A collection of memorable lines spoken by and about Darius during the six seasons of Highlander the Series, and some additional quotes by Adrian Paul and various people involved in the production of Highlander. The episode quotes are grouped chronologically and listed in the order in which they appeared within each episode. Band of Brothers(Season 1. Paris. The present. Grayson confronts his former mentor Darius after killing one of Darius' mortal students.) Darius: Would it please you that much to destroy me? Grayson: Immensely. You could have been one of the greatest rulers in the history of the world. Instead you cower on Holy Ground. Darius: That was fourteen hundred years ago, but for you the world hasn't changed. Grayson: Look outside your cloister. What has changed? The means of destruction only. You're a fool. Darius: Who's next? Grayson: I'm afraid you'll have to guess. Shouldn't be too hard for a man of your... insight... into a person's soul. Darius: It's Paulus, isn't it? Grayson! You believed in me once. Grayson: I didn't change.You did. (Pacific Northwest. The present. Duncan Macleod tells Richie Ryan about the legend of Darius.) DM: Darius was once one of the great generals. Grayson was his second in command. Fifteen hundred years ago Darius could have led his armies across Europe and ruled for a thousand years. But he turned his armies back. Grayson felt betrayed and never forgave him. And Darius, ever since, has tried from Holy Ground to be a peacemaker. RR: Why would he do that? DM: It's only legend. RR: Well, come on, Mac. With you guys, what else is there? DM: The legend has it that Darius killed a holy man at the gates of Paris, the oldest living Immortal at the time. And suddenly he changed. He turned his back on war. (Duncan and Darius meet for the first time in 1815 at the battle of Waterloo in Belgium.) DM: (half-drawing his sword) I'm Duncan MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod. Darius:I'm Darius. You won't need that. (Waterloo. Darius chides Duncan for taking part in mortal wars.) DM: How goes the battle? Darius: Why does that matter to you? Napoleon may lose a campaign. Wellington may win a great victory. But what have they really won or lost? Their reputations? These men have been robbed of their most precious possession... forever. (Pause) You shouldn't be taking part in this tragedy. DM: I was raised a warrior. I choose battles I believe to be just. Darius: Oh, I'm sure. You're quite loyal to your convictions and compatriots. But I wonder what these men think about that, about convictions and compatriotism now? (Paris, 1816. Darius confronts armed men in his church.) Darius: Weapons have no dominion over the souls of men! (Paris, 1816. Darius bids farewell to Duncan as the Scot leaves for America.) Darius: Goodbye, Duncan MacLeod. Peace be with you. (Seacouver, the present. Duncan saves peace activist Victor Paulus from Grayson's assassins.) VP: This is the second time you have saved my life. Why are...who are you? DM: I'm a friend of Darius'. VP: (referring to Duncan's fighting skills) You didn't learn this from Darius! DM: Well, I wasn't much of a student. (Paris, the present. Darius gives Richie advice on women.) Darius: I wasn't always a priest, you know. When I was a young man, the first thing you had to do when introduced to a woman was compliment her father's horse. That....probably doesn't help you much. RR: No, not a whole lot. For Tomorrow We Die(Season 1. Paris. Darius is hearing the "confession" of a woman pretending to be her own daughter.) Woman: My mother doesn't know she's breaking my heart! Darius: Well, it's not a sin for your mother to take your ex-boyfriend. Bad taste, perhaps, but not sin. (Xavier Saint Cloud shows up to confess he has just committed robbery and murder merely to taunt Darius, knowing the priest cannot reveal his secret to the police.) Xavier: So is God as good a business as they say, Darius? Darius: Xavier? Xavier: I'm flattered you remember me. Darius: Why are you here? Xavier: I've come to confess, same as everyone else. "Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned." Darius: I will not hear this. Xavier: You are a priest, and I am a sinner. Isn't that how it goes? Or have your reinvented the position? Darius: Why do this? It means nothing to you. Xavier: Because it means everything to you. Here I am humiliating one of the world's greatest warriors and what does he do? Nothing. God, how I love religion! Darius: I pity you. Xavier: Let's not get maudlin. Are you going to hear my confession or not? I bet you hear MacLeod's all the time. Darius: If I must, yes. Xavier: I've been a very bad boy... (Darius is troubled by Xavier's visit and Duncan notices when he comes over to play