Everything Highlander

The first of what became a series of films, Highlander, directed by Russell Mulcahy, was released on March 7, 1986 with the tagline, "There Can Be Only One." The film features a number of flashback scenes establishing Connor MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod's early history, and builds up to his final destiny amongst the last of the mysterious Immortals. Through a mentor and fellow Immortal - Juan Sánchez Villa-Lobos Ramírez played by Sean Connery - he learns of the existence of other Immortals, who occur spontaneously throughout history. An Immortal can die only after being beheaded, and Immortals battle another in ritual single combat to the death, until the "Gathering," when the few remaining Immortals will fight until only one remains to take "The Prize." The Gathering occurs in modern-day New York City, and sees the Highlander, who has fallen in love again despite trying to cut himself off from humanity, narrowly defeat his powerful and evil enemy, The Kurgan, whom he has encountered repeatedly over the previous centuries, and who has slain Ramirez and many others.

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Highlander II: The Quickening, directed by Russell Mulcahy, was released on November 1, 1991. The film mainly takes place in 2024, with flashbacks to events in 1999, and also a very distant past on the planet Zeist. MacLeod designs an energy shield to protect the Earth after its ozone layer began to disintegrate, but the Shield's heavy red clouds and blocking of natural sunlight have plunged mankind into despair. The Shield has also fallen under the control of the Shield Corporation, which taxes heavily for its services in the pursuit of profit. Meanwhile, MacLeod has physically aged into a frail old man - his mortality part of winning the Prize -- and expects that he will eventually die of natural causes. He suddenly rejuvenates and becomes Immortal again upon the sudden arrival of new Immortals, who were sent to kill him by an old enemy on Zeist. He then joins with Louise Marcus (Virginia Madsen), who had led a group of terrorists who try to take down the Shield.

This film offers an alternative origin for the Immortals, who are depicted as aliens exiled to Earth from Zeist. In direct contradiction to the original film, Ramirez and MacLeod were friends before their exile from Zeist. In the original, they first met in Scotland in 1541, with no mention of Zeist whatsoever. This was a primary reason the movie immediately met with harsh criticism from critics and audiences alike.

Russell Mulcahy was disappointed with the movie as originally released, and later made his own "Renegade Version" director's cut with a proper sequencing of various scenes, and the filmmakers' explanation for why the movie turned out as it originally did. Filming had ended late and over-budget, and much of it was done in Argentina, which at the time was experiencing hyperinflation. The insurance company decided to take "creative control" from Mulcahy so that the resulting movie would see maximized revenue. One of Mulcahy's most dynamic alterations was the relabeling of the Zeist footage as a flashback to an ancient, technologically-advanced civilization on Earth, much more in line with the later continuity of the first film and the later TV series. In 2004, a Special Edition was released, featuring several distinct alterations, including new computer-generated visual effects throughout the film.

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Highlander III: The Final Dimension (alternatively titled Highlander III: The Sorcerer) was first released on November 25, 1994. The third movie contradicts both the second film and the television series, acting as a stand-alone sequel to the original movie. MacLeod battles a warrior who missed the original Gathering, because he was buried deep in a Japanese cave that is holy ground, isolating him from the supposedly final contest of the first film. Kane (played by Mario Van Peebles) is a master of the "power of illusion," which allows him to create false imagery to deceive his enemies. Connor, who has lived with his adopted son John for years with the belief that he is the final Immortal, must return to New York and finish the job he started back in 1985. Along the way, he finds a new love, Dr. Alex Johnson (Deborah Unger).

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Highlander: Endgame, first released on September 1, 2000, was an attempt to merge characters from both the original film and from the Highlander TV series. The story follows Duncan MacLeod as he confronts Jacob Kell, a renegade Immortal who has assembled a group of fellow warriors, as well as an impressive body-count. Kell, who holds a centuries-old grudge against the elder Connor MacLeod, has taken the lives of Connor's dearest loved ones, and does not follow the traditions of single combat. Connor has spent a decade trying to escape the Game in a hidden Watcher fortress known as the Sanctuary, but he and Duncan are forced to confront this new threat that neither one of them alone can succeed against. As the two MacLeods will not break the single-combat tradition, Connor convinces Duncan to kill him, thus gaining the power that he needs to defeat Kell.

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Highlander: The Source is the fifth installment of the Highlander film series, which premiered on the Sci-Fi Channel on September 15, 2007. The film follows Duncan MacLeod and a group of fellow Immortals seeking the source of immortality.

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To newcomers, the most confusing aspects of the franchise are the inconsistencies and paradoxes between the television series and the films. To explain the paradoxes presented, the entire Highlander franchise may be seen as completely separate storylines, occurring in alternate continuities. The common thread between the realities is the succession from the first film:

The continuity of the original film and Highlander II, in which Connor spends his mortal life dedicated to solving the environmental problems of the Earth, until his immortality is returned to him with the arrival of his old rival General Katana and his henchmen.

