And I'd like to know; if the secret is passed down from generation to generation, why wasn't Liz told from her father about the secret?
Dom
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I hate, hate, absolutely hate, but really and truly hate time paradoxes. Because as it stands, Elizabeth would have learned the secret from dear old Daddy and theoretically should have known damn well who "cousin Barnabas" was when he came knocking on her door.
But I suppose it goes something like this: Barnabas shows up and alters the past (1897). Edith has a massive coronary and dies before she can pass on this little family heirloom. Edward, Jamison and therefore Elizabeth never learn the secret. However, there's also an argument that she would theoretically have known it because until he starts messing around with Quentin's I-Ching wands, history went like this: he got into his coffin in 1795/6 and didn't get out of it until 1966.
Of course, then there are those who argue that well, no, he did. By travelling back in time Barnabas screwed up the time continuum (sp?) but good and by stepping out of the box (really, almost like the TARDIS in a weird way) in 1840
and in 1897 really and truly altered the fabric of history.
Did I mention how much I hate time paradoxes?
Luciaphil
(who is only ever able to explain the whole Tasha Yar thing after she's had a couple of vodka gimlets)