the real shepard book

POSTED BY: tudyksgagreel
UPDATED: Wednesday, October 27, 2004 16:11
VIEWED: 24687
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DRAKON

Wednesday, October 8, 2003 8:30 AM

Well it does double the chance Joss will notice it

"Wash, where is my damn spaceship?"

STILLSHINY

Wednesday, October 8, 2003 2:44 PM

In the process of showing the epps to some friends of ours. Using the order Haken has under the episode guide. Anyway, it's fun to watch newcomers twist over the "mystery man" Shepherd Book. Yep, I'm !

Mal: “See how I'm not punching him? I think I've grown!”

CHARLIEMOUSE

Tuesday, October 14, 2003 2:50 PM

One of the reasons i was so gutted about firefly being cancelled (apart from the fact that it was just great) was that we never got to learn the twists. Unlike a lot of other shows, Joss Whedon things generally dont throw stuff in unless they mean to explain it and i want to know about Book dammit.

My main theories are that

1. Alliance type (high up) who converted
2. Independance type (equally high up) who went into hiding / converted
3. Spent his youth in smuggling / piracy before repenting his sins and finding God.

Personally i want it to be 3, although i think it may well be one (the alliance ID if nothing else - although ill gotten wealth could buy status). Either way, i think he may be someone big enough that if the crew ever found out his name theyd know who he was.

"as with other situations, the key seems to be giving Jayne a heavy stick and standing back"

BARNEYT

Friday, October 17, 2003 12:47 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by charliemouse:
3. Spent his youth in smuggling / piracy before repenting his sins and finding God.

Personally i want it to be 3, although i think it may well be one (the alliance ID if nothing else - although ill gotten wealth could buy status). Either way, i think he may be someone big enough that if the crew ever found out his name theyd know who he was.

This is an interesting thought - rather than being actual Alliance military, he's a civilian that has a lot of clout with the Alliance - weapons manufacturer maybe...

---
"I think the right place to start is to say, fair is fair. This is who we are. These are our numbers." Mr Willis of Ohio - The West Wing

JK

Friday, October 17, 2003 4:58 PM

I dunno. If I had to guess, I'd say he was a program from the machine world...sorry, old Alliance geezer. There's just too much gunning for that theory. He's taken onto an Alliance cruiser for medical aid so quickly it's scary. He knows all about weapons and ships (two areas of knowledge that don't seem to logically overlap) and is competent in combat. Plus there's that bit in Serenity where Simon mentions the Alliance officer that was responsible for the defeat of the browncoats. Lot of speculation earlier ( http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=4&t=2072) that this officer was Book, and that'd make sense. You could see Joss doing that.

I do think he was a general who worked his way up, gathering all his strange little trivia on the way. He was in charge of the battle of Serenity Valley. Following the victory of the Alliance, he sees that the cause he fought for wasn't so great (that whole 'governments are ungoverned' bit?) and got all disillusioned. Found some faith. Joined Serenity because it was Serenity Valley that gave him his faith.

But then I could be wrong. Damn you Joss.

JK

"Where there monkeys? Some terrifying space monkeys maybe got loose?"

CALDEEN

Saturday, October 25, 2003 5:02 AM

If it is option 3 he could have been in the abby for something like the witness protection. An interesting thought.

SGTRAUKSAUFF

Monday, December 29, 2003 8:47 PM

There are a lot of really really interesting possibilities for him. My own cool thought was that he's somehow involved with the Blue Sun group as well as the Alliance, perhaps because the Alliance is aware of (bankrolling?) the human experiments being performed at their 'school'. I think Book could be even more highly trained than we know, and is a consummate 'secret agent' infiltrator type. I think he's there to keep an eye on the Tams, or to Keep Blue Sun from getting their hands on them too soon, if at all. I see River as an exremely pivotal part of this show, so I think that Book's involvement would be more in her direction than in Mal's.

Or, with the half-a-hump line, perhaps he had a disagreement with someone, but that comment was definitely in some sort of conflict-based context. (To really overanalyze it, wasn't the emphasis on the last word, "you" rather than "that".. so instead of 'Where does THAT Put you?', it was "Where does that put YOU?', like someone was being asked or forced to choose sides on an issue ). Whether it was said by Book or by someone speaking to him, it was Very different from all the other 'brain quotes' that River heard from everyone else.... I think that someone of higher or equal rank disagreed with him or did something he found out about.. maybe he was in command of a facility that was actually doing the experiments, he found out, and left? I think that he didn't leave though, because that Alliance ship jumped when they saw his ID badge.

hmm.. anyway, just some musings from a bored mind at work...

Bitch! I cut off my Beard for you!!

INSANESPIKE

Wednesday, December 31, 2003 1:23 AM

I never got a chance to watch "Firefly" until it was released on DVD, but after watching it once, I was in love.

However, the one thing that bugged me the most after watching the final episode was the fact that we never learned the truth about Book's past. So this is a topic I definitely want to weigh in on.

My theory tends to go along with many others that have already been mentioned here. Sometime in the past, during the war, Book was Alliance. That's the only way I can explain the prompt medical service he received as soon as the feds saw his ID card. But, the question is, what is he now? Is he really a shephard? Or is he still some sort of Alliance spy?

Now, knowing how Joss Whedon's mind operates, I could very easily see him going either way with this. But it's my opinion that Book is mostly what he appears to be. If he was some sort of Alliance spy, we most likely would have been given clues somewhere along the line. Also, I don't think he'd be so willing to put his life on the line for Mal like he did in "War Stories". I believe that it something along that same lines as several other have said. He realized the error of his ways after the war, and became a shephard to try and turn his life around. If I remember right, he said that he had been in the monastery for six years, and that would conincide with the end of war, right?

I just hope that when the move comes out, Joss lets us know what Book's secret is. Otherwise, I think I might go crazy!

"How drunk was I last night?"

GIANTROBO

Wednesday, December 31, 2003 8:15 AM

I personally get the impression that Book was a high ranking Alliance military officer. Maybe a decorated war hero or a general or something. Only he got delusioned during the war and saw how human the enemy really was... other people. so he got out of service, and chose the life of a shepard as some kind of personal redemption. Now he knows a few things from his past, and he holds high status with the alliance, but no longer servs them and isn't entirely sure about their all-encompassing rule. After all, things get mighty gray out here on the rim.

It's not the most original idea in the forum, but it's still the one I believe most probable.

MAL'SGAL

Saturday, January 3, 2004 6:35 PM

Who was Shepard Book and why did he find God (if is really is a Shepard)?

I like the idea that the Shepard's finding God may in some way be tied to Mal's loss of faith. Once again, it leads back to Serenity Valley.

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