Theory:Doctor Who television discontinuity and plot holes/State of Decay

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This page is for discussing the ways in which State of Decay doesn't fit well with other DWU narratives. You can also talk about the plot holes that render its own, internal narrative confusing.

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• Bearing in mind that Adric throws a dagger at Zargo during the climax of episode 3, the lords seem astonishingly willing to believe his rather feeble pretense at being a willing recruit.

It actually makes sense. People, particularly those with a degree of arrogance, are rarely surprised when they're told that they've "won someone over". That might be particularly so given the vast number of years that these three have been unquestioned by their subjects.

In any case, all that matters is that Aukon believes. Bearing in mind that Zargo was explicitly on a feeding rampage at the time, Aukon could well believe that Adric only acted in self-defence (which he essentially did), while Zargo - in attacking Aukon's chosen recruit - was far more out of order. Of course, none of this says much for Aukon's much-vaunted telepathic skills...

• The Doctor says the Tower decor is rococo when actually it's late Saxon/early Romanesque.

It's technically not quite either style, depending on whether development in the appropriate period is part of your definition. This was decorated in the future on an alien planet. The Doctor is being glib, as he often does. Rococo can also refer to any style that one considers to be unnecessarily elaborate, which the Doctor might well consider this to be.

This may be his faintly pretentious way of pointing out that the interior decor has all been applied to mask the real "architecture" (i.e. That he has already worked out that the "castle" is a Gothed-up spaceship). At any rate, Romana disagrees (either missing the point, or just not being in the mood to stroke his ego).

While "rococo" draws from and refers to the historical / artistic period, it has also taken on a more general usage to mean overly-elaborate, busy, extravagant, etc. While the Doctor may be using the latter meaning, Romana -- who, if we're going there, is also not entirely free from a certain degree of smugness and pretentiousness herself, to be entirely fair -- assumes he's referring to the former meaning and, seeing an apparent opportunity to show him up, disagrees.

• In the cliffhanger to part one there are hundreds if not thousands of bats - who seem to conveniently disappear before the reprise in episode 2.

Some bats can move quite quickly, and these may well have simply flown out of shot.

• The vampire lords' regime of poverty and oppression with only the vague offering of protection from "The Wasting" works better as political satire than as "husbandry". Considering their needs, they would be far better off following the lead of the Krotons (Creating an indolent, blindly contented population, discreetly extracting the ones they need for sustenance, and allowing just enough education to pick out the smarter ones for "initiation").

They seem to enjoy the fear and the sense of "worship" from the people.

This makes sense within the story. Aukon himself is aware that they have been too successful in cowing the populace, having in the process bred out the very qualities they needed for future recruits, but he has played along with it as it has kept his "superior" officers happily playing at king and queen while he has been doing all of the meaningful stuff (though Zargo, at least, is starting to wonder whether or not his own existence will be superfluous when Aukon's plans come to fruition). The Great Vampire may well have been aware that there were other intelligent beings in E-Space, thus placing no great priority on "raising" more initiates from the local stock.

• Where did Adric ever have any opportunity to develop a fondness for cheese? Even assuming there were dairy livestock on the Starliner, the first wave of Marshmen - from which Adric evolved - would have wiped them out, and it is hardly likely any of them would have subsequently evolved into replacement livestock since the ship environment was optimised for humanoids.

Adric is shown on several occasions to be a wee bit greedy when it comes to food. His fondness for cheese may be both newly discovered and connected in general to his fondness for food in general.