How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from 12 Monkeys.
Quote #4
RAILLY: Though injured, the young soldier disappeared from the hospital, no doubt trying to carry on his mission to warn others and substituting for the agony of war a self-inflicted agony we call the "Cassandra Complex."
Cassandra, in Greek legend, was condemned to know the future but to be disbelieved when she foretold it. Hence, the agony of foreknowledge combined with the impotence to do anything about it.
Remember those ancient philosophers who started the age-old debate? A fair share of them were Greeks, and the Greeks explored this theme in their mythologies as well. Cassandra is one example, and the film is tipping its hat to its inspiration.
As in Cassandra's story, 12 Monkeys argues that even if we knew the future, or knew that determinism were true, we couldn't do anything to prevent what would happen anyway.
Quote #5
COLE [sighs]: You were very upset. You're always very upset in the dream. Just never knew it was you.
RAILLY: It wasn't me before, James. It's become me now because of what's happening. [Sighs.] Could you please untie me?
COLE [shakes his head]: No, I think it was always you. Very strange.
Cole's dream does change throughout the film. At one point, he envisions Jeffery Goines boarding the airplane with the virus, but we later learn that it is, in fact, Dr. Peters. What are we to make of this shifting dream?
One theory for solving time-traveling paradoxes is called the self-healing hypothesis. It argues that you can change the past, but this change will set off a chain of events to self-correct the change, ensuring the present remains the same. At one point, maybe Goines was the one to release the virus, but then Cole's meddling in the past caused things to change so Dr. Peters did the deed. Either way, the virus is destined to be released, which, in a word, equals determinism.
Quote #6
JOSE: Ah, hey man. You got a pardon. What do you want?
COLE: Who am I supposed to shoot? Who am I supposed to shoot?
RAILLY: James! James! It's Dr. Goines' assistant. He's an apocalypse nut. I saw him a minute ago; I think he's involved. The next flight to San Francisco leaves from Gate 38. If he's there, I'm sure he's part of it.
And here we come to the end of the causality loop…or is it the beginning? Like so many Greek characters before him, Cole runs right toward his predetermined fate while trying to run away from it. Oedipus and this guy should start a support group.
In trying to stop the virus from being released, Cole is gunned down by security officers. We learn that Cole's recurring dream is actually a memory of his own death, as his younger self witnesses the event. In the end, Cole couldn't escape his fate.