The 11 Rules Of Highlander, And Why There Can Be Only One
Вставка
- Опубліковано 23 вер 2024
- The Highlander universe is built on a series of rules that govern the actions of its characters. They've been built over time and even changed over time, as the franchise has developed through the Highlander movies with Connor MacLeod and Highlander: The Series with Duncan MacLeod.
HIGHLANDER RULE 1: There Can Be Only One
HIGHLANDER RULE 2: Die To Live
HIGHLANDER RULE 3: Take his Head
HIGHLANDER RULE 4: The Quickening
HIGHLANDER RULE 5: The Gathering
HIGHLANDER RULE 6: Holy Ground
HIGHLANDER RULE 7: The Buzz
HIGHLANDER RULE 8: One On One
HIGHLANDER RULE 9: No Witnesses
HIGHLANDER RULE 10: No Children
HIGHLANDER RULE 11: The Water Problem
More On Henry Cavill's Highlander Reboot: www.giantfreak...
Full Highlander: The Series Opening (it's awesome!) -- • Highlander TV Series -...
Rule 12: Queen has to sing your theme song. You're not an official immortal until Freddie bellows for you.
Who wants to live forever!?
This applies to all supernatural ascendancy bro
Amen
Fact
Queen actually was hired to make 3 songs for this movie (4 if you count new York new York which was not created by them of course and Freddie didn't particularly like)
The greatest movie review I ever read was for Highlander 2, in a newspaper in Athens, Ga. The entire review consisted of just one line. “There should have been only one.”
Savage and awesome.
they weren't wrong. While the SERIES was awesome, the premise didn't work for movies.
Bad film really lol
@@threadbarephoenix9904 There were certainly hits and misses. Endgame was pretty good IMO but the last one was the most god awful POS Ive ever seen.
😂
Of all people, I would trust Henry Cavill with our beloved Highlander franchise. I look forward to it
Yes, but where are you going to find another Scottish Egyptian Spaniard? 😺
@@HariSeldon913 I'm right here Laddie.
@@HariSeldon913 Drew McIntyre from WWE. He's bigger than Connery, but like... that's cool.
*Problem:* the Cavill Curse.
Right? The woke wankers seem to be stalking Cavill with a bloody vendetta! 😬
Sure, Highlander is more than just an excuse for people to run around NYC having sword fights. But it is one hell of a great excuse to do just that.
Who needs an excuse?
3rd one was in jersey city
@@StevieB8363 Spoken like a true San Francisco native. :P
Police: We have multiple corpses found with swords which only have the victims prints on them. The weapon used on the victim was a sword, but not the one found. Yep, must be a serial killer and we have no idea how he selects victims...
Connor having "the ability to commune with animals and control them with his mind" is a bit of a stretch. He wasn't "controlling" the stag, he just seemed to be able to sense its energy/life force/aura/whatever. I think the point of that scene was to show that Immortals have a heightened sensitivity to the world around them, which probably ties into their ability to sense each other's presence (and could be a preview of the powers they'll gain if they win the Prize).
Either way, it was dropped so it does not matter
Detection Ability, like a feeling thing he can probably do it to people too like an empath imagine what it must be like to find that power in Madison Square Garden seeing WWF in 1986. It’s a Magical Place even way up in the nosebleed section I think the best in there is Hockey Games but Concerts it resonates in there when it’s full.
Well put
@@GiantFreakinRobot but you were wrong.
Didn't he get strength from the stag
Some veteran Immortals protect and team up with new Immortals not just to have allies, but to increase the probability that a 'good' Immortal wins the Game, for the sake of the Earth and its inhabitants.
The wisdom in "there can only be one" means that the end goal is for the participants to understand that for a better world to be created, sacrifices have to be made.
On the other hand there are also evil immortals who take on pupils. Like Martin Hyde who was teached by kanewolf and Morgan D'Estaing who was taught by Xavier St Cloud. Killing "Newborns" or just leaving them to their fate seems, in general, to be a big NoNo with immortals.
We saw what a "good immortal" did and it was bad.
@@billyscenic5610 Are you talking about highlander 2?
The optimum strategy for them would be to declare a truce and run the world as oligarchs. The prize kinda sucks if you lose your immortality in the process.
In my head i like to think the guillotine was invented when humans kept encountering immortals that commited crimes and wouldn't die when executed.
That’s good head canon!
@@GiantFreakinRobot No pun intended? ;p
Like that fight where Connor insulted the dudes wife, prompting the drunken duel he kept losing?
Seems like around the heyday for the guillotine too.
Hence The Wonderland Queen of ♥️ says "Off with their heads!" 😂
i also though about the guillotine, my take on it is that Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, the inventor, was an inmortal himself, and so he made a device that would kill other inmortals. and extra on that would be that he could hide nearby and absorb quickenings from them
The soundtrack to the first movie is the greatest thing to come out of the Highlander franchise. I mean who doesn't love Queen.
Agree. Cannot be topped
@@GiantFreakinRobot I'd also like to say we should forget not only part 2, but also Highlander: The Source. I feel that movie did Duncan Macleod dirty and ruined the character for me.
HEEEEEERE WE ARE, BORN TO BE KINGS…..
@@GiantFreakinRobot Topped with a crown!
@@matts1166 Wasn't The Source revealed to just be one of Duncan's nightmares ?
