First Teacher: Duncan MacLeod

Maybe it would have been better for Richie if he'd just stayed out on the road, taking heads, being tough, making a name for himself. Isn't being evil better than being dead? Twice before MacLeod had tried to take his head, and twice before Richie went back to him, forgave him and trusted him with his life once again. The third time there was no chance for forgiveness. Richie Ryan was a good man, a forgiving man -- and maybe I just answered my own question. I think maybe Richie would prefer being dead to being evil. Sure, Richie made mistakes in his life, all good men do -- look at MacLeod -- but he was never evil. He was mixed up, but he was never a killer. But he very easily could have become one, forever. And I think the good heart and the kind soul Richie had would rather die than be corrupted by evil. That was one lesson Richie has MacLeod to thank for -- in the end, what a shame it wasn't a lesson that MacLeod had learned for himself.

A lot of cultures believe that a person's spirit is still alive as long as there's someone alive who still remembers them. Then Richie Ryan is going to live forever, because Duncan MacLeod is never going to forget what he did that day to a man who trusted him beyond all reason, and he's going to have to live with that forever.

Claire Bailey
Paris 20 May 1997