The Mysterons: Not evil

[Parker Gabriel]

As I speculated in a previous message, the Mysterons are a dying race whose motivation is fear and the survival instinct present in all life.

I'm interested in what you think. As may be others.

[Serena Lewis]

I voted the first option, though I'm not sure I agree with 'Definately dying'.
I gave my POV in the 'Mysterons: Good or Evil?' topic, ages ago.

xx

[chrisbishop]

I cannot truly vote, because the options are too "close" to really reflect my opinion.

If you are to ask me if I think they are "Evil", I would have to say "yes", but the second part of the option doesn't quite apply to what I believe. Captain Black's actions are irrelevant with what he really wanted to do. Based on what I could see of the first episode, Captain Black panicked and made an obvious mistake by acting too harshly (for whatever reason). He didn't decide anything, and just reacted, and in that view, he was wrong.

Colonel White admitted it himself in the episode "Dangerous Rendez-vous" where he tried to contact the Mysterons, holding a hand for peace. They deliberatery set a trap for the emissary that was sent to them out of good will, and at the same time, continue to carry out their threat by trying to destroy Cloudbase.

As for deciding if they truly deserve to die, I don't think that's for Spectrum to say, and considering Colonel White's actions, I might thing that the organisation is just doing its job; if peace is the way for the end of war, they will take it.

As for the Not Evil option - I'm with Serena on that one. Considering what we know, we cannot be sure that they are 'definitely dying'. Perhaps they are acting out of self-preservation (they don't need to be dying for that, BUT, yet again, it could be a possibility), and perhaps they're really computerised mind following their programming once it has been set and decided on. Maybe that makes them "Cold" rather than evil.

We can theorise about all that.

[Parker Gabriel]

One thing can be said for definite sure: The Mysterons are definitely vindictive.

[Intensity Angel]

The Mysterons aren't evil, just really annoyed, prehaps embarassed because a weaker race fired upon them!!

The Mysterons may not understand what an accident is. It could be they only see right and wrong, just black and white. Could it be that the Mysterons have been scarrd from a previous war and tat left them feeling timid about new races and if they were friend or foe?

[Ochrefan21]

I don't think the mysterons are either bad or evil. It's just captain black and the mev crew misunderstood their intentions

[Skybase Girl]

This is interesting. I like the idea that they are a dying race - it gives more scope for plausible reasons for acting as they do towards Earth. Captain Black committed a simple mistake, albeit with dreadful consequences, although as has been pointed out before, maybe not so dreadful if the city can just regenerate itself.

However, if what is destroyed by Spectrum on Mars is just the computers left by a dying race, it begs the question - why were they left and what purpose do they serve for the race that abandoned Mars? Does the destruction of the computer city by Spectrum pose a greater threat to that race than we know ? It would go some way to explaining why their retaliation is so aggressive.

On the other hand, if the race is dying, one wouldn't have thought they would have time for slow retaliation. And, if the Mysterons have abandoned Mars, where are they ? Are they a peaceful people who have abandoned a planet for whatever reason, leaving their computer intelligence to wage war ( rather like the computer HAL who takes over in the film "2010; ASpace Odyssey")

I think there are endless debates to be had on this subject, but I prefer the idea that they have some meaningful reason for their actions, rather than the fact that they are just evil.

In NCS, there is no suggestion that the city is just computers - it seems this is Mysteron HQ. There is even more reason in the new series to wonder why the Mysterons apparently over-reacted as they did and were unwilling to accept an attempt at peace.

However, NCS did suggest that within the Mysteron "consciousness" there was a dissenting faction, suggesting a race not entirely in harmony with itself. Much like Earth, perhaps ?

They may be more advanced and sophisticated, but as potentially flawed as any race. In my book, that makes them interesting, as opposed to evil.

Great for fan fic writers !

[RhapsodyAngel8]

I hadn’t come across the possibility of the Mysterons being a dying race before:

As I speculated in a previous message, the Mysterons are a dying race whose motivation is fear and the survival instinct present in all life

It is certainly an interesting thought, Parker Gabriel, and is one that appeals to me as well; might I ask as to your reasons for suggesting this?

It is a shame we know very little, if anything, concerning their general background, or their past; they say that they have observed us for a long time, but how long would that be? I would assume that, had they been observing us very closely over the millennia, they would have known that the likelihood of Man developing the ability to destroy them is a very slim one (if that) so would we really pose that much of a threat to them? Their retaliation to what comes down to a simple (albeit tragic) mistake on behalf of Captain Black does seem to be over the top, since the Mysteron complex appears to regenerate fully in both series with no obvious harm done. NCS suggests that the Mysterons do what they do because Man’s violence sickens them and Black had the audacity to inflict that violence on them – are they taking on the role of being our judge, jury and executioner?

As they are so very different to us (they are certainly eons ahead of us in terms of their technology) might it be possible that the revenge they mete out on mankind is more to do with displaying their power and toying with us (perhaps out of curiosity), rather than a clear intention to destroy us – rather like an individual with a magnifying glass let loose on ants on a sunny day; the formicid response to the wanton destruction of their nest and co-workers is certainly interesting and compelling to watch, especially when one may lack the ablity to comprehend the 'suffering' of the victims. If the perpetrator is a child, he or she may well be too young to understand that what they are doing causes pain; in the Mysterons’ case, might it be that they view us as an interesting experiment and carry out their threats to see how we respond? There have been Sci-Fi stories where such a situation has arisen; humans have been ‘experimented’ on for the sake of curiosity – not vindictiveness – by a species so much more highly advanced that our sentience to them would be akin to the way in which we may view the sentience of an earthworm. If so, Black’s regrettable action may merely have drawn attention to us as being worth their interest after all. Given all that they can do, I would have thought it eminently possible for them to destroy us whenever they wished; after all, we are constantly reminded that the Mysterons have powers we cannot hope to understand.

