Nericus

The Quickening is supposed to be the lifeforce, knowledge, spirit, and allegedly any special powers that the immortal has. Generally speaking it's limited to the knowledge of the immortal and of course knowledge does equal power.

Examples of immortals getting an extra effect from a Quickening

1. Darius killed an immortal holy man and the quickening changed Darius from an evil conqueror to a holy man.

2. Duncan's old friend whose Indian tribe predated other tribes absorbed too much evil and turned evil. Duncan tried to cleanse him but failed and then cut him down. However this was a Dark Quickening and Duncan overloaded from all that evil and turned evil until Methos helped him purge it.

3. Original movie continuity: Connor gains the prize and now is an omnitelepath and can read minds across the world and who knows what else, yet is also a mortal which makes no sense. I think recent Highlander comics that link to the series retconned Kurgan's quickening into a massive power boost and a dark quickening due to Kurgan's evil.

4. Third movie: Mako's character Nakano had the power to cast illusions. Connor refused when Nakano offered his head and power to Connor. Kane takes down Nakano but Nakano uses the last of his power to seal the cave and Kane for 400 years. Kane emerges with the illusion power but Connor defeats him and allegedly now has the prize. Connor now should have the power of illusion but I doubt he'd use it.

The "temp death" made sense. They only die for real when decapitated but that doesn't mean a bullet in the heart won't put them down for a few minutes until they regenerate, and being immortal doesn't mean "feel no pain" either. It's a good weakness to slow them down enough for the final kill.

Yes, the lack of a Methos spin off was disappointing.

No prob, toss me any other Highlander questions you might have.

Well the Source was supposed to start a trilogy but we can see how well that worked.

And yes, Lambert is too old to be Connor, or rather I should say that he doesn't appear to age as gracefully as others can. Adrian Paul doesn't quite look his years, but Lambert on the other hand looks his age.

Agreed.

As to Duncan compared to Connor, well in fairness Duncan got a lot more screentime and thus character development.

Adrian Paul though showed nice versatility as an actor in the assorted flashbacks and episodes, had excellent sword training on the show, and also isn't blind as a mole without corrective glasses, no offense to Lambert on that last just stating it as it is.

Connor Macleod: Lambert did a nice job in the movies of conveying the personal agony that one can suffer due to being immortal and thus outliving everyone they meet. In the first movie I could feel the weariness of the years upon him. Had Brenda Wyatt not given him something extra to fight for I don't think he would have been able to take down the Kurgan. Movie 2 despite how bad it was, Connor at the start still showed the pain of having outlived everyone despite being mortal and then how he stepped back a bit in fearful anticipation before the quickening hit him. Movie 3: he again shows the personal pain well, but that doesn't disguise that movie 3 is a rewritten movie 1. In Endgame I thought Connor was so out of it that he needed to find a mental home on holy ground and spend a few centuries on prozac. However even though Connor rigged the fight so that Duncan would win, I suspect that Connor's beheading was a mercy for him. He was sick of it all and didn't have the inner strength to fight Kell. (Too bad too as I think one of the original plans for the big fight was for Connor and Duncan to break the rule of 'fights must be one on one only' to fight him.)

Duncan Macleod: Adrian also did an excellent job showing the personal pain that immortality can bring. Duncan however appears to be more of a positive personality then Connor and he can usually get over the pain or put it aside at least better then Connor. Duncan also seems more accepting of being immortal then Connor. Connor seemed more intent on living the life of a quiet antique dealer and not be part of society. Duncan did the antique dealer thing until Tessa was killed, then he does other things like join a dojo then buys the dojo, works as a part time teacher in a few episodes, and more. Of course he didn't need to work since over the years he learned economics rather well and amassed a nice sum of money but he still stayed active and didn't just mope around the antique shop like Connor seemed to.

One thing I didn't like in Endgame was the plot device about "Kell has the most kills of all active immortals" thus we are to think that Kell who isn't much older then Duncan is nearly unstoppable, plus had he taken down Duncan it would have been his 666th kill...... I always felt that quality of the quickening beats quantity. Duncan slew many immortals older then himself, some being ancients like Grayson and two of the horsemen. I don't think absorbing Connor's quickening was all that necessary to defeat Kell but they wanted to kill Connor.

Well the initial plan for the series was that the protagonist was to be Connor Macleod. Lambert liked the idea of a TV series but didn't want to do TV himself and only agreed to be in the pilot episode to pass the torch and declined further episodes. Hence as the series progresses we only get the rare mention of Connor and Connor was even omitted from the flashback in the season 3 ep of the indian funeral pyre that he was in back in the pilot episode. (it was the episode where Duncan fought the immortal Kern).

