From: blakes7-d-request@lysator.liu.se Subject: blakes7-d Digest V00 #46 X-Loop: blakes7-d@lysator.liu.se X-Mailing-List: archive/volume00/46 Precedence: list MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/digest; boundary="----------------------------" To: blakes7-d@lysator.liu.se Reply-To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se ------------------------------ Content-Type: text/plain blakes7-d Digest Volume 00 : Issue 46 Today's Topics: RE: [B7L] Servalan or Not Servalan? Re: [B7L] Re: [B7L] Servalan or Not Servalan? Re: [B7L] Servalan or Not Servalan? [B7L] Re: Servalan or not Servalan [B7L] Q-study results: a brief addendum [B7L] For your viewing pleasure [B7L] Re: A "Beautiful Suffering" Account [B7L] Re: Beautiful Suffering [B7L] Quotes [B7L] Re: blakes7-d Digest V00 #45 Re: [B7L] Re: blakes7-d Digest V00 #45 Re: [B7L] Servalan or Not Servalan? [B7L] Avon and Servalan Re: [B7L] Servalan or Not Servalan? Re: [B7L] Re: A "Beautiful Suffering" Account Re: [B7L] Re: blakes7-d Digest V00 #45 Re: [B7L] Re: blakes7-d Digest V00 #45 Re: [B7L] [B7L] Review from 'The Sun' Re: [B7L] Servalan or Not Servalan? [B7L] Space Fall Re: [B7L] Space Fall Re: [B7L] Space Fall ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 18:48:23 -0000 From: Louise Rutter To: "'B7 Lysator'" Subject: RE: [B7L] Servalan or Not Servalan? Message-ID: <01BF7A40.D7222CE0@host213-1-184-163.btinternet.com> I don't believe that GP was anything to do with Servalan. As a lover of fine tragedy, I think the whole sad debacle plays better as a tragic accident rather than as the result of a fiendish plot. Louise ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 12:58:48 PST From: "Sally Manton" To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: Re: [B7L] Message-ID: <20000218205848.21593.qmail@hotmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Tanja wrote:< Servalan wasn’t President anymore. She was a Commissioner who had to hide her real identity from those who were actually governing the Federation at that point.> I agree. Servalan is just not that important at the minute…she has clawed back *some* of her importance, due to her success with the Pylene program, but she's not the major player she was. And since, IMO, had she died when she was Supreme Commander it would have made little difference to the power structure, her death as a commissioner would have made even less. Avon is more than bright enough to know that. Towards the end, his outlook was again reaching past Servalan anyway, to fighting the Federation as a whole, the machine. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 16:17:33 -0500 From: Michael Bailey To: Louise Rutter , "Blake's 7 Mailing List" Subject: Re: [B7L] Servalan or Not Servalan? Message-ID: <38ADB6EC.C03595@netzero.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Louise Rutter wrote: > I don't believe that GP was anything to do with Servalan. As a lover of > fine tragedy, I think the whole sad debacle plays better as a tragic > accident rather than as the result of a fiendish plot. > > Louise I don't think Avon wanted to die at the end of the series. Remember, he was the one who would abandon the crew and set of to the stars by himself in the Liberator with ORAC. __________________________________________ NetZero - Defenders of the Free World Get your FREE Internet Access and Email at http://www.netzero.net/download/index.html ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 21:23:26 -0000 From: "Andrew Ellis" To: Subject: Re: [B7L] Servalan or Not Servalan? Message-ID: <005801bf7a58$1d046040$538b01d5@leanet.futures.bt.co.uk> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit From: Sally Manton { Sorry, no, mainly 'coz I don't want her within a billion miles of it… She doesn't belong here. At all. That smile..? I've always thought of it as ironic – perhaps he's thinking way, waaayyy back to when he asked Jenna "do you want to be rich or dead?" at a point where he's come to find death as the best option left. } Or perhaps he was thinking of that quote where he says (not exactly sure of the wording) "I always believed that one day my death and his (Blake's) would be linked in some way" and now he is thinking - can't I be wrong, just this once. Andrew ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 17:33:20 -0500 From: Harriet Monkhouse <101637.2064@compuserve.com> To: "Blake's 7 (Lysator)" Subject: [B7L] Re: Servalan or not Servalan Message-ID: <200002181733_MC2-99CD-5A10@compuserve.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Disposition: inline Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Avona, I think, wrote: > I suspect the majority of fans thought she was coming into the room, > though never shown, at the end. But here, we can take a poll. Some fans actually claim that they *saw* her entering the room in the original broadcast, and that it was mysteriously cut later! I have to say this didn't happen in the version I saw in 1981... My own belief is that she was cruising some not-too-distant part of the galaxy, tuned in to the news, screamed "Oh sh..." and flew straight to Gauda Prime at standard by maximum. Who and what awaited her there depend on your fancy. This preserves the pleasing irony that they weren't caught in one of her over-elaborate stings but in a moreorless accidental cock-up, while getting her in place for PGP, which it's difficult to keep her out of. I can only remember one person heretical enough to suggest she was already dead, assassinated by Zukan's outraged subjects. Harriet ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 14:45:12 PST From: "Sally Manton" To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: [B7L] Q-study results: a brief addendum Message-ID: <20000218224512.23925.qmail@hotmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Una wrote: 'Aftermath' is an episode about which I think, 'I'd *really* like to watch "Aftermath"...' Then I put it on, and remember that it's actually 'Powerplay' I want to watch.