Quinlan, the half-vampire son of the Master, has so far only made brief cameos on The Strain. He comes into the light in titular episode “The Born.”
A flashback shows Quinlan (Rupert Penry-Jones) as a Roman gladiator wielding his bone sword! The triangular tipped sword is a Mainz-Fulham Gladius but with a human bone for the hilt.
Originally known as Quintus Sertorius, he was turned in utero. The Master tracked him down and murder his mother. Quinlan escaped due to a resilience to light but was captured and made a slave. He earned his freedom and took a wife and adopted daughter, who were also murder by the Master.
Quinlan teams up with Abraham Setrakian (David Bradley) to confront the Master in his new host, Gabriel Bolivar (Jack Kesy). Thus far he’s displayed a reserved nature typical of the English but upon seeing his tormentor, he becomes understandably enraged.
Expect a lot of action between gladiator fights and vampire family feuds. Penry-Jones says the physicality of role was part of the reason he replaced Vaun (Stephen McHattie), who was originally introduced as Quinlan.
“They needed someone who was a little more physically able to do the role as well. I have to do lots of sword fighting and jumping around, things like that,” Penry-Jones told Hollywood Reporter.
The Strain airs Sunday 10PM on FX.
