Introduction: This is an attempt to organize and date the History of the LEXX Universes. By and large, this is not so easy as it sounds. Relatively few hard dates are given, and they tend to be contradictory. How do we reconcile Brigadoom's references to 10,000 and 6,000 years of decadent immortality on Brunnis 2, when in Supernova, Stan encounters a Brunnen G record only 5000 years old? The insect wars are ancient but no specific dates are given. There is no dating system in use.
There are also oddities. For instance, in IWHS, it's established that the codes for the LEXX come from Stan's teeth. Yet the origins of the LEXX appear to arise from the Divine Shadow's interest in Stingers in that movie's flashback. Later, in Brizon, the bio vizier claims authorship of the LEXX. How do the LEXX codes get from Brizon and the Divine Order to the Heretics, and why would Stan's codes be necessary, if the Divine Order was the original creator? Were Brizon and Mantrid involved in the LEXX? What happened to them to result in both their disability and their exile?
If exact dates are difficult to come by, at least events can be placed in a coherent order. Logical guesses can be made as to when certain things probably happened, or their time frame. Further, we can reference certain inexplicable or unexplained events to things which may have or must have been happening at similar times to arrive at a working history. This timeline is extremely speculative, but I think it holds together, mostly.
I note as well, in a bout of self referentiality, I've relied on previous essays and analysis which appear in LEXXPLORATIONS or in the Official Lexx Fanclub magazine. To be mischievous, I've also included the events of The Cluster.
For purposes of convenience, I have used three time scales to place events:
1) Prior to the events of I Worship His Shadow, which gives us a definite time line to put Kai's death and Stan's capture in perspective, and allows us to roughly place other events.
2) Following the events of I Worship His Shadow, up to End of the Universe and the flashback of Fire and Water, which allows us to place the first two seasons in a tight context.
3) Following the end of the Universe.
PRELUDE TO LEXX
-20,000 to 30,000?
|
Human civilization achieves interstellar travel. Begins to colonize the Dark Zone.
|
|
(Ref: LEXXPLORATIONS; Heaven and Hell appears to show Earth in final scene. Aesoterika. Notes on the Distribution of the Human Species, by Darrow; Analysis of the Divine Order, by Darrow.)
Human civilization discovers pathways to the Light Universe.
(Speculation, but fairly necessary. See Distribution of the Human Species)
|
-14000?
|
Human civilization encounters the Insect Civilization in the Light Universe and the Insect War breaks out. It rages until the Insects are obliterated.
|
|
(IWHS, GS, Mantrid, Brigadoom, other episodes (see Lexxplorations. Mantrid: "many thousands of years ago we were defeated by humans in the great insect wars" Speculations on the Insect Civilization, by Darrow, Chat statements by Lex Gigeroff.)
The Brunnen G begin to unlock the secrets of Insects, for a time creating a hybrid technology based on some of the parasite species of the Insect Civilisation.
The Burst of Life Immortality cult begins, based on technological replication of the Insects essence transfer ability. The transfer technology is never fully perfected.
Cryto (Krato) leads the human race and Brunnen G to victory over the Insects at the battle of Varion (?). We don't know if this is a final battle or even a crucial battle.
|
-13,000?
|
Gigashadow, one of the last surviving insects flees obliteration in the Insect Wars to make its way to the Light Universe and hide in a planetoid.
|
|
(Mantrid. Depicted but not specifically dated. "I survived to live on, I hid myself by burying deep in a small planetoid")
|
-???
|
The Brunnis sun is dying. Elaborate machines are constructed to control the stellar
processes and to prevent the star from going supernova. But it is a temporary measure. Increasing levels of radiation are sterilising and desiccating their world.
|
-???
|
Prospectors land on world where Gigashadow is concealed. Prospector Rockhound receives the first kiss and becomes the first Divine Shadow.
|
|
( Mantrid. Depicted but not dated. The Insect simply says "I waited" suggestive of substantial time passing, for a creature whose lifespan is at least millennia)
|
-???
|
The Divine Order is founded by His Divine Shadow and begins to grow powerful.
|
-???
|
A Divine Shadow consumes the memories of a person who has walked the streets of Brunnis from before it was abandoned and knows the control codes to shut off the Sun Stabilisers.
|
|
(Supernova. This is claimed by a Divine Predecessor, and verified when Giggerota goes straight to the stabilizers and turns them off. This clearly suggests that the Divine Shadows and the Divine Order were well established prior to the departure from Brunnis )
|
-12,000
|
The Brunnen-G abandon Brunnis, travel to the Light Universe and found Brunnis 2. One of the Brunnen G, a poet is left behind to live out his life on an abandoned world. To amuse himself, he plays at subverting machinery and leaving messages for posterity. In the Light Universe, the Brunnen G find that man has fallen to warring among himself. They turn inward, establishing a great shield and perfecting the secret of Immortality.
