So what will start the war?

[Ouroboros]

With the new Miniseries entitled PK wars and it apparently going to focus on a war between the Scarrans and PKs how will this war be started in the current climate?

To review for a moment here is what we know about the current Pk Scarran situation.

-The Scarrans were only holding back on attacking the PKs for fear of wormhole weapons

-Thanks to Crichton in HtK the Scarrans now know the PK claims of wormhole weapons were just a bluff and that they don't in fact have any.

-Before they could act on this new info Crichton blew up their crystherium setting them back hundreds of cycles acording to Scorpius. This seemed to suggest that they would no longer be able to sustain an attack due to the loss of the plant at Katratzi.

With this info in mind then it would appear as though it's not possible for the Scarrans to actually start this war, this leaves a few possabilities that I can see.

-The PKs start the war eager to kick the Scarrans while they're down

-Staleek/Ahkna didn't believe Crichton which seems unlikely given that they barely belived Grayza's claims of having the weapons.

-The loss of the mother plant was actually not that important to the Scarran war plans and won't stop their attack.

-The plant was important but Staleek, or Ahkna who lost her lover, doesn't care and intends to go to war anyway even if it's unwinnable in the long run. One possible motivation for lashing out at the Pks being he/she thinks Crichton was in league with the PKs and destroyed the plants for them.

-The Nebari gave Staleek a video of Scorpius doing an impression of him to the delight of a roaring croud at the annual PK barn dance.

[NeilGartner]

I definitely believe that the Peacekeepers will be the one's that fire the first shot in their war against the Scarrans. With the destruction to their supply of crystheriums, it has forced them to retreat from that region of space. In their weaken position (moving men, ships and abandoning bases), the Peacekeepers would jump at this golden opportunity to get rid of their most dangerous enemy. :wb:


Neil

[ChrichtonKicks]

I think the PK's will kick it all off, i mean, come on... we all know what therye like...

Depending on how much time has passed between Bad Timing and PK War, Scorpy and Sikozu couldve developed some new super weapon or something...

But its Farscape, anything can happen right?

[UTChick]

Naahhh, I think your scenario of the scarrens starting it "-The plant was important but Staleek, or Ahkna who lost her lover, doesn't care and intends to go to war anyway even if it's unwinnable in the long run. One possible motivation for lashing out at the Pks being he/she thinks Crichton was in league with the PKs and destroyed the plants for them" quote Ouroboros.

I think revenge will run very deep & scarrens aren't a very patient people - unlike the Nebari. They will want to strike fast & deep - while everyone is still confused and hope that will swing things in their favor. They still have the numbers. If they act fast, before the supply of flowers is depleted - they could win it - numbers are on their side.

I don't the PK's will initiate the war - they're too outmanned & don't know for sure that the scarrens are weakened by the flower destruction. I think they'll bide for time.

[NYPinTA]

Hmmm...What will start the war?
A delegation of PKs don't understand the Scarren custom of leaving there gun ports open when meeting for the first time... oh wait. Wrong show. Nevermind.
:D

Um, probably Graza. She is an army of one... and the Scarrans will blame the PKs for the lose of their plants... and the PKs will blame them for.. something. He said, she said, lets blow each other up.

[Reefrunner]

Actually, John left some doubt about the PKs not having wormhole weapons because in that long list of 'you can'ts' when he was on the table pointing out the people who couldn't use wormhole tech, he said, 'And you won't' in reference to Grayza.

I don't think the mother plant on Katratzi was 'the mother plant', as in the only one in existence. There are more. Scorpius said that the plants could only be grown in certain conditions, such as that found at Katratzi, and after it was destroyed, Ahkna didn't say all was lost, just that that region of space was denied to them because of the destruction of the plant.

Since all that was holding back the Scarrans was the idea that the PKs had wormhole weapons, I think it will be the Scarrans who start it. Once they come to the conclusion that the PKs don't have wormhole weapons, they'll have no reason not to do what they've always intended to do anyway.

[Lonewolf89]

I think it's possible that the Scarrens, not wanting to risk being dominated by the PKs now that their flowers are gone, move in for a strike. If the PKs are out of the way, they might assume no one else is going to go head to head with them after they begin to degenerate.

[stellar]

Scorpius could have taken the intel back to the PKs starting the first wave.

But the PKs could have waited for the Scarrans to weaken because of the loss of the crystherium.

Or...

The Scarrans could have taken the loss of Katratzi as a motivation for war. Knowing that the loss of the crystherium meant that they were as ready for war as they would ever be, i.e. they only had down to go on the evolutionary scale.

So it was John Crichton who started the war by destroying the crystherium thus insuring that the Scarrans had to act soon or certainly fall to the PKs.

[UTChick]

Yep, it's all John's fault!!:lol poor guy - as much as he tries to do right, the dren always hits the fan!!

