[General Battuta]

Whatever communication occurred was, I'd guess, on a level more primordial than language. Not to say that there's some kind of primeval ur-meaning; simply that the Vishnans probably had complete access to Sam's mind and knowledge and were able to build an interface of sorts. Thus the term 'Vishnan'. You'll note it sounds as if Sam coined it himself, if I recall correctly.

As for the communication between the Dante and the Preserver, we don't know from what kind of POV that was observed, but I think it's safe to say they weren't talking to each other in English.

[Leeko]

I agree with General Battuta. Any sufficiently advanced technology can easily be mistaken for magic.
They might be godlike to us, but who's to say they don't have the ability to read Terran computer files (or, as Battuta suggested, Sam's brain) and discern from it an appropriate name? Perhaps they identified with the Hindu god Vishnu, much as Khonsu II identified with ancient Egypt, and adopted the name for use during communication with Terrans. It's also equally possible that Sam thought of it, and it just stuck. It did almost seem like he coined it himself, as the good general mentioned.

Battuta also has a point about the communication between the Preserver and the Dante. I don't recall the conversation ever being acknowledged by Sam or anyone else, so it's reasonable to assume it wasn't in English. Darius probably didn't want to break the fourth wall by outright saying that they were communicating in an alien tongue, if he had considered it at all.

[The E]

Yeah. The only thing that was communicated to the humans was the "We've opened the gate" bit, I think.

[High Max]

;-)

[General Battuta]

All that is real, is real. You draw a false dichotomy between the material and the spiritual.

Or at least that's the Vasudans' take on it.  

[Leeko]

All that is real, is real. You draw a false dichotomy between the material and the spiritual.

Or at least that's the Vasudans' take on it. 

In other words, the spiritual is just very advanced technology. It might be some form of psychic ability or somesuch, but there is a scientific explanation for it. It's no act of divinity.

Did I get that right?

[General Battuta]

The human mind is a limited computational system—limited not only in the volume of data it can process, and the complexity of the connections it can assemble, but, perhaps, in the very order of phenomena it can comprehend. You can no more feed a digital computer a program to describe a human emotion than you can explain to a human some of the things the Vishnans perceive.

The Vishnans may be 'very advanced technology' in the way that a modern warplane runs on heap big medicine, if you take my meaning. There may be paradigms of thought and existence out there that we do not yet parse well.

People like TrashMan tend to turn up their nose at the notion of 'energy beings', but it's very likely the Vishnans are something far more than that trope.

This is all my take on it, not official commentary.

[Leeko]

Well said, and seconded.

As Q once said, "Why must you humans think so four-dimensionally?"

[High Max]

;-)

[Leeko]

Good luck getting any answers.

[eliex]

Although we don't know the specifics, I believe 3 chapters of BP are planned. It is almost certain that the Shivans and Vishnans will be involved in a resolution to humanity's potential to become the Great Creators.

[-Norbert-]

Or perhaps the GTVA wins, slaughters everyone on Earth and Humans become the replacement for the Shivans.

No I don't really think that will be the case, but I have to say it does sound interresting...

[Leeko]

BP is indeed planned as a trilogy. And humanity's potential to become the Great Creators will probably be further explored in the third chapter, if not in WiH.

[da1edwin]

Or perhaps the GTVA wins, slaughters everyone on Earth and Humans become the replacement for the Shivans.

No I don't really think that will be the case, but I have to say it does sound interresting...

Well, the Shivans were kicked out of their position as the Destroyers by the Vishnans. So while this would be an incredibly depressing and unlikely end to the series, it does seem like someone has to take over as the Destroyers eventually.

[General Battuta]

In one universe.

[Leeko]

And on Eriana and Sam's ages... even if they were children of Great War vets, making them around 50 years old, that's probably much younger than it seems to us. You've got to remember, it takes place around 2385. With medical technology over 300 years more advanced than our own, people probably live much, much longer. Same deal with Halo, as a matter of fact. Sgt. Johnson is 82 by the time that
he dies at the end of Halo 3.

[High Max]

;-)

[Leeko]

Erm, did you see how old Bones was in the very first episode?

Besides that, it never makes mention of any of the original crew dying from old age. It's entirely possible they're still alive, as Bones was.
That is, with the exception of Kirk, but that's a different story. Specifically, Star Trek: Generations.
But that's irrelevant - Star Trek is not FreeSpace.

[High Max]

;-)

[-Norbert-]

If you mean the Episode where Q let him jump through three different timeframes (past, present and future) then you can't take that as reference, since the future Picard had some kind of incurable illness.
I remember MacCoys age being mentioned in film 6 "the undiscovered country", but I can't remember what it was. But it was certainly below 100 for sure even though he was about to be retired.

But regardless of how old Humans can become in the FreeSpace universe, it would still leave Eriana and Sam with decades of difference in age if the parallel universe Eriana is the same as his wife.
If they are the same that would mean that Eriana is 32 years younger than at the wedding while Sam is 18 years older. That's 50 years difference!