The Millennium Group Ideologies

[Guest arcanamundi]

Amazing! Thanks for that. Foxes as a third faction... fascinating!

[4th Horseman]

Amazing!    Thanks for that.  Foxes as a third faction... fascinating!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Please indulge my "adding and subtracting from the word" so to speak. Ethsnafu, great post as usual, your idea of a 3rd faction is a wonderful idea, however, since the division between the Owls and Roosters could not be more black and white, one then has to envision a concept which would offer an alternative path from these two mainstream ideas..it becomes difficult due to the common thread being the "end of times". The Rooster's concept of this apoclapyse is embedded and deeply rooted in a belief that a profusion of events, foreseen nearly 2,000 years ago will lead nation against nation, climaxing in the 2nd coming of Jesus Christ, followed by the Battle of Armageddon, to be fought in the valley of Megiddo in Israel. The Owl's concept is based strictly on a secular course of events, having its roots in the scientific, non-religious soil. Finding some kind of middle ground here is daunting at the least, and some of the factions mentioned, The Chroniclers, The Fugitives, The Providers, and others died out long ago. The group Follow the Path's premise was never fully explained in "In Arcadia Ego".

Roosters crow at the dawn, hoping to arouse the barnyard. But the owl knows... it is

still late at night. The foxes are about. The master sleeps. This... is who we are. Lets break this down a bit..

I believe this is meant to be an allegory. "Roosters crow at dawn", stirring at the first rays of light.

"The owl knows" - an owl is a night creature, whose eyes are best suited for navigation, hunting, etc in the darkness of the night..hence "it is still late at night"...

"The foxes are about"....on any farm where there are coops of various birds, there will be foxes, which come in the night to take the unaware, those who are "sleeping"

"The Master sleeps" is an obvious reference the one who overlooks the entire situation..

The only factions that, in seasons 1/2 that had active, current members were the Owls, Roosters, and The Family, whose existence was predicated upon serving the Holy Grail. I think that Fisher would have been an excellent foe of both Peter and Frank. Laura was no match for him, and he played the part with a coolness that was wholly devoid of any emotion.

"If you bring forth what is within you,

what you bring forth will save you.

If you do not bring forth what is within you,

what you do not bring forth will destroy you."

What a great quote, the significance being, i believe that Lauras "angel" is never brought forth because as Fisher says about it...

But your angel's abandoned

you, hasn't he? You've been without his

guidance ever since you came into this

town. You fear him, but you rely on him,

but he's afraid -- afraid of the presence

of a higher power.

Laura seems to recognize this power that Claire's "higher power" has over her own ability with the following

Don't leave me alone, Catherine. These

visions are so isolating. Lately, they

seem to prey on my lonliness, driving me

to... an inevitability.

What is that inevitability?

I am also left to wonder, as Laura rises to leave after she has been "taken out behind the woodshed" by Fisher, whats with the position of his hands? Is that the symbol of The Family?

Gee, so many questions, so much left to interpretation, or over-interpretation....lets get going people and shed some light..because

This is Who We Are..

Till The Last Change..Be Done..

The Fourth Horseman..

[vain68]

I would be remiss if I did not add a small piece to this stellar thread. Before I do so, I would like to take the opportunity to reiterate what has already been mentioned above and that is we have some fantastic minds here. Eth--your posts resonate with creativity and touch that fine line between believable and science fiction. In many ways, this 'transition matrix' if you will, is what made Season II so excellent in my mind save for a few misplaced episodes (even if they were great works in their own right).

There is one thing, however, which I saw in the transition from S I to S II that has not been mentioned and I may have alluded to it in another thread, but perhaps I did not. In Season I, we primarily have a consulting group whose job was to assist (as does the Academy group) in apprehending the worst of the worst, the most twisted, the most demonic, evil folk. Season II's dip into religion, mythology, and ethos had a slightly different meaning for me. First, whereas S I seemed to focus on the apprehension of evil, season II seemed to take a deeper look at understanding the roots of this evil. Is it 'inborn' or is it 'man-made.' While I don't have the particular episode references as many of you do, I recall a number of poignant points in various episodes where this was hinted at.

Season I seemed to take a more "evil is made" approach, whereas season II took the ideology that evil will always exist and is more 'a part of the human condition.' Interestingly, in Beware of the Dogs, the idea of chaotic dynamical systems was hinted at. This framework, itself a child of hard mathematics, and now gaining momentum in sciences such as psychology and neuropsychology, has a number of postulates which have at their core the ideas of 'self-organization' and 'emergent function.' Phase shifts between stable dynamic systems are triggered by environmental perturbations, and these, while having some level of predictability are themselves more or less random. Within the 'chaos' however (over many iterations/amplifications of the perturbation throughout the interactive parts of a system) there becomes order or self-organization to more complex, highly integrated systems. Interestingly, this approach violates the second law of thermodynamics (as this was mentioned earlier, I think it is a good convergent point) and so becomes a non-linear framework for understanding phenomenon. In a sense, much as the dawn and dusk are 'transition times,' chaotic, dynamical systems has at its core the notion that chaotic interactions and phase transitions between stable dynamic attractor states produce more complex order as a result of self-organization.

Regardless of the idea of a 'third faction' which I intuitively find appealing, chaotical dynamical theory could easily be a 'theoretical backdrop' against which to view not only the MilleniuM group’s chaotic internal nature, but also the phenomenon which it investigated. Considering that dynamical approaches are non linear, and are based on principles that stretch natural laws such as thermodynamics, it is easy to see that the 'zone of indifference' between religion and secular views was indeed what the show portrayed very well. And while many, including CC himself, said that the transition from SI to SII was unintuitive or "non-linear", we see that it was not really so at all if viewed from this lens. Indeed, as mentioned above, hints at this convergence zone were presented in the later half of SI especially. Whether or not any of the producers or shows writers are familiar with chaotic dynamical theory, or the intense and complex mathematics and evidence behind it, I am not certain.

Vain

Edited June 26, 2005 by vain68

[Raven Wolf]

Are we seeing three great prospective writers for the forthcoming (if it ever gets off the ground) Millennium fan book?!?!?!?!? :ta_clap:

"for we are many"

God! So, so, so interesting. Mighty posts all of them. Unfortunately I can only offer some more of the same, the bizarre ethsnafu madness you have come to expect. I don't think (worries as he even begins to write this) that the Millennium group was as distinctly divided as Morgan and Morgan envisaged. There is way too much evidence that the Millennium Group was riddled with contradiction, inconsistency and double-dealing. I accept that there was two 'noted' factions within but offer the theory that the subdivision of group ideology was much more complex than that.

