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itsclydebitches · 5 years ago

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(1/?) I'm curious as to your thoughts: was there a good way to write Ironwood as CRWBY intended him, 'fundamentally good person shows signs of instability and a worrying commitment to the idea that everyone should be willing to make a sacrifice as long as he is, takes this to unacceptable extremes when a great sacrifice is called for'? I've been reading all these posts that actually make it seem like a coherent character arc, and I don't consider myself a 'bootlicker' or someone who

Always happy to explain my thoughts! Though Ironwood’s situation is incredibly complicated and I’m tired as hell right now, so apologies if this attempt at working through things is more than a little messy…

You’re right that Salem herself fundamentally changes the heart of the “well-meaning but ultimately misguided general” setup. Meaning, normally when we see a character like Ironwood, someone military-minded and driven by pragmatism, whoever it is they’re fighting against is us. It’s a war against other humans, or at least another intelligent (and sympathetic) form of life. Ironwood’s attempted archetype here relies heavily on the assumption that he’s taking things too far when there are better, more peaceful options open to him. No, general, don’t nuke all those people even though we’re at war with them because they’re still people. No, general, don’t blow up the alien ship even though you perceive them as a threat because they feel just like we do and I, the protagonist, believe that I can make peace with them. Though RWBY doesn’t have quite that same conflict—everyone agrees that Salem needs to go—it’s nevertheless worth acknowledging that his archetype is built on a history of unsympathetic characters… who are unsympathetic because they’re choosing to harm others for needless reasons. The hardened military general is an antagonist because he takes the violent route either due to greed or a lust for power. He makes sacrifices not because they are truly necessary, but because they’re easier or better for him. He believes that this violence/sacrifice is the only answer when the audience can clearly see another, better route. Think characters like Miles Quaritch from Avatar whose goal is, ultimately, to force a peaceful people out of their home/outright kill them in order to gain access to a natural resource on their world. Even if there is, broadly speaking, a “good” reason for doing this (humanity needs that resource to solve their energy crisis) there’s no confusion that his reasons are far from justified and that he’s taken things way too far. Not only because gaining resources is, you know, not a reason to kill people, but also because Jake Sully, our hero, provides him with alternative routes that he then rejects. These people are peaceful. We can negotiate with them… but Quaritch says no.

So this is, broadly speaking, the archetype Ironwood and Team RWBY are thrust into. He’s the general supposedly taking things too far and they’re the heroes standing in his way. Problem is, RWBY’s enemy isn’t a sympathetic, potential victim. The grimm are literally mindless beasts and Salem is a classic Big Bad. She might have a tragic backstory now, but that hasn’t impacted how we read her as a threat. She isn’t another group of humans we should be making peace with. She’s not an alien race who we just have to extend a hand to. Defeating her—in a literal way—is thus far the only possible route and that undermines the archetype Rooster Teeth wants to chuck Ironwood into. He can’t be the cold-hearted military man choosing violence over peace when peace is simply not an option.

So we have a setup where every single one of Ironwood’s decisions is automatically both sane and justified because there is an immortal grimm queen trying to kill them. And she cannot be reasoned with. Extra security? No duh you want that. Suspicious of others? No shit Beacon fell precisely because it was infiltrated. Making sacrifices? What else is there to do except roll over and let Salem win? The options presented to him were “make sacrifice” or “everyone absolutely dies” so no, in this case the sacrifice is not deemed “unnecessary” and therefore something that we can criticize him for. Ironwood is not fighting a powerful but also potentially sympathetic enemy, inviting a perspective that his actions may be too severe in the face of that threat. Salem isn’t a Darth Vader who is going to turn back to the light when she sees her child. She isn’t a Sauron with a convenient Achille’s heel (as of yet anyway) thereby inviting an easy solution that doesn’t risk too many lives. The grimm are not the Klingons who, if you just take the time to know their culture, you can find common ground with. They and Salem are more akin to the Borg: a relentless, unreachable, immortal force that seeks only to destroy everything. She is RWBY’s devil and thus by default any question along the lines of, “But should Ironwood really have..?” is answered with an emphatic “Yes.” Because the only other option is total annihilation for the entire world, not just the one city you’re worried about. RWBY’s villain is such a massive, unarguable threat that the setup doesn’t allow debate in regards to what’s going “too far.” By having Team RWBY and Oscar parrot those views from other stories they just come off as sounding naive, foolish, and arrogant. Salem is not an enemy that you just need to try really hard to beat in battle. She is currently immortal. She is not someone you just need to talk down. She will annihilate you and laugh while doing it. “Unnecessary sacrifice” only exists in a world where you have a chance of taking another route with success. RWBY hasn’t provided that route yet.

Thus, most military archetypes don’t have to face the level of threat that Ironwood does. In fact, their status as antagonists largely relies on the belief that the threat isn’t severe enough to warrant whatever horrific order they’re giving. Rooster Teeth has written a character based on tropes that do not work within the scenario they’ve set up… and a good chunk of the fandom aren’t critical enough viewers to see the disconnect. They just watch that collection of tropes and characteristics and fill in the blank based on what they know from the rest of popular culture. Like a really messed up Mad Lib. “Ah! I recognize this character! He’s a military man. He’s strict at times. He’s taking control of a situation and achieving that with an army. This is all a Bad Thing and I know that because I’ve seen it a thousand times before in a thousand different stories. The powerful military man is the antagonist and the heroes are the ones who fight for the marginalized!” And thus the viewer is encouraged to prioritize that assumed reading over the actual context of this particular story. Few are willing to admit that “Leaving marginalized people behind because otherwise we will all be slaughtered” is not the same situation as something like “Outright attacking a marginalized people because I want something from them. Or abandoning them because I just don’t care.” They see the basic, surface characteristics and think they know the answer to this story. Team RWBY = good and Ironwood = bad.

That’s only the tip of the problem though. It’s a big problem, but literally every step of the way Rooster Teeth would need to change things if they actually wanted to give Ironwood this arc in a way that made any sense:

They would need to change how they portray Mantle going all the way back to Volume 4 because we knew straight out of the Fall that Mantle has had a lot of problems for a very long time. That’s not all on Ironwood—it’s not possible for it all to be on Ironwood—and thus it’s neither correct nor fair to paint Mantle’s dystopian-like state as his doing, as we saw at the beginning of Volume 7.

They would need to convince us that Ironwood is actually paranoid/being overly cautious, rather than what we actually have which is… completely logical safety measures against everything that has done them in up until now. Everything Ironwood implements is in direct response to something that killed people or felled a school.

The story would need to give Ironwood better solutions that he then rejects. Obviously this is crucial for the leaving Mantle situation. As I’ve said numerous times before, you can’t paint Ironwood as a horrific person for following the only plan they had. “Stay to die” is not a plan. If they wanted him to read as in the wrong for leaving, Team RWBY needed to give him a good reason to stay, one that doesn’t automatically equal everyone dying, especially when Ironwood’s own solution is “save at least some.” However, this also needed to happen in regards to Amity. The fandom keeps pointing out that Ironwood took resources from Mantle, painting it as this cruel and awful thing… without acknowledging the necessity of that. Or that our heroes likewise demanded that he finish. Ruby is equally responsible for taking those resources. Again, if they want to paint Ironwood as unhinged and cruel in his decision, they need to provide him with alternatives: “Hey, general! Why don’t we just use these other resources instead?” “No. They must come from Mantle.” or “Hey, general! We’re just going to let you know that finishing Amity is fundamentally useless because you can’t defeat Salem with a giant army. Maybe stop taking resources now.” “No. I don’t believe you. I’m going to forge ahead with my own plans, ignoring this new information.” Neither of these things happened. We weren’t told that there was another way to build Amity and Ironwood wasn’t told that his plan was flawed… making his decision both necessary and justified, given what he knew. To my mind, Team RWBY is far more responsible for Mantle’s state since they encouraged that drain on the resources while knowing the use of those resources wouldn’t achieve what Ironwood assumed it would. Which, while failing to paint them as heroic, likewise undermines Ironwood’s supposed villainy. Why do we hate him for this again…. when Ruby is doing the exact same thing…?

They would need to have established, all the way back in Volume 2 and onward, a personality that allows for him to go to certain extremes, such as shooting Oscar. I don’t have the energy to dive into this one in great detail right now, but suffice to say the fandom has decided to horrendously miss-characterize Ironwood in an effort to justify an illogical action based on what we know about him. I’ve seen the “He once said he would shoot Qrow!” so often I’m literally astounded by the reach there, but I’m also seeing a lot of “Ironwood has never shown any sympathy towards children!” Which… okay. The absence of interaction is not proof of hatred. Meaning, having watched seven volumes in which Ironwood doesn’t interact with kids only tells us we don’t know how he feels about kids, not that he obviously despises them. A lack of scenes wherein Ironwood expresses his adoration for everyone under the age of twenty is not evidence for dislike, nor more than making a claim like, “Well Ruby obviously hates pears” would be. Why would she hate pears? Because we’ve never once, ever, heard her say that she likes them. She’s never spoken positively about them. Never stood up for them! So clearly they’re her least favorite food. Sound ridiculous? Same situation here. To say nothing of the fact that we do see Ironwood interacting positively with kids, if we define “kids” as “characters significantly younger than him.” We watched him desperately protect large groups of students at Beacon. Stand up for Weiss at the party despite how much that threatened his political situation with Jacques (as seen in Volume 7). Send Yang an expensive new arm purely because he knows what it’s like to lose a limb. The narrative has gone out of its way to demonstrate how kind and compassionate Ironwood is, all of which would need to be changed—if not outright erased—to give us someone capable of shooting Oscar like that.

The fact that the fandom chooses to ignore characterization doesn’t mean it’s not there and that characterization, at its core, fundamentally hinders the “military man goes off the deep end” archetype. Because Ironwood is nothing like his parallels in popular culture. His situation is not one that he can resolve peacefully. He was not given better options that he then rejected. He has never been a cold, manipulative, cruel person. Honestly, if they wanted to write this arc then they needed someone other than James Ironwood living in the world of RWBY. We’d need a different kind of war and a different character introduced all those volumes ago. Because as it is, the story Rooster Teeth wanted to tell simply isn’t a story fit for the Ironwood and the Remnant they created.

#rwby #rwby volume 7 #rwby volume 7 spoilers #mymetas #smallerthanzer0

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msclaritea · 4 years ago

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Upon the Clear Distinction Between Fandom and the Baker Street Irregulars

BY LYNDSAY FAYE

November 30, 2012

In light of the ever-expanding popularity of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries in conjunction with recent adaptations including the Warner Brothers films, the BBC series, and the CBS reimagining, it falls to me to discuss certain disturbing tendencies on the part of new devotees to refer to that venerable institution, the Baker Street Irregulars, as a “fandom” when it is actually a literary society. The youth of the Sherlockian world will be excused for making this dare I say elementary error, since the case for the distinction has not been hitherto laid out. Following the summation of this article, however, fans and traditional Sherlockians alike will have reached a much clearer understanding, and the unfortunate misnomer of referring to the present Irregulars as a “fandom” will doubtless cease and be swiftly forgotten.

(Note: for the purposes of this intellectual exercise, the possibility that the BSI may potentially be a storied and erudite literary society and a happily thriving fandom simultaneously will be ignored. This decision was made in light of the fact that a noun cannot be two things concurrently, the way the Empire State Building is not both a functioning office tower and a tourist destination, and the way Bill Clinton is not both a former president and a saxophone player. Arguments that the BSI is peopled by both cultured readers and by eager fans would only muddy the issue, and therefore will not be entertained here.)

According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word fandom dates from 1903 and is defined simply as “the realm of avid enthusiasts.” Although undoubtedly a positive, even a flattering definition, already we can see that this is an inaccurate way of describing the Baker Street Irregulars, founded in January of 1934 by Doubleday editor Christopher Morley and later permanently established as the premier Sherlockian society by Edgar W. Smith. While the BSI was conceived as a group of congenial, clubbable men who admittedly shared an avid enthusiasm for the Great Detective, no mention whatsoever is made in the definition of fandom of a taste for adult beverages, and the drinking of toasts to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s characters, which is of such import to the group as to be codified in the BSI’s by-laws. As a matter of fact, the words “Sherlock Holmes” appear nowhere in this document, while the words “drunk,” “drink,” “round,” and “toast” occur six times in the brief record. Describing the BSI as a fandom is thus clearly a counterfactual practice, and should be treated as such.

Of note, because the dates could potentially lead to confusion, is the fact that the Irregulars were founded in 1934 in New York City, at very close to the identical time period when the science fiction fandom was forming convivial societies of “avid enthusiasts” in order to discuss space travel, interplanetary colonization, their whip-smart literary contributions, and large-chested alien females. The Futurians, according to Frederik Pohl’s autobiography, were founded in 1934 in New York City; the Scienceers were founded in 1929 in New York City; the Los Angeles Fantasy Society was founded in 1934 in Los Angeles; and the National Fantasy Fan Federation was founded in 1941 in Boston. These societies in no way resembled the BSI, however, for their purpose was to discuss speculative, fictional adventures, while the BSI’s purpose (apart from toasting) was to discuss Sherlock Holmes. The Grand Game, as it’s called, a form of meta-scholarship, bears but scant resemblance to the doings of folk who pen Middle-Earth chronologies and dictionaries of the Klingon language. Those who suggest the BSI is a fandom will also note that, as a literary society, the BSI has always been peopled with thinkers and literary luminaries such as Isaac Asimov, while the Futurians boasted as one of their members Isaac Asimov, who was undoubtedly a different Isaac Asimov to the deservedly admired creative philosopher invested in the Irregulars.

One of the most self-evident differences between the Irregulars and those involved in fandom is the latter’s tendency to memorize an enormous amount of trivia regarding their specific preoccupations, be those preoccupations Battlestar Galactica or fiction featuring anthropomorphized dragons. A member of the Star Trek fandom, for instance, could readily inform an outsider that when Captain Picard was captured by the Cardassians, he insisted despite being cruelly tortured that the number of lights shown to him numbered four; such remarkable displays of knowledge are all too common among fandom enthusiasts. Invested members of the BSI could undoubtedly inform non-Sherlockians that Sherlock Holmes’s ancestors were country squires, that John Watson was an invalided member of the Fifth Northumberland Fusiliers, and that Holmes is on record as having possessed three dressing gowns (blue, purple, and mouse), but as these are matters of historical fact, knowledge of them is much more akin to familiarity with the Gettysburg Address. I say again: do not succumb to lazy terminology and misidentify the BSI as a fandom. The one is concerned with an exceedingly popular series of crime stories, and the other is concerned with pop culture.

The activities of fans vs. traditional Sherlockians are hugely divergent. While fans come together to discuss their favorite sci-fi stories, television shows, and films, Sherlockians confine their conversation (and toasts) exclusively to the sixty stories, referred to as the “canon.” No mention is made of adaptations of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries; indeed, it is safe to say that the BSI as a whole is unaware of such bastardizations of the original writings, if indeed such things as movies and television shows based on the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle exist, which is doubtful. In addition, fandom engages in a pastime termed “cosplay,” defined by Wikipedia as “a type of performance art in which participants don costumes and accessories to represent a specific character or idea.” Such behavior would be anathema to a Baker Street Irregular, some of whom have been photographed dressing in Victorian garb and deerstalker hats.

Denizens of the fandom community fail to confine their “avid enthusiasm” to mere discussion of hobbits and tribbles; they also, as a group, have a marked tendency to collect memorabilia relevant to their favorite characters, spending precious funds in pursuit of items such as action figures and animation cells. A comic book collector would think absolutely nothing of paying triple digits for a prized mint-condition issue of Spider-Man, for example, while my copy of the 1892 issue of the Strand Magazine…no, strike that, I beg your pardon, the comparison is similar but ultimately misleading. Irregulars of my acquaintance have amassed collections of Sherlock Holmes art, Sherlock Holmes books, Sherlock Holmes knickknacks, Sherlock Holmes pins, Sherlock Holmes translations, Sherlock Holmes reference volumes, and Sherlock Holmes talismans such as magnifying glasses or pipes, but as these are clearly objets d’art, they find no equivalency within the realm of fandom.

It is of particular importance to note that fandom participants often write what is termed fanfiction, fictional works featuring their beloved characters in various situations of the fan’s own imagining, defined as “stories about characters or settings written by fans of the original work, rather than by the original creator.” Whenever a writer pens a story about a character created by another author, that tale falls under the umbrella of fanfiction, a practice that the Baker Street Irregulars would find both mystifying and vaguely distasteful. In fact, the mere concept of writing new stories starring characters not belonging to the author would strike dismay into the hearts of the BSI, who very often write and read pastiches featuring Sherlock Holmes and John Watson (a pastiche is defined as “a work of art, literature, film, music, or architecture that openly imitates the work of a previous artist”). As you have already recognized, no doubt, pastiche is entirely different from fanfiction, as fanfiction is specified as being penned by fans, and as I have argued previously, the Baker Street Irregulars are not fans but rather a literary society, and thus are categorically incapable of writing fanfiction. The notion that they could be both we have already dismissed as specious.

One must bear in mind as well the ironclad argument that the BSI was founded in the tradition of the great metropolitan men’s clubs of the 1930s, and thus bears no resemblance whatsoever to fandoms, which are largely concerned with grown men and women wearing tights. I find this line of reasoning particularly compelling, since it is common knowledge that once a group forms around a certain idea, it remains always the identical entity, indistinguishable in its modern incarnation from its origins, free from growth, change, or adaptation. Admittedly the BSI is no longer exclusively for men, but that is an admirable mark of progress and should be considered accordingly. Just as the company Apple Inc. sells small personal circuit boards hand-crafted by the artist Steve Wozniak (keyboard and screen not included), the BSI is emphatically not a fandom. And please stop referring to them by such blatantly fallacious terminology.

Lastly, a word upon the subject of respect for the gentleman who made our literary society possible, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. There are some who take mild offense to those who speak of the BSI as a fandom, but I am not of their number, though it is worth mentioning out of deference that Doyle would certainly be outraged by the term. So beloved a character was Sherlock Holmes to Doyle that he spoke of him always with the soft light of adoration in his eyes and a flush upon his cupid’s cheeks, joy suffusing his features whensoever the subject of his masterful sleuth was raised. Were Doyle to be reanimated and exposed to the neophytes who ignore all discrepancies and insist upon wrongly identifying the BSI as a fandom, his mighty love for his hero would so overwhelm him, and his fury at the misidentification swell into so vast a storm cloud of righteous rage, that he would probably decide to remain alive simply for the pure, unadulterated pleasure he derived from writing the Sherlock Holmes mysteries, and would deliver unto us sixty more cases. And lo, global warming would be reversed, and he would find a cure for herpes.

