Technomage trilogy question - Spoilers!

[darth_librarian]

Spolier warning if you've not read the Technomage trilogy!!!

I've had a search through old threads and could not get anywhere, so here's a question. Almost finished re-reading the Technomage trilogy. They are great books, even if all the stuff on Z'ha'dum at the end seemed to try a bit too hard to tie into the series.
Still some of the best sci-fi tie in i've read.
Anyway, the question is, if Galen deactivated the eye, which was then destroyed by the White Star, how was it then operational in 4.01 The Hour of the Wolf?? The eye is composed of many living being welded together by Shadow tech, it seems unlikely they could have found the material to rebuild it in the intervening time period (3-4 weeks?) Especially as most of the Shadows had fled to Centauri Prime.

 

[Sindatur]

Good Question. The only thing I can offer, is well, they rebuilt Morden, so Why not?

 

[darth_librarian]

In the final book, Morden was saved by Galen, and then handed onto Lorien, who put in a cameo, no doubt with some of his trademark beard-stroking. I guess Lorien gave him to the Shadows. I guess the Eye could have been rebuilt, its amazing what those bio-engineers can do these days!!!

 

[A_M_Swallow]

There may have been a backup eye. It is normal in warfare to have a second headquarters, even if it has a reduced fighting ability.

 

[grumbler]

I thought at the time that the whole "Eye" thing was way overdone in the trilogy, but I don't find that idea that the defenses still existed, just on "automatic," to be implausable. Remember that the "auto-eye" took a while to respond to the intrusion by the White Star 2, so chalk the fact that the "good guys" were not captured immediately to the lack of the "command center." Anyway, that's at least one way to think about it.

 

[RW7427]

The Eye mentioned in season 4 could have been purely fictional. The Shadows could have made it seem like there was still an Eye to fool anyone that might have known of its existance.

 

[sleepy_shadow]

I would venture to guess... that the Eye could perform little which a few Shadows (or even a single individual) given a minute to prepare, could not accomplish personally.

They probably built the Eye... because they didn't bother to micromanage, considered it boring or dirty work. It remains believable that its failiure was unexpected -- that they ignored the incident developing with the White Star, until too few moments were left.

Later, since loss of a city (and presumably multiple individuals) probably hurt... I would assume they took micromanagement back in their own hands.

--------

When another White Star arrived... Z'ha'dum was probably near uninhabited. War had started in earnest, Vorlons were on offensive. Shadows had probably left Z'ha'dum. Dispersed to avoid presenting a central target, instead to build/activate weapons.

The White Star was possibly received by a planet with minimum crew. Who interacted with it... was possibly (even if not necessarily) a real Shadow.

Differently from earlier hints... this someone wanted the ship intact, and its crew alive. No worries about Vorlon technology (or Vorlon-modified individuals) touching the surface.

Fortunately for those searching for Sheridan... apparently White Stars have sturdy computer systems, which outlast an invasion which overtakes humanoid mind.

--------

By the way, a few months before... I noticed a strange little detail about Ivanova's tour with the Great Machine. It appears uncertain if she met the Eye... and quite certain the knowledge of her visit quickly attracted many observers.

Old thread

 

[darth_librarian]

Interesting stuff SS. Maybe there are multiple Eye's, in multiple locations?? Or maybe that is the true energy form of the Shadows,(it is stated by Kosh in the technomage trilogy that Shadows are beings of light as well, they wear an outer shell, like the Vorlons).

I remember that now, in 4.01 there was only one big set of eyes (according to the Technomage trilogy shadow eyes have 14 pinpricks of light). I may have a look at Lurker's guide entries....

With regards to the great machine, you can draw a parallel between it and the Eye mentioned in the books, a vast machine running through the planet, with a person as it's CPU. The difference is, the Eye submits it's CPU to the Shadow's will, the Great machine gives the user great power and freedom. Maybe the Great machine had its origins in Shadow technology.....

I personally saw the whole Eye thing as one of the many Tolkien homage's in the series.