Turns out Lord Byron (yup, the poet)is an Immortal, and a twisted Immortal, at that. The poet is now a rock star with a taste for tempting mortals into activities from which they end up dead and he wakes up from death and laughs as he walks off. Nice guy. Dissipated. A person could get frostbite from his laugh.
Byron and Methos are old friends. Back in 1816 Byron centered a circle of friends who lived a life of drugs and sexual debauchery. There was a goat, you see. And Mary Shelley who wrote of Frankenstein's monster after witnessing the Quickening after Byron whacked another Immortal. Methos had tender feelings for Mary, which he proved by not raping her while she was under the influence of drugs.
In modern times, Byron picks up on Mike, a promising guitarist who is performing at Joe's bar, and bullies him into a short period of hedonistic pleasure-seeking. Mike is no match for Byron's lifestyle, being mortal and all, and he ODs on Byron's drugs. Mac takes this badly and decides that Byron's moral void was, and would continue to be, a danger to any mortal coming within Byron's influence. Against Methos' wishes, Mac seeks Byron out and whacks him. Interesting aerial Quickening.
Questions.
1. Is Methos just a mirror of his surroundings? When he's with Mac, he's relatively sober, modestly introspective, the man of experience. When he's with Kronos & Kompany, he's a murdering thug with a plan. When he's with the Watchers, he's a modest grad student. In Byron's company, he's not only along for the ride, but a willing and eager participant in the debauchery. Does Methos have a soul or is he just a reflection in search of experience?
2. In the case of Claudia Jardine, we see an artist who has to get past her Immortality in order to play the piano again. She has to have death as a threat to access her gift. In the case of Byron, we see an artist who is so tired of life that he must suck the gift of music from others because his own seems to have failed. Comparisons? Is Claudia's refusal to learn the sword a wise one? Does the candle burn brighter for a shorter time? Has Byron's long life cursed his gift?
3. Mac plays judge, jury and executioner again. Trial by combat and Byron lost this one. So soon after his conflict with Steven Keane, so close to being attacked by Ahriman. Is Mac being set up for a fall?
4. Why are Methos and Byron friends? Methos objects to Duncan's intent to whack Byron, but accepts the actual event without visible hostility. Can Duncan get away with anything and everything where Methos is concerned? Why or why not?
5. Byron. Redeeming qualities. Discuss.