The Seal

[Realistic Dreamer]

I'm not sure if this belongs here, or on the canon thread of fanfic discussion, so if it needs to be moved, go ahead.

Who had the seal first?

Why did they originally go to the NY four about the summit? Nicholas was involved from the beginning, and he knew exactly where Max was. So, why go to Zan first?

Was one set "more alien" for a reason? A more alien set for an alien planet? Were the NM four the back-up?

Was the seal to go from one king to the other? And then to the second-in-command should both kings be killed?

Did Rath and Lonnie get killed by Tess, and then, when Max died in Vermont, the seal went to Michael?

What were the effects of the seal? Michael became "Michael to the nth degree" when he got the seal.

Opinions?

[cardinalgirl]

Why did they originally go to the NY four about the summit? Nicholas was involved from the beginning, and he knew exactly where Max was. So, why go to Zan first?

I think he went to the NY four first because he knew they were eager to go along with the plan, when Max was basically the reluctant king. He knew Lonnie and Rath, given the right plan would be able to coax Max to the summit.

That's just a guess, though. I don't even really have a response for the other questions. I thought Michael with the seal was handled badly by the writers, but that's just my opinion.

[Roslover39]

Why did they originally go to the NY four about the summit? Nicholas was involved from the beginning, and he knew exactly where Max was. So, why go to Zan first?

That's an interesting question. Are we wrong to assume that Max was the true king just because we only saw Zan for a brief time and then he was killed? I love both characters but I have to wonder who would have had the right to claim the throne if Zan had lived. (And if the writers let the storyline go to Antar.)

[Max/Jason Luver]

I think that maybe both Max and Zan would be able to be king yet if they continued the show to antar then it would be Zan because Max has a life on earth with Liz and stuff. Though If I could choose it would be Max but if you look at my name maybe Im a a bit biased.

Beth

[Coccy]

IMO Zan had the seal too otherwise it made no sense that Nicholas talked with him firstly. I mean, i suppose that he knew about the seal and the "test" from the emissary so if Zan didn't have the seal it was useless for Nicholas to contact him because no matter what Zan wanted to do, the emissary would have busted him as the "Fake King"
so, IMO, since he chose Zan firstly (not matter how convenient it could be for him) it was because he could too. Because Zan had the seal too and there was no problem with the test.
but it's a real mystery.

Was one set "more alien" for a reason? A more alien set for an alien planet? Were the NM four the back-up?

sometimes i think that the dupes were the original ones or at least the ones more similar to Zan&Co and it made no sense that Max&Co were the original ones.
maybe antarians wanted to tease their enemies and they created a "show" were Max&Co were the supposed original ones but truth was that the dupes were the original ones and the enemies couldn't know about it.
A way to be more sure about their plan, a way to protect the real royal four.

Did Rath and Lonnie get killed by Tess, and then, when Max died in Vermont, the seal went to Michael?

in the season 4 books Rath and Lonnie are alive so i suppose that Tess didn't kill them.

What were the effects of the seal? Michael became "Michael to the nth degree" when he got the seal.

Max too. Maybe he was more able to control it because he had it from the beginning and its effects are more hidden but i do think that Max in the last episodes of season 2 was behind the influence of his alien side too (Katims said it too in the DVDs. Max wasn't really himself) just like Michael and Isabel in season 3
it was just more hidden but all of them experienced a "crazy" time thank to their alien side that was taking control over them.

[Zanity]

Not that we can trust anything Nicholas says but his reasoning makes a certain amount of sense. Nicholas told Lonnie that the Roswell set was the "Real" set....

NICHOLAS: Better hope you're right. Without Max, no one at the summit's gonna give you two the time of day.

RATH: We're two of the royal four.

NICHOLAS: Royal rejects is more like it.

RATH: Hey, yo, get this straight. We are the originals. They are the rejects.

NICHOLAS: Ha. Uh, gee...they were carefully hidden away in Roswell and got custody of the granilith. You were dumped in the sewer. Figure that out.

The Roswell set was carefully hidden in a cave that could only be opened by aliens. And the Granolith was hidden in their podchamber...

