Whitestar
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Hey fellow B7 fans!
I came across an article that I printed many years ago and it's a good thing that I kept it because it's no longer available online. However, I have taken the liberty of rewriting the entire article for eveyone to read. Here it is:
Gauda Prime set up theory
What led to the last moments in "Blake"? IMO, Avon's erratic fourth season behavior and inability to understand simple statements like "Tarrant doesn't understand." Others have different opinions and below is a brilliant one. This Gauda Prime set-up theory was devised by Betsy Ramsey, one of the great people who used to be on the Blake's 7 list. It's posted here with her permission.
From Betsy Ramsey:
I wrote this in 1991, less than a week after I'd seen "Blake" for the first time. Most people do not like the theory I describe below; for them, much of what B7 means to them personally would be radically altered if Avon did not kill Blake or at least shoot him in anger/despair/whatever at the end of "Blake". And that's fine with me. But this is what I got from the episode, from my very first viewing of it. I haven't had any reason to change my opinion in the many times I've viewed the episode since. Enjoy (or not!
.
It seems like most people like to view "Blake" as the show's finale, the last statement from the show's creators. I tend to view it instead as simply yet another series cliffhanger. They managed to get out of every cliffhanger they had prior to this one, so it's interesting to speculate what they might have had in mind this time.
Let me review for a moment what most other people seem to think. I knew what happened at the end of "Blake" from B7 fanfic and some snippets of video I'd seen. I also knew, from the same sources, what conventional wisdom held was the cause: Blake, distrustful after years of fighting a losing battle with the Federation and obsessed with his need to test prospective candidates, makes a serious mistake in attempting to manipulate Avon when they meet in the tracking gallery. Avon, stressed to the breaking point after the combined events from Terminal on, cannot cope with Blake's evasive answer to his question, and kills him.
As I started watching the fourth series, I expected to see Avon spiral down into insanity. That's what fanfic had lead me to expect. That isn't what I saw. I saw Avon, under very difficult circumstances, doing his best to fight the Federation as effectively as possible given their resources, while keeping at least some margin of safety for himself and the others (admittedly in that order). There were a lot of defeats, but some successes also (they did get the stardrive, learn the formula for the Pylene 50 antitoxin, and prevent the tachyon funnel from falling into Servalan's hands). I didn't see any gradual disintegration of Avon's mental health as the series progressed. The Avon of "Warlord" is no less sane than the Avon of "Traitor".
Nevertheless, I sat down to watch "Blake" resigned to the idea that Avon was going to shoot Blake, and hoping to be able to convince myself that the person Avon killed was Blake's clone from "Weapon" instead of the real Blake. Even though I hadn't seen it all season, I expected to finally see an Avon who was at the end of his tether, who was losing it, so to speak. I was hoping that Blake would act something like the clone Blake, but from his first scene I knew that I was looking at the real Roj Blake, not the clone.
The episode was very, very different than what I had been expecting. Throughout the episode, Avon was very rational, as he always is. He knew exactly what he was doing and why. He'd obviously done a lot of thinking about the Gauda Prime situation, and did not intend to repeat the mistakes he made at Terminal. Blake was pursuing ends of his own, in his usual focused, deliberate and surreptitious manner. As far as I was concerned, nothing whatsoever was out of character with these two, until the last scene. All of a sudden, ultra-rational Avon leaps to an unsubstantiated conclusion based soley on Tarrant's word. Deliberate "I'm still alive" Blake mishandles Avon very badly. No way. It was too inconsistent with everything that had gone before, not just in previous seasons and episodes, but in this very episode.
Moreover, there were lots of little things in the episode that didn't make sense or weren't explained or both.
* Gauda Prime has been told by the Federation to put its house in order. It is "the day of the bounty hunter" -- Avon himself notes that outlaws like themselves are definitely not welcome on Gauda Prime right now. It would seem to be a bad time to pay a visit.
* Avon is unconcerned about Blake's supposed new profession. As Tarrant points out, there is still a price on their heads. Given that, a bounty hunter is the last person they'd want to run into.
* Blake tells Arlen that he can't really tell who is Federation and who isn't any more. But later, when Deva remarks that Blake is good at this bounty hunter business, Blake responds, "I'm still alive."
* When Scorpio is attacked, Avon expresses no opinions about or interest in the identity of their attackers. He does, however, seem surprised at the extent of the damage received by Scorpio.
