Reimagine Highlander

[mr friendly guy]

Its been almost 30 years since Highlander first came out, and the nostalgia bug has got me. Now I have just found out there are plans to remake it, so before that comes out, I thought I would post ideas about how it could be reimagined for the 21st century. But first the rules, after all you can't deviate too much from it.

1. Connor Macleod is still born in 16th century immortal born in Glenfinnan, Scotland near the shores of Loch Shiel.

2. He gets kicked from his village after being accused of witchcraft.

3. Duncan Macleod also exists, and his origin story is pretty much the same as in the television series. You have to try and work him into the Highlander movies along with Connor.

4. Connor's first wife is Heather.

5. Connor is taught the ropes of being an immortal by Ramirez, who just like the original is an Egyptian masquerading as a Spaniard when he meets Connor.

6. The Kurgan has similar origin story

7. You have to try and pay homage to all the Highlander movies (Highlander, Highlander II : The quickening, Highlander III : The Sorceror, Highlander Endgame and Highlander the Source). Yes I know, it will be difficult especially with that trash called Highlander II. And number III, and IV and V etc. And of course all this concepts from the films have to somehow be in continuity with each other.


Here are links to remind you of those movies

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highlander_(film)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highlande ... Quickening (where we find that Immortals really came from the planet Zeist, because… ah shit just accept it)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highlande ... e_Sorcerer (which shits on the continuity of before, even assuming Highlander two did not)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highlander:_Endgame (interesting premise, but Connor feeling guilty just ruined it)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highlander:_The_Source (where we find out that there is Guardian for the Source which gives Immortals power)


8. The story of your franchise will cover the same basic plot points as the movies. You have to try and make the sequels not suck. You can do this in as many movies as you deem necessary.

9. The rules of immortals apply
a. They can be killed by decapitation

b. Another immortal gains their power by killing another one

c. Some immortals are drawn to the "Gathering" where they believe they will fight to the death to gain the Prize. This is the best interpretation to reconcile Highlander and Highlander the source where spoilers - Duncan concludes that the phrase "there can be only one" means that only one immortal can claim the Prize, not that there is only one immortal left to claim the Prize.
d. Fighting in single combat is tradition, which preceded the story of the Gathering. No fighting on holy ground is again tradition. However as with all traditions, they can be broken.

e. You can however add more rules.

10. The first movie has to be set in the present decade, and not in the 1980s like the original.

So how would you redo Highlander

[biostem]

What if they pushed things back further? Could he still be called "Highlander" if events occurred around the fall of Rome?

[NeoGoomba]

The only homage to Highlander 2 that should ever be is someone getting killed by an extremely slow oversized ceiling fan. Other than that, FUCK that movie.

[FaxModem1]

Fine, I'll do this, but I'll do it my way. Watchers and Hunters: the movie.

Yes, there was a Connor McCloud, and a Duncan McCloud, as well Ramirez and other Highlanders. But humans are sick of their killing sprees, utter disregard for human lives, general messing with history and have vowed to hunt them all down, before we have another wave of immortal bandits killing willy nilly.

My name is Joe Dawson, and I am a hunter of immortals.

[mr friendly guy]

What if they pushed things back further? Could he still be called "Highlander" if events occurred around the fall of Rome?

There was an anime which did this, or at least pushed it back to Roman times. They justified calling it Highlander because the only time Macleod felt comfortable was when he was adopted into a highlander tribe.

[mr friendly guy]

So here is how I would change things to reflect the better production values of today. I would have better style fights and simply state that the immortals are physically more powerful. I am thinking of fights like Kingsmen or Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon style combat. Basically they move ridiculously fast. Not fast enough to dodge bullets, they aren't Spiderman level speed, but they could potentially look like they are avoiding bullets at point blank range if they can anticipate where the gun is being pointed. So basically some 2 bit thugs won't overpower Connor just because they have a gun. Their swords while just like normal swords in the hands of mortals, can cut through metal in the hands of an immortal. Ramirez explains this as an immortal channelling their power through their weapons.