A French man playing a Scottish character with a Scottish man playing an Egyptian that lived in Spain and still sounds Scottish. Seems legit.
Sir Sean Connery could act very well but accents were for other actors and not for him. There was only one Sean Connery.
@@Thurgosh_OG to me he will always be the best Bond.
Don't forget the egyptian used a Japanese sword.
@@billblack7840 oh yeah, he did and McLeod inherited it.
Lambert was technically born in the USA, actually not far from where I live now. For the longest time I thought he was Belgian, like JCVD, but apparently he really is French. Huh.
Rule 11, You must fight to a Queen soundtrack, any fights that take place without them should be null and void
An exception should be made for "Die by the Blade" by Beast in Black.
So that makes Highlander and Flash Gordon related! 😊
Unless it was before queen formed, and then I'm okay.
Flash Gordan is Highlander.@@bboxx069
Why do you think "Highlander Endgame" tanked so badly? Not only did they skimp on a decent story and logical plot but they thought they could make the movie without Queen!
Another footnote: Immortals can be permanently injured in rare cases. Ex: Xavier St. Cloud losing a hand to Duncan. Or Kalas/Kurgan losing their singing voices when cut deep through the neck.
I believe losing a limb is permanent, they can't regrow bones. I always thought the Kalas/Kurgan losing his voice thing was for the plot of that episode, I don't see any reason he shouldn't have healed from it, it's all soft tissue.
@@54m0h7 I assumed that neck injuries stayed because it's linked to how they actually die; you know, that close to decapitation.
It was speculated that if Xavier had gotten his hand back it would have reattached but as it went into the river and probably eaten by a fish.... he was out of luck. I wonder if having one hand drove him crazy. :P
@@anthonyeasson1739 According to the show's actual producers you're spot on. An Immortal can reattach a limb during the healing process.
In Highlander 3, Connor bisects the other guy and he just reattaches his torso to his legs.
For Rule 2. I thought I remember watching that an immortals' first death has to be one of trauma and violence and not of natural causes for them to activate their immortality.
Man... suck if you're a guy who made it to his 90s
@@AnthonySforzaIt wouldn't be as bad as a normal person in their 90's though since you'd heal from everything. You'd look old but otherwise still be more fit than a mortal in their prime.
@@iBetThisNameWillWork
I meant more so being a potential inmortal, but then dying in one's sleep.
@@iBetThisNameWillWork they stay exactly how they were when they die. Pretty sure that includes old injuries and chronic pain.
But I can’t remember the exact examples of those.
I think I remember an episode from either the 'raven' or the 'highlander the series' where an immortal had his first death as mortal from a disease or a poison and subsequently his immortal life was riddled with the same poison and in constant pain
I don't know if Conner communed or controlled the stag, he just said he felt it. I always thought of that as an extension of the buzz, that if an immortal knows how, and concentrates, they can sense other living things as well as immortals. That the quickening is part of the life force of the world and immortals are at their core one with all living things, and that on winning the prize that manifests completely, giving a double meaning to "There can be only one."
Never spotted the double meaning, thanks!
❤❤
Ok, I loved the TV show and watched the entire thing in its initial run. But the movie is such bombastic fun that it will always and forever be my Highlander. Clancy Brown as Kurgan? Come on!
It's funny because when it came out Sean Connery was obviously the big name, but Clancy Brown has done so much iconic work since then, that he's a a legend to me. The head of the guard in Shawshank Redemption, voiced Lex Luthor in DCAU, was in Billions for a season, was just in John Wick 4... and he's always entertaining. I know I'm missing a bunch of stuff too.
@@methos-ey9nfHe plays the Drill Sergeant in Starship Troopers. And I think he’s in Thor: Ragnarok, too,
@@timeodaneosetdona haha you’re right! In Thor Ragnarok he voiced the fire/lava character at the beginning and end of the movie.
I love the first Movie but I love the Series even more because it allowed them to really dive into the concepts more of what it really meant to be immortal as they were. I even have a set of rules for playing Highlander style immortals in the White Wolf - World of Darkness system (Vampire the Masquerade, Werewolf the Apocalypse, etc) and they work really well in that setting and rule system. It was fun to be able to explore those concepts with my character in 2 time periods, one in 1055 AD when he had been immortal for a little over 300 years and then again (same character) in modern times, around 2013, and explore the changes in him and his view of the world.
Plus Duncan > Connor
That's really cool, they could fit very well in World of Darkness.
@@GiantFreakinRobot But no. Connor taught Duncan and was always better.
LARP with the Highlander-style rules in White Wolf was interesting. Never played it myself but remember being informed by storytellers about a visual happening on a roof a few buildings down.
@@GiantFreakinRobot Connor sacrificed himself so Duncan could move forward. And if i remember correctly, there was a film exploring the gathering event. The fact it was utter trash is unfortunate though😢
I work in Vancouver where the Highlander series was first filmed. One of the areas I worked was where Ducan Macloed's antique shop was. It's in an area known as Blood Alley. A lot of the buildings have been renovated in the area, but the alley looks more or less the same.
I’m afraid to ask why it’s called Blood Alley
@@GiantFreakinRobot It used to be called Trounce Alley until the name was changed in 1972. Supposidly due to all the drunken brawls and butcher shops along the alley pouring blood from slaughtered animals into it. There were also claims of people being hanged in the alley.
