Thursday, August 15, 2013

Neutralize the Big Evil?

Have you seen the TV show Continuum? It's about a cop from the future who ended up in our time, and while she's here, she's chasing some criminals who came back in time with her. 

A couple episodes ago, the show hit upon one of those tropes that all time travel shows must at some point deal with--what to do about the big evil from the past. Because anyone who has a passing acquaintance with The Twilight Zone knows that just going and killing the big evil won't work out the way you expect. 

Which brings me to this week's question: 

What if you ended up back in the past and you met up with some awful monster who you knew was going to do horrible things in his/her future? How could you neutralize that threat without making it happen anyway? Or would it be better to let their future/our past play out the way it did in the original history? 

2 comments:

  1. Well, assuming I could (ie had the skills and mental stamina), I'd probably just outright kill them. Hitler is always a good example and I don't think I'd be too bothered offing him in light of what I know he's responsible for. The trouble is that you don't know exactly how your actions will change the time line. Maybe for the better, but maybe you changing history would bring about something even worse.

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  2. I don't think I'd change the past. It's too risky. I might end up making things worse and I might not be able to revisit the past to change it again.

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