This power that allows them to do such physical feats has many names. The Chinese called it Chi, the immortals just know it as the Quickening. However doing such feats drains them, and for brief periods they are just like healthy mortals at the prime of life. They are still immortal though.

Also most immortals are much more resilient. They can continue fighting after being shot full of bullets, albeit at reduced capacity. After wards they "die" and the Quickening takes hold and they resurrect.

Other points –
1. Connor’s secretary Rachael is the descendent of the Rachael we would have seen in the original Highlander movie. That is a child Connor saved from the Nazis and knows that he is immortal.

2. Immortals can have children, but the chances they will become immortal is the same as any random person being born immortal. They prefer not to do so as loved ones can be used against them.

3. Connor has picked up a few degrees over the years, related sort of to history. So he has degrees in anthropology and paleontology.

4. Brenda is an amateur martial artist and ambidextrous, so her fighting style would be different from the Macleod’s, ie she uses two weapons. Connor trains her at the end of the first movie.

5. Ramirez mentions that some Immortals believe in the Source, the origin of the Immortals power (unlike how the Source was never ever mentioned until the final movie)
******************************************************************************************************************************

Highlander : The Gathering

The time of the Gathering is here, and the year is 1986 and its NYC. However one immortal is cheating. Instead of traditional one one one battle with a weapon, this one resorts to other means. First an immortal (an ex official in the Ottoman empire) is murdered in a massage parlour. The massueist drugs him with enough drugs to kill an elephant, until a mysterious masked immortal arrives to deliver the coup de grace. Another immortal is pumped full of bullets by the masked immortal. While he is temporarily down, the masked immortal kills him by decapitation.

Finally the remaining immortals lay a trap and confronts the masked immortal. Among the immortals include Fasil (who Connor kills in the opening minutes of the original) and the Kurgan. The conversation is enlightening to say the least. The masked immortal speaks with a digitized voice and tells them they have misunderstood the Gathering. That the Guardian never desired them to kill each other, but the others have forced him into it. He chides the immortals for competing in a game where they do not even understand the rules yet having the gall to lecture him on the rules. The masked immortal proclaims that he has broken no rules. It falls upon deaf ears as the immortals cooperate and attack in a group forcing the masked immortal to flee, despite the fact he has guns to their swords.

One conclusion the immortals draw is not the Gathering does not apply to every one of them. The number of immortals in NYC is a small fraction compared to the total immortal population. In fact its revealed not all immortals believe in the Gathering, considering it the same way an atheist views religion. However they know that their feeling is not false. The urge that drew them to NYC is real, but fading with the events of this night. Somehow what happened tonight has for now, weaken the urge of compete. So they call a truce and agree to meet when the Gathering occurs again. The Kurgan remarks that he was wrong to kill other immortals, as not all of them will be drawn to the gathering.

Fast forward to the modern day 2015. Connor Macleod is watching wrestling (as in the original movie). He is reliving memories of his time as a Highlander from the clan Macleod. He however senses the presence of another immortal and moves out. He confronts Fasil, who is puzzled to see him as Connor was not one of the original immortals at the Gathering in 1986. Connor explains that he had an urge to return to NYC after a stint of travelling, but like the Boy Scouts he always comes prepared and pulls out his sword. Fasil points out that Macleod is drawn to this place because of the Gathering, and Macleod mocks Fasil's belief as a religion that doesn't know its dead. He remarks that he has had his fill of religious fanaticism when he was still a Highlander in Glenfinnan. The ensuring battle wrecks several vehicles, but eventually Connor prevails. He quickly flees but his speeding car is stopped by the NYPD.

In the interrogation we have a similar set up to the original movie. One cop makes a homophobic remark to Connor (who is using the alias Russell Nash), to which Macleod replies that now that gay marriage is legal now, we don't have to hide our love. This causes the cop to lose it, who lashes out as Macleod. However his is no match for Macleod who ducks the blow and lands one in the cop's abdomen causing him to vomit up his food. This prompts a riot in the station. Now the introduction is out the way, lets bring up the plot points.

1. Macleod meets Sunda Kastagir who claims to also be drawn to the Gathering.

2. It turns out Kastagir is the mysterious immortal who killed the others. He is not drawn to the gathering but desires the Prize.

