"Mad Idolatry" - Random Orville Thought!

[neuralclone]

 Thinking about the planet in "Mad Idolatry" and the cult that grew around Kelly.  Am I the only person who wondered how a major religion grew out of a single "miracle" and a brief encounter of, oh, two minutes tops?  It's not as if Kelly went around preaching a doctrine like the founders of Christianity, Islam or Buddhism!

Then I remembered that this particular planet shifts into a different universe once every 700 of its years, and it started to make a bit more sense.  Because once every 700 years its night sky must change completely, and to a primitive people something like that could only appear like a major omen.  (Just think how people used to regard comets!)  So the sky foretells something momentous, and Lo! The Kelly appears and works her miracle.

(And that is going to be my headcanon from now on!)

Comments

[astrogirl]

You are not the only one who wondered that, but that explanation makes absolutely perfect sense. Headcanon accepted!

[neuralclone]

Thank you!

You know, I really hope that they do a call-back to that episode, and give us at least a hint as to what Isaac did during the 700 years he was there. I finally watched "The Road Not Taken" and it occurred to me that in that timeline Isaac would not only not have had a relationship with Claire and her children, but never have spent 700 years living in another universe either. After all, the only reason he went there in our timeline is because Kelly accidentally interfered with the planet's development. Somehow I don't think that the Kaylon can network across universes, so it should have affected his evolution as an individual.

Did I mention that I love speculating about this stuff?

[astrogirl]

Yes, that is also a thought that occurred to me, that that AU Isaac is one with 700 years less experience, and that must have made quite a difference, too. Which is a thought that I like. Much as I love Claire/Isaac, I can't quite believe that she and the kids are the only factor in his development and his choices. The deciding one, perhaps. But not the only one. And the version of Isaac we see briefly in this ep does seem entirely on-board with the Kaylon party line.

[neuralclone]

It sounds as if AU Isaac was less well integrated into the crew as a whole than his main line counterpart. Our Orville crew took him to Kaylon 1 and persuaded the Kaylons to revive him, then threw him a big farewell party. In the AU it I get the impression that when Primary told them that Isaac was to be dismantled the crew just shrugged and said, "Whatever".