The Assignment (novella) the murder victim thought to be Tina von Lambert. Mistaken Identity The red fur coat that passes from Tina von Lambert to Jytte Sørensen to F. is representative of mistaken identity. Terrorism The underground desert compound is symbolic of the labyrinth in Greek mythology, built by Daedalus for King Minos of Crete to house the Minotaur. The criminally insane Achilles represents the Minotaur. The red fur coat that appears throughout is inspired by the red fur coat purchased by Dürrenmatt for Charlotte Kerr. Kerr's 1992 book portraying her marriage is titled "Die Frau im roten Mantel" (The Woman in the
The Daedalus Variations original concept of an episode involving alternate realities was a room in Atlantis that shifts into alternate realities. However, the idea had several issues, including the possibility of no Atlantis in one reality, so Robert C. Cooper suggested using the "Daedalus". The final draft of "The Daedalus Variations" was completed on February 11. On February 12, the prosthetics meeting for the episode, as well as "The Seed", "Broken Ties" and "Whispers" took place, which most likely involved the unknown aliens featured from the episode. The appearance of the aliens was revealed in the advertisement for the episode on July 27.