Ocampa Theory...

[Farscape One]

After reading many posts on the impossibility of maintaining a society with only one child in a lifetime, it occurs to me there might be an explanation.

Janeway theorized that the Caretaker did something to the Ocampa world that turned it into a desert, which he basically confirmed.

Is it possible that there was more damage done to them than just that? Could their technology have actually damaged the Ocampa fertility that they can only give birth during the one time Elogium? And in turn, also shorten their lifespan dramatically to 9 years?

We have seen technology have the ability to lengthen their lives because Suspiria did it for her Ocampa. But what if it wasn't extending their lives so much as giving back what was lost? Either an Elogium happens multiple times or something else allows their population to grow.

It's a big mystery that I wish the writers addressed.

 

[Timo]

Or then there is no problem to begin with.

"Elogium" describes a setup where an Ocampa female has to choose whether to start rearing children when this elogium phenomenon comes a-knocking. If she says no, she can never have any.

But the episode never tells us what happens if she says yes. And the natural assumption would be that she then gets kids. And then, if she so chooses, some more kids. And then possibly, if she isn't dead of old age, some more still.

(No, the modern Ocampa don't get just one child: Kes had an uncle.)

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Oddish]

I will admit that Timo's explanation is feasible, but it doesn't absolve the writers of their incredibly sloppy work.

 

[Timo]

And that I can't agree with. There's nothing sloppy there, no problem unless we make one. Kes never says she can only have one child, so why should we start thinking so?

With the short and swift lifespans and the external rearing mechanism, Kes could probably have a dozen consecutive kids even if the elogium lasted for a week...

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Boris Skrbic]

If that were the case, the writer could’ve easily done a search-and-replace of Kes’ references to “a child” with “children”, or had her explain at the start that she personally wanted only one child, even though the Ocampa culturally tend to have more because of the math involved.

 

[Farscape One]

Actually, Kes did say the Elogium only occurs once, which does imply a single child.

Not saying they don't have twins or more because she does say she has an uncle when she tells the Doctor some names, but it is certainly a head scratcher. I think the writers could have elaborated a bit.

 

[Oddish]

With a minute's worth of dialogue spread out over four episodes, they could have eliminated no fewer than six of Voyager's most irritating inconsistencies. They didn't bother.

 

[Tosk]

In regards to multiple children, some of the dialogue might point a little clumsily in the wrong direction, but the elogium is initially compared to puberty. Unlike us, an Ocampan has to become pregnant when first entering their reproductive cycle, or they cannot do so later. As Timo said, there's no reason to assume she cannot become pregnant several times after that required initial child.

 

[Timo]

In humans, fertility also only occurs once. It may last for decades (which in Ocampa time is a year or so), and it isn't bound particularly strictly (all the ingredients are there from birth already, and when exactly they get "activated" depends).

Given the pace of Ocampa life, Kes in normal circumstances might conduct three amicable and productive marriages in that time to better spread her genes. Here, though, the burden of perpetuating the Ocampa species is off her shoulders or back or whatever, and she's only interested in whether or not to have a child with Neelix. And unless she can count on twins, there's zero reason for her to use a plural there.

I really loathe the idea of doing "a minute of dialogue" on stuff like this. It's not relevant to the plot in the slightest, and if lack of it makes a certain segment of the audience think, all the better.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Oddish]

I really loathe the idea of doing "a minute of dialogue" on stuff like this. It's not relevant to the plot in the slightest, and if lack of it makes a certain segment of the audience think, all the better.

That's an... interesting perspective.

 

[Timo]

In retrospect, I think this could be read wrong. No offense or dismissal was intended!

But scifi really works best when the writers don't think through the implications of the wonders the introduce. Larry Niven is insufferable for ostensibly having worked it all out from the get-go, even directly channeling that to his Pak species eventually; finding different interpretations to what he created isn't all that difficult to do, and the writers he allowed into his Known Space sandbox eventually had a ball with that! Trek writers know they aren't Larry Niven (except perhaps when they are): they realize that their successors will chop their work to pieces for the sheer fun of it, and won't try and nail down anything with nails thick enough to unduly damage those chopping blades.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[DGCatAniSiri]

We also had an Ocampa on Suspiria’s Array who had reached fourteen and looked only equivalent to his late thirties or early forties. So I could easily believe that the Ocampa were in an ongoing state of decline, that at one point not only were their mental powers more developed, but they also lived longer, and had more children.

