12 MONKEYS : Why join the Army?

Why become part of a group that seeks to wipe most of humanity from the Earth?

Have we heard any Army of the 12 Monkeys propaganda yet? I feel like I'm imprinting from other sources (the film and other superfun eschatological storylines) a manifesto that involves restoring a balance to the planet's ecology, one that human beings have been upsetting with unchecked population grown and the exploitation of resources required to support it. Reduced for fun semantics, the Earth is the host and humankind the virus. The plague, then, is a cure.

I'll buy that as the pitch given to recruit true-believer footsoldiers (I'm not sure we've seen any, mercs will work for $$), but I've got to believe there's more to it than that for an Inner Circle / upper Monkeys management. I suppose Tall Man does seem to be a legit horticultural enthusiast, though, right?

I'm definitely not convinced that Olivia would be into it. She's committed to a mission, as far as plague-starting goes, but what's really in it for her? She describes a plan that her father had for her, along with a thing in a box that came with instructions…

The only thing in a box we're familiar with so far is the Annapurna Remains, but that's only been in a box since the 80s. Unless—whoa!—was it excavated and found in that cryotank? That would be pretty awesome, but also a ridiculous thing for the Yakuza (or anyone) to overlook in a sales pitch, right? Oh, something that kinda bugged me: if the Yakuza didn't know about the virus, how would they know that a frozen rotting corpse would be valued at half a million dollars? Perhaps a little bird named Olivia told them, following the gospel of Ramse?

Hrm… Could she be referring to herself? Was SHE the thing in a box? An slowly aging time traveler like Ramse, but transported without knowing? Sedated and/or on life support? Could Olivia be…

Hannah? Launched in a cryotank by Katarina into the past in the hopes that Splinter serum + Splinter process would supercharge her system enough to defeat the virus and live out her life in the past?

Who would be Olivia's father? Someone who communicates with Jones by leaving messages/signs in the present/past that she uncovers in the future? I've been hoping to have a connection like that revealed at some point.

Wait—What was I talking about? Oh! Right. The plague. Why would anyone want to release such a thing Where's the advantage? Some possibilities…

1. 1. Protected bloodlines. The Army has engineered the virus to ignore those w certain genetic markers, those belonging to members, agents, and benefactors of the Army, to spare them and their posterity. We've seen that the immune produce immune offspring (Sam Ramse).
   
   This idea falls apart when you factor in the mutating nature of the virus. Maybe the Army didn't plan on it? Could Peters have added it as a poison pill? But Cole and Cass have been telling anyone who'll listen that it mutates. Could it be that the Army wouldn't believe them?
   
   Seems unlikely. So, not part of the Army's plan. However, a promise of such engineering would be a good way to sell the plague's development to certain parties (like Goines and Markridge), so maybe the initial iteration *is* designed to protect certain bloodlines, but successive mutations roll the dice.
   
   So, this could be a false pretense advantage, another part of the means to some greater, so far unknown, end…
2. The aftermath of the plague is an environment that produces something unique: successful time travel. In this scenario, the virus (and death of billions) is a means to the end of time travel, and at least one specific Splinter into the past that enables Something Important to happen. Something on the order of the extinction of the dinosaurs and an ice age.
   
   So, before the plague, Project Splinter was in development, but doomed to failure or incompletion. Perhaps they didn't have the right minds or resources and/or funding was cut. Whatever the circumstances, it was a dead end, decommissioned, mothballed. Then along comes the plague, which triggers the execution of Spearhead protocols, followed by Foster's coup and Jones's revival and completion of Project Splinter.
3. Paradise / Utopia. Perhaps humanity rebuilds civilization sometime beyond 2043, in a benevolent and near-perfect fashion. And the only way that it could have come about was in the aftermath of the purge brought on by the virus. If NOT for the virus, humanity's unchecked growth would have led to the destruction of our ecosystem and the extinction of humanity, whether by war, plague, or hunger. The virus allows humanity to reboot and rebuild, correcting for the errors of pre-21st century society.
   
   So perhaps this is what drives the Army's Inner Circle. They may not live to participate in it, but if they don't manipulate events to release the virus, no man or woman ever will.
   
   Olivia's mentioned "the twelve," and when she has, I certainly don't think "monkeys." She's talking about people. Peters tried to clue us in a little…
   
   PETERS: They kept talking about the Messengers. Part of their plan… The Twelve.
   
   Twelve emissaries from the future?

Basically, I like to think that these trips, these loops, that Cole, and now Ramse, are creating, connecting 2043 and 1987 and back, are concentric. The innermost rings of a larger pattern of circles and trips, ultimately ending in some great payoff or return for our players and humanity. But will that payoff be worth it if it means that it is Fated, that no one living within these loops truly has any freedom or free will? Does it matter?

Maybe the story really begins when someone—Cassie? Cole? AARON? =) —says F-U to Fate and posterity and promise. Amerca!

I do love this show. Or maybe the one in my head. Whichever. =)

Keep on keepin on~

P.S. If you haven't watched it, see THE WORLD'S END. Why? Oh, no reason.

P.P.S. Also, maybe CABIN IN THE WOODS. And ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK and/or L.A. =)