I trust that this article clears up any remaining confusion regarding the word fandom, and its woeful inexactitude when characterizing the Baker Street Irregulars. I likewise hope I have assured the reader the BSI cannot be both a respected literary society and a fandom, any more than Australia can be both a continent and an island. One earnestly hopes that this will settle the matter for good and all, and we can move on to other, better topics. In the meanwhile, I am going to don my deerstalker and write a story in which Sherlock Holmes fights the Cardassians, that being the sort of activity relevant to my interests. Thank you.

1. Am I wrong or is this a bit rude?

2. Why don’t we hear more stories about how Doyle actually loved Holmes? It’s as though people want the character to be remembered as hated.

Lyndsay Faye is the author of Dust and Shadow and The Gods of Gotham from Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam. She tweets @LyndsayFaye.

@elwinglyre @sarahthecoat @sussexbound @fellshish @artfulkindoforder @johnlockedness @ebaeschnbliah @tjlcisthenewsexy @madzither

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#What the hell #Lyndsay Faye #Fandom vs BSI #Squee vs the REAL #Sherlock Holmes #Arthur Conan Doyle #ACD

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kyrieanne · 5 years ago

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In which I try to convince another person to watch Parks and Rec

In a recent hangout, @elizabethminkel, @imaginarycircus, and I were trying to convince @flourish to watch Parks and Recreation. I made the argument that if they like Star Trek: Voyager they will like Parks & Rec. So Flourish agreed that if I made a post laying out my Parks & Rec is Star Trek Voyager in sitcom form argument, they would move it up on their watch list.

So Flourish, here you go...

KA’S GENERAL ADVICE TO STARTING PARKS & REC

Start with Season 2. You can go back and watch Season 1 later. It’s only 6 episodes and they were still getting the tone for Amy Poehler’s character just right. Starting in Season 2, all of Leslie Knope’s co-workers know she is good at her job no matter how out there they (for good reason) think she is.

Pawnee is a character. Kind of like how the Simpsons have all these secondary and tertiary characters that rotate through — so does Pawnee and the town as a character becomes a damn delight in watching the show. Treat yo’ self to this article on the fabulous murals in Pawnee City Hall. (For the record, my favorite Pawnee citizen is this man:

It’s more serialized than you expect a sitcom to be. You won’t be confused by the story no matter what episode you watch, but the real gold of Parks is watching it as serialized television with real arcs. Assume you’ll want to keep watching once you start.

MEET THE CREW

JANEWAY | Leslie Knope - Leslie Knope is the sitcom version of a young Janeway — kick ass, smart, hardworking, and ambitious. The Leslie you see in Season 7 is probably closer to the Janeway you see when Voyager begins. Both of these stories center on a woman leading, one at the beginning of her career and the other at the pinnacle of it (cause obviously Voyager made Janeway a damn legend). What they have in common all along the way is a literal crew. Janeway is in the wild, Wild West, without the bureaucracy of Star Fleet, and Leslie Knope is navigating the endless bureaucracy of local government. Both are rule followers until the rules fail to make sense; then they are willing to do anything to care for the people under their charge.

CHAKOTAY | Chris Traeger - They’re both in charge of things. They both principled characters who know what they believe. Often, they are both foils for other characters and they always come through.

TUVOK | Donna Meagle - Both bosses. Both totally who they are and if you don’t like it then that’s a you problem.

TOM PARIS | Tom Haverford - Obsessed with pop culture. Flirts. Got something to prove. Their stories veer in different directions, but they start in a similar place.

B’ELANNA TORRES | April Ludgate - Each woman is unique, but they were both young and savvy. Torres struggles with the two halves of who she is (Klingon/Human) and April, over the course of the series, struggles with apathy vs. earnestness. Like how Janeway gives Torres a shot as Chief Engineer, Leslie Knope will never give up on April and the show rewards the viewer with a great female-female mentorship.

DOCTOR | Ron Swanson - Iconic grumps who find people extremely irritating. The Doctor is a bit more naive than Ron, but both evolve into more than they could have ever imagined. The Doctor, like Ron, gets all the best one liners.

SEVEN | Ben Wyatt - He’s a ‘numbers robot’ and she’s Borg. Both begin their character arcs a little traumatized by their pasts and without real human relationships. Overtime, they become emotive, hopeful people who show they care by taking action often at a deep personal expense. (see what Ben Wyatt does in “The Trial of Leslie Knope”)

HARRY KIM | Ann Perkins - A really damn good friend and person, both of them. Both have terrible luck in romantic relationships for most of their respective series.

NEELIX | Andy Dwyer - Andy is funnier than Neelix and Neelix is smarter than Andy, but both have a tendency to drop a piece of wisdom when you least expect it.

JOE CAREY | Jerry Gergich - He’s there! He’s got a family! No one can quite remember his name.

KES | Mark Brendanawicz - Kes goes out as a alien beam of light; Mark will have a similar-ish fate.

SESKA | Tammy 2 - You will love Tammy 2. She is a sex-positive Seska — over everyone’s shit and completely insane.

THE BORG QUEEN | Eagleton - Pawnee’s rival town full of suburban automatons.

KA’S VERY SPECIFIC PITCH TO FLOURISH

First off, there’s that meme - “Be the Leslie Knope of whatever you do.” Janeway is the Leslie Knope of Star Fleet Captain. Trust me on this.

Second, I know you aren’t super into comedies, though you love Brooklyn Nine Nine and The Good Place. But hear me out…

Voyager is a sci-fi drama that is often the red-head step child of the Star Trek franchise because it isn’t dark and political like Deep Space Nine, philosophical like The Next Generation, etc. It had all the hallmarks of Star Trek — adventure, drama, an ethos of hope — etc, but it was also FUN.

Parks is a comedy — I won’t pretend it’s got the angst of a drama, but it is a comedy of IDEAS, a hallmark for any Mike Schur show. Where as The Good Place was about philosophy, Parks is about community. Voyager is about getting home; Parks and Rec is about making the place you call home better. Like Voyager, it takes people who owe nothing to each other and forms a community. Nothing will make you feel FEELINGS like the end of “End of the World” (Season 4, Episode 6) or the end of “The Trial of Leslie Knope” (Season 4, Episode 9), episodes where characters reach dramatic, but quiet life changing moments where they see the world differently than they did before. They change. I think that’s probably what I’m trying to say — Parks and Rec characters change and grow with as much narrative arch as any drama.

Watching that is a damn delight.

KA’S FAVORITE EPISODES BY SEASON

Season 1

“Rock Show” (Episode 6)

Season 2

“Hunting Trip” (Episode 10)

’94 Meetings” (Episode 21)

“Telethon” (Episode 22)

Season 3

“Flu Season” (Episode 2)

“Harvest Festival” (Episode 7)

“April & Andy’s Fancy Party” (Episode 9)

“Road Trip” (Episode 13)

“The Fight” (Episode 14)

Season 4

“The Treaty” (Episode 7)

“Smallest Park” (Episode 8)

“Win, Lose, or Draw” (Episode 22)

Season 5

“Halloween Surprise” (Episode 5)

“Leslie and Ben” (Episode 14)

Season 6

“The Cones of Dunshire” (Episode 9)

“Moving Up” (Episode 21 & 22)

Season 7

“Leslie and Ron” (Episode 4)

“One Last Ride” (Episode 12 & 13)

#parks #star trek voyager

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weerd1 · 5 years ago

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Star Trek DS9 Rewatch Log, Stardate 1908.12: Missions Reviewed, “Return to Grace,” “Sons of Mogh,” “Bar Association,” and “Ascension.”

In “Return to Grace,” Major Kira is on her way to a summit to share intelligence against the Klingons with the new Cardassian government when the freighter captain who is taking her there shows up…and it is Gul Dukat, shamed and demoted having brought his half Bajoran daughter Ziyal back home.

He still smarms quite a bit, but is frustrated trying to get the old freighter he’s captaining to act like a combat ready ship. Kira bonds with Ziyal on the flight however, even if she can’t bring herself to like Dukat. When they arrive at their conference, the Klingons have already attacked and destroyed it, but the Bird of Prey responsible doesn’t see Dukat’s ship as enough of a threat to even destroy. Kira talks Dukat into taking ground defense weapons from the destroyed outpost and mounting them in his ship. They chase down the Bird of Prey and disable it with the new weapons. After a switcheroo with the transporters, Dukat’s gang captures the Klingon ship, abandoning its crew on his freighter which he promptly destroys. Without Cardassian backing though, he can’t bring the war to them with his new ship, so he decides to become an underground fighter after Kira’s example. Kira convinces him to leave Ziyal on DS9 though, and Dukat and his crew go off to harangue the Klingons.

Another episode that feints at Dukat’s redemption, and even teases his romantic feelings toward Kira. It works because the writers never write Kira as gullible enough to believe him. A lot is put in place here that will be picked up later; Dukat’s BoP, Ziyal on DS9 with Kira, and even a certain new Cardassian bridge officer named “Damar,” who I am sure is just a background extra. (Narrator: “He wasn’t.”)

Worf’s brother Kurn comes to DS9 to reunite the “Sons of Mogh.” The happy part of that reunion is short lived however as Kurn, based on Worf’s loss of status at the beginning of the season, is similarly discredited.

He asks for a Klingon ritual where Worf will kill him and in his death, Kurn will regain his honor and can enter Sto-Vo-Kor. Jadzia realizes what they are up to and intervenes just in time to beam Kurn to the infirmary with Worf’s knife in his chest. Needless to say, Sisko is not amused, and they try to find a new way for Kurn to move forward in life.

Kurn takes a job as one of Odo’s deputies, and in spite of early success, allows some criminal schlep to shoot him. Worf then catches him considering suicide. Worf is able to reach out to a family friend in the Empire and with Bashir’s help they wipe Kurn’s memory and change his face allowing him to become the son of Worf’s friend believing he has lost his memory in an accident.

We can all talk about “proud Klingon warriors” but the fact is there is one thing they have always had in common- all the way back to TOS, and all the way forward through Discovery:” Klingons are always drama queens, and none more so than the House of Mogh. This is an effective episode though for showing Worf there are more consequences to his actions than just being stuck on a station. Tony Todd is back, having last been seen as the older Jake Sisko in the exquisite “The Visitor” and is unrecognizable as Kurn versus Jake. One neat thing they do here is demonstrate family resemblance with Kurn’s nose, forehead, and facial hair being just like Worf’s. Then, when he has been altered for his new life, there is a contrasting crest. Worked nicely. Stand by for more Klingon drama soon too!

First though, some Ferengi drama! In “Bar Association” the Bajoran verison of Ramadan is killing business at Quark’s and he decides he has to cut wages. There are some complaints, and Rom hears about this neat little Earth concept called “a union.” He assembles his fellow employees and proposes they form a collective.

Lita is immediately ready to don a Che’ t-shirt, but the other Ferengi are not as eager. Unions are a huge taboo on Ferenginar. Rom is convincing though, and soon there is a union, a list of demands, and a strike! Even O’Brien gets in on it talking about his family’s Union history, while Worf breaks the picket-they have an altercation that lands them in one of Odo’s cells. Worse, Liquidator Brunt with the Ferengi Commerce Authority shows up with two Nausicaan enforcers who initially try to intimidate Rom, but then beat up Quark to get the Union to break.

With his brother wounded, Rom still won’t budge, but then Quark agrees to meet all demands if they make it look to Brunt like the union is gone. Rom agrees, and all is well…except Rom will not go back to work for Quark. He takes a job as one of the station maintenance techs instead.

A cute episode that gets more serious in how Ferngi culture deals with fairness. I’ll avoid any political commentary here, but as I have said before, Star Trek is always relevant. Rom continues coming a long way since just being the “Ferengi Pit Boss,” and they begin to allude to something between him and Lita. According to Memory Alpha, that was supposed to be for just this episode, then the chemistry between Chase Masterson and Max Grodénchik was so good, it influenced where the characters went! And of course, the indomitable Jeffrey Combs is back as Brunt. It always amazes me how subtle a dig the producers through in here with him being the enforcer of Ferengi business values…and having the smallest set of lobes of any male Ferengi we see.

In “Ascension,” Sisko has just finished blessing a married couple as The Emissary when a Bajoran light ship like the one he built comes spilling out of the Wormhole. They beam the lone occupant on board, and it turns out to be a man named Akorem, a famous Bajoran poet who disappeared 200 years earlier.

He has been in the wormhole all this time, and has come to believe that HE is meant to fulfill the role of the Emissary. Sisko is initially happy to pass the role on, but when Akorem begins to preach that Bajor must return to its former caste system to truly find healing after the occupation, that could endanger Bajor’s petition to join the Federation.

When a Vedek kills a monk because he is of too low a caste to be a monk, Sisko challenges Akorem. They fly into the Wormhole to ask the Prophets what’s up. As non linear beings they imply who entered the wormhole first is irrelevant, and Akorem was sent “for the Sisko.” They return Akorem to his own time and Sisko takes his place as Emissary once again. Kira looks up her favorite unfinished poem by Akorem to find the man has now finished it, leaving a message of faith in the prophets.

A great message about not going backward in the name of one person’s interpretation of a religion (because Star Trek is always relevant), this episode builds well taking Sisko from reluctant icon to a man who sees what his duty is in the Bajoran faith. Actually reminds me a little of “Last Temptation of Christ” in that way- seeing the alternate path, but understanding why one must make the sacrifice and play their role. The political ramifications along with the social results are interesting as the “farmer” Shakaar may not be elected to run Bajor again, and poor Kira turns out to be from a line of artists…and she is not particularly artistic.

The episode lets her shine a few times as she struggles with what the right path his for her faith. Not bad at all.

NEXT VOYAGE: In a pitched battle Worf has destroyed a Klingon civilian passenger liner. His trial will show if it was Klingon bloodlust or if he followed his “Rules of Engagement.”

#star trek #star trek: Deep Space Nine #DS9 Rewatch

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musicin68 · 6 years ago

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Totally Disco, Issue #4

Episode 4: The Butcher's Knife Cares Not For The Lamb's Cry

"Make sure you stay out of the tardigrade fields. They're cute but they'll eat you. " - Janet Van Dyne, Ant Man and the Wasp

One of the things I love about Star Trek is how small they make space feel. It's ridiculous, awful, awful science. Space is big. As Douglas Adams so elegantly wrote, "vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big". On any given day in Starfleet they encounter cosmic storms, nebulae, quantum filaments, spatial rifts, tachyon fields, wormholes, dark matter, rogue comets, and today specifically, the gravity well of an O-type star. And it never fails to make me laugh. Hell, a flagship might run into all of these at once. You know where a ship using a faster than light drive that fell out of a "jump" would most realistically end up? Nowhere. As in "the middle of". Because space is horrifically big! Seriously, as a concept, it is nightmare fuel. Of course, that ship would immediately be attacked by Cylons. But that's a given. They look like us now.

Spoilers...

Oooh! Guest staring Michelle Yeoh! Maybe...oh, it's a recording.

Oh god. They ate her. I am not generally sentimental about death. A body is a body. When a person dies the person part is gone, but I'm still so unhappy they killed her at all it just...ugh thank you ever so much for that image, writers.

And then you go and say something like rage glands. Classic Trek ridiculous. Ripper? Eh, I’m sticking with Alice. The tardigrade is definitely a girl. Aaand, oh look, I don't have to learn Security Chef's name. Glad we're back to knocking off crew members. It was getting crowded in here.

Pippin, lighter of torches, must give up everything! What does that mean? What is everything to a Klingon? TNG taught me that as a Klingon, if you don't have honor you don't have anything. So definitely going to have to give up that. House Mókai (yup, that name I remember, diacritic and all) are deceivers (sounds like spies to me) according to L'Rell. Lying is pretty dishonorable, but I imagine she would call it practical. She prefers to work from behind the scenes. I bet she likes keeping her head attached to her neck and getting shit done. My kind of girl.

Sorry, I zoned out there for a moment. Where was I? Right, he's going to have to give up everything... oh. Oh! Why did T'Kuvma start this in the first place? To "Remain Klingon". That’s what they all keep yelling. If that's "everything" to him...Pippin doesn't get to remain Klingon. The spies are going to make him something else and change his face like in Trouble with - Holy shit! Lorca has a tribble. It's on his desk. It's been making cute noises, that now sound strangely like Chekov's gun, for the last two episodes! That is awesome!

Wait. Is this why they redesigned the Klingons? And made me read subtitles? (I know. I don't speak Klingon. What kind of Trekkie am I?!) So I wouldn't recognize the spies when they show up on Discovery's crew manifest? I mean Worf and B'Elanna look different, but are recognizable out of full Klingon TNG/VOG makeup. Romulan Troi and Yar still looked like themselves. Ugh. No! It is, isn't it. That is just...insulting. I'm not even sure I can explain why... If your plot twist is that dependant on shock valve to be enjoyable, it's just...I am hesitant to say "bad", but I'm not watching Momento here. I don't know. I was very excited a paragraph ago and now I am disappointed by the presumed execution of a plot point I am guessing at. Okay, Discovery. Please, prove me wrong. Also, if we're talking about makeup, is L’Rell’s name just a play on L'Oreal?

There are some interesting comparisons set up for us between Michael and Pippin. They both once held positions of respect and leadership in their respective cultures and are now outcasts. Their mentors were both people of conviction and principle and are now dead (in the same conflict no less). They have both been offered a way to regain something they’ve lost. I look forward to seeing how they contrast as the story moves forward.

Parting shots: → 1.There are an awful lot of people telling me that Captain Creepy is a bad man and a questionable leader, at best. Chef tells Michael that Lorca’s only interested in what she can do for him, and by extension everyone around him. Saru says that Michael will fit right in with Lorca when she manipulates him to find out Alice isn't threatening. One more time: THESE ARE NOT GOOD QUALITIES. Give me Georgiou or give me...right you already gave me death. Fuck you, writers. → 2. Role call! Burnham, Saru, Tilly, Stamets, Alice, Lorca, Chef, Georgiou, T'Curse-you-for-killing-her, L'Rell - Bridger of Houses, Kol - Stealer of Ships, Admiral Cornwell (Another woman in charge!), Pippin (only figuratively dead, but I wanna cross off more names). There's a doctor too. Are we all here yet? → 3. I'm just going to hook this thing I don't know what it does or how it works to my engines. That seems like a good idea, right? Then I'm going to beam a creature in with it, turn it on, and see what happens. Even after our sister ship had a horrible accident, killing everyone aboard, while doing something similar - we are undoubtably certain this is the best course of action. God I love Star Trek. → 4. Even hologram Georgiou is a better captain than Lorca.

