There Can Be Only One

“There can be only one!”

One what?

One household, nestled within the barren peaks of a Scottish highland?

One set of mountains, high enough to cause the fittest climber to huff and puff?

One set of yellow, undulating hills, set off against blue sky and white clouds?

One lookout tower, highlighted in a sun trying to break through the gloom?

One mysterious castle, where an impossible question is answered?

One meadow,  looking over the loch at a less mysterious castle, indifferent to the works of man?

One flowering plant in the meadow, showing white for visibility, dangling stamen for easy pollination?

Or another one, pink, for bugs with more colorful tastes?

Or a bug’s eye view of a castle, showing, from the bug’s perspective, what’s really important in the world?

But for those of you who are not bugs, even if periodically you bug people, here’s that mysterious castle, named Eilean Donan, where a certain Highlander learned that there could be only one.

Those who have watched the movie Highlander may have caught on.  For those who haven’t, a quick synopsis:

In 1536, Scotsman Connor MacLeod is skewered on a sword in battle with a rival clan. Despite the apparently fatal wound, he survives, leading his clan to believe he’s been possessed by the devil.  They exile him and he wanders, eventually settling as a blacksmith.

He meets a “Spaniard” named Ramírez, who has an explanation for his survival. There is a hidden group of people who are nearly immortal; they can only be killed via decapitation. MacLeod and Ramírez are both within this group.  If one immortal kills another he receives his power, but Ramírez likes MacLeod and rather than killing him, takes him to his home (Eilean Donan) and trains him to fight.  But he warns McLeod, there is a limited number of immortals, and over time they’ll all duel for the ultimate power.  In the end, there can be only one.

The movie shifts forward 400 years to resolve the final battle, it’s up to you to decide if you wish to find out what happens to who.

In the meantime, my quandary for this post is which image to feature – which one might catch the new reader’s eye, which might lure him or her in?  Which, even if it is of lesser quality, can fit its good parts within the short and wide banner crop?  There are several candidates,  but in the world of digital immortality for a featured image, there can be only one.