|_/-\ST P|_/-\CE 0N E/-\RT|-| EPISODE7 REJOICE 4

[TheSamohon]

Roald Amundsen was trained in Arctic condition by Nansen.

R.F. Scott was trained by the Royal Navy on Torpedo deployment.

Forgone conclusion really. Should have teamed up with Amundsen's party...

[monkeyboy4746]

I enjoy this debating of history, history should be debated. I need to read Amundsen's book (how were they able to take 150lbs weight off the sled?) It will not be long before the 100th anniversary of the Pole.

[zsqpwxxeh]

I believe Scott was being honest in ascribing the cause of their deaths primarily to bad luck, or more specifically bad weather luck. He was in command and was responsible for the success or failure of the expedition. Undoubtedly he made some bad decisions but the primary reason for this disaster was the blizzard.

[VanDee2008]

@zsqpwxxeh Yes it was a "perfect storm" of bad luck with the weather - delayed start time due to the ponies, five days lost at Camp 30 due to blizzard, unprecedented falls in temperature.

But i think what also killed them was the era's credo of "mind over matter". No contingency plans; It never occurred to them that they might lose their strength when they needed it most. We can't judge these men harshly for this. To do so would be churlish; we've the benefit of hindsight. But it is sad.

[monkeyboy4746]

I have always thought it a bit odd that they chose not to recover the bodies in the tent, they could have done it, they had the transport right there, and they could have preserved the bodies on ship using the same preservatives that they used on their scientific specimens. They instead chose to bury the tent with the bodies inside and just leave them there. I have a feeling that there was something really bad in that tent and that is why they did what they did.

[neil73]

@monkeyboy4746 Can you be a bit more specific? You mean like cannibalism or something?

I don't think Scott would have made in back even if they got to 1 ton depot; they were too far gone with frostbite and scurvy by then. If only he'd used dogs...

[monkeyboy4746]

@neil73 If it was cannibalism or murder/suicide then what they did starts to make sense. They could have hauled the bodies back easily since they were using the Indian army mules (mentioned in the film, but not shown). The filmmakers hint about it all through this series, "Dog eat dog, Mister", Wlison's body looks like it has been shot in the head, Bowers has blood in his mouth, Amundsen's men debate a murder novel. Someone will go looking for that tent under the ice, just like Franklin Exp.

[neil73]

@monkeyboy4746 That is a chilling possibility (if you excuse the pun). I can imagine a certain delerium setting in on the team (Evans suffered from it before dying) and Oates' diary stopped sometime in early February.

I doubt any enquiry will be opened about this, besides, Scott and the other 2 in that tent will be approximately 60 or 70 feet down in the ice by now; heading towards the sea

[VanDee2008]

@monkeyboy4746 Wow that's grim! As you say, thematic elements could support a grisly reading, but they could be explained less shockingly (Bowers' gums bleeding from scurvy; that "murder novel" turned out to be "suicide".) This isn't the Franklin Expedition, with madness due to lead poisoning.

If any "cover-up" is shown here, it's hiding the news of the Polar party dying of scurvy (or perhaps helping themselves to the opium/morphia). Don't believe either myself, but they are poss theories.

[zsqpwxxeh]

@VanDee2008 They didn't die of scurvy; they froze to death (hypothermia). Scurvy weakened them physically, but it was the lack of fuel and food that was fatal. They just did not have strength for a final slog to the supply dump. Of course there is the question whether they could have recovered there to make it to the base camp, crippled as they were by frostbite.

[VanDee2008]

@zsqpwxxeh I did say I didn't believe in the "died of scurvy" theory myself; my point is that THE DRAMA is presenting that as the reason for the conspiratorial "cover-up" - literally and metaphorically - of the final tent.

Personally, I don't think there was a "cover-up" at all. I think the search party buried them there because they didn't want to spend days dragging three frozen bodies 170 miles back to camp.

And that's fair enough.

[WC3POchannel10A]

To strive, to seek and not to yield.

[JohnnyDarkoKelly]

Graphic

[VanDee2008]

Indeed!

(I think I have this year's Halloween costume taken care of!)