#st:dsc #random episode ramblings #random Star Trek ramblings #s1e4

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chronotrek · 7 years ago

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758. [MOV] Star Trek (2009)

SCORE:

(4/5 stars)

The year is 2233 and the USS Kelvin has encountered a lightning storm near Klingon space. Coming out of said lightning storm is a massive Romulan mining vessel turned juggernaut world destroyer, the Narada. It immediately opens fire and cripples the Kelvin, demanding that Captain Robau come aboard to discuss terms of surrender with the Romulan captain Nero. Robau knows this is a one-way trip, and passes command to his first officer, George Kirk. Aboard the Narada, Robau is asked about Ambassador Spock, a name he is unfamiliar with, and then asked for the year. Once his answer is given, Nero impales him on a spear and resumes firing on the Kelvin. George Kirk has the ship evacuated while he mans the bridge. Autopilot is broken, so someone has to stay behind and manually fly the ship into the Narada to buy the shuttles time to escape. As George Kirk is flying to his death, his wife Winona gives birth aboard a shuttlecraft. In their final conversation, they pick a name for their child: James Tiberius Kirk. Jim Kirk grows up quite the troublemaker, exemplified in a moment when he steals his stepdad's antique Corvette and drives it right into a quarry.

Meanwhile, sixteen light-years distant, a young Vulcan-Human hybrid named Spock is bullied by classmates who attempt to provoke an emotional response. He's able to keep it together until they insult his mother, which will turn out to pretty much always be his berserk button. His father Sarek consoles him about his internal conflict, and while he suggests fully embracing his Vulcan heritage, tells him that it is a decision only Spock can make. As a young adult, Spock asks his mother Amanda Grayson if she will take it as a personal slight that he is choosing to pursue kolinahr, but she says she will always be proud of him. He is admitted entry into the Vulcan Science Academy, but when the minister gives him a backhanded compliment regarding his human mother as a "disadvantage" to overcome, Spock gives them the Vulcan salute all the way to San Fransisco's Starfleet Academy.

Three years later, Kirk's become a caricature of a pop cultural perception of his serial philandering as he catcalls women on campus and sleeps with an Orion cadet only to learn she's roommates with Uhura, which he uses to then immediately flirt with Uhura as she kicks him out of her dorm. Kirk is retaking the Kobayashi Maru test for the third time (one wonders why they allow retakes) but this time he's altered the program allowing him to defeat the Klingon ships and rescue the crew of the Kobayashi Maru. Kirk is called before a special inquiry where he argues with Commander Spock regarding the purpose of the test, defending himself by saying the test is a cheat because there's no way to win, and he doesn't believe in a no-win scenario. Before the hearing can rule, all cadets are ordered to report to starships as Vulcan has issued a distress call and the fleet is away.

Kirk is not issued a starship due to academic suspension, but McCoy is able to sneak him aboard the Enterprise by giving him a vaccine that will exhibit medical symptoms, allowing him to transport his patient with him. Uhura is assigned to the Farragut, and complains about this assignment to Spock, who agrees to reassign her to the Enterprise. Captain Pike orders the ship to go to warp, and his new backup pilot, Lieutenant Sulu, forgets to take off the "parking brake" (external inertial dampeners), delaying their departure with the rest of the fleet. Pike orders Ensign Chekov to announce the mission over the comm system. When Kirk hears the mission, regarding reports of a lightning storm near the Klingon neutral storm followed by seismic activity on Vulcan, he realizes it's not a natural catastrophe, but that Vulcan is being attacked by the Narada, backed up by a transmission Uhura had heard regarding the destruction of a Klingon fleet at about the time of the lightning storm. After a brief argument regarding Kirk not belonging on the ship, Spock is convinced by his argument and recommends they prepare for battle once they drop out of warp.

The Enterprise drops out of warp into a debris field comprised of the other seven ships that went before it. The Narada is in orbit of Vulcan, deploying a mining laser from a long hanging platform lowered into the atmosphere. The laser is interfering with transporters and communications. The Narada fires on the Enterprise but stops when Nero recognizes the starship. He hails the Enterprise and greets Spock as though he knows him. Like before when he attacked the Narada, he asks Pike to come aboard to negotiate terms of surrender. Both Spock and Kirk advice against it, but Pike sees a tactical advantage in going over and tells Spock he's acting captain now, with Kirk as first officer. Since transporters are not functional, Pike takes a shuttle, and has an away team of Kirk, Sulu, and Chief Engineer Redshirt Olson come along.

When Pike passes by the mining drill, the away team jettison from the shuttle and perform an orbital skydive, flying close enough to the drill to not be detected so they can deactivate the laser at the base platform. Olson is a little amped up from adrenaline and pops his parachute too late, colliding with the platform and getting sucked under the laser. Kirk and Sulu encounter a couple Romulans who pop out from a hatch and engage in ye olde Star Trek fisticuffs. Since Olson had the explosives, they have to improvise and use the Romulans' disruptor rifles to fire on the drill platform.

This shuts down the laser, enabling transport and communications again, but a tunnel has been blasted all the way to the Vulcan core, and Nero launches something called "red matter" into the planet's core. Chekov calculates that the red matter is creating a black hole that will consume Vulcan, and the planet has only minutes left. Spock orders an evacuation of the planet and wants to head down himself to find the Vulcan Council, where his parents will be, since they'll be deep inside a cavern and not receive the evacuation order.

The Narada retracts the drill before Kirk and Sulu can beam off the platform and they're forced to do a skydive, which makes a transport lock harder to do, but Chekov runs to the transporter room and is able to stabilize the transport signal just before Kirk and Sulu would have splattered on the Vulcan ground. Spock beams down and finds the Vulcan Council and his parents and they evacuate to the surface so they can be beamed up, but the ground gives way under Amanda before she can be beamed out and Spock watches her die. The Enterprise leaves orbit as Vulcan is consumed by the black hole at its center. Uhura meets Spock in the turbolift, crying as he is stoic, kissing him (revealing they are in a relationship) and asking what she can do, to which he responds he needs everyone to "continue performing admirably."

Pike is interrogated by Nero, who wants security defense codes for Earth, while Pike demands Nero answer for committing genocide. Nero rants about exacting vengeance upon those responsible for the destruction of Romulus, but Romulus hasn't been destroyed, it's perfectly fine. Nero insists it's happened, because he watched it happen, and if Pike won't be more forthcoming with security codes, he'll shove a Centaurian slug down his throat. You might think that Centaurian slug looks and performs pretty similarly to a Ceti eel, and you'd be correct.

They speculate that the Narada must have come from the future, because its technology and firepower is beyond anything the Romulan Star Empire is known to possess, and the black holes created by the red matter could theoretically allow time travel. Spock notes that any changes made since the Narada entered this timeline in 2233 would have created an entirely new alternate timeline unhindered by TV show canon. Spock wants to take the Enterprise to regroup with the rest of the fleet, but Kirk knows the Nerada is going to Earth next and their only hope of saving Earth is if they pursue immediately. Their argument over the correct course of action leads to Spock kicking Kirk off the bridge, and then off the ship entirely, sending him in an escape pod down to the neighboring ice planet of Delta Vega.

There, Kirk has to run away from not one but two giant monsters pursuing him for a meal, eventually running into an ice cave where a humanoid figure scares the monster away with a torch. He turns around to reveal that he is Spock - the original Leonard Nimoy Spock Prime, aged and grey. In a mind meld, Spock Prime is able to explain what happened. In the future he comes from, he tried to save the galaxy from an unusual supernova that was threatening to consume everything. He was able to obtain "red matter" from Vulcan scientists in order to consume the expanding fireball, but was not quick enough to save Romulus from destruction. Nero blamed him for being too slow to act and attacked his ship, but they both were pulled into the black hole Spock Prime created. Nero arrived first, 25 years ago, while Spock Prime was spat out only a few days ago. Nero was waiting for him, and marooned him on Delta Vega so he could see Vulcan collapsing in the sky.

Spock Prime is dismayed to learn that Spock, not Kirk, is captain, and that they can't stand each other. He knows that Kirk's best destiny is in the captain's chair, and convinces him that he can have Spock relieved of command by proving he has become emotionally compromised by the events, which Spock Prime assures him he is. They head toward a nearby Starfleet outpost staffed by a small alien named Keenser, and Montgomery Scott, who claims to have been abandoned on this rock as punishment for testing transwarp beaming on Admiral Jonathan Archer's beagle, who never rematerialized. Spock Prime happens to know the completed formula to achieve transwarp beaming, which would enable Kirk to return to the Enterprise even as it warps away. Scotty tags along, happy to get off this frozen rock with no sandwiches on it. Kirk tries to get Prime to come with, but he says it's something Kirk has to do on his own, and the younger Spock must not be made aware of Spock Prime.

They get beamed into water reclamation in engineering, Kirk on the ground, and Scotty inside a pipe leading directly to a turbine. Kirk access a control panel to release Scotty before he's chopped into bits, and they're quickly set upon by security, including "Cupcake." Hauled up to the bridge, Kirk refuses to explain how he got back on the ship, and starts needling Spock to provoke an emotional response. Spock shows irritation, but it's only when Kirk says Spock must have felt nothing when his mother died and he never loved her that Spock totally loses it and beats the shit out of Kirk. Realizing his folly, he relieves himself of duty, making Kirk the captain now.

Kirk immediately orders the ship to change course for Earth to stop the Narada. Spock returns to the transporter room, where he lost his mother, and Sarek comes to console him. Spock worries that Nero has filled him with an uncontrollable rage, and Sarek advises him not to try to control it. Sarek years ago told Spock that he married Amanda because it was logical for the Vulcan ambassador to Earth to assimilate, but in truth he confesses he loved her. Spock returns to the bridge as Chekov details a plan to exit warp in the upper atmosphere of Titan to avoid detection from the Narada. Spock agrees with the plan and offers to beam aboard the Narada once they are in range so he can stop their black hole device. Kirk wants to go too to save Captain Pike. Uhura kisses Spock goodbye on the transport pad, and he calls her Nyota, the first name Kirk has been unable to get out of her for 3 years (and official confirmation for the rest of us Trekkies after decades).

Once they're beamed aboard, the Narada begins firing its mining laser at the San Fransisco bay, so all communications and transporters again cease functioning. Kirk and Spock shoot their way through Romulans. One Romulan is stunned so Spock can mind-meld with him and get the location of Pike and the black hole device. They find a small ship called the Jellyfish that chirps to recognize Spock when he comes aboard. Spock suspects Kirk knows more than he's letting on. Spock flies the Jellyfish out of the Narada and warps away to bait it away from Earth, as Nero cannot stand Spock getting away. Kirk meanwhile punches and shoots his way to finding Captain Pike.

Once Spock has gotten sufficient distance from the Earth in his ship, he drops out of warp and turns around for a collision course with the Narada. Nero's lieutenant warns him that if they fire on the Jellyfish they could ignite the red matter contained within, but Nero won't listen. As he opens fire, however, Sulu warps the Enterprise into the fray, phasers intercepting the Narada's weapons. The Jellyfish is on course to collide with the Narada when Scotty beams Spock, Kirk and Pike aboard. The plan works, the red matter igniting when the Jellyfish collides with the Narada, and a black hole opens up to consume the ship. Kirk hails Nero, offering assistance, but Nero would rather see Romulus die a thousand times than swallow his pride, so Kirk instead fires all weapons on the Narada. The Enterprise starts falling into the black hole themselves, even when flying away at warp, but Scotty saves the day by jettisoning the core and detonating it behind them, riding the blast wave to safety.

Back on Earth, Spock runs into Spock Prime, who says there are too few Vulcans left for them to ignore each other. Spock Prime says he didn't come with Kirk because he wanted them to discover their friendship organically, and he's become sentimental in his old age. He advises Spock to stay in Starfleet despite the need for the Vulcan race to rebuild and recolonize, a task Prime is willing to take up. Kirk has received a commission of Captain despite only being a third-year cadet and is granted command of the Enterprise for his actions, relieving Admiral Pike. Like, yeah, what Kirk did was commendable, but you don't just hand him the keys because he saved the day during a staffing crisis. Fast-track him, sure, but maybe let him graduate the Academy first?

NITPICKS

Why does Robau need to order the viewscreen polarized? Why hadn't the bridge crew already done this? It was bright enough to cause immediate discomfort to Robau, wouldn't it have interfered with the bridge crew's duties before this?

After a crewman on the Kelvin reports weapons offline, we see the Kelvin still firing weapons.

Why is the Enterprise being constructed on the planet's surface? It makes no sense. The ship is not built for landing and it increases energy costs exponentially to lift it up to space after completed construction.

I know there are deleted scenes explaining that the Narada was captured by Klingons and the crew held on Rura Penthe for 25 years before escaping, but since those are deleted scenes the film proper is left with a bit of a plot hole of just what it was Nero and crew did for 25 years, the only hint being that they destroyed 47 Klingon ships.

Sulu says he has fencing training, yet carries a space katana. One is a stabbing weapon, one a slashing weapon. Very different forms of combat.

Delta Vega was a planet on the galactic rim in TOS. Nero changed a lot of things when he traveled back in time, but he can't move a planet halfway across the galaxy and park it in Vulcan's backyard.

Supernovae move very slowly compared to any starship since the debris cannot travel faster than the speed of light. Unless this supernova was of Romulus' own star, they should have had years to prepare to deal with it. Also, there's no supernova in the universe that can threaten an entire galaxy. The square-cube law is in effect; as the shockwave expands linearly, its density diminishes exponentially.

The implications of transwarp beaming render the use of starships nearly obsolete. I assume that, since we did not see transwarp beaming in any of the 24th century series, the completed equation developed by Scotty was done sometime after the end of Voyager, since Scotty was still alive and well during that period. It certainly had to have been developed before the destruction of Romulus, which means that they wouldn't have needed the Jellyfish to deliver the red matter if they could just beam a capsule into the supernova to collapse it. This is, of course, assuming red matter is stable enough for teleportation; it may very well not be.

When the mining laser is deployed, we see a shot of fleeing cadets at Starfleet Academy. Where did these cadets come from if they had all deployed with the fleet to Vulcan?

While firing the laser right next to the Golden Gate Bridge makes for an impressive movie visual, wouldn't it make more sense to drill in a dry area? Water would constantly be pouring into the hole which could slow the drilling and impede the launch of red matter to the core.

FAVORITE QUOTES

Robau: You're Captain now, Mister Kirk.

Winona: We can name him after your father. George: Tiberius? Are you kidding me? No, that's the worst. Let's name him after your dad. Let's call him Jim.

Spock: You suggest that I should be completely Vulcan, and yet you married a human. Sarek: As ambassador to Earth, it is my duty to observe and understand human behavior. Marrying your mother was logical.

Minister: It is truly remarkable, Spock, that you have achieved so much, despite your disadvantage. All rise! Spock: If you would clarify, Minister. To what disadvantage are you referring? Minister: Your Human mother. Spock: Council, Ministers, I must decline. Minister: No Vulcan has ever declined admission to this academy. Spock: Then, as I am half-human, your record remains untarnished.

Kirk: So, you're a Cadet, you're studying... what's your focus? Uhura: Xenolinguistics. You have no idea what that means. Kirk: The study of alien languages, morphology, phonology, syntax. It means you've got a talented tongue. Uhura: I'm impressed. For a moment there, I thought you were just a dumb hick who only has sex with farm animals. Kirk: Well, not only.

Pike: Your father was captain of a starship for twelve minutes. He saved eight hundred lives, including your mother's. And yours. I dare you to do better.

McCoy: Space is disease and danger wrapped in darkness and silence. Kirk: Well, I hate to break this to you, but Starfleet operates in space.

Barnett: In academic vernacular, you cheated. Kirk: Let me ask you something, I think we all know the answer to. The test itself is a cheat, isn't it? You programmed it to be unwinnable. Spock: Your argument precludes the possibility of a no-win scenario. Kirk: I don't believe in no-win scenarios.

Kirk: Who was that pointy-eared bastard? McCoy: I don't know, but I like him.

Uhura: And while you were well aware that I am fully qualified desires to serve on the USS Enterprise, I'm assigned to the Farragut? Spock: It was an attempt to avoid the appearance of favoritism. Uhura: No, I'm assigned to the Enterprise. Spock: Yes, I believe you are.

Pike: I'm Captain Christopher Pike. To whom am I speaking. Nero: Hi Christopher, I'm Nero.

Pike: You're blaming the Federation for something that hasn't happened. Nero: It has happened! I watched it happen! I saw it happen! Don't tell me it didn't happen!

Kirk: How do you know my name? Spock Prime: I have been, and always shall be, your friend. Kirk: Wha... oh, look... uh, I don't know you. Spock Prime: I am Spock. Kirk: Bullshit.

McCoy: Permission to speak freely, sir. Spock: I welcome it. McCoy: Do you? Okay, then. Are you out of your Vulcan mind? Are you making the logical choice, sending Kirk away? Probably, but the right one? You know, back home we got a saying, "If you're gonna ride in the Kentucky Derby, you don't leave your prize stallion in the stable." Spock: A curious metaphor, Doctor, as a stallion must first be broken before it can reach its potential.

Scott: I told him that I could not only beam a grapefruit from one planet to the adjacent planet in the same system, which is easy by the way, I could do it with a lifeform. So, I tested it on Admiral Archer's prized beagle. Kirk: Wait, I know that dog. What happened to it? Scott: I'll tell you when it reappears.

Scott: Are you from the future? Kirk: Yeah. He is, I'm not. Scott: Well that's brilliant. Do they still have sandwiches there?

Scott: The notion of transwarp beaming is like, trying to hit a bullet with a smaller bullet whilst wearing a blindfold, riding a horse.

Spock: I feel anger for the one who took mother's life. An anger I cannot control. Sarek: I believe, as she would say, do not try to. You asked me once why I married your mother. I married her because I loved her.

Spock: It appears that you have been keeping important information from me. Kirk: You'll be able to fly this thing, right? Spock: Something tells me I already have.

Nero: I know your face, from Earth's history. James T. Kirk was considered to be a great man. He went on to captain the USS Enterprise, but that was another life. A life I will deprive you of, just like I did your father.

Spock: In the face of extinction, it is only logical I resign my Starfleet commission and help rebuild our race. Spock Prime: And yet, you can be in two places at once. I urge you to remain in Starfleet. I have already located a suitable planet on which to establish a Vulcan colony. Spock, in this case, do yourself a favor. Put aside logic. Do what feels right. Since my customary farewell would appear oddly self-serving, I shall simply say good luck.

Spock Prime: Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Her ongoing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new lifeforms and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before.

#star trek #star trek 2009 #movie #chronotrek #chronological #review #chris pine #zachary quinto #zoe saldana #leonard nimoy #eric bana

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tardisgirlepic · 8 years ago

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Ch. 1: “The Empress of Mars” Analysis Doctor Who S10.9: Fastballs, Mars-Not-Mars, Rassilon References, Etc.

