"While your friend holds you affectionatly by both hands, you are safe, for you can watch both of his."
- Ambrose Bierce
(These are all just random little thoughts that popped into my head. Don't take 'em TOO seriously.)
1. You Think The Fall Killed Him?
Yes, it looked like a huge fall from really far up. But just how bad could it have been, considering he was alive before the sattelite came crashing down? He was a Double-0 operative, after all. He was Bond's equal in many, many ways. So is it so improbable to assume that he, like Bond, could get himself out of anything and everything? How many times have we seen Mr. Bond turn the tables even when the odds were at their worst? If Bond can do it, then certainly, Trevelyan could too. In fact, we could cling to the dim hope that he was laying in just such a place that the falling debris missed vital points, allowing him to crawl away from the disaster in horrible condition...but alive.
2. In the Begining... Fatal Bullet or Fiendish Prank?
Let's start at the begining. Bond and Trevelyan rendevous and proceed to the "bottling room" (I have no idea what it was really called, but that is what it is referred to as in the N64 game) to blow the place sky high. After a short exchange of fire between 006 and the swarming guards (as James sets mines), Alec is "overwhelmed" and "captured". James peeks around the nearest mine-laden tank and sees 006 kneeling on the floor, Ourumov holding a gun to his head. A scene follows with Bond ready to surrender to save his partner. (I cheer for Bond every time I see this scene.) Trevelyan tells him to finish the job, but Bond puts his weapon down, puts his hands up, and comes forward. And then, the interesting stuff: another comment from Alec, Ourumov pulls the trigger, and 006's body goes sprawling. Bond, shaken, grabs up his weapon and quickly scrambles back behind the tank. Notice the look on his face. True pain. (lol)
There are several theories about how Bond (and the audience) is fooled into thinking that that was the end of Alec. One: it was all a fake-out, because Alec and Ourumov were already plotting together. Two (the theory I, as a 006 and Sean Bean fan, favor) : Ourumov did indeed fire a real bullet, but aimed the gun so that it perhaps grazed his head, knocking him unconscious. This is also a possiblility, because Bond never gets nearly close enough to see - much less examine - the head wound (if any).
3. The Brainwash Theory
Is it possible that Trevelyan's actions were not his own? That he didn't mean for the entire Goldeneye thing to happen? An interesting idea. Suppose, for the sake of Trevelyan's reputation, that he awoke after the explosion, burned and (going with the second theory) with a head wound, Ourumov and some surviving guards the only people in sight. It would have been easy for Ourumov to convince Trevelyan of anything
he wanted to convince him of, including Bond's "betrayal". Already weakened, hurt, and probably confused and disoriented, brainwashing the agent probably would come easy. All Ourumov would have to do is sow the seeds of hate and distrust, talk Alec into thinking Bond was the ultimate enemy, when in reality it was Ourumov who was the bad guy.
So, then, perhaps we can forgive Trevelyan's actions in Goldeneye. Maybe we can forgive all the insults he heaped on Bond, all of the attempts on Bond's life, and move on. Make way for a whole new era: 006 and 007, back together and ready to save the world again.
4. This Is Your Wake-Up Call...
The brainwashing, or whatever Ourumov did to him, can't last forever. Maybe, just maybe, the fall from the antenna woke our other favorite agent up, freed him of the affects of the brainwashing evil Mr. Ourumov subjected him to. People who can't envision Trevelyan intentionally doing wrong, daydream (and sometimes just plain dream) that 006 is out there somewhere, wanting to get in touch with Bond and get it all straightened out. Perhaps he's afraid to come forward because of what Bond might do to him. Once the brainwashing is broken, Alec will not only recall that Bond was about to surrender to keep him from being executed, but that Bond did, after all, let him fall... If Trevelyan is a forgiving person, or maybe a logical person, he could take into consideration all of the things he did while brainwashed, and could, possibly, see the reasons why 007 did what he did... After all, if he's intelligent and doesn't let his hurt feelings rule his life, then he'd see that Bond had to let him fall. He would have done the same had their positons been reversed.
5. To Shoot or Not to Shoot, That Is The Question
Bond, all in all, is the more ruthless and cold of the two (but you could say that Alec is the more cowardly)... Based on what we see in the movie, that is. Trevelyan may not be all that wonderful as a person, but he doesn't blow his former friend's head off the second he has the chance. In fact, it's like he'd read the script... *wink* He doesn't fire the gun he has trained on Bond until Bond figures out to use the ladder as his escape route and slides down to the platform where their showdown takes place. If we squint real hard (and put entirely too much faith in Trevelyan's humanity) we can imagine Alec not shooting at all if Bond hadn't made the first move. Who knows? They could still be standing there, lol. The important thing IS that few seconds of hesitation. (Even though we all know that this is cronic with Bond villains... They capture Bond, but instead of capping him right off, they all feel the need to rib him about being captured and hooked to the newest death/torture machine, or explain their master plan so that when Bond inevitably finds an ingenious way to get free, he knows the bad guy's next move.)
Now think about this: What would have happened if it had been Bond hanging from his foot, asking (c'mon, we all know that half-hearted "For England, James?" wasn't begging) for mercy? My answer: I don't have an answer. No clue. And that is my final answer. It would be nice to think that Alec would have pulled him back up, but then again, he was the one who stepped on Bond's hand, causing him to fall to the platform in the first place. But that could be counterbalanced with the fact that Alec didn't kill him the two times he got the drop on Bond. =)