|
|
(Supernova. Brigadoom: "What kind of a life is that? 10,000 years with her." These are the final years of the Brunnen-G, Kai is alive, add another 2000 years since Kai died and you have 12,000 years. The Brunnen-G did not master immortality until they'd moved to the Light Universe, so Brunnis could not have been abandoned later than 12,000 years ago, and possibly even centuries earlier)
|
-8000
|
Brunnen G are becoming decadent safe behind their Shield
|
|
( Brigadoom: "6000 years.....") )
|
-5000
|
In the Dark Zone, an unidentified prospector visits the Time Prophet, and is perturbed when in the middle of his questions, she starts talking to Stanley Tweedle. Later the prospector visits the ruins of Brunnis, probably seeking mineral deposits information from the hall of Knowledge, and undergoes the burst of life.
|
|
(Supernova: The Time Prophet refers to the conversation taking place 5000 years after the character's death in the Burst of Life. The assumption was originally that the prospector was a Brunnen-G from before the race left the Dark Zone and abandoned their world, which would give rise to a radically different early chronology. This assumption is not supported, however, by any visual traces of the Prospector who remains unseen, or any statements he made. Accordingly, I have preferred the statements from Brigadoom, indicating that the Brunnen-G were already on Brunnis 2 for 6000 to 10,000 years by Kai's death)
|
-2040?
|
Kai is born. He is only one of a small number of Newborns on Brunnis, trapped in an immortal, ancient society.
|
-2020?
|
Kai becomes rebellious. He and other newborns discover that the Shield has deteriorated over thousands of years. They at first attempt to see through it. Later Kai leaves Brunnis to become their first space traveller in thousands of years.
Kai learns that the Divine Order is about to impinge on Brunnis 2, and seeks counsel from the Time Prophet. The Time Prophet issues her prophecy.
Kai is sentenced to die a natural death. The sentence is pointless, His Shadow is coming.
Brunnis 2 is swept by a wave of suicidal hysteria. Kai is liberated and attempts to rally a defence.
|
-2008
|
His Divine Shadow, and the Divine Order, destroy Brunnis 2, wiping out the Brunnen-G. A last minute defence by a half dozen newborns fails utterly. Kai, succeeds in breaching the dome, but is killed and his memories stolen by His Shadow.
|
|
(IWHS, Gigashadow, Mantrid, Brigadoom)
|
|
Kai becomes an undead assassin in the service of the Divine Order. He spends the next two millenia killing people. As a parody, the bio scholars retain his Brunnen-G costume and hairstyle, although dyeing the costume black. Over time, it appears to become the uniform of Divine Assassins.
|
|
( IWHS, Woz: "Kai was a dark legend among the clerics." Terminal: "He's
dressed as a warrior" Twilight: "Your companion is dressed like a Divine Assassin")
|
|
The Divine Order begins to unravel and develop insect technology from the shreds of Kai's craft. This will eventually lead to the LEXX.
|
|
(Cinefantastique article, Paul Donovan. )
|
|
The Divine Order continues to expand, wreaking vengeance and war on Heretics and unbelievers.
|
??
|
On the fringes of the Divine Order, worlds break away from the League's control and follow their own version of the Divine Order. These come to be known as the Reform Planets, and they are related to the Divine Order the way Protestant sects are related to the Catholic Church.
|
??
|
Narcolounger constructed. Probably not by the Divine Order.
|
|
(Patches in the Sky, 790 "it has not been properly serviced in centuries" and derived from "the isotope wars".)
|
-285
|
Five teens from Bingo 44, while on vacation screw around with the cryosleep controls and fail to wake up. Judging by the teens, their worlds do not seem to be part of or endangered by the Divine Order at this time.
|
??
|
The Divine Order assaults Bingo 44 and others, these worlds are either conquered and later revolt. Or they resist the control of the Order. They become Reform worlds at war with the league of 20,000 worlds.
|
-60?
|
Brizon born
|
-50?
|
Mantrid born
|
|
Brizon and Mantrid. Both men appear older than Stanley, but neither appears ancient. They both appear to be in late middle age, notwithstanding their respective states of physical collapse. Brizon claims that Mantrid was his student, and copied or stole his work; a charge that Mantrid essentially admits. This suggests to us that Mantrid is the younger of the two. Their physical condition may be a consequence of reprisals from the Divine Order, or from each other, as the two apparently loathe each other and have been in conflict before we see them.
|
|
(IWHS guess. Thodin seems to be the same age as Stan, possibly slightly older.
