"Shomeret" <JDChronicler@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:1191466221.995005.298420@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Post 4
>
> Duncan had been away from Glenfinnan for two years after he'd been
> cast out for being demonic due to having revived for the first time.
> Duncan was still completely clueless about his Immortal status and the
> Game, but he had heard about Glenfinnan being attacked by Vikings and
> that his father was dying. His mother insists that Duncan claim his
> father's sword and proclaims him DMOTCM no matter what anyone else has
> to say about it. So Duncan takes the sword to avenge his father, who
> had died soon after Duncan's arrival. He intended to kill Kanwulf.
> Duncan tells Joe "I knew he was inhuman. I just didn't know he was
> Immortal."
>
> Duncan felt Kanwulf's buzz, but didn't know what it was. Kanwulf sees
> Duncan's sword and says that he'd killed the bearer of that sword.
> Duncan claims to be his son. Kanwulf seems amused by this. He says
> Duncan doesn't know what he is, or what Kanwulf is. Duncan manages to
> disarm him and run him through. "Send me to Valhalla," says Kanwulf.
> Duncan left him for dead and buried his axe because he figured that if
> there is a Valhalla he wanted Kanwulf to be weaponless there. Duncan
> then returns his father's sword because he'd been banished and still
> believed that he didn't have a right to it, even if his mother thought
> otherwise.
>
> In the present, Rachel tells Duncan that the priest wants to meet him
> at the church. Then she apologizes for her suspicions of Duncan.
> "You were protecting your own," Duncan tells her. "And I made a fool
> of myself doing it,' she answers. "Not in my eyes," Duncan responds
> generously.
>
> When Duncan approaches the church to meet with the priest, he feels a
> buzz and realizes that it must be Kanwulf. He asks Kanwulf how a
> Viking can become a Catholic priest. Kanwulf explains how he assumed
> the priest's identity and tells Duncan that he's looking for his axe.
> He'd hoped the parish burial records would give him a clue. Duncan
> couldn't imagine why an axe could be so valuable. Kanwulf points out
> that Duncan also had rituals--doing things that weren't strictly
> rational because they mean something to him, like returning the
> bracelet to the grave where he buried it. Duncan is extremely
> disapproving of Kanwulf's ritual of the blood eagle. Kanwulf calls it
> an offering to his Gods, and says that the offerings will continue
> until he gets his axe back. "I'll kill you first," says Duncan.
> Kanwulf reminds Duncan that it's holy ground. Duncan leaves in a
> state of homicidal fury.
>
> Back at the inn, Duncan updates Joe, and says he plans to fight
> Kanwulf. Joe asks why Duncan can't just return the axe and walk
> away. "He killed my father!" Duncan tells him leaving no doubt about
> how im****tant this particular Immortal duel is to him.
>
> Duncan re-claims his father's sword. Rachel discovers him taking it
> from the wall. She recites the myth about Duncan coming back from the
> dead to kill Kanwulf. She says that maybe some legends are true.
> Duncan offers her no explanation.
>
> Duncan meets Kanwulf and throws him the axe saying "It's one thing to
> have an axe, and another to keep it." He creates a ring of fire
> around them with the torch he carries and they fight. Duncan's sword
> breaks Kanwulf's axe and Duncan takes his head.
>
> Duncan speaks to Ian MacLeod at his grave saying that it's finally
> finished. Then he returns the sword and says to Rachel that it's
> over. Rachel says she knew he'd be back. She also says that the
> sword belongs in Duncan's hand. Duncan insists that it belongs in
> Glenfinnan. "This is its home." Rachel says that it's also Duncan's
> home and kisses him. But Duncan leaves.
>
> Joe wonders why Duncan doesn't stay Duncan says his presence raises
> too many questions, so he's disappearing. Joe agrees that this is
> what legends are supposed to do.
>
> Questions For Further Study
>
> 1)Duncan tells Joe that his trip to Glenfinnan doesn't concern Joe.
> What does Duncan consider the proper concerns of Watchers? Did he
> believe that any Watcher activity is legitimate at that point?
>
> 2)What does Duncan believe about why his father upholds the arranged
> marriage between Debra and Robert? Why does he accept his father's
> decision?
>
> 3)What does Duncan believe about the Campbell clan and why it's
> im****tant to unite the MacLeods and the Campbells through marriage?
>
> 4) Duncan intervenes over Robert striking Debra, but refuses to fight
> him. Doesn't it occur to Duncan that if Robert hits and shoves Debra
> now, before they're married, that it could get worse over time? Isn't
> he worried that Robert could hurt Debra seriously or even kill her if
> he marries her? Shouldn't he want to defend Debra as he later wanted
> to defend Midori in "The Samurai"?
>
> 5) In "Obsession" when Jill reaches out to Duncan, and then falls to
> her death, was Duncan reminded of what happened to Debra? Was this
> why Duncan was so difficult for Anne to console after Jill died?
>
> 6)Duncan says that he wanted Kanwulf to be weaponless in Valhalla in
> the fb. How much did Duncan know about what the Vikings believed
> about Valhalla at the time? Did Duncan also know about Ragnarok? If
> Duncan thought there would be a Ragnorak, would he fight by Odin's
> side, or let the world be destroyed?
>
> 7)What did Duncan know about the significance of a ring of fire in
> Norse myth when he established one for fighting Kanwulf? Why did
> Duncan consider it appropriate?
>
> 8)Does Duncan think that his father's spirit would approve of him now
> since he's avenged his death?
>
> 9)Duncan leaves his father's sword in Glenfinnan saying it belongs
> there, but does Duncan still feel he has no right to that sword?
>
> I'm leaving for HLWW8 in Vancouver tomorrow, but I'm giving HLCS
> students something to chew on while I'm gone. Happy Homeland while I
> go to HL:TS's original home.
>
> The next time I'm able to post, I'll be doing a lecture on Rachel. I
> know how fond Jette is of this particular character. <sarcasm alert>
Rachel the one is this story, or the Rachel that Conner adopted?
>
> Shomeret
>
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