Harriet wrote re 'Voice':

The story would work better if it was a parallel to Shadow and his attempt to recruit the Terra Nostra, and I'd also move it back a bit.

That way, the first part of second season could be loosely grouped around Blake attempting to find allies to help him overthrow the Federation, and then discovering that they're ruled out (the Terra Nostra are the Federation, the dissident governors have been infiltrated by the Federation, possibly something similar with grassroots rebels, or else they're only interested in local issues and ignore the big picture). And then that forces him into the decision that there is no alternative to the destruction of Central Control/Star One, which dominates the second half of the season.

I like this idea. It's consistent with Blake's character and his feeling of responsibility that he should explore all other options before resorting to such a drastic action as blowing up Control.

I also agree with you that Blake has probably encountered many 'dissident governers interested only in local issues'. This is quite a realistic assumption, although there's no canonic evidence for it. Another naive detail in the series, IMO, is that the rebellion's leaders all get on so well. From the very beginning, the whole anti-Federation movement is so harmonious: Bran Foster and his comrades discuss how to help the rebels in the Outer Worlds, cultural center doesn't despise the periphery. There are no fractions with opposed ideological views, personal ambitions or dislikes, conflicting local or territorial interests, stuff that usually brings a revolution to a collapse. (Some of these motifs we encounter in S3 and S4, but not while Blake is around.)

When I was a kid I read Karl May's novels and I recall Winnetou saying he would have tried to unite all the Indian tribes in the continent and dump all the white men into the ocean, but he knows it's impossible because it would take a lifetime to smooth over all their internal disputes and animosities. Blake may have faced a similar situation.

N.