> I do love lots of Aftermath, but for all sorts of incurably frivolous reasons – Avon looks gorgeous in that black silk (this is one of his prettiest episodes, IMO), we get to see that yes, he was too taught manners as a child (am trying to imagine Vila's or Jenna's reaction to the Avon we see with Hal Mellanby :-) 'twould be wonderful to see). I do *like* Hal myself. Servalan's hysterically ham-fisted attempt to recruit Avon is fun (I love the 'forget Blake' bit – not in this lifetime, he won't…). And of course the way he's unabashedly (while no one's there to see it) worried about them all, *especially* Fearless Leader :-) In short, this episode is a terrific Avon wallow (for them that likes wallowing). And because it's set away from the Liberator, the gaping hold left by Blake - the imbalance left with no one strong enough to set against Avon - isn't as obvious or unsettling as I found it in Powerplay. Fond of it myself… I'd rather have seen the revolution on Earth and more of Blake and Avon fighting. Ideally with pretty much the same conclusion.> Oh yes oh yes oh yes… There was so much that could have been done IMO with how they both dealt with the fall-out of Star One, and of *that* agreement (Jenna's reaction would have interesting as well). But how can we complain, when instead we got Volcano and Dawn of the Gods… ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 23:51:04 +0000 From: Nicola Collie To: Freedom City , Lysator Subject: [B7L] For your viewing pleasure Message-Id: Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" For all you Federation archive nightwatchpersons, here's where to get the essential entertainment gear: http://www.eye-trek.com/welcome_e.html And I found it only a few days after the re-broadcast of TWB. Synchronicity, it's a beautiful thing :) Nicola ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 16:33:42 -0800 From: Susie Wright To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: [B7L] Re: A "Beautiful Suffering" Account Message-ID: <38ADE4E5.B61F3215@home.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi Iain, Forgive my ignorance... what's a "Beautiful Suffering" account? (I know "beautiful suffering" often refers to our dear Avon and Blake and their various injuries, emotional traumas and the like...) How does that connect to a given character arc as presented by our not so dear Mr. Muir? Oh, and Pat... re: Wu Names for cats... "Grand Moff Puppeteer" could possibly relate to Astrid since she's the top cat in our trio of females and she has her manipulative side too, like when she wants dinner or to go outside. "Ol' Filthy Sweaty Bastard" does not fit Sigrid at all since she's a total love cat and is content to snuggle and purr all day and chew on my fingers (love bites). The only possible connection would be that sometimes she gets kitty litter stuck on her nose and I have to chase her to wipe it away with a tissue. "Undiscovered Bum" (does that mean hobo or rear end?) doesn't fit K'Ehleyr who is our little white warrior. She has a tendency to roll around in the mud or pick up thistles in her long white fur. She has an attitude and I'm the only one allowed to pick her up and cuddle and even then I get bitten on occasion. (not love bites) Susie ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 16:42:23 -0800 From: Susie Wright To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: [B7L] Re: Beautiful Suffering Message-ID: <38ADE6EF.DD5CE5F9@home.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit And in the next digest... I think I just answered my question.... it relates to Una's site and the category of Avon's character development she calls "Beautiful Suffering." I read it a while ago and perhaps it's worth another look to refresh my memory. I don't think Servalan was on Gauda Prime, but I'm sure she wasn't far away... Susie ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 17:37:05 -0700 From: Helen Krummenacker To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: [B7L] Quotes Message-ID: <38ADE5B0.8D@jps.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > "Ellynne G." > To: > blakes7@lysator.liu.se > > > Sorry, I'm in that odd, try and tie the quote to B7 mood again. These are > also, once again, from Cordwainer Smith. > > "Come along, little man, she thought. Come along little man, and die. > Don't keep me waiting." > > OK, so I don't know who in B7 would say this. I'm sure Vila hears this > line in his nightmares. Sounds like a Soolin line to me. > ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 18:19:21 -0700 From: Helen Krummenacker To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: [B7L] Re: blakes7-d Digest V00 #45 Message-ID: <38ADEF99.6209@jps.