Richie meets a beautiful young woman who leads him into the world of haute couture. His youthful jealousy causes him to run afoul of a world-class fashion designer, a deadly Immortal.

A mortal named Pallin Wolf, one of the renegade Watchers who believes the Immortals must be eliminated, lures an Immortal to his house and kills him, getting the advantage by tricking him into a sealed room that is completely dark, then stalking him with night vision goggles. Meanwhile, a Gypsy fortuneteller they meet in a restaurant, Greta, warns Tessa that she is in danger. When Tessa is kidnapped by Wolf, MacLeod returns to Greta, asking for her help. But she's mostly a hustler, and not accustomed to getting actual visions, so the clues she is able to provide are meager. Finally, Mac finds Wolf's house, where Wolf is waiting for him. He meets Wolf in the dark room and all seems hopeless until he remembers a matchbook Greta gave him with her phone number in it. Lighting the matches, he regains the advantage and kills Wolf. However, as Tessa and Richie are heading for the car, a young junkie accosts them for money, and in an act of senseless violence, shoots them both. As Mac mourns,

In 1918 in the Soviet Union, MacLeod promised the Immortal Drakov that he would not fight him, in return for seeing lives spared. Today Drakov, now called Arthur Drake, still operates behind the scenes of international politics, a cruel puppetmaster who is dragging Eastern Europe toward anarchy. Eli Jarmel, an old man whose family was destroyed by Drake, urges MacLeod to recant his promise, while Beth Vaughn, a reporter, puts her life in danger by investigating both Drake and MacLeod.

Richie returns, on the run, turning to MacLeod for help. An Immortal has been following him, refusing to confront him, but committing grisly murders wherever Richie goes. Richie is arrested for the murders. Mac learns that Immortal hunter Martin Hyde is behind the murders: considering the Quickening of a green Immortal like Richie not worth the taking, Hyde has been hounding him in order to drive him to his teacher. MacLeod must clear Richie of the murders and defeat the evil Immortal.

Immortal David Keogh, once an indentured servant, is a noted craftsman with his heart set on marrying his sweetheart, Jill. Unfortunately, Jill does not agree. Although she loved Keogh once, she was unable to handle it when he confided the secret of his Immortality. Now Keogh won't leave her alone and she's coming to MacLeod, whom Keogh respects and might listen to, for help. But Keogh won't listen, convinced that Jill needs him as much as he needs her. In flashback, we see a time in MacLeod's life when he, too, was obsessed with a woman he couldn't have. When Jill is killed in a tragic accident while trying to get way from Keogh, Keogh blames MacLeod and swears vengence.

Recent Immortal Michael Christian has been on an incredible string of luck, taking a number of heads from unarmed and vulnerable opponents, including May-Ling Shen, who taught MacLeod the martial arts in 1780's Mongolia. Christian's Watcher, Rita Luce, has been doing more than just watching, supplying Christian with classified information on the other Immortals and their weaknesses. MacLeod, unaware of Christian, goes on a vision quest to his cabin on Holy Ground -- deliberately leaving his sword behind. The race is on for Joe Dawson to figure out Rita's secret before Christian sets his sights on MacLeod.

Father Bernard has a secret he thought he'd buried 50 years ago at the bottom of the Seine. When Ernest Daimler, the Nazi Major who Bernard killed as a young boy and threw in the river, appears at his church looking not a day older than the day he died, Father Bernard realizes he's like MacLeod. As a child, Bernard watched MacLeod die and revive during a mission for the French Resistance and MacLeod swore him to secrecy. Bernard goes to MacLeod for help. Meanwhile, Anne tells MacLeod that she is pregnant -- by an old friend she sought for comfort after MacLeod's ""death."" MacLeod tries to adjust to the concept of being a father. When Daimler kills Father Bernard and comes after Anne, MacLeod kills Daimler and Anne witnesses what being part of MacLeod's life really means. Unable to deal with the part of herself that wanted to see Daimler die, Anne leaves MacLeod.

The past comes back to haunt Richie when he spies Mark Roszca, the street punk who killed Tessa. Richie is determined to go after Roszca and revenge Tessa's death. Meanwhile, MacLeod is distracted by the return of an old Immortal enemy, Kanis -- a master of hounds who uses his pack of dogs to track and exhaust his prey. This time his prey is Duncan MacLeod.

In 1755, MacLeod made a promise in order to save the life of a young friend. It comes back to haunt him when Kassim, the Immortal to whom he made the promise, demands that MacLeod assassinate the tyrannical dictator of a small Middle Eastern country. When his refusal gets a good man killed and puts Rachel's life in jeopardy, MacLeod is torn between doing what he believes is right and keeping his promise.