DuracellEnergizer

^Your avatar petrifies my soul to the very core.

We Canadians already had Thanksgiving back in October =D

Your points really don't convince me that the six movies are one saga. If anything, it convinces me that the OT is a trilogy and the PT is some parasitic pseudo-trilogy.

BTW, your points won't be dismissed because of how you define a trilogy =)

If there was any justice in the cartoon world, Sylvester would have bitten Tweety's stupid hydrocephalic head off by now.

How about fallen (risen?) Sith?

RicOlie_2 said:

Somehow there is a distinguishment (is that a word?) between Dark Jedi and Sith too, but that doesn't really count since they're essentially the same thing.

darklordoftech said:

DuracellEnergizer said:

 

darklordoftech said:

DuracellEnergizer said:

 

darklordoftech said:

SilverWook said:

The crux of the argument is this: Does the Empire fall in a day after ROTJ, or does it take some time? The Special Edition would have you believe in instant collapse. The original version mostly leaves it up to the mind of the viewer.

There's several sources from 1983 that suggest that the intent was always instant collapse. Making of ROTJ is full of references to the Empire dying with Palpatine and the ROTJ novelization ends with the words, "The Empire is dead."

Only what shows up on screen matters. Authorial intent, supplimentary material, and various behind-the-scenes comments don't matter.

 

Tell Thrawn that.

Placing the Thrawn Trilogy in my own personal canon =/= the Thrawn Trilogy's validity outside of my own personal canon.

Nice strawman argument, though.

 

You're the one using the strawman argument. You have repeatedly insisted that the Thrawn trilogy is absolutely canon and flamed anybody who doesn't acknowledge it.

Anchorhead said:

What I can't grasp is why some fans don't accept that vast amount of material as legitimate. The entire entity is fiction.  Why is there a need for some fans to have some parts of it be seen as more official than others?

If Plagueis or any other villain with a similarly stupid name shows up in the ST, I'll know the Star Wars franchise is dead and that Disney is the Whore of Babylon.

deepanddark20 said:

Everybody distinguishes between the "Sequel Trilogy" and the "Original Trilogy" as though we have two separate and distinct trilogies, but that's really not what they are. They are one 6 part story (hexalogy??).

luckydube56 said:

Anyone who has seen the documentary Empire of Dreams knows what I'm talking about here as it was mentioned several times.

The 1970s political climate was one of social revolution and cynicism towards the government.

Hollywood was mired in anti-heroes and sci fi had a distinctly apocalyptic theme. 

America's economy and the war left people feeling pessimistic.

 

The time was ripe for something like Star Wars.

darklordoftech said:

DuracellEnergizer said:

 

darklordoftech said:

SilverWook said:

The crux of the argument is this: Does the Empire fall in a day after ROTJ, or does it take some time? The Special Edition would have you believe in instant collapse. The original version mostly leaves it up to the mind of the viewer.

There's several sources from 1983 that suggest that the intent was always instant collapse. Making of ROTJ is full of references to the Empire dying with Palpatine and the ROTJ novelization ends with the words, "The Empire is dead."

Only what shows up on screen matters. Authorial intent, supplimentary material, and various behind-the-scenes comments don't matter.

 

Tell Thrawn that.

^This'd probably mean more to me if I'd actually seen some of Plinkett's reviews ...

TV's Frink said:

Nobody knows who she is except for you. :p

You could just ignore this thread ...

Frink should get with the programme.

I must not accept canon.

Canon is the mind-killer.

Canon is the little-death that brings total obliteration.

I will face the canon.

I will permit it to pass over me and through me.

And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.

Where the canon has gone there will be nothing ... Only what I consider valid will remain.


*Cue the creation of a "Dune canon" thread.

deepanddark20 said:

When I complain about the acting/dialogue in the prequels and someone responds by saying "well c'mon, the Star Wars saga never had great acting/dialogue", I want to rip my teeth out.

darklordoftech said:

SilverWook said:

The crux of the argument is this: Does the Empire fall in a day after ROTJ, or does it take some time? The Special Edition would have you believe in instant collapse. The original version mostly leaves it up to the mind of the viewer.

There's several sources from 1983 that suggest that the intent was always instant collapse. Making of ROTJ is full of references to the Empire dying with Palpatine and the ROTJ novelization ends with the words, "The Empire is dead."

Reegar said:

DuracellEnergizer said:

 

Reegar said:

Could be related to Stranded On Island Together Syndrome. She's passable on a scientific level, and you've been exposed to her image so often over so long that your perception shifted.

That's happened to me before. *cough*AlanisMorissette&HeatherLangenkamp*cough*

 

Is that who was in your avatar when I first arrived here?

coltonlolz said:

And everyone else has to help with it too...