The Millennium Group underwent a quite dramatic thematic change during the course of the show's three seasons. It evolved/devolved from the premise of a consulting group, to apocalyptic activists to X-Files Conspiracy clones dipping their toes in political assassinations, war crimes and fringe sciences. This shift in tone from Season One to Season Two was explained by the power struggles and ethical dominance of the Owls and Roosters, each faction vying for power and exerting their own unique eschatological theories over the Group consciousness. But what occurred beyond the death of the harmonising 'Old Man' that allowed the group to descend into the criminality and black magic of Season Three and X-Files 7x05? Which group had sufficient darkness to allow the group to shift completely on it's axis and if the answer is neither, which it seems is the logical conclusion, who, or what, happened to the previously benign Millennium Group.

The concept of 'others' was very much a Morgan-and-Wong-ism. In some instances it refers to the easily vanquished Odessa, in other examples it clearly refers to something within the sphere of the Millennium Group umbrella. Morgan and Wong expanded the scope of the Millennium Group's Universe to encompass group subdivisions, offshoots and those with homogenic origins: Owls, Roosters, Follow The Path, The Chroniclers and The Family all shared some thread of unity but none of these seemed destined to influence the group to such a degree that it would become responsible for the holocaust-like mass graves and the charnel house that almost caused Hollis to vomit. It is only when you begin to consider the Polaroid Man, Dani Barbakow and Lilly Unser, all united beneath the image of the ouroborous, that it raised the possibility that a shadowy faction may have existed either in secret or away from mainstream group awareness.

Lilly Unser is an excellent starting point. She is the product of A Millennium Group rebirth that occurred in the 1940's as depicted in Matroyshka (a doll within a doll, a group within a group,) This J Edgar Hoover lead re-invention was born from a revelation concerning the nature of evil, this offshoot rose with the mandate to uncover how good men could create something so evil as the atomic bomb - its mantra was to become the third Millennium Group end time ideology "We are racing towards an apocalypse of our creation." As this mantra began to dominate Season Three so too did the murder of innocents: the third factions attempts to hold back this man-made apocalypse by the destruction of individuals who were moving science into uncharted territories. This fate was to become Cheryl Andrew's, this concept of the execution of radicals was explained to Hollis by Peter Watts when she discovered a remote, group charnel house. Comets, Gods and Humans, the two tier theology of Season Two became Season Three's trinity of ideologies. If this third faction was the dark soul of the group who gained supremacy after the death of the Old Man is there any evidence to link them to the dark activities already gaining momentum in season two.

"Roosters crow at the dawn, hoping to arouse the barnyard. But the owl knows... it is still late at night. The foxes are about. The master sleeps. This... is who we are." This line fascinated me, the unexplained answer phone message that heralded a time of fractions and schisms. It is clear the owl and rooster is in reference to the two named factions, the sleeping master is obviously the (at that time) the inert Old Man but who or what are foxes? When Lara is approached by the Owls in the library the following exchange occurs. I'm certain the Millennium is not imminent. Others in the Millennium Group know this, as well." the others to which he is referring is clearly not the Roosters who do believe this, it is not in reference to Odessa who are not a group component, so who are those within the group who share the Owl's apocalyptic timeframe but not their ideology - could this be another reference to the existence of the third faction of Season Three? Are the Foxes a group so wide of the mark that they are only eluded to in allegory and only tentatively considered group at all?

This man made manipulation of the end-times was seen before the stories of season three. In 'A Single Blade of Grass', 'Joe Reynard' immerses himself in ritual with the aim of realising end-time prophecies. Joe Reynard, member of his own flagrantly destructive version of the Millennium Group means quite literally. Joe Fox.

Yet again more evidence of a third faction abounds. "We are on the brink of a scission that appears irreversible. Johnston, a member of great stature, accountable only to you and the Old Man, was destructively working both Owls and Roosters against each other." So Johnston is clearly not an Owl nor is he a Rooster, there must be an element of gain in his attempts to incite a civil war within the group or why bother. Of course there is the Odessa red herring and though they clearly covet the Holy Rood there is not reason to think they would have anything to gain from an imbalance, or change of management within Millennium. This rogue element was exposed before we even reached the Odessa mythos of Owls and Roosters in 'The Hand of Saint Sebastian'-

Frank:  "You?"

Andrews:  "Unit 998.  Let's confirm before we tidy things up."

Frank:  "Who do you work for?  How much did they pay you to sell your soul?  Not enough to kill us.  You set up Watts to destroy the credibility of the group.  I got it.  What's so important about this body?" Andrews is very much Millennium Group and sowing the seeds of the civil war to come that would greatly reduce the influence of both Owls and Roosters and pave the way for group three to take supremacy throughout the third season.

And what of the much discussed Polaroid Man? This darkly deranged individual who the group actively seem to keep hidden from one of their own. There is a very clear clue that the Polaroid Man is still active in the Millennium Group until recent times (Oh, its scientific name is P1997-Vanson-West. We discovered it about six months ago,)  although he has clearly plagued Frank for some time longer, with the group taking the bizarre decision to withhold his identity and intentions from the Black family. It is insane to think that a loose canon, to this degree, would be not only tolerated but assisted unless he still remains very much part of group continuity. If he is a simply a dangerously rogue element, acting without sanction and against group consensus, then why not simply hand Frank the file.

Now for the more arcane stuff you've come to expect from me, sorry lol.

"Make it up? No, man, no. It's right there. Each night, appearing in Gemini, the twins. Look, look, look. You can see it has two tails. Just in time for the year 2000. That's weird, huh?" Every comet really has two tails, a dust tail and an ion tail. If the comet is faint, only one or neither tail may be detectable, and the comet may appear just as a fuzzy blob of light. Though the coma and tails of a comet may extend for tens of millions of kilometers and become easily visible to the naked eye in Earth's night sky, as Comet West's were in 1976, the entire phenomenon is the product of a tiny nucleus only a few kilometers across. What's unusual about P1997-Vanson-West is that both tails are visible to the naked eye. It seems that this approaching peculiarity has some effect upon the Polaroid Man, it is almost a precursor to the sudden escalation of his behavior. prompting him to place himself directly between Catherine and Frank and ultimately tear their marriage apart whilst taking revenge upon the Millennium Group. In the Bible there is an interesting passage regarding Samson and his revenge upon his former in laws: "And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between two tails. And when he had set the brands on fire, he let them go into the standing Corn of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks, and also the standing corn, with the vineyards and olives." Two tails, revenge, foxes...who knows.

