Written by Old Bluffer 2nd Jun 2005
This is a killing done with consumate grace. Magua has wronged the Mohican tribe so deeply that it is beyond revenge.
The aging Chingachgook should struggle to fight the younger, stronger warrior, but he has the inevitable air of a Killer about him and for the first time in the film, Magua looks scared.
Chingachgook lopes towards his foe and shoulder rolls beneath Magua's initial wild blow, burying his axe deeply into him in one smooth motion. The whole move is over in the briefest of heartbeats.
Magua desperately tries to fight back but is thwarted by Chingachgook's zen-like skills, and he is soon a broken man.
Chingachkook knows he must finish him, but all he feels is sorrow. Sorrow for his son, killed by Magua, sorrow for his tribe, who now have no future and sorrow for his people, who he knows are dwindling. He looks deeply into the eyes of his mortally wounded foe, and shakes his head in sadness before axing him over the edge of the cliff.
You've got the premise all wrong. Chingachok was insane with anger due to the fact that Magua had just killed Chingachok's only son, leaving aged Chingachok the LAST of the Mohicans.
The slaying of Magua is predicated by Chingachok watching, from a distance, his son (named Untas) fighting a losing battle with Magua that is almost as dramatic as Magua's end. Magua guts Untas and drops him off a cliff.
Chingachok's expression says it all. A true look of both horror and passionate hatred overcomes his face.
This is why Magua has a look of fear on his face and why Chingachok makes such sort work of him.
> You've got the premise all wrong.
No, I think I am just seeing the death through Eyes Aged with Wisdom
I've hopefully made it quite clear in my writeup that Magua killed Chingachgook's son - but that the resulting killing is beyond simple revenge.
Chingachgook obviously grieves for his son, nobody would say otherwise. His feelings for Magua are more complex than mere hate though, and he certainly isn't "insane". Magua's acts have betrayed his entire people, and even the very land according to Indian beliefs. These are far greater evils than the slaying of a fellow brave in fair combat.
So, for his sins, he must die, but Chingachgook can't take any pleasure in doing it. That, to me, is why he shakes his head at the end - in his own way he is actually feeling sorry for the twisted creature he has just mortally wounded.
There is a huge amount of depth and pathos in the whole scene. You could also argue that Magua's fear is mainly because in seeing the nobility of Chingachgook, he has finally realised how low his grief and hatred has brought him. Certainly Magua doesn't look like a coward anywhere else in the film - it is quite possible that it isn't death he fears, but the knowledge that his life has been shameful.
I should probably have mentioned why Magua was so twisted in the review...
By the way, I think it is clear to everyone that Chingachgook is the eponymous hero of the film (they even say so at the end don't they?) - I thought to mention it in the write-up would belabour the obvious!
In conclusion, I recommend everyone watch this film again - like a Great Totem Pole, it has many levels
OB
This death is definitely a complicated one. I agree that it is more than "simple revenge," but I still feel like revenge is part of it, I mean Magua did just kill his son like a minute earlier. On the other hand, if anyone could look at the bigger picture at a moment like that, it would be Chingachgook.