[Jeff O'Connor]

Actually, John left some doubt about the PKs not having wormhole weapons because in that long list of 'you can'ts' when he was on the table pointing out the people who couldn't use wormhole tech, he said, 'And you won't' in reference to Grayza.

I don't think the mother plant on Katratzi was 'the mother plant', as in the only one in existence. There are more. Scorpius said that the plants could only be grown in certain conditions, such as that found at Katratzi, and after it was destroyed, Ahkna didn't say all was lost, just that that region of space was denied to them because of the destruction of the plant.

Since all that was holding back the Scarrans was the idea that the PKs had wormhole weapons, I think it will be the Scarrans who start it. Once they come to the conclusion that the PKs don't have wormhole weapons, they'll have no reason not to do what they've always intended to do anyway.

I agree with you on all counts. :aok:

[jerseygirl]

Or it could be something small and stupid, such as an insult that turns into a fistfight that turns into a brawl that leads to mayhem that leads to bringing in the cops that leads to overreacting on both sides. At the risk of criminally oversimplifying, it would be kind of analogous to the beginning of World War I. One guy got asassinated, which led to a small, local uprising. Then all the major powers got dragged in because they all had treaties of mutual defense with one side or the other. In that case, though, nobody really wanted a war. In the case of the PK's and Scarrans, I do believe they're both itching to kick some galactic ass.

[ThaliaKitty]

-The Nebari gave Staleek a video of Scorpius doing an impression of him to the delight of a roaring croud at the annual PK barn dance.

This is obviously the reason!!!!

[SueDonym]

Well, I'd say the Scarrans from anger and desperation. Resources are always a tricky question. Messing with the flowers may be just the ticket needed to jump-start the war. "Oh Frell, we don't have any flowers. Hey, maybe those guys over THERE have flowers!"

After all, after the flowers were messed with,

SPOILERS (hey, just forget this post, actually, there're a bunch of them)
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didn't they immediately go over and try to take on Earth, *because* JC leaked that we grow their like commonly back home in Ma's backyard?
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At any rate, we know the flowers grow in PK territory because Scorpius' mother ended up on a planet where they grew before she was captured and her husband killed.

Plenty reason to start a war to go get them, now that there aren't enough at home. As others have pointed out repeatedly, why not strike while the iron's hot and before their supply runs out?

Actually, for those who think Scorpius is EEEEVIL, precipitating the start of the war might be a good reason for blowing up the flowers. For those who think Scorpius is well-intentioned (as I tend to), it's bound to be a Bundog-sized disappointment if the lack of flowers actually starts the slaughter, rather than preventing it.

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True End of Spoilers


At any rate, what I *really* think will happen is that the mini will start in the middle of things as always with little or NO explanation as to what exactly started the war (after all, most grunts, warriors and even the higher-ups have little idea of the true politicking behind these decisions). Perhaps some offhand comment about things going suddenly BOOM and ain't it a shame. Then 3/4 the way through the mini we'll find out it was all a Nebari plot that instigated the whole thing, so that they could get their two 'competitors' to off each other before going in and sweeping up the mess...oh, and taking over all those little territories once that war-like feeling is properly cleansed.

[MySideYourSide]

I wouldn't be surprised if SueDonym is right and we don't know who started it right away. It could definitely be a case of "who fired the first shot?" or "the shot heard around the UTs."

jerseygirl might also be on to something with her WWI analogy. The PKs have protection alliances with all sorts of worlds. At the same time, we know they're not one to particularly stick their neck out - or even care about - the planets they're supposed to protect because... (SPOILERS)
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because... we already know that Grayza was more than happy to trade away the Luxan territories in exchange for peace.

[soyarma]

I'm curious, is any hint made that the Scarran and PK territories actually abut, or is it that the UTs lie between them. While there is some debate about who gets what in the UTs it doesnt necessarily follow that the PK and Scarran areas of space also don't meet up in other places... or that maybe Nebari space is between them. It does seem like all sectors have direct access to the UTs.

Maybe the UTs are just the no-man's land between these three vieing powers.

[soyarma]

Oh, one other thing. Is there any indication as to whether or not all of this takes place in one particular galaxy?

[jerseygirl]

When you're dealing with three dimensions, this whole notion of territories abutting gets a little fuzzy for me. If there was any reference to it, I've missed it. But you gotta figure that, since neither the Scarrans or the PK's have wormhole travel, they can't be huge distances apart. I dunno, I'm thinking that, for me anyway, it doesn't really matter who starts the war. They're probably both to blame. But the Scarrans are definitely the eviler of the two evils. We've learned to if not love, at least accept Peacekeepers. But Scarrans are just flat-out badass dudes. I wonder if they even have a warm and fuzzy side?