Highlander (1992) s04e09 Episode Script

Look, you've never seen terra-cotta figures like these.
I had to bribe half the Central Committee just to pull it off.
You know the rules.
Payment in full before I ship a thing.
And by the way, you can handle customs.
Looking forward, old boy.
Laotian Buddha.
Only two more like it in the whole world.
I'm sure you can appreciate how valuable it is.
Yes.
Can you? Ten thousand English pounds, give or take a fancy weekend at the beach.
Extremely impressive, Mr.
Millay.
I see you accept all major religions without prejudice.
And all the major currencies.
I'm a very tolerant man.
So I've heard.
I also believe that you deal in artifacts of, uh, shall we say, extreme rarity? Oh, for the extremely discreet collector.
I'm only interested in one item-- a bronze statue from Bengal, of the goddess Kali.
The Bengal Kali.
Well, well.
Drink? Then you have seen her.
Is she whole? Is she undamaged? Perfect.
The last time I saw it.
Where is she, then? I'm afraid you're a little late.
A university in the States just bought it.
Now, that is a great pity.
You know that Kali is supremely sacred to the Thugee cult.
Was.
Those murderers died out long ago, old boy.
Not all of us died, old boy.
He is Duncan MacLeod, the Highlander.
Born in 1592, in the Highlands of Scotland, and he is still alive.
He is immortal.
For 400 years, he's been a warrior, a lover, a wanderer, constantly facing other Immortals in combat to the death.
The winner takes his enemy's head and with it, his power.
I am a Watcher, part of a secret society of men and women who observe and record, but never interfere.
We know the truth about Immortals.
In the end, there can be only one.
May it be Duncan MacLeod, the Highlander.
Here we are Born to be kings We're the princes of the universe I am immortal I have inside me blood of kings I have no rival No man can be my equal Take me to the future of your world All these people, just to see a statue from India.
And to donate money.
A good private collection doesn't come cheap.
Something tells me these people can afford it.
Oh, yeah.
Academics, university alumni, one or two foreign ambassadors.
Come on.
You fit right in.
Oh, right.
Yeah, me and the professors.
Duncan.
Hi.
I am glad you decided to make it.
I think we both know who decided.
Shandra Devane, this is Richie Ryan.
- Oh, I'm sorry.
I was expecting someone a little, uh, tweedier, maybe smoking a pipe.
Well, uh, I'll have to work on that.
Come on.
Let's have a look at her.
The Bengal Kali.
Isn't she beautiful? Not exactly my type.
I thought this was supposed to be a mother goddess.
Kali takes on many forms in Hindu mythology.
She is the mother, but she's also the destroyer, the end of time itself.
And she's ours, thanks to you.
All I gave you was a few contacts.
Who finally came through? A dark horse.
One of your contacts actually turned me on to him.
- Martin Millay.
- Millay? Shandra, the guy's one cut above grave robber.
I wasn't exactly crazy about him either, but he swears it was legal.
Oh, yeah.
And I'm sure the word "technically" was used a lot too.
The point is she's here, and she's worth it.
Your Highness.
Greetings, Colonel Ramsey.
He's not a real king, Nigel.
What a farce, bowing and scraping to these savages.
It feels as though my face is falling off.
How long must we be here? Until my new liaison arrives.
There's not a damn thing I can do for Lord Clive until he does.
I hope to God he speaks English.
Well, he is English.
British, anyhow.
Some sort of Scot.
Chai, Colonel? Close enough.
It's meant to cool you, Nigel, stimulate the sweat glands.
My glands do not require stimulation.
Really? Off-ee.
Off-ee.
Off-ee.
Where the devil is that man? Here-ee, here-ee.
Colonel Ramsey, I presume.
I'm Duncan MacLeod.
MacLeod? What the devil are you doing got up in that? Everyone's got up like this, Ramsey.
This is India.
Or do you expect me to scour the country wearing the likes of that? Bloody hell, man! While you work for me, you wear a proper uniform.
I wear what I like.
I might work with you, Ramsey, but I'm not your man.
- And who might you be? - My wife.
Alice.
