Earth-That-Was by Schism

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

Earth-That-Was

POSTED BY: SCHISM
UPDATED: Tuesday, April 7, 2009 12:45
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Sunday, April 5, 2009 4:27 PM

Like many things, this has likely been discussed, but for the sake of newer guys (like me) why not bring it up again.

Earth-That-Was.

In the series, you could draw the conclusion that mankind used up the earth and had to leave to find a new place with new resources. I left with the conclusion that Earth-That-Was was, essentially, dead.

However the movie starts with the narration "Earth-That-Was could no longer sustain our numbers, we were so many".

So it wasn't the lack of resources (though that could be implied as part of the problem) but a lack of space.

So...in the Firefly universe...do you think Earth(that was) is still a functional planet?

I dare say the 'Verse is so far from our Solar System that they could not know for sure, but certainly this could have been a plot line for future storylines, had they the chance.

Do you think that the Alliance maintains some form on communication with Earth-That-Was?

Do you think they purposely shut off communication for fear that they might try to claim some sort of implied ownership of the new lands?

Kinda like england and the colonies and your little war of independance.

Hey.

That would make an interesting political backdrop to accompany a new series, movie, or mini-series.

Then the Alliance would, ironically, become the 'independant' faction.

;p

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Sunday, April 5, 2009 5:07 PM

THEREALME

My understanding is that the setting of the Firefly series is one separate solar system, that there is no faster than light drive, and that the trip from Earth-that-was to the new system was a journey of decades (at least) on huge slower-than-light space arks.

So, returning to Earth-that-was would also be a journey of decades. While communication using radio or lasers might be possible, it would take (probably) years between question and answer. Maybe longer.

The scientific fact is that space is BIG. So I think that it would be impractical for Earth-that-was to figure in the series.

Of course, this depends on Joss knowing and caring about such scientific details.

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Sunday, April 5, 2009 8:16 PM

JEWELSTAITEFAN

In the White Paaper which was released in Feb, the timeline mentions that the last communications from Earth were about 9 years after the last exodus ship departed, so it has been assumed by those in the verse that Earth no longer has humans.
I think I'ver read similar elsewhere, but that' the only reference I can think of off hand.

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Monday, April 6, 2009 2:13 PM

THEREALME

What white paper? Was this some kind of fanfic or was it from Joss?

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Monday, April 6, 2009 9:08 PM

SIGMANUNKI

There is a difference in how one talks to children verses how one talks to adults. Children can't conceive of many things that adults can if only because of a lack of information and a lack of ability to process it. A child won't understand that there is a need for various resources, etc. They just don't have the necessarily world-view to understand that. So, one must deliver the information incomplete and inaccurate to just give them an idea of the what and why.

The Earth that was is gone.

----
I am on The Original List (twice). We are The Forsaken and we aim to burn!
"We don't fear the reaper"

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Tuesday, April 7, 2009 2:48 AM

LEMMING

This white paper

http://www.quantummechanix.com/The_Verse_in_Numbers_v1.1.pdf

No it's not from Joss, but it collects a lot of the background information that went into The Official Map of The Verse.

Of specific relevance to this thread is the timeline Jewelstaitefan mentioned.

This is total speculation of course, but we take that speculation and run with it in the next episode of The Signal (which should be out today or tomorrow: episode 6, season 5)

My personal take is fairly close to the article in the show (I just read it, didn't write this one). Folk probably managed to survive, but that's about all. No time for building spaceships or comm lasers when you have to cope with a shattered ecosystem! Plus, if the Verse is indeed 40 odd light years away (the Exodus took around 120 years according to the timeline), that's too far to carry on a converstaion with sub light speed tech.

Nick

(The Signal: www.serenityfirefly.com)

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Tuesday, April 7, 2009 3:29 AM

BLUESUNCOMPANYMAN

5 years of learning firefly lore creates a pile of information in my head, some things of which I no longer remember the sources. But this is what I know:

Earth became overpopulated, polluted, and misrable. Oil was gone, coal was almost gone, and green technologies were no longer enough to power everyones needs. The 2 main superpowers on the planet, the USA and China, began a joint venture to find a world solution.

