Who are the Hands of Blue? * spoilers *
POSTED BY: Gendou
UPDATED: Friday, October 28, 2005 19:12
VIEWED: 9869
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Spoiler warning for those who haven't finished the series, and specifically for those who haven't seen Ariel.
Who do you think the HoB Agents are?
I had assumed that they were telepaths, on the order of what they were trying to turn River into. I had similarly assumed that the blue rods they used were psionic amplifiers and that the hemmoraghic effects on their victims was not caused directly by the rods themselves, but by the HoB Agents.
However, after watching Ariel with my wife last night, I realized that while I had assumed the HoB's were telepaths and that the rods were amplifiers for their mental powers, that I have absolutely no evidence for my assumption. It's just based on hours upon hours of Babylon 5 and X-Com.
Similarly, I had assumed them to be government agents of one sort or another, but there appears to be some evidence that they actually work for the ubiquitous Blue Sun corporation (blue gloves aside, it appears that River really doesn't care for Blue Sun).
What do you guys think?
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I think they're telepaths too, more than likely they are the ones that experimented on River. The experiments were an attempt to make her one of them but they never finished thanks to Simon taking her away (hence her mind being on the crazy side).
Again its just my theory but I think it makes very much sense.
Mal: She's a human being. She has a name.
Jayne: So does this. I call her Vera.
Mal: Well the days of me taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle...
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They always reminded me of Angent Smith from the Matrix. Not sure why.
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Quote:I'll agree with that-they're both creepy (very creepy), wear suits, and generally mean harm to everyone.
Originally posted by Starrbaby:
They always reminded me of Angent Smith from the Matrix. Not sure why.
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They are featured in the Serenity comic - hopefully the final installment will shed some more light on them.
"I have never understood why it should be necessary to become irrational in order to prove that you care. Or indeed, why it should be necessary to prove it at all." -Kerr Avon
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Buried deep in this site somewhere is my early theory of the HoB and Blue Sun. I believe I posted it more than a year ago initally.
The Blue Sun Corporation represents a corporate culture allowed to operate in an environemnt void of government regulation. This is not the first time such a theme has been forwarded in sci-fi. If you are familiar with the books behind the Alien and Aliens movies, Ripley worked for "The Corporation", which was the body that controlled all humanity.
Firefly, however, is different. In the 'verse of firefly we have three main entities that control humanity. The foremost is the Alliance government. But just behind the veil of this bureaucracy are 2 other bodies of influence. These are composed of an assortment of nobility, and the various corporations, one of which is Blue Sun. Blue Sun seems to be a rather large conglomerate controlling different factions of human life. I envision a company that is a combination of Procter&Gamble/Microsoft/Lockheed-Martin. If you look very, very carefully throughout the 14 episodes, you'll catch references to Blue Sun. The obvious scene that most folks are aware of are the Blue Sun identifiers attached to the shipping containers on cargo boxes in the eavestown docks on Persephone during the pilot episode. But there are more things to see.
1. River tears labels off Blue Sun canned goods
2. Jayne wears his blue sun t-shirt until River slashes it with a knife.
3. When the ship is docked at the outset of the episode "The message" you can see video ads in the background for a Blue Sun Cola brand.
Most people in the Alliance purchase and consume Blue Sun food. My theory is that what these people are unaware of is that the food they eat contains nanites. These serve as vehicles for which the common person can be either controlled or disposed of. So when the HoB realized that the alliance officer and his lackeys had spoken to the prisoners, they were left with no choice to use a device to activate the nanites in their bodies with a command "kill this host"
More evidence for this theory exists in the transcript of the "crazy rantings" that river is making as she sees the Blue Sun Canned goods in Shindig and starts tearing the labels off:
There it is. There it is.
It's always there when you look for it.
Everybody sees and nobody sees it...
These are the little ones that take you!
Little ones in the corner that you almost don't see.
But they're the ones that reach in and do it.
They're the ones with teeth and you have to smash them!
A million things.
And the little ends of the roots go everywhere.
And when you brush your teeth or all...
The little blue things are there.
But no one says it.
Because...Because sometimes they're afraid.
And then THEY come.... (Her ranting is cut off)
The "Little blue things" are Blue Sun nanites. River knew what was in the food the moment she laid eyes on the blue sun lables but because of her mental state she is unable to communicate her knowledge to Simon, Jayne, and Book who are playing Tallcard at the adjacent table. She just acts out. In a similar fashion she sees Jayne's Blue Sun shirt in the episode Ariel and slashes it with a butcher knife. Then denounces the BLUE of Blue Sun by saying that Jayne looks better in red...or rather his blood.
River was harmed at the academy. The acadamy is a front for the Alliance government to find the most talented people in the 'verse that they can recruit into their secret military. Blue Sun's military research division has the government contract to study and experiment on people like River...to bring out psychic ability. With her new abilities River was able to gleen information from her captors far beyond what they ever intended her to know. This explains her knowledge of the nanites in the food. There is also info in the movie *No spoilers...don't worry* that adds more value to my theory.
Finally...the point of this thread....who are the HoB? I firmly believe that they are leading researchers in Blue Sun's military R&D division
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Quote:
Originally posted by spikeandjezebel:
They are featured in the Serenity comic - hopefully the final installment will shed some more light on them.
Select to view spoiler:
It's too bad that that wasn't the case...I loved the mini-series, but I thought the Hands of Blue went out in a fairly bogus fashion.
Simon: You...you came for us.
Mal: You're on my crew.
Simon: Right. I guess I just didn't...you don't even like me.
Mal: You're on my crew. Why we still talking about this?
-Safe
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Wow, that nanite theory is really good...I wish I'd thought of that! 
Regarding the comics:
Select to view spoiler:
Yeah, it was dissappointing how easily defeatable they were, after all that buildup. Issue #2 promised a "shocking revelation" in #3, but we really didn't learn anything about the HoB's...except that they're not just wearing gloves....
"Be very, very careful what you put into that head, because you will never, ever get it out." –Cardinal Wolsey
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Re: thiefjehat
...wow. That's the first time I've heard anyone make that much sense out of River's rantings. I was thinking the nanite theory was way out of left field right until River started making sense.
I'm not sure if I should be disturbed by that fact at all {^^}.
Anyway, I'm not so sure about nanites in particular. It could be a number of things... drugs, microbes, chemical agents... anything "Big Brother"-like to exert some sort of control on the populace. Though it couldn't be anything too malicious or active, otherwise I'd see River acting a bit more crazy, like tossing all the food out the airlock.
I'm still trying to figure the significance of the blue gloves. Maybe they have some diseased agent they can spread by skin contact? Eh, that's just a wild theory with no supporting evidence, though. KF
~Kaiser Farooque
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Quote:
Originally posted by Kizyr:
Anyway, I'm not so sure about nanites in particular. It could be a number of things... drugs, microbes, chemical agents.
Yes I agree. A friend of mine who is a chemist suggested that blue sun food contains chemical free radicals that attach to nerve cells (brain and spinal column). Then when an outside stimulus is applied the poor host suffers an unwanted effect. A minor one could be that a person affected with these radicals would be susceptable to suggestion by someone able to trigger an effect. An extreme result would be a stimulus that causes death. And judging by the screams of the Alliance soldiers...an extremely painful death.
Do not fear me. Ours is a peaceful race, and we must live in harmony.
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