This movie, continuing the continuity of "Highlander: The Series" and "Highlander: Endgame", takes place in a future world where Earth societies have largely fallen to violence and chaos. Duncan MacLeod and others investigate the Source. In the movie's plot, direct access to the Source is protected by the Guardian, an immortal empowered by magic to have great speed and strength. One immortal succeeds in beheading the Guardian, only to then be forced to take his place after taking his Quickening. Another nearby immortal is corrupted by absorbing part of this Quickening, condemned to have his body continuously decay over the course of his life.