AUTHOR! AUTHOR!
"You do not know what you have done" - Kalas, Song Of The Executioner
This page recounts the present day storyline of "Highlander", for Season 3. The title chosen for each season is taken from an episode from the Season and is of my choosing, reflecting my feeling about the entire season. Episode titles are shown in italics. For Season 3, I've chosen "Song Of The Executioner", as the series was dominated by the vengeful presence of Kalas, who takes the head of one of Duncan's oldest friends and nearly destroys the secret of the Immortals forever.
Season Three - 1994/95
"Song Of The Executioner"
Regular Cast
| Duncan MacLeod | Adrian Paul |
| Richie Ryan | Stan Kirsch |
| Joe Dawson | Jim Byrnes |
| Charlie DeSalvo | Philip Akin |
| Anne Lindsey | Lisa Howard |
| Maurice | Michel Modo |
MacLeod returns to Seacouver and the dojo to find a young Japanese woman waiting for him. She is a descendant of Hideo Koto, "The Samurai" who gave Duncan his sword, and is looking for help. Duncan assures her that the legend of his "ancestor's" promise to always be of help to the Koto family is true and asks how he can help. She tells him that she murdered her husband after he killed her lover and, although taken aback, Duncan agrees to help. When they return to her apartment, she sees her husband alive and well and Duncan realises that Michael Kent is Immortal. Leaving Midori at the dojo, Duncan goes to see Kent, to ask him to release her from their loveless marriage. Kent refuses and, when Duncan gets back to the dojo, Midori is gone. Realising she has gone back to Kent in the belief that it will protect Duncan, he pursues them to Hideo's grave in Japan. Stepping off Holy Ground, he and Kent settle things the Immortal way, leaving Midori a free woman.
Richie is surprised when an old girlfriend of his arrives in town with a child that she says is his, ("Line Of Fire"). Unwilling to believe Duncan's reminders that Immortals cannot have children, Richie tries to come to terms with being a family man. Upset by Duncan's conviction that the child is not his, Richie seeks advice from Joe, who is in the midst of setting up his own blues bar. In the midst of this domesticity and enterprise, Duncan sees the Immortal Kern, who led the US Army to the Sioux village where Duncan once had a family. Both men regard their fight as unfinished business, but Kern embroils Richie and Donna in his conflict with Duncan. Unable to stop Kern, Richie is forced to flee, but Duncan is ready for Kern and uses his hate and an Indian spear to avenge Little Deer.
An old friend of Duncan's, Paul Karros, is in town, trying to drum up support for the war in the Balkans. Karros, a former Roman Gladiator, is always "The Revolutionary", in the midst of any insurrection against tyranny. One of his aides is shot, apparently in an attempt to kill Karros, and whilst at the hospital, Duncan first meets Dr Anne Lindsey. It becomes obvious that the fight is more important than the cause for Karros, even if it means killing his own side, as Duncan finds out when he discovers that Karros set up the fake assassination that cost his aide his life. Duncan steps in to protect Karros' associate, Mara, and, to Karros' disbelief, takes his head. As Mara leaves to go back to the Balkans, Charlie decides to go with her.
Duncan takes Amanda to see the bar and to meet Joe Dawson, who is a happy man. He has a new girlfriend, but his happiness is short-lived, as he sees her killed later that same night. He asks Duncan to help when the police draw a blank on the killer. The trio visit the home of her employer, wealthy art collector Armand Thorne. There, Duncan recognises "The Cross Of St Antoine", stolen by John Durgan over 150 years before. Thorne is Durgan and, when he refuses to sell, Duncan enlists Amanda's experience and they steal the Cross. Durgan kidnaps Joe and proposes an exchange - the Cross for Joe - but with Amanda's help, Duncan is able to confront the cagey Immortal off Holy Ground and takes his head before returning the Cross to its rightful owners.
Duncan's old friends, the Websters, call him in to try and help them with their wild-child adopted daughter, Michelle, ("Rite Of Passage"). Duncan is happy to help, knowing that Michelle is pre-Immortal. After a row, Michelle drives away at high speed and straight over a cliff, fatally injuring herself. At the hospital, Duncan finds that the surgeon who tries to save Michelle is Dr Anne Lindsey. When Michelle dies, Duncan sends the grieving parents home and smuggles the bewildered Michelle out of the morgue. Desperately trying to explain her Immortality to her at the same time as supporting her parents, Duncan is not around when Michelle meets Axel Whittaker, who preys on young female Immortals. Seduced by Axel, Michelle leaves Duncan for him, but when Duncan takes his head to settle an old score, Michelle is terrified by the devastating impact of the Quickening and realises that she must follow Duncan's advice. He takes her to meet her teacher - Amanda.