Apologies for getting these 3 chapters for “The Empress of Mars” out after the airing of “The Eaters of Light.” I post first on Archive Of Our Own, which I did before the 10th episode. With photos, it takes more time to post here.

NOTE: TPEW = “The Pyramid at the End of the World” TRODM = “The Return of Doctor Mysterio” THORS = “The Husbands of River Song” CAL = Charlotte Abigail Lux, the little girl from the Library TOS = The Original Series of Star Trek TNG = Star Trek: The Next Generation

Wow, So Much to Say and So Little Time!

It’s going to be impossible to cover all the main points of “The Empress of Mars” because of the huge data dump of subtext. DW has run out of time to tell the story in a slower manner. Even though the subtext has been coming at a fast pace all season, this episode crams more subtext into it than probably any I’ve ever seen. It must have taken Mark Gatiss awhile to figure out how to get all the references into the episode.

These week-to-week analyses are just the start, too, of how I read subtext. The one thing they lack is to place them in the broader context after several weeks and months, seeing how they fit in the subsequent story. For the most part, I don’t have that luxury of doing that here in a weekly format. That’s something for a post mortem, so to speak, after Season 10 is over.

Due to lack of time, I’m going to show only necessary photos.

The previous analysis was really long. My apologies. This analysis will be in multiple chapters.

Big Classic Who Connection

“The Empress of Mars” has a very Classic Who feel to it. It’s clear to me that Mark Gatiss is a fan of the Ice Warriors since this is the second story he’s written with them. His first one was “Cold War,” an 11th Doctor story.

However, the really big Classic Who connection comes at the end with the Alpha Centauri character, shown below. Alpha Centauri is an ambassador, or was, at least, in Classic Who.

The woman, Ysanne Churchman, who voices this character in “The Empress of Mars” is the same person who voiced the original Alpha Centauri in the 3rd Doctor story “The Curse of Peladon.” I had never heard of this character before. But now I’m geeking out with the Classic Who connection of getting the original actress.

Ysanne Churchman was born May 14, 1925, and according to the TARDIS Wikia, she has “voiced Alpha Centauri in the Doctor Who stories The Curse of Peladon, The Monster of Peladon and Empress of Mars, and an Eight Legs in the Doctor Who story Planet of the Spiders.”

Usurpation of a Different Type, Cowardice & Leadership

This story has a lot of themes. And one of them is usurpation. It’s not possession as we’ve seen but the situation where young Captain Catchlove in the British army is blackmailing older Colonel Godsacre with the colonel’s secret. Godsacre is a figurehead of sorts, and at any moment of the captain’s choosing, the captain can take command, and he does.

Interestingly, this theme is connected to another, which is people grappling with cowardice in the face of leadership. The colonel had a crisis of leadership sometime back, which led to his desertion. However, Catchlove fairs no better once he usurps control.

In fact, he is even more of a coward than Godsacre. Even though we see Godsacre run again from leadership once he, the Doctor, and Bill escape the brig, it’s Catchlove who throws Vincey in front of Ice Warror fire to save himself. And a little later, Catchlove takes Queen Iraxxa hostage to save himself again. In fact, he’s planning to desert his men and strand everyone on Mars.

In the end, Godsacre finds redemption when he pledges his life to die bravely in battle.

GODSACRE: God save the Queen. SOLDIERS: God save the Queen! IRAXXA: You will die with honour, with bravery, and in the service of those you swore to protect. GODSACRE: Thank you. You don't know what that means. Thank you. IRAXXA: But not today. In battle, soldier. To die in battle is the way of the warrior. Pledge your allegiance to me and my world, and I will ensure you have the opportunity. GODSACRE: My life and my service are yours. (kneels) To the end. IRAXXA: To the death, my friend. To the death.

It’s a good day to die, a warrior’s hope to die well in battle. While this phrase does come up in TNG with Klingons, like Worf, who is living on the Enterprise, among humans, I first heard this phrase as a child. It comes up in the movie Little Big Man with Dustin Hoffman, a white man who was raised among a group of Cheyenne in the Old West after his parents were killed by another tribe.

I mention this because redemption and dying well have become themes for the 12th Doctor. Dying well is implicit in the whole idea of Norse culture and Ragnarök. And we’ll examine this more in the next chapter.

Anyway, Godsacre and Catchlove aren’t the only ones grappling with leadership in the episode. Iraxxa admonishes Friday, telling him his duty, as an Ice Warrior, is to command.

DOCTOR: His cryogenic cell was damaged. They saved him.

IRAXXA: And made him their pet!

FRIDAY: It was necessary to dissemble, Majesty. I thought only of your resurrection. It was a tactical decision.

IRAXXA: An Ice Warrior's duty is to command!

She doesn’t accept his excuse.

Cowardice & Leadership in a Broader Sense

Cowardice has long been a theme. The Doctor has been running all his life, according to the 10th Doctor in “The Sound of Drums,” ever since he looked into the Untempered Schism at the age of eight. In “Heaven Sent” and “Hell Bent,” we find out he’s been running from himself. He’s scared of the prophecy that he is the Hybrid, who will destroy the universe for love.

GENERAL: All Matrix prophecies concur that this creature will one day stand in the ruins of Gallifrey. It will unravel the Web of Time and destroy a billion billion hearts to heal its own.

Cowardly in Love

As a result, the Doctor knows he is not supposed to fall in love with anyone. Love is a curse, which comes back to the 7th Doctor story “The Curse of Fenric.” He then becomes cowardly in love, too, not telling people how he feels. We saw those results, for example, in River’s outpouring of anguish in THORS.

Cowardice in the Face of Leadership

In “Dark Water,” Danny Pink dies. Later, he has a chance to delete his emotions in the Nethersphere, but he can’t bring himself to do it. In “Death in Heaven,” the 2nd part of the finale to Season 8, Danny becomes a Cyberman with emotions.

He wants Clara to turn off his emotions because he can’t bring himself to do it. He’s a coward here. Yet Danny admonishes the Doctor for the Doctor’s cowardice of not wanting to turn off Danny’s emotions, either, and allowing Clara to do it. Danny is being hypocritical, but then Danny is a mirror of the Doctor.

DOCTOR: Danny, Danny, I need you to tell me. What are the clouds going to do? What is the plan? CYBER-DANNY: How would I know? DOCTOR: You're part of a hive mind now. Presumably that's how you found Clara. Just look. CYBER-DANNY: I can't see much. DOCTOR: Look harder. CYBER-DANNY: Clara, watch this. This is who the Doctor is. Watch the blood-soaked old general in action. I can't see properly, sir, because this needs activating. If you want to know what's coming, you have to switch it on. And didn't all of those beautiful speeches just disappear in the face of a tactical advantage? Sir. DOCTOR: (sighs) I need to know. I need to know. CYBER-DANNY: (sotto) Yes. (normal) Yes, you do. CLARA: Give me the screwdriver. DOCTOR: No. CLARA: Just do it, Doctor. Do as you are told. (The Doctor meets Cyber-Danny's gaze then gives Clara the sonic screwdriver.) CYBER-DANNY: Typical officer. Got to keep those hands clean.

In the end, it’s the women who step up. Clara turns off Danny’s emotions, and Bill, to help stop a slaughter, confronts Iraxxa in an irreverent way that even the Doctor wouldn’t or couldn’t consider.

Fear & Usurpation

Has the Doctor been usurped because of his fear when he was blind?

Interestingly, the Master talks about his own fear in the 10th Doctor episode “The Sound of Drums.”

MASTER: The Time Lords only resurrected me because they knew I'd be the perfect warrior for a

[Underpass]

MASTER [OC]: Time War. I was there when the

[Cabinet room]

MASTER: Dalek Emperor took control of the Cruciform. I saw it. I ran. I ran so far. Made myself human so they would never find me, because I was so scared.

Turning human is a form of usurpation of a sort, where the human part takes full control of the Doctor’s body. In “Human Nature” and “The Family of Blood,” we saw how different the Doctor was when he was human. He did things he would never do as a Time Lord, like having children beaten or sending them into battle.

Both the Master and Doctor turned themselves human out of fear. Is this how all the problems started? There is subtext in “The Empress of Mars” that suggests, not for the first time, that events are all the Doctor’s fault. We’ll look at this in the next chapter.

Imperialism: Another Type of Exploitation

Exploitation of beings is one of the main themes in Season 10 within different types of governments, economic systems, and government actions. We’ve seen it in a totalitarian government in “The Lie of the Land.” Before that, we’ve seen capitalism gone amok in multiple episodes. And now imperialism rears its ugly head in “The Empress of Mars.”

According to Wikipedia:

Imperialism is an action that involves a country (usually an empire or kingdom) extending its power by the acquisition of territories. It may also include the exploitation of these territories, an action that is linked to colonialism. Colonialism is generally regarded as an expression of imperialism.

It is different from New Imperialism, as the term imperialism is usually applied to the colonization of the Americas between the 15th and 19th centuries, as opposed to the expansion of Western Powers (and Japan) during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. However, both are examples of imperialism.

Since exploitation of groups of people, racism, and species-ism are heavily referenced, especially this season, I expect this has to be at the heart of the story with the Doctor. It comes back to the question: why is Caecilius a slave in Pompeii to begin with? Is it because he is a Janus of sorts but turned himself human? The Janus could also possibly relate to Missy and the Master, where Missy represents the future and the Master the past.

Imperialism, Robinson Crusoe, Friday & Daniel Defoe

Robinson Crusoe, a 1719 novel by Englishman Daniel Defoe, is important to look at since Friday, the Ice Warrior, is specifically mentioned as being named for the character in the book.

In the novel, Robinson Crusoe is an Englishman whose father wants him to study law. Initially, Crusoe is committed to obeying, but he eventually capitulates to the temptation of the sea and embarks on a ship with a friend. They nearly die in a storm. On his second voyage, Moorish pirates seize the ship, and Crusoe gets enslaved. Later, he and a slave boy break free, and Crusoe sells the slave boy.

Years later, he gets involved in the slave trade when he joins an expedition to bring slaves from Africa, but he gets shipwrecked in a storm, along with 3 animals. He reads the Bible and becomes religious, so here is another religious conversion event, similar to the Doctor going through the Great Work.

Wikipedia says

More years pass and Crusoe discovers native cannibals, who occasionally visit the island to kill and eat prisoners. At first he plans to kill them for committing an abomination but later realizes he has no right to do so, as the cannibals do not knowingly commit a crime. He dreams of obtaining one or two servants by freeing some prisoners; when a prisoner escapes, Crusoe helps him, naming his new companion "Friday" after the day of the week he appeared. Crusoe then teaches him English and converts him to Christianity.

Friday, too, wants to eat the people they kill, but Crusoe forbids it. Crusoe spends 28 years marooned, the last 4 with his servant, Friday, according to Wikipedia, “on a remote tropical desert island near Trinidad, encountering cannibals, captives, and mutineers, before ultimately being rescued. The story has since been thought to be based on the life of Alexander Selkirk, a Scottish castaway who lived for four years on a Pacific island called "Más a Tierra", now part of Chile, which was renamed Robinson Crusoe Island in 1966, but various literary sources have also been suggested.”

The expression "Man Friday," comes from the novel and describes a male personal assistant or servant, especially one who is particularly competent or loyal. "Girl Friday" is the female equivalent. (Nardole is, at times, playing the Doctor’s Man Friday.)

It’s the interpretations of the novel that I find very important because they symbolize themes, especially in Season 10. It’s James Joyce’s that I find particularly interesting. According to Wikipedia:

Novelist James Joyce noted that the true symbol of the British Empire is Robinson Crusoe, to whom he ascribed stereotypical and somewhat hostile English racial characteristics: "He is the true prototype of the British colonist. ... The whole Anglo-Saxon spirit in Crusoe: the manly independence, the unconscious cruelty, the persistence, the slow yet efficient intelligence, the sexual apathy, the calculating taciturnity." In a sense Crusoe attempts to replicate his society on the island. This is achieved through the use of European technology, agriculture and even a rudimentary political hierarchy. Several times in the novel Crusoe refers to himself as the "king" of the island, whilst the captain describes him as the "governor" to the mutineers. At the very end of the novel the island is explicitly referred to as a "colony". The idealised master-servant relationship Defoe depicts between Crusoe and Friday can also be seen in terms of cultural imperialism. Crusoe represents the "enlightened" European whilst Friday is the "savage" who can only be redeemed from his barbarous way of life through assimilation into Crusoe's culture. Nonetheless Defoe also takes the opportunity to criticise the historic Spanish conquest of South America.

According to Wikipedia, Defoe’s “most successful poem, The True-Born Englishman (1701), defended the [King of England William III, who was Dutch-born] against the perceived xenophobia of his enemies, satirising the English claim to racial purity.”

Interestingly, racism was not overt in “The Empress of Mars,” and at least from what we saw, there was tolerance of both Vincey and Bill, at least race-wise. We did see sexism, which added realism for the time period. On top of that, Vincey had a picture of Alice, the white woman he wanted to marry. So I found the message of human toleration hopeful from the start, except for Godsacre’s initial reaction to the Doctor. Most likely, there’s more going on here with the Doctor than what it appears.

Instead of racism, species-ism is a problem with both the humans and the Ice Warriors. The humans have made Friday a servant, just like Robinson Crusoe did, and they want to claim another planet as their own. On the other hand, Iraxxa calls humans pink things and worms.

I see this episode as hopeful in the end, where the 2 sides show tolerance and cooperation, overcoming whatever prejudices they have to live, work, and die together.

While the themes are sound, we can’t trust the setting.

They’re in the Library Matrix

From the start, the Matrix makes its presence known. Things aren’t happening the way they appear.

NASA

At the beginning of the episode, the shot of NASA looks very digitized, so we know right away this is in the Matrix. Also, there’s a reflection line (red arrow) to tell us this isn’t real.

Inside NASA, there’s another reflection line (red arrow). Also, there are at least 3 types of computers (yellow arrows) in the mission control room. While I’m not an expert on working at NASA, I’ve been in a similar environment. The computers would most likely all be the same in this type of environment. Maintaining multiple types of computers (one is a laptop) costs more money and can create potential problems.

Doctor Fades into the Clockwork

Interestingly, right at the end of the NASA scene, the Doctor smiles at the “God Save the Queen” message, which seems odd once again. Then, a mist of sorts starts to superimpose itself over the Doctor, and the color mutes before he starts to fade into the clockwork, as shown in the image below. He becomes part of the machinery.

Mars Is Not Mars

We know the Doctor, Bill, and Nardole can’t be on Mars for multiple reasons. The Doctor while on Mars said, “Mind you, there's a lot here that doesn't make sense.” So true! These are just a few of the problems:

Martian Gravity

Since Mars has a lot less mass than Earth, the surface gravity on Mars, according to NASA, is only 37.5% of the surface gravity on Earth. Therefore, if you weigh 100 pounds on Earth, you would weigh only 37.5 pounds on Mars. The moon’s mass is about 1/6 of Earth, so 100 pounds on Earth weighs only 16.7 pounds on the moon.

While people on Mars wouldn’t be bouncing as much as on the moon when they walked, there would still be a noticeable difference in how people moved.

Martian Oxygen

To prove there was oxygen on the Mars-not-Mars, there was a fire. That didn’t preclude any harmful elements or compounds, though. Nardole, the Doctor, and Bill could still have died when they took off their helmets.

On Earth, our atmosphere is mostly made of nitrogen, 78%, while oxygen accounts for about 21% Argon, carbon dioxide, and smaller amounts of other gases make up the rest.

On Mars, according to the Universe Today, the atmosphere is composed of 96% carbon dioxide, 1.93% argon and 1.89% nitrogen along with traces of oxygen and water. The atmosphere is not breathable without a spacesuit or an artificial environment. Even if the Ice Warriors had created an artificial environment, that doesn’t account for the gravity issues, unless this is a spaceship with artificial gravity.

There’s also less atmospheric pressure on Mars.

It’s interesting that oxygen is once again a subject and that there would be a lack thereof. I’m betting “Oxygen” will be referenced again in at least one subsequent episode.

Spacesuits Are Fake

The helmets wouldn’t have helped anyway because the spacesuits are the 2-piece variety. Therefore, they can’t be airtight the way they should be. There’s no way the steam punk spacesuits of the Victorians are airtight. I do love the ear horns. Nice touch. Why does Catchlove’s helmet have all those viewing holes? How many eyes does he have?

Helmet Lights

Most of the time, we can see 4 lights in the helmets, a sign they are in the Library. A few times, we can see 5, which is a weapon of mass destruction. This episode is very much foreshadowing the Doctor’s fate, which we’ll examine in the subtext references.

Martian Ice Cap Obscuring “God Save the Queen”

There’s no way the Martian ice cap wasn’t there in Victorian times. Therefore, the whole “God Save the Queen” message couldn’t possibly be written the way it appears.

Pitching Fastballs: Astounding Number of Internal & External References

Wow, there are an astounding number of internal and external references in the subtext! On the whole, “The Empress of Mars” possibly has more internal and external references to movies, TV shows, books, short stories, songs, British terminology, mythology, and other DW episodes than any other episode so far that I’ve seen in DW. Also, I believe Season 10 has more of these internal and external references than any other season of DW.

“The Empress of Mars” is a great example of fastballs: the copious subtext references that we have to deal with in one week before the next episode airs. Because I had to look up most of the references, it’s taken time just to understand all of this before I get to write anything, which cut into my writing time. There are several references to Classic Who episodes, but I only had seen a few of them before this episode.

On top of this, some of the external references are actually indirect allusions to other DW episodes. So there is a big bowl of spaghetti to look at.

“The Empress of Mars,” The Princess of Mars & Star Wars

Right from the start, the title of the episode, “The Empress of Mars,” is an external reference to a classic science fantasy novel A Princess of Mars by American author Edgar Rice Burroughs. It’s the first book of his Barsoom series.

The Princess of Mars and the Barsoom series is what Star Wars is based on. In 2012, Disney put out the John Carter movie but horribly marketed it. Many people didn’t realize this John Carter story started it all. The original story really is remarkable given Burroughs wrote it in 1912.

The Doctor even made a reference, too, to Star Wars, when he said, “I have a bad feeling about this.” That quote is said in every Star Wars movie at least once.

Here’s what StarWars.com has to say about Burroughs’ story The Princess of Mars and subsequent books and the John Carter film.

John Carter is a film directed by Pixar alum Andrew Stanton that follows Civil War veteran John Carter on his astounding trip to the planet Barsoom, which we know as Mars. There he meets a princess leading a rebellion, fights against an evil empire, and meets a variety of strange aliens on a desert wasteland of a planet, gets powers far beyond the abilities of normal men, and encounters a strange religion. There are times where he’s captured, thrown into an arena to fight bizarre monsters, and other times where he’s forced to rescue a princess.

