Keep Hoping Machine Running (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
thefourthvine) wrote2007-04-14 09:43 pm
thefourthvine) wrote2007-04-14 09:43 pm
Any Highlander fans out there? I have some questions.
Do you know HL? I need some help from people who have seen Highlander canon. Here's what I'd like to know:
And if you know any sources for getting this kind of information without bugging my friends list - like, a Highlander encyclopedia or whatever - I would love to know about it.
- What are all the ways to permanently kill an immortal? I know cutting off heads, but is there anything else? And is it different the first time they die? And does it matter if the whole head doesn't come off - like, can they come back if the neck is only mostly severed?
- What happens the first time they (don't) die? I mean, they think they're mortal for a period of time, right? And then they die, except they don't, and they say, "Whoa, dude. I must be immortal, because that sure as shit should've killed me." (Although I think most people would assume the injury or whatever just hadn't been as bad as they thought, so - do some of them have to die a lot before they figure it out?) But I'm a little foggy on the whole deal, frankly. Do they have to be buried and then rise again, like vampires? Or is it more of an instantaneous thing?
- What happens if you shoot an immortal (who has already done the first not-death, if that matters) in a way that would kill a human but won't kill him? (Like, gaping chest wound, something like that.) I'm pretty sure he has at least a period of, shall we say, limited activity, but how long is he down for? And exactly how limited is his activity? And what happens - like, do the wounds visibly close over and heal, or does he just suddenly sit up all better, or what?
And if you know any sources for getting this kind of information without bugging my friends list - like, a Highlander encyclopedia or whatever - I would love to know about it.
no subject
there are more knowledgeable HL fans than me, (and movie HL canon is somewhat different than tv HL canon--I'm basing my answers on the tv show) but this is what I understand:
1.cutting off heads is it. If the immortal's Quickening goes to another immortal, then the first immortal is definitely gone. (in canon, immortals *have* survived serious wounds to the throat/neck area, but with longlasting scars--immortals usually heal w/out scars.)
2. most people would assume the injury or whatever just hadn't been as bad as they thought, so - do some of them have to die a lot before they figure it out?
That's exactly what happens. Eventually, another immortal finds them and (usually) either becomes their teacher or finds them a teacher. Sometimes, a bad immortal who preys on baby immortals finds them first and kills them permanently by cutting off their head and taking their quickening.
3. If an immortal is shot in a way that would kill a mortal, he'll go down and appear to be dead. For how long depends on how serious the "killing blow" was. When the wounds heal themselves, the immortal will suddenly "wake up"--in the tv show, usually with a dramatic gasp. The immortal is vulnerable while "temporarily dead," in that another immortal can come along and cut off his head while he's helpless. (this is one area where tv and movie canon differ. I think in the movies, the immortal just keeps on walking around and heals pretty much instantaneously. I'm not sure though, since I haven't watched the movies as often as the tv show.)
hope that helps...
no subject
and movie HL canon is somewhat different than tv HL canon--I'm basing my answers on the tv show
This is good. I'm looking for TV canon - I have, technically, seen the movie, although my memory of it is not just shaky but downright wrong.
That's exactly what happens. Eventually, another immortal finds them and (usually) either becomes their teacher or finds them a teacher.
And teaches them, like, sword fighting and stuff? But isn't that sort of counter-productive, since eventually they'll have to kill each other? (I've always wondered why the first immortal didn't end up being the one - Highlander is where "there can be only one" comes from, isn't it? - just by dint of methodically hunting down all the others before they got good at sword fighting.)
The immortal is vulnerable while "temporarily dead," in that another immortal can come along and cut off his head while he's helpless.
Ah-ha! I asked someone about that up above. Question answered!
hope that helps...
Yup! Thank you.
no subject
You would think so, right? But then also there's the thing where some Immortals also hook up and, oh, get married for a couple of centuries, or just have a lot of sex with one another. Plus, there have been several instances in canon where an Immortal has actually kept an eye on a pre-Immortal for the sake of being there to teach them after the first death. (Like Richie, who was actually alive for a bit and living with Mac and Tessa before he was killed.)
I think maybe it's kind of like that whole thing about an untrained swordsman being potentially more dangerous than a trained one, because the untrained one doesn't know the "rules" and would therefore be more unpredictable. It behooves most Immortals to make sure that the newbies don't rain all over everyone else's parade. And, well, honestly? I think a lot of the Immortals probably don't really want to deal with the Game anyway. Or with the Gathering. It pretty much means the Apocalypse for the Immortals, and most people don't even like to think about that sort of thing.