Apparently, MacLeod is to be posted at the palace with us.
Delighted to have some new blood.
I trust that you'll have some amusing stories for us.
Losing an empire is hardly amusing, Mrs.
Ramsey.
I thought we were gaining one.
That's not exactly the Indian point of view.
I am Kamir, Advisor to His Highness.
He's the one who's going to help us with this Thugee nonsense.
It's hardly nonsense.
I'm Duncan MacLeod.
MacLeod, sahib, have you encountered any of these mysterious Thugees? Only their victims.
But I've heard rumors that there are other killings in other provinces.
India is a land of rumors.
Not all of them are true.
Sensible man, Kamir.
Damn waste of time, that.
Running around the bush chasing shadows.
Really, Nigel.
Where's your sense of adventure? I rather fancy the idea of going native.
Mr.
MacLeod can show us the countryside as it really is.
Unless of course, you think it's too dangerous.
Nonsense! It's all perfectly safe.
No one would dare attack an officer of the Crown, eh? As you say, no one would dare.
Splendid.
You do ride well, Mr.
MacLeod? Alice, if you would.
Gentlemen, good afternoon.
Well, well, well.
You throw a party, and look who turns up.
MacLeod.
Hobnobbing with the upper crust again.
Or could it be that you just can't get India out of your system? Maybe it's a little of both.
I want to introduce you to somebody.
Kamir, this is Richie Ryan and Shandra Devane.
Shandra's responsible for bringing the Kali here.
- With a little luck and a lot of help.
- Kamir doesn't believe in luck.
Karma, luck, destiny.
In the end, I suppose they're all the same.
Kali calls us to her in different ways.
Excuse me.
Are you saying that a statue brought you here? - Actually, it was a swift, smooth 747.
- Oh.
Anyway, the important thing is, the Kali statue has been found and can now take its rightful place.
She already has-- right here, being seen and studied.
Really? How do you study a god? This is no ordinary statue.
Look at her eyes.
See how they look through you right into your soul.
He's right.
Very weird.
Listen, by the way-- Hmm.
Interesting friend you have.
He always was.
Devane.
Not a name you hear every day in Calcutta.
Probably because my father's Irish.
What can I do for you? For me, nothing.
For India.
If you think I'll repatriate the Kali, you're shaking the wrong tree.
Try the official channels.
I have.
They seem to regard it as nothing more than a property.
It's called trade.
And it's perfectly legal.
It is sacrilege.
You should know that.
You're Indian.
You think I sold out on my Indian heritage? I want people to understand the culture.
That's why I brought the Kali here.
And that's why she stays.
You still have time to reconsider.
I already have.
The answer is no.
Sorry.
Am I interrupting? You show great diligence with that.
But there are other ways of using it.
Care to show me? Looks like, a, uh, cross between tai chi and kendo.
And perhaps it is older than both of them.
You don't know? My friend, modern India began over 3,000 years ago.
We were invaded by the Persians, the French, the British.
Empire after empire tried to destroy us, but we are still there.
Must be an amazing place.
It is.
But to really know India, you have to live there, see it, taste it, breathe it.
There is no place in the world like India.
Maybe someday I'll have the time to go.
Mac, you should see this guy with the quarterstaff.
I'm sure he's very good.
Good? The man is incredible.
His moves have moves.
Please, such excessive praise.
I'm hardly worthy of that.
I like the humility, Kamir.
Nah, I don't think so.
Oh, come on, Mac.
It's all in fun.
Come on, MacLeod.
As Richie says, it's all in fun.
Okay.
Only luck has brought me this victory.
Really? In Japan, the move is calleddiashi harai.
Is it really? Really.
See you later, Rich.
See you guys later.
Two hundred years of occupation.
And to think that all we managed to teach the British was how to drink tea.
Then the British Empire wasn't a total waste of time.
At least they brought one thing back with them.
Yes.
As I intend to.
Kamir, the Kali's just been bought.
What makes you think they'd even consider giving it back? Your help.
Shandra's a friend.
And Kali is sacred.
What purpose can she serve here? To teach, enlighten people, help them understand.
