Official Safehold Speculation Thread

A nuke that could get through the Temple's armor would cause unbearable civilian casualties in Zion.

What if Merlin figures out a way to detonate one on the inside, using the armor to contain the fireball, shock wave, and fallout?

The Temple's builders were well aware of nuclear suicide bombers. It's safe to expect they built in protective measures.

It is a church and has wide doors. Would they have any way to protect themselves against a nuclear-tipped cruise missile?

There would still be massive loss of innocent life and it might not help much if there are internal bulwarks made of tactically useful material.

It could even backfire for Merlin's long-term mission.

Expert snuggler wrote:What if Merlin figures out a way to detonate one on the inside, using the armor to contain the fireball, shock wave, and fallout?

Why does everybody think the Temple needs to be destroyed?

The Temple contains all sorts of tech that violates the Proscriptions that can be put to use re-educating the populace and backing up the "big reveal."

I think the worst thing Merlin and Allies could do is to destroy or even damage the Temple. They need to occupy it and expose it for the grand hypocrisy it represents.

evilauthor wrote:Here's a bit of speculation: Langhorne was right.

Well, not "right" as in keeping humanity in perfect medieval stasis. More in that if Operation Ark had kept to its original schedule, humanity would have gotten back into space TOO SOON and attracted the attention of Gbaba search party that was passing nearby.

With the delay imparted by Langhorne's Plan, humanity's return to the stars is delayed long enough that the Gbaba search passes over Safehold without noticing it.

After the elimination of Langhorne, etc. others take over, and may have slightly different views. Speculation: the thousand year return of "archangels" produces a Reveal that has them proclaiming that the time awaited has arrived, then getting behind the changes and pushing them

lyonheart wrote:Hi DDHvi,

Be very careful of what you wish for; RFC is a lay Methodist minister, and if he had the time to spare which he doesn't given we want him writing, he might surprise you with his theological insights as his books well demonstrate.

L

I would be interested, but see that many others wouldn't.

What I don't see is: given that the erosion and depositing geology produced today is typically gully/ravine on steep slopes, meanders on shallow slopes, delta formation when the water hits the ocean; and that the typical strata formations show sheet erosion/depositing, how can people accept that all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation?

I've yet to find anyone who follows Hutton and the other uniformitarians who can explain the difference within their paradigm.


Dumb mistakes are very irritating.
Smart mistakes go on forever,
unless you test your assumptions!

If the archangels return and say "go ahead and use technology, that's what we had in mind all along", that will make life much easier for the good guys than anything our host has ever done for them.

Having the Temple blow up would be a psychological blow harder to rationalize away than having the man behind the curtain exposed.

Expert snuggler wrote:A nuke that could get through the Temple's armor would cause unbearable civilian casualties in Zion.

What if Merlin figures out a way to detonate one on the inside, using the armor to contain the fireball, shock wave, and fallout?

The Temple's builders were well aware of nuclear suicide bombers. It's safe to expect they built in protective measures.

It is a church and has wide doors. Would they have any way to protect themselves against a nuclear-tipped cruise missile?

There would still be massive loss of innocent life and it might not help much if there are internal bulwarks made of tactically useful material.

It could even backfire for Merlin's long-term mission.

Yeah, I'd see using nukes to destroy the Temple to be, as you, detrimental to Merlin's mission, as a response for some would be to go back to the CoGA. But if he felt that the risk would be well worth it enough and he had the justification, Merlin might be able to pull off "raid" on the Temple proper.

Since nobody buys my idea for the whole thing being a weird dream that Honor has in the next Honorverse book....

I am just curious when/if/how the pair of assault shuttles and all those Federation assault rifles in Nimue's Cave are going to fit into the story.

Gonna have to be after the OBS is taken out and the Great Reveal has been made but 150,000 (if I remember the number correctly) rifles that advanced are gonna make one heck of a force multiplier when the opposition is barely using breech loaders or, maybe, BP repeaters.

Not to mention the mobility advantage those assault shuttle represent (and close support potential- in which Weberverse has an assault shuttle not been armed in some way and/or designed to be able to support ground troops?).

jtg452 wrote:Since nobody buys my idea for the whole thing being a weird dream that Honor has in the next Honorverse book....

I am just curious when/if/how the pair of assault shuttles and all those Federation assault rifles in Nimue's Cave are going to fit into the story.

Gonna have to be after the OBS is taken out and the Great Reveal has been made but 150,000 (if I remember the number correctly) rifles that advanced are gonna make one heck of a force multiplier when the opposition is barely using breech loaders or, maybe, BP repeaters.

Not to mention the mobility advantage those assault shuttle represent (and close support potential- in which Weberverse has an assault shuttle not been armed in some way and/or designed to be able to support ground troops?).

It's 200 TF assault rifles, and 2 million rounds of ammunition.
No mention of other groundpounder/Marine equipment such as body armor, however; although, some sort of unpowered body armor would probably be relatively easy to fabricate in whatever quantity was required. It's probably also the case that additional TF small arms and ammunition would be relatively easy to create if required.

I'm not sure if this idea has been floated but:-

The war becomes a stalemate with the border states becoming a true border between the temple and the Church of Charis

In X number of years what/who is under the temple wakes up and immediately falls foul of the inquisition and is rescued by a force led by our favorite PICA's.

This kicks the war back off with whoever it is joining the CoC forces and leading them toward victory and the truth.

DDHvi wrote:

evilauthor wrote:Here's a bit of speculation: Langhorne was right.

Well, not "right" as in keeping humanity in perfect medieval stasis. More in that if Operation Ark had kept to its original schedule, humanity would have gotten back into space TOO SOON and attracted the attention of Gbaba search party that was passing nearby.

With the delay imparted by Langhorne's Plan, humanity's return to the stars is delayed long enough that the Gbaba search passes over Safehold without noticing it.

After the elimination of Langhorne, etc. others take over, and may have slightly different views. Speculation: the thousand year return of "archangels" produces a Reveal that has them proclaiming that the time awaited has arrived, then getting behind the changes and pushing them

It's been suggested numerous times before, with several variations. One of the common variations is that Schueler or whoever set up the Return was a faction which disagreed with the majority of the survivors of the War of the Fallen.