yeah? tiny electric click.  . . . then the hiss of an overseas line.
who? cut to: a payphone, somewhere in lower manhattan in a driving rain. a woman's hand holds the receiver to her face, obscuring her features.
who is this?!
methos.
i need your help.
i was told connor macleod was killed last night. methos' darkens. another one lost. duncan i just want to know who did it.
it does to me. methos looks down at the clotted life below.
almost ten years ago.
nothing much.
we mostly just sat around, downing shots, staring at the beer lights above the bar. when he finally got up to go, he looked at me like it was the last time i'd ever see him again. no goodbye. no handshake. just got up and left. back to scene: duncan blinks back the memory. duncan nobody's seen him since.
what do you mean?
it was like.  flash: connor's face duncan . . . like every death he'd ever caused had come back to haunt him. back to scene: methos takes a thoughtful sip from his wine.
i don't understand.
by who?
gahhhhhhh! ! he blinks thickly, as if routed from a deep, disorienting slumber. gapes up at--
are you an angel?
you'd be surprised. duncan shuts the case and continues on. next man in line watches duncan exit as he hands over his passport. hang on the photo. we'll remember those steel- gray eyes. int - cab, driving - day duncan watches the passing scenery. music and landmarks familiar from the first "highlander" sweep past.
you really think so? connor executes a simple combination that sends'duncan's sword flying one way, his body the other.
you mind?! connor clucks his tongue. connor allow me. he squares duncans shoulders and steps back. considers. connor unh uh. he steps up and swivels duncan around until hes facing the opposite way. connor if you should ever again find yourself backside to a blade.  just keep this in mind. he proceeds to take duncan through a move that's dazzling in it's inherent simplicity-- a move that winds up with duncan's blade whisking perilously close across connor's throat. connor it's a coup de fin. he catches duncan's sword-fist in his own, holds it immobile. connor properly executed, even you cannot prevent your blade from finding its mark.
properly executed, we'll never have this talk again. duncan and connor's eyes lock. they break. transition back to:
who are you?
kate?
why're you here?
why are you here?
who're they?
what-- it's a team sport now?
watchers? matthew simply nods.
watchers observe. they don't interfere.
why?
not by me.
nobody's unbeatable.
get yourself another volunteer.
you're insane!
how.  long?
think so. he takes one step and pitches forward onto his face. duncan potent whiskey. he clambers to his feet and follows dawson out of the chamber.
you knew about the sanctuary.
i don't buy that. dawson averts his gaze. stares ahead.
i owe you. dawson slides duncan's katana out from under the seat. hands it over.
what happened to the bodies? dawson winces slightly. keeps driving. duncan c'mon, joe.
i need to see them.
was one of them connor macleod?
let me see the bodies.
i have to, joe. i have to know. dawson jerks the car to a sudden shuddering stop.
i can't begin to tell you how reassuring that is. pull over.
i don't know.
shh. dawson listens. nothing but the soft moan of wind. duncan he's here.
sorry i missed your funeral.
so it would seem. they break. the brief joy suddenly drains from connor's face-- his eyes speak of diffuse, faraway suffering.
ten years ago you skipped out on a bartab. connor's expression hardens.
the sanctuary.
but you escaped.
the reason i didn't become your replacement. dawson casually removes one of his legs and vigorously shakes it upside down.
sand in the shoe would be my guess. connor suddenly gazes beyond dawson to
yeah. i was meaning to tell you about those guys. dawson fumbles to put his leg back on. hops a full 360 as he watches the intruders surround them.
not here.
you're on holy ground. remember the rules.  pure, radiating hate seethes in connor's eyes.
whatever it is.  connor swipes away duncan's hand, starts walking. duncan i can help you, connor. connor stops, swivels back. eyes dead.
problem?
just one question. after all these years. . . why him? faith glances down at kase, who stands waiting at the base of the hill. considers.
excuse me, but by whose authority do you act?
might i see that? highwayman slowly unravels the parchment scroll. the nearly-illegible scrawl suggests random words copied by an illiterate. duncan does the king always sign his name with an "x"? highwayman's cronies reach for their swords.
busy man, the king. i suggest you pay the gentlemen and be on your way.
that's a matter of opinion.
that's also a matter of opinion. shall we? connor sizes up his young protege'. gives a dubious nod.
you're right.  he tosses a handful of gold coins to the highwayman. duncan good luck with the bridge. he kicks his horse into a brisk trot. connor reluctantly follows suit. they cross the river through ankle-deep water.
it wasn't my money. duncan pulls a cinched canvas bag overstuffed with coins from his overcoat. duncan it was theirs. rack focus to the duped highwaymen scrambling onto their horses and riding hard in frantic pursuit. they hit the river at a gallop, kicking up giant shimmering fantails of water. duncan by the time they reach us, the young lady and her escort should be safely out of harms way. the pursuers close the gap in seconds. connor grins approvingly. draws his sword and glances over at duncan.
let's. together, they whirl around to face the onrushing horde.
suddenly winds back and flings his sword at his opponent like a throwing dagger.