I do not like them in a house.

I do not like them with a mouse.

I do not like them here or there.

I do not like them anywhere.

I do not like green eggs and ham.

I do not like them, Sam-I-am.

Would you eat them in a box?

Would you eat them with a fox?

Though this could quite simply be a reference to the fact that Doug Hutchinson starred in I-Am-Sam I can't imagine Morgan and Wong would include such a strange caveat unless there is another interpretation beyond an allusion to an actors IMDB entry. It could be nod also to Son of Sam,  serial killer David Berkowitz, who was driven by demons inside his diseased mind, as was Dani Barbakow, it could also be a second reference to 'Foxes' the third, more demonic, fraction hinted at in Owls and Roosters. When mentioning Dani Barbakow it is worth noting the Chicken Little story is used as an allegory for a descent into a 'dark place'. When the other animals are concerned with the 'apocalypse' it is Foxy Loxy who uses this hysteria to take the group into his lair where he consumes them - not only a word by word description of the course of the Millennium Group but a possible indication of Dani's indoctrination into the third fraction.

"Oh, my," said Foxy Loxy, "I must show you the quickest way. So Henny Penny, Ducky Lucky, Loosey Goosey, and Turkey Lurkey, followed Foxy Loxy to a dark hole. But this was really the hole to Foxy Loxy's den. Follow me," said Foxy Loxy, and went into the hole. Then all of a sudden, Foxy Loxy turned around and

ate up Turkey Lurkey, in one big bite." Yup. The Fox devoured the Birds, make of that what you will.

Even if a third fraction exists it clearly had no name. I simply got over excited by a couple of seeming references but the fox has been thought magical for many centuries because it is nocturnal and is out during the times mythical creatures roam the woods and is easiest seen during dusk and dawn, the "Between Times." This sounds an almost too perfect analogy for the period of transition, the between times of Owls and Roosters, the dark night where something is roaming amongst the group in quite a destructive manner.

Sorry to be a terminal bore,

ethsnafu

PS The spear you are referring to, Hippyroo, is the The Spear of Destiny, also known as the Spear of Longinus and the Heilige Lance. It was said to be the spear that pierced Christ's side during the passion, as you rightly say numerous world powers had possession of it, unfortunately some at the same time and debate rages which of the numerous spears is genuine. A fascinating subject isn't it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Please indulge my "adding and subtracting from the word" so to speak. Ethsnafu, great post as usual, your idea of a 3rd faction is a wonderful idea, however, since the division between the Owls and Roosters could not be more black and white, one then has to envision a concept which would offer an alternative path from these two mainstream ideas..it becomes difficult due to the common thread being the "end of times". The Rooster's concept of this apoclapyse is embedded and deeply rooted in a belief that a profusion of events, foreseen nearly 2,000 years ago will lead nation against nation, climaxing in the 2nd coming of Jesus Christ, followed by the Battle of Armageddon, to be fought in the valley of Megiddo in Israel. The Owl's concept is based strictly on a secular course of events, having its roots in the scientific, non-religious soil. Finding some kind of middle ground here is daunting at the least, and some of the factions mentioned, The Chroniclers, The Fugitives, The Providers, and others died out long ago. The group Follow the Path's premise was never fully explained in "In Arcadia Ego".

Roosters crow at the dawn, hoping to arouse  the barnyard. But the owl knows... it is

still late at night. The foxes are about. The master sleeps. This... is who we are. Lets break this down a bit..

I believe this is meant to be an allegory. "Roosters  crow at dawn", stirring at the first rays of light.

"The owl knows" - an owl is a night creature, whose eyes are best suited for navigation, hunting, etc in the darkness of the night..hence "it is still late at night"...

"The foxes are about"....on any farm where there are coops of various birds, there will be foxes, which come in the night to take the unaware, those who are "sleeping"

"The Master sleeps" is an obvious reference the one who overlooks the entire situation..

The only factions that, in seasons 1/2 that had active, current members were the Owls, Roosters, and The Family, whose existence was predicated upon serving the Holy Grail. I think that Fisher would have been an excellent foe of both Peter and Frank. Laura was no match for him, and he played the part with a coolness that was wholly devoid of any emotion.

"If you bring forth what is within you,

what you bring forth will save you.

If you do not bring forth what is within you,

what you do not bring forth will destroy you."

What a great quote, the significance being, i believe that Lauras "angel" is never brought forth because as Fisher says about it...

But your angel's abandoned

you, hasn't he? You've been without his

guidance ever since you came into this

town. You fear him, but you rely on him,

but he's afraid -- afraid of the presence

of a higher power.

Laura seems to recognize this power that Claire's "higher power" has over her own ability with the following

Don't leave me alone, Catherine. These

visions are so isolating. Lately, they

seem to prey on my lonliness, driving me

to... an inevitability.

What is that inevitability?

I am also left to wonder, as Laura rises to leave after she has been "taken out behind the woodshed" by Fisher, whats with the position of his hands? Is that the symbol of The Family?

Gee, so many questions, so much left to interpretation, or over-interpretation....lets get going people and shed some light..because

This is Who We Are..

Till The Last Change..Be Done..

The Fourth Horseman..

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I would be remiss if I did not add a small piece to this stellar thread.  Before I do so, I would like to take the opportunity to reiterate what has already been mentioned above and that is we have some fantastic minds here.  Eth--your posts resonate with creativity and touch that fine line between believable and science fiction.  In many ways, this 'transition matrix' if you will, is what made Season II so excellent in my mind save for a few misplaced episodes (even if they were great works in their own right).

There is one thing, however, which I saw in the transition from S I to S II that has not been mentioned and I may have alluded to it in another thread, but perhaps I did not.  In Season I, we primarily have a consulting group whose job was to assist (as does the Academy group) in apprehending the worst of the worst, the most twisted, the most demonic, evil folk.  Season II's dip into religion, mythology, and ethos had a slightly different meaning for me.  First, whereas S I seemed to focus on the apprehension of evil, season II seemed to take a deeper look at understanding the roots of this evil.  Is it 'inborn' or is it 'man-made.'  While I don't have the particular episode references as many of you do, I recall a number of poignant points in various episodes where this was hinted at. 

