Comments on: Ponderables: Prophecies

By: J Mann

J Mann — Thu, 18 May 2006 20:51:42 +0000

Peter Milligan’s _Screamer_ (sp?) miniseries was the best use of prophesy I’ve seen in comics. Three kids rise up in the mob in a post apocalyptic world. Ultimately, we learn that one of them had a series of prophetic visions as a child, and see how the vision have affected his choices. It’s really good.

By: Kvon

Kvon — Tue, 16 May 2006 21:46:23 +0000

There’s a ton of prophecies in George Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire Cycle…westeros.org has a page devoted to them. I’m also reading the Tales of Malazan which has lots of prophecies coming about. Could that be one of the characteristics of fat fantasy, to have a prophecy come true after a thousand plus pages?

By: M

Tue, 16 May 2006 18:07:14 +0000

– M, where was this published about Exodus and Breakworld? –

Uhm, right here where you read it, Michael.

It is the only good way for the dumb story to turn out isn’t it? Provided that is that Exodus is unequivically dead at the end, live Exodus = bad fictional universe.

By: mrmanatee

mrmanatee — Tue, 16 May 2006 16:12:49 +0000

Prophecies in comics and literature can range from clever and excellent to mediocre without much purpose, but nowhere is the prophecy more over- (and poorly) used than in videogames. Every goddamn fantasy game has the main character declared ‘the chosen one’ or some such by a prophecy for no reason whatsoever. There some games (Guild Wars is the most recent and heinous example in my memory) where characters will just start blathering on about a prophecy you didn’t even know existed. It’s incredibly frustrating and it’s almost never well-implemented.

By: Michael

Michael — Tue, 16 May 2006 03:21:40 +0000

1) M, where was this published about Exodus and Breakworld?
2) Bad Prophecies: How about all of the prophecies of JMS?

Michael

By: Chris M

Chris M — Mon, 15 May 2006 22:37:22 +0000

The prophesy in the Harry Potter books has the makings of a Bad Prophesy. I liked Harry’s original appellation as ‘the Boy Who Lived’: it makes a pretty ordinary condition (ie living) remarkable, and so hints at the dark circumstances that should make this remarkable, but it is positive and full of possibility. It’s a curious, whimsical and very pleasing epithet. Now he’s ‘the Chosen One’… ugh. I can’t think of a more boring, bled-dry take on the whole prophesy thing.

By the way, as a long-time lurker – great site!

By: Matt B.

Matt B. — Mon, 15 May 2006 22:19:52 +0000

Prophecies in fantasy stories are a pet peeve of mine too. Naturaly, therefore, my own comic is 100% prophecy free!

By: Lyle

Lyle — Mon, 15 May 2006 18:16:45 +0000

Now, do you mean “The Matrix” or The Matrix trilogy? I did like the use of prophecy in “The Matrix” …. “I know you’re The One, Neo! Because The Oracle said I’d fall in love with the one and I love you!” gets me every time.

The use of prophecy in the follow-up films, ugh.

By: M

Mon, 15 May 2006 15:59:02 +0000

Bad, Breakworld from Astonishing X-Men aka the same stupid plot they’d just done on the last couple of seasons of Enterprise.

What is with the people on that planet? They have some kind of scrying technology yet never heard of a self-fulfilling prophecy?

*** Precognitive Spoilers ***
*****************************

Turns out the Breakworld DOES get destroyed by a mutant from Earth.

Namely Exodus.

Who isn’t on Earth, so duh attacking Earth to prevent the prediction was pointless. Oops.

Why? He’s trying to find his way back from where ever he went and follows the traces left by their future-scope tech. -> Violent paranoid aliens meet insanely powerful, powerfully insane intruder. Taste the mayhem.

So,in the end it turns out that:

The prediction technology causes the disaster it predicted.

The decision to attack Earth was mostly irrelevant, the events leading to the Breakworld’s destruction had already been set in motion. Destroying Earth and all the mutants there wouldn’t have saved them.

They do manage to subvert the prediction, because of the attack on Earth events occur involving the X-men that cause Exodus to find and destroy the Breakworld much sooner than predicted. The prophecy and the attempt to prevent the disaster are both self-defeating.

By: Kex

Kex — Mon, 15 May 2006 10:00:39 +0000

I vote for Macbeth!