Around the same time this was happening, deep space telescopes located a star system within 200 light years of earth that contained "Dozens of worlds and hundreds of moons" of aprox 1g mass. China and the USA turned their focus on space travel. As humans have demonstrated throughout history, when your back is against a wall sometimes you must think your way out. The USA and China eventually make a huge breakthrough: Controlled Fusion.

With this new Fusion tech humanity could have solved it's energy and pollution issues eariler, but now with the earth "used up", they build world ships instead. Fusion allows for a steady acceleration to sub light speeds (we see this as full burn in the show), which indeed cause time delay issues...but not when everyone travels at once. The exodus continues until Earth is empty (seen at the start of the Serenity Film)

The 2 most perfect worlds in the new star system are settled first. China settles the planet Sihnon which is why that world is heavily asian influenced. Londinium is settled by the anglos which is why that world is very 1st-world in look. A few hundred years later these 2 worlds will become the beating heart of the Alliance, with the parlament on Londinium. The Companions Guildworld is Sihnon.

The planets in the immediate vacinity of Sihnon and Londinium become "core" worlds. Here the growing power of the alliance government is most strongly felt on planets like Ariel and Osiris. Further our exist gas giants with moons and planets with harder climates. These worlds become what we know of as the "rim" worlds. Wheras the core worlds are tightly knitted under a singular government, the rim worlds are difficult to control, owning to the vastness of space. The result is a growing resentment among the dwellers on the rim worlds that the central government is of no use. These are reflected in the show in statements from the marshal in the Train Job: "The Alliance ain't much good to us out here" or mal's comment "That's what governments are for. To get in a man's way" The result is that the rim worlds decide that they want to self govern. United under a singular banner (Independent faction flag with the upside down star) the various worlds declare independence from the growing alliance government and set up seperate world governments. The Alliance iniates hostilities upon the independents to take control of the rim. The result is the unification war. Or as rim-worlders call it "The War of Alliance Aggression" The result is, of course, Alliance Victory. The current state of the verse is that the Alliance controls all worlds in name, but the rim worlds often fight for their own survival against various evils with no help from the central government (reavers, sickness, slavers, harsh conditions, ect)

Thats the history of the verse as I know it. The problem has been that new "canon" appears every year that can contradict previously established elements. The new map of the verse has elements in it that I take issue with and have aired out on this site.

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Tuesday, April 7, 2009 3:55 AM

CHRISISALL

Meanwhile, Back on Earth....

It's like Road Warrior with no fuel. A few thousand or so descendants of low-level criminals & back births scrape out a toxic existence and pass the time with petty squabbling. Life expectancy is dwindling.
Not pretty.

The laughing Chrisisall

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Tuesday, April 7, 2009 11:19 AM

BLUESUNCOMPANYMAN

Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
Meanwhile, Back on Earth It's like Road Warrior with no fuel.

Funny you should say that. Back in the day when all we had was the show on DVD and no movie, there was much speculation about what Reavers were. The film "explained" them, in the obvious lazy storytelling that I expected and predected in 2005: They were the result of Alliance science. But I had read a more awsome story for them and wanted to see it be the truth.

In that version, Reavers were from earth. When the world ships left earth and traveled to the 'verse system there were people, like criminals and other undesirables, intentionally left behind. While the trip took a few years for the travelers, about two-hundred years passed back on earth-that-was due to special relativity. Life degraded into something out of the video game Fallout. Eventually, feral humans (who still possessed intelligence) reto-fitted and powered up junk ships left behind and followed the course of the previous exodus. This is why they "appear" out of the black with no explaination. Because they do not care for their ships well, core containments are weak and mutations arise. Reavers are the result as the feral humans go mad and begin to self-mutilate. As they steal, rape, and scavange the rim, new ships are aquired and retro-fitted reaver style. (Such as the Trans-U from the pilot episode)

I never liked the movie's explaination. I expected it, but didn't want it at all. It doesn't follow well to the episode Bushwacked that the crazed survivor of the colonist ship even survived at all...the reavers on Miranda were uncontrollable animals, like something out of 28 Days Later. The Reavers in Bushwacked made an obvious 'Choice' to spare this man out of twisted humor. He responded by becoming one of them. The idea that Reavers came from earth made way more sense given the events of Bushwacked.

But like I said, the films explaination was the obvious lazy one, and sadly it was what I expected. And Got!

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Tuesday, April 7, 2009 12:45 PM

SCHISM

Reavers from earth?

Damn.

I like that.

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