In many senses, Aeon Flux can be taken as a very dualist environment. Aeon vs. Trevor, Monica vs. Bregna, etc., etc., But throughout the series we see many glimpses of other factions, other places. Many of the episodes seem to take place far away from the urban center of Monica/Bregna. The Herodotus File calls this area the plain of nothingness. It also mentions a third faction called the Xian. (Perhaps from a separate planet?) Does this third faction have anything to do with Donna Matrix and the other khaki-clad warriors in 'War?' And what of the aliens throughout the series? Are Monica and Bregna in contact with other worlds and other species? What goes on outside of the series's narrow scope? What does Aeon's world really feel like?

-- Charles Martin (charmaine@dfn.com), July 02, 1998

Answers

I'm glad someone brought this up, these are the things I love to speculate about. Now to tackle some of them... Xian appears to be a Christianity-like religion. In Herodotus File, there are referrences to the books of a Xian bible, like the book of Steve (there are others, can't remember which). I don't think it constitutes a separate nation, just a religion among Breens and Monicans. As for Donna Matrix and her red-haired people, I'd guess that they are probably a third party nation, or perhaps the Breen special forces. But considering the theme of "War", being that the focus is on how a number of different nations would view heroism, I'd guess that it is some distinct nation. As for the aliens, Seraph-trev, evolved humans, cyborgs that appear throughout the series, I think to some degree, the populations of this world are used to oddities such as this. Examples: When Una sees the picture of the Seraph-trev, she doesn't appear to be shocked beyond belief that these beings exist, she merely becomes infatuated with them. In "Leisure", Aeon and the blonde woman practice on the snare, and I assume that they knew of the design's alien origins. In "End Sinister", Fat Boy and the other henchmen are not particularly surprised to find the alien/future human, though they do comment on its odd physiology. And in "A Last Time for Everything", we find that unusual-looking transplants like Scaphandra's are not so unusual. Still, I'd say that this Earth is not yet a spacefaring culture, although they do have some capacity to become one. Trevor's schemes always seem too earth-oriented. To explain the population's ability to take such biological oddities in stride, I'd say that in this world's past, a great deal of genetic engineering took place. New species were created, and although rare, they do still exist. There has been speculation that the aliens seen in "Leisure" are not aliens at all... their human-like features would suggest this. Overall, I'd say that the world that Aeon and Trevor inhabit is much broader than we see, and there are many more nations and species, but the show chooses only to focus on Bregna and Monica. This is analogous to many American TV shows and movies; America is so large that its citizens can live out entire lives and not see it all, but their conflicts can be just as important and exciting as events going on in Africa or Asia. I believe it's the same with Aeon's world: There's alot out there, we just don't see it all, because the scope would be too big.

-- Mat Rebholz (mer5@dana.ucc.nau.edu), July 08, 1998.

Ah, yes. yet another reason i prefer the shorts to the third season. When watching the shorts you get the idea that the whole place is in some dream realm, exists long enough for a point to be made, and then fades into non-existence. The setting is just minor neccessity in the scheme of things. next time you watch Last Time for Everything or one of the shorts (escpecially Night) look at the horizon line. In the real world that line would be far away and there would be trees or mountains or SOMETHING there. A lot of times in the shorts the horizion line is located about 100 feet away from where Aeon is standing, and there's NOTHING beyond it. It's eerie. Also, when I watch the show, there are times when I would give anything for the chance to step into Aeons world, just to get a better look at the surrounding architecture. The "camera" is allways angled the wrong way,or too close for me to get a good look at anything!

-- Frostbite (foo@bar.com), October 22, 1998.