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Una said: > But the whole show should really have gone in a completely different > direction at this point I'd rather have seen the revolution on Earth > and more of Blake and Avon fighting. Ideally with pretty much the same > conclusion. That would have been wonderful. I would have liked to see more of the political stuff, provided they actually bothered with logic when writing. > > Anyone out there a real 'Aftermath' aficionado? Possibly you will think I'm very sad for this, but, YES! I admit there may be some partiality due to it being my introduction to the series, but also... Vila was very funny if pathetic talking to himself in the woods. Servalan's pure viciousness! Giving rise later in the series to the "She'd shoot a blind man in the back line." (Hey, actual continuity!) Also continuity with Star One. Avon suffers beautifully in life pod. Avon actually shows caring about other people. Both his friends (having Zen check on them) and the Mellanby family. Probably Dayna's best episode. She's smart, tough (but alarmingly cheerful about killing the natives), charminglly niave and open about her emotions. I liked Hal Mellanby as one of the best supporting characters. He's up there with Avalon and Ensor in my book. Two Avon kisses... and they give you some insight on him. The kiss with Dayna is gentle, sweet. She's rescued him, and takes the kiss. He is somewhat passive in this, but agreeable to it. In fact, he tells her she's cured his headache , if I remember correctly. Quite gentlemanly. Servalan, OTOH, is triying her best to be seductive and provocative. Apparently she does provoke him-- he gives her a hard kiss. But then-- he shoves her away. To some, this may look like passion fighting with duty.anger/whatever. I think he wants her to think that. But to me, that kiss is as much calculated as the one he uses to distraact the alien in Sarcophogas. It's even insulting. She offers him herself as an incentive to an alliance, and he kisses and rejects her. The shove, as opposed to the gentle compliment towards Dayna... while I don't believe he fancied Dayna after seeing her killer streak, I see his dislike for Servalan fully coming forward in this ep. Well, there's my 2 credits worth. --Avona > ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 21:29:06 EST From: Tigerm1019@aol.com To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: Re: [B7L] Re: blakes7-d Digest V00 #45 Message-ID: <73.132d4e8.25df59f2@aol.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 02/18/2000 8:13:36 PM Central Standard Time, avona@jps.net writes: > Vila was very funny if pathetic talking to himself in the woods. Actually, this was in "Powerplay." Tiger M ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 23:23:37 EST From: Prmolloy@aol.com To: michaelabailey@netzero.net, Louise.Rutter@btinternet.com, blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: Re: [B7L] Servalan or Not Servalan? Message-ID: <70.12e5be6.25df74c9@aol.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Yes, so he said. The thing with Avon is that his actions very often belied his words. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 09:39:14 +0100 From: Angria@t-online.de (Tanja Kinkel) To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: [B7L] Avon and Servalan Message-ID: <12M5Q2-1m8MT2C@fwd04.sul.t-online.de> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8BIT Helen Krummenacker wrote: > Servalan, OTOH, is triying her best to be seductive and provocative. > Apparently she does provoke him-- he gives her a hard kiss. But then-- > he shoves her away. To some, this may look like passion fighting with > duty.anger/whatever. I think he wants her to think that. But to me, that > kiss is as much calculated as the one he uses to distraact the alien in > Sarcophogas. It's even insulting. She offers him herself as an incentive > to an alliance, and he kisses and rejects her. The shove, as opposed to > the gentle compliment towards Dayna... while I don't believe he fancied > Dayna after seeing her killer streak, I see his dislike for Servalan > fully coming forward in this ep. I'm not disagreeing with you that it was a calculated kiss (on both parts), but I think both Servalan AND Avon also enjoyed it. (After all, they repeat the experience in "Deathwatch", and you don't Avon shoving her away there .) Dislike? I don't think so. Hate, yes (but later on in the series). Seeing her as an obstacle to his survival - absolutely. But he also admires her ("it's a pity that you and I are always on opposite sides", and the look he gives her when she has the nerve to make demands with Dayna in the room after having killed the girl's father. Even at their last meeting, when he has repeatedly stated he wants her dead, he's not just flirting with her, they're at their mutual-admiration-society-game again ("The gold was very good bait" - "I knew you'd like it"), and I think Servalan is absolutely serious when she replies to "He doesn't know you as well as I do" with "Who does?". No, it's not love, or sympathy, but