i know.
let's go. cut to:
there are things you do in this life that damn you for eternity. they can't be changed. and they can't be undone. you carry these things to the grave, joe, in the hopes that maybe, just maybe, you'll find some peace there. some relief, even if it's oblivion. but immortals don't die. we just go on reliving our sins. over and over again.
there were two places i figured connor was likely to go. one of 'em was here.
you're the "watcher." you tell me.
so they tell me.
don't do it, connor.
he's playing you! step back onto holy ground before it's too late-- kase faces back to connor.
don't listen to him!
about time. i was beginning to wonder.
how?
well, i finally did it!
what do you think of her?
yes. i sensed it the day we met her.
yes. and without such a death, she'll simply grow old and die like any other. is that what you dragged me out here to tell me? connor removes a uniquely-braided golden rope from his vest pocket. it catches the candlelight with the glint of a thousand silken threads as he runs it lightly over his fingertips.
i love kate. i'll hold on to her as long as i can. that's all i can do. kate can be seen through the window behind them, exchanging dance partners with dizzying abandon.
why are you telling me this?
and i have a choice?! what would you have me tell her?!
then i can do nothing.
you'd have me kill her?! is that it?! is that what you came all this way to tell me on my wedding night?!
and if it were you in my place? connor ponders. then shakes his head.
appears in the doorway, rivulets of water pouring off his shoulders and brow. for a while they just stare at one another, each lost to his own sense of foreboding. kate is the first to speak. despite her stoic veneer, her voice comes out small and terrified.
stands over her, gripped by indecision. the fateful choice tears at him, even as he holds a dagger over her gently-rising chest. his hand trembles.
forgive me.
i'm sorry.  on that look we transition back to:
i'm sorry. whatever passion stirred faith moments before is gone without a trace. her eyes are as cold and empty as the dead kate.
i was doing it for you. for us. flash to:
now you're an immortal. like me. it was the only way.  words fall on deaf ears. she wrenches out of his grip. stumbles for the door, drenched in her own blood. leaves duncan standing mindblown in her wake.
would you have really understood?
i'm watching my best friend driven insane by something that happened four centuries ago. and there's nothing i can do to stop it. because those people are dead and nobody can bring them back. faith struggles to open the door. duncan holds firm. duncan but i'm lucky. you know why?
i'm lucky because my crime can still be forgiven.
as long as you're still alive, there's at least the chance. it could take years. centuries even. it may never happen.  faith is now pushing furiously on the door. duncan but at least i can still carry the hope inside me. that's one blessing of immortality. there's always tomorrow. he lets go of the door and steps back. duncan even for you. faith shoves her way past him and disappears into the stairwell. cut to:
there's supposed to be an end to all this, right? a final answer.  duncan slides down next to him. gazes out at the trackless ocean.
isn't that the "prize" we're all butchering each other to win?
i don't believe that.
not jacob kase.
there has to be a way. connor looks off. nods.
try me. connor stands up. offers a hand to duncan. hauls him upright.
what're you doing?!
i won't do it.
it can't end like this!
enough?
next time i won't hold back.
feels, more than sees, the oncoming blade. he turns into the arc of connor's swing--
con-norrrrrrr!! it surges upward into endless sheets of lightning. duncan convulses at the epicenter of a growing clash between earth and sky. shockwaves pound through his skull, triggering a last fleeting vision of connor macleod: walking with heather across an open field. he turns and looks back at duncan.
i'm afraid connor couldn't be here. but don't worry, he's with us in spirit. still gripping his sword two-fisted, duncan seems to surge with newfound strength.
he gave himself for this moment. and i shan't let him down. duncan shoves off from kase and goes to work on him with a vengeance. what kase sees: a frightening, hallucinitory vision of a dual adversary-- one that changes back and forth in the flux of swirling mist. as duncan's blade blurs past, kase sees connor. with the very next swing, he sees duncan again. then connor. then duncan. connor. duncan.  kase rubs his eyes with the back of his hand. shakes it off. can't be. duncan buffets kase backward with several dazzling combinations, then goes inside, tough and ugly. kase seems suddenly overwhelmed, physically and mentally, as he's driven onto his back by sheer relentless overdrive. duncan slashes down for the killing blow, which kase barely deflects. he slashes again. and again. each time kase barely escapes with his head intact. duncan keeps up this relentless barrage, hacking down in every conceivable direction, looking for an opening, finding none. with each increasingly-leaden downstroke, duncan is losing strength.  . . . and kase is regaining his. kase battles back to his feet, deftly siezes the advantage.
youre breaking my heart.
it's always been too easy for you, kase. no reason this time should be any different. he plucks his sword out of the ground.  . . . and turns his back to kase. duncan take your best shot. he hobbles off, sword hanging limp at his side. kase starts trembling with rage.
opens his arms to
yours is the greater prize my friend. welcome home. linger on duncan as we dissolve slowly to.
follows, strolling toward her with hands loose at his side. faith runs her finger down the shimmering blade.
the choice is yours. fade out: