Imagine you are standing at the altar, like you're
literally moments away from saying, I do. And
then out of nowhere, a hyper -advanced alien
intellect just violently hijacks your brain.
Oh, wow. Right. And it just tells you to stop.
Just like that. Just like that. Well, for Galactic
Patrol hero Kimble Kinison, saving the universe
meant literally putting his own wedding on hold.
So welcome to this deep dive. Custom Taylor,
just for you. Glad to be here. Today we are looking
at E. E. Smith's 1953 classic science fiction
novel, Second Stage Lensmen. We're really going
to figure out how this abruptly interrupted wedding
sparked the blueprint for, well, the modern sci
-fi arms race. Yeah, and we really need to contextualize
exactly what kind of story we are jumping into
today because, you know, the publication history
of this book tells a parallel story of its own.
Oh, for sure. It was originally serialized in
an astounding magazine back in 1941. And if you
think about that year, that is right as the real
world was plunging into a massive global conflict.
World War II is just roaring. Exactly. But it
wasn't actually published as a complete hardcover
book until 1953. By Fantasy Press, right? Yep,
Fantasy Press. And I love this detail from the
source material that first edition had a very
specific print run of exactly 4 ,934 copies.
4 ,934. I know, right? It's such a strangely
precise number, like you really have to wonder
who managed to snag copy number 4 ,934. Probably
someone very lucky. Totally. But before we get
into the weeds here, let's do a quick foundational
breakdown for anyone who hasn't lived and breathed
golden age pulp sci -fi. Good idea. Because E.
Smith just throws a lot of massive concepts at
you. So what even is a lensman? That is the perfect
place to start. So in this universe, a lens is
essentially. a telepathic badge of office. Like
a literal badge. Well, a physical device, yeah.
It's granted by this hyper -advanced alien race
known as the Eryzians, and they only give it
to the absolute best of the best in the Galactic
Patrol. Okay, got it. And it grants immense telepathic
powers, plus it acts as a universal translator.
Very handy. It's extremely. The Patrol is basically
this ultimate interstellar police force, and
they are locked in a relentless multi -galactic
war against Boscon. Boscon, that's the bad guys.
Right. is this sprawling mafia -like evil empire.
And this specific book, Second Stage Lensmen,
is the fifth volume in the series. Number five.
Yeah. And it's the final one to feature Kimball
Kinnison as the single most powerful active lensman
in the galaxy. OK. Let's unpack this. Right.
Because the way the conflict kicks off here really
sets the tone for the entire genre. We've got
our heroes, Kinnison and Clarissa McDougal. They're
literally heading off to get ready for their
impending marriage. Mentor of Aurigia the alien.
who issues the lenses, he commands Kinnison to
think before he acts. This forces him to pause.
Yeah. And why? Because Kinnison suddenly deduces
that their massive victory in the previous book
wasn't actually final. Right. Because at the
end of the previous installment, the Bosconian
home planet Jarnivan was literally crushed between
two other planets. A planetary vice script. Exactly.
You would assume that ends the war. I mean, their
planet is gone. Right. You'd think that's game
over. But Mentor's prompting makes Kinnison realize
the overarching Busconian command structure survived
that cosmic collision. They are still out there,
and they are actively preparing this overwhelming
assault on Earth. And the way E .E. Smith handles
this impending assault is, well, it's basically
the sci -fi equivalent of the modern tech industry.
How so? You know how last year's cutting edge,
thousand dollar smartphone, is suddenly this
year's clunky, obsolete base model. Oh, absolutely.
In the Lensman universe, that planned obsolescence
is applied to weapons of mass destruction. That's
a great way to put it. Whatever the ultimate,
unbeatable, world ending super weapon was in
the last book, that just becomes the standard
opening salvo technology in the next one. It
creates a brilliant narrative engine of escalation.
The lensmen have to anticipate what Earth will
be hit with next, knowing the enemy has upgraded.
Because they always upgrade. Always. The text
notes, they predict an attack using either a
negosphere, which is this sphere of negative
energy that fundamentally consumes and annihilates
absolutely anything it touches, or something
called a nutcracker. Which, just to be clear
for everyone listening, does not mean a little
wooden soldier you put on your mantle at the
holidays. Far from it. A nutcracker in E .E.
Smith's vocabulary means taking two high -velocity
planets, weaponizing their orbits, and smashing
them together with your target caught squarely
in the middle. It's insane. The sheer scale of
that aggression is staggering. It's basically
planetary billiards played for keeps. Wait, I
need to stop you there. Because the Galactic
Patrol's countermeasure to flying planets is
a weapon called the sunbeam. Yes, the sunbeam.
They literally convert the entire energy output
of the sun into a single concentrated beam of
energy. That's right. And when the Bosconian
fleet shows up, the patrol uses a star as a laser
pointer of death and just vaporizes them. It's
incredibly effective. But, like, If you have
the technology to harness a star and fire it
like a sniper rifle, why do you even need ground
troops or spies anymore? It feels like they skipped
a few steps on the technology tray. Well, that
is exactly the thematic pivot of the entire book.
Really? Yeah. You've hit on the ceiling of physical
warfare. The sunbeam proves that physical weapons
of mass destruction have peaked. Because what's
bigger than a sun? Precisely. You cannot practically
escalate past we shoot the sun at you. So the
arms race has to evolve. It has to move inward
into the mind. Furthermore, there's been a massive
defensive escalation alongside the offensive
one. Everyone in the galaxy now utilizes thought
screens. Thought screens. Yeah, which were developed
by an allied race called the Volantians. Meaning
you can't just casually read an enemy commander's
mind anymore to get their secrets. Right. The
easy intelligence gathering is totally blocked.
Precisely. Brute force is blocked by the sunbeam.
Basic telepathy is blocked by thought screens.
So the Galactic Patrol has to change tactics
entirely. Makes sense. The second stage. Lensmen,
this incredibly elite group consisting of Kinnison,
the alien war soul, Tree Gun C, and Nadrick,
they must rely on their advanced Eryzian training.
They possess an ability called the sense of perception.
And how does that actually work? Because the
source material describes it as being able to
see, hear, and feel without using physical senses.
But like... What does that look like in practice?
Think of the Eryzian sense of perception not
as having invisible eyes, but like a localized
omniscience. Okay. Kinnison isn't just looking
at a room. His mind is simultaneously occupying
every cubic inch of space in that room. Wow.
He is processing the internal atomic structure
of a locked safe just as easily as he processes
the air around it. That is wild. It really is.
And this cognitive lead completely pivots the
war from giant fleets shooting sun beams at each
other into a war of deep, covert mental - espionage.
Which perfectly transitions into Kinnison's solo
undercover mission. Yeah. Because of this new
espionage focus, he investigates a planet called
Lyraean II. Yes, Lyraean II. And this place is
intense. It's ruled by a matriarchy of women
who possess incredibly advanced mental abilities.
But bizarrely, the source notes, they have absolutely
zero art, literature, music, or any cultural
assets. Not at all. Just pure functional telepathic
aggression. It is a stark, strictly utilitarian
society. The moment Kinnison lands, the Loranian
who meets him immediately tries to mentally kill
him. Just right off the bat. Right off the bat.
In fact, every single Loranian he encounters
tries to end his life telepathically. And Kinnison
just brushes it off. Like, how is he not instantly
fried? Because of that second stage training,
his mental shields are so hardened that their
telepathic daggers basically shatter against
his mind. He just tanks it. He completely ignores
their mental barrage and demands they hand over
a zwilnik. I love that piece of serious slang.
A zwilnik is a Bosconian drug dealer. Yes. So
the matriarchs refuse to cooperate with Kinnison,
but they quickly realize their mental attacks
are useless against him, so they just let him
leave of her. But here is the critical vulnerability
of their isolated society. As soon as Kinnison
leaves, Lairain II is attacked by Bosconian pirates.
Of course they are. Now these pirates are equipped
with those Volantian thought screens we discussed
earlier, plus advanced physical weapons. Which
is a bad combo for the Matriarchs. Exactly. The
Matriarchs' incredible mental powers cannot penetrate
the screens. They are totally helpless. Oh man.
They actually have to swallow their pride and
call Kinnison and the patrol to come come back
and save them. OK, I have to push back on the
underlying plot mechanics here, because it feels
incredibly contrived. Let's hear it. So Kinnison
figures out that Lyraene II is connected to the
Bosco network. But he deduces that no male could
survive this aggressively anti -male culture
for more than a minute without exhausting themselves
defending against constant mental attacks. Right.
That's his logic. So he decides only a female
operative could possibly infiltrate them. But
up to this point, there are zero female lensmen
in the entire universe. Does it really take the
invention of an entire planet of cultureless,
hyper -aggressive matriarchs just to justify
the necessity of finally recruiting a woman?
What's fascinating here is viewing this through
the lens of 1950s publishing. Honestly, it's
a very pulp sci -fi way to solve a problem. Yeah,
that makes sense. E. Smith had built this universe
as an ultimate boys club. To break his own established
rule and introduce a female lensman, he clearly
felt he had to engineer a literal biological
lock that only a woman could pick. Wow. Is it
contrived? Absolutely. But historically, this
was a massive crack in the glass ceiling of Golden
Age space operas. The institution of the lensman
has to adapt or fail, and that adaptation is
Clarissa MacDougall. Civilization's very first
female lensman. Exactly. But it's not a simple
process. Clarissa flatly refuses to have any
contact with Mentor Averizia, the alien who normally
grants the lens. She just says no. Yeah. Because
she refuses, Kinnison himself has to step up
and give her the intensive mental training required
to make her almost a full second stage lensman.
So he trains her himself. Yep. Mentor simply
delivers the physical lens once she's ready,
and she immediately deploys to Lorraine II to
uncover the Boscon connection. So Clarissa is
off handling the hostile matriarchy. And with
her taking point on Lorraine II, Kinnison and
his alien counterpart, Nadric, are completely
freed up to trace the main Bosconian threat straight
into the second galaxy. Right. This is a beautifully
coordinated, dual -pronged infiltration. On one
hand, you have Port Admiral Haynes mobilizing
the entire grand fleet of the Galactic Patrol
to launch a massive, overwhelming invasion of
the enemy's home galaxy. A huge invasion. But
it's practically a slight at hand. The Bosconians
are so distracted by this massive force knocking
on their front door that they ignore a vital
communications line leading to the thrallus system
in the second galaxy. And this is where we really
see the different methodologies of the second
stage lensman. Nadric heads to the frigid world
of Onlo. He does. And he operates completely
in the shadows. He doesn't fire a single physical
shot. Instead, he just quietly, carefully foments
discord by subtly tampering with the minds of
the Onlonians. Just subtle pushes. Right. Literally
turning the enemy against itself from the inside
out through psychological sabotage. Natric proves
you don't need to be loud to be utterly devastating.
But Kinnison's approach to the core world of
Thrale is the complete opposite. Thrale is inhabited
by a near -human race that serves as the muscular
core of the Bascon empire. The heavy hitters.
Exactly. Kinesen goes in disguise. It is basically
the most lethal version of Undercover Boss you
can imagine. That's a great comparison. Instead
of putting on a fake mustache and handing out
gift cards, Kinesen infiltrates the personal
guards of the Tyrant of Thrale. And he succeeds
by playing entirely by their rules. Advancement
within the Bosconian hierarchy is a pure Darwinian
nightmare. Survival of the fittest. Totally.
Promotions are entirely based on deceit, betrayal,
and assassination. But Kinesen... armed with
the intelligence and sense of perception of a
second stage lensman is vastly superior at this
game. He just beats them at their own game. He
simply out deceives the deceivers. He literally
assassinates the tyrant and just takes his place.
He becomes the new boss. He does. But and I love
this twist he sits on the throne only to realize
he's a figurehead. The real power, the actual
puppet master of this entire hostile civilization
is the prime minister. a being named Faustin.
Which puts Kinnison in an incredibly precarious
position. Faustin is mentally super powerful.
So Kinnison has to hide. Exactly. To keep his
cover from being blown, Kinnison has to play
the part of the tyrant with absolute perfection.
He can't show a single sliver of hesitation.
Right. Any hesitation. and he's dead. This means
he has to actively execute the former tyrant's
ongoing military plans, which involves building
a massive, unstoppable fleet of warships designed
to attack Clovia. And Clovia is the Galactic
Patrol's most heavily fortified planet in the
second galaxy. He has to actually build the weapons
that are meant to destroy his own people just
to maintain his disguise. It's the ultimate tightrope
walk. But Kinnison is always one step ahead.
As he's ordering the construction of this doom
fleet, he is secretly using his lens to keep
the patrol completely updated. Feeding them everything.
Right. He's given them the blueprints, the deployment
schedules, the hyperspace routes, everything.
It's the perfect trap. The Busconians think they
are launching a surprise decapitation strike
against Clovia. But they really are. Not at all.
Because the patrol wiped out the previous Busconian
fleet with the sunbeam and left absolutely no
survivors to report back on the weapon's existence,
the tyrant's new fleet is flying completely blind.
They sail straight into the meat grinder. The
Grand Fleet and the Sunbeam are waiting and the
Voskonian Armada is just totally obliterated.
Wiped out. But Kinnison intentionally disables
the drive on his own command ship so it drops
out of the fleet formation just before the battle
starts. Meaning he is now trapped on a dead ship
completely alone with the super powerful Prime
Minister, Faustin. The stage is set for the climax.
Okay, here's where it gets really interesting.
Kinnison and Faustin face off. It is a battle
royal. but not with fists or blasters. Purely
mental. Fought entirely with mental weapons.
And we aren't just talking about intense mind
reading here. Their minds are clashing with such
unbelievable kinetic force that the spent energy,
just the physical ricochets bouncing off their
mental shields is so intense that it literally
destroys the minds of every single crew member
trapped on the ship with them. The collateral
damage of their telepathic warfare is horrifying.
It's just brutal. It really emphasizes the sheer
godlike scale of power these second stage lensmen
are wielding. The crew members aren't even targeted.
