Time of reconstructions & their detail.

[Lenzar]

In the pilot episode, Captain Scarlet's dead body is without its hat and gun, which are laying around on the ground somewhere. However the reconstructed Scarlet comes complete with hat and gun. This has left me wondering whether the actual 'creation' of the mysteron Scarlet occured earlier (maybe when the car went blue?) and that they 'beamed' it onto the Earth when the real one was dead. The only other way I can imagine this being possible is that they reconstructed the hat and gun seperatly and transferred them on 'properly'.

Thoughts?

[Mary]

In the pilot episode, we don't actually see the Mysteronization process (i.e. the "rings") in action on Scarlet. What we do see is a shot of the original Scarlet's body, then the camera pans upward to show the Mysteronized Scarlet standing over him. In this episode, it's entirely possible that the Mysteronized Scarlet simply picked up the original Scarlet's cap and gun from the scene of the accident and used them, but it's also possible that the cap and gun were picked up in the ring-scanning AFTER the accident. There's no reason why the rings wouldn't sweep the entire area for bits to reconstruct; after all, there have been some horrific scenes in the series (tanker trucks exploding etc.) and they were able to reconstruct everyone/thing they needed...

[Lenzar]

Maybe I'm taking the /exact/ likeness thing too literally, but this is how I see it..

Mysterons announce target
Mysterons decide on way(s) to destroy it
Mysterons reconstruct object/person, and store it somewhere
Mysterons then destroy the original, probably to ensure that it does not somehow makes their threat impossible (imagine having two DT-19s landing in Winged Assassin!)
Mysterons 'beam' reconstruct into area once they have 'ring scanned' the destruction to ensure everything is destroyed/dead

[shaqui]

No, it is established early on - in the very first episode in fact - that the Mysterons 'reverse matter'. Why it is necessary to destroy first has always been a matter of conjecture but it may (and I stress the 'may') be a response - a bit like healing a wound. In other words, the Mysterons have the capability to repair their own complex after an attack, and their own 'reconstructions' of any alien object have to follow a similar pattern.

There is a precedent for 'duplicates', as seen in 'Treble Cross' where Major Gravener is revived after drowning and replaces his killed Mysteron reconstruction.

I've always equated the 'reversing of matter' as being a reversal of time to the point where an object or person is not destroyed. Others use the (human-created - we never hear the Mysterons or Captain Black use it) term 'retrometabolism' to imply it's a biological effect - an advanced form of super-healing. Both are conjecture in the absense of a real explanantion.

[Doc Denim]

yo all!

(hey there Lenzar - I think you've got the sequence of retrometabolic events pretty much down pat - or at least, it agrees with the way I feel about things Mysteron....) and I don't think that you can take the exact likeness thing too far - I'm a very big believer in Exact and Identical!

Quite a good deal of this has already been covered under Retrometabolism - and the discussions are well worth working through if you haven't thoroughly explored those threads as yet - I will recommend "Can Captain Scarlet Die of Natural Causes?" as there are a few very detailed viewpoints expounded there. Here's a quick cut and paste (yes, it's mine, but it parallels yours nicely, I think) to whet your interest....

Previously posted....
Seems to me that no matter how you think the Mysterons go about 'creating' their reconstruction of a person or object, no matter where they get their raw materials from to do so, they need to start out by taking a good look at it (I think from the sub-atomic level up) simply so that they'll be able to make "an exact likeness" thereof. So it shouldn't make any difference how the original 'dies' by electrocution or otherwise, so long as they've got the blueprint, they can build their copy as soon as the original is out of the way.

To do that I believe they really need to scan their targets down and 'template' them, and that's a process, sensibly, that should be done before the original is destroyed, so that you'll get a pristine copy of the live being or object: i.e. - if you scan down a corpse, all you'll be able to duplicate is another corpse and that doesn't strike me as being especially useful.

Just as a bit of evidence, I always took the 'special effect' that Captains Scarlet and Brown in their Saloon car were subjected to immediately before it crashed as the 'blueprint scan'.

Have fun!

Doc Denim....

PS - there's also a post all about Major Gravner and that situation here somewhere, but I'm not sure what thread it's under at the moment...I didn't see it where I thought it was....

[Maltray]

Maybe I'm taking the /exact/ likeness thing too literally, but this is how I see it..

Mysterons announce target
Mysterons decide on way(s) to destroy it
Mysterons reconstruct object/person, and store it somewhere
Mysterons then destroy the original, probably to ensure that it does not somehow makes their threat impossible (imagine having two DT-19s landing in Winged Assassin!)
Mysterons 'beam' reconstruct into area once they have 'ring scanned' the destruction to ensure everything is destroyed/dead

No, it is established early on - in the very first episode in fact - that the Mysterons 'reverse matter'. Why it is necessary to destroy first has always been a matter of conjecture but it may (and I stress the 'may') be a response - a bit like healing a wound. In other words, the Mysterons have the capability to repair their own complex after an attack, and their own 'reconstructions' of any alien object have to follow a similar pattern.

There is a precedent for 'duplicates', as seen in 'Treble Cross' where Major Gravener is revived after drowning and replaces his killed Mysteron reconstruction.

I've always equated the 'reversing of matter' as being a reversal of time to the point where an object or person is not destroyed. Others use the (human-created - we never hear the Mysterons or Captain Black use it) term 'retrometabolism' to imply it's a biological effect - an advanced form of super-healing. Both are conjecture in the absense of a real explanantion.

It's not an easy one to explain I think in the Mysterons it's made clear they can influence things that have not be 'destroyed' however I would think this takes alot of energy. This is maybe why it's easier to destroy first. Perhaps the engery needed to 'retrometabolise' a person or object is less intensive.

