Highlander (film)

:For other uses of the word Highlander, please see: Highlander

Series/Film separation

To newcomers, the most confusing aspect of the franchise are the blatant inconsistencies between the television series and the films. To explain the paradoxes presented, the entire Highlander franchise may be seen as three completely separate storylines, occurring in three separate realities. The three realties thus being:

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• The reality of the first Highlander movie, where Connor McLeod is the Immortal who wins the prize, and thus the last Immortal. Highlander III is a direct successor to Highlander, and establishes that a group of Immortals -- trapped in a cave centuries prior to The Gathering -- escape after MacLeod's fight with Kurgan, and the battle for The Prize begins again.
• The reality of the original cut of Highlander II, where the Immortals were in fact aliens from another planet who were exiled to Earth. The aliens eventually kill each other off, except for Connor MacLeod, who lives into the 21st Century, when another group of aliens comes after him; thus beginning a fight for survival. Highlander II is unconnected in any way to the other films or television series. The Renegade Version attempts to fit more closely with existing continuity (i.e., eliminating all references to aliens); debate still rages over how much it succeeds in this.
• The reality of the Highlander television series and Highlander: Endgame, which incorporates some of the elements of the first Highlander film, but is not a continuation. In this third reality, there are a much larger number of Immortals still living in the 20th century, with The Gathering still ongoing.

The television series is now regarded by most fans to be a separate "universe," in which most of the events of the original film can be used as background, except for the facts that Connor was not the only Immortal left after defeating the Kurgan, and that Duncan is considered the main Immortal most likely to win The Prize, which is referred to by Duncan in the first season as event happening in an unknown future.

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Connor's battle with the Kurgan is therefore simply viewed as an important era in his life, and not a final fight for The Prize. The second movie (and its plots and devices) is not considered part of the series' universe, although the third film fits in without much difficulty. Fans have dubbed Highlanders 1, 2, and 3 as the "Connor Universe," and the Television Series and Highlander: Endgame as the "Duncan Universe."

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