I suspect that when I dive into the fanworks for this show that I'm going to find a lot of stories in which Methos is written as a guilt-ridden woobie
There isn't, in fact, a lot of guilt-ridden Methos. There is instead a lot of Duncan being a judgmental bastard and Methos being a poor misunderstood woobie and Cassandra being vengeful/insane and getting beheaded for her inability to just get over it already. (I did mention HL fandom is occasionally misogynistic, right?) OTOH, there is some really well-written post-Horsemen fic that treats everyone fairly and stays in character.
I don't get the impression that he's sitting around being eaten up with guilt for those days. He just doesn't want to do it again; like he says at one point, it was a phase he went through, and now he's moved on.
Yes, exactly. Being eaten up with guilt forever and ever is just exhausting. He knows better now and doesn't want to be that monster again, and feels that's enough for him--and hopes that'll be enough for Duncan too. (And I think Methos would be the first to understand it might never be enough for Cassandra.)
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There isn't, in fact, a lot of guilt-ridden Methos. There is instead a lot of Duncan being a judgmental bastard and Methos being a poor misunderstood woobie and Cassandra being vengeful/insane and getting beheaded for her inability to just get over it already. (I did mention HL fandom is occasionally misogynistic, right?) OTOH, there is some really well-written post-Horsemen fic that treats everyone fairly and stays in character.
I don't get the impression that he's sitting around being eaten up with guilt for those days. He just doesn't want to do it again; like he says at one point, it was a phase he went through, and now he's moved on.
Yes, exactly. Being eaten up with guilt forever and ever is just exhausting. He knows better now and doesn't want to be that monster again, and feels that's enough for him--and hopes that'll be enough for Duncan too. (And I think Methos would be the first to understand it might never be enough for Cassandra.)