Season I seemed to take a more "evil is made" approach, whereas season II took the ideology that evil will always exist and is more 'a part of the human condition.'  Interestingly, in Beware of the Dogs, the idea of chaotic dynamical systems was hinted at.  This framework, used in many hard sciences, and now gaining momentum in sciences such as psychology and neuropsychology, has a number of postulates which have at their core the ideas of 'self-organization' and 'emergent function.'  Phase shifts between stable dynamic systems are triggered by environmental perturbations, and these, while having some level of predictability are themselves more or less random.  Within the 'chaos' however (over many iterations/amplifications of the perturbation throughout the interactive parts of a system) there becomes order or self-organization to more complex, highly integrated systems.  Interestingly, this approach violates the second law of thermodynamics (as this was mentioned earlier, I think it is a good convergent point) and so becomes a non-linear framework for understanding phenomenon.  In a sense, much as the dawn and dusk are 'transition times,' chaotic, dynamical systems has at its core the notion that chaotic interactions and phase transitions between stable dynamic attractor states produce more complex order as a result of self-organization.

Regardless of the idea of a 'third faction' which I intuitively find appealing, chaotical dynamical theory could easily be a 'theoretical backdrop' against which to view not only the MilleniuM group’s chaotic internal nature, but also the phenomenon which it investigated.  Considering that dynamical approaches are non linear, and are based on principles that stretch natural laws such as thermodynamics, it is easy to see that the 'zone of indifference' between religion and secular views was indeed what the show portrayed very well.  And while many, including CC himself, said that the transition from SI to SII was unintuitive, we see that it was not really so at all if viewed from this lens.  Indeed, as mentioned above, hints at this convergence zone were presented in the later half of SI especially.  Whether or not any of the producers or shows writers are familiar with chaotic dynamical theory, or the intense and complex mathematics and evidence behind it, I am not certain.

Vain

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[ethsnafu]

"'The serpent that did sting thy father's life now wears his crown.'"

I have read Vain's response to this thread and I am amazed. It is simply the most profound thing I have ever read on a message board devoted to a television drama. I cannot find the words to applaud it appropriately. I feel so inadequate.....but.....

I never thought anyone would agree with my fan-fiction like musings with regards to a' foxy' third faction but therein lies my love of this show, the power to make us dream and dream again and if I have nightmares more than most then so be it. In my Millennium dreamland I still concur that there is a third faction, Morgan and Wong 'opened the books' and gave us the only real insight into the group throughout it's existence and I believe it fair to conclude that they did not believe they were telling a self contained story but creating fertile ground for exploration over numerous seasons as occurred in the X-Files. They created such an intricate and elusive mythos, born from the need to impart some longevity upon the Millennium universe, that each answer they gave us was the genesis of another enigma. There is an overwhelming feeling of hope, even eccentricity, to the Season Two stories which became a study of darkness beyond the death of the Old Man and gives birth to a season of Millennium-Group-horrors from which the group would never recover. In the stories prior to the epic tale of two cities that was Owls and Roosters there is no indication that the group would ultimately become the architect of such profound sorrow, there does not seem to be so apparent an evil in either of the factions yet with the demise of the temperance factor of the Old Man the change is drastic and rapid and I do believe there is enough evidence to suggest that the accepted understanding of the mechanisms of the group belies something much darker behind the scene.

"The church is a snake in the open. It is the snake in the grass that causes concern." Millennium Group Member, 998 AD.

Lest go right back to the beginning, a very good place to start, it is generally accepted that the Millennium Group was essentially whole until the heretical teachings of Galileo inspired those so inclined to form the Owl faction. Those who accepted his vision of a heavenly catastrophe born from a falling mass of ice and dust must have formed this errant faction around 1618 when Galileo first turned his attention to the serious study of comets. Without this study, without these theories there could be no Owls and no Roosters as it was this new testament to the end times that causes the schism between members to form. If no other faction exists then the story depicted in 'The Hand of Saint Sebastian' is particularly fascinating, its historical components taking place 620 years before the formation of the Owls. Something is dividing the group. Those with a clear devotion to Christ are persecuted and executed from within, the events of which are all the more poignant as the same appears to be occurring in modern times. "What you want to confirm they will deny. What you want to find they will hide." "A caution... because if we found out, they already know." To whom is the 'they' referring? To who is Cheryl Andrews and her cronies affiliated? To the Owls? Or to a faction born from the divisions of 998 AD which this is, ultimately, what the story is about.

Peter: "There are certain things I can't tell you. There are secrets to Millennium that have to be earned. There are truths that you wouldn't understand even if I attempted to explain."

Frank: "Don't tell me, you took a blood oath."

Well he did as it happens, or at the very least an initiatory rite involving ritual cutting, but more on Peter Watts and the Blood Initiation later. It is blatant that there are many secrets to Millennium, this is in part alluded to during the Owls and Roosters War. Peter Watts is aware that Lara has had contact with Owls simply because she is conversant with their mandate; this leads me to conclude that the Owls operate in a manner not freely accessible via the Millennium Group Intranet. If the Owls operated blatantly, and openly, then surely members would be conversant with their 'theologies' anyway. The fact that Lara is able to reiterate their 'comet theory' is enough for Peter to realise she has had contact with them. The civil war that occurs during these two episodes is not the first, in fact it is the third that has occurred since the birth of the group 2000 years ago - if this war creates an environment that renders it necessary to inform Lara and Frank of the existence of a second faction how many other factions exist that it is deemed 'unnecessary' to inform them of at present. And if the Owls were born of Galileo's philosophies and sciences then who did the other civil wars occur between as both of them erupted long before this time.

Peter Watts may be a key to the truth behind the faction theory, the enigmatic group member whom Emma Hollis concludes is 'evil' in Bardo Thodol. The strangest Watts scenes occur with the group elder who, for reasons known only to Morgan and Wong, conducts his meetings clothed in the blackest of shadows. Is this the figure that Watt's reports to in 'In Arcadia Ego'? Does anyone else get the feeling that all is not kosher with these meetings? It is stated in Owls and Roosters that the Roosters believe that Watts is far more capable of betraying them than the man that ultimately does, which maybe why he is placed under surveillance around the time of his hand in Lara's initiation. To which faction does he truly belong when he is so blatantly trusted by neither? It is evident in Season Three that Watts is walking the left hand path, the most chilling example of which is his supervision of the destruction of the Millennium Group charnel house, the filthy shack where innocents are flayed, their organs liquefied and their bones bleached to disguise their murder at the hands of the Group - he is so cold in his justification of the group's actions, smug and vainglorious in his prose and oblivious to the nauseating repugnance felt by Emma Hollis that we have to ask ourselves 'to what do we owe this pleasure?' The Christian scholars who were once horrified by the destructive portent of the Marburg Virus or the Galilean scientists who offered Lara a reprise from her torment. Are we to believe that 'this is who we were' all along or do we conclude that there has been a drastic shift in group ideology caused by the insurgence of another faction.

