Cassandra story
Rimmer, Lister, Cat, Kryten and Kochanski have been sentenced to two years in "The Tank" on secretive Floor 13, for stealing and crashing a Starbug and abusing confidential information during their trial in virtual reality. Lister signs up the gang for the Canaries, thinking it is the prison choir and enticed by the list of privileges that go with it. Lister is unaware the Canaries is actually a convict army utilized for reconnaissance on uncharted planets. Their first assignment is to investigate an abandoned spaceship on an ocean planet, where they discover Cassandra, a computer that can predict the future. However, it spells bad news for Rimmer, when Cassandra predicts that he is going to die. Directed by: Ed Bye. Story by: Doug Naylor.
15 total · 9 major · 6 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| facing death | major | Rimmer was sweating bullets after the prophetic computer Cassandra predicted his imminent death. |
| felinoid being | major | The cat-man Cat is a main character. |
| humanoid robot | major | The humanoid robot Kryten is a main character. |
| military related work | major | The crew were embedded in a military hierarchy and behaved accordingly. |
| one cannot cheat fate | major | Lister and friends debated about whether or not it was possible to change the future. The story concluded with a pointed illustration that the future cannot be changed, when Lister fulfilled the the future event predicting computer Cassandra's prophesy that he would kill her - this happened in spite of his best efforts to avoid doing so. |
| prophetic ability | major | The sentient computer Cassandra made numerous 100% accurate predictions about future events. The prophetic nature of the prophecies made, not to mention the parallel between the Cassandra computer and her namesake prophetess from Greek mythology both foreseeing their own deaths, makes this theme topical. |
| sentient computer | major | Central to the story is the sentient computer Cassandra that was capable of predicting future events with 100% accuracy. The sentient computer Holly came up with a fatally flawed plan to have Lister serve a mere fourteen weeks of his two year prison sentence. |
| speculative prediction of the future | major | The sentient computer Cassandra made numerous 100% accurate predictions about future events. |
| what if I caught a glimpse of the future | major | Central to the plot was the sentient computer oracle Cassandra prophesying numerous future events to Lister and friends, including the time and manner or Rimmer's death. |
| free will | minor | Lister said he wanted to believe that he was in charge of his own life and destiny in the context of the future already being determined. |