Max, Michael, Isabel, Tess, and Courtney were essential to destroying the Copper Summit Skins, who looked human and were almost indestructible.

Humans were fortunate that Max, Michael, Isabel, and Tess helped to save Earth from other aliens. Since aliens had the ability to remotely control humans and send aliens to Earth, I think it is a good thing that Max, Michael, and Isabel continued helping people. :) Humans and aliens worked together for the benefit of all! :)

Well, I'd always posited that the Podsters souls (spirit, "essence" etc.) were added to their human bodies after conception. This addition led to a weakness in the connection, so when some psychoactive drug was taken it had a very strong effect which didn't go away without help. This is why alchohol affected Max, until Liz restored his ballance; and the drugged smoke from the "sweat" affected Michael until the group re-ballanced him. The effect on "Nacedo" was different: as an alien, he was affected differently than a human would have been. He required more treatment, over a longer time, from River Dog.

Yes, i agree with that. They weren't just hybrid clones, if they were, an army of the original R4 could have been created. But who would be the real reincarnated hybrid clones ? the ones who had the originals souls transfered into the clones. Therefore, the Dupes, to me, were just hybrids clones without the original souls, but with the memories, that's all.

While Max was Zan, Michael was Rath, Isabel was Vilandra and Tess was Ava. They were the ones who the skins were after, Khivar wanted Isabel, not Lonnie, just like Courtney wanted Michael.

Now, how on Earth did the aliens transfered souls ? and if it was possible, does this mean that the antarians have discovered the source of immortality ? as soon as a body dies, hop, soul transfer ? It bothers me. Unless, of course, the mysterious Granolith played a part in transfering the souls. This device is so mysterious, anyway.

hmmm...thinking of the bionic helmet Brody was wearing when he got zapped, allowing 2 essences to be conscious in his mind in rapid alteration. Also, Max and Clayton. Of course, if these were books instead of live actors, I would guess they really would be simultaneously conscious.


thinking again of ClayMax.
Yes, very mysterious. And I won't touch the Granolith right now. :abduct: :look:

Yep, seems like the antarians souls were quite the voyagers :) , i had forgotten about Brody/Larek, and Clayton/Max.

Still, in the R4's cases, they all died, and they all got new hybrid bodies. That's weird.

Well, they had all been murdered, in the same political takeover. Their minds would have been been copied to safe storage already, just in case; and so reincarnating them would just be following Plan B. The only difference is, that usually they'd be reincarnated as normal Twilonians, not humans. In this unusual case, the "essences" had to be put somewhere safe (Earth), and so they had to be reincarnated in bodies which could survive indefinitely on Earth. Human bodies.

Yes, i have seen that with Thor and the Asgards, in Stargate SG1. But it was explained, developped, and part of the storyline (the fact that the Asgards are dying because of that process).

With Roswell, i didn't get the feeling that it was so common. And the dupes, well, i always saw them as the decoys, not the back up plan. As if they were hybrids clones, but without the original souls. The fact that they were as they were, could have been because of the fact that they were dumped in the sewers and had to rely on themselves and stealing to survive ?

I see a difference between a transfer of soul and a transfer of brain, or knowledge. For me, a soul is unique, and can't be divided and given to two persons at the same time. I think that even in Stargate SG1, Thor and Co jump from one body clone to another, their "souls" or brains aren't shared and split up between clones at the same time.

I agree with you xmag. :) Transferring knowledge about a person is different than transferring souls.

In the story of Roswell, people each had a unique spirit, soul, or essence, which was separate and distinct from their bodies. Liz’s grandmother’s spirit, soul, or essence stood outside her unconscious body and spoke to Liz and Max. The man who died saving his daughter’s life spoke to Max, after he died. He knew and told Max that Sydney had been rushed to the hospital, when Max arrived at Brody’s home. Alex’s spirit spoke to Isabel to console her and offer her good advice, after he died. He smiled as Isabel accepted Jesse’s proposal. Max’s soul transferred into Clayton’s body. Clayton’s spirit left the body, after the fall from the window.

Yay! Mention of Thor & SG1! *restrains self from sharing theories about SG1*

This week on the new ep of Andromeda (again, restraining self) the Robo-woman Doyle uploads a necessary part of spaceship, avatar-woman Rommie back into the resurrected Rommie -- a part which Doyle had been carrying around for safe keeping. This struck me as wrong if this 'essence of Rommie' is a computer program of sorts, in which case it could be copied so both could have it.
This plot device reminded me of a professor in the early 90's, who was concerned that if he emailed me some data, it would then disappear from his computer. AND, it also compares well with the Royal Seal being passed from the dead Max to Michael, and then put back in the reincarnated Max. There are some contrasts, but I've digressed enough.
Rather than being alter-Royals, the Dupes are to the Roswell 4 more like the "Tin Men" were to SG1 (if you get the reference). There was some sort of half-way, unique quality there too.


