imagine that two characters with the sae abilities will step on each others toes abit so I wouldn't be surprised to see either rex or jack leave and become recurring characters. more so jack I think so we can see how being immortal affects rex plus he'll just run arund exploring the universe between appearances and just generally making him a bit more ysterious.

They're not going to demote Jack to being a recurring character. Jack has always been the main character of the show, and without Jack there is no Torchwood. It would be like having Doctor Who focus on Amy and Rory with the Doctor acting as a recurring character.Icecreamdif 19:19, September 16, 2011 (UTC)

"without Jack there is no Torchwood": Agreed. In fact, without Jack and Gwen, there wouldn't be. Jack on his own would just be Jack, not Torchwood.

As pointed out, the cause of what happened to Rex isn't going to be as simple as getting a transfusion of Jack's blood. That would be far too dangerous for the future of the show (and the Whoniverse as a whole): Character dying? Give him/her a shot of Jack's blood. You'd end up repeating the Miracle but with the improvement that people would heal. It has to be because Rex had Jack's blood in him at the time the Blessing reset its "template" for humanity. Possibly also the fact that the two of them were at opposite ends of the Blessing and performing the same role -- feeding Jack's blood into it. It needn't be either that it "mistook" Rex for Jack or a "gift"; it could simply be that the Blessing, by its nature, has to work symmetrically. Of course, that raises the question of what would have happened if the supply of Jack's blood in Buenos Aires had been in plastic bags, not in Rex. That didn't happen, so we don't know.

I've no inside information about future plans for Rex but a possibility is that, assuming the next series is about the Families' "Plan B" and bearing in mind how deeply the CIA seems to have been penetrated by their agents, he might become Torchwood's "man in Langley" or, at least, their man with contacts inside the CIA. Logically, there ought now to be a major mole hunt going on in the CIA, with who knows what results -- apart from the paranoia that mole hunts always produce. The Families ought to sit back and wait a while to let that process reach the point of maximum demoralisation and minimum results, then make their next move. --78.146.182.150 21:39, September 16, 2011 (UTC)

since the three families are likely to return next series I'm guessing part of the series will be about rex's new ability somehow damaging or altering the blessing. it seems to me that when the blessing recieved jacks blood it attempted to reverse the immortal/mortal scales but rather than granting the human race true immortality like what jack and now rex have it was only able to stop death leaving every other natural process like disease injury and aging unaltered aside from them being unable to cause fatalities anymore.

I heard somewhere that RTD has considered doing a Torchwood film. So don't be so sure we'll be seeing them next series, because the next time we see them could well be on the big screen. Most of the actors seem up for it, so we could be anticipating a Torchwood movie very, very soon.

I doubt that we'll be seeing the blessing again. After the whole thing about plan B I'm sure that the three families will be back if there's another season, but the Shanghai side at least has been buried by Oswald's explosion, and they're going to want to try something completely different for the next season.Icecreamdif 02:06, September 17, 2011 (UTC)

The Blessing and the Miracle were (to the Families) means to an end -- their domination of the world. "Plan B" will presumably pursue the same end by different means, so Icecreamdif is right about that. However, two things seem obvious as a consequence of what happened in Series 4. First, the CIA will want to go after the Families with a real vengeance -- the mere fact of having been penetrated so deeply by the Families' agents would guarantee that and the casualties it cost "the Company" will reinforce their determination. However, the CIA will know it needs to find and eliminate the Families' "moles" before it can do much to nail the Families themselves. As I said above, a "mole hunt" is seriously disruptive and the Families (if they've any sense) will want to take advantage of the disruption in the CIA to try to make themselves safe -- both safe from its vengeance and safe to get on with "Plan B". Second, when the Families find out about Rex (which they will), they're going to want to find out how it happened and how to make it happen again, under their control. Not only are they likely to want immortality for themselves but also they'll recognise that being able to offer immortality to others is an even more effective bribe than being able to offer money and/or political power. The Blessing would, presumably, figure in their research into Rex's immortality, so it's unlikely to disappear from the story completely, just fade into the background -- no longer central but mentioned occasionally. --78.146.182.150 02:50, September 17, 2011 (UTC)