Much has been discussed with regards to the Polaroid Man - the darkly deluded soul who raves in biblical passages with fervour and feeling - isn't it interesting that Peter Watts does almost the same in 'The Time is Now' in an almost delusional exchange with Frank in the quarantine clinic. Did we see the beginnings of his change here or are we being given clues, hints, to his true nature and true allegiance? Had he already walked the path of sorrows as the Polaroid Man had done before and Lara was soon to do? Was Peter, as the group themselves concluded, truly born of neither faction, hence his exalted status during the 'dark-group-mythos' of Season Three?

Not only do I believe that we begin to see real shades of Peter's soul after the Owls/Roosters War (which is where I believe another faction gained eminence) but so too do we see a change in Lara. Modern Day Moriaty noted some fabulously contradictory things about Ms. Means that it would be blasphemous to paraphrase but in addition an entirely new picture of her can be formed from the evidence.

Lara is approached in 'Owls' by a man in the shadows, his diary entry alone is enough for Watts to dismiss her from the Group and, tellingly, Lara to offer no contest or even a flippant rebuke. It would seem that meeting an Owl is unquestionable grounds for expulsion despite the fact that Peter met with numerous members of the faction earlier that day and so too must all group members in the course of their 'working lives'. Post-meeting, The Old Man seeks out Lara and much mythology is exchanged before she retires to bed. She climbs the stairs and pauses to say goodnight in the oddest, most resigned of manners, and then ascends the stairs never looking back. Not once. Some time later a man descends the stairs and murders the Old Man, leaving him to rest his eyes upon his final vision: Lara's angel. Strangely, or tellingly, Lara's angel is soon to desert her in fear of a higher power, withdrawing his assistance and leaving her vulnerable in fear of God's rebuke, and despite being deemed too green for full membership by the Roosters she is spirited away for an initiation at the hands of Peter Watts that ultimately leaves her as insane as The Polaroid man and, as he was soon to be portrayed, Peter Watts himself. What bargain was struck in exchange for her acceptance to full membership? Into what was she initiated? The mainstream of the group that had refused her full initiation only episodes before or something on the fringe as suggested by the covert nature with which her initiation takes place.

If you return to the origins of the group there is enough evidence to suggest that the group could trace some part of itself back to the early Gnostics. Gnostics were dualist's who posited that Satan (the God of the Old Testament) or the Platonic demiurge emanated from the Creator God and fell away in some manner. This lesser god created and ruled the fallen, evil, material world. Man is a creation of this lesser god, but he still retains a fragment of the divinity that the lesser received from the greater. The few who become aware of this fragment know they have a connection to the divine; they alone can be saved. In the Gnostic system, the Devil plays an indispensable role as destroyer, an organic part of the One, necessary to a polymorphous cosmos. There is no "accidental lack of perfection," no flaw in his being. Whilst a civil war a thousand years ago seemingly splintered the Millennium Group into 'The Group' and the gnostic obsessed 'The Family' is it not possible that this theory of dualism and the nature of evil lived on in some clandestine manner until it was consolidated by the dualist nature of the Los Alamos experiments and Hoover's subsequent 'new' group. Did a third faction emerge, phoenix like, from the flame of the atomic bomb, consolidation of a thousand years of underground thinking till it seized it's opportunity during the Owl/Rooster civil war to shape the group for a very different, very malign, future. Was Peter Watts indoctrinated into this group, playing a role behind the scenes to assist in its insurrection? Was Lara Means privy to the plot to kill the Old Man in exchange for initiation into this sect? Was she so desperate for answers to her own enigma that she would do anything? Naturally I doubt anyone will agree but doesn't it make for great thinking?

Till then,

ethnsafu

[ethsnafu]

"...abstain from things contaminated by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood."

As part of the reading I was doing for this marvelous thread, all hail Maxx Blackwell, I tried to uncover if there was some historical basis for the blood/stream ritual that initiated Watts and was later to drive Lara to the brink of insanity. What little I did find I had not intended to include here but I thought that one of the greater minds than I, you know who you are, might be able to make some use of it. The Bible is clear in it's condemnation of the shedding of human blood, not only is it a taboo but it is associated with demonic pacts and Pagan deities. Odd then when we consider that the Roosters, the Christian theologians and human, Biblical databases, should include such an act as central to their initiatory rites: unless of course, as I believe to the point of boring you all into catalepsy, that the blood/stream ritual was nothing at all of the sort.

Throughout history the cutting of the flesh and blood-letting were rituals performed to unleash demonic and supernatural powers because the "life of the flesh is in the blood" [Leviticus 17:11] Blood is highly valued in the occult as a "power source", the releasing or letting the blood or "power source" is pivotal to the unleashing of supernatural powers or entities. The Word of God in 1 Kings 18 gives a detailed and perverse example of blood-letting by prophets of Baal attempting to unleash supernatural power and ignite the fire for the sacrifice: "And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them." In Leviticus 21:5 and Deuteronomy 14:1, the Lord condemns such demonic practices: "They shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in their flesh." Most tellingly there is a passage in the Biblical account of the demon 'Legion' (Mark chapter 5) where the devil-possessed man of Gadera betrays himself as demonic by, among other taboo acts, cutting himself with stones.

" And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones."

Given all that the Roosters know with regards to Christian Theology it strikes me as decidedly odd that they should make use of act that apparently angers the Lord they seek to please, it was from these biblical passages that the act of the 'blood pact', employed by all shades of black magicians, originated.

In August 1677, A Bavarian painter, Christoph Haizmann, was taken to the Bavarian Police suffering rabid convulsions, though he was ultimately to experience a divine conversion and Marian visions he was suffering from the effects of a demonic pact he had made 9 years earlier. The pact that he had made with Satan was sealed by the drawing of blood from his hand, another component of the blood/stream ritual we happen upon in Millennium. The Errores Gazarorium, about 1460, describes a dark initiation into witchcraft in which the devil draws blood from, yup you guessed it, the witches hand - associations with the drawing of blood and Satanic pacts is so multitudinous that there is isn't the space to list them all save to point out that there is one.