None of that is true. It's an alley in what's called Gas Town which is an older part of Vancouver with buildings from the 1850's to early 1900's. It used to have a lot of repair shops for carriges then cars. Now it's a tourist hub in the city. So to give it some allure and a bit of edge they changed the name to Blood Alley and created the myths of hangings and butchers pouring blood into the alley to basically draw in tourists.
Though as someone who worked graveyard shift on weekeneds i've seen some pretty wild things happen in that allley as well as around Hastings St, and Chinatown so there might be some modern day truth to the name.
Highlander should've done a crossover with X-Files since they both filmed there.
@spentcasing3990 _"...the name was changed in 1972."_
_"You changed your name_ TO _Latrine?!"_
😂
@@NarwahlGaming WTF are you talking about ?
Stan "Richie" Kirsch. You'll always be one of the Immortals.
He never controlled animals with his mind, he could just feel it’s life force.
Worked better in the TV show. Great initial movie that was ruined totally by coming from space in the second one. The fact Christopher was both at the start and the end of the series really helped.
I agree the series worked better. In the movie "it was the time of the gathering". They were all drawn together and the end had come. In the show almost all immortals said the words there can be only one, but it was treated more like myth than fact. I liked that. The idea that the prize could be nothing more than another made up religion was interesting to me. If I were a new immortal and I was told about "the prize" I would ask how they knew and I would be met with blank stares. Don't take anything for granted, especially when you suddenly wake up as an immortal.
@@IzInAZ essentially it is why all the Lord of the Rings spin off sh*t doesn't work. A story with a conclusion. Highlander as a TV show was awesome. Soft reboot, ignore the Space alien crap, get Lambert back. In the Uk it was a 11pm show
My father hated fantasy, aliens & superheroes. Not his style, however I could go around after the pub, we used to drink some whiskey and watch this together
It’s best to pretend Highlander 2 never happened
@@GiantFreakinRobotHighlander 2? Never heard of it.
The only version of Highlander 2 I've ever seen was The Renegade Version that was recut and released in 1999. That actually didn't have any kind of aliens in it, it was all time travel. I heard this version was much more watchable. Now, if the Renegade Version was supposedly better, yet still sucked, how bad was the original? Also, can we all agree that Highlander: The Source was utter garbage?
Adrian Paul did a great job, and the series was done very well. But one would be missing a lot of fantastic characters and portrayals by the likes of Christopher Lambert, Clancy Brown, and of course Sean Connery. The lack of a fleshed out mythos can be overlooked easily because of the acting and cinematography.
I just wish the movies had been more consistent!
I loved the Scotsman with a Belgian accent, the Egyptian Spaniard who once lived in Asia (Was it China?) with a Scottish accent who didn't know what haggis was, and the Russian Kurgan with an American accent. Always cracked me up. The movie is definitely still one of my favorites despite the hilarious flaws that started glaring at me as I grew old enough to recognize them.
To be fair... Adrian Paul took the role very seriously and wanted to do the fans justice. Even to where Lambert just did the sword training for the movies and left it at that, Paul actually stuck with it since he was cast and went on to be like a 5th Dan in Kenjutsu, to make the sword fighting look more realistic.
I really don't care as long as Methos is still around.
@@johnlloyddy7016 -- Right!? "Because the alternative is unthinkable..." Methos quote, as to Why he traveled the world with a Young Gal with a terminal illness... The Man had Heart. 💝🗡️
The rule about dueling is less a tradition or anything like that, and more a natural consequence of how the Quickening works. You can't share the power, so there's nothing really to be gained by helping another immortal in a fight.
Thank you. I'm glad I looked for this answer before posting it. This point really was an oversight in the video. Same as fighting on Holy Ground. It's not just that it can cause a disaster (I didn't even remember that scene), it is more that no one receives the quickening when the kill is done on Holy Ground.
@@esotericsage6914 when was that established? It's actually the best explanation I have heard but I don't remember hearing it in the show or the films.
@@vpapako It was in the show. I couldn't tell you which episode but it always stuck with me because it made the whole thing make sense.
@@esotericsage6914 I must have missed it. I was a kid after all
Except eliminating enemies or protecting allies are things to be gained, even if only one of you gets the Quickening. I mean, why do non-immortals gang up on opponents? I think it is a tradition though. It's been a loooooong time since I've watched the series, but I'm pretty sure I remember Duncan or maybe even his Watcher friend saying that they don't/can't intervene in each other's battles.
Highlander (1986) ‘There can be only one.’
Transformers (1986) ‘Til all are one.’
A good year
One shall Stand; One shall Fall.
Confirmed. Transformers are immortals from cybertron. The all spark somehow got into humans and in the end the last immortal becomes leader of the headmasters.
My favorite non-Highlander Highlanderish move is The One with Jet-Li. Definitively the best adaptation of the concept.
Agreed
I just watched that movie again.
Well said must haven't seen that gem
@@lawnbear5958 Now I am craving to binge Jet Li, I will start with it.
Wasn't Jet Li in EndGame, tho? LOL
never mentioned as canon as far as I know, but Widen has written many of his stories based on existing mythology. In the case of immortals, they fit the description of Kingu from the Enimu Elish. Kingu was the general of Tiamat. When Tiamat was defeated by Marduk, His punishment was his essence was broken up into countless pieces and made flesh so that he may never be a god again and made to serve and suffer through hunger and fatigued by action(humanity). If Kingu was ever able to be the last human alive, he would be whole and return to heaven. if immortals are the spark of Kingu, then killing them all until there is one left would give that last kingu all of their original godhood. sounds about right. interested to see what others think about the theory.