There's some evidence that they knew each other personally.)
|
-43?
|
Stanley Tweedle born.
|
|
(IWHS guess: Stan is clearly middle aged, in his forties at least in IWHS, in the flashback in GS he seems to be mid thirties. I put him at 35 and then added eight years.)
|
|
(IWHS guess, she's clearly younger than Stan and Thodin, clearly older than Zxev.)
|
|
(IWHS guess, in any incarnation, she appears no younger than 18. No older than 26.)
|
-??
|
Woz, one of the most distant outposts of the Divine Order wrestles with an unacceptable turnover rate. Finally, in an attempt to relieve administrative problems, a Lustikon is exported to that world. It will be one of the very few functioning machines off of the Cluster.
|
|
(Woz: 790 reports that it was before his time.)
|
-??
|
Origin of 790 (0.2) Person or persons unknown are dismantled to their component parts and integrated with sophisticated computers and metal/plastic parts to become the 790 robot, who gets reduced to a head in IWHS
|
|
( Paul Donovan interview, Woz, see above )
|
-??
|
DARK ZONE: Trade War in the Klaagyan system devastates the system, leaving only one inhabited planet, the garbage world Klaagya, with a population of a few hundred salvage workers and a Melvan satellite worm. Commander Bog, leader of the workers, launches a probe, but it is already too late. The slow moving probe drifts through space.
|
|
(Eating Pattern, Wist's recording, and 790 refers to the probe as slow moving, but there are no close planets to track it too. By the film, about a dozen people out of hundreds are left alive, and all but Wist seem middle aged.)
|
-??
|
Occasional escaped prisoners, refugees or malcontents on the Cluster make their way down to the lowest levels and establish a small colony deep in the Cluster, where even the Divine Order is forbidden.
|
-??
|
Brizon begins one of his great projects, the design of the LEXX.
|
|
(Brizon: Claims credit for the design of the LEXX, Mantrid never makes
a similar claim.)
|
-??
|
Mantrid and Brizon begin their legendary rivalry.
|
|
(Brizon: Its clear that at one time their relationship was cordial, but they had
a falling out.)
|
-10?
|
Giggerota, under the Divine Order is married. Following this she leaves/kills/eats her husband and becomes a cannibal, defiling temples and carrying what seems to be a one woman anti-social war on the Divine Order, earning a sobriquet, title of "The Wicked". She also undergoes physiological modification, including a killer tongue, enhanced strength and resilience and extra stomachs to facilitate cannibalism.
|
|
(IWHS: Guesswork. The fact that she's charged with failing to fulfill her wifely duties suggests that she was married under Divine Law on one of the Divine Order's worlds. It is likely that she was fully human at that time, given the restrictiveness of the Divine Order. The inhuman aspects must be modifications introduced after marriage, probably after going renegade. The origins of these modifications are unknown. The only device apparently capable of modifying the body and blending human and inhuman traits is the Lustikon. The only known Lustikon outside the Cluster was on Woz. Note: Similarities to the Crevvy Cola character may suggest that Giggerota was not human but a pseudo insect. I leave the point open. Note: A final theory is that Giggerota has been infested with a parasite similar to the Klaagyan satellite worm, which has altered her appearance, appetites and sanity, similar in nature to the non-Lexx sci fi film Killer Tongue. Again, I'll leave the point open.)
|
-9?
|
Ostral B Pair/Reform Planets obtain or steal vital amino acid codes necessary to the LEXX. The loss of the codes halts the Divine Order's project. Heretic knowledge of the LEXX probably comes from Brizon. With the Divine Order's LEXX project stalled, the heretics agree to a desperate crash program to develop their own LEXX first. A courier is assigned to transmit the information.
|
|
(Speculation. Clearly the best evidence is that Brizon designed the work. The Divine Order had been working on Insect Technology for at least two millenia. The fact that the Ostral B had the LEXX code suggests espionage or treason. The fact that Stan was carrying it suggests the codes had only been obtained recently. The fact that the captured codes were used to construct the LEXX indicates that they were vital and irreplaceable and the LEXX could not be constructed. The source of the leak might well have been Brizon who was far away from the Divine Order by the time of the cleansing, and whose whereabouts were apparently unknown at all times to His Shadow. If Brizon had in fact designed the LEXX, its unlikely that any espionage of his work could have derailed the LEXX project, at best, the Ostral B would have duplicated it. The only source that could have stopped the LEXX program was Brizon himself. The fact that the project appears to have stalled suggests high level collusion with the heretics.)
