I've been thinking....

[Hawkeye Jim]

Yeah, I know, that's a bad idea. I work alone at night with just my thoughts for company.

It seems to me that Kerensky got the bloodname thing wrong. The names were chosen by trials, which the Clans still use.  It's likely some of those Bloodnamed were killed earlier in the fighting during Klondike. Their contributions would have been little or none.

They likely would have been replaced by warriors of lesser quality from the reserves. Some of those reserves might have done heroic things during the remainder of the war.

It seems to make more sense to have waited until after the fighting was over to finalize the list of Bloodnames. It would have been better to have kept the names of those who were the best warriors in combat rather than ones who simply died and did nothing else.

It seems some of the Clans might have have been shortchanged in the deal. Perhaps Kerensky valued loyalty over combat competance.

Comments?

[IndyRI]

Well not a whole lot that Kerensky did was actually logical or based on what would make sense. That being said, he needed to value loyalty over combat worth, at least initially. The man was building a unique and restrictive culture from the ground up using only his own charisma and the reputation of his father. Better to sacrifice combat skills for dedication and trust-worthiness in a case like that.

[Alan Grant]

It partly had to do with timing. The technology to create the Eugenics Program was created and implemented at breakneck pace. When it was ready, Kerensky wanted it put into action BEFORE Klondike started.

I think he thought it would serve as extra motivation to the troops. They didn't need to fear death themselves, what they did need to fear was failure. Future generations counted on them to excel and succeed.

Op. Klondike page 33.

“Our time is come! We no longer need to fear our own mortality, for we are the immortal warriors for all time. Our children will forever sing the praises of this, our triumphant and just return to the worlds that our Great Father chose for us. We will strike and give no mercy, no quarter, to those that oppose us. But we must also embrace these poor souls, so that they can come to know the peace that we bring.”
—Khan Jason Karrige, address to Clan Widowmaker, 15 March 2821

Although not all fought well or survived long during Klondike, most had endured the 15 years of testing, training and preparation. They were the familiar faces, they were the "family" of Clan Warriors, the best of the best, the cream of the crop, and so honored appropriately with a Bloodname. They carry the genes of success, even if the individual tales and stories of those warriors varied in terms of how successful they were.

All that said, I think Kerensky could have taken the opportunity to expand the Bloodnames after Klondike ended, awarding those auxiliaries who stepped up and performed well. 803 Bloodnames means a gene pool the size of a puddle. It could have been bigger.

Personally, I've always believed that some of those auxiliaries ended up being among the 600 legacies added to bring genetic diversity to the Eugenics Program. In the early days of the Clans, a warrior legacy was paired with one of those 600 legacies, rather than both gene parents being warriors. Those 600 civilian legacies weren't considered Bloodnames, but they were added to the gene pool.

[Guardsman]

Also, there were a few changes between selection of the founders and Operation Klondike. A few either had medical conditions, or other reasons, and so were changed while the Clans were being created, but before they actually faced live combat.

[Hawkeye Jim]

Or maybe the writers didn't think of that when they created the Clans...... ;)

[IndyRI]

Or maybe the writers didn't think of that when they created the Clans...... ;)

Blasphemy. TPTB, please ban this non-believer from the boards!!!!!



 ;)

[Guardsman]

Or maybe the writers didn't think of that when they created the Clans...... ;)

Actually, there were descriptions of people lost to history. I.e., this isn’t a case of 2000 product saying John Smith founded Clan Fire Ferret, and a 2003 product saying Jack Armstrong founded Clan Fire Ferret, but rather, every product up until 2003 saying Jack Armstrong founded Clan Fire Ferret, but that the founder originally wanted John Smith to found it, except that he had to bow out of the warrior caste for medical reasons. Retroactively adding history that has been lost to history. I can’t remember the source right now, otherwise I’d mention it. It’ll probably come to me sometime in the next few hours, maybe days.

[Hawkeye Jim]

Do share your knowledge with us, Guardsman.

It would be interesting to see if the writers are able to add in some more details of the early Clan history that may not have come up earlier but make perfect sense now.

[Guardsman]

Until I can track it down, going purely on memory, it was a case of, this happened, no one’s ever heard it, and no one alive today really knows it, maybe some old maid in a Clan archival room, but no one else.

[Hawkeye Jim]

Here's one item I find interesting. Philip Drummond became Khan of the Nova cats. His wife Anna Rosse is not listed as one of the 4o Bloodnames. His daughter Sandra Rosse became the second Khan. The Rosse Bloodname is a Jason Rosse. Who is Jason, and why wasn't either Anna or Sandra used instead?

[roosterboy]

Here's one item I find interesting. Philip Drummond became Khan of the Nova cats. His wife Anna Rosse is not listed as one of the 4o Bloodnames. His daughter Sandra Rosse became the second Khan. The Rosse Bloodname is a Jason Rosse. Who is Jason, and why wasn't either Anna or Sandra used instead?

Anna Rosse wasn't listed because she wasn't a warrior of Clan Nova Cat; she was a merchant.

Sandra Rosse wasn't used as a Bloodname founder because she didn't test out as a warrior until after Klondike.

Jason Rosse was Anna's second cousin. Sandra fought for a Bloodname of this House. The rules about Bloodnames were a lot less formalized and rigid back then.

[Hawkeye Jim]

Okay, thanks. Now I know. But if they were playing fast and loose with bloodnames, you would think they would have wanted to reward quality warriors who were not from those bloodlines. That's where they missed out.