That's the thing I didn't get because Amanda was a terrible fighter. She could barely use a sword and lost nearly every fight she had. She only survived because she was smart or she had someone to protect her.

What I heard was that originally they were going to use another female highlander, the one Duncan fought and put up a good fight, but she was such a bad actress that they decided to use Elizabeth Gracen, who, was a fan fave, so they then made her a recurring character.