Their brains are just short circuited by being
in the proximity of that much psychic kinetic
energy. Kinnison finally manages to batter down
Faustin's mental shield. And when he breaks through,
the physical humanoid form of Faustin drops away.
Mask comes off. Exactly. What Kinnison sees sitting
there is basically just a giant brain. And it
looks exactly like the brother of Mentor of Orishin.
Which is quite a shock. Kinnison is reeling.
He immediately sends a lensed thought across
the galaxy to Mentor, demanding to know what
an Orishin is doing leading the evil Buscon Empire.
It's a very fair question. I mean, if your ultimate
boss's brother is running the enemy syndicate,
you want answers. Definitely. And Mentor provides
an explanation. An explanation that completely
satisfies Kinnison, putting his doubts entirely
to rest. But, and this absolutely blew my mind
reading the source text, Mentor's explanation
was a complete 100 % lie. A total fabrication.
Kinnison did not just fight a rogue Erysian.
He actually just fought, defeated, and destroyed
a being named Garlane of Eddor. Yep. This entity
was an immortal being historically responsible
for most of the death and misery in Earth's history.
Like, he was the Roman Emperor Nero. He was the
villain Grey Roger. If we connect this to the
bigger picture, this is a profound moment of
paternalistic deception by the supposedly benevolent
Erisians. Yeah, that's a good way to phrase it.
Mentor literally casts a mental illusion into
Kinnison's mind, making him see an Erisian brain
instead of Garland's true, horrifying Adorian
form. He just fakes it. He does. Mentor justifies
- this gaslighting by deciding that the time
has not yet come for anyone in civilization to
see what the ultimate leaders of Buscon actually
look like. But why? Like why go through the trouble
of casting an illusion after Kinnison just won
the fight? Because Mentor believes that the sheer
incomprehensible alien malice of an Adorian's
true form would literally break a human mind.
Oh, wow. Even a mind as strong as Kineson's.
Mentor operates on the premise that humanity
simply isn't ready for the unvarnished truth
of the universe. That's pretty arrogant. It's
remarkably similar to modern debates over classified
intelligence. Think about governments hiding
UFO data or wartime secrets because they believe
the public would panic. Mentor is doing that,
but telepathically to his top general. It's gaslighting
on a galactic scale. They let him fight the ultimate
evil, but they won't let him see it. It truly
is. But practically speaking, the patrol wins
the immediate conflict. Kinnison and his agents
bring the warm -blooded world of Thrale into
civilization. Meanwhile, Nadric successfully
assimilates the frigid world faction on Onlo.
Civilization and the Galactic Patrol are now
the undisputed controllers of both the first
and second galaxies. And the personal objectives
are met too. That wedding we talked about at
the very beginning, it finally happens. Who's
last? Kinnison is promoted to Galactic Coordinator
of the Second Galaxy, and he and Clarissa McDougal
finally tie the knot. A happy ending, at least
on the surface. But when this book hit the shelves
in 1953, the critical reception was incredibly
polarizing. Really? People didn't love it. Well,
Groff Conklin reviewing it that year called Smith's
writing, pretty dull going for people who want
a bit more than thud and blunder. He clearly
wasn't impressed by the planetary nutcrackers.
Sudden blunder. Ouch. That is a brutal 1950s
burn. But then you has P. Skyler Miller, who
completely embraced what the book was trying
to be. He called it space opera to the nth degree
and accurately predicted that you either like
it a lot, even if you probably won't believe
a word of it or you simply can't stand it at
all. It's a love it or hate it kind of thing.
Exactly. It's unapologetic in its scale and its
ambition. So what does this all mean for us today?
When you look at Second Stage Lensman, you are
looking at the fossil record of modern science
fiction. Absolutely. You can see the genre actively
evolving right there on the page. We moved from
simple physical destruction, you know, smashing
planets together like toys, into complex mental
espionage. A huge leap. We explored the logical
ceiling. of an arms race. And most importantly,
we saw the introduction of the very first female
lensman, which was a critical, if clunkily executed,
step forward for the universe Smith created.
It laid the groundwork for so much of the sprawling
complex media we consume today. But this raises
an important question for you, the listener,
to mull over as we close. Let's hear it. We live
in an era of constant information flow, where
narratives are shaped by algorithms, media outlets,
and leaders. What are the implications of relying
on a mentor who fundamentally believes that manipulating
your perception of reality is for your own good?
Oh, that's a chilling thought. If your ultimate
victory, your very understanding of the world,
is built on a fundamental illusion cast by your
own side, who really won the war? It really makes
you wonder if your reality is being managed from
above by someone who thinks you aren't ready
for the truth. Maybe those little hiccups in
life we talked about, the missing floral arrangements,
the interrupted weddings, are the only truly
real unscripted things we have. Keep questioning
those illusions, and thanks for joining us on
this deep dive.