And what of the words? The Latin incantation/oration heard throughout the ritual are verses from Daniel. Now it would appear there is nothing malign about this until you consider the writings of British Lunatic, Aleister Crowley. He lambasted those 'ignorant' fools who believed the 'infamous' Black Mass was composed of an inversion of the Lord's Prayer, anyone with half an ounce of gumption would surely know that the historically accurate rendering of this infernal rite employed passages from, go on have a guess, Daniel. Gold stars all round. It is fair to say that Crowley is a stock favourite of MM/X-Files with more than one reference to his writings/ramblings in each show. What were Morgan and Wong trying to depict?

Of course no great work is needed to explain the significance of Lara's initiation. Tales of witchcraft abound with the summoning of crones and hags to the forests and streams to perform infernal rites by moonlight, the culmination of which was the offering of blood or wine upon the ground known as the libation, these women rode through the night on demonic steeds (hence night-mares) to associate with demons, Lara's vision contains images of blood, rampaging stallions and the appearance of the Gehenna demon. Makes you wonder.

Whatever you do conclude about the ritual it is fair to say that it is extremely clandestine, Peter does not appear to remember his with any fondness and Frank is so unable to trace Lara, prior to hers, that he is forced to use an outside agency to locate her. Consider also that the group places Peter under surveillance due to his behaviour prior to Lara's initiation, so concerned are they that they attempt to apprehend the two of them 'all guns blazing'.

Ahh well, I promise you no more and thank you for your patience. Sometimes when you a get a train of thought you just have to wait till you reach the station.

ethnsafu

[hippyroo]

Why didn't I think of that? You are right, a real dedicated Christian would never involve themselves with a blood ritual. Perhaps the group is made of wolves in sheep's clothing?

[Guest kath]

I'll have to come back to this again later...but I can offer this bit of insight.  I see Owls as representative of a type of Christianity.  Strict Chirstians do NOT believe in telepathy.  That doesn't make them scientists.  It just means they don't believe in any reality not backed up by their interpretation of the bible.  So, I can see how that would make him a Rooster.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

huh,

which is very weird because my grandmother had a series of visions and mum and dad had telepathic connections with eachother, and us kids, and while we arn't bible thumpers, we are christians, and I don't remember that being a part of the bible theology.

I will make a comment about the blood rituals./ the clean and un clean bit.

somehow, the people in the bible knew what blood born pathagens were. they knew the dangers of triconosis, and saminila poisoning. Look through Leviticus. it was the law of the people to keep them healthy. Some one lived long enough to see what the mistakes were in the world and gave pretty good advice. Don't use a bowl with a crack in it for eggs and meat. Why? germs. they didn't have the word for germs, but they knew something was making people sick, it wasn't clean.

there is also the blood bonding ritual. where one persons blood mixed through a cut would mingle with the other and they would become part of that family. short of swapping spit, (which wasn't safe, the blood bond is saying I accept the risks that coming into contact with you will bring...)

it is a leap of faith of a different kind.

For laura though- well, there may have been other things going on.

Kath

[Maxx Blackwell]

Who knew that such a simple question would lead to such wonderful discussion!

ETH.SNAFU - Who are you? You ave tremendous insight and have made so many amazing observations and theories.

I hope this discussion continues and we continue to seek out the truth of who the Millennium Group is. (The Truth is Out There?) I think to write about them in any way, whether for a piece of fanfic or for a story that would become a movie a thorough understanding of what the Group is, who the Group is and Why the Group is is paramount.

Your musings about another faction don't seem so far off-base to me. I want to create a related side-string for the Polaroid Man, so look for it.

Please carry on!

Maxx

[4th Horseman]

"'The serpent that did sting thy father's life now wears his crown.'"

I have read Vain's response to this thread and I am amazed. It is simply the most profound thing I have ever read on a message board devoted to a television drama. I cannot find the words to applaud it appropriately. I feel so inadequate.....but.....

I never thought anyone would agree with my fan-fiction like musings with regards to a' foxy' third faction but therein lies my love of this show, the power to make us dream and dream again and if I have nightmares more than most then so be it. In my Millennium dreamland I still concur that there is a third faction, Morgan and Wong 'opened the books' and gave us the only real insight into the group throughout it's existence and I believe it fair to conclude that they did not believe they were telling a self contained story but creating fertile ground for exploration over numerous seasons as occurred in the X-Files. They created such an intricate and elusive mythos, born from the need to impart some longevity upon the Millennium universe, that each answer they gave us was the genesis of another enigma. There is an overwhelming feeling of hope, even eccentricity, to the Season Two stories which became a study of darkness beyond the death of the Old Man and gives birth to a season of Millennium-Group-horrors from which the group would never recover. In the stories prior to the epic tale of two cities that was Owls and Roosters there is no indication that the group would ultimately become the architect of such profound sorrow, there does not seem to be so apparent an evil in either of the factions yet with the demise of the temperance factor of the Old Man the change is drastic and rapid and I do believe there is enough evidence to suggest that the accepted understanding of the mechanisms of the group belies something much darker behind the scene.

"The church is a snake in the open.  It is the snake in the grass that causes concern." Millennium Group Member, 998 AD.

Lest go right back to the beginning, a very good place to start, it is generally accepted that the Millennium Group was essentially whole until the heretical teachings of Galileo inspired those so inclined to form the Owl faction. Those who accepted his vision of a heavenly catastrophe born from a falling mass of ice and dust must have formed this errant faction around 1618 when Galileo first turned his attention to the serious study of comets. Without this study, without these theories there could be no Owls and no Roosters as it was this new testament to the end times that causes the schism between members to form. If no other faction exists then the story depicted in 'The Hand of Saint Sebastian' is particularly fascinating, its historical components taking place 620 years before the formation of the Owls. Something is dividing the group. Those with a clear devotion to Christ are persecuted and executed from within, the events of which are all the more poignant as the same appears to be occurring in modern times. "What you want to confirm they will deny.  What you want to find they will hide." "A caution... because if we found out, they already know." To whom is the 'they' referring? To who is Cheryl Andrews and her cronies affiliated? To the Owls? Or to a faction born from the divisions of 998 AD which this is, ultimately, what the story is about.