Out jogging one morning, Duncan bumps into Dr Lindsey again, literally, and she drops her pager. Returning it to her at the hospital, which is dealing with the aftermath of a bus crash, Duncan senses an Immortal and finds his old friend, Brian Cullen, nearby. What Mac doesn't know is that Cullen, once the best swordsman of them all, is now a spiteful drug addict who has lost all "Courage" and is out to take revenge on a young Immortal who humiliated him - Richie. Cullen caused the bus to crash during an attempt to run Richie off the road, which is why he was at the hospital. Later, Duncan takes Anne on a date to the bar, but she is paged and has to leave. Cullen appears and tries to take Duncan's head, convinced that Duncan's association with Richie means that Mac wants to take his head. Although Mac lets him live this time, Cullen tries again and Duncan takes his tortured friend's head.
When Duncan and Richie find a 10 year old Immortal, Kenny, they harbour him against the Immortal pursuing him, ("The Lamb"). Anne is surprised to find that her new boyfriend has a young boy staying with him, who is explained away as a cousin from Wisconsin. The truth is revealed when Joe tells Richie that Kenny is 800 years old and that the Immortal hunting him, Dalman Ross, wants vengeance for the murder of his mortal wife. Realising that Kenny will try to kill Anne, Mac goes after him and, although he stops him from harming her, is frustrated as Kenny jumps onto a school bus and vanishes.
Duncan is surprised and pleased to hear from his friend David Keogh, especially when the Immortal tells him that he is to be married and asks Duncan to be his best man, ("Obsession"). But when he returns to the dojo, he finds that a young woman has been looking for him and when he meets up with her, it is David's fiancee, Jill. David has told her of his immortality and she is terrified of him. She asks MacLeod to kill David, who will not accept that she doesn't love him. Anne shelters Jill whilst Duncan tries to persuade David to let Jill go, but Keogh refuses. Trying to persuade Jill to come back to him, David inadvertently causes her to fall to her death and blames MacLeod. Duncan is able to defeat him, but doesn't kill him, instead leaving him to mourn, even though David swears vengeance.
Anne is worried by Duncan's recurring nightmares and offers to help him, but Duncan refuses her assistance. The doctor in Anne is intrigued by this man with no scars and no medical history. Duncan's dreams are a recurring vision of his death at the hands of a hooded and faceless Immortal, ("Shadows"). He takes Anne to meet John Garrick, an Immortal friend and sculptor. At least, Duncan thinks he is a friend, but Garrick is insane and wants revenge on Duncan for being burned alive at the stake. He has learned to project images from his mind into Duncan's dreams and tells Duncan that the image is one common to all Immortals and that he must let the dream overwhelm him if he is to get past it. When Duncan is confused and has taken sleeping pills that Anne has given him, Garrick comes for him, dressed as the hooded figure. Richie tries to stop him, but is knocked out. When Garrick appears in the loft, Duncan is about to let him take his head, until he realises that it is Garrick who is responsible for his nightmares and takes the sculptor's head. Anne, frustrated by Duncan's refusal to talk to her, ends their relationship.
When Duncan is videoed taking the head of Immortal Peter Matlin, he assumes that it is by the Watchers and he demands the tape from Joe. When they both realise someone else has the tape, they set out to find him. The witness was Robert Waverly, a lawyer, who decides to "Blackmail" Duncan into killing his wife, Barbara. When Waverly sees Duncan facing down Lyman Kurlow, Matlin's travelling companion, he offers a deal - Waverly will kill Kurlow, Duncan will kill Barbara. Duncan goes to warn Barbara, only to find her watching the tape. Terrified to see him, she tries to shoot him, but Duncan gets the tape before leaving. Convinced that Duncan will still kill his wife, Waverly shoots Kurlow, only to be astounded as the Immortal revives and kills him. Duncan faces Kurlow at the Waverly house as Joe helps Barbara escape.
