General Discussions

Theory about Inara

POSTED BY: MsBigPileofDust
UPDATED: Thursday, May 14, 2009 19:56
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WULFHAWK

Thursday, March 4, 2004 8:15 PM

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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...

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Perhaps Inara had to leave Sinhon because she wouldn't have been able to keep her illness a secret there, and she rented Mal's shuttle so she could continue to work under less scrutiny and afford to pay for her treatments...of course, this doesn't fully explain the reaver scene unless we accept the 'futility' argument.

We know that:
The injection kit wasn't a suicide kit.
Inara wasn't willing to share whatever it was with Simon when he was seeking medical supplies.
She didn't offer it when either Kaylee or Book lay dying.
She seemed to consider using it when a Reaver attack seemed imminent, a moment we might have expected her to pull her gun instead.
Inara was immediately aware of what happened to Mal when he was drugged in Our Mrs Reynolds.

I propose the syringe was filled with a poison propagated through sexual contact. Inara's mail would be her anti-venom/vaccine treatment keeping her invulnerable to it's effect. Her intent was to take as many Reavers with her as possible.

This rather changes what we were led to perceive Companions to be. We were repeatedly given to believe Companions were part fancy whore, part entertainer, part social activist, part travelling psychologist, and entirely legitimate. Her knowledge of drugs (the 'goodnight kiss') throws a shadow on this entirely happy image; carrying an assassin's weapon would reveal a very dark side to the Companion's Guild.

Drugs. Martial Arts. Skills and reputation designed to penetrate the highest levels of society. Is Inara the equivalent of Japan's Ninjas?

Would Joss do this to us?
The real question is, how long would he have kept the secret? 8)

Take my love
Take my land

HORRID

Thursday, March 4, 2004 10:38 PM

one thing that hasn't been mentioned yet which might back up the illness theory was in the conversation with simon he starts off by going into details about dying and inara says "I don't wanna here it" or words to that effect, it seemed to me like she was more pushing the thought of dying to the back of her head more so than worrying about this specific life threatening situation

also shortly after coming back from her exam she's a little cagy and quick to change the subject about them, and shortly after that comes her decision to leave the ship

could be stretching a bit here though

SHINY

Thursday, March 4, 2004 10:45 PM

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Originally posted by Wulfhawk:
Drugs. Martial Arts. Skills and reputation designed to penetrate the highest levels of society. Is Inara the equivalent of Japan's Ninjas?

A spy or assasin-geisha that uses drugs/poison maybe, but not so much with the fighting and martial arts/ninja stuff, as witnessed in OMR and HOG.

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

WULFHAWK

Friday, March 5, 2004 4:34 AM

Saffron, trained at the Academy, felled Wash with a single kick, and held her own hand to hand with Mal. Inara and Saffron had a quick pass in which Inara managed to avoid being smacked. In Heart of Gold, Inara smoothly and ruthlessly takes a knife to the throat of the bad guy.

Japan's legend of ninja's don't really include black clad super-karate guys... at least, not so much. They were professional spies and assassins, feared because they could be anyone, anytime, anywhere.

Most Companions might not even know of the Guild's darker duties. Is this why Inara left her rising career? The time came for a rising star of the Companion's Guild to learn of her new place and duties, and she refused to accept? Or perhaps became disillusioned with the whole 'court 'em, rut 'em, kill 'em' aspect after a time? Or perhaps even rebelled and is now running for her life?

The books by Steve Perry, 'The Man Who Never Missed' and 'Matadora' illustrate kinda what I'm saying.

Take my love
Take my land

INITIO101

Friday, March 5, 2004 2:19 PM

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Originally posted by SoupCatcher:
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If that's the case, then the mysterious package she receives and quickly hides in 'The Message' should not be another one of these, meaning there would be an additional mystery to solve...

Ok. I went back and watched The Message episode twice and still can't find where Inara received a package. I thought I missed it the first time and after reading this thread, was curious to see to back up the Inara addiction theory. Does anyone know where in the episode it's supposed to be? The only thing Inara does in the beginning to talk to Mal about selling the Lassiter. Then Mal and Jayne received the big crate and Jayne's hat. Help anyone? Thanks!