After Adrian Paul was cast, he suggested/requested that the series be altered so that the protagonist was Duncan Macleod, clansman of Connor. I think but can't recall for sure that his reason was that he didn't want to play Connor and always be compared to how Lambert played the part, but playing an all new Macleod would be better and the two characters could be compared more then the two actors.

The rest as they say....is history.

Yes, he did at the end of Season 5. It was a lame cliffhanger story that took two episodes of Season 6 to resolve and it was indeed a zeistian jump the shark moment for the show.

While it did give Duncan some character growth, there were better ways to achieve it.

Plot summary: every 1000 years a Zoastrian demon named Ariman arises to wage evil on Earth, and a chosen champion must face the demon and defeat it. This champion is always an immortal and is a new one each time.

In flashback we see Duncan meet a crazy hermit immortal in a cave who was the previous champion and could allegedly tell the future. This hermit warned him of the demon and that Duncan would be the next champion and that soon Duncan would meet Connor and learn of the game. This immortal then committed suicide by Macleod to pass his Quickening to Duncan.

Back in the present this demon is masquerading as James Horton and kills an archaeologist that seeks to warn Duncan of the demon. Duncan thinks Horton is alive until he rips open Horton's casket as it was being shipped stateside for re interment there per his daughter's wishes.

The demon begins to really screw with Duncan's head and Joe, Richie and Methos are reluctant to believe in demons despite the fact that immortals walk the Earth, go figure. In any event Richie puts his faith in Duncan and Duncan is led to a warehouse where the demon taunts him with visions of Kronos, Horton and Richie and gets Duncan quite confused as to what is real and what isn't as well as fighting mad. Then he sees what he thinks is another vision of Richie and rushes in for the kill. Only this Richie was the real Richie who wasn't seeing the same visions that Duncan was, and didn't have his guard up. Richie was cut down and Duncan received his quickening.

Joe and Methos were in shock and Duncan was horrified that he killed his student/friend and offered his sword to Methos in a gesture that basically meant "KILL ME!" Methos refused and Duncan left his sword and staggered away.

Season 6 starts and its one year later. Duncan was in a temple somewhere, refocusing himself, meditating and studying all the legends of the demon. He then returns to the fight and Joe is both glad and mad to see him as the Watchers lost track of Duncan all that time. Joe has Duncan's sword but he refuses it. Joe eventually believes Duncan and stands with him but this marks him as an ally of the champion and the demon targets Joe. Joe lives and Duncan eventually realizes after being nearly trapped psychically in the astral plane as it were by the demon that the only way to fight the demon is to basically accept the evil that the demon represents and to not fight him. The demon tries to goad Duncan but it doesn't work and the demon recedes for another 1000 years. Joe then again offers Duncan's sword to him telling him that Richie is avenged, that Duncan is a champion and that evil immortals are still out there, blah blah blah. Duncan reluctantly reclaims the katana.

Other episodes of Season 6 had minimal Duncan as they wanted to test new immortal characters for spin off purposes and Duncan was not willing to fight anymore and would only fight another immortal reluctantly.

The last episodes were a two parter. Stop if you've heard this before: villain of the week abducts Duncan's pals, Joe, and Amanda and demands Duncan surrender and die to save them. Duncan is willing to give up his life as he is sick of his friends being used as bait against him and remembers what happened to Richie. Methos tries to get Duncan motivated to fight but it doesn't work.

Hostages are released and before Duncan is whacked, Methos causes interference and they all flee, but Duncan takes a bullet and temporarily "dies". Only THIS time, as he is "dead", he is greeted by his dead immortal pal Hugh Fitzcairn (Roger Daltry of the WHO). Hugh was sent by the heavens to speak with Duncan and get him back into the game as he is needed, etc etc etc etc. So he shows Duncan what the world would be like if Duncan Macleod never existed.

1. Hugh would have been beheaded centuries ago.
2. Amanda would be a modern femme fatale killing for money, etc etc since there was no Duncan to be a moral compass for her.
3. Horton would totally corrupt the Watchers and oust Joe and turn the Watchers into hunters.
4. Amanda is cut down by the Hunters.
5. Methos in an attempt to fight the hunters basically turns evil again and teams with Kronos to fight them, they also have recently turned immortal Richie Ryan working with them. They train Richie and try to make him a killer.
6. Joe is a bum living the streets, helpless to stop the Watchers.
7. Tessa is seen living a life with a family but there is no passion in her life, no spontaneity, so though she has a family she is a bit miserable.
8. Richie is sent to kill Joe, but realizes Joe is innocent and can't do it.
9. Kronos and Methos take Richie somewhere to kill him. Richie begs Methos to spare him and says that they are friends. Methos responds "You're right, we are friends. GOODBYE FRIEND!" and cuts Richie down.