The continuity of the first Highlander and Highlander III, which establishes that a group of Immortals - trapped in a cave centuries prior to The Gathering - escape after MacLeod's fight with the Kurgan, and the battle for The Prize begins again.

Any of the continuity featuring the first film and/or a stand-alone spin-off, such as the 1994 animated series and Highlander: The Search for Vengeance. These are typically "loose" follow-ups to the original Highlander, at best.

The continuity with a retconned Highlander, in which Connor does not win the prize, followed by the Highlander television series, Highlander: The Raven, Highlander: Endgame, Highlander: The Source, and any subsequent sequels featuring Duncan MacLeod. In this reality, a large number of Immortals are still alive post-1985.

In the final continuity, Connor's battle with the Kurgan (as alluded to in the series pilot, and in one later episode) is simply viewed as the beginning of the Gathering, and not a final fight for "The Prize." The second film, as well as the stand-alone animated spin-offs, are not officially considered part of the TV series universe, and some debate exists as to the third film's inclusion - however, it was recently referenced in the ongoing Highlander comic book series, itself part of the TV universe. The comic series' canonicity status remains unclear, although writer/producer David Abramowitz is the series' chief creative consultant.

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Highlander: The Series was a 1990s TV series used the same basic ideas as the films, and was simply called Highlander: The Series. Its first episode was aired on October 6, 1992. The series centred on Connor MacLeod's younger Immortal "clansman" Duncan MacLeod (Adrian Paul). Connor (Christopher Lambert) made a guest appearance in the first episode to provide continuity.

Highlander: The Raven was a series that took one of the characters in the previous live-action series, Amanda (Elizabeth Gracen), as its central character. She was accompanied by former police officer Nick Wolfe (Paul Johansson). The first episode was aired on November 7, 1998.

A 2001 animated flash series, The Methos Chronicles, was an Internet Flash-series based on Methos (voiced by Peter Wingfield), a character drawn from the television show. This short-lived series lasted only one ten-episode season.

A 1994 animated series, Highlander: The Animated Series, was set in the far future, and featured the character of Quentin MacLeod, voiced by Miklos Perlus.

A 2007 anime film, Highlander: The Search for Vengeance, featuring the immortal Colin MacLeod in the year 2187.

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Connor MacLeod was born in 1518 in Glenfinnan, Scotland near the shores of Loch Shiel. During a battle between the Clan MacLeod and the Clan Fraser in 1536, he faced an evil Immortal referred to as The Kurgan, and was dealt what should have been a fatal blow. When Connor did not die, the townspeople (including his family) believed his recovery was the work of witchcraft, and threatened to burn him at the stake. Connor's kinsman, and Clan Chieftain, Angus MacLeod, instead demanded that he only be banished. Connor wandered around the land until he met Heather MacDonald, the daughter of a blacksmith. The two fell in love, and married in 1539. In 1541, he met an Immortal named Juan Sánchez Villa-Lobos Ramírez, who became Connor's mentor and taught him the ways of Immortals, and of The Game.

Ramírez taught Connor the overriding rule of the Immortals: There can be only one. Connor, Ramírez, and others like them were destined to fight each other until only one was left. By beheading another Immortal, the winner would gain the fallen Immortal's strength, and the last alive would have the power of every Immortal that ever existed, a mysterious power beyond comprehension known as "The Prize." One night, The Kurgan, while Connor was absent, found his home, killed Ramírez, and raped Heather. Decades passed, and Heather finally died of old age. It was at this point that Connor left Scotland to explore the world. Connor MacLeod led many different lives under a variety of aliases, constantly keeping his immortality a secret. In 1985, MacLeod found himself living in New York in the guise of Russell Nash, an antiques dealer. In the continuity of the original movie, this was the time of The Gathering, when the few Immortals that remained were to fight until the last. While fighting in The Gathering, Connor had to deal with being a suspect of several beheadings. He started to fall in love with forensics expert Brenda Wyatt. In the end, it came down to MacLeod against his ancient enemy, The Kurgan. After The Kurgan kidnapped Brenda, MacLeod faced and defeated him, thus winning The Prize. He then returned to Scotland with Brenda.

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It has been suggested, that Ramirez's real name is Tak Ne, which given his Egyptian background could be very true.

Ramirez married three times until he finally decided having loved ones was no longer worth the grief resulting from losing them. Among his wives was Shakiko, a Japanese princess whose father, the great swordsmith Masamune gave Ramírez a "dragon head" katana in 593 BC. During this time, he also trained with the ancient Immortal Nakano, from whom he learned the arts of Metallurgy.