chess.) DM: What's the matter? Darius: Sometimes being a Catholic priest is harder than other times. DM: Anything you want to talk about? Darius: Would that I could, my friend. Would that I could. (Duncan and Tessa discussing Darius' views on religion.) Tessa: You said Darius had been a Buddhist and a Hindu. Why is it so important that he now respect this rule about the confessional? DM: Well, you said it--respect. I don't think Darius believes in religion or a set of rules. Tessa: Then what does he believe? DM: Being your brother's keeper. I think Darius, if he has to help mankind, he has to honor their codes. Tessa: Even when they protect a murderer? DM: The courts protect murderers and innocents alike and no one suggests that we destroy them. The Beast Below(Season 1. Paris. Darius serves Duncan tea at the rectory.) DM: This isn't some more of your moss stuff is it? Darius: (shakes head) No, no, no... DM: I don't trust you. Are you sure it's not? Darius: (as Duncan drinks) It's from a mold form. Duncan: (spewing tea everywhere) SSpptthhwwtt! Darius: (all innocence) Would you like some more? Saving Grace(Season 1. Paris. Darius and Duncan are discussing military strategy as Darius works on a model of the battle of Gettysburg.) Darius: Pride doth goest before the fall, and victory to those who hold the high ground. DM: You know, you may be a priest, but you still think like a warrior. (Later in the same conversation.) Darius: War in the abstract is a great intellectual puzzle, but in reality it's all blood and tears. DM: Then why make it into a game? Darius: To deny what I was is to deny what I am? The Hunters(Season 1. Paris. Hugh Fitzcairn and Duncan are drinking Darius' mead on the barge.) Fitz: Brother Darius! He hasn't lost his brewmaster's touch. You know, I still can't imagine an immortal as a priest. I mean, the religion I can understand, but giving up women? Has the man gone completely mad? (After he and Duncan discover Darius' body in the church.) Fitz: The world will be a darker place without you, my friend. (Back on the barge.) Fitz: He was one of the best of us. (Richie's reaction on learning of Darius' death.) RR: I never thought one of the good guys would lose. (Duncan speaks to Tessa about his loss.) Tessa: You don't have to say anything. I just want you to let yourself mourn. DM: I've buried more friends than I can count, Tess. Death is a part of my life. Tessa: Not his death. DM: He was so wise... taught me so much. (Renegade Watcher James Horton congratulates his troops after they have murdered Darius in his church.) Horton: We have won a great victory. We have destroyed a malignant evil that has walked the earth in the form of a man for the last two thousand years. People do not cheer us. People do not even know we exist. But we know the battle we fight. We know the evil we must destroy. I would like to send you back to your homes, your lives. But our work here is not finished. (Duncan's farewell as he commits Darius' ashes to the Seine.) DM: Fifteen hundred years ago, you led an army of barbarians to the gates of Paris. You disbanded your army and spared the city. But you broke a promise to yourself--to march west from the Ural Mountains until you reached the sea. So now, old friend, travel on. Go where you never went... to the sea. I'll miss you. The Watchers(Season Two. Seacouver. Joe Dawson is talking to Duncan just after telling him about the Watchers and the conversation turns to the recent death of Darius.) Joe: Darius? The great general who became a monk? I hope the Immortal who killed him rots in hell. DM: He was killed by a mortal. Joe: How do you know? DM: Because he was beheaded on holy ground. No Immortal would ever break that rule. If you know so damned much about us you'd know that! (Later in the same conversation.) Joe: We would have never hurt Darius. He was one of our great hopes. DM: And why should I believe you? (More of the same conversation. Duncan remains suspicious that the Watchers are guilty of Darius' murder.) Joe: We know there can be only one. It might be you. DM: It should've been Darius. Joe: Not his fate. DM: Fate didn't kill him, you did. (Duncan runs Darius' murderer Horton through the chest with his katana.) DM: For Darius. Pharaoh's Daughter(Season 2. Paris. The character of the Roman general Marcus Constantine was created to try and fill the void left by Darius' death in the series. Many of his lines sound like something Darius might have said.) Marcus: The biggest farce in the making of man's history is the notion that wars are fought to save civilization. I used to make history. Now I try to make sure it survives. I'm an historian, a curator. (Duncan and Marcus are walking by Darius' church.) Marcus: There used to be