* This is the only episode in which Orac is tied down. This proves to be a prescient move on someone's part, given Slave's inability to maintain a level flight path during the attack.
* Blake receives electronic permission to hunt two outlaws. Then the computer emits another permit granting Blake law enforcement authority. This is a surprise to Deva. Blake makes a joke about undiscriminating computers. Neither permit card is referred to again.
* Blake identifies himself to Arlen very early on. And she is prepared to barter that information with Deva in exchange for her life (which hardly gives her a passing grade on any test of loyalty to the rebellion).
* Avon has Orac imitate a Federation distress beacon. This is clearly designed to attract someone other than bounter hunters (Blake says to Klyn, "There's nothing in it for me, then"), yet no one shows up before nightfall, even though Avon is obviously expecting company.
* A flyer approaches the shack that Vila, Soolin and Dayna have just found, hovers nearby for a moment, and then departs. But the men who attack them later land their flyer far enough away to avoid being heard.
* Blake announces to Tarrant that it's getting light and suggests it is time to leave the Scorpio wreakage. It is shortly after dawn when Avon and his people make their way from the shack to the flyer that they have inherited.
* The "I'm still alive" Blake turns his back on Tarrant, which gives Tarrant the opportunity to escape. Blake prevents Arlen from shooting Tarrant as he runs. Blake is no hurry to chase after him.
* In the heat of their argument following Tarrant's escape, Blake tells Deva, "I find it difficult to trust. It's a failing, I admit." At Star One, Blake told Avon, "I have always trusted you, from the very beginning."
* In the course of their argument, Blake and Deva reveal everything about the state of the rebellion, including Deva's opinion that it can't survive Blake's death. Arlen is standing in the background listening.
* Blake removes his weapon before leaving with Arlen.
* Just before Blake and Arlen leave to follow the fleeing Tarrant, Blake says, "Relax, Deva. Nobody's indispensible." Earlier in the episode, when Soolin was questioning him about the viability of the rebel alliance without Zukan as a figurehead, Avon said, "Nobody is indispensible."
* Avon doesn't wonder how Tarrant got to Blake's base. All he says is "I'm glad you made it."
* Avon doesn't have the weapon he uses to shoot Klyn and Blake before we see him enter the tracking gallery. It's not one of the weapons carried by the men who attacked Vila, Dayna and Soolin in the shack, and no one was carrying any similar weapons on the way to the flyer. So he got it at the base or onboard the flyer. Why would he choose to carry a weapon of unknown quality rather than his familiar Xenon handgun, which was in perfect working order earlier in the episode?
* Avon looks at the gun and grips it in a particular manner before he turns to shoot Klyn.
* There is no sign of blood when Avon shoots Klyn, unlike when he shoots Blake.
* Avon's attention seems to be totally focused on the fallen Blake until immediately after the last his party is downed, at which time he looks up to watch the guards file into the room and surround him.
While these are all little things, they add up to something larger. And what is that, you ask? Here's what I think.
Blake and Avon are in cahoots in a scheme to convince the Federation that they are dead, which will give them time to manufacture and distribute the Pylene 50 antitoxin and get the rebellion properly organized. Blake and Avon set up the Gauda Prime scheme as a fallback in case the Warlord alliance failed, which it did.
Blake knew all along that Arlene was a Federation spy. He made certain that she knew that the rebellion was doomed if Blake were to be killed, and that she would be there at the right place and time to witness and participate in their "deaths". Avon's job was to make sure that he and all his people were also there, in place, at the right time.
Unfortunately, Scorpio was damaged more severely than Blake and Avon had hoped, with the result that Blake's assistance was required to ensure that things didn't fall off schedule. The mysterious computer card and the Federation distress beacon were signals from Avon to Blake informing Blake of their circumstances. Avon was expecting to be picked up by Blake, but since it was too close to nightfall, Blake instead went directly to Scorpio's wreakage to render any assistance that might be needed, after first locating the others, which allowed Orac to guide Avon to their location. Blake left it up to Avon (who, armed and with Orac, is far from helpless) to rendezvous with the others and find transportation back to the base. Avon is sure that Blake is in the other flyer, but isn't expecting him to use a random flight program, which causes him a minor amount of consternation.