Ramirez in HighlanderBy 1541, he was living in Spain, working as the Chief Metallurgist to King Charles V under the name Juan Sánchez Villalobos Ramírez. He sought out the Highlander, Connor MacLeod, and took him under his wing, teaching him the rules of the Immortals. Most importantly, he warned him of The Kurgan, who gave him his first death. In 1542, while Connor was away hunting, the Kurgan returned. Though Ramírez had not been his intended victim, the Kurgan was not fussy, and a battle ensued, and while Ramírez nearly managed to decapitate his foe, he ultimately lost both the fight and his head.

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The show does not tell Duncan's story in chronological order. Instead, the primary sequence of events is set in a present time which actually corresponds to the years during which the six seasons were filmed, i.e. 1992-1998, and extensive use of flashbacks is made to show Duncan's memories and their implications in present time.

It is established in the pilot episode "The Gathering," set in 1992, that Duncan is almost 400 years old and thus was born in 1592 during a battle in Glenfinnan, Scotland to a woman who had been part of an army engaged in attacking the Scottish Highlands.

In the second episode, "Family Tree," Duncan's father and Chieftain of Clan MacLeod, Ian MacLeod, states that the newborn Duncan was a foundling given to his wife Mary to replace the stillborn son she had delivered, and raised to be his successor.

The same episode also shows how Duncan is brought home fatally wounded in battle, dies in front of his father, and awakens with his wounds completely healed. Because his family believes his resurrection is a sign of witchcraft, he is cast out from his clan after being disowned by his adoptive father. The Watcher Chronicle of this episode states that it happens in 1622 during a dispute with the Clan Campbell.

In "The Gathering," Duncan and Connor MacLeod explain how Connor, who had undergone a similar ordeal in 1536, found Duncan in 1625, told him about his immortality and became his mentor.

The Series' various flashbacks show Duncan live through many adventures across four centuries, including visiting Renaissance France[citation needed] and Italy ("The Hunters"), traveling to China ("The Road Not Taken"), witnessing the French Revolution[citation needed], becoming a Sioux warrior ("The Gathering"), fighting in World War I ("For Tomorrow We Die") and II ("Mortal Sins"), and generally fighting for justice against evil. In 1815 at the Battle of Waterloo, he meets Immortal Darius who has rejected war, and never fights in war as a soldier again. The Series especially focuses on adventures shared with friends Amanda and Hugh "Fitz" Fitzcairn.

Richie, Amanda, and DuncanDuring his life, Duncan meets and learns many things from many people that mold him to become a great Immortal. He meets many other Immortals: some become mentors, some become friends and some become enemies. Beginning as a reckless, uneducated, and somewhat arrogant man, he gradually changes and matures as he travels the world until he becomes the wise, educated and compassionate character of present times. He is an expert in many subjects, fluent in many languages (Gaelic, English, French, Italian, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, German, and Arabic) and skilled in many forms of martial arts. He has had many occupations including soldier, bodyguard, newspaper editor, World War I ambulance driver, chauffeur, and World War II Resistance fighter. More recently he is an antiques dealer, a dojo owner and a part-time History teacher.

1992-1998 is a critical period for Duncan. Being the years during which the Series was filmed, they are also the years in which the Series' "present time" is set and thus depict many important events in his life. The pilot episode "The Gathering" shows Duncan returning to The Game after a period of semi-retirement with his girlfriend Tessa Noël and a meeting with clansman and mentor Connor MacLeod. Across the Series Duncan meets many old friends and enemies again, many old debts are repayed between them and Duncan kills many Immortals. He loses people he cares about, including Tessa, the love of his life ("The Darkness"), Immortal friends Darius ("The Hunters") and Hugh Fitzcairn ("Star-Crossed"), and mortal friend Charlie DeSalvo ("Brothers in Arms"). He befriends Richie Ryan ("The Gathering"), mentors him after his First Death "(The Darkness)" and teaches him the ways of the Immortals, then accidentally kills him in 1997 ("Archangel"). He meets Joe Dawson, who reveals to him that there is an organization known as The Watchers who secretly observes all Immortals ("The Watchers"). He also meets Methos, the legendary oldest Immortal ("Methos"), and eventually defeats the demon Ahriman ("Armageddon").

Because Highlander was a syndicated series including European producers, the first part of each season was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia and the second part in Paris, France. This is why Duncan travels back-and-forth every six months.