|
-8
|
Stanley Tweedle goes briefly AWOL to visit Seles Pleasure palace. On the way back to base, he arrives in time for the attack of the Megashadow. Later, floating derelict and out of fuel, he is captured by Sub-Nebulae Mercenaries, and sold to the Divine Order.
|
|
(IWHS, Gigashadow and Stan's Trial)
|
|
Codes from Stan's tooth are used to breach the defence screen and obliterate 94 Reform planets. Another 6 planets outside the defensive screen are destroyed before the Heretics stabilise their frontier.
|
|
(IWHS. Gigashadow and Stan's Trial, guesswork) Given that the codes could be changed at any time, the Divine Order must have mounted an offensive immediately or as quickly as it could.)
|
|
Stanley Tweedle becomes infamous as the Arch Traitor.
|
|
(Stan's fame precedes him. In IWHS, he is well known to Thodin, Giggerota, and even ZXev who grew up in a box. His public status as a near mythic villain is reaffirmed in Stan's Trial.)
|
|
Divine Order begins construction/growth of the LEXX, most likely under the auspices of Mantrid or Brizon.
|
|
(IWHS & Mantrid: As head Bio Vizier after Brizon, he was probably involved in the LEXX Project. Mantrid claims knowledge of the LEXX at one point attempting to bargain for the ship. Since he's Brizon's student, he comes after Brizon and probably had some involvement with the LEXX project. We would assume that His Divine Shadow would have wanted his best minds on the development of the LEXX. Also, if Brizon was under suspicion, only Mantrid was skilful enough to watch him. Mantrid clearly knows what the LEXX is and seems to have specialised in part in ancient Insect biology, something which may have been of application. Once the LEXX was nearing completion, however, having Mantrid around might be a liability. Mantrid may well have been exiled within a year of the events of LEXX.)
|
-??
|
Third Isotope Wars end. Apparently unrelated to the Heretics or the Divine Order. Gubby purchases surplus Narcolounger. Goes off drugs.
|
|
(Patches in the Sky: Gubby "I haven't smoked in years" No specific number is given, but probably Gubby going straight coincides with ownership of the Narcolounger "I've never lost anyone." Since he clearly can't operate it while stoned. Best guess, ten years or less, based on Gubby's apparent age and failure to specify a number.)
|
-??
|
LEXX Demo (0.1) Stan has an unpleasant encounter with a line Major.
|
|
(He is wearing the old version of his uniform, but is still apparently a class 4.)
|
-?
|
Stan changes from the old version uniform, to his new red uniform.
|
|
(He will have been wearing that version of the Uniform for nine and a half years by the time of Web/Net.)
|
-?
|
Paw Golene and his family are arrested and transported to The Cluster for trial. They escape and make their way to the underground refugee colony.
|
|
(White Trash, The Cluster.)
|
-?
|
The Cluster (0.0) His Shadow is incarnated into a female host body. The new HDS assumes the Key to the LEXX.
|
-5 months
|
Stan's designated data co-operator status is revoked, unknown to him. Or so the Security Guard Class 2 tells him...
|
|
His Shadow uses Kai to slaughter the colony of refugees and escapees deep in the bowels of the Cluster. The only survivors are the Golene family, who escape to take refuge in the LEXX.
|
|
(The Cluster. White Trash.)
|
|
Brizon and Mantrid take advantage of dissension between His Shadow and the Predecessors to stage an almost successful coup. The coup goes awry when Mantrid betrays Brizon, who flees, taking with him a small cadre of loyalists, including two Erikan code technicians.
|
|
(The Cluster. Brizon, wherever he was he escaped the cleansing, and His Shadow appeared to have no knowledge of his location. Unlike Mantrid, he still commanded a spaceworthy vehicle and was not imprisoned. Its unlikely that an organisation such as the Divine Order would leave one of its most dangerous wards running loose, so he must have escaped. IWHS, Thodin gets the Key as a result of the actions of two Erikan code technicians )
|
|
(The Cluster. Mantrid. Clearly Mantrid's imprisonment precedes the events of IWHS or at least GS since the knowledge of Mantrid's location is known to Kai through the final Divine Shadow. Why he was imprisoned at all, instead of killed, is a mystery. The best explanation is that the Divine Order was preserving him as an asset against future use, as they did with Stan. But from Stan we know this was not an indefinite reprieve. The fact that Brizon may have been running loose may have been a deciding factor. )
|
|
His Shadow's body is destroyed in the coup, forcing the essence to take refuge in an aging and already failing body, which will last only a few months.
|
|
Erika. Millions die on that ball of rock in a brutal struggle with the Divine Order. Covertly, the Erikans are able to implant Thodin with the key to the LEXX.