It sounds like I could be talking about Star Wars just as easily as John Carter. And since John Carter came out in 2012, you might be thinking, “No! You’ve got it the other way around! John Carter was influenced by Star Wars.”

But you’d be surprised.

Here’s a quote from George Lucas in a 1977 issue of Science Fiction Review: “Originally, I wanted to make a Flash Gordon movie, with all the trimmings, but I couldn’t obtain all the rights. So I began researching and found where [Flash Gordon creator] Alex Raymond got his idea: The works of Edgar Rice Burroughs, especially his John Carter series of books.”

We examined many chapters ago how the Doctor was going to be involved in a rebellion. We’ve seen the evil empire in “The Lie of the Land.” Also, we’ve even seen much of the rest of it, including a strange religion – the Church of the Papal Mainframe, the Silence, and the Monks.

Mars Has Significant Ties to Previous Episodes

When I think of Mars references in DW, I think of “The Waters of Mars,” which “The Pilot” alluded to with all the water coming off of Heather. However, there are other episodes that are very important, too. BTW, this isn’t an exhaustive list:

“The Pyramids of Mars”

In “The Pyramids of Mars,” a 4th Doctor story, Sutekh, according to the TARDIS Wikia, is a powerful extraterrestrial, also known as Sutekh the Destroyer. He was an Osiran who planned to destroy all life in the universe. Afraid of all forms of life which might one day challenge his hegemony, he became the destroyer of all living things. The Osiran inspired Egyptian mythology.

At one point, he usurped the Doctor’s body.

“The Ambassadors of Death”

“The Ambassadors of Death” is an early 3rd Doctor story with Liz Shaw as his companion. I had never seen this story before. It can possibly explain a bit about what is happening in Season 10.

The Doctor joins UNIT's investigation of the mystery surrounding Mars Probe 7. The Recovery 7, on a rescue mission, runs into problems once it comes back to Earth. The 3 astronauts are kidnapped. It turns out these astronauts are a triad of radiation-dependent alien ambassadors, who swapped places with the 3 human astronauts.

According to the TARDIS Wikia, the Doctor finds that Mars Probe 7 is still orbiting in space. Intercepted by a huge, alien spaceship and taken aboard, the Doctor finds the real astronauts unharmed, but mind controlled. The aliens' captain threatens to destroy the Earth unless the 3 ambassadors are released.

The Doctor returns to Earth and discovers that the kidnapping of the ambassadors is part of a plot devised by xenophobic ex-astronaut General Carrington to frame the aliens. The general has a machine built to mind control them, forcing them to kill humans, so he can convince the world's authorities to wage war against the extraterrestrials.

The 3 ambassadors act like robots, very similar to the zombies in “Oxygen.” In fact, like the zombies, the aliens can kill with their touch. Once the aliens aren’t being mind controlled, they want to know why they have been made to kill when they came in peace. The Doctor and UNIT thwart the general’s plans and arrange an exchange of the ambassadors for the astronauts.

Interestingly, right at the end, there is a big structure overhead made of hexagons, symbolic of imprisonment. The Doctor walks out, representing his freedom as one of the astronauts.

In the 10th Doctor episode “Smith and Jones,” the Doctor talked about roentgen radiation after using an X-ray machine to kill a Slab, a slave drone, who was trying to kill them.

MARTHA: What did you do? DOCTOR: Increased the radiation by five thousand per cent. Killed him dead. MARTHA: But isn't that going to kill you? DOCTOR: Nah, it's only roentgen radiation. We used to play with roentgen bricks in the nursery. It's safe for you to come out. I've absorbed it all. All I need to do is expel it.

Why would the Doctor or any Time Lord be playing with roentgen bricks in a nursery?

Interestingly, in the very 1st Dalek story called “The Daleks,” the Daleks talk about needing radiation:

DALEK 2: We need radiation to survive. So we must increase our supply of radiation.

DALEK 1: But there is only one way to do that.

DALEK 2: Exactly. We may have to explode another neutron bomb.

There’s a possible theme here of needing radiation to survive in 2 of 3 episodes.

Tip: When reading subtext, always look for patterns (at least 3 occurrences). Or what could be the beginning of a pattern (2 occurrences). Themes that keep coming up are foreshadowing the coming canon. Patience is typically required because it’s rare for foreshadowing to become canon in the next episode. Usually, things take years to become canon. However, Season 10 and the 12th Doctor are different.

There are several key points here, making patterns that we’ve encountered.

1. There is a triad involved.

2. There is usurpation, not of possessing a body, but of mind controlling the aliens to kill, something they normally wouldn’t do; they came in peace.

3. Their touch kills, like the zombies in “Oxygen.” (This isn’t a pattern with 3 occurrences that I know of, but with everything else matching it becomes part of the pattern.)

4. We know the subtext shows in “Deep Breath” that the Doctor is a cyborg. Is he really a cyborg? Is it that he is just mind controlled to look that way, or is he really that way? If so, how did he get that way?

5. The aliens are being framed, which is something we examined as a possibility in my analysis of “The Lie of the Land,” relating back to how the Valeyard, the Master, and the Time Lords were working to frame the 6th Doctor.

Therefore, “The Ambassadors of Death” does help substantiate my hypothesis that the Doctor is being framed and being used to kill against his will. And this also goes along with the image we keep taking a look at, shown below, from “Human Nature” that has said all along the 24th Doctor (the Roman Doctor) is in the Library metaphor being framed and used against his will. And it’s because he’s unbalanced by love. For the extensive examination, take a look at Chapter 10 of Fairytales and Romance in Doctor Who.

There’s a similar photo of the 12th Doctor that we looked at from TRODM in Lucy’s kitchen in the pre-airing analysis of the episode in Chapter 9 of Fairytales and Romance in Doctor Who.

A cyborg assassin and time travel are themes of The Terminator, which Bill mentioned in “The Empress of Mars.” The Terminator goes back in time to kill someone to prevent a revolt. Not only does this have similarities to using the ambassadors as cyborg-type killing machines, but also the movie’s concept of an assassin relates to the 4th Doctor story, “The Deadly Assassin,” which we examined in my analysis of “Extremis.” In it, the Master frames the Doctor.

“The Christmas Invasion”

While the first 10th Doctor story “The Christmas Invasion” has just a small reference to Mars, it is very significant. Britain sends the Guinevere One space probe on a mission to the red planet and loses touch with it, which is a call back to “The Ambassadors of Death.” While, the signal loss is only for a short time, unlike the Classic Who episode, we see a triad of assassin Santas. Also, Mickey and the others talk of the Santas being pilot fish, a reference to the 12th Doctor. Santa, for that matter, is also a reference to the Doctor. Therefore, there is quite a bit of similarities to “The Ambassadors of Death.”

Guinevere is also a character in the King Arthur legend.

“The Waters of Mars,” “The Five Doctors,” the Ice Queen’s & Rassilon’s Tombs

Back in Chapter 19 of Fairytales and Romance in Doctor Who, I posed a question. “Did the 10th Doctor bring a curse upon himself when he announced he was Time Lord Victorious” in “The Waters of Mars”?

Here’s what I said

I believe he is either a version of Rassilon or a slave of Rassilon, since this most likely comes with a curse of immortality, just like with the Ring of Rassilon.

Rassilon, in the past, has slept eternally in his tomb while his mind lived on in the Matrix. Putting on the ring grants the wearer immortality. However, it imprisons the wearer in the stone of Rassilon, watching over him forever. In “The Five Doctors,” a Time Lord puts on the ring and gets petrified as a relief on the side of Rassilon’s sarcophagus. The ring comes with the warning:

To lose is to win And he who wins shall lose

So Time Lord Victorious loses.

Weeping Angels are probably involved in this.

We’ve actually looked at “The Five Doctors” multiple times in recent chapters because Rassilon’s insignia keeps coming up in Season 10. Therefore, it’s not surprising that the Ice Queen’s tomb in “The Empress of Mars” looks similar to Rassilon’s tomb, shown below, in “The Five Doctors.”

Rassilon is sleeping eternally (red arrow). However, we see his projection from the Matrix (yellow arrow) of his head. The Time Lord on the right will end up in the blank area (white arrow) as a stone relief because he puts on Rassilon’s ring and gets immortality at a price of being a sentinel to Rassilon. This relief is one reason why I believe the Weeping Angels may have something to do with all of this.

In comparison, here’s the Ice Queen’s tomb, shown below. Like Rassilon’s tomb, the items underneath the body, in this case gems, have an effect on the body above.

In fact, both Rassilon and Iraxxa claim themselves as resurrected.

In “Hell Bent,” after Rassilon tries to have the Doctor executed, gunships show up

RASSILON: Excellent, General. You sent for reinforcements. DOCTOR: No, he didn't. (He puts on his sonic sunglasses.) DOCTOR: I did.

(The final troopers join the Doctor as the gunships train their weapons on Rassilon.)

RASSILON: What? I am Rassilon the redeemer! Rassilon, the resurrected! Gallifrey is mine!

In “The Empress of Mars,” Iraxxa talks to Friday, who is here sentinel:

IRAXXA: My Sentinel. You have fulfilled your pledge. I am resurrected!

Mars, the Roman God of War, and the Janus Connection

Mars is significant for multiple reasons. Not only is it the setting of multiple Martian episodes that have a bearing on what is happening, but also Mars was the Roman god of war. According to Wikipedia, he was also “an agricultural guardian, a combination characteristic of early Rome. He was second in importance only to Jupiter and he was the most prominent of the military gods in the religion of the Roman army.”

Interestingly, according to Wikipedia, “Mars was a part of the Archaic Triad along with Jupiter and Quirinus, the latter of whom as a guardian of the Roman people had no Greek equivalent.” And Quirinus: “In Augustan Rome, Quirinus was also an epithet of Janus, as Janus Quirinus.”

Regarding Janus: In ancient Roman religion and myth, Janus is the god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, and endings. He is usually depicted as having two faces, since he looks to the future and to the past.

This is significant because not only is there a triad, which we’ve examined in my analysis in “Extremis,” although not in the same context, but also we’ve examined the Janus connection, which shows up in “Face the Raven,” where Clara is killed. We also saw it in “The Pilot,” where Heather is shown as a Janus in a puddle. Since I never got to finish “The Pilot” analysis, I ended up talking about the Janus concept and mistaken identity in my analysis of “Oxygen.”

The Doctor is a mirror of the 2 Janus in “Face the Raven” as well as Heather. Interestingly, Janus is the god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, and endings. We know the Doctor is connected to time, and we’ve examined the Door/Doughnut metaphor (which would also cover passages and gateways) in Chapter 17 of Fairytales and Romance in Doctor Who, along with the Doctor’s struggle with duality in my analysis of “Oxygen.”

Therefore, it’s fitting that “The Empress of Mars” takes place on Mars-not-Mars for multiple reasons.

I’ve arrived at the symbology of duality and the Door/Doughnut metaphor (which includes gates, doorways, and passages) independently from the symbolism of Janus. Because everything connects, it verifies we are on the right track of reading the subtext.

Tip: When reading subtext in DW, just about all subtext will have multiple connections, so it should link up from various, independent directions. Once it does, you know these things are important and will become part of the canon in some form.

Alpha Centauri & Ice Warrior References

As we saw above, Alpha Centauri shows up in 2 stories, neither of which I had seen.

“The Curse of Peladon” & TOS: “Journey to Babel”

“The Curse of Peladon,” a 3rd Doctor episode, is very interesting, especially because DW obviously based this episode on parts of TOS: “Journey to Babel” and Spock’s background. Now, I understand better why Spock’s name comes up 5 times in “The Empty Child.”

Anyway, in “The Curse of Peladon,” according to the TARDIS Wikia:

The Doctor and Jo make a test flight in the TARDIS and arrive on the planet Peladon. Seeking shelter, they enter the citadel of the soon-to-be-crowned King Peladon, where the Doctor is mistaken for a human dignitary summoned to act as chairman of a committee assessing an application by the planet to join the Galactic Federation.

Here’s a case of mistaken identity. Only men of rank and women of royal blood are allowed in the royal throne room of Peladon. The Doctor and Jo become imposter Federation delegates – Jo impersonating a princess.

Every time the term “Federation” came up, I kept thinking of Star Trek. At first, I didn’t think anything of the soon-to-be king’s pedigree that he was half-human on his mother’s side. However, when characters started talking about the delegates voting on Peladon’s application to join the Federation and mining rights were involved, along with a strange murder, I suddenly realized this was based on parts of the TOS episode “Journey to Babel.” And the soon-to-be king was a mirror of Spock, who is the Doctor in DW, as “The Empty Child” makes clear.

According to Memory Alpha regarding “Journey to Babel”:

The delegates will be attending a conference on the neutral planetoid named Babel to decide the admission of the planet Coridan to the Federation, which is rich in dilithium but is poorly defended.

As the Enterprise comes under attack on the way to a diplomatic conference on Babel, one of the alien dignitaries is murdered, and Spock's estranged father Sarek is the prime suspect – but he is also deathly ill, and only Spock can save him.

In this Star Trek episode, we find out Spock broke tradition against the wishes of his father and joined Starfleet, an instrument of the Federation. In comparison, one of King Peladon’s trusted advisors is accused by another trusted advisor of abandoning “the ancient ways of our people.” And he says that this will bring the curse of Aggedor upon everyone. To avoid the curse, the advisor kills the other. The king wants to join the Federation, which would abandon the ancient ways.

The Doctor, as Spock, is a mirror of soon-to-be King Peladon. The prince wants to marry Jo, the Doctor’s companion.

In comparison to the Doctor-as-a-prince mirror in “The Curse of Peledon,” in “The Lie of the Land” the 12th Doctor is associated with Prince Charles (red arrow), shown behind the Doctor, and Lady Diana in her wedding dress (on the other side of his head). This happens inside the pyramid just before he touches the seated Monk’s head.

Then, in “The Curse of Peladon” both Alpha Centauri and Ice Warriors show up. The Ice Warriors are not the villains. In fact, one of the Ice Warriors saves the Doctor’s life.

Even more interesting is that there are emblems of Aggedor, the beast, shown below, whom people are afraid of. It looks like a pig or boar, which is reminiscent of the sheriff’s boar emblem in the 12th Doctor episode also penned by Mark Gatiss, “The Robot of Sherwood.”

“The Robot of Sherwood”

Here’s the Sheriff’s shield and emblem in “Robot of Sherwood.” This shield also shows up in THORS.

Surprisingly, Ice Warriors and Mars are also mentioned in “The Robot of Sherwood” in a conversation between the Doctor and Clara.

CLARA: Yeah, you. You stop bad things happening every minute of every day. That sounds pretty heroic to me.

(The Doctor licks something from a large metal spoon. Custard?)

DOCTOR: Just passing the time. Hey, what about Mars?

CLARA: What?!

DOCTOR: The Ice Warrior Hives.

CLARA: You said it was my choice.

The sheriff (a cyborg) was supposed to lose his head in the episode. However, it was to air just after journalists were decapitated, so the BBC, thinking better than to show a decapitation, edited it out.

“The Monster of Peladon” & TOS: “The Cloud Minders”

“The Monster of Peladon” is a sequel to “The Curse of Peladon.” However, it’s not that good. Both Alpha Centauri and Ice Warriors show up again, but this time the Ice Warriors are villains. This episode is based on the same premise as the TOS episode “The Cloud Minders.” In both the DW and TOS episodes, miners are at odds with the leadership on the planets.

The main thing I came away with from this sequel is that 50 years later, King Peladon was dead, and his daughter is now queen.

Another Master Reference

One of the internal references in “The Empress of Mars,” has the Doctor mirroring the Master again. At NASA, Knibbs starts counting down to the reception of the probe’s signal.

KNIBBS: I got everything crossed. Okay, people. Transmission arriving in ten, nine, eight, seven, six. (The big screen is now counting down to Download Commences with them.) DOCTOR: Five, four, three, two, one! Sorry, I could never resist a countdown.

In “Last of the Time Lords,” the Master says

MASTER: Three minutes to align the black hole converters. Counting down. I never could resist a ticking clock. My children, are you ready?

Additionally, the Doctor’s smile at “God Save the Queen” before the opening credits just seems really odd and out of character.

In the Next Chapters

There are so many references left to look at, so I’m planning on 2 more chapters to show you the meaning of at least part of them. For example, Friday is a lot more important than he might appear, so we’ll examine him in connection to more than just Robinson Crusoe. In another example, ravens show up in the subtext in multiple ways, which comes back to Clara. We’ll begin to look at some of the raven references in the next chapter. Then, there’s more to the Victorians than it appears, and I’ll show you examples of what I call collective symbology vs. individual symbology in relation to the troops. Additionally, we’ll look at how the subtext is coming together for Ragnarök and more.

Go to next chapter => Ch. 2: Friday, Odin & the Doctor; Missy’s 2 Faces; Etc.

#doctor who #twelfth doctor #bill potts #nardole #clara oswald #river song #eleventh doctor #amy pond #rory williams #tenth doctor #the empress of mars #meta #analysis

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sfdfmoviereviews · 8 years ago

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‘Setting Aside All The Legal And Ethical Issues Involved’: A Deep Space Nine Retrospective

Star Trek Deep Space Nine has long been a blindspot for me. I’ve previously stated that Trek of the nineties became increasingly domesticated until Voyager and Enterprise consciously adopted premises that would restore the opera to space. Sitting at the conclusion of this trend would be Deep Space Nine, a show in which the Enterprise was traded in for a space pretzel and boldly going was forsaken in favour of intrigue and war. However, to find out if that was the case I would have to actually watch the show, so I did.

Unlike my previous retrospectives, I didn’t have the time to watch the entirety of Deep Space Nine. I followed the geek.com rewatch guide until the beginning of season six, then watched every episode of seasons six and seven. I later went back to watch Life Support, Heart of Stone, Doctor Bashir, I Presume, For the Cause, and For the Uniform as those were episodes missed by the rewatch guide that looked important. If you can recommend any episodes I haven’t seen, let me know.

Before I get in to things I must clarify. If you’ve been following this blog you would know that I’ve previously written about Babylon 5, the J. Michael Strazcinski helmed space opera to which Deep Space NIne is so often compared. I prefer Babylon 5 to Deep Space Nine, but I don’t think it’s productive to discuss why one show is better than the other. If you like deep Space Nine more than Babylon 5, I’m glad it makes you happy.

Deep Space Nine does not so much extend Star Trek as take place within Star Trek. While ships go off exploring the delta quadrant, Deep Space Nine stays at the door and manages the traffic. There are murders and ambassadors and planets, but the show is more concerned with the intricacies of galactic politics than going boldly.

