A suggestion: some time ago we discussed the characters' signs in the Chinese horoscope. Since these change every year, they could also suggest the age difference between the characters. For instance, if Blake was born in the year of the (fire)horse, and Avon in the year of the snake, as I recall we 'determined', what would be the difference in age between the two of them?
BTW, I think Blake's actually 32 at the beginning of the series. Blake et al. must have been fighting the Federation for at least a year before they acquired Orac. Then, in 'Pressure Point', Blake says he's been gathering information on Central Control - with the help of Orac - for about a year. These are two years to be subtracted from the age the clone reports in Weapon.
Which I find rather interesting, because Bran Foster says Blake was arrested 4 years before the events in TWB - that is, when he was 28. Presumably at the time of that first arrest he must have been the leader of the Freedom Party for at least one year, to become so popular and annoying to the Federation. This means that Blake was leading one of the most influential rebel groups on Earth ('the only one that really meant something', as Foster says) at the age of 27. This is rather young for a leader, isn't it?
N.
At 19:48 22/01/02 +0100, you wrote:
Federation. This means that Blake was leading one of the most influential rebel groups on Earth ('the only one that really meant something', as Foster says) at the age of 27. This is rather young for a leader, isn't it?
There are old resisters, and there are bold resisters...
N.
love Anna
From: Natasa Tucev tucev@tesla.rcub.bg.ac.yu
BTW, I think Blake's actually 32 at the beginning of the series. Blake et al. must have been fighting the Federation for at least a year before they acquired Orac. Then, in 'Pressure Point', Blake says he's been gathering information on Central Control - with the help of Orac - for about a year. These are two years to be subtracted from the age the clone reports in
Weapon.
What he actually says is: "For the past year now, I've been collecting all the information I could find. With Orac's help, I now know more about Control than anyone outside the senior echelon of the Federation"
That does not necessarily mean that he has had access to Orac for a whole year, in fact it rather implies that acquiring Orac aided a data collection programme that he had already initiated.
Where and how he might have acquired information on his own without the rest of the crew noticing is open to question. Zen may have had some information. Decoded transmissions may also have been a meagre source. His remark above can be interpreted as meaning that he spent a fair while scrabbling for crumbs, and then acquired Orac at which point the whole process became much easier.
Cally makes a remark early in Weapon that suggests she was either privy to Blake's searching, or had guessed it for herself, but that Blake had yet to broach the subject to the rest of the crew.
Neil
Natasa wrote:
Which I find rather interesting, because Bran Foster says Blake was arrested 4 years before the events in TWB - that is, when he was 28. Presumably at the time of that first arrest he must have been the leader of the Freedom Party for at least one year, to become so popular and annoying to the Federation. This means that Blake was leading one of the most influential rebel groups on Earth ('the only one that really meant something', as Foster says) at the age of 27. This is rather young for a leader, isn't it?
Alexander the Great was 23 when he won the battle of Gaugamela. Pitt the Younger was - well quite young when he became PM (24 I think).
You tend to get younger people in leadership roles societies where heredity decides your social status. Blake being an Alpha might have grown up with an assumption of command (let's face it he's just a tad bossy isn't he). This coupled with his undoubted ability as a strategist might have propelled him to the top of the rebel hierarchy rather quickly. There seems to be a simillar dynamic in Sula's relationship with Hob.
Another possibility is that Blake's R&D work on the Aquitar project was done in a university (post-doctoral work, say) and he got involved in the rebel movement via a radical student society. A group of younger people would be less likely to see a 27 year old as too young to be a resistance leader.
Stephen.
===== "I always have a quotation handy, it saves original thinking" - Lord Peter Wimsey.
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Stephen said:
Blake being an Alpha might have grown up with an assumption of command (let's face it he's just a tad bossy isn't he). This coupled with his undoubted ability as a strategist might have propelled him to the top of the rebel hierarchy rather quickly. > ===== "I always have a quotation handy, it saves original thinking" - Lord Peter
Wimsey.
"Never be a pioneer," said Clovis. "It's the early Christian that gets the fattest lion." (Saki) I'd think it would be the *hungriest* lion, but never mind. After they went through a dozen or so Freedom Party leaders, there may have been fewer candidates to replace them.
-(Y)
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