When the Face of Boe told the Doctor, "You are not alone," he prefaced it by saying that he was the last of his kind and Boekind was referred to a few times. It seems to be generally assumed that Boekind consisted of the Face of Boe and his descendants. If, though, Jack did eventually become the Face of Boe, it must be a possibility that Rex would also become one of Boekind. What's more, it now seems that Jack's immortality can be transferred to others. Such a transfer is a low-probability event but, if Jack really does end up living for billions of years, even a low-probability event could happen a significant number of times. Maybe Rex is just the first to "inherit" Jack's immortality. --89.242.69.154 03:19, October 17, 2011 (UTC)

Well, the Blessing was buried, and I doubt that there are that many other blessings around. Rex may live long enough to become a face of boe. Actually, if the Face of Boe was pregnant, that does suggest that there must have been other boekind to impregnate him, but who knows whether Rex's immortality will last. If Torchwood gets another season, then I'm sure that we will learn a bit more about Rex's immortality, and whether or not he gets to keep it. It would be kind of weird if Gwen was the only mortal member of Torchwood, but they do still need to replace Esther, and neither of Owen's replacements have lasted more than a few episodes.Icecreamdif ^{talk to me} 03:43, October 17, 2011 (UTC)

I don't suppose there are many other "Blessings", either, but the point is that it showed that Jack's immortality can be passed on to others (even if we've no idea how that actually worked). If it could happen once, it could happen again, especially as Jack seems likely to be around for quite a while. As noted above, immortality is attractive enough a proposition that, sooner or later, someone is going to want to figure out what happened with Rex so they can make it happen again. It doesn't really matter, either, that immortality might not, in practice, be as good as many people think it would be; the point is that people do think it would be desirable. The incentives are strong enough for someone to dig down to the Blessing again; just burying the thing won't put it permanently out of reach. Suppose it took centuries, or millennia, for anyone to get the chance to dig down to it again -- Jack would still be around and (for all we currently know) Rex might be, too. --89.241.70.7 11:20, October 17, 2011 (UTC)

Yeah, but until recently Jack's immortality was kept mostly secret. With Jack and Gwen being a bit nicer than the old Torchwood, Rex;'s immortality is likely to remain secret indefinetly as well, although as you say his se cret could come out in 1000000 years and it wouldn't make any difference. Still, they would probably have to create another miracle for that to work, and they'd also probably need Jack or Rex's blood. While your suggestion is far from impossible, it is unlikely.Icecreamdif ^{talk to me} 12:46, October 17, 2011 (UTC)

Rex is the Face of Boe? Nah, he's the Rani. Boblipton ^{talk to me} 13:37, October 17, 2011 (UTC)

Really? I thought Rose was the Rani. Or was it River? Or Rani? Or Amy? Whatever, Rex being the Rani makes much more sense. She obviosly switched race and gender the last time she regenerated, and used a chameleon arch to become human in order to escape the Time War. Subconsiously Rex knew that the Blessing would make him immortal if he had Jack's blood, since he has the Rani's intelligence, so he asked Esther to do the transfusuon. After all, we know that evil Time Lords often become American when they're in human bodies.Icecreamdif ^{talk to me} 15:56, October 17, 2011 (UTC)

Icecreamdif, "Rex;'s immortality is likely to remain secret indefinetly as well": Several CIA agents were present when Rex was shot and revived. Its not just Torchwood that knows -- and the CIA had been heavily penetrated by the Families' agents. OK, none of the three lots (Torchwood, CIA or the Families) is likely to make the facts public but the Families, at least, will want to research the matter, for the reasons given above. (Mind you, the idea of Rex being the Rani does have a certain appeal, albeit a very twisted appeal.) --89.240.253.134 01:08, October 18, 2011 (UTC)