Pax Romana (311)

[JanSam]

Few things I noticed on the rewatch:

you see the little shield envelop helen and ranna, which explains them not bursting into flames with the heat...but there is the plothole of them being able to rouch Kanaan and use the laser to cut into him through said shield

and just how does a laser even work on a creature that LIVES in molten lava?

i'd thought that adam got the kellorm device so he could potentially time travel, but he doesn't get it, druitt stops him.

True, the device is returned. But if Adam is still alive or has allies; what's to say he won't go after it again without Helen's knowledge.

there's definitely more to praxis than meets the eye with adam's comments about outland tribes, etc.

Ok....I'll have to re-watch this part because I have no idea what comments you are referring to.

i'm wondering if the 'protect the world from the hyperspecies' line can also be translated into 'we're running a prison'....course helen is too in a way, but i do wonder if the whole 'surface is evil' means that those that want to leave aren't allowed to.[/QUOTE]

Yeah there is still a lot we don't know about the place including their true intentions. But then why would Gregory want to be a part of it?

[suse]

I thought the exact same thing, that a creature that lies on top of and in lava would have some pretty hefty skin which I wouldn't think would yield to a little laser.

I did enjoy the episode but like others thought that the loss of the Adam/Worth shifting personality took away from it a bit.

Perhaps the laser was a modifies lightsaber. Cuts thru everything but one type of material. Which Kanaan wasn't made of.

Yeah. Adam - as much as I liked him in other eps fell flat for me here. And if I were Ranna, I'd have killed him and thrown him into the lava. hard to recover from that.

[Feast of the Muse]

The outland tribes are mentioned a time or two, mostly with Ranna's assistant. I'm under the impression that as with the sanctuary network, humans are running the show and calling the shots. Sounds like some tension and I'm sure we'll get to hear about it in future episodes.

Ok, I need to get this sorted as well. The 'grave danger' that they hyped so much in the commercials for this half-season, that's all gone now because Helen healed Kanaan, right? The world is no longer on standby for massive volcanic eruptions?

[Skydiver]

i think gregory has tech envy...and is enthralled with all the abbies around.

I don't have the transcript totally done yet but

Ranna: This society existed while your ancestors were hiding in caves. For 8,000 years. Our very reason for being is to maintain order. To hold back the beings from within this realm from ever reaching the surface. If this city falls...

Magnus: So does the surface.

Ranna: We maintain peace between humans and abnormals, despite the fact that there are many species who seek our destruction.

suggesting that, well there are some mean abbies, but her words could also be interprted to be spin for 'people refuse to do what we want them to do'. To use a very extreme example, i'm sure the colonists saw the native population as 'seeking their destruction'

Magnus: Dear God, you have cameras everywhere. Every tribe, every race.

why would a sanctuary like praxis be so monitored unless it had something to fear?

Will: If this city is 8,000 years old, it predates any ancient civilization that we know of.

Fallon: The founders of Praxis were humans of extraordinary intelligence. Builders, thinkers, who came here after a long struggle with the Akhkharu.

Will: Vampires.

Fallon: So Ranna's ancestors left them to rule the surface, while they controlled the underworld.

Will: Didn't the... Akhkharu ever try to mess with you down here?

Fallon: Many times, which is why our city's defenses are so advanced. Now we keep our most violent species at bay.

this suggests to me the beginnings of the 'surface is bad' thing. At first, yes it was. but it's now a story that's been perpetrated to keep control.

Fallon: We keep peace and order for a million lives. Prevent chaos from spreading to the surface. For us, trust must be earned.

'prevent chaos from spreading to the surface'....i think the translation is 'abbies will not get out of here to run free'....not a bad thing certainly, but I think it depends on just how it's done and which side you're on

Adam: I think you know how they treat people like us. There isn't a lot of emotional inventory.

now, Adam is nuts, but his words suggest a double standard or a 'you are lesser, i'm better than you' attitude

Adam: Fallon...We both know that the device could give you complete control over the city's weapons systems, you, and your tribal allies in the Senate. Pity the poor humans. There's a new species of sheriff in town. I'm kind of on to you.

Fallon: Ranna's time is over. This city has had too much power for too long.

Adam: Frankly, I don't care if you depose Ranna, or send all the humans here scurrying for the surface like the little rats that they are. No, I care that you're thinking too small. The device has a far more meaningful destiny. My point, my dear... Is that the deal's off.

tribal allies, wanting to depose ranna, there's some real conflict going on. are the tribes people like fallon, abbies that are deemed 'lesser'? Is ranna's leadership benevolent, or is she a puppet for the senate...and who makes up the senate? Fallon was the only abbie we saw that was really doing anything, the rest of ranna's staff were humans - or abbies that looked human.

Helen isn't really much better than Praxis in some of what she does. Some abbies are there as a refuge, but others are prisoners. And I think it's only helen's ethics that draws that line between keeper and captor

[dee]

I sure hope so! John was just dying to get the chance to wipe him out. I mean come on Adam wanted to set a killer virus onto the world.

[dee]

It was either Malaysia or Thailand by the looks of the environment and the people John hired to watch his back.

[dee]

I still would like to see Biggy and Henry go to the comicon convention as side story, just something out of the blue.

[Feast of the Muse]

Oh yeah, I remember it being somewhere that Amanda has traveled for S4K. I don't think it was actually Nepal but it was definitely something close.

ETA: I just checked the wikia and it states that she went to Cambodia to rescue John - not as close as I thought.

[dee]

Yea, why didnt Helen even ask why John was there and what happened. By the way why was everybody ready to off John but gave Adam plenty of second chances. Adam was a killer and wanted to destroy most every thing after his daughter died, John also a killer but was treated worst then Adam even though we know its mostly not really John's fault that he kills.

[dee]

maybe it was that pink berry smoothie and healthy food she ate while she was there.

[Feast of the Muse]

Yea, why didnt Helen even ask why John was there and what happened. By the way why was everybody ready to off John but gave Adam plenty of second chances. Adam was a killer and wanted to destroy most every thing after his daughter died, John also a killer but was treated worst then Adam even though we know its mostly not really John's fault that he kills.

You should pop over to the For King and Country discussion and ask there. I'm not sure that Adam is treated any better than John, but they are both pretty scary... though I admit to loving John anyway.

[dee]

likly the way most parasites get in, they wrap their tails around your throat bite you in the neck a suck away your life force. just kidding, mostly threw the host's mouth or open wound, Kanaan has got to eat some how and Helen did use a laser of some kind to open the hide. Henry invented the lava hide gutting laser, some one want to name it?

[dee]

becuase it blends into its enviroment according to Gregory, making it impossible to see until it strikes, whooo it cloaks its self.

[Skydiver]

technically it's magma, not lava. Lava is outside the volcano, magma is under the earth.

Nitpicky and I apologize, but....however, whatever it's called that is a valid plot point. how did magnus get that laser outside her shield without scorching herself, and how did it cut through something so thick as to withstand immersion in magma..and how did that bug get in Kanaan in the first place?

[Mousie]

[QUOTE=Feast of the Muse;12534598]The outland tribes are mentioned a time or two, mostly with Ranna's assistant. I'm under the impression that as with the sanctuary network, humans are running the show and calling the shots. Sounds like some tension and I'm sure we'll get to hear about it in future episodes.
QUOTE]

As they mentioned in the previous ep, the mushroom farmers weren't allowed in the city. They said they had to get a permit just to deliver the crop twice a year. Also although they willingly shared food with Helen and Will, it didn't look like they had much themselves.

They mentioned to Henry as well that no unauthorised transformations were allowed so it does all sound pretty authoritarian.