"Prophecy"

Teaser

Interior of an office, people leaving their desks and going home. There's just a suggestion of smokiness around the place and lighting is kinda faded and dim, with bars of light from the windows rather than overhead light. A man wearing a long coat (Roland Kantos) walks by as the others are leaving and goes to a glassed-in office and enters. There's a man sitting at the desk in his shirt sleeves. "I'm Roland Kantos," says the trench-coated man. "I'm looking for a client of yours." The man (Andrew) says that the issue of client confidentiality is a problem. Kantos says her name is Cassandra. This doesn't faze Andrew. Kantos begins to describe her, and as he does his voice begins to echo strangely... Andrew looks a little dazed, then shakes it off and continues to refuse.

Kantos: If I wanted, you would open your soul to me. If I wanted, you would cut out your heart for me. You will tell me everything.

And Andrew does. He's shaking, obviously struggling, but he tells Kantos that Cassandra asked him to find Duncan MacLeod, and gives Kantos the address. Then Kantos asks him to get his gun, and shoots him with it. (At this point, a kind of strange traditional detective-story music starts playing, saxophones, etc.) Andrew's partner runs in when he hears the shot, but Kantos uses The Voice on him to make him drop his own gun, then he tells him there's been a suicide

Partner: "Suicide"

Kantos: Yes. Yours. Hands him Andrew's gun. Right after you killed your partner.

Partner walks to the desk and we hear the gunshot as more of the detective music plays...

Act One

Duncan MacLeod walks into the darkened dojo, carrying a bag. He's clearly just returned. He walks to the center of the floor and looks at the rack that Joe Dawson tied him to in "Something Wicked". He pauses for a moment, and there's a faint discord in the background music as he looks at it, then looks away, as if he doesn't want to be reminded. He moves over to a punching bag and gives it a couple of kicks, half-idle, but also half-angry. He looks around once more, then as he heads for the elevator he feels another immortal. Cut to him lifting the gate at the loft, sword drawn.

Duncan: "Honey, I'm home." He steps out, still ready. "Richie...?" (I wish I could convey the tone of voice here. It's as if he was ready to add something else, then changed his mind. There's also a little bit of a desperate question there.) No answer. "I'm Duncan MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod."

A woman's voice says, "I know," and she steps out of the shadows. Duncan only then recognizes her as Cassandra. He tells her she hasn't changed, but she says he has...

Flashback Scottish Highlands, 1606

Ian MacLeod is talking about a wolf stealing sheep. Says they have to kill it. A young Duncan is listening with a friend of his. One of the men says the wolf comes and goes "like a ghost" from its lair in Donan Wood. Ian says they'll follow it, then, and lay a trap for it. The other men don't like this much, and Ian asks if their afraid of an "overgrown hound." As it turns out, it's not the wolf, but the wood. "Things happen there," says one. "There's been talk of a witch since before my grandmother's time." "Aye," says an old man. "She waits for the one born on the Winter Solstice. She will devour him." Goes on to describe a fearful creature, says she's stealing the sheep. Ian says it's a wolf, and says they'll start tomorrow morning. Duncan comes up and asks to go along, but Ian says no. Duncan and his friend Robert decide to go to the woods themselves right away and try to catch the wolf. They start to set a trap, but a white wolf comes on them and they start to run. Duncan sends Robert back to the village while he tries to hold off the wolf with a stick. Robert runs, and the wolf leaps...

Duncan wakes up on a bed, with a wolf-skin beside him. He gets up and looks around at the interior of the cottage, which has a fire with a cauldron hung over it, and stuff hanging from the rafters. Then he hears a strange, echoing humming from outside and goes out to find a woman bathing in the pool outside. She seems to ignore him while she gets out and puts on her clothes, then she comes towards him. Duncan asks if she's an angel. She says her name is Cassandra. Duncan asks if she's the witch of Donan Woods, and she says that some say that. She tells him his name, and says she knows because "who else was born on the Winter Solstice?" Duncan says the villagers say she's older than the clan and that she's evil and casts spells. She says she might cast spells, but does she look evil? Duncan says no, she looks beautiful. She looks at him, and gently touches his face.

Present Day

Cassandra says it's been a long time, tells Duncan he's changed.

Cassandra: "Your road's been hard, hasn't it?"

Duncan: "A lot's happened in 400 years. But I survived." Asks if she found him by witchcraft.

Cassandra: "Why bother? It's the 20th century. I used a detective agency." Says she needs his help.