In fairness there is a war on. The Dominion War is the kind of event that Star Trek would normally use as back story; the kind of barbarism that the humanity of the 24th century has moved beyond. Here we are thrust into the mess of it, and the greater part of Deep Space Nine is concerned with the detail of waging an interstellar war. Ends justify means, and casualties are suffered. Moreover, the Federations cupboard is opened and the skeletons played with; Section 31 comes to light as the federations muscle, and the implications of those sterile treaties between ambassadors is given a human face in the Marquis. Admirals attempt to co-opt fear for fun and profit and children are sent to war. It’s all very grim.

But if there is any failing in Deep Space Nine it is the lack of reconciliation between the machinations of the Federation here and it’s ideals elsewhere. Benjamin Sisko and Julian Bashir and Worf carry on in the face of great assault on their principles, but emerge with little to show for it all. The show was Star Trek’s first foray into the story arc, that great tool of the golden age of television, but it fails to reach any interesting conclusion. Stuff happens that takes more than an hour to resolve, but there is little overall narrative beyond the development of individual characters, the plot of the war, and whatever the Prophets have in store for Sisko. Julian Bashir may be filled with disgust at the actions of section 31 but he doesn’t do anything to end it’s tenure. Sisko may have lost all self-respect in bringing Romulus into the war through subterfuge and murder, but there is no great fallout from this. Eddigton’s rage at the Federation on behalf of the Marquis comes to naught as the movement is subsumed by the greater conflict. When Sisko and Ross refuse to drink a toast to the defeat of Cardassia with Martok, it rings with the hypocrisy of men who wish to be above the kind of barbarity they have committed to get here.

If Deep Space Nine has added anything great to the canon of Trek it is not political complexity or long-form storytelling. It is this:

Look at these loveable dorks, who have achieved such greatness. There are no daring captains or genius engineers or automatons aiming for humanity here. Nog becomes the first Ferengi to join the Federation, after seeing the futility of his father’s drive for profit. That same father reveals himself to strive beyond the conventions of his society, eventually reaching a position to overturn it. In a show that is brutally hetero-normative, Leeta is simply an uncompromisingly sexual woman who is never judged for wanting the ostensibly gross Rom. It is here that Deep Space Nine does what Star Trek must, showing us people struggling to be better, and it does it with a family carved from a mishmash of cultures, and not a bridge full of paragons.

Star Trek has long given us a crew with a penchant for the classy things of the twentieth century. Sisko loves baseball, and Miles and Julian live out a thousand boys’ own adventures in the holosuite, Michael Eddington paints himself as Jean Valjean. Nowhere is this more evident than in the creation of Vic Fontaine, a living hologram of a nightclub singer in 60s Vegas. For all it’s escapism, none of this is that much fun; we’re watching people relive a fantasy of the past in a meeting place of innumerable cultures, and it limits the show.

Deep Space Nine is also enmeshed with the history of Star Trek; we visit the Mirror Universe and relive The Trouble with Tribbles. While TNG made references to and featured guest appearance from the cast of TOS, it never really treated it with the same level of adulation. This is Trek beginning to show interest in itself divorced from it’s context; there is no going boldly, but instead nostalgia. It’s to be expected that Star Trek would eventually get around to celebrating itself for the sake of it but it gets a little tiresome.

One final note. Deep Space Nine also gave us the USS Defiant:

The Defiant is a federation ship built for war, where the various Enterprises were not. So when some nerd starts waxing tedious about how the Enterprise design is ‘flawed’ based on some understanding of how it did in that one fight with the Borg or the Klingons or somesuch, you can point to this and say ‘that’s not what it’s for! If it were supposed to be a fighting ship it would look like this! NEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRDDDDDDD!’. The Defiant, more than the station itself, is the strongest visual indicator of Deep Space Nine’s place in Staar Trek. This is the war story, and it looks different to everything else because of it.

Deep Space Nine came at the very dawn of arc-based television, and while it is hardly the best example of the form it surely made the path to those shows that would use it well easier; Ron Moore worked on this thing after all. Where it fails it shows us what Star Trek needs to do, push outwards, question everything, be better. Where it succeeds, it shows us how those ideals apply to the imperfect and less capable. Is it actually what I thought it was? The ultimate domestication of Star Trek that subsequent series would seek to avoid? In essence, yes it is, but it is still Star Trek.

Tim

#star trek #star trek deep space nine #nana visitor #avery brooks #max grodenchik #aron eisenberg #siddig el fadil #alexander siddig #colm meaney #tim #michael dorn #chase masterton #ronald d. moore

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benikoumori · 8 years ago

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The Fate of the Phoenix 29

Omne looked down at Kirk, startled, even impressed. Then he chuckled. “You do not quit, do you, Ambassador? At least, not for long. I approve. But surely you must concede by now that I am alpha here. You cannot challenge me.” “I concede nothing,” Kirk said. “I did challenge you.” He stood straight and faced Omne. “I did defeat you,” he said. Only Kirk could have seen the low jolt of that reach Omne. “The alpha wins,” Kirk said. “That is the definition of alpha. I won.” Omne looked at him grimly. And then the features set in a certain acknowledgment. “Yes. You did.” Kirk’s eyes widened fractionally. He had not expected the giant to admit it here. He inclined his head in acceptance. “The alpha dies hard,” Omne said, “and lives to fight another day.” Kirk nodded acknowledgment of his own. “The alpha knows what he is willing to give up before losing.” “On that count,” Omne said, “I showed myself willing to give up more than any man.” Kirk nodded. “Yes. But the winner is he who gives up least.” He found a slow smile on his face and knew that Omne wanted to break him where he stood. “I did defeat you,” Kirk said. “And—I will again.” “Over my body,” Omne said softly. Kirk nodded. “Quite probably.” “The delegation is polled,” the Varal said from the audience. “Challenge is entered and will be binding on the conference. It will begin with Debate of Words in the matter of the Prime Directive. The topic is stated: ‘Resolved: The Noninterference directive is a policy of mass murder.’ The Ambassador from the Federation will take the affirmative.” Kirk looked down at the Varal, surprised. “That is not the Federation’s position, nor mine. The question is undebatable in that form.” “That is the form,” the Varal said, “and it is the contention of some here that that is either the Federation’s position, or your own, or both. However, even if it is not, the custom here is to argue first the opposite position. Begin.” Kirk shook his head. “Let us not debate straw positions. I do not believe that it is even my opponent’s position,” he said. “Or—is it, Lord Regent?” “No,” Omne said, “although there is some truth in it But it would be my contention that it is your position, whether you know it or not. And it is becoming the Federation’s position—as witness the fact that your own world-changing has been condoned. You have not been cashiered or court-martialed for violation of your oath. And it is you, the son of moral certainty, who are sent with full plenipotentiary powers to answer in this matter. Very well, answer. But defend your true position. It is Death which is your old enemy when you change a world. Make your argument from life. I will state it for you: On every less advanced world which the Federation refuses to change or to help because of the Prime Directive, billions die of diseases for which we already have cures. They suffer from insanity, crime, war, sickness, and ignorance—for which we have cures or help. They suffer and die in silence, and alone—and we deny them the stars. By what right? Are they so fragile that we must make that choice for them? And what contempt for them do we display by protecting them from greatness and shielding them from the light?” There was a low, stunned murmur from the audience. They had expected Omne to be the outraged defender of the Prime Directive. “You play Devil’s Advocate very well, Lord Regent,” Kirk said. “That is doubtless why you have been able to champion the Prime Directive with one hand while the other hand changes the fates of empires and arranges wars and rumors of wars. No Federation representative would so arrange things that he became Lord Regent of a member confederation. None would try to change a viable culture by force. None would encourage formation of an alliance to foment war. And none would defend that argument, except in earnest. You are right: Death is my enemy. When I see battle, murder, and sudden death, or worse: slow death in silence and alone—yes, I am tempted. That is the genuine dilemma on which a starship captain stakes his honor and perhaps his soul.” Omne smiled. “I was never merely the Devil’s Advocate, Captain. Some have suggested that I am Devil enough. If your soul is for sale…” He bowed with a slight shrug. “Merely on the line,” Kirk said. He turned to look at the audience. “That is always the stake. On any new world millions, even billions, may die if it is left to its own devices. Yet if an advanced alien civilization interferes, even to save it, there is the risk that it will never develop along its own path, or even that it may be destroyed. But what we fear most is the destruction of the path not taken. That loss is incalculable—and perhaps fatal, in the long run, to a galaxy. We might become one wall-to-wall empire: homogenized, safe, and—sterile.” The Varal spoke from the audience. “Surely that is your opponent’s argument?” Kirk glanced at Omne. “Yes. We share a certain taste for the path not yet taken.” Omne inclined his head. “And a distaste for the homogenized, the safe?” “At least—for the sterile,” Kirk said. “But it is my job to keep both the untaken road and the high starways open. Sometimes it is my job to decide whether a world suffers alone or struggles in full knowledge. Sometimes, if I do nothing I condemn millions to early death. If I do something I may condemn the seeds of greatness. Except—who is to say that the untaken path would have had as much to offer as paths already taken? Should all beings not have that choice? Who denies it to them? By what right?” Kirk lifted his head and looked out over the audience. “We make that decision, he said, “all of us who have reached the stars—by the right of the fact that it is ours to make. We have the knowledge. At least we are beginning to”1cnow how much we do not know. There may come a time when we need to think through the Prime Directive again. The time may even be now. We have already made certain qualifications in the language: The ‘normal’ development of a ‘viable’ culture. It leaves room for judgment. Judgment must be used. Judgment can be wrong.” Kirk shook his head. “Even when judgment is wrong,” he said, “it is better than using no judgment. It is better than making no attempt to follow a moral policy. This I believe: the Prime Directive is the highest moral policy ever attempted by a galactic power. It is also, as an Earth statesman once said of democracy, the worst policy—except for all those others which have been tried from time to time. In practice, both democracy and Prime Directive have become the defense of choice, of the right even to be wrong, as long as you impose your choice on no one by force. That right I do defend with my life, my ship, my honor.” There was some low murmur in the audience. Assent? Appreciation? “How does your honor stand, Ambassador Kirk,” Omne said, “on imposing your own choice on the galaxy—even on the question of immortality?” Kirk turned to Omne slowly. Was this the form in which Omne was going to expose the real question to the galaxy? “It is a pretty problem in logic,” Omne said. “To withhold immortality: is it murder? Mass murder of millions, billions, trillions in a galaxy? There are those in this room who came close to death tonight, who will die in a week, a month, a year, a decade. One did die tonight, and what would he have given for another life at the head of his Dynasty—or even merely for another life? What would any being in this room not give—especially in that last fatal moment when oblivion comes, for you, or for the one you cannot let go?” There was a murmur from the delegates, a sense of unease, as if they knew at some level that Omne spoke of more than the topic of debate. Kirk stepped in. “By your own argument from the Prime Directive,” he said, “even immortality could not be introduced. It would be the most radical alteration in a culture, any culture, every culture, which is possible.” Omne nodded. “You notice that?” Kirk said, “There was once an argument on my world: Should the advanced nations move into less advanced countries with their customs and their medicine, their sanitation and their swamp-clearing, and bring down the death rate—then hear complaints of overpopulation and accusations that they were meddling and homogenizing the world? Creating Tasmanias. Obliterating customs. Saving lives which might die of the problems of civilization, but not until later. One suspects that the question was not often asked of those who were about to die.” “Nor of the Tasmanians?” Omne said. Kirk shook his head. “The details of that case have been obliterated in the name. They do not support the principle or the poetry for which it stands. The Tasmanians were killed, murdered, not shocked out of existence by mere cultural contact. “There was the cruelty from which we learned the Prime Directive,” Kirk continued, “but also, we did not stop the medicine and the swamp-clearing. Millions who would have died lived, mingled, struggled, quarreled—and finally made it to the stars.” “Where you have not stopped the meddling yet,” Omne said. “There is Canella, where you object to Klingon interference, but keep a medical mission because the Federation needs their dilithium crystals, and where you yourself saved a life in direct violation of custom—and touched off a civil war—” “Where I saved a woman and an unborn child from a treacherous coup and restored the legitimate succession,” Kirk said. “The coup was within custom,” Omne said. “You were not. True or false?” “True.” “And when you cut the Federation in for a piece of the action and sent missionaries to gangland on Iotia?” Kirk shook his head. “I am not here to answer a catechism of questions on my actions or the Federation’s. In that particular case, we dropped a stitch some time ago, and I knitted it up again with the best yarn I could think of at the time. Could be I dropped a bigger one, which we will regret in another hundred years. And some starship captain will have to try to knit one, purl two—while keeping his neck out of a noose and his anatomy out of a sling—and his eye on the Prime Directive. Now try to Work in that position—” Kirk grinned a little sourly, then sobered and turned to the delegates. “I will say to you now that those are not even the most difficult of the decisions that any starship captain faces. I have seen one captain destroyed by the promise of an immortality which he could not bring home. I have seen another—Garth of Izar—the man who wrote the book, and was the book, for starship captains—finally driven insane, and I have knelt to him, not in the homage which he deserved as that hero, but to save my life and that of my First Officer. I have seen men destroyed, both in honoring the Prime Directive, and in its breach. I have gambled, if you like, my own soul or sanity or peace on a hundred worlds. I have pulled the plug on computer war as a civilized custom, with sanitized casualties, in favor of brute war—or peace. Peace prevailed. I could have lost—and lost two worlds. In any case, I decided. As the Lord Regent would doubtless like to point out, I have even decided against immortality.” Omne raised an eyebrow and there was a questioning murmur from the audience. Kirk turned to face Omne. “The question is: immortality, at what price? I decided against it on Vaal’s planet when the innocent immortals came to murder me. If I introduced the apple to Eden, the serpent was already there—as in most Edens I have seen. In the legends of many worlds, the forbidden fruit is from the tree of knowledge. To eat it is the end of immortality, and the beginning of life. One day, knowledge will become the key to immortality. When it does, that decision, too, will be in the hands of some one man, one person, one being.” Kirk looked out over the audience. “You are always in the hands of that being—the one who will make the decision on life and death and immortality. No directive and no secession will save you. One day one being will face the decision of immortality. Perhaps someone already does. On that day, all that will save the galaxy is that being’s commitment to a decency of the caliber aspired to by the Federation. You can undermine that being. You can reject that aspiration. You can secede and reject the system against which the worst real accusation is excessive benevolence. But then do not be surprised if the jackals come out to feed. The Federation will be cut in two—and the jackals of war will snap up your bleeding half, too. You will wonder how you were safe when the skin was whole.” There was some sound of approval, but there was a larger mutter which was ominous. Kirk knew the sound of a house divided, and one still chiefly against him. It could not be settled in words. オムネがカークを見下ろした、感動さえしているような驚きをもって。そして彼は静かに笑った。 ”途中棄権はできんのだぞ、大使? まあ長くはならんだろうが。賛成しよう。だが君は此処でのアルファは私だという事実を確信することになる。君は私に挑戦はできない ” ”事実ではない ” カークは言った。 ”私は貴方に挑戦する ” 彼は背筋を伸ばしオムネに向き合った。 ”私は貴方を打ち負かす ” 彼は言った。オムネを襲った衝撃をカークだけは気づいた。 ”勝者がアルファだ ” カークが言った。 ”それがアルファの定義。私は勝った ” オムネが険しい顔で彼を見た。そして確かな認識を持った表情となった。 ”そうだ。君は勝った ” カークの眼が僅かに広がった。彼は巨人が此処で認めるとは予測していなかった。彼はそれを認め僅かに頭を傾げたのだ。 ”なかなか死なないのがアルファだ ” オムネが言った、”そして生きてまた戦う ” カークは彼自身に認めさせる様に頷いた。 ”アルファは失う前に何を諦めるべきかを知っている ” ”それはカウントされるな ” オムネが言った、”私はあらゆる者よりも動くことを諦める意思を見せた ” カークは頷いた。 ”ああ。だが勝者とは最も諦めの良くない者だ ” オムネが此処で彼を壊したいと望んでいる事を知り彼の顔はゆっくりと微笑んだ。 ”私は君を敗北させた ” カークは言った。 ”そして -- 再び ” ”私の身体は治った ” オムネがそっと言った。カークは頷いた。 ”恐らく完全に ” ”代表の投票により ” 観衆側からVaral が言った。 ”決闘はカンファレンス形式のものとする。始めの議題はPrime Directive 問題。不干渉とは大量虐殺政策であるかがテーマだ。 Federation の大使は肯定派として ” 驚いたカークがVaral を見下ろした。 ”それはFederationのポジションでも私の物でもない。その設問には議論の余地がない ” ”それが形式だ ” Varal が言った、”そしてFederation の、若しくは貴方の、若しくは双方のポジションは此処での争議でもある。例えそうではないとしても、此処での慣習としてはまず対極のポジションを取ってもらわなくては。開始 ” カークは頭を振った。 ”無意味なポジションでのディベートはしない�� 対極のポジションにつけるとも思えない ”彼が言った。”それとも -- 摂政卿はそうなのだろうか? ” ”いいや ” オムネが言った、”幾らかは真実ではある知っていようがいまいが、君のポジションは私の主張でもある。そしてFederation のポジションもそうなる -- 許す事で君自身の世界が変わった事実を目撃することで。君の誓いを違反しても君は罷免にも軍法会議にもかけられていない。そして君はモラルの提唱者としてこの問題に答える全権を与えられえている。そう、答えだ。君の本当のポジションを守れば良い。君が世界を変えてしまう程に死は古くからの君の敵だ。君は生の立場で議論をすれば良い。私は君の為に述べようじゃないか。我々が既に治療を受けている病によって数十億が死んでいる、Prime Directive によって先進していない世界を変えること、若しくは手助けをする事をFederation は拒否する。狂気に、犯罪に、戦争に、病気に苦しむ彼等に与えず -- 我々にある治療法や手助けをだ。苦しむ彼等は孤独に沈黙し、死ぬ -- 我々が彼等の星を拒否することで。どんな権利でだ？そんな儚いかれらをどう選択しろと? 明かりのシールドになり大きな物から守る事は彼等を軽視している事になるのか? ” 観衆から驚きの低いどよめきが起きた。 Prime Directive を擁護する事にオムネは憤慨するものと彼等は予想していたからだ。 ”貴方は悪魔の代弁者を演じているな、摂政卿 ” カークが言った。 ”何故いっぽうでPrime Directive を守り、いっぽうで戦争の噂を立て戦争へと向かわせようと帝国の運命を変えようなどできるのか。 Federation は彼がそうした工作をするために同盟メンバーの摂政卿になったのだとは言わない。力づくで現在の文化を変えさせようともしていない。戦争を助長する同盟の奨励もしない。そして本気である事を除いてそういった議論を擁護もしない。貴方は正しい。死は私の敵だ。私が戦闘を、殺人をそして突然の死という最悪な物を見た時 -- 孤独に沈黙しゆっくりと死を迎えるような -- 私は試みるだろう。それは船長が彼の名誉を、恐らくは彼の魂もかけて臨む本物のジレンマだ ” オムネが微笑んだ。 ”私は決して単なる悪魔の代弁者ではないぞ、船長。私は充分悪魔足り得ると示唆されている。もし君の生命が売りに出されているならば… ” 彼は僅かに肩を竦め会釈した。 ”単なるラインだ ” カークは言った。彼は観衆へと向いた。 ”それは常に賭けだ。その装置が残されていたとしても新たな世界では数百万、数億という者が恐らく死ぬだろう。先進の異星人が介入する、例えそれが救うためだとしても、それ以上の発展がなくなる、若しくは破壊されてしまう危険性がある。だが私達が最も恐れるのは破滅のであろうと道を取らせないということだ。その損失は計り知れない -- 恐らく長い目でみれば銀河にとっても致命的な事だろう。大国ひとつとなってしまう。均質で安全で -- 面白みのない物に ” 観衆からVaral が発言した。 ”それが貴方の反対弁論だろうか? ” カークはオムネをちらりと見た。 ”そうだ。我々はまだ取っていない道について確かに共有している物がある ” オムネは頭を傾げた。 ”安全と均質は嫌悪するのにか? ” ”少なくとも -- 面白みはなくなる ” カークが言った。 ”だが星の道を開けておくこととまだ取られてはいない道を守る事が私の仕事だ。時に知識を持ち得努力しているのか、孤独に耐えている世界なのかを決める事も仕事になる。何もしないと決める事で数百万を早死に追いやる事もあるだろう。私が何かをすることで偉大な種だと決めてしまう事も。除かれるのか -- 既に取れる道としてまだ取られていない道を提供することは? 全てにその選択をしなくてはならないのか? 誰が彼等を否定するのか? どんな権利があって? ” カークは頭を上げ観衆を見渡した。 ”私達はそれを決めた ” 彼は言った、”星の道に到達した者皆に -- 私達自身でそれを行ったという権利に基づいて。私達は知識を得た。少なくとも私達はどうすれば良いのか分からない所から初めている。再びPrime Directive を考える必要の出る時がやって来る。今もその時だ。私たちには既に言語という確かな技術を持っている。正規の発展で ‘ 生き残った ‘ 文化だ。ジャッジの余地は残っている。ジャッジとはそれを使わなくてはならない。ジャッジとは間違う事もある ” カークは頭を振った。 ”間違ったジャッジの時でさえも ” 彼は言った、”モラルに従う事を試みないよりは良い。これは私の信条でもある。 Prime Directive は高次のモラル政策であり銀河が力を尽くして試みる物だと。かつて地球の政治家が民主主義は最悪の政策だと言った事もあった -- そういった時代時代の審理の全てを除いても。実質的に民主主義とPrime Directive は選択の余地を守る政策だ、誰かに強要された選択を負わさるのでない限り誤りでさえも権利と認める物だ。その権利を私は私の生命を、船を、名誉をかけて守る ” 観衆は低くざわめいた。賛成か? 理解か? ”君の名誉とはどういったものだね、カーク大使? ” オムネが言った、”君自身の選択を銀河に強要するか -- 不死の問題に関しても? ” カークはゆっくりとオムネに向き直った。こんな所でオムネは銀河に本当の問題を晒すつもりなのか? ”素晴らしい論理の問題だ ” オムネが言った。 ”不死を控えることは、殺人か? 銀河の数百万、数十億、数兆の大量殺戮ではないのか? これには今夜、ひと月、いち年、十年で死にそうなものがいるぞ。ひとりは今夜死んだ、そして彼の王朝のトップとなる別の生命に与えること -- それは単に別の生命なのか? これはあらゆる者に与えられる物ではない -- 特に生命に関わる瞬間を君や君が手放す事のできない者には与えられないのだとしたら? ” 代表達は不安を感じたらしい、オムネが話している事は議題を越えてのものであると知ったかのようにざわめきが起きた。カークが踏み込んだ。 ”Prime Directive からの貴方の議論によって ” 彼は言った、”不死といえど持ち込ませる事はできない。あらゆる文化もそれが可能なのだとしても、どの様な文化にとっても最も急進的な変化だからだ ” オムネが頷いた。 ”気がついているんだな? ” カークが言った、”私の世界でもあった議論だ。死亡率を下げる為に湿地を整え公衆衛生を医学を文化を先進国が非先進国に持ち込むべきだと -- それらの干渉によって世界は均質化し人口増加の不満を聞いたか？タスマニア人がそうだ。文化は抹消された。文明の問題であった死を遅らせる事で生命を守った。死について聞かれる事は滅多になくなるのだとある者は考えた ” ”タスマニア人はそうではなかったと? ” オムネが言った。カークは頭を振った。名前の詳細は消されてしまった。彼等に支えとなる原則はなく、それを磨く事もしなかった。タスマニア人は殺された、単なる文化の接触による衝撃などではなく殺されたんだ ” ”そういった酷いことがあるからこそPrime Directive は学ばれるべきだ ” カークは続けた、”しかしまた、私達は医療も湿地を整える事も止めはしない。数百万の者が生き、死に、交わり、藻掻き、仲違いし -- そしてようやく星への道を作る ” ”しかし君が医療を止めなければ ” オムネが言った。 ”そこはカネラだ、君はクリンゴンの干渉に反対しつつメディカルミッションを続ける為にFederation はダイリチウムクリスタルを必要とし、君自身の生命を守るために文化を直接的に侵す -- そして内戦を誘発し -- ” ”私は女性とまだ生まれていない赤ん坊を救った、クーデターから正当な継承を戻すことで ’ カークは言った。 ”クーデターは文化の範囲内だ ” オムネが言った。 ”君は違うと。それは真か否か? ” ”真だ ” ”君がIotia の暗黒界に宣教師を送りFederation の利権を断ち切ったな? ” カークは頭を振った。 ”此処は私の行動、若しくはFederation の物についての教理審問に答える場ではない。あえて言うなら、暫く前に落としてしまった編みかけの物をあの時私が考えうる最高の糸で編み直したという事だ。私が落とした物は大きく私達はその事を百年は残念に思う事だろう。それは船長がひと目ふた目と編んでいくものだからだ -- 身体を吊る輪の中に彼の首を入れたまま -- 眼をPrime Directive に据えて。そのポジションでその時に出来る事を -- ” カークは少し意地悪く笑い、冷静に代表達へと向いた。 ”私はそれらの物が船長が直面する最も困難な決断ではないのだと言わせ��もらおう。私は不死の約束から生還することが出来ず壊れてしまった船長を見た。別の者も見た -- イザールのガースだ -- 彼は本を書いた、それは船長の為の物だった -- 最終的に精神に異常をきたした彼に私は跪いた、彼が英雄に値したからではなく私の生命と副官を守る為に。私はPrime Directive を守る事と違反をすることとで壊された者を見た。貴方は言うだろうな、ギャンブルだと、私の魂、正気、百の世界の平和を賭けたと。私は文明化の慣習であるコンピュータ.ウォーを阻んだ、負傷者を出したくなかったからだ、戦争を -- 若しくは平和を支持する事での。平和が広まり。私は失った -- 2つの世界を。いずれの場合も、私の決断だ。不死に対しても私は決断を下すのだと摂政卿は好んで指摘するだろうが ” 観衆から疑問のざわめきが上がり、オムネが片眉を上げた。カークはオムネに顔を向けた。 ”問題となるのは。不死の価格は何になる? 無垢な不死者達が私を殺しにやって来た時、私はVaal の惑星に対し決断した。私が持ち込んだ物がエデンのりんごだとしても、蛇は既に居たのだろう -- 天国と称される大部分を私は見た。多くの世界の神話にあるように、3つの智慧の実が隠されていた。食べれば不死は終わり、生命が始まる。知識が不死の鍵となる日。その決断もある者、ある存在の手にあるという事だと ” カークは観衆を見渡した。 ”貴方がたは既にその手の中にある -- その者が生を死を不死を決定する。貴方を守る為の離脱も指令もない。ある日その者が不死の決断に直面する。恐らく既に行っている者もあるだろう。その日には、それが銀河を救う物であるのかFederation の大望の品質を問われる事になるだろう。貴方にはそれを徐々に削る事ができる。貴方にはその野望を拒絶することが出来る。貴方には過度の慈悲だと告発しそのシステムから離脱することが出来る。だがジャッカルがやって来ても驚かないでいただきたい。 Federation が裂かれれば -- 戦争というジャッカルは貴方の半身にも噛み付くだろう。貴方は皮膚が完全だった時はどうして無事だったのだろうかと考えるだろう ” 承認するような音もあったが大部分は険悪な呟きだった。カークにはその殆どが彼に相対するもので、家を分かつ音であるとわかった。それは言葉では解決出来ないものであると。