|
|
Giggerota captured/ZXev's marriage in the temple fails/Blue man captured/Thodin and his crew are apparently caught/Argon Protopi defies the temple, all on B3K.
|
|
(IWHS. It doesn't seem to make sense that the prisoner transport would stop on multiple worlds, but probably filled up on B3K and headed in. The only world or origin identified for anyone is ZXev's, B3K. The trip takes so long that cold sleep is necessary, putting B3K on the fringes of the Divine Order, explaining Giggerota's presence, and the otherwise naive ZXev's awareness of Stan's status. Note that no origins are given for Giggerota, Thodin or others, but Protopi is described as Orbital 5 and Zev as B3K.)
|
-?
|
Stan accumulates 991 demerit points.
|
|
(Probably accumulated since his demotion, as the demotion would have wiped his record.)
|
FIRST SEASON
LEXX: events of
I Worship His Shadow.
|
LEXX stolen
Frontier Post 65-798-4-8 destroyed by LEXX
LEXX passes through Fractal Core
LEXX destroys Megashadow
|
|
Time Frame: Apart from the flashback, events begin at the start of Stan's shift. Stan goes on the run at the end of shift (shiftchange) things go pretty fast after that. Total, perhaps 24 hours.
|
?
|
The Divine Order begins the cleansing of the League of 20,000.
|
|
( It would probably take quite some time to complete the Cleansing. It probably began shortly after the return of the Shadow essence )
|
?
|
SuperNova. LEXX visits Brunnis.
|
?
|
Eating Pattern. LEXX picks up distress beacon from Klaagya.
|
|
(Note: there's a gulf of time between picking up the signal and visiting Klaagya. It is entirely possible that this signal is received before the events of Supernova.)
|
?
|
Eating Pattern. LEXX visits Klaagya
|
|
(LEXX is beginning to starve, running out of food when the broadcast is received. Stan later says that it has been weeks since they received the broadcast, following which they find Klaagya. Probably, but there's no sign of it in SuperNova, so probably substantial time has passed since then. It's possible that LEXX wasn't fed or fully fed when departing the Cluster. But since refeeding at Klaagya, LEXX has apparently not required a full feeding since. Or at least, not on Camera.)
|
6 months
|
Gigashadow (1.4)
|
|
(Divine Predecessors refer to Stan's capture as occurring 8 & 1/2 years ago.)
|
SECOND SEASON
|
Internal Time: Probably a couple of weeks, given Kai's reanimation, travel to the Neutron Star, passage to the Light Universe, searching the ruins of the Cluster, Kai's communion, travel to Mantrid's world, spending enough time to eat and sleep and confront the insect then searching for remains.
External time: No clear cues as to how much time has passed since Gigashadow. The three month assumption is entirely speculative.
|
?
|
Terminal (2.2)
Stan is injured.
Zev blows up a "little red moon."
Mantrid destroys Med Sat Medical Terminal.
|
|
Internal Time: The opening scenes leading up to Stan's injury, probably takes place in close to real time, minutes or hours at most. Once Stan is in cryo, 790 refers to spending countless hours executing a search, suggesting weeks. Once Medsat is identified assume days to get there, and assume at least a day or two, since Zev arrives, sleeps during the operation, goes to eat with Doctor Kazan, passes out, revives and escapes. Total time that this takes place over may be as much as a month.
External time: Zev appears depressed. At the end of Mantrid she's elated and exuberant. So it probably begins at least a few weeks after those events, allow time for boredom and depression to set in.
|
12 months
|
Lyekka (2.3)
Lyekka joins the LEXX
Mantrid eats Potataho
|
|
Internal Time: We start in the middle of the 'night.' Stan's sleeping. Not too much time can pass in this episode, since Lyekka appears immediately and she is in feeding mode. The Potatohoans appear shortly after Lyekka is discovered. They are on the ship long enough for 'night' or sleeptime to roll around so they can sneak around the ship. The LEXX travels to Potataho, but given the ho's technology, that isn't a great distance away.
External Time: apparently occurs days after Terminal. Not much has changed emotionally for the crew, Stan seems to be suffering nightmares of insecurity and rejection, obviously repercussions of the experience. Zev remains as goo. Still, some substantial time must have passed after Mantrid for him to accumulate enough drone arms to strip Potataho so quickly. Two months or so may be a little short. (Notes: Kai tells the astronauts he died 2009 years ago. Suggesting that one year has passed since the events of IWHS and six months from Gigashadow.
Lyekka arrives and eats three human bodies and Zev's protein goo. Reconstitutes Xev. Probably 3 to 5 months to next feeding. See later notes with respect to the Lyekka 'clock'.)
|
?
|
Luvliner (2.4)
Luvliner encountered and destroyed by LEXX.