CROSSFADE TO

The interior of the coverstone room, which has undergone a dramatic transformation since we saw it last. Though still cluttered with tools, equipment, documents, and various knick-knacks, the floors – and various other surfaces – have been swept clean of spent junk food packaging. The only person in the room is Barbara, who is busy running another computer analysis on the coverstone’s concentric lines.

SUPERIMPOSE: “PRESENT DAY”

The twin doors swing open and Daniel comes sauntering in. The Egyptologist has undergone a stunning transformation since we saw him last; with a short, stylish haircut, new glasses, and an outfit consisting of a pinstriped blazer over a black T-shirt with crisp blue jeans and blue high-top sneakers, he looks like an entirely different person.

DANIEL: (nods Barbara’s way) Good morning, Barbara.

BARBARA: (raises a hand his way) Mornin’, Danny-boy.

DANIEL: (looks about the large room) Where’s Meyers?

BARBARA: McKay’s suspicions proved correct. The lemon chicken’s not to be trusted.

DANIEL: (a pained expression on his face) Ouch!

Walking over to the bookcase, Daniel regards the titles on the shelf.

DANIEL: We really need to get some new books.

Barbara snickers.

DANIEL: (walks over to Barbara) So, how are the new calculations coming?

BARBARA: (sighs) We’ll just have to wait and see.

DANIEL: (looks up at the coverstone) I thought decoding the ancient Egyptian text would lead us to the answers we’ve been looking for, but it’s only brought more questions.

BARBARA: Well, I’m takin’ a break.

Sliding over to another computer, she opens a web browser.

DANIEL: (cocks an eyebrow) Taking a break? We just got here.

BARBARA: (choosing a search engine) You just got here. I’ve been runnin’ Permutation TMP-JDOPERW/53669 since 5:30 this morning.

DANIEL: (watching Barbara surf the 'Net) I’m surprised we’ve been able to get away with surfing the Internet on company hours.

BARBARA: I suppose allowin’ me to ogle jpgs of Crissy Moran fingerin’ herself is their way of saying “We’re sorry for giving you the shaft”.

Daniel’s eyes go wide as plates at her comment.

BARBARA: (notices Daniel’s reaction) Just a little dirty humour for a dirty mornin’, as my ex used to say. (beat) I’m 100.96% AC.

Refocusing her attention back to her computer, she types “YouHoroscope” into the search bar and presses “ENTER”. Her screen immediately goes black and a white diagram of the Zodiac fades into existence. There, arranged in a ring around an anthropomorphized sun, are the signs for Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces.

DANIEL: (scrutinizes the computer screen) An astrophysicist who follows astrology. That’s got to be up there with practicing Christians who believe God is dead.

BARBARA: (smiles) I know it’s all just so much bunk, but what can I say? I’ve always had a superstitious streak.

Daniel rolls his eyes good-naturedly then leaves Barbara to her hobby. As he passes the table stacked with photos and documents, he suddenly halts. There, out in full view, is a photograph of the coverstone’s inner ring of marked-off concentric lines. Turning away from the photo, he looks up at the coverstone itself, eyeing the physical etchings himself. Without haste, he picks up the photo and rushes back to Barbara’s side.

DANIEL: (sets the photo down between Barbara and the computer keyboard) Barbara, look at this.

BARBARA: (looks at the photograph) The ring of concentric lines. (eyeing Daniel) We’ve been introduced.

DANIEL: (points at the screen) Look.

BARBARA: The Zodiac. So?

DANIEL: Can’t you see it?

Barbara looks back to the photo, then to the computer screen, then back to the photo. She doesn’t get what Daniel is driving at. Suddenly, her eyes light up with understanding – the images of the coverstone’s ring of lines and the Zodiac diagram are unmistakably similar.

DANIEL: Remember the last line in the inscription? Of the stargate?

BARBARA: You think the lines make up some sort of early Zodiac, a diagram of the stars?

DANIEL: A gateway to the stars.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Barbara returns to the computer she was working on earlier, cancelling the run of Permutation TMP-JDOPERW/53669. Typing a command into the keyboard, she calls up a fresh display of the coverstone’s concentric lines.

DANIEL: Remember, if this is a star map, it’ll be a map of the stars as they were seen ten thousand years ago. You’ll have to adjust for the changes caused by stellar drift.

BARBARA: You don’t have to remind this astrophysicist of that, Danny-boy.

Barbara goes to the menu of the computer program she is running and chooses an option. Seconds later it begins to compare the concentric lines to the night sky of Egypt as seen in 8000 BCE. Soon the analysis ends, “NO MATCHES FOUND” appearing on the screen in big red letters.

BARBARA: Maybe we’re underestimatin’ the original designers. We’re assumin’ they operated on the same limited playing field other primitive cultures operated on, but maybe they didn’t. (beat) This could still be a star map, just not one meant to be viewed on a two-dimensional plane.