Citrus, you bring up a lot of relevant instances of souls in Roswell, and other intesting things not yet discused --

like Zan not having exhibited a force field like Max. Maybe he could have stopped the truck with the force field? And maybe he would have discovered it if he'd been looking for ways to protect people?

and like the Dupes having "conspicuous identical markings on their upper right arms, which... identified them as a group of four."

But I have different ways of interpreting these plot devices...
Okay, anytime Tess is mentioned, sparks tend to fly (which signifies some interesting character development), so I'll just say first, that I respect your ideas, though mine may be different. But I see Ava as the "real" Royal 4 member, and Tess as part of the Dupes. Ava's hesitation to share her knowledge was born of fear, which was most likely generated by living in the subways of New York and being subjected to Rath & Lonnie's mental abuse. On the other hand, Tess just seemed to have picked up some niceties from the way she was raised, but not enough to stop her from taking advantage of Kyle and his dad after they took her into their home.

Good examples of the Dupes being decoys: But these I don't see that way: Um, not so sure about that. :lol:
It sounded to me like they'd been looking for it for a long time, and that Nicholas expected Max to know all about its whereabouts. Also, Nicholas really, really wants that Granolith.

One last metaphor of mine for the Dupes: the frequent mention of them having grown up in the "sewers" makes me think of the fertilized eggs that are destroyed in part of real invitreo fertilization techniques.

Ouh la la, that's too complicated for me ! What's the difference between essence and soul ? because if the R4's souls went to hell, paradise, or whatever, what is inside Max, Michael, Isabel and Tess ? For me, without the original souls, they are just hybrid clones. Like the dupes. They have their donors's DNA and the R4's DNA, that's all.

And in some religions, reincarnation is considered as possible. Maybe it's the case with Antarians ? Maybe they can "capture" a soul before it goes wherever it is supposed to go ? Like in reincarnation, instead of going to paradise, a soul is back in another human body.

I am really not at ease with the fact that a soul can be cloned, or copied. It's not physical and it's unique.

Citrus, Doesn't Kvar tell Isable & Jessie, "...we weren't supposed to fall in love"?

xmag, I'm guessing an essence is viable, recorded memories and patterns of brain cell synapses, whereas "soul" is more of a snapshot of the same plus viable connections made with G/d or other entities, maybe even with "soulmates."

Why do we ALWAYS (i'm pretty sure it's without exception) get on a discussion roll right before the end of a thread?????? Must be some cosmic disturbance. Maybe it's Kvar. ;)

So you think that the aliens (and us too ?) have both a soul AND an essence ?

xmag, I'm just speculating about how it is in Roswell-land, based on the limited info we have.
But anything I imagine in Roswell genrally makes me wonder about how it is for us too.

Alternately, 'essence' could be Antarian for "soul." Maybe it has a slightly different meaning since Antarians have different bodies (when they're not Hybrids), hence the differently "translated" term. :look:

My own version is that somehow, souls can travel, in Roswell land. Max/Clayton, the R4...

But i prefer to think of it as rare, because it would mean immortality, if everybody could buy himself a new body to inhabit. That's a disturbing notion.

And about the difference between soul and essence, yes it could mean from a different translation in antarian, but still, why was the word essence used and not soul ? What did Zan's mother say, in her message, in Destiny ? i don't remember the correct words ?

It might just be because "soul" is not a politically correct word, since it is attached to a lot of religious concepts. Maybe the writers were just trying to make it as generic as possible so as not to alienate (no pun intended) any audience members. But even if that's the case, it still begs the question of what is a soul, especially in a more-inclusive sense of the word.

Yes, it is very confusing, this distinction between the words "essence" and "soul". We all have an idea of what a soul is (basically, for me, it's who i am, and it's not linked to my DNA, my brain, or anything, it's immaterial), but essence ? i am still wondering what that could mean. A trace left by a soul once the body has died ? something printed in a brain ? that's just :crazy: .

Of course, i doubt the writers gave that much thoughts to the concept, but they still touched a very sensitive subject, a universal one. One worth to be discussed.