Eden???

[wolverine_nl]

What if this planet is something like a vacation spot for those aliens and if we assume that they live at freezing temperatures this winter is the perfect season for them.This could explain why they came so late and why they created a planet with so harsh winters.Am I speaking nonsense again?

You could be on to something, but we cant know for sure yet

[JustAnotherVoice]

Because there were apparently stupid. They had a shuttle designed for space (meaning it is insulated against temperatures down to a few degrees above absolute zero) but they left the door WIDE open. They said it was because the ship was airtight, but it would take that group probably a day to use the oxygen in that large shuttle, so why not only open it for a few minutes each day to replenish the oxygen and get rid of CO2? Their body heat would eventually warm the inside. Or at the very least stack rocks into a wall at the open doorway, letting air in but keeping most of the heat inside (the rugby team in "Alive" knew enough to do that, stacking luggage in the open end of the plane)

If you built a fire right next to the wall and left a stone out the top, the pressure differential would take the smoke out the opening. Jeez people, at the very least find a bed-rock cave, they stay the same temperature year-round... primitive man lived in them for a reason!

The entire story was mind boggling, tbh. Suspension of disbelief only works for so long, until we get the the patently stupid.

Even buried under a foot of snow, there was no sign of any shelter outside of the shuttle or other constructs (i.e. a settlement). Do they honestly mean to tell us that:

(1) they've either lived for a few months in the shuttle; been exposed to the elements; or their basic construction skills are so poor, their constructs collapsed the moment the snow fell?

(2) they've all spent all of their time gathering food and firewood?

(3) none of them have any sense of forward planning? They were warned that winter was coming.

[Wayston]

The entire story was mind boggling, tbh. Suspension of disbelief only works for so long, until we get the the patently stupid.

Even buried under a foot of snow, there was no sign of any shelter outside of the shuttle or other constructs (i.e. a settlement). Do they honestly mean to tell us that:

(1) they've either lived for a few months in the shuttle; been exposed to the elements; or their basic construction skills are so poor, their constructs collapsed the moment the snow fell?

(2) they've all spent all of their time gathering food and firewood?

(3) none of them have any sense of forward planning? They were warned that winter was coming.

Yes. They were living a nomadic lifestyle - at one point it is mentionned "we've already picked this place clean" (which I assume had to do with food). They were probably hopping towards the equator until their shuttle broke down. They were fully reliant on food gathering (I doubt hunting was much of an option - if there was any game there at all) which would be a big time killer. And of course even if they had spare time they probably spent it on R&R, at least initially. After all they had the shuttle to cater to their needs. Their chances of survival would have been much bigger if it hadn't broken down, something which they seemingly did not/could not plan for.

Also when it comes to forward planning, they did have some but due to their low survival knowledge it wasn't adequate. Caine did try to make people do useful stuff (like chopping wood) instead of wasting their time on growing stuff right before winter and they did have some food supply when the shuttle broke down.

It was implied that the winters on that planet were very long and harsh, they clearly planned somewhat but they had no idea how long it would last or how harsh it would be.

[kirmit]

I'm suprised they didn't try to migrate to a warmer part of the planet-maybe they couldn't find a warmer place?

That's what crossed my mind, surely the whole planet woudn't of been in a winter, as soon as it started getting colder they should of taken all their food and migrated.

[JustAnotherVoice]

Yes. They were living a nomadic lifestyle - at one point it is mentionned "we've already picked this place clean" (which I assume had to do with food). They were probably hopping towards the equator until their shuttle broke down. They were fully reliant on food gathering (I doubt hunting was much of an option - if there was any game there at all) which would be a big time killer. And of course even if they had spare time they probably spent it on R&R, at least initially. After all they had the shuttle to cater to their needs. Their chances of survival would have been much bigger if it hadn't broken down, something which they seemingly did not/could not plan for.

Also when it comes to forward planning, they did have some but due to their low survival knowledge it wasn't adequate. Caine did try to make people do useful stuff (like chopping wood) instead of wasting their time on growing stuff right before winter and they did have some food supply when the shuttle broke down.

It was implied that the winters on that planet were very long and harsh, they clearly planned somewhat but they had no idea how long it would last or how harsh it would be.

(1) I don't think they were living a nomadic lifestyle. They tried farming long before winter set in, and long before their ship broke down, which tells me they were content to stay in one place. Caine's inability to dock the shuttle without help also tells me that they didn't have anything resembling a pilot, despite Young suggesting they could explore the planet with the shuttle.

In either case, being nomadic doesn't mean you don't build, especially since they have heavy lift capabilities. At the very least, when it was "getting colder by the day", simple builds like wind breaks should have been on the menu, but we don't even see that. To add insult to injury, the shuttle door was pointed into the wind. A lean-to windbreak (i.e. leaning branches up against the door) would have kept them much warmer than hanging a pair of blankets up.

