Cloke not clock^
There are five lights!
- Thread starter marsh8472
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This begs the question, what would Madred's next move be if Picard realized immediately what Madred was doing with the lights and the conversation went like this:
MADRED: Yes, I'm sure you have. (he turns on four spotlights behind his desk) How many lights do you see there?
PICARD: I see four lights.
MADRED: No, there are five. Are you quite sure?
PICARD: Oh I was mistaken, you are right, there are 5 lights.
^ Like I said, if Picard immediately agreed there were five lights, Madred would know that Picard was just lying to get out of the torture. And thus Madred's work would not be complete - so the torture would not end.
I think I can finally prove there were 5 lights.
The proof is based on episode "Parallels"
DATA: I believe the quantum fissure we discovered is a fixed point across the space time continuum. A keyhole which intersects many other quantum realities.
TROI: What do you mean, quantum realities?
DATA: For any event, there is an infinite number of possible outcomes. Our choices determine which outcomes will follow. But there is a theory in quantum physics that all possibilities that can happen, do happen in alternate quantum realities.
For this proof we'll call the prime universe, quantum reality X
First, a necessary part of the proof is we need to assume that there exists another quantum reality which we'll call quantum reality Y where the events of all of the episodes look precisely the same on screen as quantum reality X, the prime universe.
Second, even though the events of quantum reality X and quantum reality Y all look the same on screen, in quantum reality Y the actual events in episode "Chain of Command Pt 2" occur where there are 5 lights and Madred keeps punishing Picard for saying "4 lights" instead of "5 lights".
And Third, because quantum reality X and quantum reality Y look identical in every way, the footage of the quantum reality of there being 5 lights instead of 4 lights is the same as what we watch on tv now.
Therefore the episode is footage of a quantum reality where there is 5 lights and but Picard keeps saying "4 lights"
The proof is based on episode "Parallels"
DATA: I believe the quantum fissure we discovered is a fixed point across the space time continuum. A keyhole which intersects many other quantum realities.
TROI: What do you mean, quantum realities?
DATA: For any event, there is an infinite number of possible outcomes. Our choices determine which outcomes will follow. But there is a theory in quantum physics that all possibilities that can happen, do happen in alternate quantum realities.
For this proof we'll call the prime universe, quantum reality X
First, a necessary part of the proof is we need to assume that there exists another quantum reality which we'll call quantum reality Y where the events of all of the episodes look precisely the same on screen as quantum reality X, the prime universe.
Second, even though the events of quantum reality X and quantum reality Y all look the same on screen, in quantum reality Y the actual events in episode "Chain of Command Pt 2" occur where there are 5 lights and Madred keeps punishing Picard for saying "4 lights" instead of "5 lights".
And Third, because quantum reality X and quantum reality Y look identical in every way, the footage of the quantum reality of there being 5 lights instead of 4 lights is the same as what we watch on tv now.
Therefore the episode is footage of a quantum reality where there is 5 lights and but Picard keeps saying "4 lights"
You're right here. Since the purpose with Cardassian torture is to totally break the prisoner, whatever reply from Picard would have ended in more torture until Picard would have been totally broken.
However, what I've been thinking ever since I first watched that episode was: "What was Starfleet Command thinking?"
They send away their best captain on a suicide mission instead of letting him do the job he was best at. It was as stupid as if the Allies in WWII had sent Patton on some suicide mission behind enemy lines to find Hitler's possible nuclear research plant instead of letting him do what he was best at.
Sending in Worf was logical but Crusher? A medic without any combat experience or any experience at all with spionage and sabotage behind enemy lines. OK, she did knew a lot about metagenic weapons but still.....
I think that an advanced power like the Federation must have had more skilled commandos to send to such a place.
And to letting that rigid, humorless stick-in-the-mud Jellicoe take over was another guarantee for a failure. It would have been better if they had put Riker in command.
After watching that episode the first time, I wondered if there were some plot in Starfleet Command to get rid of Picard and the Enterprise. Unfortunately, I never got any answer to that.
Anyway, I watched the episode the last weekend and it's brilliant. One of TNG:s best episodes.
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The fifth light might be Mardred's head!
Anyway, I find Mardred fascinating because despite the Cardassian ridges in his face, he looks like a dead ringer to the boss I had at the very first place I worked in as a teenager. That guy was basically a god in that place and almost everyone did seem to be afraid of him. The worst thing that could happen to anyone who misbehaved or did a bad job was to be ordered to Mardred's........ oh sorry, the boss's office for some scolding. And yes, he did fire some people too during the time I worked there.
I wonder if those who had the honor to be ordered to his office had to stand the "how many lights do you see" questioning too!
Personally, I never had any problems with that boss. I did what I should there and I was probably too unimportant to even be noticed by him. I guess that he thought that I did a good or at least a decent job there.
It was actually a few years later when I had moved on to another job when I first watched "Chain Of Command and saw the similarity.
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Ideally, there would be a dedicated Starfleet special ops team (a Starfleet Marine fire team, maybe?) to do the job that Picard, Crusher and Worf did. I agree that sending those people in was a stupid move that defied all logic.
I don't even know why we have to argue there were five and come up with weird unrealistic examples. This was a mental/torture manipulation to get willing compliance from the captive, and the Cardassian wanted that badly.
Because it's fun.
Yeah, I admit I was kinda messing around with my answer.
But yeah, the actual answer is pretty obvious.
I'm saying nothing.
The fifth light is in the infrared spectrum just slightly outside human visible range and just slightly inside Cardassian visible range.
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