3. Macleod manages to wound Kastagir by disarming him, literally. He defeats Kastagir by dimming the lights in a sunproof room. While immortals are physically powerful, their enhance senses do not include night vision. Macleod however has trained to fight in the dark, a trick he picked up from Duncan Macleod after a renegade watcher went a killing spree against immortals (from the television series, where the Watcher lures them into a darken room where they can't see, while he wears night vision goggles). This becomes a plot point in the second movie.

4. Kastagir flees and is set upon by the Kurgan. Kastagir chides the Kurgan for breaking the rules, fighting an immortal after he just finished a fight (not to mention missing his sword arm) but the Kurgan surmises that Kastagir is more aware of the rules of "the game" than they are. Why did the urge to meet up in NYC end after they confronted Kastagir, but not before when Kastagir killed those others? The answer is that the rules require the immortals to compete one on one, and while it may not necessarily be a physical fight, that will suffice. This is why he is not breaking any rules as he is competing one on one. The Kurgan overpowers Kastagir in his weaken state.

4. Brenda of course is the same love interest again.

5. Duncan Macleod appears voice only, and its mainly to set him up for the next movie.

6. When Macleod kills the Kurgan some of the Quickening strikes Brenda making her an immortal. Macleod knows this because he can sense her the same way immortals sense each other.

7. The Prize is similar to that in the original movie. Macleod has superintuition and can sense a person's dreams and also the ability to “ inspire them” in more ways than words could (ie telepathy). Its established that prior to the film, Macleod had 2 centuries to invest correctly and is filthy rich and can use the money to hire the best scientist to improve human lives. He decides to start up a company.

Highlander II : The vision
In the original Highlander II the main environmental hazard was the destruction of the ozone layer, these days its climate change. Granted climate change was also a problem then, but it seems like humans got their act together and stopped CFCs in RL and the ozone layer is now repairing itself, while we are still working on fighting climate change. So…

Connor Macleod funds a company whose goals is to develop technologies to fight climate change. These include using GMOs to improve human lives. Among its products is a bacterial which synthesises biofuels which is carbon neutral, and drought resistant crops and research into newer nuclear reactors.

Macleod’s company has dealings with a Shield industries. Their CEO, lets call him Mr Ironside for now (after the actor who played the major villain General Katanna in the original). He has the nickname of General Katanna after being both in the military and for his collection of antique swords. They are particularly interested in Macleod’s mini nuclear reactors which they want for military purposes.

Shield industries specialise in weapons, and their latest product is powered armour. However something is not right with Shield industries as Connor is contacted by Duncan Macleod. It turns out that Duncan has continued to track the renegade watcher that kidnapped his girlfriend, Tessa and has been killing immortals by luring them into a darkened locked room, dimming the lights and fighting them using night vision goggles (as from the television series). While Duncan defeated this Watcher, Tessa was killed during this and Duncan riven by guilt has hunted the renegade watchers, and now finds out they are involved in Katanna industries.

Plot points

1. It turns out that Mr Ironside is a Watcher and has an almost religious urge to kill Immortals. He hears voices, one female who urges him to “free her,” and one male who urges him to kill the immortals. The voices never speak to each other except at the end where they argue. Whereas Macleod can sense people’s motivations with the Prize, all he gets from Ironside is a blank.

2. Among some of Mr Ironside’s delusions is the belief that the immortals came from a planet called Zeist (homage to the horrible movie). This belief is false, but helps justifies his crusade in his own mind. They aren’t human, so they aren’t worthy of human rights.

3. While Mr Ironside serves as the financial side of their operation, their “spiritual” side is served by someone codenamed the Preacher. The Preacher turns out to be the immortal Jacob Kell after Connor recognises him (the villain from Highlander Endgame). The fact that the Preacher turns out to be immortal further worsens Ironside’s madness.

4. Brenda is trained by Connor and manages to fight off some of Katanna industry thugs.

5. Ironside fights Connor and Duncan in his powered armour. The immortals have speed, but even their Quickening enhanced sword blows barely scratch him. Connor defeats him by lassoing an electric cable into him (homage to Connor’s fight with the Kurgan) and short circuits the armour.

