Editing 716: Time Machine
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A common theme in time travel fiction is going back into the past to fix some mistake or stop some tragedy before it happens (see for instance {{w|The Terminator}} movies). In this comic, it is implied that Rob's time traveling turned out to cause a tragedy of some kind, so in order to stop it, Future-Rob must go back in time to stop himself from time traveling in the first place. The last panel supports this by suggesting that at least once a month somebody discovers time travel, but inevitably ends up going back in time to prevent themselves from doing so. | A common theme in time travel fiction is going back into the past to fix some mistake or stop some tragedy before it happens (see for instance {{w|The Terminator}} movies). In this comic, it is implied that Rob's time traveling turned out to cause a tragedy of some kind, so in order to stop it, Future-Rob must go back in time to stop himself from time traveling in the first place. The last panel supports this by suggesting that at least once a month somebody discovers time travel, but inevitably ends up going back in time to prevent themselves from doing so. | ||
| β | This is a plot point from the 2004 time-travel drama film [[wikipedia:Primer (film)|''Primer'']]: one character intends to travel back in time to prevent them from discovering time travel in this way, and another character has already traveled back in time, drugged his earlier self, and taken over the operation to discover time travel before the narrative of the film begins. ''Primer'' has a notoriously complicated plot that Randall already has made a jocular attempt at explaining in [[657: Movie Narrative Charts]]. Some more thorough attempts to explain it can be found [http://movies.stackexchange.com/questions/334/can-someone-explain-the-sequence-of-events-in-primer here] and [http://qntm.org/primer here]. Doubtless, this has also been spoofed in countless other comedic settings. | + | This is a plot point from the 2004 time-travel drama film [[wikipedia:Primer (film)|''Primer'']]: one character intends to travel back in time to prevent them from discovering time travel in this way, and another character has already traveled back in time, drugged his earlier self, and taken over the operation to discover time travel before the narrative of the film begins. ''Primer'' has a notoriously complicated plot that Randall already has made a jocular attempt at explaining in [[657: Movie Narrative Charts]]. Some more thorough attempts to explain it can be found [http://movies.stackexchange.com/questions/334/can-someone-explain-the-sequence-of-events-in-primer here] and [http://qntm.org/primer here]. Doubtless, this has also been spoofed in countless other comedic settings. The blood has since been removed. |
The blood on the bat suggests that future Rob actually killed past Rob. This is of course a paradox like the {{w|grandfather paradox}} - but there are theories about how it would still be possible - see the link. The obvious paradox is that when Rob dies the future Rob never existed. But also the time travel Future Rob undertakes uses a technique that is now never invented. This was the reason for future Rob's travel. | The blood on the bat suggests that future Rob actually killed past Rob. This is of course a paradox like the {{w|grandfather paradox}} - but there are theories about how it would still be possible - see the link. The obvious paradox is that when Rob dies the future Rob never existed. But also the time travel Future Rob undertakes uses a technique that is now never invented. This was the reason for future Rob's travel. | ||