The Europeans tried to understand us for centuries.
So they stole a piece here, stole a piece there and filled their museums.
And you think getting the Kali back would make a difference? This Kali is alive.
She is a part of India herself.
MacLeod, you saw us during the British rule.
If anyone can see us with Indian eyes, you can.
You know what life was like under the British.
You underestimate British resolve, MacLeod, and Lord Clive.
If anyone can subdue this country, he can-- Thugees or no Thugees.
Are they really so dangerous? Bad enough.
They're a secret cult of assassins.
They've killed only other Indians so far.
Do they cut their hearts out? - Do they eat them raw? - Alice, don't be absurd.
Actually, they strangle them with a silken cord.
Death by silk? - Mr.
MacLeod, you're giving me goose bumps.
-Rubbish.
Bunch of wog fanatics.
We'll stamp them out in no time! - He's an elegant man.
- You've no idea.
I seem to have a cramp in my leg.
Would you mind terribly? You're not an empire builder.
What brought you to the mysterious East? I came for the food.
Really? I would like to put a little spice in my life.
Higher, please.
India's hardly a boring country.
I wasn't referring to India.
MacLeod, I thought we were going to explore the countryside.
Cramp's all gone.
Isn't it time we pushed on? Your wife was just telling me about her keen interest in spice.
Really? Thought you hated curry.
What is it? A funeral.
What is she doing? Becoming suttee.
'Tis an act of devotion.
Her husband's dead.
She's to join him on the fire.
Burned alive? My God, it's horrible.
It's India.
Life means nothing to these people.
Nothing we can do for her, my dear.
It's her fate.
Fate is what you make it.
MacLeod! Damn the man! - He's mad! What the devil were you thinking of? There's going to be hell to pay over this! I will not be held responsible for your actions! I never thought you would be.
Now that you've saved your little heathen girl from the fire, what am I to tell the prince? Whatever you like.
And don't do that to me again.
Are you all right? - They treated you well? - Why have you done this to me? I saved your life.
They were gonna burn you alive.
It was my choice.
I was to die on his funeral bed, but you shamed me in front of my people, my gods, my dead husband.
How can I live after this? I'm sorry.
You must've loved him very much.
Whether I loved him or not is not important.
If you say that, you could never have been in love.
It was my duty.
It is our way.
Vashti, if something's always done, it does not make it right.
I should've died.
I wanted to die.
No, you wanted to live.
I saw it in your eyes.
It does not matter what I wanted.
My life is over.
No, Vashti.
Perhaps it's just beginning.
We were slaves to them.
Just cattle.
They stole from us with impunity and called it their right, their destiny.
The British left India a long time ago.
But their ghosts remain.
Buying art is not a crime.
No? Looting with guns or looting with money.
What's the difference? A people and its art cannot be separated.
They are one.
You're joking.
You know I'm not.
But you helped me get the piece in the first place.
Not from Martin Millay.
That makes a difference? It does if it was stolen.
Well-- I dreamed about this.
And you want the university to lose it because some guy from Calcutta with a sob story drops by? It's just one piece.
Why stop there? Why not empty out all the museums? The Louvre, the Met.
We'll send them all back.
That's not a bad idea.
The point is the Kali was stolen.
Millay swore it wasn't.
Then let's find out.
Call him.
Find out where he got it from, and I'll check it out.
Do you know what time it is in London right now? You'll save on the rates.
Oh-- Hello.
Is Martin Millay there, please? I see.
I see.
When? Thank you.
He's dead.
They found him in his shop.
Strangled.
Shabash.
Well done, as we say in India.
Must've been quite a world.
India has many worlds, Richie.
From the borders of Sri Lanka up to the Himalayas.
Anything you could imagine, India had it.
India was it, and as the great returns, will be that again.
Good.
Men like us must preserve where we come from, because that is what makes us sane, that is what makes us holy.
Sure.
If you come from somewhere or someone.
You only say this because you don't know who your parents are.
No Immortal does.
We are children and heirs of the time and place that bore us.
So, Mac's got the Highlands.
You've got India.
I've got bowling alleys and fast food joints.