6. Louise Marcus (the love interest in Highlander II) is not an ecoterrorist, but an environmentalist who spies on both Katanna industry and Macleod’s company. The former because of their pollution and the latter because she distrusts nuclear technology.

7. The defeat of Ironside leaves more mysteries. Why is Kell helping a renegade of Watchers kill his own kind. There is no evidence that Kell believes in the Gathering, so why kill immortals? And what does Ironside’s final words mean – that the Guardian who gave you the Prize has forsaken you and has tasked us with killing you monsters. Is there a Guardian? Did it give the immortals the power of the Prize? And if so, why did it abandon the immortals?

8. Its mentioned in passing that Kane (the villain in Highlander III) is the next immortal to be hunted down.

9. Its revealed that while the Watchers have a central council, most Watchers work in cells. So Ironside doesn’t realise Connor is an immortal, although they are aware of Duncan being one. In fact its estimated that the Watchers estimate that they are aware of only one third of the number of immortals around.

10. Oh, and Ramirez stays dead.

11. Louise discovers Connor’s secret, but decides not to go public as she comes to believe what Connor does is good for the environment and ultimately for humanity.

Highlander III : Kane

This starts off similar to the original. Kane (who I always felt was supposed to be Asian) and his 2 Mongol immortal henchmen kills the Japanese sorcerer Nakano. Connor however is not there, unlike the original Highlander III. Kane seeks the power of illusion to help him win the Prize. However Nakono’s decapitated head tells him that the Guardian chose to give the power to two immortals. One of have the Prize to allow an immortal to look into the hearts of humanity and find their dreams and potential, and the sorcerer to inspire them via illusion. No one immortal is meant to have both. So saying the mountain collapses on Kane and his henchmen. However Kane escapes but misses the gathering as he is not drawn. Years later he finds out that its been won by Connor and seeks him out.

1. Kane and his immortals will be played by Asians. Because racebending doesn’t occur here.

2. Dr. Alexandra Johnson (love interest in the third movie will not appear until later ie the last movie).
3. Kane and his 3 henchmen fight as a group, and is more than a match for Connor, Duncan and Brenda in unison. The reason is because of Kane’s illusion powers. So team Highlander wins by separating them and fighting them individually.

Connor uses the power of the Prize to allow him to pierce Kane’s illusions and defeat him. Duncan is more than a match one on one with Kane’s henchmen as they are trained to fight as a group. Brenda while improving in martial arts is no match for Kane’s other henchmen in a straight up fight. She however uses the light dimming trick Connor uses to defeat Kastagir in the first movie.

As Kane dies he whispers about how finally someone has mastered both the Prize and sorcery.

Highlander 4 : Vengeance

The villain is Jacob Kell, and he has similar origin story to the character in Highlander Endgame (which sucked BTW). He along with his father is killed by Connor after they killed Macleod’s mother for witchcraft. This time Connor doesn’t feel guilty about killing a man of the cloth.

Kell has 661 Immortal kills (compared to 262 for Connor MacLeod, and 174 for Duncan MacLeod) according to the Watchers. He wants vengeance on Connor but for the last hundred and fifty years he has been guided to another task, of which killing other immortals is but a means to an end to achieve his goal. That is kill the Guardian who gave the immortals the gifts of the “Prize” and sorcery.

Now that Connor has discovered his presence (from the previous movie) he now has decided to finish what he should have done ages ago.

The movie starts with an explosion which would have killed Rachael, Connor’s secretary. However Brenda is there and she takes the brunt of the blast. Being immortal Brenda survives. Connor must now track down Kell.
Plot points
1. Once again Kell has a group of lesser immortals to fight for him. These prove no match for Connor, Duncan and Brenda (who by now is pretty good with a sword). And the twist is one of Duncan’s ex wives Kate who he married in the 18th century, turns out to have been an immortal who was schooled by Kell. Kate had died from an accident, (not from Duncan setting off her immortality as per the horrible movie).

