posted
I could probably produce the White if the Dominion told me how. I realize that this was never stated to be the case, but I cannot bring myself to believe that the Son'a learned how to do it on their own. This is the stuff, remember, that the entire Dominion military structure depends on. If the Son'a were manufacturing the stuff on the side, they would immediately become the most dangerous threat to the Dominion around.
Personally, the way I rationalize it is to assume that the Dominion had made a deal with the Son'a to use their (the Son'a's) factories to produce the White, but without being so monumentally stupid as to hand over the recipe.
------------------ "While it is true that 15% of home accidents are caused by large penis related incidents, only a small number have ever been known to be fatal."
posted
Then again, if the Son'a were so advanced and powerful that even the high-brow Feds were willing to sacrifice their ideals for a chance to deal with them... Perhaps the Dominion was powerless to do anything about them?
The Son'a would have some good reasons for producing the Ketracel-White. It was a good nutrient that all by itself could keep the Jem'Hadar alive and a-kicking. What better food for the Son'a whose bodies were "producing too much toxins"? Son'a scientists would be experts on biochemistry - in fact, most of their science would probably be directed at biochemistry and life extension.
Let's say the Son'a discovered the existence of Ketracel-White. They would proceed either to buy it from the Dominion, or to steal the recipe. Once the Dominion found out about this Son'a desire, they would probably rather sell the recipe than give it away - they'd get an alternate source for the stuff, and could more easily control where the Son'a-produced stuff went, and keep it out of the hands of the Jem'Hadar.
posted
It just seems to me that if the Son'a discovered the formula for the White, they would immediately become the Dominion's greatest enemy. Consider how the Founders are driven by paranoia, and how the White constitutes one of their strongest methods of control. It would not be out of character for the Dominion to abandon their entire Alpha Quadrant campaign for the sake of completely annhilating the Son'a. They can always try to conquer the Federation in a century or so. But if anyone but the Founders have control of the White, it might mean the end of the Dominion.
posted
What I was thinking of was the Son'a going to the Founder representatives and saying "Yes, we took your formula. If you behave VERY nicely, we will still let you use it by yourselves. Who knows, we might even decide not to destroy you all at the end of the day." They could theoretically have had the muscle for that.
If I understood correctly, the Ba'ku first departed a planet of high technology to lead a simpler life - but this planet wasn't actually destroyed, at least to the Baku knowledge. Then the Son'a rebelled and departed the Ba'ku, but later came back to claim the right to eternal life.
If offshoots of luddite-equivalents can in less than 300 years build the technology to outgun Starfleet's finest, the original homeworld may have had the technology to reduce the entire Dominion to dust in a not-too-busy afternoon. Perhaps the Son'a threatened to tell the daddy?
Come to think of it, it is quite possible that the Ba'ku actually game from the Gamma quadrant. Either they did it "the hard way", using more or less conventional but extremely powerful warp drives, or they had access to a special shortcut like a wormhole. They could have brought the recipe of KW with them in grandma's old cookbook.
Their ancestors could still be a formidable local enemy of the Dominion, and could have synthesized the KW in order to stir rebellion in their enemy. Or they could even be the original inventors of the stuff, which they devised as the perfect combined food and narcotic for their own use, but which was also found to be practical in fueling cloned warriors like the Jem'Hadar, and was adapted for that use by upstart primitives like the Dominion. The Son'a would still be using KW in its original purpose, as a manna of gods, which is why Riker would be speaking of KW as a "narcotic" in the Son'a context in the movie - the Dominon would be using a non-narcotic variant of KW (since they don't want their soldiers to fall asleep at work!), which is why Riker had to make a distinction.
Yeah, I know, the writers intended none of this. But it still plays out rather decently.
posted
Well, the "narcotoc" thing, I think, is generally considered just another Rikerism.
As for the Son'a wanting the white for their own purposes... I don't think it really has any purpose, other than what the Dommies use it for. Bear in mind that the Jem'Hadar were specifically designed to be dependent on the stuff. It's a biological enzyme, and it's certainly non-replicable, but, other than that, there's probably nothing special about it. The only reason it's so important is that the Jemmies were engineered to need it.
Now, ketracel-blue on the other hand... ;-)
------------------ "Numerous painful experiences can be caused by having (and especially using) a large penis." -J. Ralf Lenz, president, Large Penis Support Group
posted
It's not a bad theory, Timo. Really, I like it.
But if the Son'a could singlehandedly crush the Dominion, why were they bothering with a UFP alliance to get to the Bak'u?
The impression I get is that the Son'a were rather small time. They had a few choice technologies, and beefed up their small population with conquered species, but galactic players they aren't. At least, as I said, that's the impression I get. Plus, when Weyoun mentions them in DS9, he doesn't seem to be too worried. But then, who would know if a Vorta was worried?
posted
I didn't mean the Son'a singlehandedly could threaten the Dominion. They are, after all, outcasts of outcasts. What I think is that the Son'a could maintain closer ties to their Gamma ancestors than the Ba'ku did, and could call in some favors there. "If you threaten us, remember who is gonna get angry..."
The Son'a probably were a really small group of people, with disproportionately much technology. As such, they were not a treat, but more like a *symbol* of a threat. I guess the Son'a only numbered a few hundred. Their Ba'ku ancestors only numbered 600, after all. And even though the lines were cut from the theatrical release, I think the Son'a can be assumed to have been infertile, which is why they tried to get longevity. If they could procreate, why would they not do that instead of trying to pillage the Ba'ku planet?
As for KW not being "special"... Regardless of its addictive properties, it does have the very interesting property of being a sufficient source of nutrition for a very active humanoid body all by itself. I do think it has plenty of uses outside the one preferred by the Dominion!
posted
I remember seeing one DS9 episode but I didn't catch the name. Weyoun (sp?) made a mention about "The Son'a are supposed to be holding that sector" like they were a memeber of the Dominion.
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