Blake arranged for Arlen to be carrying stun charges, just as Avon did with his people (only Avon fires his Xenon handgun before the tracking gallery scene). The rifle is also carrying stun charges, laced with a neural paralyzer (pardon the ST terminology). Klyn is not wearing blood packs (and is not in on the scheme), so she doesn't bleed as Avon shoots her. Blake is wearing them in order to make his death that much more spectacular for Arlen, and more importantly, to reduce the chances she'll want to examine the body. (Who was to predict that Vila would take her out? But she's only unconscious, conveniently. She can be awakened to see whatever they need her to see.)
The Federation troops are actually Blake's people, and are also carrying stun charges. After all of Avon's people, including Avon himself, are stunned, rebel "reinforcements" will arrive to rout the "Fed" troops. Arlen will be allowed to escape in the ensuing melee. She'll go back to Servalan and report what she's seen and heard (and probably die under questioning in order to satisty Servalan that she's telling the truth).
Whether or not you can accept all or any of this depends heavily on how you view the characters. I think Dorian's analysis of the crew's relationship was quite good. "One of the group was killed before I got to them. But the group remains, bound together by time and pain and the need to survive... That's why I came for you. You care for each other. After what you've been through together, you couldn't fail to care for each other. Even you, Avon... I wouldn't expect you to admit it, but you belong to them, Avon, just as they belong to you. That's why I rescued you... What you will give me, all of you, is life." I see fundamentally good people who, sometimes despite themselves, have come to care for each other, and who are involved together in a quest to build a better future.
Looking more specifically at Blake and Avon, I think that Blake meant what he said at Star One, that he did trust Avon right from the beginning, and I think Avon believed him. One can argue that Blake has shown many times that he doesn't trust Avon. His "Avon might run" statement at Horizon is the prime example. But in my opinion that was more a case of Blake's not wanting to put temptation in Avon's way rather than a basic lack of trust (Blake may be dumb, but he's not stupid (I think he's neither, of course). When Blake *really* needed someone (e.g., "Pressure Point", "Star One"), he turned to Avon, and Avon was there. Fundamentally, beneath all their verbal sparring and jostling for control, the trust is there. Because I believe that Blake trusts Avon and Avon knows it, I have no trouble believing the scenario I have painted.
And this is an attempt to explain what might have gone on with Avon (in light of the above theory) between the time he teleported down to the surface and the time he reaches the shack where the bounty hunters are about to club Dayna and Soolin.
Things are not going entirely according to plan. Rather than landing Scorpio somewhere near Blake's base, Avon finds himself somewhere in one of the forrested plantations of Gauda Prime. He asks Orac for the location of the nearest settlement and suggestions on how he might get there. The answer doesn't please him. Avon instructs Orac to simulate an official GP distress beacon. When Orac questions him about this, Avon tells him he wants to attract a search party. Orac points out that in the present political environment, such a party is likely to be heavily armed, but Avon doesn't seem concerned. Nor is he interested in discussing the matter further. He tells Orac to tap into the nearest GP tracking center computer and notify him when any flying vehicles come into their region. He then instructs Orac to attempt to make contact with the Slave computer. Orac reports back that while Scorpio was badly damaged by the crash, Slave continues to function on emergency power. Avon asks "Tarrant?". Orac reports that Slave says that he appears to be alive but unconscious; Slave cannot determine the extent of his injuries. The crash site is too far way for Avon to make it there before dark, so, with the same amount of regret he showed just after Scorpio crashed, he doesn't try. He sits down to wait, gun drawn just in case. Time (an hour?) passes. Orac, never very patient when there's a mystery involved, and noting the dwindling daylight, finally can't stand it and speaks up.
Orac: I assume you have given some thought to how you will explain your presence here, not to mention my impersonation of an official distress beacon.
Avon: Just keep sending, Orac. I don't particularly want to spend the night out here.
Orac: You may have to. There is very little daylight left, and search parties are unlikely to operate in this terrain at night.
Avon: [rising] Stick to th distress beacon, Orac. When I want your impersonation of a pain, I'll let you know.
