Oops. There's Donna with a baby carriage and it's sure as shootin' got a cute kid inside. And it simply MUST be Richie's son, 'cause ... well, they slept together and everything and Donna really HOPES it's Richie's son. Richie has no objections. Duncan is a little leery of the whole proposition, though. First off, it can't be Richie's son, 'cause Immortals are sterile from the git-go; and even though Richie could maybe give the kid a father-figure, it wouldn't work out because he can't protect Donna and the kid from other Immortals. Just to prove the point, this Immortal Kern who killed Duncan's Lakota girlfriend and her son back in 1872, shows up again and threatens to destroy Richie and his new family.
It's a sad, sad flashback ... with Duncan all happy with his Lakota girlfriend Little Deer and her cute son Kahani, until Kern shows up at Duncan's campsite and brags about killing a bunch of Indians. Duncan rushes back to the Lakota site and finds them all dead. He weeps sincerely, having learned the lesson that a mortal family is too fragile for an Immortal to protect.
Duncan urges Richie to let Donna go her own way. Charlie gets really pissed off that Duncan isn't encouraging Richie to do the right thing and raise the kid. But after Kern goes after Richie, Duncan gets serious and goes after Kern.
It's an interesting battle on a rooftop, with Duncan fighting with a spear. Duncan wins, of course, against a mighty surprised Kern. The Quickening ... uh ... the Quickening ... well, Little Deer and Kahani make a special guest appearance in mid-Quickening, then leave Duncan to his own future. Richie tells Donna to beat it. Donna slaps Richie and leaves. Duncan looks speculatively at a lovely woman walking down the street.
Questions:
1. After Tessa is killed, Duncan tells Richie that he can't do anything for Tessa. Tessa is dead. He can't avenge her death for her because she's dead and you can't do anything for the dead because they're dead. However, when Duncan kills Kern, he seems to be telling Little Deer and Kahani that their deaths have been avenged, and they seem happy about that. Duncan seems rather conflicted about what a person can do for the deceased. Comments?
2. We've got Duncan and Richie acting in a parallel time warp kind of paradigm thingie here. Duncan's girlfriend and her son get whacked by Kern. Over a hundreds years later, Richie's girlfriend and her son are threatened by the same Kern. Since Kern is dead, couldn't Richie now feel comfortable in taking Donna as his lovely bride and raising the kid as his own or must Duncan's experiences be generalized to the Immortal Universe At Large?
3. Any and all comments concerning the complete loveliness of Duncan's entire physicality in the 1872 flashback are welcome. Extra points for mournful couplets concerning Duncan's shorter locks will be awarded. We take note that though Duncan mourned at length over the passing of Little Deer, he did not abbreviate his hairstyle. And we wonder, again, why Duncan will find it necessary to whack his luscious follicular foliage as a sign that he has ended mourning the death of Richie. Why take it out on his hair? Why? WHY?
4. We are glad that Richie did not take Donna as his significant other forever and ever, world without end, amen. Explain why Angie would have been a far finer match for the boy. Keep in mind that Angie did not hit Richie even once, even though he sold her a car that turned into a Smoking Lemon immediately upon leaving the lot.