2. Kell kills his servants to gain their powers just like in Highlander Endgame.

3. It turns out Kell like Ironside is hearing voices. Astute viewers will realise that the voice he hears is the woman which Ironside also hears. The woman asks him to kill more immortals so he can be powerful enough to kill the Guardian, for the Guardian has betrayed humanity. We see scenes where Kell talks to himself in the mirror, although in his mind he is speaking to the woman.

4. Connor finds out what Kell knows about the Guardian and speculates that the Guardian may have initially wanted to help, but over the years has changed his mind, but the reasoning is not clear (and won’t be until the last movie).

5. Kell is more than a match for Connor, Duncan and Brenda owing to how he uses the quickening. While Immortals channel the Quickening through their weapons, Kell is more powerful and surrounds himself with the Quickening like a forcefield so he could withstand more blows. Kell impales Duncan, knocks out Brenda and gains the upper hand on Connor when he blocks Connor’s sword swing with one hand and stabs Connor with a hidden weapon, in this case a Wasp injection knife, which shoots out compressed air ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sa_NC-_fvKs).

But he won’t kill Connor. Because Connor has the Prize and sorcery and he will be not be tainted with the Guardian’s power, but he will keep Connor around and tortured for eternity. Its then that Connor reveals not all of this is real and that some of it is an illusion. Kell responds that he felt the knife plunge into Connor. Connor tells him that part is real. Before Kell can react the illusion is broken and Duncan very much uninjured decapitates Kell from behind.

The quickening is shared among Team Highlander and Connor speculates this is because they all contributed to defeating Kell.

6. At the end in a creepy moment, team Highlander find they can see the woman Kell is talking to, appearing in the television screen. She warns the immortals that she will be seeing them.

7. Connor vows to find out more about the Guardian which leads to

Highlander 5 : The Guardian or highlander 5 : The Endling

Endling of course is a term coined meaning the last of their kind. I think it’s a nice name because we think it must refer to the last immortal, after all there can be only one.

Basically team Highlander decide to look into this Guardian. However they are not alone. Other immortals are also after the Guardian and want to steal his power for themselves. The villains will be the four horsemen (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Hors ... ighlander) ) immortals from the television series.

The horsemen are

Kronos (Pestilence)
Methos (Death)
Silas (War)
Caspian (Famine)

Basically they have done reasonably well for themselves over the years. All of them have become rich. The Four Horsemen scheme to kill the Guardian, not knowing about the female voice who speaks to Kell and Ironside. Each has a “master weapon” to help them defeat the Guardian.

Kronos – is now a CEO of a biotech company. He has illegally created a biological weapon (modified flu) which he plans to release eventually and sell the antidote. He however has a another microbiological agent which he plans to use against the Guardian. A newly discovered form of bacteria on the corpse of early humans, preserved by the snow. No one would have been exposed to this in millennia, and even if the Guardian is as old as Methos, the oldest immortal, he will never have been exposed to this and be incapacitated by the disease. He has already tested it on a pre-immortal, and while he survived, it did leave him helpless. Long enough for any fool to take their head.

Methos – has been avoiding the other immortals by hiding out among the Watchers. Methos was there when the “religion” of the Gathering spread among the immortals. He learnt from the Guardian’s early adherents how to mask the fact he is immortal from others. Over the years he has studied various fighting styles, ancient and modern and become quite skilled with most weapons including modern ones. He wants to do what Kastagir did, use modern weapons to immobilise the Guardian and then kill him.

Unlike the others who seek killing the Guardian for its power, Methos does so because he believes the Guardian has gone mad based on his contacts with Immortals who still venerate the Guardian. It was him who reformed the Four Horsemen with the view of killing the Guardian.

He warns Kronos that the biological weapon may not work on the Guardian, as while he is immortal, the legends say he isn’t human like they are (big clue there). The Legends speak of the Guardian being human, yet not human.

Silas – the head of a technology firm with some dealings in weapons. His company has created powered armour for soldiers. This is less bulky and powerful than the one produced by Shield industries. However combined with an Immortal’s power makes him more formidable.

