"Do the words "compulsive obsessive" mean anything?"
- Methos, Indiscretions

This part of the website is devoted to the television series Highlander and its spin-off, Highlander - The Raven. It features episode synopses, summaries of the season storylines and timelines for the lead characters, together with convention reports and other good stuff. Feel free to navigate around using the links at the top of the page and to the side. And as always, enjoy!

INTRODUCTION

So, there I was circa 1994, living on my own and enjoying a self-indulgent, if slightly aimless bachelor life. Every Sunday evening, I'd work in the small studio at my house with my songwriting partner and record Star Trek: Deep Space Nine on the video. I'd watch DS9 the next night and, often as not, would see what came on afterwards, which became Highlander: The Series. I'd really enjoyed the first film and, as I missed the first few episodes the first time round, didn't quite work out how the series and the films linked together until later. But, it was enjoyable enough and Tessa was really quite attractive, so it was no hardship to watch. Then came Band of Brothers and the whole thing stepped up a gear. It sent me on a journey that invited me to explore things I'd never properly considered, like art and history, and made me a whole new bunch of friends round the world. This part of the website recounts the adventures of Duncan MacLeod and friends, as well as some of the adventures I had following the exploits of the Highlander.....

This page has been quickened times

Before we go further, I should point out that, as "Highlander" is a television series, copyright and all other such things reside in the owners of same. This site is non-commercial and purely for enjoyment purposes. If you use anything on the site in a commercial way, Davis/Panzer Productions will probably be very annoyed. If you use any of my photos without credit or in any commercial way, I'll just be very, very miffed.

Access The Official Site By Clicking Below

What Is "Highlander"?

Highlander and the spin-off, Highlander - The Raven are television series based on the film of the same name. They are set in the present day and respectively chronicle the adventures of Duncan MacLeod, born 400 years ago in Scotland, and Amanda, born 1200 years ago in France. They are Immortals, never growing older than they were on the day they first died and blessed with miraculous healing powers. They are not the only ones - there are others, covering the full range from good to evil. The only way to kill an Immortal is to decapitate them and if it is another Immortal who kills, then all the power of the Immortal who dies transfers to his or her killer in a violent electrical storm, referred to as a "Quickening". For this reason, most Immortals carry swords with them at all times, for protection.

MacLeod splits his time between the martial arts gym or "dojo" he owns in a city in the Pacific North West of the USA, (which looks an awful lot like Vancouver and is referred to as "Seacouver"), and Paris, where he lives on a barge moored opposite Notre Dame Cathedral. Likewise, Amanda splits her time between America and France. This is not entirely unconnected with the fact that both series are joint Canadian/French productions and roughly half of each season is filmed in each country. It provides the scriptwriters with some fun working out good reasons to shift the plot several thousand miles east halfway through each season.

The Game And The Rules

The Immortals live by a set of rules, which govern the enduring battle between them all, which they call "The Game". The rules are observed by them all, (well - almost all), and are quite simple:

	No Immortal can fight on Holy Ground, no matter who regards it as Holy
	Immortal combat is one on one - no outside interference, no two on one
	Mortals must not learn about Immortals - if you are killed, you move on
	No Immortal can have children
	At the last, all Immortals will feel drawn to a distant land, to fight for the Prize - this is the time of the Gathering
	In the end, there can be only one - the last one will receive all the power of all the Immortals who ever lived

Although perhaps not strictly a rule, it's generally regarded as poor form to use a gun or similar weapon to shoot your opponent before beheading them!

Who Are They?

Even they do not know who they are. All Immortals are orphans - foundling children whose real parents are unknown. They grow up as normal humans until the day they first die, different only in that they cannot have children. Once a pre-Immortal is killed, they come back to life with all of the power of an Immortal and never grow any older. Immortals can sense the presence of each other and can also tell who will be Immortals, although the juveniles do not "feel" the Immortals or know about their destiny. Once reborn as an Immortal, most young Immortals are found by an older Immortal, who becomes their teacher, telling them what they are, teaching them the rules and, most importantly, how to survive, now that other Immortals will be hunting them, to take their head for the Quickening.

What is the "Prize"?

Bit tricky, this. In the first Highlander film, Connor MacLeod, ("same Clan, different vintage"), was the Last and the Prize he won was to know the thoughts of all humanity and to be able to direct the future path of mankind - as an incidental, he also got to be mortal, have a normal life and appear in two truly atrocious sequels that are best forgotten, having none of the charm, wit or intelligence of the original. In the series, which are best thought of as being set in an alternative timeline, Connor did not win the Prize when he killed the Kurgan and the Prize is not referred to directly, only that the Last will receive the power of all the Immortals who ever lived.

What about........?

If you have questions unanswered about "Highlander", browse around the site and hopefully you will find the answer you're looking for. Watching the series is a good way to learn, of course, and be entertained at the same time. May the adventures of MacLeod and Amanda bring you as much entertainment as they have for me. For those whose thirst for knowledge is not so easily slaked, there is a thriving YahooGroups mailing list run by Carmel Macpherson & co. at Highlander Worldwide. And if you want to know what that song was they played Tessa was killed, it was "Dust In The Wind". And that haunting song in the episode "Homeland" is "Bonnie Portmore", sung by Laura Creamer and recorded specially for the series. You can purchase the CD from Roger Bellon, the series composer. So now you know.

This Seacouver Social Club site is owned by Paul Edmonds Want to join the Seacouver Social Club webring?
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This Highlander Web Ring site is owned by Paul Edmonds Want to join the Highlander Web Ring?
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