[Eric Paddon]

Having outlined areas of Saga that in a rewrite should lend themselves to foreshadowing future episodes, I'd like to now focus on an aspect that I think the original tended to send confusing signals on. The nature of Apollo's relationship with Zac. I have to be honest, it's hard to make out what Apollo says when Serina says, "You and your brother must be close." Apparently the line is, "We were" but for many years it always sounded more like, "We weren't" to me, and frankly I always felt that line made more dramatic sense in light of how Apollo and Zac interact with each other at the beginning.

Why is Zac anxious to pull the patrol with Starbuck? He apparently wants to prove himself to Apollo that he's capable of being an equal, and he seems to indicate that to him, Apollo's treated him in a patronizing way when he says, "He still thinks of me as his little brother." So what Zac wants is a chance to show Apollo he's capable of being a warrior, and that he didn't become one just to tag along.

To me at least, that indicated why Zac was so wound up about doing a patrol that if there had been no ambush waiting, should have been routine and dull in every sense. Someone who's trying to impress an older brother who's probably looked down him all their lives, by standing up for himself would invest more meaning in a seemingly unimportant patrol.

So to me, I felt at least that it added more character depth for Apollo if in fact he and Zac had been cool in their relations, because then the loss of him would strike a more tragic note as Apollo only at the last minute realizes he'd perhaps not shown Zac enough respect for his potential ability as a warrior, and then as he's coming back to the Fleet, not knowing he's dead, is thinking that from this point on things will be different and better in their relationship, only to find out that it's never going to happen.

My take at least, as I wrote it. Would the rest of you say Apollo and Zac had been close or not close and how would you use that interpretation to explain some of Apollo's later actions? Does he gravitate so easily to Serina and Boxey because he suddenly feels this need to create a new extended family for himself after this painful tragedy?

Just another point to hash over that redoing this story would raise.