Just Saw #Highlander2TheQuickening, and am Mixed-Up as to How #immortality Works | thanks to @SCornthwaite83 @getFANDOM #immortal #Mortality #Mortal #immortals #Mortals #Mortally
Of course, I know that immortality is 'fictional' (and/or metaphorical ... sure, I'll live forever in these words & in Heaven etc.; but I've still got to eat & sleep & clean etc. to continue to use this body).
Subscribe FREE to be notified when I uncover more strength here.
You remember HIGHLANDER—the movie that inspired a few TV-series about a warrior from The Highlands of Scotland who discovers he's immortal and has to battle all the other immortals in the world until there is Only One—who wins The Prize, 'knows everything, is everything, can impregnate a woman, and can then age & die naturally ... or can rule this world forever' (or something).
In HIGHLANDER 2: THE QUICKENING, we find out ...
... that Connor McLeod & Ramirez are aliens from the planet Zeist (like Kalel/Clark Kent & Kara Zorel/Danvers from Krypton) who were exiled to Earth & condemned to kill- or be killed by-all the other exiles, and then either 'die of old age' or 'return to the home-planet (probably to resume fighting in that planet's ongoing war).
I think I'm going to search around to see how that's supposed to work (or maybe it's not, and it's no longer "canon"—like the idea that Kara Zorel isn't from Krypton, but rather is from 'under the sea').
'That word' (below-hyperlinked to an offer to purchase the five-film collection) is built on an even-deeper source ... something crucial that firms the foundation upon which our lexicon stands ...
You remember HIGHLANDER—the movie that inspired a few TV-series about a warrior from The Highlands of Scotland who discovers he's immortal and has to battle all the other immortals in the world until there is Only One—who wins The Prize, 'knows everything, is everything, can impregnate a woman, and can then age & die naturally ... or can rule this world forever' (or something).
In HIGHLANDER 2: THE QUICKENING, we find out ...
... that Connor McLeod & Ramirez are aliens from the planet Zeist (like Kalel/Clark Kent & Kara Zorel/Danvers from Krypton) who were exiled to Earth & condemned to kill- or be killed by-all the other exiles, and then either 'die of old age' or 'return to the home-planet (probably to resume fighting in that planet's ongoing war).
I think I'm going to search around to see how that's supposed to work (or maybe it's not, and it's no longer "canon"—like the idea that Kara Zorel isn't from Krypton, but rather is from 'under the sea').
'That word' (below-hyperlinked to an offer to purchase the five-film collection) is built on an even-deeper source ... something crucial that firms the foundation upon which our lexicon stands ...
The word “|Immortal|” is (of course) a contraction of the word "Mortal" and the prefix "im-."
The word "|Mortal|" built on ancient words that mean "Death" (to which a Human |Being is subject).
I don't remember; Did Ramirez explain to Connor that 'their immortal because they're aliens'? ... Not really!
And 'Holy Ground'? I mean ... I guess I understand "the tradition of not fighting other immortals on holy ground" among 'Earthlings' (Terrans?); but 'the evil alien' quotes that rule when he comes to Earth to attempt to vanquish Connor once & for all! What is "Earth's holy places" to extra-terrestrials?
I think one of the sequels (I haven't seen in a long time) features an attempt to kill an immortal on holy-ground—at whence the stroke was blocked with a flash of lightning (or something).
Watcher Joe Dawson tells Duncan McLeod (another highlander who also happens to be immortal) that 'someone breaking that Rule' was the cause of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
That's the first of The Rules: (Cornwaithe says there are 5 rules, but Wikipedia says 'The Rules are not enumerated ... and they're mostly passed-down by oral tradition'
- Immortals may not fight on Holy Ground, no matter who regards it as holy.
- All duels must be "duels" (one-on-one, no outside help).
- Mortals must not learn about immortals—"If you are killed, you move on."??? ...
- Oh, I get it (duh) when Wikipedia says 'if you are killed' there, they mean 'if you (an Immortal) are fatally wounded and are thought by mortals to have been "killed," you let the mortals think you are dead and change your name and move to a faraway place.'
- When a Few Immortals are Left on Earth, They are Pulled to a Final Battle in a Distant Land. It is the Time of The Gathering.