an Immortal living in that chapel over there--a priest. DM: Darius. I didn't know you knew Darius. Marcus: He was my greatest enemy. (Laughs.) No, we were very good friends. There was a time I found it difficult to forgive him for bringing the Goths to Rome. I couldn't forgive him for destroying everything I loved. (After Duncan is forced to kill the Immortal woman Nefertiri in self-defense.) Marcus: What would Darius say? DM: I don't know. Marcus: I'll tell you. He would say it wasn't your fault. She made it war and you were just fighting with a warrior's instinct. That life always chooses life. They Also Serve(Season 3. Seacouver. Joe Dawson and Darius' former Watcher Ian Bancroft are discussing Rita Luce, a Watcher whom Ian believes has become emotionally involved with her "assignment" Michael Christian. in violation of the rules. Joe suspects Ian has been guilty of the same thing with Darius.) Joe: She was right about Darius, wasn't she? Ian: I don't know what you mean. Joe: Yes you do. You spent thirty years watching the man. You're going to tell me you didn't feel anything after he was killed? Ian: Darius was different. (A series of Darius flashbacks are shown, including the scene from The Hunters where Horton and his men enter the church, followed by the scene where Duncan finds the body.) Ian: We killed him. Joe: No, we didn't kill him. Horton did. No, what you feel for Darius, she feels for Christian. Ian: (angrily) Michael Christian is no Darius. Joe: Maybe Rita thinks he is. The Messenger(Season 5. Seacouver. A mysterious Immortal who falsely calls himself Methos is trying to persuade other Immortals to lay down their swords. He gets between Duncan and his old enemy William Culbraith.) The Messenger: Is this what Darius taught you? Yes, I knew Darius. I know what he tried to do for you... how much he loved you. Would he be proud of this? When Darius asked you to consider peace, you listened... you tried. DM: You're not Darius. The Messenger: I carry the same message. Forgive Us Our Trespasses(Season 5. Paris. Methos finds Duncan in Luxembourg Gardens where Duncan is waiting for Steven Keane, an Immortal who has challenged him over the death of Sean Burns.) Methos: I just came by to watch the perfect Immortal die. DM: I'm not! Methos: Not what? Not the perfect Immortal or not going to die? DM: Go away. Methos: We're none of us perfect, MacLeod. Not you, not me, not even Darius. And sure not your friend Steven Keane. (Tormented by guilt, Duncan goes to Darius' church to unburden himself, addressing his late mentor as if he could still hear and advise him.) DM: I'm so tired of killing. So tired of deciding who to kill. He's a good man, Darius. I don't want to kill him. All he's done is judge me like I've judged others. I'm so tired of the killing! Armageddon(Season 6. Paris. The confessional at Darius' church. Father Robert Beaufort, the mortal priest who took over Darius' parish after his death, is visited by the demon Ahriman, manifesting himself in the form of Kronos. This scene was not aired in the U.S., but was in the Season 6 videos and DVDs). Ahriman/Kronos: Tell me, priest, does the church pray for murderers, too? Do you pray for your sainted Father Darius? Because he was a murderer, you know. And a rapist. And a defiler of holy places. And then one day he became a priest and whitewashed his evil soul. Did that suddenly make it all OK? (Season 6. Paris. Duncan is speaking to Father Robert Beaufort.) DM: Good to see you. It's been too long. Beaufort: Since we lost Darius. I miss those arguments. (Joe and Duncan are talking in Joe's bar in Paris after Duncan's victory over Ahriman.) Joe: You know, you never did tell me how you beat this bastard. What did you have to do? DM: Nothing. (Pause.) There's a thought in the Kabbalah that Armageddon, the ultimate fight between good and evil, will be fought within one soul. Joe: And yours is the soul. That's why you're the champion. DM: Maybe. All I know is that evil exists in all of us, Joe. When we deny that, we give evil power. Ahriman said it himself. His greatest trick was to convince the world that he didn't exist. Well, he does. He exists in all of us. And once I accepted that, I was able to defeat him. Joe: (Shakes his head in amazement.) Armageddon in Darius's church. Some Quotes from Those Involved in the Production of Highlander.