An alternative theory of Act 14

quote:

Originally posted by Dark-0 Does anyone think that Angel change in season 2, she is more helpful to Roger and does anybody know why she was fired from Paradigm HQ?

Her usefulness had come to an end. Alex had no use for a spying personal secretary from a foreign land once he had his Megadeus delivered. And Alan Gabriel was a far more useful liason with the foreigners.

As for her helpfullness, well, she's never been exactly harmful to Roger. She began helping him on her own in Act 12, informing him of the location of Schwarzwald's party. Once she was out on the streets, Roger was the only person she really could help in any real fashion. Well, that and her being in love with the dashing Negotiator.

quote:

Originally posted by Pythagoras One possible take on the ageless characters might be that they are the only real ones. The rest of the world is really just a prop for our stars to act upon.

The stars themselves don't seem to believe this. Roger is much more concerned about the underdog than the "stars," and Angel never seems to be able to pull the trigger on people who, in this theory, are mere hallucinations.

quote:

The other thing might be that the world of Paradigm we know is the experiment of a real woman named Angel Rosewater who has put a copy of herself into the story. Unfortunately, the story has become more real than she ever imagined.

That's the other thing -- if the world is just a stage for the stars to act upon, why does Angel have such a crummy role? If it's her show, why doesn't she get Roger in the end? Paradigm doesn't seem to be run for the stars' benefit at all.

quote:

Originally posted by Dark-0 Does anyone think that Angel change in season 2, she is more helpful to Roger and does anybody know why she was fired from Paradigm HQ?

She was being too helpful to him. She leaked secret information to him, she told Dastun to shoot Alan, she obviously loves him. It's like in diplomacy if you're sent to a country and "go native" by turning into an advocate for the people you hang around with so much. Alex had to get a new fixer because Angel deserted him.

quote:

Originally posted by Dark-0 Does anyone think that Angel change in season 2, she is more helpful to Roger and does anybody know why she was fired from Paradigm HQ?

No, she didn't change. She was clearly in love with Roger by the end of CALL FROM THE PAST (Act 7).

In MISSING CAT (Act , she follows Roger to Eugene Grant's place. Why? She knows perfectly well where it is -- she's carrying a map of the facility and has clearly studied it already! I think she was there to protect Roger, pure and simple, just as she was in NEGOTIATION WITH THE DEAD, where she doesn't even offer a reason for her presence.

Her motivations seem to be a combination of Alex's orders and her own desire to keep Roger alive in ENEMY IS ANOTHER BIG and R-D (Acts 12 and 13).

Presumably, she lost her job because she insisted that Dastun fire on Alan Gabriel, Alex's new fixer. Encouraging the hired help to shoot one another is not something Alex encourages in his subordinates. He wants to to direct any backstabbing personally.

In one of the more peculiar decisions of the series, Alex decided that he's rather have Alan by his side than Angel. Well, there's no accounting for taste.

quote:

Originally posted by Wingnut quote: Originally posted by jonnycooj What about in 15 when Angel asks “aren’t you going to call your alter ego Mr. Negotiator” and also orders Daston to shoot Allen Gabriel, in both instances the addressed respond by doing as she says. Roger was going to call Big O anyway, but the point is Angel already knew that this is what he was going to do (she just doesn’t realize). Daston is another case altogether, why does he need angels’ “direction” to make such an obvious decision? This is why I said that she has a sort of authority. In 16 she also “knows” that she and Roger have “been there before,” she has an unconscious understanding of what has and what will happen. This understanding, though clouded is much more cohesive than the snippets that everyone else experiences. Her memories are self-assurances, they allow a sense of control, whereas everyone else’s cause fear and confusion. In her current role she isn’t fully conscious of these memories but still manages to “stick to the script” so to speak. *buzzer* Wrong. As far as Act 15 goes, she told Dastun to hurry and shoot Alen whiule they still had a chance, where Dastun alone would've hesitated and perhaps not fired at all. In Act 16 she was makeing a playful reference to their last adventure in that area which had them stuck together underwater trapped in that submerged building. If Angel has an understanding of things that are to come of what they should be then she plays the dumb blonde role way too well. IMO Angel is just as clueless as everyone else, sure she may end up being a step or two ahead of the others, but that is the limit of her knowledge of the future.

Big O needs to be read like a novel. The first thing you need to do to understand a novel is ask yourself what things are “like.” While Angels “directions” are literally what you say they are, they are “like” “direction.” I can’t see reading Big O as non-fiction. It is fiction. Parallels need to be drawn in order to truly understand the themes.

quote:

Originally posted by A Clockwork Tomato Presumably, she lost her job because she insisted that Dastun fire on Alan Gabriel, Alex's new fixer. Encouraging the hired help to shoot one another is not something Alex encourages in his subordinates. He wants to to direct any backstabbing personally. In one of the more peculiar decisions of the series, Alex decided that he's rather have Alan by his side than Angel. Well, there's no accounting for taste.

She was fired (or demoted) before Act 15, I believe. She wasn't violent enough for Alex's dirty work, pure and simple. Alan loves violence so he's a much better choice.

Here's my theory from ep 14:

http://www.paradigm-city.com/forums/thread.php?threadid=2992&sid=&hilight=j
acobs+ladder

quote:

Originally posted by Pythagoras She was fired (or demoted) before Act 15, I believe. She wasn't violent enough for Alex's dirty work, pure and simple. Alan loves violence so he's a much better choice.

It's not as if there's any particular reason why Alex can't employ a crazy assassin AND a personal secretary. I'll bet Alan is terrible at stenography. Angel actually performed her secretarial duties in addition to playing Mata Hari.

Actually I took a sort of different view.

In essence I agree with the fact that it is an hallucination and/or vision. I also believe it is a vision back into memories that pre-date the memory loss. I also believe that this is caused by the loss of blood from the gunshot wound. I also believe this happens all within a couple of seconds max as Roger is still engaged in the fight with the other three Union Megs.

Now what do I really think it is...the one thing Angel learned from this whole experiment. I am still of the mind this is all just an experiment by Angel Rosewater to find out about the past. Roger has the vision but by the time the virtual Angel finds him he has already found out the meat of this fragment...she needs to push him back to the main program to find more...unfortuneatly she thinks she alone can push him back...and he wants to go back...to the world he knows...but he chooses Dorothy to "inspire"or confirm this not Angel....

I am babbling again...short answer...computer simulation gives way to memory fragment subroutine induced by virtual blood loss.

Man this show really causing us to think deep

RIGHT - well, I'm going to say that Roger's artificial memory insertion as a child turned him into a schizophrenic.

Following that route, we can easily see how he would portray himself was Roger the Wanderer.

Schizophrenia isn't multiple personality disorder. It is just disorganized auditory (hear) and visual (see) vision - illusions, hallucinations, and disorganized thinking.

So everything in Paradigm City becomes reformatted in his mind.