these two do fascinate each other. Tanja ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 00:57:00 PST From: "Sally Manton" To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Subject: Re: [B7L] Servalan or Not Servalan? Message-ID: <20000219085700.32057.qmail@hotmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Michael wrote: In Horizon, right? You will notice that he couldn't…quite…talk himself into it… I don't think he specifically wanted to die (although – given the distraught emotional state that made him want to protect Blake's body - it wouldn't be impossible *just for that particular moment*) but it was the best option he had at that minute. No ship, no people, no hope - and yes, the Federation would probably have killed him. Even Servalan; their last encounter was in Warlord, remember? "Send me his corpse." She'd just have ripped whatever information she could out of him before quite literally 'disposing' of him IMO. Avon believed that Blake was dead – if the others fleetingly touched his thoughts (he doesn't even look around to see *after* he's come out of the semi-trance) he probably believed them all dead – and he had no way out. A quick death was simply the best of his limited options at that moment… ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 10:24:27 -0000 From: "Una McCormack" To: Subject: Re: [B7L] Re: A "Beautiful Suffering" Account Message-ID: <02ac01bf7ac3$8213cb90$0d01a8c0@hedge> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Susie wrote: > Forgive my ignorance... what's a "Beautiful Suffering" account? (I know "beautiful suffering" often > refers to our dear Avon and Blake and their various injuries, emotional traumas and the like...) How > does that connect to a given character arc as presented by our not so dear Mr. Muir? Anyone else confused should check out the Q study on my website: http://www.q-research.connectfree.co.uk/personal/b7qstudy.htm Una ------- Lava lamps are like professors: they provide little in the way of illumnation and are stared at by adolescents with nothing better to do. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 10:16:58 -0000 From: "Una McCormack" To: Subject: Re: [B7L] Re: blakes7-d Digest V00 #45 Message-ID: <02a001bf7ac3$3f2d2d80$0d01a8c0@hedge> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Helen wrote: > Avon suffers beautifully in life pod. That's definitely the best bit of 'Aftermath'. Una ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 10:17:35 -0000 From: "Una McCormack" To: Subject: Re: [B7L] Re: blakes7-d Digest V00 #45 Message-ID: <02a101bf7ac3$3f6eca60$0d01a8c0@hedge> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Tiger wrote: > In a message dated 02/18/2000 8:13:36 PM Central Standard Time, avona@jps.net > writes: > > > Vila was very funny if pathetic talking to himself in the woods. > > Actually, this was in "Powerplay." This is *exactly* what I do with 'Aftermath'! Una ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 22:16:25 +1030 From: "Martin Dunn" To: "Blake's 7 Mailing List" Subject: Re: [B7L] Message-Id: <11465498306831@domain0.bigpond.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit What does seem strange in Season 4 is Servalan/Sleer's motivations. From using the Scorpio crew to steal gold to setting them up in the abortive brotherhod of haircuts. Perhaps she just got very angry for them making her spend a weekend with Egrorian? So, if we take Blake as an extension of Warlord then simply having them all dead would tee up with her recent actions. I suppose this might also give her teleport again, but watch out for that floor! I suppose what she realy wanted was to be # 1 again. Either climb back up by her fingernails or stage another coup. Would Scorpio have helped her disable the Federation and assume the mantle? Or would she even count on them to attack the President themselves, and then follow through with stepping in herself? No. Too much. They flew off somewhere bad in the middle of the night and all got shot. Perhaps Servalan/Sleer flew there too. What a day! That's it. They all ate cheese. Much later, they all went on a road trip to the Seven Eleven and stacked the vehicle. Naughty Tarrant got in a push and shove with local toughs. The authorities appeared, and they all went to jail. Commissioner Sleer arrived in an unmarked car and one of the prisoners smilled at her. -- Martin ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 12:29:58 -0000 From: "Una McCormack" To: "lysator" Cc: "Freedom City" Subject: [B7L] Review from 'The Sun' Message-ID: <032601bf7ad5$106e25a0$0d01a8c0@hedge> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit 'The Sun' is the voice of the British nation. Here's what their TV pages today have to say about B7: "Yes, that's right, the BBC have succumbed to popular demand and brought back Terry Nation's amazing early 80s sci-fi series. The effects are naff, and the budget makes 'Dr Who' look like 'Terminator 2', but the story is clever and the characters are fascinating. It's the 30th century, and only a few humans are free of the evil Federation and its mind-controlling drugs. In today's episode, rebel Blake gathers a gang of misfits to fight their way free of a Federation prison ship." Una ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 10:09:03 -0500 From: Michael Bailey To: Andrew Ellis , "Blake's 7 Mailing List" Subject: Re: [B7L] Servalan or Not Servalan? Message-ID: <38AEB20F.650E6E4@netzero.