(Adrian Paul,, the actor who played Duncan MacLeod, answers a question about Darius in a live AOL chat from June, 1997. This chat used to be archived online but recently I have not been able to locate it). Question by Gwynmarly: The character of Darius died in the first year, yet he remains a strong image as the years have passed. Is that because of the part Darius played in Duncan's life or the impact of the actor who played played the role? Adrian Paul: I think the role of Darius was a very important role in Mac's life. He was very significant in the turning points Mac had during his existence. He was one of Mac's teachers and therefore the impact he had as a character was great, not only to Duncan but also to the audience. Werner Stocker, the actor who played Darius, had a very ethereal quality himself and I think Werner played him very well. (Adrian Paul, speaking of the Season 1 finale episode The Hunters in "The Highlander's Heart: An Interview with Adrian Paul" by Linda Knights, which appeared in Cyberspace Vanguard Magazine, v. 1, issue 6, Oct. 26, 1993. The full text of this interview can be found online in the magazine link above). "That was a very difficult show because we found out two days before we were about to shoot the episode that Werner Stocker, who played Darius, couldn't be there to do the shoot. "I saw a flashback they did there when he dies. They did a flashback of a certain moment when I say 'Is there anything I can do for you? Is there anything you want to talk about?' "And he says 'I wish I could, I wish that I could.' "And to me that moment is probably one of the most touching moments in the show because the actor died a month and a half later. I believe he knew there was something wrong with him, at that stage. For me it was heartrending because I liked Darius very much -- Werner Stocker." (David Abramowitz, Supervising Producer for Season One, Creative Consultant for subsequent seasons, tells about the casting of Darius in the premier issue of Retrovision, in its Season One episode guide entry for Band of Brothers, p.47. For information about Retrovision) see their website. A slightly different version of this anecdote can be found on the Official Highlander Website on a page describing the episode Band of Brothers. David Abramowitz: This episode introduced Darius, a character I loved. Unfortunately, the actor, Werner Stocker, died. What was interesting about this episode is that originally I wanted to make Darius physically repulsive. I wanted him to be very homely, but with a pure soul. Then I got to Paris when they were shooting this episode, and the reason they cast Werner was because the Germans who were putting money into the show at the time didn't want the German character on the show to be ugly. But it was fine, because he had an elegance, presence, and I was happy with the episode. I thought Grayson was an excellent villain. Darius was a forerunner to Methos, which is why we took Methos in a totally different direction. Darius would have played a bigger part in the show, but Werner passed away. (David Abramowitz, speaking at a Highlander Worldwide workshop in held in L.A. in 2005, offered another meaningful insight into the important purpose that Darius served in the series. The entire Mania.com article from which this quote is taken can be found here). David Abramowitz: Darius was the voice of God on the show. And then God died. (Donna Lettow, Script Coordinator for Season 3, Associate Creative Consultant for subsequent seasons, speaking to Carmel MacPherson by phone at Highlander Down Under Conference, Brisbane, 1998. This quote and more can be found at Carmel's site.) Carmel: What is David Abramowitz's influence on the show? Donna: DA is "the Highlander" as far as I am concerned. In my opinion Highlander only started with Band of Brothers. They had 6 head writers in the first 7 shows. DA's first episode that he had complete control over was the first episode with Darius and the whole tone of the show changes then. I think DA is Darius. He has a varied background, he is a very spiritual and loving person--just like Darius. He is the heart of the show! Without David, Highlander may well have ended up just another King Fu show. Carmel: Initially Darius was only going to be in a few episodes? Donna: It was always planned that Darius would die in The Hunters. It was a sad irony that Werner became ill and couldn't film it, and then died soon after. The original plan for Darius was that he would reappear in flashbacks much like Fitzcairn does now. (Gillian Horvath, Associate Creative Consultant, talks about Darius on p.23 of Maureen Russell's book Highlander: the Complete Watcher's Guide (New York: Warner Books, 1998) available in bookstores online and off.) Gillian: Darius was an amazing character. When he joined the show it was the first time that someone started talking about peace. The first time that someone actually examined the premise of whether going out and kicking butt is a heroic thing to do or whether it's a mistake. Werner Stocker brought a lot to that role. |
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