A windbreak would also mean they could actually have a fire outside (reflecting the heat into the shuttle as a nice bonus), rather than rely on candles for warmth.

They had seven bodies (minus the blonde pancake). That's more than enough to spare one or two to build basic things to make life more bearable, after all, a founding principle of modern life is division of labour. They'd need to divide up the work anyway: collecting water, food, firewood; that'd be 2 a piece with 1 remaining to work on making a "shuttle crash site" into a settlement.

(2) Common sense tells you not to plant in the winter. Forward planning would be digging in for the winter, stockpiling firewood etc, before they got to the point where it was too cold to do anything. Instead, they found the time to make candles and read.

(3) You're right, it was implied the winters were long and harsh. All the more reason they should have dug in properly, especially since they were there for a while, and right next to a source of building materials.

[Mozzza]

That's what crossed my mind, surely the whole planet woudn't of been in a winter, as soon as it started getting colder they should of taken all their food and migrated.

It depends, because seasons on Earth are mainly created by the wobble the Earth has where it tilts back and fourth. If this planet has a orbit which is following more of an oval path (ie, moving closer to the star then further away) then there wouldn't be a warmer place.

[droid327]

They would have known the orbital parameters of the planet from Destiny long before they landed on it. We know Destiny can do detailed scans of planets - we've gotten things like temperature, atmospheric composition, ionization and radiation, etc. before. They could have predicted based on orbital eccentricity, axial tilt, orbital period, latitude, and topography pretty much exactly how long and harsh the winters would be where they landed.

Whats surprising is the fact that there is seasonality on the planet at all, let alone such harsh seasonality. Since the planet is artificial, one would imagine that it would be optimized for supporting life, which means it should have zero axial tilt, yielding a stable climate year-round (as well as minimizing the effects of axial precession, which would drive climatic change like ice ages over thousands of years)

[Descended]

They would have known the orbital parameters of the planet from Destiny long before they landed on it. We know Destiny can do detailed scans of planets - we've gotten things like temperature, atmospheric composition, ionization and radiation, etc. before. They could have predicted based on orbital eccentricity, axial tilt, orbital period, latitude, and topography pretty much exactly how long and harsh the winters would be where they landed.

Whats surprising is the fact that there is seasonality on the planet at all, let alone such harsh seasonality. Since the planet is artificial, one would imagine that it would be optimized for supporting life, which means it should have zero axial tilt, yielding a stable climate year-round (as well as minimizing the effects of axial precession, which would drive climatic change like ice ages over thousands of years)

Unless the aliens that built it are cold-weather creatures. Maybe their metabolism runs very hot and they have to bleed excess heat into the environment. We are acting like it should be perfect for the settlers, but the aliens made it that way for a reason. They also didn't "show up" until it got very very cold, maybe they need that temperature.

[xxxevilgrinxxx]

So much for "planet eden" wouldn't you think if a planet is a paradise that it wouldn't be suseptable to freezing temperatures? and if the planet builders really were benevolent wouldn't they do something about the inclement weather or provide the people with more shelter and warmth?

Cain and co were shortsighted, they died of naivety more than anything!

Maybe because it wasn't 'Eden', the aliens were neither benevolent or 'god' and yeah, Caine was shortsighted and naive but it had to do with putting his trust in these supposedly godlike aliens that were going to provide for all his needs in the first place. Maybe the point is in trusting other people and in our own actions, as in - the best chance is on the ship, where you actually have a hand in your fate. We're not supposed to have an 'eden' handed to us, we're supposed to work for it, to fight and die for it. Believing in magical aliens that will grant all your wishes? That's not doing ANYTHING.

[Lant3an]

they should've watched more bear grylls ^^

[marty2006]

Im guessing its because they were led by a mental case in Caine.

[Mozzza]

Since the planet is artificial, one would imagine that it would be optimized for supporting life, which means it should have zero axial tilt, yielding a stable climate year-round (as well as minimizing the effects of axial precession, which would drive climatic change like ice ages over thousands of years)

Unless it was a first attempt, something else has interfered, it was deliberately designed that way for a reason.

[Eestlanna]

Eden?

It was perfect name. Just like Adam and Eve were thrown out the Eden in bible, Caine and the others were sent away from the planet. I guess they didn't fit in.

[Ouroboros]

Honestly, the fact that they named it Eden at all tells you all you need to know about the sort of thinking that went into the whole brilliant plan.

[Jacdru]

So much for "planet eden" wouldn't you think if a planet is a paradise that it wouldn't be suseptable to freezing temperatures? and if the planet builders really were benevolent wouldn't they do something about the inclement weather or provide the people with more shelter and warmth?

Cain and co were shortsighted, they died of naivety more than anything!

Another thing thats curious about Eden is with how "intelligent" these people are supposed to be, how come they didn´t decide on a area of the planet where the winter is not that hard and not mean snow

So no Eden didn´t fail because of Cain, they failed because the writers wanted a shuttle for Destiny and wanted to kill the characters of eden of.