Vad är historien med planeten Zeist vs Earth?

Från Highlander 2 Wikipedia:

On the planet Zeist, a last meeting is held between the members of a rebellion against the rule of General Katana. The rebellion’s leader, Ramirez, chooses "a man of great destiny" from among them — Connor — to carry out a mission against Katana. At this moment, Katana and his troops attack, crushing the rebellion. Katana orders his men to capture Ramirez and Connor alive, and kill the rest of the rebels. The two captives are put on trial by Zeist’s priests, who sentence them to be exiled and reborn on Earth in pursuit of "The Prize." Winning the Prize gives the victor the choice to either grow old and die on Earth, or to return to Zeist. It is worth noting that alternate cuts of the film have these events transpire in Earth's distant past rather than on Zeist. Katana is unsatisfied with their decision, but the sentence is executed, leading to the events of the original 1986 film.

Hur exakt är historien bakom denna "alternativa nedskärningar" - som åtminstone något överensstämmer med den första "Highlander" -filmen - vs Zeist-storylinen som tydligt står i strid med den? Varför valdes den Zeist-version som universellt hatades av fansen?

Jag mår bra med ett out-of-univers svar, men det måste baseras på källor relaterade till franchisen (och especailly H2-film), inte bara spekulationer / gissningar.