#The Fate of the Phoenix #star trek tos #Japanese translation

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sleepymarmot · 8 years ago

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DS9 season 4 liveblog

[Season index: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 PS]

The Way of the Warrior

they changed the music! I liked the original arrangement better. I guess they decided that if they have to change the opening titles, better redo them from scratch?

I love how the Klingon general dramatically cuts his hand. It's like looking at the origins of an ancient ritual which real and very important meaning has long been forgotten. Tbh I thought the crew would do the same in the previous episode, but they went for the less dramatic blood tests :D

How was the Obsidian Order destroyed? The Dominion destroyed the fleet that the Order wasn't even supposed to have. What about all of their normal agents, infrastructure, gathered intelligence?

"Not like you? Impossible" (note: as I prepare to publish this post, having just finished season 5, it seems this line was the last time they ever shared a flirty moment... rip garashir 1993-1995)

finally!

please stop reminding me about that awful movie thanks

Poor Worf is so awkward as usual

"And I find you offensive. Now hold up your arm, or I'll have the security do it for you"

"Captain Sisko bet me that you would thank him for the rescue before you started complaining." "I lost."

The Visitor

I have a hard time becoming invested in stories like this, when I know that the entire timeline would be undone by the end. The final scene did manage to make me tear up a bit, but overall I'm not impressed. At least it's not outright terrible like The Inner Light...

Hippocratic Oath

Wait, did Bashir get promoted between seasons?

I don't think that joke about Keiko was very good :\ But this is the second time Miles comes really close to confessing his love for Julian... what's up with that

seriously, why does the new theme have such a messy rhythm? it's as if the beat is out of sync with the melody

Odo is such an unusual security officer, of course there's conflict between him and Worf. I'm glad they're addressing this!

of course O'Brien does a transporter trick

oh come oooon O'Brien do you really need to be such a jerk this week

Sisko is nicer to Worf than I expected

the last scene between Bashir and O'Brien is very poignant

Indiscretion

The runabout scene with Kira and Dukat is unsettling because this rhetoric is too real...

The Worst Field Trip(tm)

Julian & Jadzia's Judging Corner: priceless

honestly the absolute last thing i expected was for Dukat's butt to get so much attention...

Ziyal looks much younger than someone who was 13yo six years ago

halfway through the episode I thought Ziyal would be that Cardassian girl from season 2, I mean there was a reason for that scene, right? right?

great episode

Rejoined

Oh, Dax got promoted too

Trill society sounds dumber and dumber with each episode

Kahn is so beautiful, charming and well-dressed. damn

how did my mom manage to walk into the room just as they kissed? is that a special parent talent

;_;

"your work produced the first artificially created wormhole in history" not counting, you know, THE wormhole

welp. a romance episode finally made me cry :(

Starship Down

Wait, is the alien played by Odo's actor?

this is like a really boring version of "Disaster"...

Dax knows Bashir now better than a year ago? He hasn't changed much over the past year, the difference is rather between seasons 1-2 and later ones, plus they seemed pretty good friends in season 1 already, not like "she was avoiding him" -- in fact, I thought she was his only friend at the time. Their body language is cute as hell though.

Damn, I could hardly keep track of the plot in this one... or why the characters were saying what they were saying... how dull

you know what was the selling point of The Disaster? characters in unusual combinations and roles! I see none of this here...

Little Green Men

ew using someone else's tooth sharpener

omg Odo! :D

what, Klingons and Vulcans didn't have warp drive by 20th century?

The Sword of Kahless

what, this was the little boy we saw in TNG? Klingon children sure grow fast...

is this sword telepathically infected or something?

So, when Worf was acting OOC he wasn't under outside influence? okay... I enjoyed this episode, but under the assumption that Worf's dishonorable actions would be explained

Our Man Bashir

Bashir's taste is about as lame as Picard's...

"I think I joined the wrong intelligence service"

"This is more than I ever wanted to know about your fantasy life" same tbh... it's enough to remember these gross tropes exist somewhere out there, I don't need them in Star Trek reenacted by my faves

This just made me remember how much I dislike James Bond... We just had a cheesy 20th century pastiche two episodes ago, but at least I don't have anything against that genre. Not to judge what people do behind the holosuite's closed doors, but it's pretty offputting to see a 24 century man so enamored with this sexist fiction. And I have pretty much the same reaction to kisses with not-Kira and not-Dax as in the Mirror Universe episode, though to a lesser degree; that was pretty gross and exploitative. It's as if someone decided that the show wasn't straight enough after Rejoined and decided to compensate...

Also I think this was the first time ever that Bashir wasn't happy to see Garak. It feels strange and sad...

I expected Garak to spend all episode making fun of silly tropes, but the little he said was pretty weak. Though I liked the confrontation in the end and the way Bashir repeated Garak's speech.

And I don't think they even took advantage of the J. B. initials. Come on! :D

Homefront

"I prefer Klingon beliefs. Our gods are dead. Ancient Klingon warriors slew them a millennia ago. They were more trouble than they were worth." I think I prefer Klingon beliefs too...

Why did Sisko put on TNG-type uniform?

Is that Leah Brahms?

Very relevant story about security vs civil rights, and it's very fitting for Odo to be here -- not just because of the plot. I really like the thematic unity between the changeling storyline and Odo's personal issues as a character.

Come on, it's so easy to deprive the entire planet of power?

Paradise Lost

This title is very ominous...

Cadet Shepard haha

I think I've heard this boast... "We have five million Cybermen. How many are you?" "Four." "You would destroy the Cybermen with four Daleks?" "We would destroy the Cybermen with one Dalek!"

So, Earth and DS9 can communicate in real time? But in the previous episode, DS9 "received a recording of a high level diplomatic conference that took place on Earth a few days ago". I assumed the delay was due to the distance, but apparently not -- was the recording just classified before someone decided to send it to Sisko?

Wait, what President's speech? Did I miss something?

I liked the first part better. So, the changeling terrorist attack on the same week was just a coincidence? Everyone seemed to forget about that...

Crossfire

Odo/Kira scene is cute instead of irritating for once

"You could hear that?" "*points to lobes* Hello?"

"I have reason to believe someone is planning to assassinate First Minister Shakaar" and by someone you mean Winn?

Odo and Worf discussing security and order!

are they replacing Odo/Kira/Bareil with Odo/Kira/Shakaar? How many nice but bland Bajoran dudes can be in love with her?

"Frankly, I don't care whether you and Major Kira end up living happily ever after or not. I just want to see the situation resolved" same

ok, I get it, falling in love makes you very upset, bad at your job, and is sad and frustrating to watch on tv screen. nothing new here

Return to Grace

"Is that what you kept track of during the occupation? No wonder you lost"

"It bothers him, you know. Very much. He talks about it sometimes" crocodile tears... literally

some men just won't take a hint...

wait, since it was previously mentioned that Cardassian flirting is bickering, does Dukat genuinely misinterpret Kira and think he's got a chance here??

so much for keeping Klingon secrets from the Cardassians...

There's something about this dynamic I really appreciate, but I can't yet articulate it. The way Kira confidently and unflinchingly deflects all the bullshit he sends her way? How she is allowed to be right in her unforgiving stance? That being civil and working together with someone and seeing their better side does not mean all their past (and present) misdeeds are forgotten and they're suddenly your friend? Maybe this is the infamous "grey morality" done right -- not the indiscriminate tolerance and moral relativism, but allowing the other side to plead their case without losing sight of what made them "the other side" in the first place.

Sons of Mogh

Jadzia has a great "I'm gonna fuck that" face

"Charged with murder?" Have these people never heard of assisted suicide?

"I don't give a damn about Klingon beliefs, rituals or custom" ohhh so when we talk about Bajoran religion we all have to be tolerant and culturally sensitive and understanding, but Klingons are not allowed to perform their own rituals among themselves?

Wait, did Kurn consent to this or?...

A second good Klingon episode in the season that is tainted by the heroes' inexplicable immoral decisions. Last time Mr. Honor attemped murder in the most dishonorable day possible; this time ritual assisted suicide was deemed outrageous but likely nonconsensual mindwipe is an acceptable solution. The former can be headcanoned away with the assumption that the sword had some curse on it. My headcanon for the latter: people other than Sisko wouldn't have objected to the ritual (Dax canonically, O'Brien was implied to), so they accepted Worf's other solution on the same grounds.

Bar Association

Haha, Odo brings up Rascals, one of TNG's most ridiculous security failures :D

"Have you have any idea how bored I used to get sitting in the Transporter room waiting for something to break down? Here, I've a half dozen new problems every day. This station needs me" Damn, I hoped he got to do something interesting that we just weren't shown...

Wait, O'Brien got into a physical fight with Worf of all people?!

"If this was Ferenginar, I'd have you all taken to the Spire of the Tower of Commerce, displayed to the crowds in the Great Marketplace below, then shoved off, one by one. Small children would bet on where you would land, and your spattered remains would be sold as feed mulch for gree-worms" lol remember Quark's little speech about Ferengi not being barbaric?

I really care about this messed up family...

Yaaaaay I'm so happy for Rom! :D

Ferenginar sounds no less oppressive than Cardassia. I want a revolution! You know what, now that the Dominion has kindly disposed of the Tal Shiar and the Obsidian Order, can it take the FCA next? I, for one, would welcome our new gelatinous overlords in this case...

(I'm not a fan of that Leeta/Bashir background noise, thank you very much.)

Accession

"Quark, did you hear? Chief O'Brien is having a baby!" "I thought your females carried your young."

people from the past should stay in the past... apparently only 50 years ago Bajor was a pretty oppressive place too...

"Maybe you never realised this, Captain, but we would've tried to do whatever you asked of us when you were Emissary, no matter how difficult it seemed" well that's creepy

oh come on Kira, don't follow your religion so blindly...