Once Orac has pointed out how closeit it is to nightfall, the scenario changes. It now becomes a priority for Avon to locate the others. After dark, this area will be searched by roving teams of bounty hunters. He starts off into the woods, toward the coordinates where the others teleported down. On the way, Orac informs him that a flyer has entered the area. Avon instantly tells it to tap into the flyer's flight and sensor computers. Orac tells him that the flyer was launched from an underground silo some distance away, and now appears to be searching the area. Avon quickens his pace. Then Orac tells him that the flyer's sensors have picked up heat from three bodies, closely grouped, and that the flyer is moving to investigate. Avon snarls "How far?!". Orac tells him, but it's too far for Avon to do anything about it. Avon demands more details from Orac, which reports that the flyer is now hovering over the location. Then it moves away, continuing its search pattern in a different location. Avon tells Orac to lead him to the location of the people spotted by the flyer, to keep tracking that flyer, and maintain a watch for additional flyers. They move on. Orac then tells Avon that the flyer has reached Scorpio's wreakage, as confirmed both by Slave and the flyer's on-board computers. It lands, and Slave notes one human who enters the flyer, checks Tarrant, looks around, and then settles in to wait. Avon, not knowing Tarrant's actual condition, cannot risk voice contact at this point, and instead has Orac instruct Slave to ignore both the human and the presence of the parked flyer, but to inform Tarrant of any other flyers. He and Orac continue on. Then Orac reports that another flyer has entered the area and is searching. The flyer's sensors detect a massive heat source from the same location as before. Avon demands to know what kind of heat source. Orac suggests some sort of fire. Avon says nothing, but from his expression he is pissed as hell. The flyer is settling down over a mile away. They hasten their pace, but fortunately they are closer than the bounty hunters. When they are near the shack, Avon hides Orac in the brush and continues on alone.
Most people don't believe any of this, of course. They prefer to believe that Avon snapped, that he shot Blake, stood there and watched everyone get gunned down, and then more-or-less committed suicide by raising his gun and firing against insurmountable odds. I, of course, believe that my theory fits better with the facts of the episode, with Blake and Avon's relationship, with Avon's personality, and with the cliffhanger season ending nature of the last episode (they didn't know the show was to be cancelled).
Well, well, well. I don't entirely agree with Betsy Ramsey on this, nonetheless, it's quite an interesting perspective on the final episode "Blake". And she at least goes out of way to fill in the gaps of certain plot holes in the aforementioned episode. What does everybody else thinks?
I came across an article that I printed many years ago and it's a good thing that I kept it because it's no longer available online. However, I have taken the liberty of rewriting the entire article for eveyone to read. Here it is:
Gauda Prime set up theory
What led to the last moments in "Blake"? IMO, Avon's erratic fourth season behavior and inability to understand simple statements like "Tarrant doesn't understand." Others have different opinions and below is a brilliant one. This Gauda Prime set-up theory was devised by Betsy Ramsey, one of the great people who used to be on the Blake's 7 list. It's posted here with her permission.
From Betsy Ramsey:
I wrote this in 1991, less than a week after I'd seen "Blake" for the first time. Most people do not like the theory I describe below; for them, much of what B7 means to them personally would be radically altered if Avon did not kill Blake or at least shoot him in anger/despair/whatever at the end of "Blake". And that's fine with me. But this is what I got from the episode, from my very first viewing of it. I haven't had any reason to change my opinion in the many times I've viewed the episode since. Enjoy (or not!
.It seems like most people like to view "Blake" as the show's finale, the last statement from the show's creators. I tend to view it instead as simply yet another series cliffhanger. They managed to get out of every cliffhanger they had prior to this one, so it's interesting to speculate what they might have had in mind this time.
Let me review for a moment what most other people seem to think. I knew what happened at the end of "Blake" from B7 fanfic and some snippets of video I'd seen. I also knew, from the same sources, what conventional wisdom held was the cause: Blake, distrustful after years of fighting a losing battle with the Federation and obsessed with his need to test prospective candidates, makes a serious mistake in attempting to manipulate Avon when they meet in the tracking gallery. Avon, stressed to the breaking point after the combined events from Terminal on, cannot cope with Blake's evasive answer to his question, and kills him.
As I started watching the fourth series, I expected to see Avon spiral down into insanity. That's what fanfic had lead me to expect. That isn't what I saw. I saw Avon, under very difficult circumstances, doing his best to fight the Federation as effectively as possible given their resources, while keeping at least some margin of safety for himself and the others (admittedly in that order). There were a lot of defeats, but some successes also (they did get the stardrive, learn the formula for the Pylene 50 antitoxin, and prevent the tachyon funnel from falling into Servalan's hands). I didn't see any gradual disintegration of Avon's mental health as the series progressed. The Avon of "Warlord" is no less sane than the Avon of "Traitor".
