Methos

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Character
Name: Methos, Adam Pierson, Death
Occupation: watcher
Relationships: Alexa Bond (Season 4), Cassandra
Fandom: Highlander
Other:
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Methos is canonically five thousand years old, and the oldest of the immortals in the Highlander franchise. [1] He has survived to this impressive age by exercising discretion as the better part of valour. When Duncan MacLeod first met him, he was living as Adam Pierson, the Watcher assigned to Methos by the Watcher's council.

Although the character was not introduced until the show's third season, it may be plausibly claimed he is the fandom's longest lasting contribution to wider fandom. A decade after the show's airing, he still appears with some regularity in crossover fanfic, an acknowledged Little Black Dress.

The show sometimes used Methos to extract MacLeod from his difficulties. Given Methos' general policy of not making waves, it is not surprising that Duncan/Methos became the fandom's largest pairing.

Bronze Age Methos

Part of Methos' appeal was the thousand years he spent with the Four Horsemen, laying waste to civilization.

Apologyfic

MacLeod's condemnation of Methos for his genocidal activities was felt, by some fans, to be out of proportion. While there is no statute of limitations on murder, this is meant to apply to humans, and Methos had spent several thousand years since perfectly peaceably. Fic would sometimes make MacLeod realize, one way or another, that Methos had suffered enough, or alternately, that MacLeod simply could not comprehend Methos' lifespan and deeds, and had no right to judge.[2]

Pairings

Examples Works

Notable Fanfiction

  • Still-Heart by Sleeps With Coyotes. Summary: When the memory isn't the only thing that returns from Methos' past, it may not be enough to keep those he cares about alive.
  • Sacred Trust by MacGeorge. Methos-centric D/M novel. From a review by Mary Ellen Curtin: "This isn't a Methos'-past-comes-back-to-bite-him-on-the-ass story, it's about *Darius* past coming back to bite everyone on the ass."[3]
  • Lost Horizon by Sylvia Volk

Vids

Gallery

Archives and Communities

References

  1. ^ Methos was portrayed by actor Peter Wingfield.
  2. ^ In one crossover fic, Methos is brought up on charges of genocide by the Q Continuum, and Jean Luc Picard is asked to pass judgment. Picard ultimately declares a mistrial, on the grounds that no jury of Methos' peers may be assembled, there being no one who can comprehend his lifespan.
  3. ^ Mary Ellen Curtin in CriticalEdge. Review of Lanning Cook's "Sacred Trust", 16 October 2001.(Accessed 19 March 2011)