The Real Emperor - really?

[email removed] (Derek Wildstar) writes:
>
> If Avery is Strephon's clone, then it should become obvious as he grows
> older.  If not, his future is a lot more open --- you can actually do
> more things with the character if he's *not* Strephon's clone.

Who here has seen the film "The Boys From Brazil", in which Dr. Josef
Mengele (Gregory Peck) tries to grow clones of Hitler?  The catch is that
in order for them to grow up as clone Fuehrers, their lives must be made
similar to that of the original.  The implication here is that unless
someone goes to a lot of trouble to give Avery a good Imperial upbringing,
i.e. identical to Strephon's, then all he will turn out to be is someone
looking exactly like Strephon, meaning you can *still* do the same things
with the character as if he's not Strephon's clone - but you can do a few
other things as well, e.g. what happens if he finds out he is Strephon's
clone?

>					Arrival Vengeance pretty clearly
> establishes that the "Real Strephon" is the real Strephon, but is
> compatible with all of the other published information on the "Real
> Strephon" to date.  Although it does leave one loose end --- if the
> "Real" emporer was out travelling, why were the Emperess and the Grand
> Princess left behind?

Marital problems?  Or maybe that isn't the real Prince Charles we've been
looking at over here lately?

>			(And for that matter, what was a clone doing
> holding court and conducting diplomacy?).  Oh, well --- you can't have
> everything.

Yes you can, if you leave a clone behind to do the work while you go on
holiday.  Then you come back and do some work, and the clone goes on
holiday.  The Imperium gets an Emperor on the throne every day of the
year, who is not over-stressed because he never gets any rest.

- --
 "Keyboard?  How quaint!" - M. Scott

 Adrian Hurt			     |	JANET:  [email removed]
 UUCP: ..!uknet!cee.hw.ac.uk!adrian  |  ARPA:  [email removed]