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REYVNDARKNIGHT

Friday, March 5, 2004 7:13 PM

Interesting. I was of the notion that Inara had left the Guild because she had a politically powerful enemy. An enemy who had dispatched Book to locate her.

And that the syringe was a suicide kit.

However, after people mentioned how she had surrupticiously hid that piece of mail she received in "The Message", I have to reconsider. I don't think she is a drug addict, but I am of the mind that she is terminally ill and receives that drug to ease her pain. And the fact that she continually distances herself from Mal kinda seals it. She seems to be protecting Mal because she knows that if they do become lovers, he will soon be left alone when she dies from the illness.

SHINY

Friday, March 5, 2004 7:40 PM

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Originally posted by Wulfhawk:
Saffron, trained at the Academy, felled Wash with a single kick, and held her own hand to hand with Mal. Inara and Saffron had a quick pass in which Inara managed to avoid being smacked. In Heart of Gold, Inara smoothly and ruthlessly takes a knife to the throat of the bad guy.

If you review those two scenes, I think you'll see that she is portrayed as not quite the fighter, as she falls to the ground when Saffron tries a round-house kick and would presumably be completely outmatched had Saffron not been too rushed to finish her off. She also was easily distracted while holding a knife to Rance Burgess' throat, so he was able to elbow her in the stomach and shoot Nandi, again indicating Inara's lack of ability, experience, skill (or unwillingness) in fighting and killing (at least by hand). In the teaser to Shindig, she seems frightened by the fisticuffs at the bar (in the commentary Morena notes that she's not only supposed to act frightened, but was actually scared as people flew through the air). Although I'll grant that Inara certainly knows how to handle a blade, and may have some assassination training, she definitely isn't prepared to handle hand-to-hand combat and I wouldn't say she's skilled in 'martial arts'

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

DUKE

Friday, March 5, 2004 9:38 PM

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Originally posted by SoupCatcher:

why does she take it out when threatened with the danger of Reavers?

I see the needle as a last resort. Something that she would only use in a scenario involving death at the hands of Reavers. Why specifically Reavers? Because they would eat her flesh and that's something that Inara, in her present state, cannot allow to happen.

My theory is that she has some sort of sexually communicable disease... some osrt of super space-aids. This might account for her leaving her previous position before she could become house-mother. Oh, the shame. Companions ae supposed to be guarentted clean.

Perhaps the drug keeps her symptoms in check and prevents her spreading the desease. But it's kind of an underground things, not entirely legal. Again her reason for leaving her house, and signing on with an outfit like Mal's.

She might take the drug before the revers come to make sure that she does not spead the disease into their population and then on to all of their future victims.

Oh, and although she has a drug to keep her from spreading the disease, there is probably still no real cure. So therefore, a known future of a horrible wasting away aids like death is probably what prevents her from letting herself fall in love with Mal.

"I'll be in my bunk..."

DUKE

Friday, March 5, 2004 9:46 PM

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Originally posted by mrpresident:
uh, annual medical exams???? Doesn't anyone think that that would be enough to blow any of these theories? Wouldn't a medical exam by someone authorized by the Companion's Guild(? or whatever they have) identify that a) she was terminally ill, b) she was a drug addict, or c) she was taking drugs to slow her aging? Yes, yes, any of these could be acceptable to Companion rules, but I doubt it, since they are supposed to be so respectable at this point in time. First post, just a thought...

The Guild approved Dr. who is doing her annual examinations probably some Allaince government universal health care hack.

Liekly, he does not know about the drugs she is secretly taking to surpress her space-aids. and prevent her from spreading them. She is probably getting those drugs from a rich former client, or some other contact.

The govt. dock would not know she had space aids unless he did the right test, like someone who is HIV positive might appear normal during a routine examination, and thus far has had no reason too.

"I'll be in my bunk..."

DUKE

Friday, March 5, 2004 9:48 PM

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Originally posted by Saint Jayne:
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Originally posted by Shiny:
That's assuming Inara wasn't lying about the exam

I think the exams are real and I think everyone knows that being a registered Companion means they receive the health minister's seal of approval. Well, maybe "seal" isn't the right word here.

So if she lied, then she's either not registered any longer, or Companions standards aren't as high as I think they are.

Or she is taking drugs that mask the symtoms of her super space-aids, and she left her house to reduce the possibilty that her secret might be uncovered.

"I'll be in my bunk..."