Those Voices In My Head

I think the voice that keeps telling Quasar to find this "savior" is probably her predecessor, Wendell Vaughn.

We've already seen that Annihilus has left some sort of a psychic imprint on the bands, and he only had them for a few months, and there's no sign he developed any kind of a strong bond with them, seeing as Phyla was able to convince them to abandon Annihilus and work with her instead. Wendell, on the other hand, had the bands for years. He's been through death and back several times with those things. Plus, I don't remember seeing his body anywhere at the time Annihilus took the bands, so he may have gotten absorbed into them as Annihilus was taking their energy. Granted, the voice seems dispassionate, but that could just be Wendell adjusting to his current state. Bit of a change from being corporeal and all that.

If I'm right (big if there, given my poor track record of predicting things), that could make for an interesting time for Phyla. She's already dealing with her own feelings of inadequacy; the idea that she's not good enough to carry on the Quasar name. This is despite the fact that she seems to be pretty good at thinking on her feet, for example her suckering the Super-Adaptoid into running smack into an asteroid. Really, when she stops thinking about whether she's letting down Wendell and her father, she does pretty well. What would having her predecessor residing within the bands do to her?

You could see her become more cautious, always looking to him for advice on how to proceed, or conversely, becoming more bold, determined to show she can live up to the responsibility that comes with the bands. How would Wendell handle being in an advisory role? He used to have Eon, the being that annoited him "Protector of the Universe", to look to for guidance. Then he had to safeguard Eon's offspring, Epoch, until it reached maturity. But here, he'd be in a teacher role, rather than that of protector. Would he be hands-off, to encourage Phyla to trust herself, or would he be more actively involved, trying to help her avoid pitfalls he didn't? Personally, Wendell never struck me as very authoritative, so I'd figure he'd stay laid back, and offer advice if asked.

For the record, I'm not sure whether this wild theorizing of mine would be good for Phyla's character development. I mainly suggest it because it looks like she needs approval, something she didn't get from a pushy mother, or a dead father, and given her frequent concerns that she isn't living up to the standards Wendell set, it seemed like it might be a way to go. Hopefully though, Phyla will believe in herself by the time Conquest is complete. I don't know if the quantum bands run on willpower like power rings, but self-doubt certainly can't help things any. {Edit, Jan. 19, 2008: I was wrong again. The voice belonged to the Supreme Intelligence. We did get a Wendell Vaughn cameo though.}