Did not know this. Very interesting thanks!!
That curiously does fit with the opening lyrics of the Queen intro.
That's the worst spelling of "Enuma Elish" I've seen so far
@@johannesstephanusroos4969 Sorry Dr Roos, Speech to text. You are Correct.
@@ChrisLucente Well, in that case, please accept my apology. If you didn't type it yourself it's hardly your fault
you're missing an important fact in Rule 2. The series established that no Immortal knows their birth parent. They're all adopted. This is probably its only reference to Highlander II.
Highlander 2 is such a mess I ignored it on purpose
@@GiantFreakinRobotThis detail is canon in the TV series too, no immortal knows who their biological parents are, whether they were born, made in a lab, spawned from a rock etc. They are all found as babies
Didnt conciously realize that, but it actually makes a ton of sense. Wherever they from, they aren't of the usual origin (i.e. ordinary human parents).
I wonder if they all from Gallifrey...😅😅
2 is such a bad movie and needs to be forgotten never talked about
Highlander II never happened.
An fun fan theory that i once heard was that The Immortals are Fae changeling, children that was traded to live in the human world, and the price is to get to go home to the Fae lands. It's a fun idea that could be played with to give a better explanation than what Highlande 2 did.
Apparently the prize is becoming mortal and the ability to have children. But that first born of the previously immortal person will be the first in a new generation of immortals and the cycle begins again.
I don't think previously immortals breed immortals, that wouldn't make much sense.
@@jimdeadlock That would have been the premise of movies going forward AFTER The Source. But The ONE who was previously immortal could.
@@porter0311 Even if that's the case, he would only have a few children and they would not breed with each other, so all other immortals would have to just randomly appear as they always have
@@jimdeadlock Im not sure why you're reading so much in to this or why you would assume the rules of immortality would change. All I know is that after the Source which was supposed to be the first in a new Trilogy was supposed to follow this Premise. The One would be able to have a child and that child would be the first in a new generation of immortals. All other immortals would be born randomly as always. Basically a never ending cycle.
The last immortal is the last immortal. It was never said that it starts off a new series of them.
I always took it that the Prize gave the last immortal options. So Connor chose to become mortal and could mindread all humans, but Kurgan would have chosen to stay immortal and be invincible.
Ramiriez wouldn't have been afraid of the Kurgan becoming the last if he was just going to become mortal.
Literally used to make swords out of curtain rod metal and play Highlander with my sisters.....the good old days.
Also loved The Watchers concept.
Agreed, you've got to figure people will eventually see things they can't explain, and if you can't control it, you can at least understand it and keep a damn close eye on it.
*bounces around* anyone else have a Watchers Tat?
Damn didn't know ole Henry was doing a reboot. I haven't been to a theater in years but I'll be making that trip on opening weekend for sure.
Me too
Not the first time I've heard reboot rumors, though Cavil's IMDb page does show the movie in his upcoming. Then again, a 6MDM movie was shown as upcoming for Mark Wahlberg about 5 years ago and I'm pretty sure that never happened.
@@HariSeldon913It's more than just a rumor. Chad Stahelski, the director of the John Wick films is set to direct. They've just been ironing out the script.
The best part of Highlander was highlighting my family's clan, Clan MacLeod, even featuring our family castle, Dunvegan, and the Isle of Skye in the franchise.
Bro don't give yourself away the kurgans gonna come for your women.
@@odin1185
😂 ROFL 😂
I’m coming for you Highlander!!!!
There can be only one!
My great (x6 )-grandfathers were
Donald Macleod of Berneray, and
Roderick Macleod of Cadboll,
both of whom were Jacobites in the '45.
Who knows,
we may be distant cousins!
/
Best opening theme song for a tv show of all time. OF ALL TIME!! Drive from Hardcastle & McCormick and the Airwolf theme round out my Top 3.
Best song from Queen,,, hell yeah
I’d put The Fall Guy in there
theme song fit so perfectly. But the lack of lore made me think they were much stronger than they actually were.
@@ravinraven6913 Just regular strength they had before they turned, their only real "superpower" is their healing factor. They still have to work out regular to maintain their strength. Could you imagine a crossover with Wolverine where he's mistaken as an Immortal? Or a Duncan/Blade team-up vs Immortal Vampires?
@@1483TBird The first half of the song (the only parts used in the show as opening title and end credits). It switched gears too much and gets kind of cheesy, in my opinion.
"Ramirez" from Spain was actually from Egypt but he had a Scottish accent. 😆🤣
If I'm in an area for a length of time, I start to take on the accent.
However, although we know the real-life reason(s), story-wise, it would be interesting why the character chose to do that. Maybe outside of what we see, he slips in some Spanish words and curses, maybe even some Hebrew and Egyptian from time to time?
He got bored over the centuries and figured he'd try something new😀
If the novels are canon (and they're actually not bad...) Ramirez is originally something like Macedonian but lived in Egypt for a while so he would tell people he was from there because at one point he... technically was. Would be like Duncan telling people he's from America.