- In the End, There Can Be Only One—One Immortal who will "Receive the Power of All Other Immortals combined" ... a power-transfer seen (both in 'the canon films' and in 'the freaky alternate reality films') in a huge lightning/pyrotechnic-show that erupts after two long-winning immortals battle—The Quickening.
- and aNother 'Rule which is more like a Law (or an unchangeable Principle)' ... and one that communicators have to be sure to remind people that this is fiction!!! (i.e. DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME)—an Immortal's First Death must be an unnatural mortal wound (e.g. swords or arrows or gun-shots in battle) or else they age & die naturally (and of-course don't become 'immortal')
- The Buzz—the way Immortals can generally sense the presence of other Immortals ... something that Immortals cannot sense until their First Death, although post-'First Death' Immortals can sense The Buzz of these Pre-Immortals.
Something else I don't understand—when Connor had gone & gotten old after killing all the other Immortals, but then went right back to Regenerating (and 'sex-ing like a thirtysomething') when a pair of Immortal aliens transported to Earth and failed to kill him ... something related to The Proximity feature of The Buzz (where The Immortal feels it more-strongly as their fellow Immortal gets closer)?
Also, some of the things that Ramirez (who I thought had died in the first movie, and whose death (in ancient Scotland) was something that The Kurgan (that movie's evil Immortal) was very proud to have accomplished) said were a little confusing—mostly about how 'we're lucky there's Magic' ...
I guess it's kind of like STAR WARS's force-ghosts—how they know everything once they 'Become One-with-the-Force,' and seem to have the power- but not the desire-to make everything right.
The Highlander-Wiki blames a lot of this on 'the memory-loss that must accompany the interstellar exile process':
They (Connor & Ramirez) were acquainted with each other on Zeist, but the transport process must have erased their memories. Thus Connor never learns about his true past until he senses the voice of Ramirez, decades after winning the Prize, and he is forced to recall the events of the distant past.
... but there are other things that go unexplained—like Why did Katana (H2's evil Immortal) have to come to Earth to kill Connor when he could've just waited a few more years? Or–after Connor had become an old man & remembered he could call upon Ramirez (who had been exiled from Planet Zeist at the same time as he-himself had)–Connor still introduced himself to the woman as "Connor McLeod of the Clan McLeod" (not saying anything about 'from the planet Zeist')?
The Wiki tells us something that might explain:
Highlander II is reconcilable with the rest of the series, but only if those exiled from Zeist are also youthed into babies, and have their memories wiped
- there's
- HIGHLANDER (inspired–it's said–when screenwriter Gregory Widen was looking at a Scottish knight's armor (on display in a museum) and thought to himself, "What if the warrior who wore this were alive today?" This inspired Shadow Clan—a much darker story than 'what eventually made it into film.')
- HIGHLANDER 2: THE QUICKENING - the sci-fi factor gave it a very 'Laurentiis (DUNE, QUANTUM LEAP)'-feel
- HIGHLANDER 3: THE FINAL DIMENSION
- HIGHLANDER: THE SOURCE
- HIGHLANDER: ENDGAME
- HIGHLANDER 2: THE QUICKENING (RENEGADE VERSION) ... or at least (VERSION WITH A DIFFERENT MOVIE-POSTER ON THE LISTING)—which edit-out the 'from Planet Zeist'-idea, like Katana is just 'another Kurgen who's competing with Connor for The Prize'
- HIGHLANDER: THE WATCHER
- HIGHLANDER: THE SERIES
- HIGHLANDER: THE ANIMATED SERIES - the adventures of Quentin McLeod
- HIGHLANDER: THE RAVEN - in which the featured Immortal is (GASP) a woman!
- hmm ... how many Immortals (in the series, in the movies) WERE women? I can only find two ... I haven't seen any, but I just started re-watching the franchise
-
the Amazon-page said 'people who ordered "this" (HIGHLANDER 2) also liked ...' (and/or Amazon Prime also features the listing)
Know anything else interesting about that? Comment!
Comments
Post a Comment
I appreciate your comment, and I'll probably approve it & publish it soon (give me about a week before you try to post it again when it doesn't publish immediately ... thanks)