On John and the Meaning of Life...

[butterfly]

I've been thinking about John and the nature of existence.

Now, the two 'John's are equal and identical, yes?

If this is true, if they were truly twinned and not one twinned out of the other, the question to ask is not which is the original John, but if either are.

Because one of the things mentioned in the episode is that eventually, if twinned too much, the twins degrade.

This suggests that though each of the new 'John's is equal and identical to each other, neither one is equal or identical to the original John.

Thus the original John died when he was twinned, and the two 'John's born from his material can be seen as clones or as descendants.

Comments

[livinglaurel.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's interesting. But also kind of depressing, though. ((sniffles for poor frelled-up John, who's so frelled-up he may not even exist although there's two versions of him))

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

I do keep coming up with the really depressing explanations, don't I?

Though, really, that's only in shows that have an inherently tragic base. If Angel and Farscape were happier shows, they'd be getting essays on 'happy endings' and 'empowerment'.

But because I see Farscape as a tragedy, my mind skips to the most depressing explanation possible.

[livinglaurel.livejournal.com]

I do keep coming up with the really depressing explanations, don't I?

But they're the most fun! well, until you hit the depressing bit.

because I see Farscape as a tragedy, my mind skips to the most depressing explanation possible.

Really? Do say more about that, if you like. I don't see "Farscape" as a tragedy, I guess, altho' plenty of tragic things have happened, because I'm guessing the default ending (if the show hadn't been cancelled) is that John finally makes it home. Either that, or somehow decides the UT is his home, or whatever. I guess I see Angel as an inherently tragic figure, but not John.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

It's the insanity angle. Once the main character goes insane (and isn't being affected by something to act insane, like Daniel in Legacy or Lifeboat), then I classify it as a tragedy. And John is very obsessive and more than a little disconnected from reality.

Even if John does make it home, will earth still be his home anymore? He's been so very changed and broken by his journey. I'm not sure that he can come home. I don't know if he'll recognize it.

[livinglaurel.livejournal.com]

It's the insanity angle. Once the main character goes insane (and isn't being affected by something to act insane, like Daniel in Legacy or Lifeboat), then I classify it as a tragedy. And John is very obsessive and more than a little disconnected from reality.

Aha, see yr point. Poor John certainly is totally frelled a lot of the time. I think a lot of that was due to Scorpy, though, and then to Harvey, although he certainly is All About Wormholes -- but that's after (mumblemumble).

Even if John does make it home, will earth still be his home anymore? He's been so very changed and broken by his journey. I'm not sure that he can come home. I don't know if he'll recognize it.

(mumblemumble, mumble, seen Terra Firma and as far back as Dog With Two Bones mumble?)

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Feel free to spoil me. I've read transcripts and summaries for pretty much all the episodes that I haven't seen.

[cofax7]

> Because one of the things mentioned in the episode is that eventually, if twinned too much, the twins degrade.<

Yup. In fact, it's not mentioned in the canon text, but it is mentioned in the Journey Logs, which are, um, canonical. They're on the SciFi website, and someone writes them in the "voice" of the character. John's Journey Logs at some point mention this very issue, and he wonders what it is he may have lost through the twinning.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Ooo. I feel all validated. Neat.