MovieChat Forums > Farscape (1999) Discussion > Do they ever say who the original is bet...

Do they ever say who the original is between the clones/twins?

posted 11 years ago by assumedkilla
21 replies | jump to latest

Between the three characters that got doubles, do we ever know for certain that the duplicates died and not the original? I've seen the show before but that was forever ago. I'm on episode 7 of season 3 right now. It would be kinda depressing if the real D'argo died on the ship... I can't say I care too much about Chiana lol. I do remember that one of the Johns die later this season. Do they leave it ambiguous who is who?

"I never saved anything for the swim back."

[–] Rauxcee 11 years ago

I believe it works like this:There is no original. They aren't copied, they are doubled. They are both original. But the more they are doubled the less integrity you get with the doubles.

So its never stated who the original was, because they aren't supposed to be viewed as an original and a copy.

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] mpadpy 11 years ago

If a cell divides into 2 does the original die? It is how life goes on and even begins. Since the divided cell is a clone of the original there is nothing that dies, it changes.

C

[–] pgarrone 11 years ago

Interesting point. I read somewhere that with single celled organisms when a cell divides one cell is the parent and another is the child, and if the parent keeps dividing it will die after 1000 replications or so. But the child line will replicate indefinitely. Except that somehow single celled organisms do exchange genes somehow generally, not sure how.

The conflict between the two Crightons seems a bit forced to me. Identical twins do not behave like that. Twins bond very closely.

The cloning machine seems very strange, almost magical. Is there conservation of matter involved? If not it seems a great way to keep supplies happening. Just keep cloning your fowl or whatever to have an indefinite supply of meat on those long space voyages.

[–] junkie1975 10 years ago

I do like the concept of splitting the original to make two originals, and using the biological science of it, it makes sense. But instead of biological, why not go towards quantum physics with quantum entanglement?

[–] assumedkilla 11 years ago

Yeah, I got what he was saying by they were doubled/twined rather than cloned, but there would still be an original between the two. I get what they were going for and it is interesting, but hopefully none of the originals died, especially D'argo since that would be a crappy death.

"I never saved anything for the swim back."

[–] FangsFirst 11 years ago

No, there is not an original. There really isn't. At all. Ever. There is no "original D'Argo" who died (or lived!) there were two D'Argos. (and two Chianas, etc)

[–] Scral9000 11 years ago

I think you're still not getting it. There's no original. Mitosis was the perfect analogy. They were pretty clear about this in the show. Imagine if you had a glass of coke and you poured half of it into another glass. Its the same coke, its just now in two glasses.
So, in a sense, the REAL D'argo, Chiana and John died. You even see John's ghost in one episode. Its pretty dark.

[–] assumedkilla 11 years ago

After thinking about it some more I get it. Are you talking about that episode with Aeryn's fake dad or there's something else later with his ghost?

"I never saved anything for the swim back."

[–] Scral9000 11 years ago

Yeah the one with Aeryn's fake dad. Where he gets a lobster grafted onto his head to blend in lawl.
There is a point in the original "twinning" episode where Chiana describes that the her twin was empty and soulless inside (or something to that effect), which lends some credibility to the idea that there is an original. But really that was just a feeling that she had, everything else seems to indicate otherwise.

[–] jonas_davenport 11 years ago

Yeah but you don't have the original coke if you split it. you're left with just half the original with either glass

[–] Scral9000 11 years ago

Yep, thats why (as i said) mitosis was the perfect analogy. Although the Coke has some particular relevance because in the episode the twins were each lesser versions of their source (not as much as half of course).

[–] wdbehg17 10 years ago

SPOILER WARNING!

Scral9000 posted...

I think you're still not getting it. There's no original. Mitosis was the perfect analogy. They were pretty clear about this in the show. Imagine if you had a glass of coke and you poured half of it into another glass. Its the same coke, its just now in two glasses.
So, in a sense, the REAL D'argo, Chiana and John died. You even see John's ghost in one episode. Its pretty dark.

But how do you KNOW it was the real ones who died and not the doubles? Or, rather let me ask it this way: who are the ones that survived? With each character is it the source that survived, or is it the one that was created from the source that survived?

[–] Scral9000 10 years ago

lol nooooo. Theyre BOTH the real ones. Not copies. 2 ORIGINALS. The source is halved and then the halves expanded to create 2 real and original people from one.

If you cut a starfish in half and then the two halves each regrew back into a complete starfish.. to ask which of these starfish is the ORIGINAL would be meaningless. comprende?

[–] Bernnard_Black 10 years ago

They aren't both originals, though. Can't be. One is indeed an exact twin of the other with all the same memories, features, traits, etc. But one of them was created on the spot; the other was not. The problem is neither know the answer because they both have the same memories. I think it was supposed to be left to the viewers imagination who the "original" Chriton was, even though they were both identical.

Whores will have their trinkets.

[–] PillowRock 10 years ago

Yes, they ARE both equally "original".

But one of them was created on the spot; the other was not.

No, that's not how it worked. Both were created on the spot using the original body as raw material.

One was not an exact copy of the other. It would be more accurate to say that the original no longer existed at all, and both twins are copies that include half the matter of the original.

[–] Scral9000 10 years ago

Why do you say "They aren't both originals, though. Can't be. " ???

This IS the concept.

Sure, its not possible with todays technology but neither is Starburst or half the stuff in that show.

You MUST accept the explanation as given in the show, it is not a documentary that you can interpret in multiple ways, the writer had a singular intent and that was it.

[–] crichtont88 11 years ago

Think of it like a planerian worm: If you cut the worm in half down the middle, each half becomes a new, complete worm. Is one of them the original? Which one? They are both original, and equal.

[–] sohrab_23 10 years ago

In that case none of them is the original and instead something new. Personally I don't like this kind of story line or one with memory loss, so I am a bit skeptical to whether continue watching the show or not.

[–] scott-269-715736 10 years ago

I dislike any plot tricks that allow a cartoon continuation of a story, unless the story happens to be a cartoon. Some problems all science fiction has to overlook to make a show enjoyable are understandable. At least Farscape's was better than the ones used in ST:The Next Generation or Babylon 5.

I disliked it too, but found continuing the show was worthwhile. I went with the acceptance that we end up with the original. Even if they were both originals, they would only remain identical for a short time. The more time that passes the more they would develop differences. The Crichton at the end of the series seems plausible enough to be the original (of course, the other one would too.)

As I recall the other doubles were accounted for, unless the doubler was lying about which one was used - if they're identical why make an effort to only use the double.

Here's hoping you continued and enjoyed the rest of the series.

[–] o-lO-o-Ol-o 11 years ago

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Major_events_in_mitosis.svg

A png image in case the svg doesn't work:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e0/Major_events_ in_mitosis.svg/350px-Major_events_in_mitosis.svg.png