"His midichlorians were off the scale"

[lordlundar]

Close. It was Arthur C. Clark who said "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

Babylon 5 dealt with the very same ideas in The Geometry of Shadows (Episode 203).

[Fire_on_High]

Pern and Darkover were both examples of doing it exactly right.

The planning of the Pern series overall was exceptional. You see the transition from the early days in Dragonsdawn, the chaos starting with Threadfall and the engineering of the dragons, the escape northward from the volcanoes, you see the toll it takes on the society.

At each point things are lost, society becomes just a bit more medieval, a bit less technological. First advanced things such as the DNA/PNA sequencers and electron microscopes, in the post Dragonsdawn times of Dragonsblood. Then in Dragonseye/Red Star Rising, you see the computers and everything they controlled felled by a lightning strike, once and for all. Compare that to Third Pass Pern, which is the main timeline for the Todd books...Pern is already much more like pre AIVAS Ninth Pass than Landing or even Second Pass.

This was all planned so meticulously, and it shows. And I have to admit, much as everyone hates on it, the crowning glory of the series has been the moments in Todd's books where he resolved seemingly minor plot points mentioned in the original trilogy. It comes full circle...the weyrling "entombed in solid rock" mentioned when Lessa and Ramoth are being taught to go Between? That was the Third Pass Telgar Weyrleader's young son. The room Jaxom and Felessan find after sneaking to see the eggs? That was the medical room where the dragonplague cure was stored. Things written nearly 40 years ago were answered in such a way as to give the various aspects good continuity.

Darkover...again, you have things like the laran sorcery, and the various planetary weirdnesses that give it a fantasy feel, but at the same time, you see leftover bits of the technology remaining from the original survivors. With the later books in the series you have the Empire trying to manipulate everything and using their technology trying to force Darkover to their ways...in a single book you have things like the spaceport, issues with the Compact and guards' weapons, and then threshold sickness, enmasca, etc.

I'm rambling, but...with series that have both, it has to be planned and put in right, not changed midstream. Done right, it makes even the most unlikely changes in a world's timeline seem logical; done wrong it's a horror.

[Silverharp]

To be honest, the whole thing with midichlorians could have allowed for continuity with episodes 4-6 just by explaining that the little buggers were a harmless parasite that REALLY likes force users. The more force, the more little buggers.
There's already parallels in the real world with harmless and helpful bacteria already present in our bodies.

[Mytical]

Well..magic and science are closer then you might think. What is science to one might be magic to another. Take the little derringer pistol that could be hid up a sleeve. Somebody from the 1200's or so who seen somebody point and somebody and kill them might think it sorcery. So..in a sci-fi setting, something unexplained MIGHT seem like magic, but in fact would just be something taken for granted by the people of that time.

There could be an even easier explanation of the force. Currently we use maybe 20-40% of our brains (the 10% is basically a myth). Who knows what evolution might unlock..or have unlocked for somebody who lived in a galaxy far far away.

[jackfaire]

Take the little derringer pistol that could be hid up a sleeve.

This reminds me of the movie Wizards

[Silverharp]

"Let me tell ya... I ain't practiced much magic for a long time. I wanna show you a trick mother showed me when you weren't around."

[jackfaire]

"Let me tell ya... I ain't practiced much magic for a long time. I wanna show you a trick mother showed me when you weren't around."

and the freaking quote nice sir nice.

[Silverharp]

Love that movie, I still need to get another copy so that I can introdue the wife

[CriminalMindsRocks]

I've had some of my stories switch genres partway through, and when that happens, I have to go back through the entire thing to make sure there aren't any contradictions, and add in proper foundation points where they're appropriate or it just doesn't work right. It's a pain, but anyone with any pride in their work is going to do the same.

^-.-^

heh..too bad Lucas didn't think to do that when he started planning the prequels 'cause if he had there wouldn't have been soo many contradictions to the originals

1) Obi-Wan wasn't the one who 'discovered' Anakin, Obi-Wan's master Qui-Gon did

2) Leia 'remembering' her real mother..Uhh, Leia never knew her real mother. Padm'e died in childbirth, therefore Leia wouldn't have remembered a thing

3) Yoda didn't train Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon did..Yes, Yoda did have a hand in the training as all of the masters at the Temple did but Yoda wasn't Obi's master

[CriminalMindsRocks]

One of the things that bugs me about Star Trek is that everything has an explanation and everyone is able to give an explanation. There comes a point when a technology is old enough that noone really cares how it works, it just works......

just a tad, but could you then explain to me why the hell in the 24th frigging century the Enterprise kept having to eject the warp core every time someone in/or around Engineering so much as sneezed?? The folks over on the "Next Generation" IMDB board would love to know

Either they kept getting a bad batch of warp cores installed or they had a lame assed engineer

[Andara Bledin]

2) Leia 'remembering' her real mother..Uhh, Leia never knew her real mother. Padm'e died in childbirth, therefore Leia wouldn't have remembered a thing

This one can actually be easily and rationally explained. The woman that Leia mentioned remembering as her mother was not her mother, but she was told that it was. Based on the comment to Luke, she likely knew she was adopted, and she knew someone as her real mother as opposed to Queen Breha, her adoptive mother.

The fact that Luke was placed with his actual aunt and uncle seems particularly stupid. The twins were separated to hide them from Vader. However, it might be explainable if you consider that they were more trying to hide Leia's existence entirely, and not merely her whereabouts.

^-.-^

[HYHYBT]

It's been a while since I watched TNG, but I don't remember their *ever* ejecting the warp core. Just worrying that they'd have to.

However, it might be explainable if you consider that they were more trying to hide Leia's existence entirely, and not merely her whereabouts.

Makes good sense. He might well never go looking at all. If he does, most likely either he'd think they wouldn't be stupid enough to hide his kid with relatives, *or* on finding one would not realize there were two.

[mikoyan29]

So I went to see Phantom Menace 3D tonight....some of the 3D was pretty impressive.