Boron 13, Luvliner neighbor moon destroyed by LEXX.
|
|
Internal time: Unknown. Starts at night, obviously. LEXX travels an unknown period of time to home in on Luvliner. On Luvliner, events move quickly, neither Zev nor Stan have time to get laid, so no more than a few hours pass there.
|
?
|
Lafftrack (2.5).
Visit TV world, robot parts in advanced decay.
|
|
Internal time: Less than a day, since there's no opportunity for the characters to sleep and eat.
External time: The new Xev seems well established but bored, seeking fun. This suggests she's had some time to acclimate.
|
24 months
|
Stan's Trial (2.6)
End of Seles Pleasure Transport.
|
|
Internal Time: The trial takes at least two days, possibly three.
External Time: No apparent referents.
Notes: Prosecutor Jihanna refers to the events of Stan's treachery as occurring 10 years ago. Suggesting that this story takes place two years after the events of IWHS. In Gigashadow, the Predecessors refer to the events occurring 8 & 1/2 years ago, suggesting a year and a half has passed between GS and Stan's Trial. Lyekka, only the third episode, is 9 years after Stan's capture. This seems like quite a long time.
Physics suggest that gravity will distort space time, creating different perceptions of time passing between observer and subject. It may be that subjective/objective factors result in different time flows for travellers within the Universes. For the most part, interstellar travel in LEXX doesn't seem to result in time distortions. But entering the gravity wells of the Fractal Core, or a neutron star might have that effect.
Possibly, we might assume that the LEXX loses months of onboard time in comparison to the Light Universe each time it transits. The LEXX moves out of the Light Universe in IWHS, back into it in Gigashadow, out again, and returns in Mantrid. That could represent a year's worth of distortion or more.
Alternatively, time may be flowing substantially faster in the Light Universe than in the Dark Zone, leading the LEXX to be a year or so out of phase with the Light Universe.
On the other hand, both the statements by the Predecessors in Gigashadow, and the statements by Jihanna in Stan's Trial, are both made to Stanley Tweedle and he chooses to correct neither. Mind you, it may not have been appropriate to quibble at his trial, but that didn't stop him questioning the number of worlds destroyed. Or Stan may have been aware of time distortion and not bothered to question it.
|
?
|
Love Grows. (2.7)
Stripper ship crew visits Lexx. Same culture as the prisoner transport from 791?
|
|
Internal time: One day or less, from the consumption of the stripper ship, the escape of its crew, the meal, the sex change and immunity.
External time: No apparent referents.
|
?
|
White Trash (2.8)
LEXX visits Vermal, a former world of the Divine Order and meets the relict population, before blowing it up.
|
|
Internal time: Several days. Stan hears the scream. Discovery of the Golenes comes much later. Paw goes to sleep. Stan goes with Cissy. Paw catches them.
Travel to Vermal which is close by. Junior's execution.
External time: Given the cameo with Love Grows, and assuming the Golene's are cannibals, give them at least a week to kill and consume the stripper ship victims.
Note: Lyekka eats Paw, assume 1 to 1&1/2 months till next feeding)
Stan tells Paw that the Cluster is destroyed... "we blew it up, a long time ago."
|
?
|
791 (2.9)
Abandoned ship. Probably same culture as the stripper ship from Love Grows.
No sign of Mantrid.
|
|
Internal time: Approximately one day.
External time: No apparent referents, though Stan is in deep caution mode.
Note: Lyekka eats at least three bodies. Estimates four to five months till next feeding.
|
??
|
Wake the Dead (2.10)
Last survivors of Bingo 44 and nearby worlds die. No sign of Mantrid.
|
|
Internal time: Approximately one day. Rescue takes place during the day, after which ship tour, meal, party and late night.
External time: No apparent referents, though it would be odd if Xev would try a rescue immediately after 791.
Note: 790 reports that the teens have been drifting frozen in space for 287 years.
|
??
|
Nook (2.11)
World of Nook destroyed. No sign of Mantrid.
|
|
Internal time: Several days, possibly a week up to the Night of No Rules.
External time: No apparent referents.
|
??
|
Twilight (2.13)
LEXX visits Rouma.
Mantrid destroys Rouma.
|
|
Internal time: At the start, Stan has been asleep/semiconscious for 9.23 hours. Takes place over approximately additional 30 hours. Starts nightime on Rouma, through day on Rouma, into night. Sun is clearly rising.
External time: Suffering from Selenium poisoning. A substantial amount of time must have passed, since Stan was suffering no symptoms in Norb.)
