AUTHOR! AUTHOR!
"You think it takes courage to do what we do? Face another Immortal with a sword, knowing only one of you will live? You try being her!" - Methos
As Season 4 approached the end of the run of Methos stories that revolved around his doomed romance with Alexa Bond, Amanda runs to MacLeod as mysterious assassins try to take her head. Who are these mortals working for - can it really be the mercurial Methos? All opinions expressed here are my own, as is the retelling of the storyline.
Written by Michael O'Mahony and Sasha Reins
Cast
| Duncan MacLeod | Adrian Paul |
| Methos | Peter Wingfield |
| Amanda | Elizabeth Gracen |
| Rebecca | Nadia Cameron |
| Nathan Geiger | Anthony Hyde |
| Daniel Stern | Jamie Harris |
Repairing the barge after the fire in "Promises", MacLeod is surprised by the arrival of a newly blonde Amanda, who tells him that a mysterious group of men broke into her apartment the night before and tried to kill her. She has been wandering the streets 
and even attacked a man for following her, who just turned out to be attracted to her. Initially, Duncan puts the attack down to peotic justice, but takes her more seriously when she tells him that one of these mortals tried for her head with a sword. Duncan checks with Dawson, but the Watchers know nothing. On the quayside, they spot a man who has been following Amanda and fake an argument to lure him out into the open.
They take the man onto the barge and it turns out that he is Amanda's Watcher, Daniel Geiger. Dan says that he saw the men go into Amanda's apartment, but for a Watcher is very fuzzy about the details, prompting Amanda to dub him "the idiot". He tells them that the men left in a van, which Amanda remembers seeing - a green American van. Letting Dan go, they set out to track down the van, 
with Amanda becoming increasingly paranoid and seeing assassins in every innocent passer-by. Arriving at the last address on their list, they find the owner shot and Amanda recognises him as one of her attackers. As Duncan chases after the killer, who gets away, Amanda asks the dying man why they attacked her and is rewarded with one word - "crystal". As he dies, he clutches at the crystal given to Amanda by her teacher, Rebecca, over a thousand years before.
Every one of Rebecca's students received a piece of the crystal, but Amanda has the last piece, as the rest were lost when Duncan took Luther's head in "Legacy". They realise that someone must have known where Luther hid the crystals and is trying to reform the original stone, and that it could only be a Watcher. Luther's Watcher, Nathan Stern, is now the head of the Watchers in Europe, having taken over when Kalas killed his predecessor in "Finale". Geiger tells Stern about his encounter with the Immortals and Stern takes him off active duty, but tells him to keep it between them. 
The next day, Stern finds Geiger still watching Amanda and sends him home, telling him that he will watch her until a new Watcher arrives. As they argue, Amanda slips away from the barge and, that night, breaks into the Watchers' HQ to steal back the crystals, but disturbs another thief - Methos. Amanda is infuriated, believing that Methos must have sent the mortals after her for the last piece of the crystal, and tries to take his head, but only succeeds in setting off the burglar alarm. As both Immortals flee empty handed, Amanda warns Methos that it isn't over.
Duncan refuses to believe that Methos is behind the attempt to kill her and arranges to meet him. Methos wants the crystals, which are said to have belonged to Methuselah and Noah, because they form a stone which makes a mortal Immortal. He doesn't want it for himself, but for Alexa, who is dying in a hospital in Geneva. When Duncan asks him about Amanda, Methos tells him that she attacked him and, when Duncan tells him about the attempt to kill her, 
turns his back on the Highlander and walks away. Amanda decides to meet him, but on her way to the rendezvous is chased by gunmen in a car and a truck. Arriving flustered, she assumes Methos has set her up and attacks him. Initially reluctant to fight, he backs away, but realising he has no choice, defeats and disarms her, but won't take her head. Calling Amanda a fool, he screams at her in his pain and frustration and she realises that he isn't the one hunting her. In remorse, she decides to help him.
The two Immortals break into the Watcher HQ and find that the crystals have been moved into the vault. As Amanda cracks the vault open, Methos chases a cat around the building, trying to stop it setting off the alarm. Amanda is seen by Stern on the video surveillance cameras and, as she tries to leave, is stopped by him and "the idiot". Methos throws the cat at Stern and Amanda escapes, 
chased by Geiger, but Stern shoots Methos. When Geiger comes back to tell Nathan that she has escaped, he is amazed to see the fatally wounded "Adam Pierson" standing upright, his deception exposed - the Watcher who is an Immortal. Stern decides that Methos should be beheaded, but Dan points out that Amanda now has the whole crystal. Afraid that their interference has changed the Game forever, they offer Duncan and Amanda a trade - Methos for the Methuselah Stone.
The exchange is set to take place on a bridge. As Amanda shows that she has the crystals, Geiger kills Stern and his plot is revealed. He wants the stone so that he can become an Immortal himself. Knowing that MacLeod is around somewhere, 
he threatens to have Methos beheaded. Duncan steps out of the shadows and, when Geiger orders the Immortals killed, blows up the bridge. In the ensuing fight, Geiger and his men are killed, but the Stone shatters as it is dropped into the river, with only one piece remaining on the bridge as a keepsake for Amanda. With nothing to hold him in Paris, Methos flies back to Geneva that night to be with Alexa during her final days.