The Three-Body Problem

The ETO consisted of intellectuals and scientists, mainly from the “highly educated classes” (344). Despite the lingering hesitancy toward their families, the members agreed that the human race needed outside interference and potentially even destruction. Given the prevailing sense of alienation in the world, the ETO grew quickly and “semi-openly.” Most governments dismissed it as a ridiculous fringe movement and did nothing to intervene in its growth. Within the ETO, two factions emerged. The Adventists loathed humanity so much that they wanted the entire species wiped out. The Redemptionists took a more “religious” approach to Trisolaris, investing the Trisolarans with a divine quality and referring to them as “Lord.” The search for a solution to the three-body problem, they claimed, was a “religious ritual.” They used the Three Body video game to spread the Redemptionist message. Through the game, many people learned about the Trisolarans. The use of human history and avatars, the Redemptionists hoped, would make the idea of the Trisolarans more sympathetic. Players who progressed far enough in the game were recruited into the ETO.

The conflict between the Adventists and the Redemptionists was intense. While the former hoped that the Trisolarans would annihilate humanity, the latter hoped that humanity and the Trisolarans could coexist. From this argument emerged another faction named the Survivors. Knowing that a war between humanity and the Trisolarans will occur within several centuries, the Survivors sought to outlast the aliens by any means possible. Rather than uniting people, the knowledge of the aliens actually divided humanity even more.

The transcript of Ye’s interrogation describes the factions within the ETO. The Adventists seized control of all communications with the Trisolarans, so Ye tried to construct a third Red Coast Base. As of four years ago, however, “all communications” with the aliens has stopped. Ye rejects the idea that she’s either an Adventist or a Redemptionist; she admits to starting the organization but she couldn’t “control” how it has evolved. Furthermore, she can’t bring herself to destroy Evans’s boat because the loss of the Second Red Coast Base would mean the loss of all communication records between humanity and the Trisolarans. To the Redemptionists, these communications are essentially religious texts. During her explanation, the interrogator notes that Ye refers to the Trisolarans as “Lord.”

Ye tells a story about a previous communication with the Trisolarans. The aliens sent “two protons” at the speed of light. The purpose of these two protons, Ye explains, is to essentially lock humanity into a specific technological era. In the 450 years before the Trisolarans arrive, humanity won’t be able to progress to a sufficiently advanced state to defeat the aliens. Ye doesn’t understand exactly how the protons function, which, she suggests, only shows that humans are “mere bugs” compared to the Trisolarans. Wang Miao and Ding Yi have been listening to the interrogation. They’re unsure whether to believe Ye. Ding explains to Wang how “a tiny high-dimensional structure can contain a huge low-dimensional structure” (356). There are many such micro-dimensions, he explains, so the manipulation of this could house energy, information, and much more in the space of a single proton. Wang is concerned, but Ding tells him that all he can do is his “best within [his] responsibility” (358). He suggests that they go for a drink.

Shi takes Wang to the Battle Command Center. For the first time in human history, Wang realizes, the armies of the world are united against “the same enemy” (359), the Trisolarans. For now, however, that war means fighting against “the traitors to the human race” (360), the ETO. General Chang explains his mission. He’s tasked with intercepting all communications from the ETO ship without “destroying the data” (361). Since the ship is about to pass through the Panama Canal, the perfect opportunity has arisen. The militaries collaborate on the plan. As they struggle to agree, however, Shi shares his plan. The military men don’t take him seriously, but he insists that he has plenty of experience of dealing with criminals. Shi suggests that they use the nanomaterials “developed by Professor Wang” (365) to slice open the ship as it passes through the canal. Shi further suggests that they string a long net of nanomaterials across the Canal’s narrowest point to slice apart the ship and kill the crew. Wang confirms that the plan could work. Any deaths are justified in the name of “the very survival of human civilization” (368).

Four days later, Wang and General Stanton travel to Panama to set up the trap. Panama has also been the target of vast deforestation. As they set up the nanomaterial net, Stanton reflects on his military history. So many events that seemed significant in the past now seem “insignificant.” As the ship approaches, Wang’s pulse quickens. The ship passes through the net and, at first, nothing seems to happen. Then, the entire ship falls apart. A “fleet of helicopters” (375) storms the wreck, and Wang watches through binoculars.

The interrogator continues to interview Ye, asking her why she could trust the Trisolarans. Ye can’t provide any scientifically grounded justification. The interrogator suggests that her faith in the aliens is rooted in her love for her father. She remains silent. The interrogator tells her about the events at the Panama Canal. Evans is dead, he says, and the Trisolaran messages have been recovered. For the first time, Ye is able to read the messages sent by the Trisolarans and know “the reality of the Trisolaran civilization” (376).

Ye reads the messages between Evans and the Trisolarans. The messages describe how, on Trisolaris, hundreds of individuals were assigned listening posts to monitor all forms of interstellar messages. The listening posts were remote and lonely but safe from the effects of the Chaotic Eras. During one Chaotic Era, the listener at Post 1379 was reflecting on the lonely nature of the universe. Then, the listener spotted the waveform representing Ye’s communication, clearly “modulated by intelligence” (378). The listener learned that Earth existed and became enraptured with the idea of “a paradise where the climate was eternally mild” (379). Then, the listener became depressed because they’d never see Earth. The existence of the message, the listener surmised, would mean that the Trisolarans would travel to Earth and then destroy any beauty they encountered. Furthermore, the message’s existence would render the listener’s job meaningless. Without a job, the listener would be “forcibly dehydrated and then burnt” (381). The listener hoped that, if they sent a warning message to Earth, a Trisolaran invasion could be avoided. Just like Ye, the listener typed out a message with “slender fingers,” warning Ye not to answer and knowing that the fate of her species was about to change forever.

