#scapeartist

To the wonderful lovely @scapeartist! May there be a pirate waiting with presents for you!

I'm wondering how much of the results of Jiya telling Rufus about her vision–the guy died anyway even though Rufus didn't kill him like in the vision—is to show that while some things may change, other things are predestined. Like in Doctor Who--fixed points in the timeline.

I think that is the idea they are playing with but it feels like they also want it to be ambiguous for the time being. That since our characters are still figuring out the rules of time travel and the visions they don’t want to give the audience any clear-cut answer. 

I think that the latest episode served to highlight how they are playing both angles. 

First, they gave us the conversation with Jiya, Rufus, and Conner pointing out the paradox that because they knew who JFK was then they must successfully return him to his time. Their very knowledge of him proves they were successful. This gives us a classic linear and closed causality understanding of time. But Rufus argues that the moment JFK dies history will rewrite itself. That as long as he is alive they live in the reality where they were successful but the minute they fail a new timeline will be created and the original will cease to exist. This is an open non-linear approach and the show visually shows us this is a real possibility by the coin changing heads. So that seems to indicate that JFK being president was not a fixed point and time can be changed. 

However, they then turn it around and have Rufus tell JFK to avoid Dallas. Even though after what happened in Salem Rufus should realize that some things are unavoidable he still came out of that lifeboat expecting JFK to have lived a long life. Instead, the place and date changed but little else. So they are also saying that JFK’s assassination was/is a fixed point and couldn’t be changed. 

So like you said some things are fixed but others aren’t.  At certain points, the timeline can be dramatically altered by completely removing someone or a key action that they took. However, once that person starts down a path the possible timelines that stem from that path become constrained and so the outcomes are less varied. Once JFK was president and made certain decisions his assassination became a foregone conclusion. Giving him the date, time and place didn’t eliminate all the other elements that came together for the event. Those elements just coalesced differently. 

ouat-upon-a-coconut replied to your post “He can’t play Harry cause Eye Color. She can’t play Claire cause Eye...”

DOMINANT INHERITANCE IS A THING ARGLE BARGLE

LET ME HAVE MY GENETIC ANALYSIS DAMN YOU WOMAN 

scapeartistsviewoutback replied to your post “He can’t play Harry cause Eye Color. She can’t play Claire cause Eye...”

   Get some sleep done!!