Theory about Inara

POSTED BY: MsBigPileofDust
UPDATED: Thursday, May 14, 2009 19:56
VIEWED: 20391
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HATEHATEHATEFOX

Tuesday, January 27, 2004 7:03 PM

Quote:
But I was also thinking that if its protection then it would have to put something into inara that if injested in any other form (such as through the eating of her flesh) then it will have negative effects on the skin-eating feind! It wouldnt effect her partner in any way but it will keep her hormones in check and her eggs at bay. But once injested by the Reavers it would make them go wonky.

Could it be, then, that Inara is some kind of sacrificial goat? Drugged with poison and waiting to be taken by the Reavers?

It would certainly explain why she was on such a disreputable ship out on the corner of No and Where. And, after all, Serenity has had 2 (?) encounters with Reavers already - isn't that some kind of record?

~~~~~~~~
Nothing is ever so profoundly regretted as a kind act.
Robertson Davies

GEORDIESTEVE2003

Tuesday, January 27, 2004 11:38 PM

Ok I've just read the entire thread. Stuff that makes most sense so far.

Inara doesnt want to die, but would she really be willing to endure what the Reavers might do to her, just to survive? They are supposed to kill remember, and worse before, so a sterilisation kit might make sense, something to make her unable to have a child. However, its highly likely everyone would be killed on the ship, so why bother. Maybe if they thought she was dead already, the old puffer fish thing, slow down heart rate etc. Would Reavers bother with a corpse?

Don't think it has anything to do with ageing, myself, doesnt ring true.

Illness thing, a maybe for me, I think the annual check is standard, would make sense and I believe everyone in adult movie industry has to do the same for same reasons, but it could also have been to check that her illness hadnt progressed to the point where she could no longer be a properly authorised Companion. The whole running ID three times thing in Train Job, I would say that was just because it was suspicious, a Companion, someone of stature, turning up on their little dirtball to bail out two nobodies, they were just making sure.

Its bugging me, I'm gonna think on it some more, but not sure I can work out it out from what we have so far, maybe there are clues enough, but I'm not feeling it.

Shiny.

MSBIGPILEOFDUST

Wednesday, January 28, 2004 9:52 AM

Quote:
It just occurred to me after my umpteenth time watching Objects in Space that when River reads Inara's mind and hears "I'm a big girl; just tell me." that it could in fact have been directed not at Mal but something she said to a doctor once...a doctor who was hesitating about telling Inara the seriousness of her condition...

That's a superb point! Well spotted! My strongest theory was always the terminally ill one and that has clinched it for me.

I like the drug addict idea, because it has retro-chic opium den associations but I think she's dying.

Here's an idea about the syringe... Maybe its miracle medicine which is keeping her alive and she was planning on using it to revive Reaver victims, if she had the chance. Although she might also have needed a sewing kit to put their skin back on the right way round! Eeek!

Check out my Buffy, Angel & Firefly Custom Figure Website: http://www.btinternet.com/~msbigpileofdust

SHINY

Wednesday, February 4, 2004 12:48 AM

Another possible clue about Inara's knowledge of/connection to the Reavers, from the original script to Bushwhacked:

Quote:

MAL
That ship was hit by Reavers.

Mal turns, heads off. The others don't follow right away as the horror hits them.

JAYNE
(fear)
Reavers...

Wash looks to Zoe who doesn't deny it -- she knows it, too.

WASH
Crap. [Tzao gao.]

Inara glances back into the infirmary, where the man is writhing in his delirium. She knows what this means.

(emphasis mine)

RIVER
Purple elephants are flying.
MAL
Good. Thanks for the update.

PALEHORSE

Wednesday, February 4, 2004 12:54 AM

what about the idea that she is using an anti-aging drug, as she is wise beyond her years and left the Head House though she was about to become the High Matron or whatever

ZENOPHITE

Wednesday, March 3, 2004 11:49 PM

actually her can be a case for both the youth drug thing and terminal illness. from "out of gas" commentary we know that when Inara says "i don't want to die at all" means something more than it seems and this could be interpreted either way.

Another sort of far out possibility: we know that bioweapons were used during the war. (remember saffron saying that their mark was actually a bioweapons guy during the war, zoe's reaction seemed to imply that indeed such things had occurred rather than it being total fluff from saffron)