Duncan: "Why?"

Cassandra: "Roland Kantos."

Duncan: "One of us?"

Cassandra: "He's more than that. Much more."

Act Two

Duncan and Cassandra are sitting on his car by the shore. Duncan says he went back into the forest a hundred times looking for her, but never found her. Cassandra says she knew he was immortal, and that he would be the one to fulfill "the prophecy." Duncan says he left prophecy behind with the witches and the faeries.

Cassandra: "Listen to me. The prophecy tells of a Highland foundling, born on the Winter Solstice, who passes through darkness into light and survives to challenge the voice of death."

Duncan doesn't buy it, but Cassandra tells him she's waited centuries for the time to be right. Duncan asks if Kantos is part of it, and she says yes, that he's always right behind her. They sense another immie then, and Kantos appears on the rocks above him. Duncan goes to fight him despite Cassandra saying they should leave, that Duncan can't win.

Duncan: "Your confidence is overwhelming."

Kantos tells him he's been looking for him for a long time, that he almost had him at one point except that the witch made sure he was nowhere to be found.

Flashback, Scottish Highlands, 1606

Kantos rides up to the village. Ian is telling Mary that they've searched everywhere. The old man says the witch has Duncan. Robert returns then and tells them about the wood and the wolf, and the men leave to search. Just then Kantos comes up and tells them that he's looking for his lost son, who was taken from him 13 years ago, maybe sold or left as a foundling. Says he'll know him when he sees him. Ian says there are no foundlings in the village. Kantos says he'll find him however long it takes, and rides off.

Mary: "I love Duncan as if he's my own son but you know he's a foundling. What if it's Duncan he seeks?"

Ian: "Duncan's our son. He always will be."

Kantos finds Mary as she's hanging laundry and starts using The Voice to ask her about foundlings. But she swears she knows nothing, and sticks to it despite his efforts.

Mary finally says, truthfully: "Hail Mary, Mother of God. The one you seek is not here."

Kantos goes off.

Duncan is asleep in Cassandra's house. He says he's had a dream of being grown, of leading the clan, and admits that he also saw Cassandra and him together. She kisses him, then a cock crows. Duncan says he must go, but she tells him there's an enemy waiting, that one day he'll have to fight him. Duncan says she really is a witch, and Cassandra responds by reminding him of the story of Connor, telling him that "some stories are true." She hears the voices of the men searching, and says he must go. But as he leaves, she asks him if it was true that he wasn't afraid when the wolf came for him.

Duncan: "No."

Cassandra: "And why not?"

Duncan: "Because good must always triumph over evil. Did you not know that?"

Cassandra tells him he need not worry about the wolf anymore.

Duncan, wondering: "You were the wolf."

He turns and leaves, looking a little dazed. He walks out the door of the cottage and meets his father almost at once. Ian picks him up and hugs him, and as the camera pans around you see nothing but trees where the cottage was. The men return to the village, and after they go the cottage appears again, beside the stone at front with a triple-crescent pattern carved on it in white.

Present Day

Kantos: "So you lived."

Duncan tells him he can, too, if he'll walk away, but Kantos says he can't.

Kantos: "The signs for the prophecy are all in place. You're all that stands in my way. Or don't you believe in signs?"

Duncan: "Oh, I believe in signs. 'Don't litter', 'Don't step on the grass', 'No spitting'..."

Kantos: "I prefer Rest In Peace."

They fight, and Kantos starts using The Voice on Duncan. He tells him he's tired, that his limbs are weak, that he can barely hold up his sword. Duncan staggers and starts to succumb. Kantos pursues him, still talking, until he has him backed to the edge of the rocks. He brings back his sword for the killing blow, and Cassandra screams with that same weird echo and he staggers back. He recovers and swings again, but Duncan is able to sway back out of reach and falls down onto the rocks below. Cassandra helps him back to the car and they drive away. Kantos makes no move to pursue them, and after they go he collapses tiredly on the rocks.

Act Three

Cassandra and Duncan return to the dojo. Cassandra tells him he has a little time, that using the power drains Kantos's strength. Duncan asks what Kantos was using, "and don't tell me magic."

Cassandra: "Call it what you want. The power of suggestion. A trick."