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Andrew Ellis wrote: > From: Sally Manton > > { > Sorry, no, mainly 'coz I don't want her within a billion miles of it… > > She doesn't belong here. At all. > > That smile..? I've always thought of it as ironic – perhaps he's thinking > way, waaayyy back to when he asked Jenna "do you want to be rich or dead?" > at a point where he's come to find death as the best option left. > > } > > Or perhaps he was thinking of that quote where he says (not exactly sure of > the wording) "I always believed that one day my death and his (Blake's) > would be linked in some way" and now he is thinking - can't I be wrong, just > this once. > > Andrew Well I don't think Avon ever wanted to die. He was the one who wouldn't think twice about abandoning the crew to live in riches by himself... Michael __________________________________________ NetZero - Defenders of the Free World Get your FREE Internet Access and Email at http://www.netzero.net/download/index.html ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 12:15:11 -0500 From: Harriet Monkhouse <101637.2064@compuserve.com> To: "Blake's 7 (Lysator)" Subject: [B7L] Space Fall Message-ID: <200002191215_MC2-99E2-45D0@compuserve.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Disposition: inline Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Well, well! BBC2 allowed us to see Avon's ear-clapping act (the first time I'd ever witnessed this, as I missed the episode in 1978). They then cheerfully announced that we'd have to wait two weeks to see Cygnus Alpha. Possibly the gap is intended to simulate the long voyage there, but possibly not. Harriet ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 17:48:17 +0000 From: Julia Jones To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se Cc: "Blake's 7 (Lysator)" Subject: Re: [B7L] Space Fall Message-ID: In message <200002191215_MC2-99E2-45D0@compuserve.com>, Harriet Monkhouse <101637.2064@compuserve.com> writes >Well, well! BBC2 allowed us to see Avon's ear-clapping act (the first time >I'd ever witnessed this, as I missed the episode in 1978). Yes, I was bouncing around the living room, yelling:-) He *is* a vicious little bugger, isn't he? > >They then cheerfully announced that we'd have to wait two weeks to see >Cygnus Alpha. Possibly the gap is intended to simulate the long voyage >there, but possibly not. But they gave us a whole two weeks uninterrupted! And only changed the time by 10 minutes the second week! What more do you want? This could be interesting, because it's running in synch with the UK Gold showing at the moment. Now I might see the UK Gold version the week before, and be able to make notes on when the best time to take screenshots is. -- Julia Jones "Don't philosophise with me, you electronic moron!" The Turing test - as interpreted by Kerr Avon. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 19:13:25 -0000 From: "Alison Page" To: "lysator" Subject: Re: [B7L] Space Fall Message-ID: <004f01bf7b0d$8fa1cc40$ca8edec2@pre-installedco> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit How I love this episode. It really resonates with me (checking Una's study I think I must be 'Account 3 - A little bit of politics' - big shock). It seems to drip with heavy significance, like Star One or Blake. Like a stylised mystery play or something - the clonkiness doesn't really matter. I want seasons 1 and 2 to make sense as a proper arc. The only way it makes sense to me is if the whole things is an enormous set-up, that we never get to see clearly. This is how I privately see it (I know nobody else will agree but here goes) an 'elder race' of awesome power which no longer interacts with the physical world all that much nevertheless has 'our' galaxy as its home. No doubt it suits this elder race to have the federation maintain a weapons barrier around the galaxy, and it has served its purposes this far. But now its home is under threat from the Andromedans. So it effortlessly marshals the pawns at its disposal to eliminate that threat. The ship of course, conveniently 'found'. And the people - the leader, one of the few men in the galaxy to have the push to get to star one in time - conveniently prepared by torture and brainwashing to recognise and overcome the defence mechanisms of that ship. Avon, Vila and Jenna - all vital to the success of the mission, all happening to be in the right place at the right time. Vila - inexplicably dropping the gun. He knows more about the back picture than any of the others. No wonder he acts so worried. I'd like to think Carnell and Vila are secret agents - 'sleepers' in the pay of the elder races. Servalan - she is needed for the plan too - but that is in the future. The queen is actually a pawn. And poor old Travis. Why did nobody notice when he changed? Pawn sacrifice. Ah well, it amuses me. As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods, they kill us for their sport. A little bit of politics you see? Alison -------------------------------- End of blakes7-d Digest V00 Issue #46 *************************************