Caspian – While the others worked on using science and technology to overcome the Guardian he has turned to the mystical. He speculated that the immortals exist to fight demons ( from the television series). He has managed to summon a few. While he is unable to summon the most powerful Ahriman (http://highlander.wikia.com/wiki/Ahriman) which can take physical form, he has managed to summon some who can possess a mortal and make them inhumanly strong. His most powerful is the famine demon, who feeds on the life force of others.

Dr. Alexandra Johnson gives a lecture about the Phoenician trade with Europe being older than previously thought. Her evidence consists of a “diary” written in the Phoenician language by a purported native of Europe mentioning about the newcomers to Europe.

Attending the lecture is Connor in his mantle as professor of anthropology ( a degree he acquired over the years). Using the Prize Connor senses she isn’t forthcoming. Alexandra reveals that she has been studying some religious text about a Guardian which shows diaries written in Phoenician and other languages the Guardian has purported to master over the years. She thinks this is ridiculous because that would mean the Guardian is millennia old. The more likely explanation is that the Phoenicians had earlier contact in Europe than previously thought and the other diaries were written by different authors with similar writing style. However on further interrogation she admits that she has other artefacts appear to be authentic for the time period. Her “Guardian” collection includes diaries written in numerous other languages from different time periods, the most recent one in French from the 16 th century, which hints as the Guardian’s dissatisfaction with humanity. Something along the lines of “why do they live, while my people die?” She has yet to translate all of the artefacts.

The Four Horsemen seek Johnson’s knowledge for themselves. There is a chase scene but eventually Johnson is captured and they loot her artefact collection. There are some parchments written in obscure languages which she has not translated yet, however Methos can read them. They give clues to the Guardian’s whereabouts.

Team Highlander are hot in pursuit, but the Four Horsemen get there first. The Four Horsemen decide to split up and hunt the Guardians individually as his sanctuary is a giant maze. They will communicate via walkie talkies and whoever kills the Guardian will store his Quickening to be shared later. Its revealed they have developed a way to share the Quickening by storing it in some mystical receptacle and they “pour” it into a glass to drink like wine.

Kronos encounters the Guardian first. The Guardian is hooded and masked, so we don’t see his face. It appears Kronos’s biological weapon works as they Guardian collapses. However as he is about to deliver the coup de grace, the Guardian taunts him that he has done exactly as I wanted. That is was through the power of the Prize that the Guardian manipulated him to come here, but it was a pity he couldn’t dissuade the other Immortals. Unsettled Kronos pauses and the Guardian further taunts him, convincing Kronos he was the voice that he heard, that drove him to create his plague. In anger Kronos swings his sword, only to find the Guardian blocks it with his own sword. The Guardian then lets him in on another secret. He has experienced first hand this bacteria before. It wiped out most of his tribe, but a few survived. He is now immune. The battle begins in earnest.

The fight is one sided as the Guardian moves ridiculously fast even for an Immortal (just like the last Highlander movie). The Guardian taunts Kronos as he scores hit after hit with the aim of immobilising, but not killing. We end the scene with the Guardian swinging his sword at a prone Kronos but the scene cuts. There is no quickening effect. Note, astute viewers would realise the Guardian has the same voice as the male voice Ironside hears in the second movie.

Next is Silas, however even his powered armour is no match for the Guardian. The Guardian changes himself into a 3 face (but one head) being with 6 arms (this shapeshifted form occurs in some Chinese stories), and uses his extra arms to pierce Silas’s armour while the other four hold block Silas’s arms.

Methos fights the Guardian with guns, however the Guardian uses the Quickening and jams his modern firearms. The Guardian feels no need to take on Methos with a sword fight since Methos used such means and uses the Quickening to heat up Methos’s sword, however Methos channels the Quickening and counters. Surprised that Immortals know such power, the Guardian challenges Methos to a sword fight.

