Mistral wrote:
Steve Rogerson wrote re Spike's chip:
Wrong. When Druscilla makes her brief return, she shows him that the
chip's power
is all in his mind and he can overcome it with willpower. He does just
that and
kills a human.
Okay, a bit off topic, but as a Spike redemptionista (see http://www.bloodyawfulpoet.com for details if desired) I feel the need to correct this. Spike did _not_ feed off a live human being in 'Crush'; Drusilla snapped the girl's neck before passing her to Spike, at which point he hesitated before deciding to drink from the dead girl. There _is_ some confusion over this in Buffy fandom, but the shooting script makes it quite clear that the girl was already dead at _Drusilla's_ hand.
Naughty, naughty Steve. Must pay attention next time. Bad boy.
Spike's chip, however, does function on intent to harm (although that may be one factor among many).
Nice fudge there, Mistral. You should work for the Federation :-).
In the episode 'Fool for Love' (the Spike
origins episode, prior to 'Crush'), Spike is able to spar with Buffy, because he has no intent to harm her, and therefore the chip doesn't kick in.
I'm not on Sky, so I could be wrong about this, but do you think it could have something to do with the context of the fight? Also, are we ever actually told by the people who put the chip in exactly how it works. Or is Spike (and so the audience) only going on trial and error?
There is at least one piece of evidence in B7 that Gan's limiter may similarly function on intent, or more accurately, on emotion; Blake says in 'Breakdown': "The limiter is supposed to cut in when stress drives him to the point where he might kill."
That's true, he does, but their are a number of theories put forward in this episode and that is just one. And BTW it is contradicted by the fact that Gan kills in Cygnus Alpha. And gets into combat situations elsewhere, without it triggering-- if Spike was in the fight in Deliverance, he'd be screaming.
So the trigger appears to be
rage, not killing per se.
But Gan shows no rage when killing the monk or when strangling Cally.
This would explain why he's able to indulge in
some self-defensive actions in 'Deliverance' (and possibly 'Cygnus Alpha' as well), because he isn't experiencing sufficient rage to trigger the limiter.
Then what would be the point of giving him a limiter at all? "This man got into a rage and killed somebody" well, so what? Lots of people kill other people in rages. If you are suggesting that Gan is the sort who often flies into a homicidal rage, then where's your evidence? He attacks Jenna in what is certainly interpreted as a rage by Blake, but later he is entirely calm when strangling Cally. And how many times during the series do we see Gan fly into a rage? Once, and that's debatable. We see him fight a lot, but he never appears to "lose it". He seems quite happy in fact. Also look at the fight with Blake on the flight deck in Breakdown. Gan's gurning a lot, but he isn't out of control. His fight with Blake is pretty deliberate. He's also not holding his head at all. Gan's not in pain anymore. He also uses the same neckbreaking technique on Blake that Blake uses in Cygnus Alpha (before the others arrive and he knocks them down like ninepins), and attacks Avon with the computer equipment after having smashed it up a bit-- he seems to be deliberately choosing his mode of attack. Also take a look at the part where Jenna says, "One minute he was crying with pain and then he went berserk." Gan's limiter shorts out, and now he's free.
And here's something else. During Cygnus Alpha Vila stabs a monk to death. Look at Vila's face, it's the first time he's killed anybody. He's horrified. Now look at Blake. He breaks a man's neck. It take skill to do that. Blake has killed before (he breaks a guard's neck in Project Avalon too). Now look at Gan. Again, no worry there about sticking a spear in someone. In fact he's very calm indeed. Gan also has killed before. And I'm not talking about this nonexistant "Federation Security Guard" he allegedly killed "in a rage." Gan is not in a rage here.
Another possible explanation is that the limiter had already begun to malfunction
So why doesn't he show aberrant behaviour before this time then?
- Blake also says in 'Breakdown' that it had been going bad
for some time.