Highlander got the Queen that had just done LiveAid for their soundtrack. Smart move, they had good momentum again at that point.
Duncan was ganged up on by a gang of fresh Immortals in Endgame, only when another Immortal played by Donnie Yen who was Duncan's equal stepped up to challenge him one-on-one the others backed off, then even after Duncan started gaining the upper hand one of the younger ones shot him. He was also jumped by 3 fresh Immortals in the Tin God episode. Duncan made a lot of enemies who were willing to break the rules for personal revenge.
The 3 fresh immortals in the episode Tin God were not told the rules by their leader and were just attacking the people that he pointed them at because they were convinced he was GOD. He was using them to soften up other immortals so that he could take their head himself.
Yeah that happened a lot on the show too
And on top of that it was on holy ground
Robot said it wasn't a rule, just a tradition. People break tradition all the time.
The Four Horsemen episodes also sort of had a reference to this. Two of them attacked Duncan, but then it turned into a one-on-one duel. When Duncan killed the one Horseman, the other waiting tried to swipe at his head, but Duncan escaped by jumping off a bridge
There is also a season two or three episode that involved Amanda. Duncan had just beaten the evil immortal of the ep. The latter turned around, only for Amanda to basically do a kill steal
A woman I was acquainted with in those pre-internet days worked at a small publisher that specialized in obscure and esoteric books. She knew many trippy people, but the strangest of them were a group of dozen or two people who thought the Highlander show was real and had regular meetings.
Henry Cavill is an inspired choice for the next Highlander.
I'm excited to see the return of this IP.
I'm cautiously optimistic too, my biggest gripe is trying to picture cavill as an unknown, unremarkable inconspicuous totally normal human.
@@blackc1479 There are an awful lot of very good-looking, well-built humans in the world who move through life drawing little more attention than the occasional appreciative glance.
Honestly, physically attractive people are a dime a dozen. I'm old enough now that they don't even register on my radar because I have been all over the world and seen so many of them.
The fan-made World of Darkness rules for Highlander were a lot of fun as well. Playing a Duncan MacLeod style hero in the midst of a modern world oozing with mages, vampires and werewolves was a blast.
Though it's probably non canon, Highlander The Quest For Revenge shows us that (in that movie, at least) it can happen for Immortals to resurrect not fully healed from their first death : The main character keeps his head wound forever. Also, in the first Highlander movie, the Kurgan's neck never heals. Even though his wound happened long after his first death, the fact that it still doesn't heal could hint at the fact that, had it happened during his first death, it wouldn't have healed then, either. Another thing : In the Highlander series, an Immortal loses a hand and it doesn't grow back, so it would be safe to assume it wouldn't have grown back, even if it had happened during his first death.
Sounds like the anime. The Search for Vengeance.
Since an Immortal can only die by decapitation, any severe neck wounds will heal but a scar will remain. As far Xavier losing his hand, it was never shown what would happen if he would've healed had he been able to stitch his severed hand together at the wrist.
@@Wolverine626 ... oops ... I might have gotten the name wrong ... Yes, it's the anime.
Well when you're an immortal played by a fine young cannibal not having a hand kind of makes sense
I always thought that guy looked familiar
I love that Henry Cavill is taking up the role of highlander. Adrian Paul was fantastic and did his best with (terrible) post series options. I'd love to see this continue with both Adrian and Henry working together!
So one clarification. Immortals cannot "breathe water" and the series shows several instances of immortals drowning. Duncan is found drowned when he is on the beach in Japan, and a Nazi immortal describes awaking and drowning over and over when he was stuck in a crate in a river. The difference is that in the first movie (and the first season of the tv show) immortals cannot die. They can be hurt. They can be incapacitated. But they do not enter a temporary death state like they do in later seasons. Connor doesn't drown in the lake because he just doesn't die. Kurgan doesn't "die" when he is filled with bullets. Duncan, when shot by the corrupt cop in the first season is in pain, but doesn't "die." They introduced that concept later in the show. The books attempt to skirt around this by implying immortals can channel the quickening to heal extra quickly, or stay alive through lethal damage, but it is not something they can do all the time.
On a beach does that mean he tried to breath salt water. Maybe immortals can only breath fresh water.
@@DarrenEden-ub4vj yeah, but another immortal drowned in the river Seine, which is fresh water. No, they just changed it from season 1 to 2 such that immortals can "die."
"How revolting"
Still one of the best one-liners ever.
All this needs to be retconned and cleaned up. Remake the movies with a clear outline and with a whole saga in mind.
Henry Cavill and the director of the John Wick films have started working on it.
_Here we are, born to be kings._
I used to be a Duncan guy, but over the years I've favored Connor more when it comes to his approach to things. Duncan had a hero complex at times, whereas Connor did not.
In the series Methos calls out Duncan for this by saying he took the "fad" of Chivalry and made it a lifestyle.
@@Justin-tz9jk GREAT point.
@@Justin-tz9jk I remember that episode. It was due to a female Immortal who was using her wiles to get what she wanted and exploited Duncan's unwillingness to kill women. Methos lopped off her head in the end
@@SeiryuuXpick it up! Someone that was born long before the age of chivalry. Pick it up.
What about Quentin!?!
Born to be *Kings,* We're the princes of the *Universe.*
Caville?