Note: Lyekka eats, three bodies. She does not reappear until end of the Universe, approximately four months away. Although she's reactivated involuntarily, this suggests a dormancy of 1&1/2 months after consuming each humanweight. From this, we can work backwards, estimating time periods between each active phase of Lyekka.
|
T-103 days
|
Patches in the Sky (2.14)
Sector 27, Robotically Operated Manganese Mine Q2A2 destroyed by LEXX
LEXX visits Narcolounger, departs.
|
|
Internal Time: Starts at night, Stan having nightmare. Unknown travel time, during the day LEXX travels to or stumbles across the manganese mind and then travels to the Narcolounger. In Narcolounger, probably only a few hours.
External Time: Stan is suffering nightmares and depression. Probably this is a result of his illness and experience on Rouma. This suggests that relatively little time has passed since Twilight, perhaps as little as a few days, no more than a few weeks.
Note: Computer says the Universe has approximately 103 days left. Immediate section of this Galaxy has 27 days. Wolfram T galaxy has 32 hours left. The ongoing termination of the Universe, as it is occasionally referred to, provides a sort of calendar by which different subsequent episodes may be measured.
|
??
|
Woz (2.15)
Visit to Woz. World eaten by Mantrid.
|
|
Internal Time: This episode, occurs over a period of 79 hours. There are no internal cues to give us any idea how closely this adventure may follow on Patches, or on the Web.
External Time: No referents.
Note: Xev's love slave programming gave her an expiration date. I'm making a completely arbitrary assumption that the expiration date was two years from conversion.
Note: This is one of the very few times we can accurately assess a travel time, approximately three days in this case. Too bad this can't be generalized to other undefined travel times.
|
T-32 days
|
Web/Net (2.16/2.17)
Creature encountered, briefly obstructs flight.
|
|
Internal Time: Following the initial discovery that the Universe is about to vanish, the LEXX is asked to search for nodes to the Dark Zone, and is unable to locate any. We don't know if this search involves travel, or is simply via scanners, we don't know how long it takes. Following that, the LEXX proceeds to the center of the Universe before being temporarily caught by the creature. Around the time that they encounter the spider, they are two days from the end of the Universe. The final scene is one day from the end of the Universe. Overall, this adventure may span as long as a week.
External Time: 790 calculates that the Universe has 31.29 days left to it. Suggesting that 72 days have passed since Patches in the Sky.
Note: Stan refers to wearing his Uniform and Hat every day for nine and a half years. This is interesting. It may be a reference all the way back to shortly after his capture. Assuming that he wound up in his position shortly after capture, this suggests that this episode takes place roughly 18 months after IWHS. It's consistent with the Predecessors reference to 8 & 1/2 years in Gigashadow (six months after IWHS). And with Kai's reference to 9 years in Lyekka (12 months after IWHS).
It appears somewhat inconsistent with Jihanna's reference to 10 years since his capture in Stan's Trial (24 months since IWHS). It may be that this is evidence of a divergence between shipboard time and external time. Or it may be that Stan, following capture was held for six months to a year before being assigned as a security guard on the Cluster.
As a final note, Stan claims that he was wearing the uniform and hat for 9 & 1/2 years. But we know that at some time on the Cluster, he was demoted from Security Guard Class 2 to Class 4. Does this actually mean that he was demoted, 9 & 1/2 years ago?
|
??
|
Brigadoom (2.18)
Encounters a space anomaly.
|
|
Internal Time: Does time pass in the Theatre? The theatre is an artifact outside of space and time, so comparatively little or no real time may have passed.
External Time: Obviously within days, if that, of Web/Net.
|
??
|
Brizon (2.19)
Brizon's world eaten by Mantrid.
Another world observed eaten by Mantrid, while catching Drone.
|
|
Internal Time: Perhaps three or four days. Brizon escapes in the Stinger, which looks like it might be a relatively short range ship, perhaps a couple of days flight. With Brizon they must travel to a planet being destroyed, capture a drone, deactivate it, locate Mantrid's trap and escape.
External Time: Between the end of Web/Net and the beginning of End of the Universe there is a window of perhaps twenty days. Time is growing very short.
|
T-4 days
|
End of the Universe (2.20)
|
0
|
Disk Jockey world eaten. Star observed being eaten. Lyekka wakes final time. Escape to the Dark Zone.
|
|
Internal Time: Between a month and a couple of weeks, considering such factors as travel, manufacture of a counter army of 790 drones, and the final conflict.
External Time: A period of days seem to be required, given Mantrid's attack, the proliferation of a swarm of 790 drones, and then a flight to the center of the Universe.
