Dark Shadows1966

Barnabas Collins:
I'll tell you something. I think of our relationship as more of a duel: two superb swordsmen with highly sharpened blades. You thrust, I parry... I thrust, you parry.

Burke Devlin:
I prefer my simile to yours.

Barnabas Collins:
Why?

Burke Devlin:
Well, mine is merely a game, which one either wins or loses, depending on the cards.

Barnabas Collins:
And mine?

Burke Devlin:
Well, yours seems to be a matter of complete desperation: life or death. To lose a duel with you would be to lose everything, including one's life.

Barnabas Collins:
But isn't that the purpose of a duel?

Burke Devlin:
If a duel is necessary. Is it?

Barnabas Collins:
Well, that can't be determined, until the sword is in one's hand. But you make me sound so evil, when all the time the stakes of a card game could also be the same: life or death.

Burke Devlin:
I think we've played ourselves into a stalemate.

Barnabas Collins:
A temporary one.