That might be good
Connor and Ramirez learned that the power of the quickening was to be at the center of all living things. That’s the prize. Also the power to choose mortality or not. That power is what allows the winner to know what people (and animals ) are thinking and feeling all across the world.
I thought I remembered something from the series about once a challenge was made no one could interfere. I think it was an episode with the girl that got the brief spinoff. It was probably for plot convenience so Duncan couldn't help her during her fight with another immortal. Mind you I may be remembering incorrectly
Are you thinking of the one where Ritchie is challenged by Sheena Easton after he got her mortal terrorist husband killed?
Ritchie hadn’t had a true immortal fight so went to Duncan but he couldn’t fight her as they’d previously been lovers.
@@jamesmcglew9806 that may have been it
No you are correct. All fights are one v one!
No, that was definitely a thing. One on one only. In one episode, though, an immortal found himself some fresh newbie immortals that were particularly religious and convinced them he was God and had resurrected them to battle for his cause. His "cause" of course was to take out Duncan. And at least initially three of them tried to have a go at Duncan at the same time, and nothing "immediately bad" happened. Maybe the bad doesn't come unless multiple immortals actually kill an immortal they're teamed up against. The real adversary didn't care at all about these kids - they were just tools for him. Duncan tried to tell them "the rule," but of course they didn't trust him.
@@KipIngram I think I remember that one too.
Lambert was such a great actor
Unwritten rule: Villian’s names must start with a hard ‘C’ or K sound.
Omg Kronos, Kurgan, Kortan, Kalas, Kell, St Cloud lmao 🤣
Connor never communed with animals and controlled them. Ramirez taught him to open his senses to be able to feel the animal. But also the true meaning of the quickening!
Highlander TV show is the ultimate Highlander!
The one thing I noticed from the TV show is that if there are three immortals one takes the other ones head, the quickening will only go to the one who took the head. The third immortal will just be more of a spectator. It’s like the quickening knows who it’s supposed to go to.
My favourite thing about this franchise was that they tried to make a cartoon version for Kids...
Yeah but back then even Rambo and Conan had cartoons aimed at kids.
The whole plot with Quentin Macleod and the Jettator are dumb though.
@@Exoneos Everything from Highlander 2 onwards was pretty dumb TBF... with the exception of the TV series... and even that had its moments.
YOOO!! I forgot how good this series was! Henry Cavill is an awesome pick for this role!!
You seem to ignore Highlander: The Raven. A potential immortal was poisoned. Poison was a slow death that would have ended him. She stabbed him.
Wish that show had survived
@@GiantFreakinRobot Me too.
Right. The first death needs to be violent. I think the show mentions how the death has to be a 'shock' at least once. Accidental deaths, like a car crash, count, then. It is never established, though, exactly how quick it needs to be.
@@khanktingaThe fourth film mentions the shock of a violent death, for sure, by way of Connor to Duncan in a flashback.
I remember Amanda actually shotting the dude, but it's been awhile since I've seen that series. Either way, the result would be the same. The dude was rather mad that she gave him no choice in the matter of becoming Immortal.
Technically in one episode of the show they did have an immortal that was trapped underwater and according to him he did continually die in a loop until he was eventually freed. This video also did not address what happens if an immortal loses limbs. In the third movie Kain got cut in half but was able to reconnect himself while in the show Dunkin cut another immortals arm off so the guy got a prosthetic that he was able to use like another weapon.
I always thought the Immortals from this franchise were living a sort of curse as they would forever see all they come to know and love turn to dust in their hands no matter what they do. The first movie and the tv show depict this to an extent with the many memories and live times that Duncan shows in flash backs. There is a hint of bitter sweet in many of the good memories showing that perhaps living well beyond those that make life a dearly sweet treasure is one of the most cruel things that can befall a person.
I mean... yeah that's one of the narrative themes lol. Why do you think the movie even has a song called "Who Wants to Live Forever?"
That's why, it's believed at least, that part of the prize is becoming mortal.
An addition to the rule about it being a one on one duel. Once a duel begins another immortal cannot interrupt it. The two fighting can stop at anytime but someone else can't jump in to save a friend.
Let's not forget the Watchers and Methos
The Stag scene isn't really ignored. They're very connected to nature through out. But it seems to change from one immortal to the other. Depends who trained them. Immortals who are close can sense each other from miles away and even sense when one has been killed. They feel their absence in the world. They're semi psychic in a very vague way. Which could explain the Stag scene. Some immortals spend centuries meditating and could be more sensitive than others. It all depends on the individual.
One of the best TV shows ever
Hmmm...about drowning...wasn't there an immortal who went insane since he was chained up and thrown into a river, and for centuries went through a cycle of drowning, coming back, and drowning again? I seem to remember that in the Highlander series.
The most important rule - There can only be music by Queen
I’d accept Muse.
"Here we are! Born to be kings, we're the Princes of the Universe!" 👑👑👑👑👑
There is an exception to the rule. If your song sounds enough like a Queen song it can be used. Kansas ; Dust in the Wind.
@@Doublebarreledsimian That's blasphemy
@@justapile4376 LOL!
In the tv series, one immortal was chained up and thrown into a river or lake, which led him to drown and resurrect for decades. Another Immortal told Duncan that starving was also a rough resurrection loop to get stuck in.
The series is one of my all time favorites. The wife thinks I'm a weirdo lol
You aren't a weirdo
I like series too
And I 'm a woman
Definitely a weirdo, but I love the series too. Embrace the weird, babyyy!