No,he does not. Watch the episode. Blake says, "it's been bothering him for some time. He tried to keep it secret, but I'm sure that he was in a lot of pain." That's Blake's interpretation. But the evidence from the series indicates that the limiter will give Gan a headache if he is on his own. Or on his own with a woman. The Limiter is functioning perfectly. Blake is just misreading the signs. In Orac, after the limiter has been fixed, Gan gets a headache again. "Ha, but that was the radiation," you say. I say, look at the context (and remember the double game). Gan is in a part of the ship on his own. He has to turn on the intercom system to hear the others on the flight deck. Perhaps doing that gives him the illusion that he wasn't alone and so the pain stops. Later in that same episode, Gan hides behind the teleport bracelet rack. Again, he hates being on his own. Now I'll tell you why the limiter is acting in that way. A lot of druggies go to prison. When inside they are weaned off the drug. When they are released it's not long before they go back on it again. You ask why? Because they are returning home to an environment where drugs are commonplace and the use of drugs is accepted. What the limiter is doing is taking Gan out of the environment where he might kill. If Gan takes or lures women to the lower levels to kill them, then that means the environment the killings take place in is one that is deserted. Gan kills alone. Therefore, the limiter will cut in whenever he is alone, and so make that environment uncomfortable for him.
I have spoken to people who are aware of B7 but are outside of fandom about this. It doesn't take them long to grasp the subtext. You lot however, are a different kettle of fish. B7 has taken on a personal role in your lives, for twenty years or so Gan has been a character that you liked, that you felt comfortable with. Now some bitch is trying to tell you that Gan is a killer and what is worse, a killer of women. This is an attack on a friend. You want to defend him. Fair enough, but no matter what you say, you will never disprove what I am saying. And you know why? Because I'm right. Gan is a psychopathic killer. He kills women. He doesn't rape them, but strangles them slowly. He smiles at them and looks them in the face as he does it. That's how he gets his thrill. That's why Gan was sent to Cygnus Alpha.
Jenna is guilty, but she's being sent to Cygnus because she has been set up by the Terra Nostra (The Terra Nostra also being part of the Federation).
Blake is being sent to Cygnus because he has been found guilty of molesting three children (the charge is most definitely false. He is really being sent because he is political. But the Federation official policy at this point is that there are no rebels.)
Vila is sent to Cygnus because he is an habitual criminal. He has been caught a number of times. Locking him up doesn't work, mind manipulation doesn't work. He's a hardened case. Deportation to a penal planet is the last stop for him.
Avon is a fraudster. He has also caused Security a great deal of trouble because they have wasted time and resources on him. They mistakenly thought he was political. Avon also seems to have a few things wrong in the personality department as well.
Gan has an even greater psychopathic personality disorder. He lives to kill women. If there is no "official" death penalty during the first two seasons of B7 (except for Shadow smuggling-- a mandatory death penalty) then the authorities will have to deport him. But if Gan is sent to Cygnus Alpha unchecked he will be a very real danger to the crew of the transporter ship, not forgetting other prisoners. You don't want someone like that running amok on ship during an 8 month journey. Therefore you fit him with a limiter. Gan can still fight and kill, but not when he is on his own. He has to be with a social group and that social group has to approve his actions.
Let's take a look at the way Gan reacts to Avalon when Jenna tears into the room and says "That's not Avalon". He's spoken to her, he's been somewhat overfriendly in fact. The woman may not be Avalon by at this point, but Gan doesn't know she's an android, or even the significance of the purple ball. But once Jenna has said those words, Gan's face distorts, he lunges himself at the woman's throat with all his might. He makes no attempt to knock her out or restrain her, he actually intends to snap her neck. The Avalon android grabs Gan's arms but he has attacked her with such strenght, that you start to hear a whirring sound from "Avalon"'s robotic arms. Even at the end of the story that whirring noise is still heard. And yet all the Avalon Android is doing in that final scene is raising its arm. That never happened before. The answer's simple. The android was damaged by Gan's powerful attack.
Now imagine if the Avalon android was a real woman. Gan, on just three words from Jenna, would have squeezed the life out of her, in a matter of seconds. A woman, who up to that point had been friendly to him. A woman who, up to that point, Gan has been ingratiatingly polite to.
I'm not making this up you know. This is no self deluding "IMO" bullshit.. The pattern's there. Everything fits.
Jenny
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