Nevertheless, I sat down to watch "Blake" resigned to the idea that Avon was going to shoot Blake, and hoping to be able to convince myself that the person Avon killed was Blake's clone from "Weapon" instead of the real Blake. Even though I hadn't seen it all season, I expected to finally see an Avon who was at the end of his tether, who was losing it, so to speak. I was hoping that Blake would act something like the clone Blake, but from his first scene I knew that I was looking at the real Roj Blake, not the clone.
The episode was very, very different than what I had been expecting. Throughout the episode, Avon was very rational, as he always is. He knew exactly what he was doing and why. He'd obviously done a lot of thinking about the Gauda Prime situation, and did not intend to repeat the mistakes he made at Terminal. Blake was pursuing ends of his own, in his usual focused, deliberate and surreptitious manner. As far as I was concerned, nothing whatsoever was out of character with these two, until the last scene. All of a sudden, ultra-rational Avon leaps to an unsubstantiated conclusion based soley on Tarrant's word. Deliberate "I'm still alive" Blake mishandles Avon very badly. No way. It was too inconsistent with everything that had gone before, not just in previous seasons and episodes, but in this very episode.
Moreover, there were lots of little things in the episode that didn't make sense or weren't explained or both.
* Gauda Prime has been told by the Federation to put its house in order. It is "the day of the bounty hunter" -- Avon himself notes that outlaws like themselves are definitely not welcome on Gauda Prime right now. It would seem to be a bad time to pay a visit.
* Avon is unconcerned about Blake's supposed new profession. As Tarrant points out, there is still a price on their heads. Given that, a bounty hunter is the last person they'd want to run into.
* Blake tells Arlen that he can't really tell who is Federation and who isn't any more. But later, when Deva remarks that Blake is good at this bounty hunter business, Blake responds, "I'm still alive."
* When Scorpio is attacked, Avon expresses no opinions about or interest in the identity of their attackers. He does, however, seem surprised at the extent of the damage received by Scorpio.
* This is the only episode in which Orac is tied down. This proves to be a prescient move on someone's part, given Slave's inability to maintain a level flight path during the attack.
* Blake receives electronic permission to hunt two outlaws. Then the computer emits another permit granting Blake law enforcement authority. This is a surprise to Deva. Blake makes a joke about undiscriminating computers. Neither permit card is referred to again.
* Blake identifies himself to Arlen very early on. And she is prepared to barter that information with Deva in exchange for her life (which hardly gives her a passing grade on any test of loyalty to the rebellion).
* Avon has Orac imitate a Federation distress beacon. This is clearly designed to attract someone other than bounter hunters (Blake says to Klyn, "There's nothing in it for me, then"), yet no one shows up before nightfall, even though Avon is obviously expecting company.
* A flyer approaches the shack that Vila, Soolin and Dayna have just found, hovers nearby for a moment, and then departs. But the men who attack them later land their flyer far enough away to avoid being heard.
* Blake announces to Tarrant that it's getting light and suggests it is time to leave the Scorpio wreakage. It is shortly after dawn when Avon and his people make their way from the shack to the flyer that they have inherited.
* The "I'm still alive" Blake turns his back on Tarrant, which gives Tarrant the opportunity to escape. Blake prevents Arlen from shooting Tarrant as he runs. Blake is no hurry to chase after him.
* In the heat of their argument following Tarrant's escape, Blake tells Deva, "I find it difficult to trust. It's a failing, I admit." At Star One, Blake told Avon, "I have always trusted you, from the very beginning."
* In the course of their argument, Blake and Deva reveal everything about the state of the rebellion, including Deva's opinion that it can't survive Blake's death. Arlen is standing in the background listening.
* Blake removes his weapon before leaving with Arlen.
* Just before Blake and Arlen leave to follow the fleeing Tarrant, Blake says, "Relax, Deva. Nobody's indispensible." Earlier in the episode, when Soolin was questioning him about the viability of the rebel alliance without Zukan as a figurehead, Avon said, "Nobody is indispensible."
* Avon doesn't wonder how Tarrant got to Blake's base. All he says is "I'm glad you made it."