Peter:  "There are certain things I can't tell you.  There are secrets to Millennium that have to be earned.  There are truths that you wouldn't understand even if I attempted to explain."

Frank:  "Don't tell me, you took a blood oath."

Well he did as it happens, or at the very least an initiatory rite involving ritual cutting, but more on Peter Watts and the Blood Initiation later. It is blatant that there are many secrets to Millennium, this is in part alluded to during the Owls and Roosters War. Peter Watts is aware that Lara has had contact with Owls simply because she is conversant with their mandate; this leads me to conclude that the Owls operate in a manner not freely accessible via the Millennium Group Intranet. If the Owls operated blatantly, and openly, then surely members would be conversant with their 'theologies' anyway. The fact that Lara is able to reiterate their 'comet theory' is enough for Peter to realise she has had contact with them. The civil war that occurs during these two episodes is not the first, in fact it is the third that has occurred since the birth of the group 2000 years ago - if this war creates an environment that renders it necessary to inform Lara and Frank of the existence of a second faction how many other factions exist that it is deemed 'unnecessary' to inform them of at present. And if the Owls were born of Galileo's philosophies and sciences then who did the other civil wars occur between as both of them erupted long before this time.

Peter Watts may be a key to the truth behind the faction theory, the enigmatic group member whom Emma Hollis concludes is 'evil' in Bardo Thodol. The strangest Watts scenes occur with the group elder who, for reasons known only to Morgan and Wong, conducts his meetings clothed in the blackest of shadows. Is this the figure that Watt's reports to in 'In Arcadia Ego'? Does anyone else get the feeling that all is not kosher with these meetings? It is stated in Owls and Roosters that the Roosters believe that Watts is far more capable of betraying them than the man that ultimately does, which maybe why he is placed under surveillance around the time of his hand in Lara's initiation. To which faction does he truly belong when he is so blatantly trusted by neither? It is evident in Season Three that Watts is walking the left hand path, the most chilling example of which is his supervision of the destruction of the Millennium Group charnel house, the filthy shack where innocents are flayed, their organs liquefied and their bones bleached to disguise their murder at the hands of the Group - he is so cold in his justification of the group's actions, smug and vainglorious in his prose and oblivious to the nauseating repugnance felt by Emma Hollis that we have to ask ourselves 'to what do we owe this pleasure?' The Christian scholars who were once horrified by the destructive portent of the Marburg Virus or the Galilean scientists who offered Lara a reprise from her torment. Are we to believe that 'this is who we were' all along or do we conclude that there has been a drastic shift in group ideology caused by the insurgence of another faction.

Much has been discussed with regards to the Polaroid Man - the darkly deluded soul who raves in biblical passages with fervour and feeling - isn't it interesting that Peter Watts does almost the same in 'The Time is Now' in an almost delusional exchange with Frank in the quarantine clinic. Did we see the beginnings of his change here or are we being given clues, hints, to his true nature and true allegiance? Had he already walked the path of sorrows as the Polaroid Man had done before and Lara was soon to do? Was Peter, as the group themselves concluded, truly born of neither faction, hence his exalted status during the 'dark-group-mythos' of Season Three?

Not only do I believe that we begin to see real shades of Peter's soul after the Owls/Roosters War (which is where I believe another faction gained eminence) but so too do we see a change in Lara. Modern Day Moriaty noted some fabulously contradictory things about Ms. Means that it would be blasphemous to paraphrase but in addition an entirely new picture of her can be formed from the evidence.

Lara is approached in 'Owls' by a man in the shadows, his diary entry alone is enough for Watts to dismiss her from the Group and, tellingly, Lara to offer no contest or even a flippant rebuke. It would seem that meeting an Owl is unquestionable grounds for expulsion despite the fact that Peter met with numerous members of the faction earlier that day and so too must all group members in the course of their 'working lives'. Post-meeting, The Old Man seeks out Lara and much mythology is exchanged before she retires to bed. She climbs the stairs and pauses to say goodnight in the oddest, most resigned of manners, and then ascends the stairs never looking back. Not once. Some time later a man descends the stairs and murders the Old Man, leaving him to rest his eyes upon his final vision: Lara's angel. Strangely, or tellingly, Lara's angel is soon to desert her in fear of a higher power, withdrawing his assistance and leaving her vulnerable in fear of God's rebuke, and despite being deemed too green for full membership by the Roosters she is spirited away for an initiation at the hands of Peter Watts that ultimately leaves her as insane as The Polaroid man and, as he was soon to be portrayed, Peter Watts himself.  What bargain was struck in exchange for her acceptance to full membership? Into what was she initiated? The mainstream of the group that had refused her full initiation only episodes before or something on the fringe as suggested by the covert nature with which her initiation takes place.

If you return to the origins of the group there is enough evidence to suggest that the group could trace some part of itself back to the early Gnostics. Gnostics were dualist's who posited that Satan (the God of the Old Testament) or the Platonic demiurge emanated from the Creator God and fell away in some manner. This lesser god created and ruled the fallen, evil, material world. Man is a creation of this lesser god, but he still retains a fragment of the divinity that the lesser received from the greater. The few who become aware of this fragment know they have a connection to the divine; they alone can be saved. In the Gnostic system, the Devil plays an indispensable role as destroyer, an organic part of the One, necessary to a polymorphous cosmos. There is no "accidental lack of perfection," no flaw in his being. Whilst a civil war a thousand years ago seemingly splintered the Millennium Group into 'The Group' and the gnostic obsessed 'The Family' is it not possible that this theory of dualism and the nature of evil lived on in some clandestine manner until it was consolidated by the dualist nature of the Los Alamos experiments and Hoover's subsequent 'new' group. Did a third faction emerge, phoenix like, from the flame of the atomic bomb, consolidation of a thousand years of underground thinking till it seized it's opportunity during the Owl/Rooster civil war to shape the group for a very different, very malign, future. Was Peter Watts indoctrinated into this group, playing a role behind the scenes to assist in its insurrection? Was Lara Means privy to the plot to kill the Old Man in exchange for initiation into this sect? Was she so desperate for answers to her own enigma that she would do anything? Naturally I doubt anyone will agree but doesn't it make for great thinking?

Till then,

ethnsafu

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ethsnafu...as you are so wonderfully cognisant of...what matters not is whether one agrees, but what one BELIEVES in their own hearts to be self-evident. I do not have the ability to wax as eloquently as you, vain68, arcanamundi, or a host of others here on the board. What i bring forth will save me, i endeavor, from the sense of impecuniosity which only serves as a damnation of my abilities.

