Agents Of SHIELD!

[Bazza]

 that knowledge would remain largely inert.

 

Evidence of extra-dimensional brain suggests otherwise.  

 

[zslane]

Evidence of extra-dimensional brain only suggests that more explanation is needed, because that evidence contradicts current (known/shown) facts (or assumptions we are capable of making based on them).

[Pattern Ghost]

I can see where you're coming from, but there's also the possibility that the Darkholde is actively pursuing some agenda, rather than just passively presenting information human minds can't handle.

 

It's also possible that she's programmed to be somewhat proactive and having found a way to improve her capabilities is acting on a general directive. If that's the case, I'd expect her to show the brain schematic to Radcliffe once she's done with it. If she's actually being secretive, it points to the book being more active than passive.

[zslane]

Of course all that is possible, but none of it is evident from what has been shown/established so far. I'm only interested in "fact-checking" the show against what it has already shown/explained to us (basically I'm looking for evidence of narrative "cheating"). I'm not (usually) interested in speculating what could be the case, based on assuming things we haven't seen yet.

[Pattern Ghost]

I agree with you on the issue of internal consistency, but I don't know if we have enough info on how the book functions yet to have established it to any great degree.

[sinanju]

I can see where you're coming from, but there's also the possibility that the Darkholde is actively pursuing some agenda, rather than just passively presenting information human minds can't handle.

 

It's also possible that she's programmed to be somewhat proactive and having found a way to improve her capabilities is acting on a general directive. If that's the case, I'd expect her to show the brain schematic to Radcliffe once she's done with it. If she's actually being secretive, it points to the book being more active than passive.

 

OR, assuming she's programmed with some variant of Asimov's three laws of robotics, I can see her reasoning thus:

 

I must not harm, or allow to be harmed, a human being. If I become more intelligent/knowledgable, I am less likely to harm a human even by accident. If become more capable, I become more capable of protecting and defending human beings. (And herself, since if she is destroyed, she will unable to fulfill her mission.) Therefore, acquiring greater intelligence/knowledge/power is, barring some specific issue, always worth pursuing. It makes her more valuable, more helpful.

[Pattern Ghost]

Yeah, that's what I was getting at with proactive.

[mattingly]

I may eat from any tree in the garden except for the tree of knowledge of good and evil, but the deceiver told me that it will make me like god...

 

I must not harm, or allow to be harmed, a human being. If I become more intelligent/knowledgable, I am less likely to harm a human even by accident.

[zslane]

OR, assuming she's programmed with some variant of Asimov's three laws of robotics, I can see her reasoning thus:

 

I must not harm, or allow to be harmed, a human being. If I become more intelligent/knowledgable, I am less likely to harm a human even by accident.

 

That assertion would have to have been programmed into Ada by Radcliffe. He strikes me as excited by and proud of his achievement, but I'm not sure he has the sort of Stark-like intellectual arrogance that would lead to making that false equivalence (and programming it into Ada). Especially not after seeing what his efforts led to when working for Hive.

[Beast]

of those who have read the book
they have become obsessive about creating the knowledge the book holds to the point of killing others to do it
the book may be learning that to get what it wants it needs to be more subtle and not as bloodthirsty w/ Aida

Of course all that is possible, but none of it is evident from what has been shown/established so far. I'm only interested in "fact-checking" the show against what it has already shown/explained to us (basically I'm looking for evidence of narrative "cheating"). I'm not (usually) interested in speculating what could be the case, based on assuming things we haven't seen yet.

[zslane]

Well, it's a book. Books don't want anything. This one hasn't displayed any sentience, only a seemingly "magical" ability to present its information in a manner that is optimal for each reader. Until we're shown otherwise, I think we can conclude that we're merely watching the old maxim that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely being played out. The knowledge in the book merely provides the catalyst for whatever obsessive desire for power lurks within us all.

 

Which is why the information within its pages shouldn't cause Ada to do anything unless it just happens to coincide with an operational directive programmed into her by Radcliffe. My guess is that we'll learn that he programmed "scientific curiosity" into Ada so that she might intellectually "evolve" on her own. But at this point, her behavior just comes across as puzzling.

[Joe Walsh]

Yeah, but Coulson's a GMPC and he said the book's evil and should never be used, so...

[zslane]

Well, it certainly looks evil in that clichéd Army of Darkness kind of way, but it's just a book. Coulson's conclusion is sound even if his premise is not. Even if we discover that in the MCU the Darkhold was written by an evil entity (like Chthon), with evil intentions, that doesn't mean the book itself is evil; it would have to be sentient for that.

[slikmar]

No one is even talking about the inhuman Simmons helped release. If they weren't separating the MCU from SHIELD, I would have thought it might be a setup for Black Bolt - although he did speak. 

[zslane]

I would be disappointed by that sort of new origin story for Black Bolt. Not everything (and every character) has to start in front of our eyes. Let the MCU have a little bit of history.

[Steve]

It could be that an alien sentience is behind what appears on the pages, so Ada was not just getting information but also a computer virus which could drive her to full (evil?) sentience.

 

Yes, it's cliche to have machines turn evil, but it seems someone is always betraying the team each season.

[zslane]

It could be, but Occam's Razor suggests not. ("It could be that..." isn't useful here, only "We know that...")

[Pattern Ghost]

I wonder if anyone from Kamar-Taj is going to come collect the thing a the end of the storyline.

[zslane]

Sounds like a reasonable possibility to me. It could also end up in the Asgardian artifact vault or in the hands of The Collector. Both places where we've previously seen powerful artifacts go for, er, safe keeping.

[Bazza]

 

So much for a team that trusts...

 

[Grailknight]

I guess this settles the good or evil question.

[zslane]

And we still don't know what happened to the Darkhold. Does Ada* still have it?

 

[*] I refuse to spell her name Aida because that is the name of a Nubian princess in a Giuseppe Verdi opera, and it is pronounced Eye-ee-da.

[Grailknight]

Ada is a computer. She copied the Darkhold to memory as she read it. 

[zslane]

That certainly makes sense. But what happened to the physical book? I don't think last night's episode showed us, did it?

[Cassandra]

Good news, no more Ghost Rider.

 

Bad news, cut rate Ultron.