* Avon doesn't have the weapon he uses to shoot Klyn and Blake before we see him enter the tracking gallery. It's not one of the weapons carried by the men who attacked Vila, Dayna and Soolin in the shack, and no one was carrying any similar weapons on the way to the flyer. So he got it at the base or onboard the flyer. Why would he choose to carry a weapon of unknown quality rather than his familiar Xenon handgun, which was in perfect working order earlier in the episode?
* Avon looks at the gun and grips it in a particular manner before he turns to shoot Klyn.
* There is no sign of blood when Avon shoots Klyn, unlike when he shoots Blake.
* Avon's attention seems to be totally focused on the fallen Blake until immediately after the last his party is downed, at which time he looks up to watch the guards file into the room and surround him.
While these are all little things, they add up to something larger. And what is that, you ask? Here's what I think.
Blake and Avon are in cahoots in a scheme to convince the Federation that they are dead, which will give them time to manufacture and distribute the Pylene 50 antitoxin and get the rebellion properly organized. Blake and Avon set up the Gauda Prime scheme as a fallback in case the Warlord alliance failed, which it did.
Blake knew all along that Arlene was a Federation spy. He made certain that she knew that the rebellion was doomed if Blake were to be killed, and that she would be there at the right place and time to witness and participate in their "deaths". Avon's job was to make sure that he and all his people were also there, in place, at the right time.
Unfortunately, Scorpio was damaged more severely than Blake and Avon had hoped, with the result that Blake's assistance was required to ensure that things didn't fall off schedule. The mysterious computer card and the Federation distress beacon were signals from Avon to Blake informing Blake of their circumstances. Avon was expecting to be picked up by Blake, but since it was too close to nightfall, Blake instead went directly to Scorpio's wreakage to render any assistance that might be needed, after first locating the others, which allowed Orac to guide Avon to their location. Blake left it up to Avon (who, armed and with Orac, is far from helpless) to rendezvous with the others and find transportation back to the base. Avon is sure that Blake is in the other flyer, but isn't expecting him to use a random flight program, which causes him a minor amount of consternation.
Blake arranged for Arlen to be carrying stun charges, just as Avon did with his people (only Avon fires his Xenon handgun before the tracking gallery scene). The rifle is also carrying stun charges, laced with a neural paralyzer (pardon the ST terminology). Klyn is not wearing blood packs (and is not in on the scheme), so she doesn't bleed as Avon shoots her. Blake is wearing them in order to make his death that much more spectacular for Arlen, and more importantly, to reduce the chances she'll want to examine the body. (Who was to predict that Vila would take her out? But she's only unconscious, conveniently. She can be awakened to see whatever they need her to see.)
The Federation troops are actually Blake's people, and are also carrying stun charges. After all of Avon's people, including Avon himself, are stunned, rebel "reinforcements" will arrive to rout the "Fed" troops. Arlen will be allowed to escape in the ensuing melee. She'll go back to Servalan and report what she's seen and heard (and probably die under questioning in order to satisty Servalan that she's telling the truth).
Whether or not you can accept all or any of this depends heavily on how you view the characters. I think Dorian's analysis of the crew's relationship was quite good. "One of the group was killed before I got to them. But the group remains, bound together by time and pain and the need to survive... That's why I came for you. You care for each other. After what you've been through together, you couldn't fail to care for each other. Even you, Avon... I wouldn't expect you to admit it, but you belong to them, Avon, just as they belong to you. That's why I rescued you... What you will give me, all of you, is life." I see fundamentally good people who, sometimes despite themselves, have come to care for each other, and who are involved together in a quest to build a better future.
Looking more specifically at Blake and Avon, I think that Blake meant what he said at Star One, that he did trust Avon right from the beginning, and I think Avon believed him. One can argue that Blake has shown many times that he doesn't trust Avon. His "Avon might run" statement at Horizon is the prime example. But in my opinion that was more a case of Blake's not wanting to put temptation in Avon's way rather than a basic lack of trust (Blake may be dumb, but he's not stupid
(I think he's neither, of course). When Blake *really* needed someone (e.g., "Pressure Point", "Star One"), he turned to Avon, and Avon was there. Fundamentally, beneath all their verbal sparring and jostling for control, the trust is there. Because I believe that Blake trusts Avon and Avon knows it, I have no trouble believing the scenario I have painted. And this is an attempt to explain what might have gone on with Avon (in light of the above theory) between the time he teleported down to the surface and the time he reaches the shack where the bounty hunters are about to club Dayna and Soolin.