COuld inara have been exposed to some sort of bioagent?she was pro unification ("out of gas") could she have been a sort of mata hari type spy for the alliance? granted this is a stretch.

FORRESTWOLF

Thursday, March 4, 2004 1:29 AM

Since I'm working on the Traveller roleplaying game/Firefly thing, I thought I'd mention that anti-aging drugs are considered very illegal in Traveller (a roleplaying game with a very old history that I'm convinced was one of the inspirations behind Firefly).

IF Joss was inspired by Traveller, he might just have picked up on the "anti-aging drugs would be illegal" idea.

Actually, I find the drug addict or terminally ill ideas more convincing, but I thought I'd throw the Traveller idea out there.

For the record, psionics are the one other BIG no-no in the Traveller 'verse...

PALEHORSE

Thursday, March 4, 2004 1:50 AM

Traveler was a great system.

Any game that gives you a chance of dying in character generation places high on my list.

Good times...Goooodtimes.....

There were prodigies and portents enough, One-Eye says. We must blame ourselves for misinterpreting them. One-Eye's handicap in no way impairs his marvelous hindsight.

LODRIL

Thursday, March 4, 2004 6:09 PM

Hmm.. lots of interesting theories.

The Reaver thing has some points to it, but seems to have one gaping flaw in the logic; Reavers are apparently pretty easy to goad. If you wanted to get taken in by Reavers as a trojan horse of sorts, seems it'd be easy enough to do without needing the expense of touring with Serenity or the destruction of a valuable Companion. You could just have some ordinary girl with the virus find some Reavers and then 'run' from them. Sending Inara like that would be equivalent to hiding behind some bushes to shoot golden bullets at a blind man. Way too much work and expense for what you're getting. She did seem to know enough about the Reavers though...

Drug addiction has many more interesting possibilities. Perhaps she wasn't addicted on purpose... a poorly chosen client might have done something to her. There are also drugs to overcome drug addiction, which might be what she had. Historically, those drugs become more addicting (witness opium addiction, for which morphine was invented, and morphine addiction, for which doctors created heroin). An unwilling addiction would explain why she was allowed to remain a companion, albeit fallen from grace. The trauma of it might also explain her desire to get away from her old life.

Also, just because it's not a 'suicide kit', doesn't mean it's not to ward unpleasantness with something less than death. It might have been pain killers, or as someone suggested, something to protect her from pregnancy or other Reaver induced complications. In WW2, the Japanese used painkillers on the Korean women that they forced to ummm... serve the army.

It might also serve some entirely third purpose. Maybe it would somehow disguise/reveal her to the Reavers as someone they should accept and not kill. Maybe it would 'lobotomize' her, rendering her a Reaver and keeping her from revealing secrets she learned as a Companion. There seems to be a lot of room for speculation.

As for terminal diseases... it's a thought. It'd probably have to be something that wasn't catchy, given her line of work. It would explain quite a few of her actions, like her (more or less) easy acceptance of Mal's affections to her friend in Heart of Gold. If that were the case though, why would the approach of Reavers make her think of the medicine? That seems off, which makes me doubt the syringe was to stave off death.

DAEG

Thursday, March 4, 2004 7:01 PM

It seems to me that the elevated status of Companions would make them prime candidates as agents for anyone wishing to spy on or influence those in positions of power.

I also always thought there was something sinister about the routine medical checkup (mostly because we weren't shown any of it). It would be an ideal time to "debrief" an agent (pardon the pun). I was initially thinking that this could even be without the knowledge of the agent - possibly they carry an implant that records all their encounters and is extracted and replaced once a year, without them ever knowing of it's existence.

The drug kit, however, alters this theory and could suggest a method of keeping the "agents" under control. They report back and do as they're told - or their supply is cut off. Perhaps the drug also helps keep any "conditioning", that they have been subjected to, active.

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