Helen said:
Blake's decision not to kill Travis under the cicumstances.
Schmuck! If it was up to me, it would be you-are-the-weakest- link-goodbye time.
Ev ery *other* time Blake decided not to kill Travis, I thought he was a schmuck, but I understood it in this case because he was being ordered to do so by a fool of a ghost from an alien race that got themselves killed off. He's really got no reason to trust them, and he certainly doesn't want to do whatever they say. He's a rebel, after all.
Helen said:
Ev ery *other* time Blake decided not to kill Travis, I thought he was a schmuck, but I understood it in this case [Duel] because he was being
ordered
to do so by a fool of a ghost from an alien race that got themselves killed off. He's really got no reason to trust them, and he certainly doesn't want to do whatever they say. He's a rebel, after all.
Yeah, but whoever told him or didn't tell him, POV Blake killing Travis (like eating oatmeal) is Just The Right Thing to Do. I've seen it cited as a maxim of the British royal family that you never pass up a chance to have something to eat or go to the loo, because you don't know when you'll have the next chance...well, WHENEVER you have the chance to kill an implacable enemy who has been driven insane by a desire for vengeance on you... kill him!
-(Y)
Dana Shilling wrote:
well, WHENEVER you have the chance to kill an implacable enemy who has been driven insane by a desire for vengeance on you... kill him!
Except that part of Blake's point here -- and I think it's the real reason why he doesn't kill Travis at other opportunities, as well -- seems to be "better the devil you know." He doesn't want to kill Travis because he knows, no matter what, *someone* is going to be after him, and he wants it to be Travis because he knows how Travis thinks, which gives him an advantage when it comes to *out*thinking him. Kill Travis, somebody new takes his place, and Blake loses that advantage. Ultimately, this *may* have been a mistake on Blake's part, but it's far from irrational.
Betty Ragan wrote:
Except that part of Blake's point here -- and I think it's the real reason why he doesn't kill Travis at other opportunities, as well -- seems to be "better the devil you know." He doesn't want to kill Travis because he knows, no matter what, *someone* is going to be after him,
Also, there's the minimizing the danger you present aspect. As it is, the Fed. officials know that Blake's group has eluded a relatively small force directed at him under the control of a single man. His survival therefore could be due to Travis' incompetence rather than Blake's superiority.
If Travis gets killed, someone new comes in. And someone after him. And now Blake is the super-strategist who has outthought/fought everyone sent against him, so time to escalate your response. It's bad enough to have one man and a handful of ships after you. What if it's dozens of commanders and hundreds of ships? What if the Feds run a version of Raiker's threat on a larger scale? "Surrender yourself or we pump poisonous gas into <some Dome full of thousands of innocent farmers/workers"?
Susan Beth (susanbeth33@mindspring.com)
Susan Beth wrote:
What if the Feds run a version of Raiker's threat on a larger scale? "Surrender yourself or we pump poisonous gas into some Dome full of thousands of innocent farmers/workers"?
Ooh. I can't help but wonder how Blake *would* respond to that. I'd *love* to see somebody use this in a fanfic. The angst potential is enormous. :)
Betty said:
He doesn't want to kill Travis because he knows, no matter what, *someone* is going to be after him, and he wants it to be Travis because he knows how Travis thinks, which gives him an advantage when it comes to *out*thinking him. Kill Travis, somebody new takes his place, and Blake loses that advantage. Ultimately, this *may* have been a mistake on Blake's part, but it's far from irrational.
Is too! Is too! The next guy probably won't have as much personal interest, and may be from the first team or the Junior Varsity. Besides, Travis is a willing participant in Federation tyranny, not just some poor bastard of a draftee (a faceless group that Blake seems to have *no* problem about killing).
-(Y)
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Betty Ragan -
Dana Shilling -
Helen Krummenacker -
Susan Beth