Duncan is furious and demands that Hugh who has been his tour guide on this "its a wonderful life" allow him to fight Methos. Hugh says it's up to the man upstairs and Duncan again DEMANDS the fight and he gets it.

Methos of course can't sense Duncan in this timeline as Duncan technically doesn't exist, but the fans get a decent Duncan/Methos fight and Duncan wins. As he goes for the kill, Methos asks who he is and Duncan responds "Ghost of Christmas past" and cuts him down. No quickening though and Hugh sends Duncan back to reality.

Duncan awakes and is a bit disoriented to be back in reality but recovers and faces the villain of the week and of course wins.

Series ends.

The death of Richie and Season 6 were definitely jump the shark

Yes.....such things the old WW series was not known for.

Well as Diana Prince, Lynda was known to wear glasses and have her hair style altered as part of her disguise......

Highlander the Raven only went one season. That was more then sufficient.

Now if they could have given Methos his own series, THAT would have been far better. A 5000+ year old immortal has PLENTY of stories to tell and that series could have easily gone three seasons at least.

We could have seen more if his time as one of the horsemen, and the final rift that drove Methos away from them. Cassandra was the start of that, but I suspect there was more after that finally made Methos wake up.

Plus I liked that Methos doesn't actively hunt other immortals often and dodges battles. He prefers to live and no longer judges other immortals, of course he also knows that his time as a horseman of the apocalypse doesn't quite give him that right anyway. In the case of that "fatal attraction" character Kristen that Macleod refused to kill even though she was no match for him, Methos summed it up perfectly after he cut her down: "Someone had to". I also liked his response when she asked him who he was "A man who was born LONG before the age of chivalry!"

Had they not made what I thought was an instant "jump the shark" mistake of having Duncan kill Richie, Richie may have done well with his own show too.

Well it's an interesting blend of current and classic costumes, but there is room for some improvement. That costume screams the word "prototype" to me so hopefully we will see some changes, including the red boots.

Also it is possible that the network or certain broadcast standards rules nowadays may not allow the classic costume, can't say for sure as I'm not versed in the latest BS&P.

Because that looks more Xena then Wonder Woman?

Highlander the Raven: ugh.

Started off ok, then disintegrated fast. Nothing against the actress and her talents but the character of Amanda is more of a support character and cannot carry a series in my opinion. Also in the main Highlander series, despite being a talented thief/acrobat her skills with a sword in combat made me question just exactly how she lived for 1800 years.

Still she was Duncan's "catwoman" as it were in terms of being a thief/acrobat immortal who enjoyed being a criminal until Duncan and her feelings for him began to straighten her out.

The playground fight was dumb as people should be wondering how a blind man is fighting like that.

Also the Director's Cut is better and is proof that editing can kill a movie.

Of course Ben Affleck does not help.

Currently I think one of Billy's friends is the current CM/Shazam and Billy and Mary are now on some type of quest to prove their worth and regain their lost powers.

I agree that there is money to be made with this character, DC just needs to get it in gear. To be honest I thought Billy/Captain Marvel was used very nicely in Justice League Unlimited and the more recent Superman/CM: return of Black Adam animated.

Billy needs to be portrayed as an honest, good hearted kid that wants to help others. Captain Marvel should be written similar to Superman but not quite as serious a personality as Superman since latest portrayals are that CM is still Billy albeit endowed with the wisdom of the gods so he'd be a bit more mature but still a kid at heart.

Honestly I just think DC doesn't like the character and doesn't want to have him surpass Superman.

Gaining the skills is one thing, practicing said skills is another.

Interesting ideas.

My own idea for Endgame was this:

The movie opens with Connor Macleod living in a cabin in the mountains, far from cities and civilization. He's been there for some years now, his adopted daughter Rachel has moved on after he left her a sizeable fortune before his fight with the Kurgan, and his beloved Brenda had perished in recent years due to illness. Connor still practices his skills but considers himself weary of it all and out of the game. He maintains occasional contact with Duncan but otherwise has cut himself off from the world. Depression can be bad when one is immortal.

The evil immortal of the movie approaches and Connor recognizes him and feels a sense of dread, for he has faced this foe in the past and the battle was obviously inconclusive as they both still had their heads. After the obligatory flashback to when they first met, the battle is joined. It is a furious battle as both fight with all their might, however in the end there indeed can be only one, and this time it was not Connor Macleod. Connor's head is severed and we get a quickening on par with the Kurgan's to show how powerful Connor was. The villain absorbs it all, rests for a few minutes, then stands and smiles and leaves.

