Dana said -
So the question is, is Blake suffering such despair that he can't entirely blame Travis for trying to kill him (and keeps refusing to kill Travis to give Travis another shot at him?)
Or does Blake secretly hate human beings in some way, as deeply as Travis does, and for similar reasons? After all they are both aiming for the same goal - the destruction of Star One. How different are their motives? Perhaps it is as alienating to be a hero as to be a monster. You are always on the outside of the human race, looking in.
I sometimes think great heroism or self sacrifice could be motivated by the fact that the hero doesn't really like people all that much, or want to spend normal time with them. I'm only guessing, because I've never met that kind of big-action hero in real life.
I'm not sure what I've described is a very accurate picture of the Blake we see on screen, because he seems too normal and friendly most of the time. But you could imagine that deep inside, there is some sort of fellow-feeling with Travis, a deep rage against everything. And he would rationalise this away, and rationalise away his reluctance to kill his shadow.
Alison