Note: The remnants of the Universe are left. Mantrid has obviously chosen to attack the LEXX prematurely. Still, there isn't much left and the Universe is obviously in its final couple of weeks or days. 790 reports that almost 70% of the Universe is clearly gone, and estimates at the beginning of the episode, 93.6 hours to the end of all matter.
|
THIRD SEASON
0+? days
Fire and Water
|
The LEXX runs out of power and is no longer able to move, and cannot produce food. It will take between 700 and 15000 years to drift to the nearest stars. The crew goes into Cryostasis. 790 shuts off but reactivates once a month briefly to do a systems check. Kai reawakens once a year to check on 790. Counting starts again from this 0 point.
|
3 battles ago
|
|
|
LEXX appears in the skies of Fire and Water and is assumed to be a great comet. There is no information as to how long between battles, or even if battles are an accurate measurement. LEXX may have orbited the star several times before being caught by the Fire/Water system.
|
4331 years
|
790 wakes and sees Fire/Water but an equipment malfunction prevents him from waking the others. It's probably within a few months of the final orbit. Otherwise Kai would have woken annually and found him.
|
4332 years
|
Prince boards the LEXX and wakes Stan and then Xev. They are taken down to Fire. Adventures ensue.
Note: Note that as far as Stan and Xev are concerned, only a month or so, subjectively has passed since the end of the Universe....
All of the events of the 13 episodes take place over a brief span of time, and quite close to each other. The whole thing takes place in a month at the most, and probably substantially less time. If we go by observed sleep/wake cycles, for instance, the whole thing may take place in three or four days.
Kai wakes and travels to Water.
|
|
May (3.2)
Kai travels by balloon to Fire.
Stan, Xev and Kai travel by Balloon to the LEXX
Kai instructs Moth Breeders to build moths.
|
|
Gametown (3.3)
Kai travels by moth to Water, Gametown.
Fifi steals moths, and goes to fire. Probably some time involved in going there and getting refitted.
Stan and Xev sleep?
|
|
Boomtown (3.4)
Fifi returns from Fire with Duke and a moth armada.
Kai travels by moth to the LEXX.
Stan, Xev and Kai travel by moth to Boomtown, on Water.
Stan, Xev and Kai travel by moth to Fire.
|
|
Gondola (3.5) Stan, Xev and Kai travel by balloon on to K-Town, on fire.
|
|
K-Town (3.6)
Kai is taken by balloon to Hogtown, on Fire.
|
|
Tunnels (3.7)
Stan and Xev walk down 39,000 steps to the surface.
Stan and Xev travel through tunnels between cities on Fire.
Stan and Kai return by balloon to the LEXX.
|
|
The Key (3.8)
Stan sleeps.
|
191 hours
|
...before the LEXX crashes into one of the worlds. The LEXX is in a tight figure eight orbit and without power to travel. Drifting helplessly, the ship passes through the atmospheric tether between the two worlds, losing velocity each time, its orbit growing tighter and tighter until it crashed.
Unfortunately, this number does not assist us in arriving at any other measurable period. The LEXX does not crash into Fire or Water at the end of Heaven and Hell, which suggests that less than 191 hours have passed since the figure was quoted. On the other hand, the LEXX ate at the conclusion of Girltown, and recovered some mobility, so it might well have stabilised its orbit and more than 191 hours have passed. Given the pace this is unlikely. We are not able to estimate an Orbital period for the LEXX, nor give an overall estimate from this as to how long the Fire/Water adventures took overall.
|
|
Garden (3.9)
Stan and Kai return by moth to Hogtown, on Fire.
Stan, Xev and Kai return by moth to the LEXX.
Stan, Xev and Kai travel by moth to Garden, on Water
|
|
Battle (3.10)
Stan and Xev sleep.
Stan and Kai travel by balloon to the LEXX.
Xev travels by balloon to Fire.
|
|
Girltown (3.11)
Stan and Kai travel by moth to Girltown, on Fire.
Xev walks over the desert and up what must be over 30,000 steps.
Stan, Xev and Kai return to the LEXX by moth, but Stan and Kai fall to water.
|
|
The Beach (3.12)
Xev travels by moth to Water and recovers Kai from Gametown.
Stan winds up on the Beach between Fire and Water.
Xev and Kai return by moth to the LEXX.
|
|
Heaven and Hell (3.13)
Kai and Xev travel to by moth to Prince, on fire.
Xev returns by moth to the LEXX.
The crew is reunited on the LEXX.
|
© 2000 D.G.Valdron.
With many thanks to Darrow for a fantastic and painstaking piece of research.
The Cluster - a 'new' Lexx episode created by Darrow by editing together parts of other episodes. I've seen a rough version and it's not bad at all! Back
© 2000 WaveWrights (was WordWrights).
Lexxplorations
Showcase