I tried showing my wife the movie and she was soooo out
@@GiantFreakinRobotmy wife has no interest either. She likes the Highlander season one sword I have and is cool that I have swords and Highlander as a small hobby but has no interest in watching the films or series with me. I think she saw one episode. In fairness, I fell in love with this when I was 12. I can understand an adult not getting into it. She loves Marvel though, so that’s a plus!
lots of people think you're a weirdo, its just life. We are weird to those who don't understand, otherwise we would just be normal?
I've seen it suggested that the reason for one on one battles is because when Immortals start fighting, their Quickening begins infusing the local environment (and is what's so explosively collected when the battle ends) so if more than 2 Immortals are fighting, ALL of them will lose Quickening to the Environment and the winner will gather ALL the released Quickening Energy, not just what he and the dead Immortal released, leaving any other Immortal involved in the battle permanently weakened (or at least weakened until they can take another Immortal's head and their Quickening)...
Every copy of Highlander 2 should be taken to Mordor and tossed into the fire to follow Saurons ring.
Here here.
I say something similar about all highlander movies. Specially the first..
But that would ruin my boxed set of all Highlander movies, tv shows, and even the spinoff Highlander Raven. One of the last presents from my sister before she passed away. It arrived from Amazon two days after.
Toss in most of season 6 of the series while you are at it.
Correction. The quickening doesn't just go to a nearby immortal. You can have two immortals fighting while one stands by. Then, even if the one who wins the fight does so by some form of remote decapitation - like pulling the lever on a guillotine - the one who causes the death is the one who gets the quickening. It doesn't matter where you're standing at the time.
There's an episode of the Raven where her cop friend kills an immortal and Amanda just happens to be close by and receives the Quickening.
In the last Highlander movie, Duncan's prize was that he would be able to have a child with his wife.
That one is even less canon than Highlander 2 now though. Even the producers of the IP have said if they continue on that whole thing will be basically just a bad dream Duncan had one night.
The rule about not having kids probably has another benefit: keeping you from accidentally Mating with your own descendants. After a few hundred years, who can keep track of all their kid's kid's kids!? I can barely keep y track of the relatives I got living NOW, and I have tech on my side helping me out.
Correction on rule 3 there was an immortal on the television series that used the gun to incapacitate his opponent then he would saw their head off
Was that the guy who lost a hand? It healed, but the hand didn't grow back. He would have a crew guys show up and shoot the other immortal.
I don't know why I remember this, but that character was the lead singer of the group Fine Young Cannibals. Ronald Gift has had a more successful movie/tv career than music.
Actually there were a number of them that used guns/ other means. In one of the first episodes of the series there was an immortal that didn't want facial scars and used a metal mask. He had a hidden gun in the handle of his sword that allowed him a single up-close shot. There as also a guy that became immortal in the early 1980's and never became good with a sword, so he just shot everyone first. Also, the guy with the dogs.
@@matts1166 And the guy with the night vision goggles in the pitch black room.
The rules can be broken but they are generally adhered to.
I loved the Highlander TV show as a kid!
with fight coreography these days. A highlander reboot might be in order. I felt dirty saying it, but if done right it could be fucking amazing.
I'd hate to see the reboot just be John Wick with swords. Maybe the fights could be a little faster, but dudes fighting with katanas and broadswords shouldn't be flipping around like Jedi.
Adrian Paul did most of the swordfighting scenes on the show himself. No stunt double.
@@keithfaulkner6319 The fights were pretty good for tv and still hold up today.
@@JDoe-gf5oz agreed
@@JDoe-gf5oz a real fight would probably be faster, but these have to be choreographed, and can't be "real fight" fast and still be safe for the actors.
Things we also don't talk about: The Source, Dark Quickenings, the four horsemen.
The only 'rule' I found confusing/maybe misleading in this was the fact you said they were Sterile from birth. Did you mean rebirth? It's been a while, but I'm pretty sure I remember Duncan having a huge thing about killing someone because he knew they were immortal and only a 'violent death' will awaken them, however it will rob them of the ability to have a normal life, children, etc. It became a point of resentment and such and was kind of a big deal with that relationship because he took that choice away from them, etc.
There was an episode about this regarding Ritchie.
A woman claims that Ritchie is the father of her son.
Ritchie questions that it could have happened before he became an immortal.
Duncan states that it doesn't work like that, and Joe mentioned that something like that has never happened.
It may not be definitive, but as it stands, with both Duncan and Joe in agreement, pre-trauma immortals are sterile.
@@zero_chevalier You could be right. I just remember (and I was trying to avoid names but I guess that's dumb with something so old) there was a huge thing between Duncan and Kate/Faith.
They were married and Connor told Duncan she was an Immortal and only a violent death would awaken her so Duncan stabs her on their wedding night and she resents him for it because he took away her chance to have kids and a normal life and what not. It was a huge thing between the two of them and one of her reasons for hating him.
Which is why I thought they were sterile after rebirth bot not before it.
Rule 7 the buzz. You will feel like you gotta poop really bad when first encountered a immortal. 😂
10:00 It's probably more so that they don't have any real need to breath and not so much an ability to breath under water.
There are bubbles in the Connor one but you could be right
@@GiantFreakinRobotjust filming constraints.
