Torchwood and Highlander: One of *those* speculative fannish questions...

[fajrdrako]

Sort of like, "Which is stronger, the Hulk or Superman?" Hey, I know the answer to that one, not my fault if no one else does.

But I don't know the answer to this one - and you might skip this, if you're unspoiled for Torchwood.

My question was inspired by reading the drabble redwolfoz posted on tw100, Groundwork, the challenge being to have Captain Jack Harkness meet an Immortal from Highlander, teasing with the notion of Jack fighting an Immortal and being beheaded.

My question: Would there be a Quickening? Goodness knows Jack has plenty of life energy - and more to spare. The opposing Immortal - Kronos, say - might be in for the Quickening of all Quickenings.

Or Jack might be. I wouldn't necessarily put my money on the other guy to be the survivor.

Comments

[loreleif.livejournal.com]

Hm. Well, my inclination is to say yes and no - yes, there would possibly be some kind of discharge of energy, but no, I don't think it would be the same as a quickening.

We haven't yet heard of/seen any limits on Jack's immortality - I'm tempted to think that so long as the head and body were left close enough, he'd still regenerate. I don't think all his energy/knowledge would pass on to anyone that killed him.

And his energy's yellow, not blue/white. :)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

So you think the Immortal immortal energy is incompatible with Jack's immortal energy? I think you've convinced me - it's the colour of the energy that is the most convincing detail. And that reasoning keeps Jack as a unique being in any timeline, which I like.

[loreleif.livejournal.com]

Hee! When in doubt, argue colour. ;)

And even if Jack weren't immortal, he'd be pretty unique. *G*

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

even if Jack weren't immortal, he'd be pretty unique.

Oh, definitely! Absolutely extraordinary!

[mzlizzy.livejournal.com]

I don't think there would be a quickening. Jack isn't a HL style immortal. If someone killed him by beheading I'd expect that his head would reattach itself to his neck once they were in close proximity, and eventually heal.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

You're, and it logically follows that - given the situation of his existence, by which, by mandate of Bad Wolf Vortex Energy, Jack must live, I suspect that you could fragment every molecule of his body and he'd just re-form himself. Losing his head would be irrelevant.

Bit of a shock for Kronos!

[sparklebutch.livejournal.com]

Poor Kronos.

On the other hand, poor Jack, once Kronos realises how useful Jack can be, or how intriguing he is.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

It's a wonder there aren't more slave!Jack fics, it really is.

[sparklebutch.livejournal.com]

Not exactly big on TW, but pretty sure HL quickenings are mostly species-related.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Well, yes. Species related. And we don't quite know how their species is related to humankind, do we? In Jack's case, he was a normal human who was changed by the Time Vortex as wielded by the will of a human. (I'm not sure how close that comes to 'magic', but it uses different language.)

My logic. though, was that energy is energy and it makes sense that the energy tranfer in a Quickening would involve "life energy", which is precisely what Jack says he has an excess of. But at the time he said that, Jack didn't know exactly what had happened to change him. Or why.

For fanfic purposes, I find the ideas fun to play with.

[sparklebutch.livejournal.com]

For fanfic purposes is great! For "I'm a geek and can start debates on completely pointless wastes of time" purposes, I must state that not all energy is same energy, that I don't really think immies' energy is "life" energy as much as *time* and *death* energies, plus the backlog of all the other immies killed before... and some extra bits of stuff. Wheeee!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Well, Jack's energy could well be described as 'time' and 'death' energy, and I can't see that his transition from his first (mortal) life, through death, to immortality, was different in any significant way from that of any Immortal in Highlander except that we know exactly who/what caused it, and he doesn't have a sword or Quickenings. Which is a big difference, of course. He's more of a man for fancy guns. He does have the coat, which seems to go with the territory.

And I can't think of any Immortal in Highlander with anything like Jack's level of onscreen sexual energy. (Fanfic is a different matter, as always.)

[sparklebutch.livejournal.com]

*laughs*
*tips hat to your defence of Jack*

I can see his as 'time', not so much as 'death', but it's not like I really know the guy. First death is indeed a big thing for HL immies, but then, they're so big on violent deaths (firsts, lasts, or otherwise).

Just so we're clear - you do know that I don't really have deep feelings on this matter, in either way shape or form, right.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Yes - just as I'm sure you understand that I don't think there are any answers to be found. The canon of the two shows is equally vague about the process that makes the characters immortal, let alone any indication of how the two processes would relate to each other.

On the other hand, we have gorgeous action heroes who can't or don't die. With long coats and a lot of mileage between them. And some sort of physical, biological energy that takes visual form and has vaguely sexual implication.

[sparklebutch.livejournal.com]

I shall nitpick at one point - VAGUELY sexual?! ;)

*laughs*
*hugs*

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Well. Granted, maybe not so vague. Maybe not vague at all. Okay, definitely as un-vague as vague can be. On anybody's measuring stick.

So I can chalk that up to an added Torchwood wavelength.

other crossover possibility

[lauradi7.livejournal.com]

I always thought the basic Highlander concept was absurd (*why* must there only be one?) so I don't have an opinion. You seem to be connected in the fan-fic world, though - how about something with Hazel Tyler (from the original Queer as Folk) & Jackie Tyler? A dynamic duo indeed.

Re: other crossover possibility

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

How, that's an interesting juxtaposition! I absolutely adore Denise Black, so... it's nicely tempting. Good thought.