DANIEL: Can the computer gauge potential for three-dimensionality in a two-dimensional representation?

BARBARA: Once I encode the right subroutines, yes, they can.

Barbara enters new commands in the computer program. Almost immediately, the ring of concentric lines is realigned into a three-dimensional form – first a cylinder, then a cube, then an ovoid, then a sphere – and compared against star charts of the nearby galactic neighbourhood in the same configurations. After a few minutes the simulation comes to an end; “ONE MATCH FOUND” appears on the screen in big green letters.

BARBARA: (grins) Tiger, we’ve just hit the jackpot!

There, displayed in ultra high-definition, is a spherical map of the Milky Way Galaxy 7000 light-years out from Earth. An uneven blue line – starting at Earth and running out to various stars and systems before coming to an end-point in the constellation Auriga – runs through the length of the map.

DANIEL: Where does it lead to?

BARBARA: Roughly 4,500 light-years from Earth, somewhere in the M37 cluster, on the opposite side of the galactic core.

Daniel looks up at the coverstone, focusing on the central cartouche containing the eight unusual glyphs.

CROSSFADE TO

A shot of Creek Mountain silhouetted against a red sunset.

SUPERIMPOSE: “FOURTEEN MONTHS LATER”

INT. CREEK MOUNTAIN/LEVEL 18/COVERSTONE ROOM – SUNSET

In the long months that have passed since Daniel, Meyers, and Barbara joined Project Giza, the entire layout of the coverstone room has been transformed. A portable stereo; a coffee machine; a small refrigerator; a bookcase stocked with volumes on Egyptian hieroglyphs and various forms of Near East writing systems; and a scaffold erected under the coverstone have all been brought in; the room has been wallpapered with charcoal rubbings and photo enlargements of the coverstone’s engravings; and the floor – along with various available spaces – have become carpeted with the discarded packaging of countless brands of junk food. Daniel and Meyers stand at a black board inscribed with a copy of the coverstone’s inner line of writing, arguing fiercely over how it should be translated, while Barbara tries – with lacklustre success – to ignore them and concentrate on the computer program she is running. The camaraderie the three scholars initially established is obviously long gone.

DANIEL: (cont’d; angry) This is all wrong!

Daniel rubs away a word Meyers has written under a set of hieroglyphs – “TIME” – and replaces it with “YEARS”.

MEYERS: (outraged) I beg your pardon!

DANIEL: You used Budge, didn’t you? (aside) Why do they keep reprinting his books?

MEYERS: Budge is a perfectly valid resource! Just because you have an irrational fear and hatred for all forms of conventional methodology ….

DANIEL: (facepalms) Oh, not this again. (beat) I do not have “an irrational fear and hatred for all forms of conventional methodology”.

MEYERS: (cont’d) Oh yes, you do! You’re a hair’s breadth away from being another Graham Hancock or Zecharia Sitchin!

DANIEL: (slaps the side of his own head) Oh, great comparison, Meyers, great! Why not go all out and brand me the Second Coming of Erich von Däniken while you’re at it!?

Meyers turns back to the blackboard, pointing disdainfully at a section Daniel has translated.

MEYERS: The word “qebeh” is followed by an adverbial “sedjemen-ef” with a “cleft” subject.

DANIEL: So?!

MEYERS: (incredulous) “In his sarcophagus”? (shakes his head) I don’t think so. I think “sealed and buried” is a little more accurate.

Meyers rubs out Daniel’s translation, replacing it with his own. Daniel stares at the older man as if he has just killed his beloved pet dog.

MEYERS: (triumphant) There! (beat) Beginning here, it reads: “THOUSANDS OF YEARS INTO THE SKY IS ATUM, CREATOR GOD. SEALED AND BURIED FOR ALL TIME, HIS …” (falters) … door to heaven?

Daniel sighs dramatically, looking up to the ceiling as if in search for a sign of deliverance from God Himself.

MEYERS: (strokes his temple) No, that doesn’t feel right to me. Maybe –

DANIEL: (losing control of his temper) Give me that chalk, you --!

The two men begin grappling for control of the stick of chalk. Barbara – reaching the ends of her endurance – bolts upright from her station with a cry of frustration.

BARBARA: That’s it! I’ve been listenin’ to your goddamned bickerin’ since the cock crowed! You wanna continue actin’ like immature assholes?! Fine! You can compare dick sizes without me to referee. I’m goin’ to bed.

With that final word, the tall black-haired woman storms out, leaving the two men by themselves. After a moment they pull away from one another. Though the worst of their rage is spent, their eyes still burn with mutual resentment.

MEYERS: (holds the stick of chalk out before Daniel’s eyes) You want the chalk, Little Orphan Danny? (hurls the chalk with tremendous force at the blackboard, shattering it) There you have it!