She admits that Kantos was her student, that she taught him the power. She says Kantos tried to kill her once he'd decided she had no more to teach him, and that she won because she was stronger than he was then. But now he's stronger, which is why she needs Duncan. She says so far the prophecy has come true. Duncan asks how much she knew about his future, if she saw about him being disowned, about Tessa, and why didn't she warn him. Cassandra says she only sees glimpses. Duncan asks if she sees his death, and she says, "I see death."

Duncan: "Whose?"

Cassandra: "I don't know."

Downstairs, we see Kantos come into the dojo. When they sense him, Cassandra knows who it is. Duncan wants to stay and fight, but Cassandra uses The Voice to make him come with her. She thinks Kantos has become stronger because he took less time to recover than she'd thought. When Kantos comes up to the dojo, he finds it empty. He looks around a bit, and spots a picture of Duncan and Tessa. He takes it and tears Tessa off, then leaves.

Duncan and Cassandra are standing at a cemetary entrance, and Duncan is not happy that she controlled him. Cassandra says he would have killed him. Duncan says no matter what, they're on holy ground and no one can harm them. Cassandra says no one can escape their fate.

Cassandra: "An evil one will come, to vanquish all before him. Only a Highland child, born on the Winter Solstice, who has seen both darkness and light, can stop him. A child, and a man."

Kantos goes to a police station, and uses The Voice to enlist the help of two cops to help him track down Duncan. He shows them the picture, tells them he's armed and dangerous, and says he'll be hiding in a church or a cemetary. Says they must find Duncan and bring him to Kantos.

Duncan asks Cassandra to teach him the power, but she says she can't, that the gift was always there with Kantos. Duncan asks what he should use then, and she says to use the prophecy. "If you're the man, then who is the child." Duncan turns his head...

...and finds himself back in Cassandra's cottage. His younger self is standing there.

Young Duncan: "Who are you?"

Duncan (smiles a little): "I'm you. You're the child."

Young Duncan: "I'm no child. I'm a chieftain's son." He goes on to say that he will lead the clan into glory and that he will be a great warrior.

Duncan: "Yes, you'll be a great warrior."

Young Duncan: "Why are you here?"

Duncan: "I don't know." (hears Cassandra singing again)...

...back to the cemetary. Duncan asks if Cassandra did that, and she said she helped. She asked him what he saw, and he says he saw "me as the child."

Cassandra: "The child and the man. The prophecy."

We see policeman approach from the street. They get the drop and tell Duncan not to move.He starts to run away, but more cops show up and grab him. Cassandra says Kantos sent them, that he's using them. Duncan gets free and gets one of the guns and makes the others drop theirs. He asks if Cassandra can do anything about this, and she says no and advises him to run, which he does. He goes down an alley with them in pursuit, then is cut off by a police car at the end. He gets hit by the car (very spectacular, I might add. He goes right into the windshield and leaves an impression of his body in the glass. Ouch!) and as he's lying there, stunned, the others come up and cuff him and take him off.

Act Four

---

These are the Eurominutes, faithfully transcribed by Paul.

Policemen pull up in front of a warehouse and drag Mac out of the car and into the building where Kantos is waiting for him.

MacLeod: "Hey Roland, did you miss me?"

The policemen kicks Mac.

Kantos: "Cuff him." He punches Mac in the face. The policemen drag MacLeod to the bars (the ones he talks to the younger version of himself through) and cuff his arm to them. Kantos says, to the policemen: "You've done well, but now it's finished. It's time to forget, you chased a robbery suspect but turned up nothing, saw no-one. There's no-one here, you hear nothing, you see no-one. You never saw this place, you never saw me."

The policemen walk away, continuing the discussion they were having when Kantos took control.

MacLeod: "Officer Wait...Wait!!"

Kantos: "They can't hear you, as far as they know, you don't exist. Soon they'll be right."

MacLeod: "You waited 400 years for this?"

Kantos: "A little ignominious I know, but if it hadn't been for that witch, I'd have got you when you were 13. Something about children, their innocence, their honesty. Gives me the creeps." He goes to walk out. "I'll be back when I'm ready."

MacLeod reaches out to grab him, but Kantos dodges him with a laugh. Kantos walks out but before he leaves he drops the keys to the cuffs in front of MacLeod. MacLeod gets the keys and unlocks the cuffs. He mutters to himself: "Why don't you call Architectural Digest, they could do a spread..."

---

Young Duncan: "Are you a dream?"

Duncan: "No."

Duncan steps closer, and they raise their hands. (I can't tell if they actually touch each other. It doesn't look like it to me, but at the point where it seems they might have there's a sparking noise--no lights, just the noise--and Mysterious Reverberating Sound Effect. It seems that something happened when they tried to touch, but I don't know what.)