Methos uses a rapier tipped with neurotoxin to fight the Guardian, using a rapier style ie keeps the Guardian away with a longer sword, since the Guardian favours a swinging style. Despite the Guardian moving faster, Methos manages to force him to keep his distance. The advantage favours the Guardian though, as Methos is tiring. However the stalemate is broken when the Guardian pulls out a polearm which has a blade for decapitation and also a sharp end like a spear for impaling. Now with the reach advantage Methos is overwhelmed and only escapes by using a smoke bomb. He eventually meets with team Highlander.

Finally Caspian fights the Guardian and uses the body of Alexandra Johnson as a host for the famine demon. The battle with the Guardian is a stalemate. However the Guardian senses team Highlander and Methos approach and flees via a secret passageway as he cannot fight all of them.

Team Highlander now fights the famine demon. During the battle the possessed Alexandra kills Caspian and gains his Quickening. Connor subdues the demon by using sorcery to plant an illusion that Alexandra’s body is dying and cannot sustain the demon, so it vacates the body, waiting to be summoned again.

Team Highlander confronts the Guardian who denies Methos claim that he is out to harm humanity. To show his good faith, the Guardian takes them to the Source. The Source appears to be a coffin with a sci fi feel. To the surprise of the Immortals, inside the coffin is the image of the woman who talked to Ironside.

The Guardian explains that he was from a time when humans were just hunter gatherers. One day the Source fell from the sky. Then his people started fighting among themselves and the Source grew stronger. When they finally realised the Source was feeding off their anger, they abandoned their stalking ground and the Guardian was chosen to guard the Source and prevent it causing misfortune elsewhere.

Suddenly a hologram of the woman appears from the “coffin” with the woman begging them to free her and warning them of the Guardian’s treachery. The Guardian just laughs and points out she would say anything at this point. He also tells team Highlander that over the years he has learnt things about the Source from her, such as that she fled from a place called Zeist (homage to the second movie) after an uprising.


The Source claims to be the source of the immortals power, but the Guardian disputes this as he existed before the Source fell from the sky. However the Source points out that she changed him from a mortal to immortal. She also hints that she taught Jacob Kell how to use the Quickening in new ways, ways which even the Guardian does not know. Whether the Source is responsible for Immortals is left deliberately ambiguous. However the Source states she was of the ruling class of Zeist and that they discovered the secret of immortality and all it took was the sacrifice of the lower classes. She cannot see anything wrong with this.

Seeing the warped morality of the Guardian and wary of the fact she feeds on hatred and causes people to become mad, team Highlander agree to leave. The Guardian explains that he wanted someone to replace him, for a time while each Guardian takes turns so he himself can see the world with his own eyes, rather than through his telepathic powers. To that end he tried to strengthen the immortals by giving them the twin gifts of Sorcery and the Prize, to find one worthy of taking his place for a century or two. Team Highlander politely decline and take a still distrusting Methos with them. Before they go its mentioned that the Guardian killed the other three immortals, although Methos only felt 2 Quickenings (Silas and Caspian).

Back in civilisation Team Highlander are relaxing and explaining to a confused Alexandra Johnson what is going on when Methos returns. He says the Guardian has lied and that Kronos is still alive. Team Highlander agree to investigate and they do indeed find Kronos alive and planning to release his plague. He has uncharacteristically destroyed the antidote. They confront him, however Kronos has a prayer room in his company’s headquarters which counts as holy ground. Connor and Duncan embolden by tradition refuse to attack him, however Brenda observes no such compunction. While she is not as good as Kronos, the latter only fights defensively as he also believes in the holy ground rule. However as their weapons clash, they shatter (like in Highlander 3) and the force pushes Kronos out of the window and out of holy ground. Duncan wants to fight him, however Methos intervenes and fights Kronos and takes his head, although he is injured in the process and needs a day or two to recoup.

Realising the Guardian has lied to them, Team Highlander returns to confront the Guardian without Methos. Impressed with them, the Guardian decides to tell them. He removes his mask and then Connor realises that the Guardian is a….Neanderthal. Hence he is human yet not human. Neanderthals are humans but unlike modern day homo sapiens sapiens.