Additionally, one way of making sure that someone is less likely to kill you is to be their friend/teacher, ensuring that they will like you and not want to cut your head off, and of course some people would rather have a friend take their Quickening than some asshole stranger. Plus there's the loneliness factor, since it must be nice to have someone else around who isn't as likely to die. Even Methos has taught people, and he's generally a pretty wary old bastard.
Er, sorry for cutting in, I couldn't resist. *is weak*
no subject
Er, sorry for cutting in, I couldn't resist. *is weak*
Buttinskis unite! I'm up with a flu and these comments are making my night shorter, albeit not less mucusy.
no subject
Anyhow, I think women also historically maybe had more of a tendency to die from slightly less violent things than men. And given that Immortals are all foundlings, there's a possibility that just more male babies would have been taken in! Because girls aren't worth as much, of course. Especially women who couldn't bear children, because if it happened with a man of course it would have been the woman's fault ANYWAY and I am maybe taking late-medieval history this semester and being made grouchy by parts of it.
I was going somewhere with that, I think. Er.
Buttinskis unite! I'm up with a flu and these comments are making my night shorter, albeit not less mucusy.
*is running out of tissues and totally understands* If I don't go to bed soon, though, I won't wake up in time to take my next dose of meds for the bronchitis, so it's sleepytime! Have yourself a mug of tea or something. TEA CURES ALL.
no subject
1. Evil, I want to rule the world guys. I believe there was one of these who trained someone so that he would take a bunch of heads and then he took his hapless student unawares and killed him off. They actively hunt down others to behead. These are the guys looking to kill off Methos in hopes of becoming too powerful to defeat.
2. The heroes who think it is their duty to stop the evil guys. I suspect these are the majority of the ones that train newbies. They figure this way there are more good guys in the fight. Also, leaving them defenseless against the bad guys wouldn't be fair play. These guys are big on the rules of fair play. They don't care who survives in the end, just so long as he isn't evil. They are less likely to actively hunt someone down, unless that someone has committed an Immortal crime: broke the rules of fair fighting, involved a mortal in their dastardly schemes (maybe as bait) or interfered with mortal affairs (famous MacLeod quote: They make history. We stay in the shadows and kill each other), or just killed a good friend that must be avenged.
3. The ones that don't care, they just want to live their lives. Claudia Jardine, the French aristocrat couple, the Gypsy couple, and possibly Methos, come to mind. They are most likely to get involved in a fight out of revenge for a friend or loved one, not because they care about the One. Purely speculatively, these might be the sort to adopt and raise a pre-Immortal, kind of the Immortal version of a family. That might be why they would train someone.
4. The ones who don't believe the whole One thing is true. The fake Methos, possibly Darius - his beliefs on this were unclear - and, I personally believe Methos thinks the whole One thing is the biggest load of crap he's heard in 5000 years.
Whether or not Methos believes it, he has made it clear he doesn't want to be the One - too lonely. He just wants to survive as long as he can before he dies.
The Four Horsemen group that Methos and Kronos had lasted a thousand years together without killing each other, under the rule that they never raise a hand to each other. They seemed more interested in terror and bloodshed than some mysterious prize for the One.
There are several examples of Immortal couples that stayed together for several lifetimes and never turned on each other.
I think it gets so lonely that teaching someone is almost an excuse to form a lasting relationship with someone. There are, of course, instances of students turning on their teachers, but this seems to be the exception. The teacher-student bond seems to be very strong - avenging the death of the other is the big revenge plot-line. It's pretty much guaranteed that the student or teacher of the Immortal you killed will come after you.
Canon actually introduced the controversy on whether the Game was real on several occasions.
no subject
But Methos is *older* than swords. :D (Actually there are some very ... memorable fanfic scenes in which young!Methos learns to behead opponents using nothing but serrated flint and persistence.) I think that there must have already been quite a few old, wise, and canny Immortals before they figured out the whole sword-fighting thing.
And yes, HL is were "There Can Be Only One" comes from, although the fact that you've got this far without being sure of that should tell you just how important *that* plot thread seems to be to the fandom in general -- really, though, they team up for the same reason anyone does, when we know that sooner or later we'll be competing: because it makes sense in terms of allies in the short term, and in terms of carrying on your memory if you lose, and because it's less lonely.