The arrival in town of Immortal Benny Carbassa is not good news for MacLeod ("Vendetta"). To save his own skin, Benny tells millionaire philanthropist Simon Lang that Duncan is the grandson of the "original" MacLeod, who Lang believes he killed years before. Lang was gangster Sid Lankofski and wants Duncan dead, believing he could destroy his life as the highly respectable Lang. Whilst Duncan survives Lang's murder attempt, (with some help from the harmless Benny, who is more of a fool than anything else), he decides to stay out of the gangster's way. Anne returns, wanting a second chance and promising not to push Duncan. They go to a hospital ball being hosted by ... you guessed it ... Lang! Lang's wife also recognises Duncan and, when the truth comes out, kills her husband, who murdered his own brother to stop her from marrying him.
Joe Dawson appears in the loft as a bearer of bad tidings ("They Also Serve"). May-Ling Shen, who taught Duncan martial arts, has been killed by a young Immortal, Michael Christian. After reading the Watcher Chronicle on May-Ling, Duncan leaves his katana with Richie and goes to his island to meditate on the death of his friend. Richie talks to Joe about this, unaware that Christian's Watcher is also his lover and has been providing him with information on other Immortals, to give him easy kills. As Dawson and the Watchers realise this, Richie races Christian to intercept Mac on his way back from the island. Christian gets there first, but MacLeod is more than a match for him and takes Christian's head with his own sword.
Anne Lindsey is stunned when a religious leader killed in a car accident comes back to life after she pronounces him dead, ("Blind Faith"). Duncan investigates and finds that John Kirin is John Kage, who Duncan knew as a pitiless murderer. As Anne tries to work out why Kirin is still alive, Duncan confronts him, unable to accept that Kage has changed. Only when Kirin offers Duncan his own head is MacLeod convinced, but too late to prevent one of Kirin's own disciples from killing a reporter and then Kirin himself. Duncan helps Kirin to leave town quietly after the police shoot the killer.
Duncan takes Anne to a recital by a choir of monks, one of whom, Paul, is an Immortal. Neither man realises that the song being sung is "The Song Of The Executioner", as the unseen impresario who organised the concert is Kalas, an Immortal with scores to settle with both Duncan and Paul. Kalas kills Paul and then sets about destroying MacLeod, first by framing Joe for dealing drugs
, then by killing two of Anne's patients and fabricating hospital records to make it look like she is responsible. Duncan realises that Kalas is behind this and, having cleared Joe and Anne, confronts his enemy. As they fight, Anne sees Duncan fall to his death, but Richie gets her away before Duncan revives. In the midst of this, Richie embarks on a new career in motorcycle racing. Rather than tell Anne the truth, especially with Kalas at large, Duncan leaves Seacouver, arranging for Maurice to buy back the barge in Paris.
Arriving in Paris, Duncan is greeted by Hugh Fitzcairn, who is teaching cookery at the Cordon Bleu, ("Star Crossed"). The normally philandering Fitz is in love
, but has a rival, who tries to kill him by running the two Immortals off the road. At the same time, Richie arrives in France, looking to build on his American successes in motorcycling. Whilst Fitz tells Duncan he should trust Anne, Kalas frames Fitz for the murder of his rival. On the run, Fitz is confronted by Kalas, who beheads him as MacLeod helplessly watches.When Duncan comes for Kalas, his nemesis escapes into a cloud of steam.
Determined to finish Kalas, Duncan seeks Joe's help. Kalas owns a nightclub and Duncan "persuades" the bartender to tell him where Kalas has gone. Kalas has captured his own Watcher and is looking for information on "Methos", the legendary oldest Immortal. After Kalas kills one of the Watchers' historians, Donald Salzer, Dawson sends Duncan to a researcher on the Methos Chronicle, Adam Pierson. Duncan is stunned to find that Pierson is Methos. Kalas confronts Methos, who escapes and sets up Duncan to take his head, realising that he cannot handle Kalas, but Duncan could. Duncan refuses, but when he confronts Kalas at Methos' apartment, their fight is interrupted by the police, who arrest Kalas for Salzer's murder after Adam Pierson identifies Kalas. Before he vanishes from Paris, Methos tells Duncan that he couldn't take the chance on Kalas winning.