Kate and Duncan.In Highlander: Endgame, it is revealed that Immortal Jacob Kell has spent the last four centuries killing all people close to Connor MacLeod because Connor had killed Kell's adoptive father. He also gathered a posse of Immortals who would overpower other Immortals, allowing Kell to then enter and take their heads. In the 1990's, Connor hid in a place called The Sanctuary, where Immortals were protected from The Game by the Watchers. Ten years after Rachel's death, Kell attacked the Sanctuary, and Connor was believed to be dead along with the other Immortals sheltered there. Duncan has visions of this evil act and investigates. He discovers Connor had been spared by Kell, so as to make his life even more of a misery. Kell wants to kill Duncan only to agonize Connor further, and given the number of Quickenings he has received, he would succeed in doing so. Therefore, Connor forces Duncan to kill him, to absorb his power, thereby enabling Duncan to defeat Kell. Duncan once again has to lose a friend but in the end he understands that Connor's death was necessary and it was the only possible way for him to kill Kell. Duncan buried Connor in the Scottish Highlands, in Glencoe, next to his first wife Heather's remains.

In Highlander: The Source, Duncan has married a mortal woman named Anna, and has since separated from her. He is reunited with her at the Elder's monastery, and he joins in the quest to reach the Source after the death of Joe Dawson. As he grows close to the Source, he becomes mortal along with the other Immortals in the group (which includes Methos). Soon after making love to Anna, he overcomes the Guardian and enters the Source with her. She reveals to him that she is pregnant with their child.

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Joe Dawson served in Vietnam under Immortal Andrew Cord. In 1968, after seeing Cord shot, Joe accidentally stepped on a landmine, blowing him up. He was saved by the resurrected Cord, who carried him in back and took him to the army medical center. There he tried to tell the psychiatrist that it had been Cord who had saved him, but was told that Cord was dead. Later, he was told that he had his legs amputated.

Not being able to cope with the loss of his legs, he tried to commit suicide by shooting himself. Before he was able to do that, he was visited by a Watcher named Ian Bancroft, who told him about immortality. Joe found a new meaning to his life and became a Watcher, owing it, in his perspective, to Andrew Cord. Bancroft would become Joe's mentor within the Watchers and a close friend. That year, he begun his Watcher career as an historian. He later became a field Watcher, observing Immortals like Roy Ferrer (1971-1974) and Liza Grant (1975-1978), later being assigned to Duncan MacLeod in 1979.

The Watcher oath states that they can only observe and record, but never interfere. Because of the developing friendship between Duncan MacLeod and Joe, he has been forced to break that oath, almost leading to his execution by his fellow Watchers.

Joe met his untimely demise in Highlander: The Source, trying to rescue immortal Reggie Weller from the Guardian, who responded by running him through with the shattered blade of Duncan MacLeod's sword.

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Methos is the mythical "Oldest of the Immortals." He is at least 5000 years old, the approximate date he took his first head, but claims to remember nothing before that - including his place and date of birth. This could have been meant to imply that he may have been still older, but could not remember any further back than five thousand years.

However, it seems that Methos was born either in ancient Mesopotamia or ancient Egypt around 3000 BC. He was the second son of three boys and two girls, and he lived with his family. When he was approximately 28 years old, he died when a sandstorm trapped him and his family. His family died, and Methos became Immortal.

Afterwards, he roamed the Earth without ever knowing of his immortality. People thought he was a demon, and tried to kill him many times over. Methos learned how to survive from then on. By the time he was an estimated 603 years old, he took his first Quickening. He then realized that there were many Immortals besides himself, and he started to learn about The Game.

When he was a slave in Ancient Egypt, an Immortal Pharaoh named Djer took him under his wing, but apparently the ruthless Pharaoh killed his nomad wife during a smiting of Sinai (the killing of all nomads), so Methos buried him alive inside a sarcophagus within a deep tomb, and claimed his throne as a Pharaoh of Egypt. His journey after that is unknown.

He has been keeping a journal almost since writing began (approximately 3300 BC). He learned how to write in Egyptian hieroglyphics, Hyksos, cuneiform, Phoenician, and Ancient Greek writing systems. He claims to have met Helen of Troy, Socrates, Julius Caesar, Jesus, and Cleopatra. He knew the English poets Byron and Percy Shelley, and Mary Shelley, and rode with Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid. In his first meeting with MacLeod, he said not many people can claim to have been on the same stage (either metaphorical or not) as both Julius Caesar and The Rolling Stones.

Methos has often used the name "Adam" ("Adam Pierson") in most of his aliases as an inside joke, because he was amused that people referred to him as the oldest man. One of his aliases was "Benjamin Adams," or rather, "the good Dr. Adams," as he was known in the 19th century (he majored in medicine in Heidelberg, Germany, in 1453) He didn't care whether he was the oldest one, as long as people were not looking for him. Even when a fake Methos called The Messenger appeared, he was rather surprised that someone else was using his name. He thought it was flattering, and was happy to let someone else be hunted for a while.

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