41:13 Very interesting to hear your thoughts on Cass! When I read the beginning of the False Daughter section/novella, I didn't doubt that Jim did have a daughter. His grief felt so real and raw. I also trusted that the note Jim found in his glovebox was either proof of a real ghosting or a coverup for some nefarious disappearance (which is also Jim's first thought when he sees it). However, we know that this series is full of unreliable narrators, especially when it comes to anyone touched by Central. The phone call where Jackie asks him if he still has "perfect memory" really stands out - Jim, by his and Jackie's accounts, seems to have some form of eidetic or photographic memory which makes him a great agent/spy, but his episodic memories relating to his daughter and "almost-wife" are shaky at best (the memories relating to his almost-wife are explained later in the book, but not the daughter...). So we have to doubt whether his memories of his daughter are real right off the bat due to this discrepancy (and Jim's own admissions that he has trouble remembering even their most-recent interaction). Jim's visceral reaction to the "false Cass" at first also had me convinced that she was not his real daughter, and was someone trained (and probably physically modified) by Central to be an almost-perfect doppelganger of his original daughter (Jim mentions a few things that are "off" about her compared to his memories, mostly personality traits/mannerisms as opposed to physical characteristics). Again, though, this is also being filtered though Jim's POV, so perhaps he is just in shock and this Cass and the one from his memories are the same. But for reasons relating to what we see in the Old Decomp and Monkey's Paw chapters relating to this Cass' combat training/abilities, as well as what we learn later about this "Cass", I'm inclined to believe that if Jim did have a real daughter, she cannot be the same as the false daughter. This comment is getting long so I'll put a couple theories in the reply below. SPOILER WARNING down there for anyone who hasn't finished the book!
As you mention it in the video, I will say that the third novella/section loosely brings up another theory, which I didn't think of until then but totally could have if I were more skeptical of Jim's memories (i.e. it doesn't take getting to that section of the book to think of this possibility) - that Jim's daughter never really existed, the memories are completely false (which would have to mean that Central implanted memories using photographs/videos of the agent Jim later meets on the Forgotten Coast, who he then doesn't believe is his real daughter... whoa.).
The way I see it, there are only a few possibilities: 1) Jim never had a daughter - those are false memories (presumably implanted by Central, featuring the "false Cass" who is assigned to work with him later. Central set this up ahead of time to... destabilize him? Make him more likely to work with the "fake" Cass (although this seems convoluted and possibly counter-productive, albeit right up Central's alley.)) 2) Jim did have a real daughter, and: 2A - she had a secret life as a Central agent, disappears, and then is able to re-appear on the Forgotten Coast to work on an assignment with her father (disappearance possibly engineered by Central for the same reasons in 1 above) 2B - she really did disappear (or was "disappeared" by Central), and then Central found a similar-looking agent who could be trained to act like her and modified to look like her in order to play on Jim's emotions and/or make him more pliable during the mission. All of the above seem equally far-fetched, which I guess is a testament to how much is obscure and obscured in this series! I can't decide between 1 and 2B, personally.
Also (last comment I promise!), I think what's interesting about the section you covered in this video is that by the end, it almost doesn't matter whether this is the "real" Cass or not. She and Jim have now bonded, learned to trust each other, and she even saves his life. And Jim losing this Cass when she is recalled to Central is clearly destabilizing to him, maybe not a much as the initial ghosting, but she has come to mean something to him. I loved the development of their relationship in this section.
I have gone over this book twice now… Honestly, Annihilation was perfect. I am really starting to unappreciate all the sequels at this point. Maybe Acceptance could have been a short story? Dead Astronauts probably just broke me…
@@cassieshoemaker4733 It reads like a prose poem, with bits of story layered in, and that is fine, and arguably worth the read... You will love it if you can actually decode the multiple(?) and/or recursive(?) timelines in Absolution...my brain just does not work that way; kind of like squinting at stereophonic squiggles to see if a 3D picture jumps out at you...
