HIGHLA-L Digest - 11 Aug 2004 to 12 Aug 2004 (#2004-146)
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Thu, 12 Aug 2004 22:00:05 -0400
There is one message totalling 55 lines in this issue.
Topics of the day:
1. Q-Chips (was: The Immortal Cimoli)
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Date: Thu, 12 Aug 2004 19:28:47 -0400
From: SenseiRob@aol.com
Subject: Q-Chips (was: The Immortal Cimoli)
kageorge writes:
>I relaized I had one other comment to make about this episode, with
>regard to the following scene, and the discussion on various lists about
>whether the Quickening actually conveys anything until the end of the
>final battle (assuming there really is a Prize):
>
>
>> Amanda explains that if
>> he exposes himself by being a performer, he will eventually lose his
>> head. “Maybe if you’d trained, or taken a couple of heads, you’d have a
>> chance...” she muses, but tells him otherwise he wouldn’t last more than
>> a week.
>
>Clearly, Amanda absolutely believes that taking heads enhances an
>Immortal's survival ability. In "Lady and the Tiger", she also stepped
>in to "steal" the bad guy's Quickening from Duncan, which I assume she
>did for the same reason. Given that she's been living with Immortality
>and it's consequences for a thousand years, I think I'd take her views
>on the topic as gospel.
Hmm. It's still open to interpretation, though. If this had been about winning, say, the World Championship of Poker, rather than "The Game" of immortal head removal, there are a few analogies we could draw.
“Maybe if you’d trained"
A "trained" poker player would likely be a better poker player than if he went into a tournament totally unprepared. Likewise, someone trained in combat would likely be a better combatant than someone completely untrained. If you grabbed someone (with no special knowledge of poker or swordfighting) off the street and sat him at a poker table, with his life at stake, there's little difference if that same someone was confronted with a homicidal swordsman in a dark alley. Someone untrained, unprepared, would be, in poker parlance, Dead Money. In Highlander, he'd just be Dead.
"or taken a couple of heads"
Someone who's won a few poker tournaments, regardless of formal training, would have the advantage of experience. They'd have a better feel for what to do, how to react, how to counter a feint/bluff, how to read an opponent, what to do to take someone out of The Game successfully. Knowing how to consistently damage your opponent, when to go "all in", to take the big gamble, not be suckered into a losing move, to go for the killing blow, are all-important. Not having done this before, not really knowing how, not knowing all your options or chance of success, is a distinct disadvantage. Use your confidence from previous successes to make the right choices and to "play" effectively - or, like Methos, know when to run away and fold and save your chips for later. Chips and beer, mmmmm.
So, let's take this analogy a step further. What is the Quickening, then? It's winning the pot, taking your opponent's chips, taking him out of the Game permanently. It's keeping a running tally of your successes in the tournament. It gives you the "power" of having more options in a given hand/battle, keeping you in the tournament. In poker hands, could use your chip advantage to bluff opponents, attempt to "buy" the pot, use your "score" for pure intimidation. In the case of two very equally skilled opponents, with equal luck, in the final round... chip count could be very well be a deciding factor.
But - simply having more chips/Q's doesn't automatically make you a better sword fighter or card player. By defeating someone totally in a hand of poker, eliminating them, you don't actually gain their poker-playing knowledge and experience, just like getting a Quickening doesn't affect your swordfighting skill supernaturally. The practical experience over time of competing would make you a better "player", of course, but there's no actual transference of skill or ability. You wouldn't pluck a cool new trick or strategy out of someone's head just because you defeated them.
But, to retain the analogy and to explain some odd statements in the movie and series, getting a Quickening, or winning a plot, can give you... something. Power. Something that can give you an advantage if you have "more" of it than your opponent... but imho, it's also quite a bit less than comparing actual skill, experience, and even the luck of the draw. Give a lot of stake money to an inexperienced card player, or even a moderately successful one, and a card sharp will almost inevitably win in the end.
There just may be a point where an Immortal gets an advantage over others, solely due to his "Q-chip count"... but all other factors would have to be equalized before it truly mattered.
And there is my newly-created Q-Chip Theory.
Let the cards fall where they may.
-Rob (Q-chips and spilled Coke?) (All I need are some tasty Q-Waves, a cool *buzz*, and I'm fine)
(SenseiRob@aol.com)
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End of HIGHLA-L Digest - 11 Aug 2004 to 12 Aug 2004 (#2004-146)
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