The flintlock pistol seen in Prey is also featured in Predator 2, and it may have taken an unexpected path to feature in the film. Prey is a prequel to the Predator franchise, with a Predator, or "Yautja", hunter arriving on Earth to claim human skulls in 1719. The Predator encounters a formidable enemy in a young Comanche named Naru (Amber Midthunder), who brings her own skills as a hunter to the battle as other, more heavily-armed characters fall victim to the so-called "feral" predator.
While Prey's period setting enables it to be a somewhat more standalone Predator movie, the flintlock pistol from Predator 2 being present in both films raises some interesting implications about how the two are connected. What makes that analysis even more complex is the hunter that Naru herself embodies might make the pistol's journey a bit surprising. It could be that rather than it being taken from her, Naru herself passes the flintlock pistol onto a Predator, leading to its appearance in Predator 2. This theory would both explain its presence in the movie and allow for a satisfying arc for Naru herself that would do the character justice after Prey.
Predator 2's Flintlock Pistol Explained
In Predator 2's ending, after LAPD cop Mike Harrigan (Danny Glover) slays the alien hunter inside the skull laden-trophy room of the Predator's spacecraft, he finds himself suddenly surrounded by other Predators and prepares to continue the fight. Instead, a few of the Predators carry their fallen fellow hunter away, while the lead Predator identified as "Greyback" tosses Harrigan a flintlock pistol and says "Take it". The pistol bears the name Raphael Adolini with the year 1715 etched below it. Additionally, in Prey's final act, the pistol comes into Naru's possession from Raphael Adolini (Bennett Taylor), Naru carrying it and the head of the vanquished Yautja back to her people after her victory.
Honor is central to the Yautja culture, with the flintlock pistol being a token of Greyback's respect to Harrigan, and the passing of such trophies from Predators to humans being a traditional show of warrior kinship in such situations. With Raphael Adolini being the interpreter of the French fur trappers in Prey and the movie itself taking place in 1719, its presence in the film still only partially reveals its pre-Predator 2 backstory. As for how the pistol got from Naru to Greyback in the time gap from Prey to Predator 2, there might have been a reversal of the usual Yautja and human roles in such a trade.
Theory - Naru Passes The Pistol To A Predator (Not The Other Way Around)
Naru is as much of a hunter and a warrior as any Predator, the Comanche heroine of Prey trouncing both the fur trappers and the Feral Predator with her skills. Had other Predators been around for Naru's victory over the Feral Predator, it is likely she would have been commended similarly to Harrigan's with a Predator passing a trophy of some kind on to her. Instead, Prey's end credits tease more Predators arriving on Earth for a new hunt in Prey 2. With Naru and the Comanche having another Yautja encounter coming their way, it could be possible that she is the one to pass Adolini's pistol on to a Predator in her own show of respect.
From the start of Prey, Naru is different kind of protagonist in the Predator franchise in that she begins as a hunter rather than having to forge herself into one, and like the culture of the Yautja, honor among warriors is a trait she also values. She could therefore view any Yautja survivors of Prey 2's conflict in a similar way that the Predators view humans - prey to be hunted, but also to be respected in the event of their survival. A villainous human hunter fighting Naru in Prey 2 would be a particularly intriguing story possibility for the sequel, and could facilitate Naru passing Adolini's Flintlock pistol on to a Predator who helped her defeat a common enemy (the Predators being far less likely to engage their self-destruct wrist bombs in such a scenario). This, in turn, could be how the pistol gets from Naru to Greyback, with Greyback perhaps even being the very Predator to receive it from her.
Naru's victory over the Feral Predator comes from her understanding of it, and more importantly, her respect for what it is capable of. Indeed, that respect could potentially even lead to Naru joining a Predator clan in Prey 2 to face a mutual foe. Meanwhile, Naru passing Adolini's Flintlock pistol on to a Predator, in whatever situation it might happen, perfectly sets the stage for Mike Harrigan to receive it from Greyback in Predator 2 centuries after Naru's story in Prey.