"The Ancients tell us of a world that will welcome us. We can only hope
they're true..."
News flash: The AHR aliens were NOT the Ancients, per se. The Ancients
(hereafter referred to as IDBs, thanks to 30d954A), as far as I can tell,
were mentors to the AHR aliens, and the AHR critters acted independently
from the IDBs when they gave wormhole knowledge to John. In The Locket,
Stark mentioned "an Ancient" who theorized about interstellar mists that
frelled around with time. So Baniks know about the IDBs...or the fact that
Stark is a rare Stakar has something to do with his knowledge. But for the
purposes of my musings, lets assume ALL Baniks know about the IDBs. So far,
that's two races. Not many, considering the lavish amount of life in the UT.
The IDBs must be pretty selective about who they talk to.The picture of the
Ancients that I see so far is one of a race that mentors races who have
reached a certain level of enlightenment, whether it be technologically or
spiritually. This development must also be coupled with WISDOM. This would
explain why the highly spiritually enlightened Baniks know them, given their
fantastic interdimensional abilities and great wisdom. It also explains how
the AHR guys know them. The AHR aliens were both smart enough to discover
wormhole technology AND wise enough to handle it right.
Remember when the AHR alien told John "If you're not smart enough to
discover it on your own, you're not smart enough to handle it wisely."?
Well, logic being logic, it does not necessarily follow that being smart
enough to discover it on your own MAKES you smart enough to handle it
wisely. It just menas you SHOULD be. This could explain why the Nebari lost
a planetary system to their experiments. They were intending it as a weapon.
Unwise.
Although 30 seems to think differently, I'm going to maintain that wormhole
tech and interdimensional stuff are two completely different things.
Wormholes are probably a lot easier to generate than interdimensional holes,
not vice-versa. Look at it this way. All we needed for a wormhole was a hunk
of metal and a solar flare. But for an interdimensional interruption, we
needed a Leviathan in mid-starburst. The Nebari probably skipped the whole
wormhole thing and went straight for mucking about in other dimensions,
seeing how big a boom they could make.
The IDBs reside on a much more complex plane than ours, and they got really
worried when Moya broke the rift between this dimension and theirs. Now,
it's possible that the "IDB" of TTLG and the Ancients are two totally
different people, because what do we really know about the Ancients? All we
know is that they've communicated with the AHR aliens and that the Baniks
know about them and their musings. Nothing else that I can recall. But
anyway, let's assume that the thing in TTLG was the same sort of IDB that
the AHR aliens (and Baniks) refer to as the Ancients. Assuming also that the
destruction of the Nebari solar system WAS an act of these guys and not just
an accident on the part of the Nebari (which I tend to think it was), we get
a sort of Universal Police role for the IDBs.
Picture if you will... (pun intended)
An interdimensional race that watches over developing life in the Universe.
If somebody like the Nebari gets reckless and/or destructive enough, they
are punished and the technology (wormhole or dimensional, it doesn't matter)
is kept out of reach by "accidents" and "disasters". If someone like the AHR
guys comes up with some highly advanced technology, and proves themselves
wise enough to use the technology constructively, these "Ancients" contact
them and share even more knowledge with them. Such as knowledge of a world
that will accept their wandering race.
This makes it plausible to say that the Ancients(IDBs) have probably already
tried talking to the Erplings John left behind. I think if John had returned
to Earth with the recordings I wish to hezmana he didn't give to that batty
old mechanic lady, Erplings could have developed a wormhole generator within
decades. Solar flares seem to be integral to the generation of
wormholes...but who knows why?
And hey...what if Baniks are just the grandkid extensions of the IDBs?
hmmmmmm.......