Returning from watching Richie at the racetrack, Duncan senses an Immortal and finds his old friend and lover, Ceirdwyn, hunting a street gang in an abandoned warehouse, ("Take Back The Night"). They murdered her mortal husband and she is seeking revenge on them all, having already found the shooter. Duncan persuades her that vengeance is not the solution, a lesson she once taught him. Richie's career as a motor cyclist comes to a spectacular end when he is killed in a crash and has to escape from the morgue. The gang are arrested when they try to kill Ceirdwyn, afraid that she will not stop with just the one she has already killed. Ceirdwyn shows Duncan that he should not make Anne's choice for her. In the closing scene, Anne visits Joe's bar, where he gives her a plane ticket to Paris and she receives a surprise phone call.
Arriving in Paris, Anne's medical training comes to the fore when a young girl on the same flight collapses, ("Testimony"). She goes with the girl to the hospital and, having left her with the French medics, meets Duncan. He takes her to a place where he keeps his possessions and tells her the truth. Anne has difficulty handling the magnitude of his secret and, searching for normality, goes to see the girl she helped. The doctors tell Anne that Tasha was carrying drugs inside her and that was why she collapsed. Duncan realises that Tasha was smuggling for the Immortal Kristov, who tells MacLeod to silence the girl or he will kill Anne. As Anne and Duncan get reacquainted, Richie turns up, having been seen alive. Anne tries to come to terms with knowing two Immortals and Duncan helps Richie to get a false passport. Richie tries to leave the country but is kidnapped by Kristov, who is looking for extra leverage to use against MacLeod. As Duncan comes for Kristov, it is Richie who takes the Russian's head, before finally catching a plane to the States.
Out for his paper one morning, Duncan is stopped by a priest, who he knew when the priest was a small boy during the War, ("Mortal Sins"). Father Bernard knows Duncan's secret, but has kept it all these years. Now, he needs Duncan's help - the Nazi Major who Bernard and the resistance killed is back, not one day older. MacLeod speaks to Daimler, who says he just wants peace. Anne has become moody and eventually tells Duncan that she is pregnant, after a short affair she had after his "death". Duncan tries to come to terms with the possibility of having a family again, but is interrupted as Daimler starts killing the Resistance group who buried him at the bottom of the Seine for forty years. Anne sees Duncan kill Daimler and witnesses the terrifying power of the Quickening. Knowing what life with him will be like and unable to accept that she must want people to die for him to survive, Anne leaves him and goes back to the States.
Duncan helps a friend of his to recover a stolen sketch by Leonardo da Vinci, ("Reasonable Doubt"). He finds that the thief is Lucas Kagan, an Immortal whose teacher MacLeod killed. Kagan's accomplice is Simone, Maurice's niece and, to silence her, Kagan kills her. Kagan tries to convince MacLeod that he can change, but Duncan finds justice for Maurice and his family and takes Kagan's head.
Amanda arrives at the barge, being very, very nice to Duncan, which always arouses his suspicions, ("Finale"). Eventually, she tells him that she broke Kalas out of jail, to kill him, but that Kalas got away. Kalas, using the thugs employed by his cellmate, wastes no time in coming for MacLeod and, as Duncan and Amanda try to find him, finds Maurice, who Duncan rescues in the nick of time and sends out of Paris. Kalas captures Amanda, intending to use her as bait, but she escapes. A new problem arises, when Joe Dawson and Methos arrive at the barge. Christine Salzer, the widow of Donald Salzer, the historian Kalas murdered, has found a database created for the Watchers and intends to give it to the newspapers
. Dawson tries to stop her, even trying to shoot her, but MacLeod prevents him from becoming a murderer, taking the bullet himself. As the Immortals think that their secret will be on CNN, Kalas intercepts Christine and kills her, taking the vital disk. He uses the information to find the European head of the Watchers and kills him. He gives Duncan a choice - surrender to him or Kalas will broadcast the information on the disk. Watchers and Immortals combine to hunt Kalas down. Methos tells Duncan to fight Kalas and Amanda and Duncan, faced with the destruction of their world, finally admit their feelings for each other openly
. Duncan faces Kalas on the top of the Eiffel Tower and takes his enemy's head. The Quickening of such a powerful Immortal surges through the steelwork of the tower and overloads the Paris power grid, plunging the city into darkness and, in the process, blowing up Kalas' computer and destroying the disk. After celebrating Duncan's victory over Kalas and remembering Paul and Fitzcairn, Joe and Methos leave Duncan and Amanda alone to work out how much of what they said to each other they really want to take back.