The complexity which is Frank, Laura, and Peter, is put before us as a rich pallet of colors, a kalidescope of emotions. Fear, suspicion, even to a certain degree, lust. These are just a few of the myriad of sentiments which minister to a wonderfully dynamic relationship which serves as the core of this trinity.

Where does one begin? Where is the exact point of intersection between these three seperate, yet portentious lives where we can definitively point and say without reservation "There is the defining issue".? Is it possible to isolate one incident, one exchange as the kariotic moment?

It is a monumental endeavor to undertake a detailed synopsis of this relationship, so i am just going to do what The Fourth Horseman does best, and that is to lay the FOUNDATION for this topic, relying on the wisdom of others to construct and finish this "house"...builders, all of us, This is Who We Are..

I had at one time entertained the idea that Laura's hurried initiation into the group, at the expense of initially her sanity, ultimately, her life, was orchestrated with shadowed agreement from others in the group, by Peter Watts. It began, as life truely does, embryonically, its stages slowly and carefully dividing, haploid to diploid, ever changing, the insemination of its inevitability quenched from the well of infinite possiblilties.

Was Laura the best choice? The only choice? How many times did Peter tell Frank that:

"There are certain things I can't tell you. There are secrets

to Millennium that have to be earned. There are truths that you

wouldn't understand even if I attempted to explain." - Hand of St. Sebastian

Is this the evidence, the smoking gun, so to speak of Watt's culpability in Laura's shuffling off her mortal coil?

It was a strange parallel that i personally found, (dont know about anyone else) that along with Laura's slow, twisting in the wind decline, that Peter seemed at times to follow the same pattern. His obsession with the torso in the cooler, his rantings of Rev 6:8 to Frank under quarantine, and most disturbingly the quote from Psalm 94:3

How long, Lord - how long will the wicked triumph?

Who does he consider wicked? The Group? Frank? Laura? Was this an indication that Peter had come to grips with what the Group was all about, control?...

Was it directed at Frank because of his continued refusal to join the Group?

FRANK

"Collecting the Cross of the Crucifixion?

Ancient text for future prophecies? It's all a diversion - sleight of hand. Distraction from the

problems they're trying to control. This is not about the end of the world, is about controlling

the world... and that's not who I am, and - I believe - not who you are, Peter."

PETER

They came to me at a time in my life when evil... there's no other word for it...

had lost all proportion with the rest of the world around me. I was witness to

crimes that had no basis in human motivation. There has to be something more to it than

just us! There has to be! It all has to lead in some inevitable direction, Frank - I believe that. Their answers touched on all my questions. I believe it then, I believe it now!

FRANK

The Group is not the solution, it's the problem, Peter.

PETER

I'm not gonna leave the Group.

Or was it directed at Laura? Did Peter consider her an enemy on multiple fronts? lets break it down..

1. Peter's belief that Laura, via the nefarous meeting in the library with Johnson, and reading his journal entry that she secretly with the Owls...

2. Peter's relationship with Laura throughout the entire series was, it seemed, one of reserved acceptance. At no time did you find them in a conversation on anything other than MillenniuM group business, even in MOTC, at Peter's Christmas party, there was only a superficial cursory banter about his girls, the conversation turning to issues affecting the group and the future, yet with Frank, in a future episode there was the masterful "Do you know why i have 3 girls" conversation. There was a coldness which saturated their personal as well as working relationship.

On the other hand, for all that was missing with Peter, it was made up in spades with Frank. From an intially tepid quality in "Monster" to a very apparent emotional one which developed thru the various episodes:

Midnight of the Century -

But Frank, look: at least she's got a

father who understands, and that --

that will really help her. And if

there's anything I can do, ever,

anytime ...

followed by the schoolgirl giddyness when she realizes she is holding Frank's hand..the awkardness of the moment seems to indicate there is the spark of an emotional attachment.

Later in "The Time is Now" -

"Lara, this is Frank Black, here's my thing: I've been trying to reach you - I

don't know if you're getting my messages. Could you please call me back, I would...

I need someone to talk with. I hope you're all right, bye-bye."

Here is the first indication that Frank's relationship with Laura has superceded even his relationship with Catherine, his wife. Logically, a husband should turn to his wife for comfort, etc, yet strangly, Frank now considers Laura to be his refuge.

Not only that but he uses Laura's signature phrase - "Here's my thing" without so much as a smirk, smile, or inflection in his voice which would indicate anything other than affection. His need to talk to Laura is painfully evident, yet where is she? Being initiated into the Group, as witnessed by the ceremony by the stream where she participates in the ritual blood-letting ceremony with Peter being the one who performs the rite!...

The question now is..Did Peter, aware of the effect that this ritual would have on her..

PETER

She's in a volatile state. Sometimes happens after being initiated into the Group. It could happen to you if you intend to become a member.

FRANK

I'll never stop questioning.

knowingly initiate this ceremony upon a candidate who was most likely not ready to comprehend the secrets of MillenniuM? Did Peter know beforehand that the journey Laura was about to undertake was too much for her to appreciate? Was Peter's intent to destroy the mercurial bond between Laura and Frank, at the expense of his continued deteriorative relationship with Frank?

Difficult to explain also is the following:

His "supposed" abduction by two group members, Peter leaving his cell phone on, knowing that it could be traced, knowing that it would lead Frank to Laura. Was there a sudden last minute change of heart? Did Peter feel a momentary pang of guilt over what happened to Laura? Did he think Frank would be able to "bring her back to normal" due to their close relationship? Obviously, Laura did have some inkling of what was to happen because she left him the sryinge containing the Marburg Virus vaccine. Yet, was this Lauras surrender as well? Did she realize that she and Frank were destined to be partners only on a Group level? Even though Frank and Catherine were seperated and obviously headed for a complete seperation?(at the time not knowing Catherine was to die). Was it Laura's final sacrifice?, her final prayer of supplication to Frank? , her invocation that ultimately Frank had to look to his family for the comfort she was no longer able to give him?

God...the possibilities, like branches on a tree..all seeking their own individual space, growing in different directions yet on a pilgrimage to a common goal, a perpetual journey to the light which beckons it forward..

I hope some of this had made sense, i have done my best to lay the foundation, now its up to those previously mentioned to fill in the gaps...fire when ready.....

This is Who We Are..

Till the Last Change...Be Done..

The Fourth Horseman...