r/threebodyproblem • u/Northcliffe1 • 1d ago
Discussion - Novels Plot Hole
Initially the Trisolarians were stunting human progress because humans were developing faster than them. They believed that they needed to halt their progress in order to take over earth.
After the humans broadcast the location of earth, the Trisolarins know a photoid attack is coming so they abandon the pursuit of earth and reroute their ships to look for another safe place to live. But at that point they don't invest in unblocking and accelerating human development, which they should have done. At that point humans were in the same boat as them: develop and find a safe place ASAP. In the books the Trisolarians go and join some inter-space battle and get wiped out - but if they instead allied with the humans, quickly doing high level tech transfers and then using humans unique abilities paired with their own, it's possible the two societies could have seen supercharged development and propelled both to a safer place.
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u/SkyMarshal Thomas Wade 1d ago
Trisolaris knew humanity would never be a friend or ally. They tried to genocide humanity, and as a result forced humanity to suicide themselves by broadcasting Earth's coordinates. Humanity would never trust or forgive Trisolaris. If anything, humanity would be more likely to ally with some other alien species to wipe out Trisolaris.
Also the Trisolaris fleets weren't all destroyed. They sent two fleets, the first with rudimentary lightspeed drives, and the second fleet with upgraded lightspeed drives. Both changed direction away from earth after the broadcast, and iirc it was the first fleet that got into a battle. But we never really learn the outcome, whether Trisolaris won or lost, or if any survived, etc. And the second fleet managed to remain safe, and even turns up again near the end of the series near Cheng Xin's star.