Of course, on the other hand, it may well be that the Mysterons ARE, when it comes down to it, just plain nasty and what Black did gave them the perfect excuse to let rip their evil intentions.

However, that doesn’t really sit well with me either, as, like Skybase Girl, I would like a better reason for them to do what they do other than out of sheer vindictiveness. I do like the idea that all does not run smoothly within the Mysteron consciousness:

However, NCS did suggest that within the Mysteron "consciousness" there was a dissenting faction, suggesting a race not entirely in harmony with itself. Much like Earth, perhaps ?

It is a shame that this could not have been explored further in NCS (Astrid Winters having met an untimely death before she could spill the beans – typical! ) as there could have been so much scope for future story lines and more information about the Mysterons. Then again, the mystery surrounding the Mysterons is one of their greatest attractions - for me, at any rate. As Skybase Girl so rightly says, it is great for fanfic writers.

Before we can say for sure what they are, I think we would need to know more about them. As for the three options for the poll, I don’t think I can settle for any of them:
-I don’t know whether or not they’re definitely dying and some of their threats make me balk at a blanket 'not evil' ruling,
-I don’t think we can say that they’re evil monsters without knowing more about them – NCS certainly made this a grey area,
-I DO care!

[Marion]

Interesting discussions....
The thing that makes me doubt the 'lab rat' theory - which does appeal to me as well - is that the Mysterons threaten 'all life on Earth' - not just mankind.
It wasn't the dolphins, or the cats and dogs, or the earthworms that blew them up, was it?
Retaliation against warlike mankind is fair enough: we shot first, after all; but to eliminate everything else is a bit like a mardy kid wanting revenge.
Hmmm...
Maybe the Mysteron complex is the home of a colony of Mysteron juveniles and the adults have all died out through some nasty disease that attacks you when you reach puberty. The computers are there to look after the Mysteron babies and retrometabolise them before they die of the disease...
I am digging myself a BIG hole here, aren't i?

[chrisofedf]

This is a pretty interesting threat but i am stuck between the optoions.

I kind of belive in the computer theory, they where a thriving race once, then somthing happened and all that was left was the complex. When captain black attacked them they retaliated in the only way they know how, thats why the attack earth in small pieces, like trying to disrupt bits of a machine. They probally have no concept of death as they where never really alive.

As for NCS yeah they where just evil and borderlined on "mostache twirling evil" Still fun but less intruiging.

[Intensity Angel]

Evil bunny plots have just formed in my mind. I want them to go away!

NCS Mysterons have always had me interested. I must say chrisofedf, I like your view on them.

With the NCS Mysterons, I think that it's a case that they literally enjoy sending Spectrum's blood pressures flying, and they really seem to hate Scarlet. Then you have the faction Mysterons who don't want to fight and that just makes the whole situation sounds like the senario, someone spills a drink on the bride and she hits the roof.

Relating to what Chris asked, I don't think these Mysterons are a dying race, the other Mysterons wounded from a previous war, like I said before.

[Parker Gabriel]

Another point I had raised was the possibility that Captain Black had acted in violation of orders. For all that is known, he might have had direct orders from both Colonel White and World President Younger himself NOT to take any hostile action against whoever was sending those bloody signals!

[Skybase Girl]

Hi.

Sorry, Chrisofedf & Intensity, I don't really know where you're coming from as regards the NCS Mysteron consciousness.

Chrisofedf seems to be believe there's some "mustache twirling" going on, while Intensity is comparing the situation to someone spilling a drink over a bride's dress.

Will someone please clarify this?

[chrisofedf]

Hi.

Sorry, Chrisofedf & Intensity, I don't really know where you're coming from as regards the NCS Mysteron consciousness.

Chrisofedf seems to be believe there's some "mustache twirling" going on, while Intensity is comparing the situation to someone spilling a drink over a bride's dress.

Will someone please clarify this?

What i meant was the Mysterons in NCS seemed to vary a lot, at times they could be cold and dark (Rat Trap, Touch of the Reaper, Storm at the end of the World) and some times they could act like over the top pantomime villains (Instrument of destruction part 2, Circles of doom) (mostasche twirling being a reference to old panto villains having outrageous mostaches).

They clearly have a more sadistic nature than the originals given some of the quotes the replicants come out with. Thats why i think the NCS ones are evil as they are clearly self aware and seem to have a passion for suffering if the remains of the base Elysium crew are anything to go by.

[Intensity Angel]

What I mean by the situation I described is that, when Black fired on the Mysterons (NCS), it didn't really do that much damage. The Mysterons were able to rebuild their city. The situation wasn't that bad really, was it? But likening to the spilling a drink on the bride senario, spilling a drink on someone doesn't do any damage, but for a bride, she turns into bridezilla; she over reacts (but who is going to tell the bride that? ) . Basically I think the Mysterons might've overreacted a fair bit.