The leader of the Trisolaris civilization, the princeps, learns what the listener has done. The princeps feels nothing; Trisolaris society considers emotions a form of weakness. Calmness and neutral numbness are necessary to survive the “harsh environment” of Trisolaris. The listener is summoned to the princeps’s palace, and they discuss Earth. They debate whether the existence of Earth or the survival of the Trisolarans is more important. The listener blames the “spiritual monotony” of Trisolarans, who have made their own lives miserable and meaningless; they have no art or culture. The princeps responds that when such societies did exist in the past, they didn’t survive the Chaotic Eras. Such societies were inherently weaker. If the Trisolarans went to Earth, the princeps argues, they could also begin to make art. The listener doesn’t agree, arguing that Trisolaran culture is too ingrained in Trisolarans. The princeps spares the listener from execution. Instead, he’s forced to live with the knowledge that his attempt to save Earth has failed. The princeps orders the shutdown of all listening posts and the dehydration of all listeners. They’ll be executed for the crimes of the one listener. Then, the princeps orders the Trisolaran fleet to prepare to travel to Earth. They’ll set off, even if they don’t know their exact destination. Doing so is worth the “gamble” because Trisolaris could be destroyed anytime.

Just over eight Earth years pass. The princeps holds “an emergency meeting” (388) of the government at the monument in the shape of a pendulum. A reply from Earth has been received, the princeps announces, from which they can deduce the relative location of Earth. However, humanity’s technology is progressing fast, and by the time the Trisolaran fleet reaches Earth, humanity may have “long surpassed” the Trisolarans in terms of innovation. Any invasion could potentially be defeated. Based on the attitudes of Ye, a “traitor” to humanity, the princeps has decided that work can be done to prepare humanity for the Trisolarans’ arrival. They must hinder human science by placing a massive supercomputer inside a proton, which will then be fired from a particle accelerator toward Earth. The multidimensional proton will unfold upon arrival. Efforts to build this proton have caused environmental damage to Trisolaris, creating thin strands of one-dimensional light and three large dimensional objects that resemble “giant eyes.” The Trisolaran scientists believe that these eyes possess some kind of intelligence, though they aren’t alive. When the eyes merge into a single, giant eye, and then into a “parabolic mirror,” the scientists recommend that the princeps hide in his bunker, since the mirror may reflect the suns’ rays and destroy the civilization. Just as this is about to happen, the military is able to destroy the mirror with nuclear weapons.

The princeps allows the scientists to try one more time to develop the supercomputer. The princeps is told that in the course of these experiments, a number of entire microcosmos have been created and destroyed. Given the regularity of the experiments, they’ve created and destroyed countless numbers of civilizations. The princeps learns that, on Earth, human alienation is increasing. Much like Earth, however, Trisolaran society is split on how to deal with the situation. Some Trisolarans don’t want to invade Earth. An “extremely dangerous pacifism” (404) has developed. The princeps dictates that all future communications with Earth should be handled in secret. The scientists create the supercomputer, but doing so encases the entire planet in a proton shell and blocks all heat from the suns, plunging the planet into freezing conditions. The only Trisolarans not dehydrated are those working on the supercomputer or the spaceships. Eventually, the proton is ready. It’s named the sophon and is issued commands by the scientists. More sophons are created in a much more efficient manner. The first two sophons are fired at Earth, where they then unfold and interfere with humanity’s scientific research. The sophons target humanity’s particle accelerators, ensuring “wrong and chaotic results” (413) while also creating more sophons. These sophons prevent humanity’s technology from becoming too advanced and have the capacity to induce strange phenomena, such as the countdowns in Wang’s photographs. In addition, Trisolaris maintains sophons of its own, allowing them to “monitor the Earth in real time” (417).

In the Battle Command Center, the militaries of the world discuss the intelligent life that they’ve recovered. General Chang has learned about the sophons and feels that defeat at Trisolaran hands is inevitable. Just as he’s sharing his concern, the Trisolarans reach out for the first time to humans outside the ETO. Everyone in the command center sees the same message flash in front of their eyes. The Trisolarans tell humanity, “You’re bugs!”

Wang drinks with Shi and Ding at Ding’s house. Shi is the only person with any optimism left for humanity’s future. Wang now sees his advanced nanomaterial research as hilariously primitive compared to Trisolaran technology. Ding raises a toast to bugs, sophons, and “the end of the world” (420). Shi tries to revive the others’ spirits by taking them to visit the place where he grew up. The fields are now “covered by a layer of locusts” (421). Shi uses this as a lesson, asking whether the gap between Trisolaran technology and human technology is any greater than the gap “between locusts and humans” (422). Wang thinks about this. Humans have tried to exterminate bugs for centuries but have never succeeded. Wang is filled with a renewed sense of optimism, thinking about the research that lays ahead.

Ye is an old woman, but despite her age, she can climb to the top of Radar Peak. At the summit, only a small patch of grass is left where the Red Coast Base once stood. On closer inspection, Ye finds the old base of the antenna. A plaque fixed near it commemorates Red Coast Base as existing between 1968 and 1987. To Ye, the plaque seems more like “an attempt to forget” (424) than a memorial. Ye approaches the cliff where she killed Yang and Lei. The sun sets in the distance. Ye whispers to herself, thinking about her personal sunset and the sunset for the rest of humanity as she prepares to throw herself off the cliff.