With that final word, Meyers also storms off. He pushes through the twin doors the very moment Kawalsky enters balancing three trays of food on his arms, nearly knocking both the lieutenant colonel and his load over.

KAWALSKY: (calling after Meyers) Meyers! Hey, Meyers, dinner! Turn on back, man!

Meyers refuses to heed the military man’s call. Shrugging as best as he can under the circumstances, Kawalsky makes his way into the interior of the room, setting two of the trays down on the edge of a table.

KAWALSKY: (holds the tray out to Daniel) Dinner, Jackson.

DANIEL: (moody) Good morning, Colonel.

Daniel ignores the proffered food, choosing instead to make his way over to the scaffold.

KAWALSKY: It’s almost 8:00 PM. (looks about at the trash scattered throughout the room, frowning) Why don’t you guys clean this place up a little?

DANIEL: (climbing up the scaffold) That information is classified.

KAWALSKY: (rolls his eyes) Give it a rest, Professor. (sets the dinner tray down on an overturned plastic crate) I’m going into town. Is there anything you need?

DANIEL: (looks down at Kawalsky from atop the scaffold) Yeah. You could pick me up a point of reference. And maybe some context. (beat) No, seriously, Kawalsky, just give me ten minutes alone with the goddamn janitor. I’m sure he knows more about what was buried under this coverstone than I do.

KAWALSKY: (sighs) That might be true, but the janitorial staff has clearance.

DANIEL: Look, Colonel, you people want me to solve this puzzle for you. You want me to decipher this stone that no one else has been able to read. But you won’t give me enough information to do my job.

Kawalsky notices an untouched lunch tray sitting on the floor. Walking over to it, be bends down and picks up a cold sloppy joe, giving it a sniff.

KAWALSKY: Have you people got a problem with the food around here?

DANIEL: (cont’d) How about this. What if someone anonymously slipped an unauthorized copy of a report under my door? They’d never know who it was. They’d never even know I got it! I’d figure this thing out and we could all go home happy.

KAWALSKY: Jackson, do me a big favour and get off my back. You know I’m under the strictest orders.

DANIEL: So disobey orders!

KAWALSKY: (shakes his head) It must be hard to always be the smartest guy in the room.

Swiping the bag of french fries from Daniel’s tray, Kawalsky leaves. Exhausted, Daniel lies down on his back atop the scaffold, staring up at the ceiling above.

FADE TO

The coverstone room, several hours later. Daniel is still there but has left the scaffold for a chair on the ground. A camcorder, set up on a tripod before him, is currently recording his latest log entry.

DANIEL: (cont’d) … no matches whatsoever. I’ve yet again exhausted all reference material in comparing the symbols in the cartouche against all known writing samples from the period Pre- and Post-. Still no similarities. (beat) I’m never gonna get paid.

Reaching forward, Daniel shuts the camera off. Stretching, he yawns, then gets up and lethargically staggers over to the coffee machine. As he picks the pot up, though, he finds it all but empty.

INT. CREEK MOUNTAIN/LEVEL 18/CORRIDOR #2 – DAWN

Daniel exits the coverstone room, the empty coffee pot dangling at his side. Making his way down the empty corridor, he passes the night guard – Airman 1ST Class Higgens – who is stationed at his desk post.

A1C HIGGENS: What’s up, Doc?

DANIEL: How’s it hangin’, Higgens?

Daniel stops at a water fountain. Placing the rim of the pot under the spout, he begins filling it with water. Waiting for the pot to fill, Daniel glances back at Higgens. The guard is reading a paperback novel – Stargate by Pauline Gedge. His brow furrowing, Daniel stops filling the coffee pot and places it down on the floor by his feet. Sauntering back over to Higgens, he leans in over him and, wordlessly, plucks the book from the guard’s hand. He scrutinizes the title closely.

DANIEL: Good book?

A1C HIGGENS: (wary) Yeah ….

Without another word, Daniel hands the book back to Higgens and hurries back toward the coverstone room.

INT. CREEK MOUNTAIN/LEVEL 18/COVERSTONE ROOM – DAWN

Daniel strides over to the blackboard he and Meyers had been arguing over earlier. Picking up a piece of chalk, he rubs his tired face, regarding the “DOOR TO HEAVEN” translation Meyers himself had felt inadequate. With only a second’s hesitation he erases the line, replacing it with one of his own.

Completely and accurately translated, the inscription now reads: “THOUSANDS OF YEARS INTO THE SKY IS ATUM, CREATOR GOD. SEALED AND BURIED FOR ALL TIME, HIS STARGATE”.

Reegar said:

Could be related to Stranded On Island Together Syndrome. She's passable on a scientific level, and you've been exposed to her image so often over so long that your perception shifted.

Coltonlolz, I mock your value system. You also appear foolish to others. Past instances in which I professed to like you were fradulent. I engaged in sexual intercourse with your spouse or significant other.