I don't know if Zan would have had the seal or not... I could see him having it, but I could also see him not having it. It's possible that it wasn't Nicholas who approached the New York set to inform them of the conference but someone else who didn't know there were too sets.

Sheeperz makes a good point in the fic "Double Jeopardy III: The Fulfillment"

"You're lying!" Lonnie shouted. "My name is Lonnie - short for Vilandra! Why else would they call me that, if not because that's who I am?"

"Tsk, tsk, Lonnie. You really aren't very bright, are you?" Max taunted. "What good is a decoy, if you call the original by the name everyone recognizes, and the decoy by a name that's totally foreign?" Max saw the dawning comprehension in their eyes, accompanied by Lonnie's gasp of horror.

It's entirely possible even probable in my view that Zan didn't carry the seal, that his set was known about from the beginning and used as decoys hoping that the real royals would have a better chance to:

Learn enough to use your skills, your knowledge, your leadership to combat the enemy so that you can come back and free us.

This also makes sense why one set was more alien... The more human set could blend in better, stay in hiding longer, therefore possibly have a better chance to succeed.

But what really bugs me about the seal is that if it was used to determine the proper king and the order of succession. Then the seal should have passed to baby Zan.

I know Tess claims he was rejected on Antar because he was completely human, but that doesn't make any sense and Tess was such a liar by that point that we can't take her word as gospel.

If Tess was genetically engineered to be Max's mate as she claimed then any child of Max and Tess should be genetically exactly what Antar needed.

What I think is more likely given what we know of the cannon Tess at that point in the series... is that baby Zan wasn't Max's and she thought she could pass it off as Max's... She didn't count on the fact that any race advanced enough to clone hybrids would be able to run a paternity test and reject it. She figured they'd take her word for it.

[sheeperz]

Hi gang. I realize I'm chiming in a year too late on this thread *laughs* but when i was searching to see if any of my stuff was still on here, this thread came up. I'm flattered to see my work quoted in this discussion, and I would like to add this thought:

Having the Roswell 4 be the real deal is consistent with Max's "Hide in plain sight" philosophy.

I know that Max wasn't referring to the whole royal family thing when he said it, because he wasn't aware they were royalty, but it makes one stop and pause that perhaps the philosophy had somehow been instilled in them, by those who were trying to preserve them.... meaning that the genetic engineers who created them were the originators of the philosophy, and had purposed to hide the royal 4 in plain sight from the enemies of the Antarian throne. And making them "more human" would serve to further that end.

Just my two cents.

[Anchespatoon]

But what really bugs me about the seal is that if it was used to determine the proper king and the order of succession. Then the seal should have passed to baby Zan.

I know Tess claims he was rejected on Antar because he was completely human, but that doesn't make any sense and Tess was such a liar by that point that we can't take her word as gospel.

If Tess was genetically engineered to be Max's mate as she claimed then any child of Max and Tess should be genetically exactly what Antar needed.

What I think is more likely given what we know of the cannon Tess at that point in the series... is that baby Zan wasn't Max's and she thought she could pass it off as Max's... She didn't count on the fact that any race advanced enough to clone hybrids would be able to run a paternity test and reject it. She figured they'd take her word for it.

That is a very good point. So we have three possibilities: 1. Tess was the real dupe and so not the real genetic match 2. The seal goes only to complete alien or hybried aliens
3. It was not the baby of Max

[Titch22]

But what really bugs me about the seal is that if it was used to determine the proper king and the order of succession. Then the seal should have passed to baby Zan.

I know Tess claims he was rejected on Antar because he was completely human, but that doesn't make any sense and Tess was such a liar by that point that we can't take her word as gospel.

If Tess was genetically engineered to be Max's mate as she claimed then any child of Max and Tess should be genetically exactly what Antar needed.

What I think is more likely given what we know of the cannon Tess at that point in the series... is that baby Zan wasn't Max's and she thought she could pass it off as Max's... She didn't count on the fact that any race advanced enough to clone hybrids would be able to run a paternity test and reject it. She figured they'd take her word for it.

That is a very good point. So we have three possibilities: 1. Tess was the real dupe and so not the real genetic match 2. The seal goes only to complete alien or hybried aliens
3. It was not the baby of Max

Or the seal went to Michael because the child wasn't old enough to take the throne.