Young Duncan: "You're real."

Duncan: "Maybe we both are."

Young Duncan: "Cassandra promised I'd live a long time."

Duncan: "Maybe not too much longer."

Duncan starts to tell him about his future, but the guesses Young Duncan makes, marrying Debra Campbell, asking if he leads the clan to glorious victories, wanting to have sons, makes Duncan realize that he can't explain what will happen to him in terms that will make any sense, that he can't say that every one of Young Duncan's hopes and dreams will be shattered. "You'll see," is all he can say, in the end. He goes and sits down.

Young Duncan: "This other warrior. Are you afraid of him?"

Duncan: "Yes. He has a power I don't possess and I don't know how to defeat him."

Young Duncan: "You will win, because you're good. And good will always win over evil. Did you not know that?"

Duncan: "It's a little more complicated than that."

Young Duncan: "It's never more complicated than that."

Duncan: "It is. He has a magic in his voice. If I listen to him, I'm dead."

Young Duncan: "Then don't listen."

Young Duncan retreats into the shadows, and Duncan sits down again. He picks up the candle and stares at the flame. Then he tips the candle and lets some of the wax spill onto his hand...

Cut to Duncan again. He's balancing down a pipe, looking like he's just goofing around, killing time. Kantos comes in, and he turns to face him.

Duncan: "Finished your beauty sleep?"

Kantos: "No point in rushing it."

Then he swings and Duncan jumps nimbly over loading beds to get away. They fight, and Kantos starts to use his powers again. Duncan begins to weaken, barely resisting Kantos's blows. The fight continues, but Duncan is losing ground. Then, finally, when it seems Kantos is about to win, we get a brief flash from Duncan's point of view. We see Kantos, hear his voice, but it's strangely muffled...Duncan springs up, and slashes him across the stomach. Kantos is astounded and he stares in shock as Duncan just gives him this evil grin and waggles his eyebrows at him. "Impossible," he gasps, then Duncan steps aside and takes his head.

Duncan: "I couldn't hear a word you said."

Duncan pulls the wax out of his ears. The Quickening begins, and the shape of the triple crescent in front of Cassandra's cottage smolders briefly in the wood around Duncan's feet. We see images behind Duncan of Cassandra repeating the prophecy, and of Young Duncan speaking of his dreams and then a replay of Debra's death. Then Duncan's own first death, and his father disowning him. Young Duncan says his piece about good and evil again, then Cassandra saying "A child and a man..."

Tag

Duncan is staring at a lit candle in the loft, remembering Young Duncan's voice telling him about his plans for the future. He snuffs out the candle with his fingers as Cassandra comes up and leans on the back of the sofa.

Cassandra: "What would you have said to him?"

Duncan: "I don't know. Maybe I could have warned him about the life I was going to lead."

Cassandra: "And what could you have said? Don't feel, don't grow, don't live with hope."

Duncan: "Probably not." Duncan says prophecy's filled, "now you leave."

Cassandra: "Well, there is one more thing..."

Goes to him, starts unbuttoning his shirt.

Duncan: "Is this part of the prophecy?"

Cassandra: "No." Slides his shirt off, starts running her hands over his chest. "This is for me." She kisses him, but he reaches up and stops her. "Is something wrong?"

Duncan: "No. Just making sure you were real," He slides her dress off her shoulders. He puts his arms around her as they kiss again, and they turn around as he starts to kiss her neck very slowly... fade to credits.

Next week, "End of Innocence"!!!

Jinjifore

These pages are written by Jinjifore and are translated into HTML and maintained by Ian.

Disclaimer: All the dialogue, characters, situations, and darn near everything else belong to a bunch of fine and talented folks at Rysher Entertainment and Panzer/Davis, and in particular the dialogue belongs to the credited writer of this episode. Me, I just wrote the rest down in my own words, which belong to me, but the episode itself was made by the aforementioned people and is owned by them. This humble synopsis isn't meant to infringe on their rights, and I'm sure as heck not making any money from doing these.

Everything not belonging to Rysher, et al, ©Copyright 1997 by Jinjifore

Feel free to copy and distribute as long as this copyright notice and disclaimer are included, except where local bandwidth laws apply.

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Celtic clip art courtesy of the Celtic Art Web Page.

Last Rev: H71 [ 1 Jul 97 ]