You have much more than that, Richie.
And you will know it when it starts to die before you.
And you will fight for it, even if you are as I am-- the last of your kind.
Come on, now.
Let's go.
Well done.
Shabash.
Give us a moment, would you? Sure.
Did you speak to Miss Devane? Martin Millay was killed.
Ah, the great wheel turns, and the goddess takes her revenge.
Well, maybe you helped her out.
And what if I did? We have a problem.
Why? Because it is primitive, barbaric, or just plain unjustified? The MacLeod I knew was not so quick to judge.
Or was I wrong? There's a full moon out tonight.
They say unusual things can occur in moonlight.
Dhu? You can see without a lamp.
They say it makes you forget yourself.
Your husband too, apparently.
Isn't Ramsey expected back? No.
Not for hours.
There's a fertility rite in the village.
Drums, wild dancing.
God knows what they're doing.
I can feel it in my blood.
Then perhaps you should join them.
I have other duties.
Yes, I'm sure you do, with that little brown tart of yours.
You think I don't know what's happening? Her name is Vashti, and nothing is happening.
Do you think I'm a fool? You're making a good job of it.
Do you want to wake the entire palace? I don't care! I hate all of it! The disease, the dirt, the whole filthy lot of them! Of course you do.
They eat strange foods, have their own gods, and don't have your high moral standards.
Must be very nice knowing you're of a superior race.
At least I'm white.
Get out of my sight, Mrs.
Ramsey, before I do forget myself.
Rite of some kind.
Beggars have bucket loads of them.
- Have mercy.
Show pity to poor man, sahib.
- Get away! What I'll show you is the back of my hand! Get your filthy-- I'll have the East India Company down your necks! I think not, Colonel.
Kamir, what do you think you're about? Appeasing my god, Colonel.
Damn your insolence! No wog is going to teach me a lesson! Of course not, Colonel.
You are the lesson.
See here! I am an officer of the Crown! I shall have you flayed alive! Release me this instant! Who knows, Colonel? Perhaps you'll have a more auspicious birth in your next life.
Was it Martin Millay's wish to die? The nature of Millay's life determined his death.
I was merely an instrument.
Stop hiding in the philosophy.
You took a mortal life.
And you haven't? No, not when someone else's life was not at stake.
The act was just, MacLeod.
No, Kamir.
It was murder.
Millay robbed my people, ripped away their culture.
He was worse than a murderer.
He was destroying their souls.
Look, MacLeod.
I came for your help.
If you want to challenge me, do so, but don't judge me.
I don't get it, Mac.
The guy seems so enlightened about life.
When I talk to him, I feel like I'm talking to some kind of priest.
You were.
He's just not the type that takes confession.
But now you're trying to tell me he's a murderer.
That's right.
- But Millay was a dirtbag.
You said so yourself.
- The Kali was already gone.
- There was no reason to kill him.
- Kamir thought there was.
Kamir thinks he lives under a different set of rules than everybody else-- rules that give him the right to kill.
Maybe they do.
It doesn't work like that.
They thought that in the 12th century when they cut off somebody's hand for stealing a loaf of bread.
Yes, but, Mac, according to them, according to what they believed in, they were right.
We all have the judgment of what is right and what is wrong.
So Kamir made a different call than you did.
Does that make him evil? - No, it doesn't.
- That's what I'm saying, Mac.
He's just trying to save his culture.
To us, the Kali is just a piece of bronze.
But to him, it's India.
It's everything he loves.
I know.
Something's wrong.
They should've been back by now.
Perhaps they were merely delayed.
Ramsey's a British officer.
He doesn't get delayed.
Especially not for pleasure.
You don't like him, do you? I know his kind.
The likes of him destroyed my country, scattered my people.
And yet you fear for his safety.
No, not only his.
If Ramsey is dead, the British will repay in blood.
You kill one of theirs.
They kill 10 of yours.
Are you certain there are no Thugees in the area? As your colonel said, we live in a barbarous and uncivilized land.
One cannot be certain of anything.
Somehow I suspect that your presence here is more welcome than mine.
