speculation on book (mentions events in serenity!)

POSTED BY: tintin220
UPDATED: Monday, October 17, 2005 19:04
VIEWED: 6930
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LISTER

Sunday, October 16, 2005 8:18 PM

From Objects In Space:

BOOK: I don't give half a hump if you're
innocent or not.
(beat)
So where does that put you?

For all the things I hear about Book finding God and leaving the Alliance and all that, I keep coming back to this line, and what it means. Nothing good I'm sure.

One would think that in this life
Where no two snowflakes are alike
One would have a brilliant rhyme
For each and every bit of time.

- The Yeti, CLUTCH

BROWNCOATFAN1

Sunday, October 16, 2005 10:14 PM

maybe he was some kind of secret lawman or something like that. it made me so mad that we still did not find out who exactly he is! also in one of the expisodes in firefly, in war stores he knew the tracks were from a fast burnig rocket shuttle. he must of had something to do with alliance.

TINTIN220

Monday, October 17, 2005 2:18 AM

i also found it curious how experienced book is in terms of fighting (hand to hand and guns)

RABBIT2

Monday, October 17, 2005 5:44 AM

I think that when we are looking at the operative in the movie we are looking at an earlier vesion of Book.
They have both probably been through the same sort of training and indoctrination that made them totally dedicated to their job.
Book, like the operative at the end found out something that made him question the morality of what he had been doing and became a priest to in some way atone.
I doubt that it was the Miranda affair but probably something else equally bad.

RUNA27

Monday, October 17, 2005 6:12 AM

Hey! I'm new here, and a newbie Browncoat, actually, having only gotten into it (and boy have I. My bank account weeps after all the first-edition-comic-hunting, boxset-buying, Browncoat bracelet-buying spree I did last week ), thanks to SciFi Channel's reruns/promotional thing.

I have to admit, having just seen Serenity today (I know. I wanted to see it earlier in the release, but the person I was bumming a ride from didn't show up, and I have so many classes and work that I couldn't get there until today!)...

Yes. My immediate thought was "Wow. Is he a former Operative?". This having not seen all of the TV series yet, either, but the evidence from the series listed here leads me to lean towards that as well.

Select to view spoiler:

Of course, now we'll probably never know, since he's... you know. ;_;

On a side note...

Select to view spoiler:

It was so sad when Wash died! ;_; And shocking... one minute, all sigh-of-reliefy, then BOOM! something falls through the windsheild or something!? But, during my post-movie chat with my mother, who I dragged to the theatre for it, we agreed that it really made the ending that much scarier and more thrilling, because after killing WASH, for goodness sakes, who knows who they'd kill next!? I'm shocked that we didn't lose anyone we really cared about after Wash. It sure as hell seemed like we were about to. And then the ending... the paralell between Zoe's loss and the beating Serenity took... so beautiful. I'm forever in awe of Joss now.

Great movie, though. Fun and scary and exciting in its own right, but wonderful if you're a fan... which do believe was the point, of course, but that just means it succeeded!

-Runa27

Can't Stop The Signal

THEREALME

Monday, October 17, 2005 6:13 AM

I once thought that Book was the general who won the Battle of Serenity. But who later quit, disgusted in the aftermath of that bloody battle. That would make an interesting mirror image with Mal.

Book won the Battle of Serenity and found God.

Mal lost the Battle of Serenity and lost God.

But now, I'm pretty sure we are meant to believe that Book was an Operative. (Note my careful phrasing! )

The Real Me, First Officer of the Sereni-Tree

MAJOST

Monday, October 17, 2005 6:14 AM

We actually know quite a bit about Book. (Yeah, most of it has been mentioned before, but here it all is together)

-He got superb treatment on the Alliance Cruiser (Safe). So he was Alliance at some point, but he had obviously left the ranks... he must have left on some sort of good standing.

-He wasn't born a Shepherd... He probably did something military related since he can shoot kneecaps with extreme accuracy and knows guns, ships, etc very well.

-He wasn't high enough in the Alliance to have a public face... or just wasn't public. That to me rules out parliament or creator or even general in the military. And yet Early and (apparently in the novel) the Operative in the BDM knew him. (Well, Early at least knew something about him).

-He had sworn to protect the lawman in Serenity (Pilot)... I believe he made this oath in his previous life and not during the episode.

-His thought in OiS is probably a flashback to an execution he conducted during his previous life.

That, combined with the knowledge from the BDM that there exist operatives without names or ranks makes me think that it's the only way all of the above could be true. How else would he still get that kind of reception on the cruiser - it must be that his alliance identity only ever half-existed.

THRAWN

Monday, October 17, 2005 8:11 AM

Actually, the novelization straight up says he used to be an Operative. No speculation necessary.

DONCOAT

Monday, October 17, 2005 1:53 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Thrawn:
Actually, the novelization straight up says he used to be an Operative. No speculation necessary.

But I don't think we can take the novelization as canon.

Joss has been quoted as saying that he simply hands the script off to the author, then washes his hands of further involvement in the novelizations (of the movie and his other opuses). That suggests that any details that are in the book (small b), but not in the script, are embellishments by the author, not reliable descriptions of 'verse reality.

For example, in the novelization, the damaged Serenity flies off Mr. Universe's planetoid under its own power, before being repaired. This is just absurd; with only one thruster it couldn't go anywhere (except maybe flip itself over on its back).

That being said, even if we accept what the novelization says, it doesn't preclude the possibility that Book was something other than an Operative at some stage of his career.

MONTANAGIRL

Monday, October 17, 2005 4:59 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by DonCoat:
But I don't think we can take the novelization as canon.

Joss has been quoted as saying that he simply hands the script off to the author, then washes his hands of further involvement in the novelizations (of the movie and his other opuses). That suggests that any details that are in the book (small b), but not in the script, are embellishments by the author, not reliable descriptions of 'verse reality.

KRAD, could you shed some light on this? Was saying Book was an operative you or was it on instructions from Joss? (Of course, if Joss said it straight out this is going to cut down a lot of fun speculations.)

-------------------------------------------------
"Do you accept gifts from strange men?" -Brisco
"Well, strange is no problem, but I draw the line at men I don't know." -Dixie

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