A few minutes after his departure, two people emerge from the woods where they had been watching the battle. Both are Watchers, one for Connor and the other for the villain.

Connor's Watcher: "our oaths not withstanding, this is very bad. The Watchers have always had secret hopes that Connor or his clansman would be the final winner of the Game."

Villain's Watcher: "Yes, this is a dark day for both immortal and mortal. The power he absorbed will make him far more unstoppable then he was before. I'm also certain that he now will target Duncan."

Connor's Watcher: "If only we could warn him without breaking our oaths. Joe got himself in enough trouble over that."

"Yes, but Joe is our best bet to get word to Duncan." The Watcher pulls out a smartphone and links to the Watcher's and sends a Chronicle update for the evil immortal that indicates that Connor has fallen to him. The Watcher then sends out a Watcher news bulletin that all Watcher's will receive on their computers or mobile devices. These bulletin's are recent innovations in the new information age that send coded alerts to the Watcher's when an immortal falls. The codes tell who won and who was the victim.

"It's done. I'll write up the formal entry on him later, for now I need to get back on his trail, good luck."

Connor's Watcher picks up Connor's sword and looks at the body of the fallen hero and makes a decision and soon leaves after tidying up the scene including a quick burial for Connor.

The next day, Duncan is in his dojo working out when Joe arrives. Duncan smiles and greets him then sees the look on Joe's face and knows there is trouble.

"Mac...we have to talk. Things have changed and not for the better."
"What's wrong?"
"There is an ancient evil immortal on the hunt again. This guy is on par with the Kurgan in terms of how despicable he is and he is powerful. Every century or two he goes to ground in Holy Ground somewhere where he rests, trains and monitors the world events for a few decades then emerges again to hunt. This is one of the few immortals that makes the Watchers nervous."
"Why not form a hunting party and take him down?"
"Don't tempt us on that Mac, this immortal over the years has sorely tempted Watchers to break the no interference rule and make an attempt to take him down."
"So instead you want me to take him down? Come on, Joe. You and I have worked together before and that has been good at times, but you know I can't become the Watcher's weapon everytime an evil immortal is on the hunt."
"I know Mac, but this time I think you will want in on this. I was ordered to the local regional office for a meeting of the Watchers. When I was there, I was given the official report on the villain's latest victim. When I was told who it was, everyone there looked at me in expectation, as if they were silently urging me to contact you. I didn't want to, but knowing who the victim was I had to. The Watchers want this immortal stopped, even though we are not supposed to play favorites, if this immortal ends up with the Prize then we expect mankind to be doomed."
"Who was the victim?"
Joe then opens a package he had brought with him, a package that contained Connor's katana.
"Oh no......not Connor!"
"I'm sorry, Mac. I truly am. The Watchers tend to put immortal's swords in their museums but I've bent the rules on this knowing that you should have it. I am truly sorry about Connor, he was one of the best and the Watchers hoped for decades that you or him would be the last."
Duncan picks up the sword with reverence and then says "Who is this immortal....and WHERE is he?"

The rest of the movie involves the villain hunting and tormenting Duncan by taking down some of Duncan's other immortal friends until the two finally meet for the final fight.

You gain their knowledge, their skills, possibly some habits or personality quirks depending on how well you assimilate the quickening. Superhuman strength? No.

Just read the review of that script......ugh. Somewhat palatable but not really. Still it feels better then Highlander 2 or 5 so that is a plus.

I had to order a case of brain bleach to help diminish the memory of Highlander 5: the Source.

Highlander 2, Highlander 3, Highlander 5, the animated series (egads it was bad!), the animated pilot to the animated series and the recent anime are in their own pocket universes and best ignored.

Possibly due to licensing issues as Marvel has the rights to publish a Captain Marvel comic, while DC has a character named Captain Marvel.

Or due to the fact that he was very much inspired by Superman back when Fawcett Comics made him and DC just hates that.

Or lack of interest.

To be honest, DC might want to start considering Captain Marvel/Shazam as a movie character and main comic character in case the lawsuits with the Superman creator estate goes against DC.

Basically the concept boils down to good vs. evil with the winner having the power to rule the planet. Things such as their origins or why they are immortal are basically dismissed with the concept of "We exist, leave it at that". Holy Ground was stated as being safe due to "tradition" in the first movie and never expanded on. How the "immortal game" first got started is unknown.