41:13 Very interesting to hear your thoughts on Cass! When I read the beginning of the False Daughter section/novella, I didn't doubt that Jim did have a daughter. His grief felt so real and raw. I also trusted that the note Jim found in his glovebox was either proof of a real ghosting or a coverup for some nefarious disappearance (which is also Jim's first thought when he sees it). However, we know that this series is full of unreliable narrators, especially when it comes to anyone touched by Central. The phone call where Jackie asks him if he still has "perfect memory" really stands out - Jim, by his and Jackie's accounts, seems to have some form of eidetic or photographic memory which makes him a great agent/spy, but his episodic memories relating to his daughter and "almost-wife" are shaky at best (the memories relating to his almost-wife are explained later in the book, but not the daughter...). So we have to doubt whether his memories of his daughter are real right off the bat due to this discrepancy (and Jim's own admissions that he has trouble remembering even their most-recent interaction).
Jim's visceral reaction to the "false Cass" at first also had me convinced that she was not his real daughter, and was someone trained (and probably physically modified) by Central to be an almost-perfect doppelganger of his original daughter (Jim mentions a few things that are "off" about her compared to his memories, mostly personality traits/mannerisms as opposed to physical characteristics). Again, though, this is also being filtered though Jim's POV, so perhaps he is just in shock and this Cass and the one from his memories are the same. But for reasons relating to what we see in the Old Decomp and Monkey's Paw chapters relating to this Cass' combat training/abilities, as well as what we learn later about this "Cass", I'm inclined to believe that if Jim did have a real daughter, she cannot be the same as the false daughter.
This comment is getting long so I'll put a couple theories in the reply below. SPOILER WARNING down there for anyone who hasn't finished the book!
As you mention it in the video, I will say that the third novella/section loosely brings up another theory, which I didn't think of until then but totally could have if I were more skeptical of Jim's memories (i.e. it doesn't take getting to that section of the book to think of this possibility) - that Jim's daughter never really existed, the memories are completely false (which would have to mean that Central implanted memories using photographs/videos of the agent Jim later meets on the Forgotten Coast, who he then doesn't believe is his real daughter... whoa.).
The way I see it, there are only a few possibilities:
1) Jim never had a daughter - those are false memories (presumably implanted by Central, featuring the "false Cass" who is assigned to work with him later. Central set this up ahead of time to... destabilize him? Make him more likely to work with the "fake" Cass (although this seems convoluted and possibly counter-productive, albeit right up Central's alley.))
2) Jim did have a real daughter, and:
2A - she had a secret life as a Central agent, disappears, and then is able to re-appear on the Forgotten Coast to work on an assignment with her father (disappearance possibly engineered by Central for the same reasons in 1 above)
2B - she really did disappear (or was "disappeared" by Central), and then Central found a similar-looking agent who could be trained to act like her and modified to look like her in order to play on Jim's emotions and/or make him more pliable during the mission.
All of the above seem equally far-fetched, which I guess is a testament to how much is obscure and obscured in this series! I can't decide between 1 and 2B, personally.
Also (last comment I promise!), I think what's interesting about the section you covered in this video is that by the end, it almost doesn't matter whether this is the "real" Cass or not. She and Jim have now bonded, learned to trust each other, and she even saves his life. And Jim losing this Cass when she is recalled to Central is clearly destabilizing to him, maybe not a much as the initial ghosting, but she has come to mean something to him. I loved the development of their relationship in this section.
It's midnight on the East Coast, and 100% I'm staying up to watch this 😂
Aw thanks!
I have gone over this book twice now…
Honestly, Annihilation was perfect. I am really starting to unappreciate all the sequels at this point. Maybe Acceptance could have been a short story?
Dead Astronauts probably just broke me…
I agree. Annihilation is a perfect book. I like the others but they aren't as good.
Dead Astronauts is on my list...im nervous now😂
@@cassieshoemaker4733 It reads like a prose poem, with bits of story layered in, and that is fine, and arguably worth the read...
You will love it if you can actually decode the multiple(?) and/or recursive(?) timelines in Absolution...my brain just does not work that way; kind of like squinting at stereophonic squiggles to see if a 3D picture jumps out at you...
It's an interesting read. Dense and poetic. I'm mixed on it, although I should give it another read now that I know what to expect.
Dead Astronauts is connected with southern reachh trilogy? i thought it was connected only with Borne