After the game of human chess in the episode of Checkmate, No.14-the Chess Champion and rumoured to be an ex-Count {how can you be an ex-Count? And if you can, what did No.14 do to have that title taken away from him?} explains to No.6 that the chess matches, using human chess pieces, is to satisfy the desire for power, and is the only opportunity one gets in the Village. Well that may be true for some, as it all depends on who you are. In Arrival No.2 intimated that the Prisoner may ge given a position of authority. Then in Free For All, No.6 was given the opportunity to run, run for public office, the position of No.2, Chairman of the Village. But of course the election was all contrived, fixed, No.6 is conditioned to 'run for office' and at one point he does attempt to break free, to escape! Yet even as No.6 is being brought back to the shore by three Village Guardians, he still spouts out an electoral speech The citizens can rest assured that their interests are very much my own and that anything I can do to maintain the security of the citizens will be my primary objective......be seeing you.......be seeing you.........
At least it would appear that No.6's desire to run for office is not completely selfish, if not genuine. No.6 has a very large ego which has to be fed from time to time. No.6 is made vunerable by the Village Administration, because of his desire for power, which he thinks he can use to liberate the citizens of the Village, to force freedom upon them, whether they want it or not. Well everyone votes for a dictator, and as it happens, No.6 turned out to be no different. Might not No.6, having attained the position as the new No.2, have brought the Village down from within? Well not really, because the position is a bogus one, the real next No.2 has been in the Village all the time, posing as No.58. I have to say that as No.58 the new No.2 made a very good actress, and another plant in the Village!
I have wonderd why it is that after the election, the crowds cheer for No.2 We want Number Two, Number Two, Number Two. We want Number Two, Number Two, Number Two, Number Two........ Yet when the new No.2 is presented to them by the out-going No.2, there is absolute silence. No cheering, no applauding, only silence and the look of suspicion on some of the faces of the citizens, as though they do not trust this man brought before them. Which is odd when you think about it, because No.6 achieved a landslide victory, every citizen voted for No.6. So it appears that it was not only No.6 who was being manipulated! You will recall how No.2 questioned No.6's ability to manipulate a community such as theirs, in his electoral speech delivered from the top of the stone Bandstand. The key word being manipulation, and that is what makes them so damned clever!
In the end, power gained No.6 nothing. He tried to force his will upon that of the people. But no-one was listening, and all No.6 received for his efforts is a physical beating from the two motor mechanics who gained their revenge upon No.6 for what had happened aboard the jet boat in the estuary.
No.2 knew what No.6 would do if given the opportunity, the Village was always in control, and so there was never any danger of any mass breakout, or No.6 attempting to bring the Village down from within. Of course No.6 had never the intention of running for office, not until No.2 put the idea to him, suggesting that No.6 is just the sort of candidate they need. Because apparently having a unanimous majority is very bad for morale. That some of these people don't seem to appreciate the value of free elections... they think it's a game. Oh it's a game alright, least ways in the Village it is. But seeing as how No.6 has nothing better to do, and is never slow to let any given opportunity pass him by. BCNU
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