O'Brien and Bashir is the real love story of this show istg

oh god they have an untouchable caste too

and of course the aliens can't tell which is the true Emissary because the word "first" isn't in their vocabulary lol

The aliens say "First. Later. They have no meaning to us." -- and in the same conversation use grammatical tense to indicate the order of events: "This IS the one that WAS injured." "He WAS injured" "We KEPT him with us" "The Sisko TAUGHT us" -- so they must have some perception of time

"We are of Bajor" oh? since when do you even know that word? did the poet teach you?

these two are so awkward that poor Keiko has to play matchmaker for her own husband :D bless her

I'm not sure I'm comfortable with the direction of this story... Sisko was completely right to feel uncomfortable as a saint for a religion he doesn't believe in of planet he's not from, but it turned out he's so awesome that the Prophets chose him over the man from this culture who fits the descriptions in the sacred texts. Because only an enlightened human can lead the silly natives -- by following one of their own they'd go back to the dark ages! Yuck.

I've seen more than half of the show now... time flies fast.

Rules of Engagement

Courtroom episode!

I like the clever cinematography & editing

Hard Time

Poor O'Brien...

Well. This was really upsetting. I've been crying for several minutes now.

TNG repeatedly failed to show the recovery after a character's traumatic experience -- specifically, Picard's loss of time in The Inner Light and imprisonment and torture in Chain of Command. DS9 finally delivers an episode just about that -- even if the next week the status quo will be restored and I'll have the same complaint.

What Miles goes through is completely horrific -- so much that I can't imagine how one can survive that. Even as a viewer I want to wipe this from my memory and pretend it didn't happen... For my own peace of mind I'm gonna pretend O'Brien's friend was a part of the simulation, and later he managed to erase it all from his mind somehow.

Now I kinda want a story where the characters become self-aware and O'Brien decides to get away from his sadistic writers (and Bashir helps him, sacrificing their friendship for O'Brien's well-being).

Shattered Mirror

Always nice to see Worf's hair loose

Well, at least Dax is angry at Sisko for the rape by deception...

Why is Kira still wearing that shit...

at this rate you won't have any characters left for the next episode

The Muse

will this adult woman leave Jake alone

poor Sisko

Odo: "Actually, I have some free time and I was wondering if you wanted to take a walk." Worf: "I would." Odo: "I meant Lwaxana."

"Well, just don't go do what I did. Look for someone to fix your broken heart then end up pregnant and on the run." "I don't think there's too much danger of that happening."

aah Odo makes her a blanket! (well, I guess he owed her a night of sleep on his lap...) this entire scene was so sweet

eww not the pedo woman again

why must I watch this

Odo and Lwaxana playing hide-and-seek!!! this is the best thing ever

oh my god this is such a fanfic trope

ew can I just fast-forward through this?

"If you don't mind, this is a very special moment for me"

"You know, for a minute there, I really believed you wanted to marry me" ahh poor Odo's face :( even when he literally declares he wants someone in his life, that person thinks he didn't mean it...

aaaaaah! the goodbye scene!!! Lwaxana is so good! this is so significant and beautiful, this is Lwaxana recognizing and preventing her biggest negative trait/habit (pursiung and harassing disinterested men) with one of her more rarely shown positive traits (compassion and emotional intelligence)

i don’t know what to say about an episode where the main story is 0/10 but the side story is 10/10

For the Cause

Finally, some info on replicator sharing policy! "The Federation only gave Bajor two CFI [industrial] replicators”

"If she's really a Maquis, then she's no longer a Federation citizen" wait what?! I thought this was the entire reason Starfleet had to keep them in check -- because they were Federation outlaws! have they proclaimed their own state while I wasn't looking?

have they recast Ziyal? she looks different

I don't appreciate all this UST

"I would not become a terrorist. It would be dishonourable" "I wouldn't say that around Major Kira if I were you"

she... invites him... to a SAUNA??! ohhh my god whyyyyyy who wrote this

You go Kira!

okaaay I definitely missed something major about the Maquis formally leaving the Federation

well at least Cardassians enjoy their saunas fully dressed, that's a relief. the idea of lizard people lying around on heated rocks for relaxation is actually really cute, though

To be honest, I was dreading Garak's scenes in this episode. It seems that the writers ran out of Mysterious Past and Unclear Motivations to hint at, and stripped of that he's just... not particularly interesting. Plus, this episode confirmed my unpleasant impression that starting with this season, the producers/writers decided to forcibly drag Garak and Bashir away from each other and throw girls at them no matter how random and/or inappropriate it looks. At least they recast Ziyal so now she actually looks 19 instead of 13! (The problem is, in the previous episode she acted like a child, too, and you can't forget that she's a generation younger, so it's still pretty gross.)

Eddington's point about assimilation would have worked better without the rest of that inane speech. "Why is the Federation so obsessed with the Maquis? We've never harmed you" -- They're obsessed because you're a threat to their foreign relations, what's so hard to understand about that? "We've left the Federation" -- When? When?! Left Starfleet, sure, but the Federation?! Isn’t that the entire reason Starfleet is pursuing them -- because the Federation is responsible for handling its citizens and stopping them from committing crimes against its neighbor!?

To the Death

Iconians -- that's from "Contagion", right?

I like this guy...

"What is the point of doing battle if you cannot enjoy the fruits of victory?" "You mean sleep?" :D

I love how Whatshisname casually gives out the white, rolling his eyes and barely moving attention from his plate -- so different from the Jem'Hadar perspective we saw in Hippocratic Oath!

"I didn't know that was public knowledge." "You told Commander Dax." "Well, that explains it."

O'Brien's answer to the Jem'Hadar! "I am Chief Miles Edward O'Brien. I'm very much alive and I intend to stay that way"

The Quickening

bwahaha

whoa, a city? if it the first one we've seen in the Gamma Quadrant? lovely matte painting

of course they make everything worse. Because being Culturally Advanced and Civilized won't always instantly solve any problem, and hospices and euthanasia aren't evil.

"I was so arrogant I thought I could find one in a week." "Maybe it was arrogant to think that. But it's even more arrogant to think there isn't a cure just because you couldn't find it." Good one, Dax! We're really going back to the pivotal traits of his character in this episode. (Someone on the writing staff: "Hmm, we haven't mentioned Julian's arrogance and hero/savior complex for a couple of months...")

He swallows his pride and decides to stay! I'm proud

I did have a suspicion that the pregnancy would solve everything...

I'm really glad the local doctor wasn't villainized! When Bashir was setting up his clinic I was afraid that he'd raise the townspeople to destroy it or something.

Bashir has more luck with medical episodes than Crusher and Pulaski...

Body Parts

Jadzia's female solidarity!

Alright, how is this one episode going to fit in Keiko's pregnancy (and presumably childbirth?), Quark's condition, Brunt, and Garak?

Federation technology is amazing...

Second time someone calls DS9 a "Cardassian monstrosity". That would make a good tumblr url... Wait, it's not even taken -- I'm very tempted...

of course Brunt bought him, why else would he be in the opening credits? :D this is so beautifully malicious

finally an episode that makes Quark look like a good person

Garak's face says "Killing you sounds like a great idea" :D :D

This is the most delightfully bizarre way to handle an actress' pregnancy :D

QUARK SHOPPING FOR MURDER-SUICIDE OPTIONS WITH GARAK = AMAZING

(not to mention very relatable...)

This is Garak's best outing in the entire season, tbh :D

Don't forget to undo your contract with Garak...

aww

This was a blast! This is a huge step in Quark's character development: following Nog and Rom, now he decides to break his society's rules. I'm very happy. ...But what about Garak, though?

Broken Link

Poor Odo...

aw encouraging Quark

"I'm thinking of asking Julian to come live with us. Even things up a little" Is that the only reason? ;)

"Captain, I want to be judged. I'm the only changeling who's ever harmed another. I've spent most of my life bringing people to justice. Now that it's my turn, how can I run away?"

"Don't tell me you'd object to a little genocide in the name of self-defence?" This is such a Cardassian line...

Why human and not Bajoran?

Oh Odo, just as he got comfortable with his identity as a shape-shifter... :/

General impressions:

Bashir in season 4, a summary: "Friendship ended with Garak, now Miles O'Brien is my best friend" Seriously, though... O'Brien and Bashir's relationship has become one of my favourite parts of the show. They got lots of good content this season: countless casual/humorous scenes, conflict in Hippocratic Oath, need for each other's company in Accession, talking down from suicide in Hard Time... And Garak was the most underwhelming part of the season for me, both himself and his relationship with Bashir -- or lack of it. I'm not even asking for shippy stuff, I know it's not going to be canon, but can't they just share screentime and enjoy each other's company, like they did before and Bashir does with O'Brien now?

And while the writers seem unsure what to do with Garak now, Dukat continues to be incredibly entertaining. Need a personification of Cardassian oppression? An unwanted ally the protagonist(s) would barely tolerate? A pompous prick to make fun of? A dangerously charismatic speaker -- or a windbag who thinks himself much cooler than he is? A relatively sympathetic opponent to provide "grey morality"? Well, here's all of that in one character! And my favourite thing is that despite being so immoral, he's not actually an enemy plot-wise (at least so far), so instead of fighting, defeating, and getting him out of the picture, the heroes just keep telling him how much he sucks. An interesting antagonist with a decent amount of screentime -- the dream. But all of that was about the character in general, and my favourite thing about his two episodes in this season is that he's self-aware of his status as a Complex Antagonist and completely overestimates the "complex and sympathetic" part, and (mis)casts himself as some kind of sexy byronic antihero whose deep and rich inner world will eventually win over the feisty heroine. Meanwhile, Kira is really not into villain/protagonist pairings and just wants the creepy guy responsible for genocide against her people to leave her alone. This was filmed twenty years ago but looks like a parody/deconstruction of currently popular ships like reylo or solavellan -- I find it really hilarious. (Maybe I’d feel more grossed out than amused if his behavior disturbed Kira more -- but she seems so gloriously unimpressed!)

I generally like Klingons and was glad to see Worf again, all of his episodes had something that stopped me from fully enjoying them.

It was my impression that Kira’s screetime got reduced because of Nana Visitor’s pregnancy -- and it was actually a good thing for the show! I feel bad saying this about one of the only two main female characters, but Kira is obviously the writers’ favorite, and got the most attention over the past seasons, so stepping back a bit let other characters shine more.

#star trek #ds9 #blah blah blah

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boardoflife · 7 years ago

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For its third year running, the Burgh’s retro gaming convention, RePlay FX, has marshaled an impressive army of the coin-op monoliths of arcades past—there are so many of these sizable and venerated artifacts of video gaming, in fact, that this year I was reminded of the moai statues of Easter Island. And unlike other nerdy gatherings, RePlay FX has Easter Island’s je ne sais quoi of being that rare bird in the convention circuit, having its own truly unique ambiance, and offering a one of a kind experience. There are dozens upon dozens of comic cons and gaming cons that are very similar to each other, but there’s only one RePlay FX.

While RePlay FX bears some resemblance to the arcades of decades past, the emphasis here is less on the arcade experience—though you buy a ticket at the door, all the coin op games are set to free play—and more on the culture and aesthetic of these vintage games, as if some time-traveling liberator arrived in the eighties, set all the video games free, and gave them a ride in his Tardis to a place where people would appreciate them more than twenty-five cents at a time. Moreover, in addition to the rows of coin-op arcade games and pinball machines, there are consoles vintage and current, musical acts, seminars (i.e. panels), and tabletop gaming.

While the inaugural RePlay FX won me over right out of the gate, and each year since then has simply added to the awesome, my experience of it this year was much different, because on Friday, my wife and I were able to attend kid-free. So while on Thursday and Saturday we gamed in the family-friendly way that we had at prior RePlays, Friday was a chance to take in one and a half concerts and play the games we wanted to play.

Nothing speaks to the ongoing development of RePlay Fx more than the evolution of Thursday attendance. While in 2015, Thursday was like a ghost town, in 2017 there were a good number of attendees, so that I had to wait for a game once or twice. That there still wasn’t a ton of congestion means that Thursday is still a great day for crossing things off of your convention to-do list. Attendance increases every year, so that if you’re reading this in 2020 it may no longer be true, but if you’re looking at attending the 2018 RePlay, I would definitely plan on going down your game checklist, hitting any vendors, and demoing tabletop games on Thursday, when the competition is lighter.

Our Thursday was epic, marked by a ton of coin-op play, including Ms. Pac-Man, Burger Time, Gauntlet, Gauntlet Legacy, Asteroids, Crazy Taxi, The Simpsons, Donkey Kong, Joust, Joust: Survival of the Fittest, Donkey Kong Jr. Missile Command, Tron, Tempest, and probably a few others I’ve forgotten.

Thursday was the day I discovered I can no longer walk past Tempest without playing it, an unspoken law that remained in effect during the convention. Of all the games listed above, I played Tempest the highest number of times and Ms. Pac-Man for the longest duration. While I’m no Ms. Pac-Man pro, I can often get past Act III on one life, and I was on my A game during Replay FX 2018. The game in which I showed the most improvement, though, was Burger Time, which I have never taken seriously, and for which I found a new appreciation this year. Not unlike Ms. Pac-Man, in Burger Time you can fake out the fatal food’s programming; when I realized this, Burger Time became more strategic, and I played it as many times at RePlay FX as I have my entire life. Also, the soundtrack is really catchy.

Magical Truck Adventure gave us a cardio burn and that mid-day convention push we needed. If you’re not familiar with this Japanese arcade game, you can find pictures of Magical Truck Adventure through this link to last year’s RePlay FX review. Suffice to say that MTA is a really fun game, especially when your co-pilot’s moves are coordinated with yours, and its best feature is that you feel more energized after you play.

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After our arcade fix and a snack, we decided to demo a tabletop game. RePlay FX’s tabletop area is staffed by volunteers from the local gaming / co-work association, Looking for Group, so that if you want to learn a game, and/or want an extra player when they’re not demoing for someone else, LfG’s volunteers, identifiable by the leis they wear, are happy to help.

Tiny Epic games were already on my radar, not only because they’ve been spamming my e-mail, but because they’re really committed to the “tiny epic” concept, as illustrated by its many iterations: Tiny Epic Galaxies, Tiny Epic Kingdoms, Tiny Epic Defenders, Tiny Epic Quest, and Tiny Epic Western, the one that we learned.

The Tiny Epic premise is that of pocket games as potent as big box games, and Tiny Epic Western delivered by mashing-up a worker placement game with three card poker. While the insertion of poker enlivens the Wild West theme, it is also an unusually effective game mechanism, so that I was only reminded by its similarities to other worker placement games for a few minutes before I became fascinated by its own unique dynamics.

Judging by the volunteers that helped us this year and last, Looking for Group‘s demo staff are excellent facilitators that add to the value of RePlay FX. The tabletop gaming area was always bustling with gamers, which makes me excited for the future evolution of RePlay’s tabletop gaming. My concluding paragraphs mention ways that RePlay FX 2018 and beyond may expand in scale, and while I hope the RePlay FX formula stays the same, my fingers are also crossed for more tabletop gaming.

We also played a lot of video games on Friday, especially longer ones like Gauntlet that are hard to play with kids in tow. This was nice, but the real highlight of our kid-free Friday was Super Thrash Bros, an outstanding band that came all the way from South Jersey to the Burgh to drop some sweet sets, the coolest of which was their rendition of Donkey Kong Country. If Super Thrash Bros is coming to your local convention, you should definitely forego any other events to take in their act.

While we were only able to catch some of the Triforce Quartet, we were already fans, being familiar from last year’s RePlay FX and from their musical contributions on YouTube. As I’m a gaming nerd, a soundtrack nerd, and a classical music nerd, they hit a lot of my sweet spots. You may already know them from their 2014 interpretations of Super Smash Bros and The Legend of Zelda as these pop up occasionally in YouTube recommendations for those search terms. Triforce Quartet’s gift to the world is taking the already epic soundtracks of some of the best video games and letting that grandeur linger on classical strings. If Nintendo ever does that often-rumored The Legend of Zelda live action movie, it would be harder for them to do better than Triforce Quartet’s interpretation for a classical-styled soundtrack.

Saturday morning was a redux of Thursday, although my daughter and I first played Japanese arcade games, such as Pang Pang Paradise, in which you have to throw actual plastic balls–not unlike Chuck E Cheese ball pit balls in size, shape and lightness–at the touch screen a few feet in front of you; and, Future Tom Tom, which inserts your image into the game via a video camera, so that we could see what we would look like if we ever got into Furry fandom. The more that I play these awesome Japanese imports, the more that I wish someone would open an arcade in Pittsburgh with nothing but Japanese coin-op games. Each one of them seems to be its own separate experience, unlike the video games I played as a youth, which were all variations on shooting, racing, or levelling.

Since we’ve been working our way through Star Trek: The Original Series, it was nice to find the Star Trek simulator so that she could sit in the captain’s chair and kill Klingons. Eventually, we made our way over to Looking for Group’s LAN gaming area, so that she could play a variety of their PC games.

Earlier in July, RePlay FX announced the welcome news that the convention had locked in three more years for the show at the David L Lawrence Convention Center. On Friday morning, I talked with RePlay FX’s Fred Cochran about some of the factors that went into this, as well as some potentially exciting news for fans of the convention. Cochran noted that they always had a five year plan, and this was fueled by their rapid growth—15,000 attended in 2016, with sales expected to outpace that in 2017—which has made them the third largest show at the DLC. Dates are already set not only for the 2018 RePlay FX, but also for 2019 and 2020, which will take them into their sixth year. While it has not yet been finalized, he added that it is almost certain that RePlay FX will add 50,000 square feet to 2018 by adding Hall C to the already-rented Hall A & B. Let it all be true—I hope nothing but the best for the future of this convention.

RePlay FX is not only an entertaining convention, full of amusements, but the curation of the experience is very strong as well, with a dynamic theme interpreted not only in the gaming contents of the hall, but the musical entertainment, the lighting, and a light-show on the ceiling in which you can see video game art as well as logo branding. The only other Pittsburgh con with a passion, a theme, and a mission that’s at the level of RePlay FX is Tekko, and that RePlay has crafted such a strong presence in just three short years speaks not only to there being a demand for this convention, it also speaks to the future of this convention, as it appears to resonate not only with fans of vintage games everywhere, but also the local convention goer. I look forward to the ongoing evolution of this gaming festival.

RePlay FX provided press passes for this event. Cross-posted to NerdSpan.com.

RePlay FX 2018: Retro Gaming in Pittsburgh (Review) For its third year running, the Burgh’s retro gaming convention, RePlay FX, has marshaled an impressive army of the coin-op monoliths of arcades past—there are so many of these sizable and venerated artifacts of video gaming, in fact, that this year I was reminded of the moai statues of Easter Island.

#Gamelyn Games #RePlay FX #Reviews #Tiny Epic #Tiny Epic Western

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