@@GiantFreakinRobot I always figured the bubbles were the air left in his lungs coming out. I suspect that eventually the bubbles would stop.
I remember an episode of the tv series, where one of the characters mentioned that when two immortals ignored the Holy Ground rule, the eruption near Pompeii happened.
I have to point out that rule #11 is wrong. Breathing under water hasn't been a consistent rule. After the 1st movie, it was never used again. There has actually been at least 1 episode where the villain had been trapped for decades under water in that constant loop of dying and resurrecting. Even on the episode that Duncan gets his kitana, they showed that he had been face down in water for days and had all the signs of being dead until he came back.
I don't remember him breathing underwater, just not drowning. So the rules of how/why immortals die seem to be flexible.
@breotan True, they didn't specifically say that Connor was breathing, but I assume he was because air bubbles were coming out of his mouth when he was talking.
Duncan didn’t drown though
@@GiantFreakinRobot When he was convincing Hideo Koto(his mentor) that he was an immortal, he specifically told him that he had been in the water for days and that a man of his skill wouldn't make a mistake like thinking someone was dead when they wasn't.
One of Duncan's friends in the series was involved in a shipwreck. Complained about how it took months looping drowning, reviving, and swimming to get to shore. It is likely they can survive for a period that would be super human but will still drown and revive in a loop.
Great video, well done. Always happy for more Highlander content.
More to come!
Well, Toyota didn't get the memo. They made a bunch of Highlanders.
If I'm remembering correctly, the last movie was a spin from the series and "the prize" was definitely something that I didn't expect... but it actually made sense. Pretty sure I still have that dvd.
You forgot the most important Rule 34.
The thumbnail lied on this one
Highlander series was amazing
Good video. Highlander is an..... interesting franchise, lol, but there shouldn't have been more than one movie.
You are right, there should've been only one.
I disagree, you could have the same story just tell it through a different lens
Thanks!!
@@Mcelly58 what, a 35mm?
@@megatronjenkins2473 no no I was talking about introducing a new character
Queen is the immortals music and songs for all time.
The first movie was great. The series was great. I ignore all the other movies and anything in the series that contradicts it being a prequel to the first film.
Wise
It's been a while since I watched the series but something that indicates it comes after the first film is Joe telling Duncan when Conner took the Kurgans head it was just a massive quickening. One of the producers said the films and series were in different universes so both are intact.
The series opening by Queen is so f-ing lit. One of the best memories of my childhood watching it with my dad.
I always thought an unofficial new rule should be if a mortal gets lucky to take the head of an immortal- they should then be entered into the game.
I know tv lore and a few films contradict this. But it just made sense to me that it should work that way
oh heck no, then you would have like that one ep where the evil watchers would be hunting them down to steal their powers and take Over the World
LOL so like our world... except with powers
That would definitely lead to a faction of mortals who find out about immortals and then start hunting them.
Forget the movies?! Dude the original is EPIC! If anything the TV show takes place in an alternate reality.
Last thing, I swear. Though it has spoilers for the finale of season 1 and beyond of the show:
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
The TV series introduced "The Watchers." They were ordinary people that knew about immortals, but kept it secret. They swore to "observe and record, but never interfere" in the lives of immortals or "The Game". (The Game is what some immortals called their contests with each other.) They had existed for centuries, at least, and kept immortals secret from other mortals, but also kept their own existence secret from immortals. They knew a lot, but not everything. They knew that there could be only one, but they didn't know about Holy Ground when Duncan first found out about them.
I feel a bit like an immortal myself, having been a fan of the original movie and series when they were popular, saw Final Dimension and Endgame in the theater, through the time when people only laughed at the whole franchise, and have lived to now when it's becoming popular once again. To quote Kronos: "I guess it's true what they say, if you wait long enough, everything comes back".
Only in first movie
Conor could breathe under water
That ability doesn't exist in the other movies/ series
It does in the series
In the TV show I remember a pirate immortal sent to the waves by his crew (one was Duncan), this immortal sent years diying and resurrecting on the bottom of the océan. He could only walk few steps before each dead. It turned him insane.
But maybe I mistake 🤷
There also many Time immortal were drown or their head put underwater and they fight to go out...
@@GiantFreakinRobot
Which episode
Because i have all seasons
In the series, it was never explicitly shown as was the first movie, the whole breathing under water thing. I do remember them stating in the series that they won't necessarily die by drowning but they're have been extenuating circumstances that would keep them under water for a good duration, such as being shot or being stuffed into a tarp.
@@Wolverine626
Season
And episode
Because i have all seasons
One of my favorite facts is that Clancy Brown is the voice of Mr. Krabs. :)
I actually showed my kid the church scene....and was like "that's Mr krabs!"
Didn't get as much of a reaction as hoped, she was just like "I can hear it".
Don't worry...everyone wants to ignore Highlander 2
I'm 35 and when my dad introduced this to me when I was young I hated the second one
Even Highlander 3 ignores Highlander 2...
Hell yes i was wishing for this to come back lol my autie got me into this after i showed her a samurai anime i loved as a kid. Best show from the 80s/90s ever.
The watch order for the Highlander is watch the original Highlander film don't watch the second one watch the TV series and watch the other movies don't watch the cartoon.
What about the anime movie?
Avoid “the source” like the black plague
Skip The Source
Connor was not controlling the animals with his mind. He was feeling the strength of the Stag.