Like... It’s like how there are animals who eventually have shorter lifespans in captivity. The Ocampa, much as the Caretaker was trying to provide for them, were losing themselves within the underground city they were confined to, even though he was providing for their needs.

At least, that’s how I’ve come to see all the bizarrity of the Ocampa biology, that the Ocampa were in decline because of their captivity.

 

[Lynx]

We also had an Ocampa on Suspiria’s Array who had reached fourteen and looked only equivalent to his late thirties or early forties. So I could easily believe that the Ocampa were in an ongoing state of decline, that at one point not only were their mental powers more developed, but they also lived longer, and had more children.

Like... It’s like how there are animals who eventually have shorter lifespans in captivity. The Ocampa, much as the Caretaker was trying to provide for them, were losing themselves within the underground city they were confined to, even though he was providing for their needs.

At least, that’s how I’ve come to see all the bizarrity of the Ocampa biology, that the Ocampa were in decline because of their captivity.

And Tanis' father lived until twenty.

Maybe there is some truth in the theory stated above that The Caretaker caused more damage than he possibly realized, that the destructiion of the planet affected the lives of the Ocampa in many ways, like losing their powers and shortening their lifespan.

In that case, we can only hope that Voyager's contact with Suspiria and the Ocampa on Suspiria's array led to Suspiria's return to the planet and the restoring of their lifespan and powers.

Or that The Caretaker did transport his knowledge and technology yo the planet shortly before he died, as janeway advised him to do in the book "Caretaker" which is based on the script for the episode.

As for the one children-dilemma and the Elogium, the only plausible theory as I see it is that the Ocampa can have multiple children during the "Elogium".

In the episode "Before And After", Kes and her father Benaren has the following discussion:

YOUNG KES: You're my father.
BENAREN: That's right, and you're my favourite daughter, but don't tell anyone.

Note that Benaren calls Kes "my favorite daughter" which could mean that Kes had at least a twin sister, maybe even more sisters. Maybe they were triplets: Jes, Kes and Les!

But if we put those theories aside and concentrate on the events in "The Gray Universe" which means that not-so-funny universe where we exist for now, then it all comes down to one thing: sloppy writing.

 

[Boris Skrbic]

I really loathe the idea of doing "a minute of dialogue" on stuff like this. It's not relevant to the plot in the slightest, and if lack of it makes a certain segment of the audience think, all the better.

But don’t you think that Kes was already being written far too close to a human woman in her twenties, with few to no attempts to examine the possible implications of a nine-year lifespan? Would Kes want to experience as much as she could, perhaps with the help of an immense learning ability? If not, why not? Would she come across as a slightly different person each season? Would we see her age with advanced makeup?

Compared to everything about her that wasn’t examined on the show, it would’ve been a small thing to add a cultural note about many Ocampa raising the virtual equivalent of twins, even if Kes wasn’t personally interested in having more than one child in this situation.

 

[Swedish Borg]

Or then there is no problem to begin with.

"Elogium" describes a setup where an Ocampa female has to choose whether to start rearing children when this elogium phenomenon comes a-knocking. If she says no, she can never have any.

But the episode never tells us what happens if she says yes. And the natural assumption would be that she then gets kids. And then, if she so chooses, some more kids. And then possibly, if she isn't dead of old age, some more still.

(No, the modern Ocampa don't get just one child: Kes had an uncle.)

Timo Saloniemi

Yes, I remember when she mentioned her uncle which convinced me that the writers had their heads up their asses.

 

[Oddish]

Note that Benaren calls Kes "my favorite daughter" which could mean that Kes had at least a twin sister, maybe even more sisters. Maybe they were triplets: Jes, Kes and Les!

Ha ha ha! Like Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Ouack, Pack, and Quack!

 

[Lynx]

Ha ha ha! Like Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Ouack, Pack, and Quack!

Maybe they are her brothers?

 

[Oddish]

Only if the Ocampa are related to Terran anatidae.

 

[dupersuper]

But scifi really works best when the writers don't think through the implications of the wonders the introduce.

Timo Saloniemi

Another interesting perspective...

 

[at Quark's]

I never thought about it the way Timo explains it, but I like it. The elogium being a now-or-never proposition only in that if you 'refuse' you can't have any children for the rest of your life... but that, if you go through it, you might be able to have several children, not just that one. It would resolve the inconsistencies of how the Ocampa are supposed to maintain their population.