Not many spoilers...
Jul. 7th, 2009 11:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ffuturesSo far I'm enjoying the Torchwood five-parter a lot. There's stuff in there that will make the shippers VERY happy, and back-story for Jack and Ianto that makes them much more rounded characters. And the actual plot has been a pretty good roller-coaster so far.
One spoilery thought:
We know now that Jack can father children, unlike the immortals of Highlander. Assuming his usual behaviour, and occasional failures in any contraceptive method used, how many generations will it be before all of the human race is some sort of great-great-grand-whatever descendent? My guess is that it's within the next few thousand years, but my maths isn't good enough. Certainly well before he becomes the face of Boe - is that why he's so interested in caring for the humans in New New York? And the odds are good that he's his own great great whatever grandpa many times over!
One crossover thought on this - if the Watchers have Jack spotted as an immortal, what the hell will they think about his children?
One spoilery thought:
We know now that Jack can father children, unlike the immortals of Highlander. Assuming his usual behaviour, and occasional failures in any contraceptive method used, how many generations will it be before all of the human race is some sort of great-great-grand-whatever descendent? My guess is that it's within the next few thousand years, but my maths isn't good enough. Certainly well before he becomes the face of Boe - is that why he's so interested in caring for the humans in New New York? And the odds are good that he's his own great great whatever grandpa many times over!
One crossover thought on this - if the Watchers have Jack spotted as an immortal, what the hell will they think about his children?
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no subject
Date: 2009-07-07 10:30 pm (UTC)Consider: I have 2^1 parents, 2^2 grandparents, 2^3 great-grandparents and so on. So (neglecting pedigree collapse), you have 2^n ancestors for n generations back.
2^43 exceeds the population of Earth; 43 generations at the canonical 25 years per generation is 1075 years.
Without knowing the population of the human race at various points in the Who-niverse's history we can't get closer than that. But I'd be stunned if it were more than 1500 years for any person let alone Jack with the advantages you outline.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-07 10:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-08 09:17 am (UTC)... well, unless they were a ~particularly~ hot relative anyway.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-08 07:28 am (UTC)Which does make a huge difference, and is why Mitochondrial Eve lived around 8000 generations ago, not less than 43. (Or less than 30, given that 2^43 exceeds the current population, and the population 43 generations ago was a lot smaller.)
In a universe that has isolated colonies in space that have forgotten their origins and no longer have interstellar travel, if you aren't the ancestor of the whole human race before they are founded, you won't be unless they die out.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-07 10:33 pm (UTC)Write it! Write it! You know you want to!
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Date: 2009-07-08 09:18 am (UTC)And yes, its surprisingly good isn't it. Second episode was a bit weaker than the first. But still jolly fun.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-08 10:07 am (UTC)Except Mitochondrial DNA comes from your mother.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y-chromosomal_Adam
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Date: 2009-07-08 10:10 am (UTC)Mind you, I wouldn't put it past Jack to have some sort of Culture-style gender-altering technology somewhere, and he'd spend some time as a woman too.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-08 10:35 am (UTC)