Things are not going entirely according to plan. Rather than landing Scorpio somewhere near Blake's base, Avon finds himself somewhere in one of the forrested plantations of Gauda Prime. He asks Orac for the location of the nearest settlement and suggestions on how he might get there. The answer doesn't please him. Avon instructs Orac to simulate an official GP distress beacon. When Orac questions him about this, Avon tells him he wants to attract a search party. Orac points out that in the present political environment, such a party is likely to be heavily armed, but Avon doesn't seem concerned. Nor is he interested in discussing the matter further. He tells Orac to tap into the nearest GP tracking center computer and notify him when any flying vehicles come into their region. He then instructs Orac to attempt to make contact with the Slave computer. Orac reports back that while Scorpio was badly damaged by the crash, Slave continues to function on emergency power. Avon asks "Tarrant?". Orac reports that Slave says that he appears to be alive but unconscious; Slave cannot determine the extent of his injuries. The crash site is too far way for Avon to make it there before dark, so, with the same amount of regret he showed just after Scorpio crashed, he doesn't try. He sits down to wait, gun drawn just in case. Time (an hour?) passes. Orac, never very patient when there's a mystery involved, and noting the dwindling daylight, finally can't stand it and speaks up.
Orac: I assume you have given some thought to how you will explain your presence here, not to mention my impersonation of an official distress beacon.
Avon: Just keep sending, Orac. I don't particularly want to spend the night out here.
Orac: You may have to. There is very little daylight left, and search parties are unlikely to operate in this terrain at night.
Avon: [rising] Stick to th distress beacon, Orac. When I want your impersonation of a pain, I'll let you know.
Once Orac has pointed out how closeit it is to nightfall, the scenario changes. It now becomes a priority for Avon to locate the others. After dark, this area will be searched by roving teams of bounty hunters. He starts off into the woods, toward the coordinates where the others teleported down. On the way, Orac informs him that a flyer has entered the area. Avon instantly tells it to tap into the flyer's flight and sensor computers. Orac tells him that the flyer was launched from an underground silo some distance away, and now appears to be searching the area. Avon quickens his pace. Then Orac tells him that the flyer's sensors have picked up heat from three bodies, closely grouped, and that the flyer is moving to investigate. Avon snarls "How far?!". Orac tells him, but it's too far for Avon to do anything about it. Avon demands more details from Orac, which reports that the flyer is now hovering over the location. Then it moves away, continuing its search pattern in a different location. Avon tells Orac to lead him to the location of the people spotted by the flyer, to keep tracking that flyer, and maintain a watch for additional flyers. They move on. Orac then tells Avon that the flyer has reached Scorpio's wreakage, as confirmed both by Slave and the flyer's on-board computers. It lands, and Slave notes one human who enters the flyer, checks Tarrant, looks around, and then settles in to wait. Avon, not knowing Tarrant's actual condition, cannot risk voice contact at this point, and instead has Orac instruct Slave to ignore both the human and the presence of the parked flyer, but to inform Tarrant of any other flyers. He and Orac continue on. Then Orac reports that another flyer has entered the area and is searching. The flyer's sensors detect a massive heat source from the same location as before. Avon demands to know what kind of heat source. Orac suggests some sort of fire. Avon says nothing, but from his expression he is pissed as hell. The flyer is settling down over a mile away. They hasten their pace, but fortunately they are closer than the bounty hunters. When they are near the shack, Avon hides Orac in the brush and continues on alone.
Most people don't believe any of this, of course. They prefer to believe that Avon snapped, that he shot Blake, stood there and watched everyone get gunned down, and then more-or-less committed suicide by raising his gun and firing against insurmountable odds. I, of course, believe that my theory fits better with the facts of the episode, with Blake and Avon's relationship, with Avon's personality, and with the cliffhanger season ending nature of the last episode (they didn't know the show was to be cancelled).
Well, well, well. I don't entirely agree with Betsy Ramsey on this, nonetheless, it's quite an interesting perspective on the final episode "Blake". And she at least goes out of way to fill in the gaps of certain plot holes in the aforementioned episode. What does everybody else thinks?