With retrometabolism "an exact copy" is made of a person or object. It's never really shown if 'retrometabolism' is completly biological or not. This I do agree with shaqui.

Taking for an example where the orginal Captains Brown and Scarlet are killed in a car crash it's shown that the front left tyre blows out for no reason at all. I've checked this scene a few times and there's nothing on the road that sharp or such that could blow out the tyre. In about four episodes it's shown that the Mysteron Rings sweep a large area so they miss nothing.

I'm afraid Lenzar I have to disagree on the following point:

Mysterons reconstruct object/person, and store it somewhere

It's made pretty clear in the introduction:

"The Mysterons...sworn enemies of Earth...possessing the ability to recreate the exact likeness of an object or person...but first they must destroy"

This one phrase "But first they must destroy" explains alot, it seems to me the Mysterons can only influence things they have not destoyed first. It's not really shown if the Mysterons can infuance people before retrometabolism, I think Captain Black is an exception to the rule. With Black destroying the Mysteron Complex in the first place, the Mysterons would have a vested intreast in using him to spear head thier campain.

The only thing I'm not sure about is this. If Black isn't a duplicate does he retain the Memories of Conrad Turner and is the 'real' Black locked inside the Mysteron puppet (No pun intended!)

[Doc Denim]

It's not really shown if the Mysterons can infuance people before retrometabolism,

Hmmm - I have to disagree about this - in at least two incidents (and a possible third) we see characters Mysteron 'influenced' to the point of their own deaths prior to reconstruction

- in Point 783, the driver of the car seems to go into a sort of trance and drives his car against the light into the Catskill Tunnel, resulting in the quick demise of the occupants

- in Renegade Rocket, we see Major Reeves suffer an attack of Mysteron induced nausea - which results in his falling overboard to ultimately drown in the boat's wake.

- I would have to watch it again to be sure, but in Fire at Rig 15, the demoliton expert (whose name escapes me) becomes disoriented in the flames and dies (I assume) in the explosion he rigged himself that snuffs the fire out.

So I do think we have seen examples of the Mysterons influencing people (and things too, oil valves, detour signs and the like) without having to kill them first....

Doc Denim

[Maltray]

I admit your right but I still think it must take a lot of Power for the Myserton's to do these actions. On the whole they seem to kill and destroy the most episodes. Yes the Mysterons can infuleance things and people I would think this takes alot of energy on the whole though.

[shaqui]

The only thing I'm not sure about is this. If Black isn't a duplicate does he retain the Memories of Conrad Turner and is the 'real' Black locked inside the Mysteron puppet

Well again it is conjecture that Black is not a Mysteron reconstruction, if only because we never see his original death, and he never seems to endanger himself so it is proved to us he is indestructible.

'TV21' is more explicit, and Black is indestructible like Scarlet, though how canon this is - even with the close ties between Century 21 and 'TV21' - is debateable. Unlike other reconstructions however, when the Mysterons are defeated, Black's lifeless body is left behind.

There is ample evidence that Mysteron reconstructions retain the memories of their originals - none ever seem to have problems with recollection of events and people prior to retrometabolism. So either way, Mysteron reconstruction or not, Black - for better or worse - is still in there...

[Lenzar]

It's made pretty clear in the introduction:

"The Mysterons...sworn enemies of Earth...possessing the ability to recreate the exact likeness of an object or person...but first they must destroy"

The last bit of that line happens right before the camera pans to Scarlet...for me that means it's saying the must destroy Scarlet..

[shaqui]

It's made pretty clear in the introduction:

"The Mysterons...sworn enemies of Earth...possessing the ability to recreate the exact likeness of an object or person...but first they must destroy"

The last bit of that line happens right before the camera pans to Scarlet...for me that means it's saying the must destroy Scarlet..

Which is an interpretation I disagree with, especially since the title footage was shot before that voiceover was added - there were about a dozen episodes prior to this without it (originally at least). Take the words on face value - they mean what they mean...

[DartBrat701]

- I would have to watch it again to be sure, but in Fire at Rig 15, the demoliton expert (whose name escapes me) becomes disoriented in the flames and dies (I assume) in the explosion he rigged himself that snuffs the fire out.



Doc Denim

His name was Jason Smith.

[Marion]

Sorry to necro-post, but I was wondering if the Mysterons are shown (on the TV show) reconstructing anything on earth that they had not previously destroyed?

They recreate their complex, but that is on Mars, of course, and they do not recreate their base in Crater 101 - as far as we know.

Flight 104 is 'taken over' by the Mysterons, but it is not destroyed like Delta Tango 19. The baddies in 'Special Assignment' are killed by someone who had already been Mysteronised...
I can't recall a situation where the Mysterons recreated someone who had died of natural causes or was killed by an non-Mysteronised person/machine.
At least not in the episodes themselves.

[chrisbishop]

What you mean is, "Do they have to have a personal hand in the death of the person, or the destruction of the object, in order to take control of it?"

Mmm...

I don't know, that's possible.

How about that guy who suffocate in this avalanche in the episode of the same title? Or the plane in which Commander Goddard and his aide took place, in "The Trap", which was struck by lightning? I personally think that both events were engineered by the Mysterons... but maybe I'm wrong!

They DO have powers we don't hope to comprehend, after all, and the thought that they can master the elements is somehow scary enough...

[Sweeps]

The Scarlet "reconstruction" in the first episode is THE most chilling moment in the entire series IMO, the dead body of Scarlet being pulled away, the scarlet boots, the pan up, the variation of the mysterons theme not heard anywhere else in the series and finally the close up to the mysteron Scarlet

***BRILLIANT***