Team Highlander figures out the Guardian’s motivation. Initially he helped the Immortals as he wanted someone to replace. Over the years, the Guardian has become embittered that homo sapiens has destroyed his people while he stayed guarding the Source. Now he does not want someone to replace him, but to destroy homo sapiens. Hence why Ironside (from the second movie kept on hearing the Guardian’s voice about killing immortals). He used the power of the Prize to brainwash Kronos to serve him after defeating him. While Connor uses the Prize to inspire, he uses it to frighten and broke Kronos’s will.

Now the pieces fall into place. The Source needs someone to free her, and the Guardian won’t do it. The Source feeds on anger and hatred, but there can be no anger and hatred if everyone is dead. Hence for her own self interest, she has tried to create someone to kill the Guardian and free her.

Team Highlander confronts the Guardian who again transforms into a 3 faced being with 6 arms. Duncan wonders whether the Guardian could change into a 4 faced being with 8 arms if he is fighting 4 people, but the look on the Guardian face indicates he could not. Duncan then mentions they should have brought Methos, however Brenda remarks they might need an army to fight the Guardian.

The Guardian’s left and right 2 arms carry a sword and shield, while its central two arms carries the same polearm he used against Methos. During the battle Connor loses his sword and is about to be decapitated when a sword appears in his hand. Puzzled Connor realises he is using the same power Jacob Kell used in the previous movie, using the Quickening to create a forcefield. However it only appears as a sword because of his power of Sorcery to create illusions. Deciding to change tact, Connor creates a polearm like the Guardians and fights him that way. During the fight Connor manages to knock the Guardian’s polearm to the side and then steps well inside the arc of the Guardian’s polearm (ie before the blade of the polearm, so the Guardian can only hit him with the blunt part of his weapon) and Connor changes his polearm into a sword and swings to decapitate the Guardian only to find…. It blocked and Connor himself impaled.

Cut to a pause scene and we find that on his right side, the Guardian has used his shield to block Duncan, while his sword to impale Connor. On his left side he has used the other sword to block Connor’s blow and his shield to block Brenda. However since Brenda fights with two weapons her second weapon stabs the Guardian. What makes this devastating is that Brenda is using Jacob Kell’s wasp knife, and realises a burst of compressed air into the Guardian’s lungs. The blow staggers the Guardian and despite being impaled Connor manages to force the blocking sword back and decapitates the Guardian. Duncan comments that the Guardian has never been impaled before and didn’t know how to deal with the pain, and then pulls out the sword from Connor and jokes that he will live (reference to the first Highlander episode).

In the end, Dr Johnson decides to keep the secrets of the Immortals and continues her work in archaelogy. Duncan decides to join her. Connor puts the Source in the site of a former nuclear disaster with high radiation levels. Even an immortal trying to free her will “die” and then “die” again when they recover from the radiation. He mentions that he believes the radiation will disrupt the device which the Source uses to communicate. In the end we see Connor opening a nuclear power station using depleted uranium (reference to Bill Gates Terrapower) and mentions that as part of his company’s mandate is to clean up the environment including dealing with old nuclear disasters.

[LadyTevar]

Well Done.

[madd0ct0r]

yup. I cannot post, for there can be only one. and it was awesome.

[Ted C]

The original problem, of course, was that Highlander was not written to accomodate any sequels. Connor and Kurgan killed off all of their rivals, and then Connor killed the Kurgan. He was the last, and he had the prize.

Highlander 2 tried to work with that premise, but ended up failing horribly.

So a "reboot" has to allow for a major fight over something without eliminating all but one of the immortals.

It would be interesting if the Gathering was some kind of recurring event. Every few centuries, the immortals are compelled to fight to the last, and the winner gets "the Prize", which should have some obvious utility, but at the same time starts aging toward a normal death. When the Prize has been claimed, a new generation of immortals begins. This way, you can at least have some idea what the Prize actually entails and why you don't want someone like the Kurgan to have it.

In this setup, you could have the Kurgan defeated by Connor a century or more in the past. Duncan is one of the first of the new generation of immortals, trained by Connor. A rival has already figured out what he is and started killing other immortals for their power, and new immortals are still cropping up. Duncan wants to educate them, the villain wants to kill them. There's your setup for a sequel and/or series.