Category talk:Masterminds

some disputed masterminds

Peter Kingsley was certainly not the mastermind of season 2 (that was Max), and neither were Henderson nor Logan the masterminds of Season 5. I suppose Logan can have this category because of Season 8. Blue Rook  talk  contribs 06:26, October 1, 2011 (UTC)

Let's work together on this, to make this category as accurate as possible. I have added a line to describe what exactly the term "mastermind" should mean, a strict definition that is useful and we can all hopefully agree upon.

1. For Season 1, it was Andre and Victor.
2. Season 2 is more complicated but I believe there is certainty: Max was the mastermind. Kingsley was explicitly Max's project manager and was definitely not the mastermind. Syed Ali was the mastermind of nothing in my opinion since he was the pawn in 2 different conspiracies, but in his case I'm especially willing to hear arguments against this.
3. Saunders is easily the mastermind of Season 3
4. And Marwan was Season 4's.
5. Logically, Season 5 has to go to Graem (not Logan, Henderson, Cummings, Nathanson, etc), but since Bierko was completely out of everyone's control half the time, I think it's acceptable Bierko can be considered a mastermind as well.
6. Season 6 is an unmitigated nightmare, but Fayed, Gredenko & Markov, and Cheng are the masterminds of their respective conspiracies. I'm really on the fence about Phillip Bauer.
7. Season 7, I suppose it's acceptable for Juma, Hodges, and Wilson to get this distinction.
8. Season 8, Suvarov for sure, I suppose Mehran too, and Logan for sullying everything up on the American side. Blue Rook  talk  contribs 08:07, October 1, 2011 (UTC)

I agree with:

• Victor and Andre in season 1
• In season 2 Max,
• in season 3 Saunders
• In season 4 Marwan
• In season 5 both Graem and Bierko (with your reasons)
• With season 6: Fayed, Gredenko, Markov and Cheng
• Season 7: Agree with the names above
• Season 8: Logan and Yuri

--Station7 09:11, October 1, 2011 (UTC)

This is so complicated I will defer to whatever you guys decide. I'm seeing a bit of arbitrariness (abu fayed is, yet syed ali isn't) but won't get too involved.--Acer4666 17:01, October 1, 2011 (UTC)

About Ali, you're right Acer. Even though he was being manipulated by a pair of outside conspiracies, he was the mastermind of his own group and did not know he was a pawn. The reason I was defending Fayed having the category is because he overcame for a few hours the people (Russians) who were trying to manipulate him in his case. Ali never did, but, it should exclude him from the category.

If Ali is eligible, wouldn't Stanton be the mastermind of the first conspiracy that was uncovered to be manipulating Second Wave? There were three separate conspiracies that season overall, and we have already established Ali and Max as the other 2 masterminds. Blue Rook  talk  contribs 00:39, October 2, 2011 (UTC)

Overall, I'm not that crazy about the category, mostly because it lends itself to a lot of subjectivity. Plus, I really don't see much of a benefit for having it in the end. The only ones I see clearcut are seasons 1, 3 and 4. Thief12 02:35, October 2, 2011 (UTC)

Trust me Thief, I do still share the same general sentiments: I can prove it, look at the bottom of Special:ProtectedTitles, that was me, precluding some earlier attempts from happening again. However this time around Illyriarocks has used a term which actually does seem to fit the concept. Overall, do you agree that the definition I laid out in the category description helps reduce subjectivity? Now that a useful term has come up we can strictly define it. Blue Rook  talk  contribs 10:17, October 2, 2011 (UTC)

The definition is fine, and I agree it might reduce subjectivity. But there are seasons that aren't as clearcut as others, which might make it more difficult in some cases. One of my issues was precisely the Syed Ali one that you and Acer brought up. But, for example, wasn't Max working parallel with Alexander Trepkos? or was he the sole leader/organizer of the whole conspiracy? And if we are including Fayed and Ali because they were indeed masterminds of their own plans, wouldn't some of the antagonists of Day 5 lend themselves to the same definition? Beresch, Nathanson, Henderson, maybe even Logan? I'm stretching it, but you probably catch my drift. I won't even go into Day 6, because I haven't seen it in a long time and don't remember all the ramifications. As for Day 7, will we include O'Niel and the other cabal members? why single out Wilson? Thief12 14:50, October 2, 2011 (UTC)

Regarding Trepkos: there are 2, possibly 3, very strong reasons from the show which support the idea that Max was the mastermind, and Trepkos and the unnamed third guy—though they outranked Kinglsey—were Max's minions. The first time we see him, he reports to Kingsley that "Max is unhappy". He doesn't say "I'm unhappy" since he's acting as Max's representative. The 2nd point is that Trepkos had no idea about the plan to have Mandy attack Palmer, so he wasn't the mastermind of that either. (The third, more arguable point is Wayne's line to David that "the man" behind the attempt on David's life was arrested. This person is quite obviously Max but there are some fans here who think The Game is canonical and that Max was killed by Jack before Day 3.)

Fayed and Ali were the topmost conspirators in their plots. Beresch, Nathanson, Henderson, and Logan never had this distinction; they were all answering to superiors during Day 5. (In Day 8 however Logan was masterminding his own conspiracy.)

O'Niel nor any of the other Prion conspirators (except Wilson) were not masterminding anything during Day 7. The final say went to Wilson. Additionally, Wilson was listed as #1 in the cabal numbering system and Cara Bowden was his intermediary to at least one of the cabalists, Hodges. Logic dictates that if Bowden was the intermediary to all of the other cabalists, the anonymous software interface they used was to keep each cabalist anonymous from each other except Wilson. ... Now, I agree it is true that O'Niel, Marr, and the others helped mastermind the original prion plot, the one Hodges spilled the beans about. But since one can't mastermind a thing that never happened, they wouldn't get the label. They were essentially just financiers of the pathogen who rubber-stamped the new conspiracy as Wilson and his minion Bowden laid it out to them. Blue Rook  talk  contribs 20:32, October 2, 2011 (UTC)

I think you should get over whatever feelings you have about The Game, because you said that as if the majority agree it's not canon. No disrespect or anything, but it's not what you think, it's what's fact. The fact of the matter is, you nor I know anything about the full extent of that Day 2/The Game relation, so I suggest you forget about it and stop trying to act like it didn't happen. And like I say, not trying to be rude here, but I can't stand people who act like things didn't happen and complain about it. --ASHPD24 21:49, October 2, 2011 (UTC)