Clarification On Language Barriers And Voice Commands

Published May 23, 2018 · Updated July 6, 2022

Hey Guys,

Just finished listening to the Deep Dive (wonderful, as always) and wanted to follow up on Big D’s point about how the Ronin supposedly understood Maeve’s English, but did not respond to the Voice Commands because they weren’t in Japanese. It’s a good observation, but I think the system I outlined still stands. Here’s why:

The Ronin didn’t understand the Voice Commands Maeve was using at all. He doesn’t speak English. He gagged Maeve because he could tell from her tone and smug demeanor that she was in charge of the group. The Ronin didn’t need to know the language to know defiance. What better way to demoralize a group and put prisoners in their place than to humiliate their leader (in this case, by gagging her)? Thus, the Ronin did not understand or respond to the Voice Commands because the Language Switching Protocol was down and English is not his Native Language, but he did get the overall vibe that Maeve was putting off and decided to gag her to show dominance.

This is reinforced by the fact that the Ronin’s dopplebot is Hector. Later in the episode, when the Ronin, Hector, and Armistice confront Captain Tanaka of the Shogun’s army, Tanaka is being a dick to the Ronin. Hector immediately quips: “I don’t need to know the language to know a puckered asshole of a man when I see one.” Just like Hector could tell Tanaka was a complete douchebag without understanding Japanese, the Ronin could tell Maeve thought she was in control during her capture, without having to know English.

Again, just to reemphasize, if Maeve had thought to use Japanese, her Voice Commands would have worked because: (1) she was using the Ronin’s Native Language and (2) Maeve still has the power to use Voice Commands. The only reasons her English Voice Commands didn’t work were because: (1) she was not using the Ronin’s Native Language of Japanese and (2) the Language Switching Protocol is offline, limiting Hosts’ language comprehension to only their Native Languages (including with respect to Voice Commands).

Whew. I hope I’ve managed to convince you, but if not, that’s half the fun. Thanks for putting so much work into a great podcast.

Cheers,

Ken L

Subscribe Now