It displeases you that I've come? No, it would displease me more if you had not.
Is something wrong? It must be hard, cut off from your people.
No harder than it must be for you.
Are you not lonely? At times.
Then why did you refuse the memsahib, Mrs.
Ramsey? - I'm sorry you heard that.
- But she is beautiful.
She is white.
She is English.
She is like you.
No, she is not like me.
She sees nothing but her own vanity, cares for nothing but herself.
She'll not find the beauty in this land.
Not like I have.
You have chosen the right path, Vashti.
You asked to see me? Yes.
Come.
Sit by me.
What were you thinking? About life.
Yours or mine? Both.
Duncan, do you believe in immortality? I-- I mean, of the soul? Reincarnation is a beautiful thought.
Do you think you must live your life correctly in order to become pure? We should try.
But, Vashti, I'm not perfect.
No one is.
Not in one lifetime.
Come.
Is this what you really want? Yes.
Are you certain? I'm certain of many things now.
You're one of them.
Vashti, it is-- It is not even dawn yet.
Come back to bed.
I must go to the temple.
I will come with you.
No.
I must go alone.
Then hurry back.
We have much to discuss.
Duncan, when we first met, you told me I'd never truly been in love.
Aye.
Now I have.
Have you seen Vashti? No, sir.
No! No-- What's happened? Damn you and this bloody land! Where's Ramsey? Dead.
Your precious Indians murdered him, buried him in the dirt.
They strangled him like a dog.
I'm sorry.
Take care of her.
Where are you going? Stay here! Stay here! Kali, Mother Goddess, Protector, Destroyer.
So many forms all in one.
You have come home to me.
MacLeod, I owe so much to you.
Then show it.
Take the Kali, and be on the next plane home.
It's over.
Why couldn't you just take the Kali and leave in peace? Because Shandra Devane is the worst kind of traitor.
To Millay, that statue is just a trade.
To her, it should have been a god.
Kali has judged her, and her punishment is death.
Shandra's not part of your world.
She's part of mine.
Whatever Kali's laws are, she's not subject to them.
I am her law, for I am Kali's priest.
That's why Vashti lost her life.
Vashti! Vash-- Vashti, no! Leave her! Leave her! No.
Vashti.
Vashti.
What have you done? What duty required.
This is merely her mortal body.
Her soul has already left.
You knew? You did this? Vashti came to me, MacLeod, sahib.
It was her wish.
Then it's my wish that you die! Why? Fight me! - Because I helped her? - Aye! She obeyed what was in her heart.
I was in her heart.
She loved me.
I know.
This is because she loved you.
She became a suttee to atone for her actions.
So don't hate yourself, MacLeod, sahib.
Allow us to fulfill her wishes, and let her return to us.
Duncan, do you believe in immortality? I mean, of the soul? Reincarnation is a beautiful thought.
Do you think you must live your life correctly in order to become pure, to move toward perfection? We should try.
But, Vashti, no one is perfect.
Not in one lifetime.
Don't you cheapen her death.
She died for her beliefs, not you.
She believed in me, MacLeod.
I am India.
I am Kali.
You are not a god.
You never were.
Who are you to tell me what I am? I'm an Immortal, like you.
Now take the Kali and leave.
Not while the traitor lives.
Then there's one rule we both live by.
There can be only one.
Very well.
Let our blades decide who is right.
Kali is watching.
All the people that were killed for this thing.
I still don't feel good about him dying.
You're not supposed to.
There was a greatness about him, Mac.
What he said.
What he stood for.
What he wanted for his people.
Richie, Kamir didn't speak for India.
He spoke for himself and a cult that died out over 100 years ago.
I know.
But some of it still felt like the truth.
Some of it was.
When you're immortal, you see kings and dynasties come and go.
Sometimes it's hard to remember that you're not a god.
Kamir thought that he was.
So what are you gonna do with the Kali now? Well, he came to take her home.
That's where she's going.
And here we are We're the princes of the universe Here we belong fighting for survival We've come to be the rulers of your world I am immortal I have inside me blood of kings I have no rival No man can be my equal Take me to the future of your world