new theory on shepherd book

POSTED BY: humble
UPDATED: Tuesday, March 30, 2004 13:03
VIEWED: 9894
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KARENKAY99

Tuesday, March 23, 2004 12:04 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by kukoo:
My theory on Sheperd Book is based on this:

Religion and Politics are always connected.

I think Book at one time was high up in Alliance, probably in the Blue Sun Group. Maybe he rose through the enforcement ranks which would explain his proficiency with firearms.

Then like many of you were saying he experienced a crises of Faith over what he was doing (like maybe finding out what was really going on at Rivers school and what they were doing to innocent kids like her). He then joined a religious order with ties to a group who are trying to overthrow the Alliance.

He told this group what was going on at Rivers school. The group used this information to get River out and back to Simon in exchange for money. Remember in Serenity there was this mysterious anti-alliance group that approached Simon with the deal to sneak River out of the school to Persephone in Cryo. Book was then suppose to keep tabs on River to try to figure out what made her so important to the Alliance and if she could be used to overthrow the Alliance. This explains the "i don't give half a hump if your innocent or not" comment in OIS. You remember in Serenity Kaylee noticed that when Book was deciding what ship to get on he was not looking at the destination. I think he was trying to decide which ship Simon and River were going to get on so that he could board the same ship. It is too coincidental that he just happened to get on the ship at the same time River and Simon did. I think he has to be connected to the two of them somehow.

i like a lot of your theory and have been thinking kind of on these lines.
although i'm not sure about the 'crisis of faith'. in serenity he's very quick to point out he's not a grandpa, 'never married'. in the conversation with jayne in OiS, jayne asked 'never?' and he indicated he 'never' because of his 'order'. either he's lying or he's always been a shepard. too many things say he was something beside a preacher so maybe he's lying. or hopefully someone has a better explanation because i really like book and i don't want to think he's a lier. what other occupation would 'never'?

he is my fav mystery.

"They say the snow on the roof is too heavy. They say the ceiling will cave in. His brains are in terrible danger."

KALIMEERI

Tuesday, March 23, 2004 12:10 AM

When Book gave his answer to Jayne's question "never?", it was not a direct answer. He sidestepped the issue quite neatly, and Jayne didn't pick up on it. I don't think he meant 'never ever'. Just since he took vows. And like somebody said before, many career military men never marry, especially if they travel around a lot.

Jen dao mei.

LEMAT

Tuesday, March 23, 2004 7:00 AM

Book might have both a military and law-enforcement background.

Something that has not been brought up in this thread is the dual nature of the Alliance military personel that we have seen. The captians of the cruiser in "The Train Job" received the notice of stolen goods from Paridesio; the police who responded to emergency call in "Trash" worn normal Alliance uniforms, as did the feds in "Ariel." The Feds in "The Message" had what looked to be similar uniforms, but more personalized, as though there was less adherance to uniform standards at small Fed bases on the Rim. One of Joss' stated goals in making Firefly was to show the underbelly of a Star Trek like world; that might include having a joint military/law-enforcement agency, like Starfleet. (Jean-Luc could probably tell you a thing or two about criminal activity on the edge of the Federation.) It would not be to strange to imagine that after a career in the field, Book could have moved on into inteligence, or that could have been a secondary specialty of his--my understanding is that military officers in the US are required to have two or more areas of expertice after a certain point in their careers.

It is also not impossible that after his military career, he would have been a magistrate or lower level judge. The Alliance seems to have strange ideas as to what due process means, so hiring hanging judges or prosecutors straight from your police force would make sense. Also, my personal understanding is that the US military does not frown upon their officers getting advanced degrees--like a law degree--and will give them time off and money to pursue it in exchange for a promise of a few extra years of service.

Of course, we still don't know how he got into the Abby, but Ron Glass was about 57 when the series was made, so Book could have gotten a college education, 3 years of law school, a military career of 20 years or more, a judicial or state's attorney appointment (or maybe both), and at least 5 years in the clergy.

Personally, I think that Book left the military and went to the clergy, probably a few years before or a shorter time after the war began. Their might or might not have been an important military or civil position that he occupied before he entered the cloth. He might just have some veteran's benefits that were due him in "Safe."

Jon

KARENKAY99

Friday, March 26, 2004 1:26 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by kalimeeri:
When Book gave his answer to Jayne's question "never?", it was not a direct answer. He sidestepped the issue quite neatly, and Jayne didn't pick up on it. I don't think he meant 'never ever'. Just since he took vows. And like somebody said before, many career military men never marry, especially if they travel around a lot.

Jen dao mei.

here is the conversation between book and jayne.

BOOK and JAYNE are making themselves a meal in the kitchen. Jayne is at the grill, with a towel tucked into his belt like an apron.

BOOK
Well, no.
JAYNE
Not ever never?

BOOK
Some orders allow Shepherds to marry,
but I follow a narrower path.

JAYNE
But, I mean, you still got the urge.
They don't... cut it off, or nothin'?

BOOK
Mm, no, I'm more or less intact.
I just...

BOOK sits down at the kitchen table. RIVER quietly enters the kitchen area.

BOOK (cont'd)
...direct my energy elsewhere.
JAYNE
You mean like masturbating?

BOOK
I hope you're not thinking of taking
orders yourself.

JAYNE
Oh, yeah, that'll be the day.

yeah i can see where you said he sidestepped the question. i hope you're right. i really don't want book to be a bad guy and i am hoping it's just joss leading me down the wrong path ... but i worry.

"They say the snow on the roof is too heavy. They say the ceiling will cave in. His brains are in terrible danger."

THEFOP

Friday, March 26, 2004 3:11 AM

I don't think Book became a minister for redemption. Neither do I think he went in to hide, or to infiltrate. i think he pulled a Cadfael. IN other words, he was a soldier, or a cop or something, and likely he was damn good at it, whatever it was. I can't say what precisely he did. but I think probably he was pretty religious beforehand. Then one day, he decided to enter the order, because whatever he was doing beforehand he was done with. Felt he wasn't needed there anymore or what have you, and decided to go on elsewhere. He had this faith, and decided to direct it. This could have been years before. He's got to be in his early 60's or so, and this could have happened when he was a young man.

once the snow got so deep you almost couldn't hear margaret atwood

KALIMEERI

Friday, March 26, 2004 3:44 AM

Don't worry. A bad guy wouldn't get himself to a nunnery. He wouldn't worry about it. But even good guys do things that they're ashamed of, and that isn't the way they want their life to go.

I agree that he was extremely good at what he did, and that he has probably been in the abbey for a long time. His faith is very solid, and he felt it was time to face the world again.

Whoopsey, wrong ship. A bit more of a test than he expected.

Jen dao mei.

ELFRENETICO

Tuesday, March 30, 2004 1:03 PM

Ahh Book,

The theory that seems to work the best is that Book was at the battle of Serenity. I think it fits with the way Joss writes, everything comes back to the source eventually.

When we first meet book he appears to pick the ship because of the name. Sure he could have been on a mission, but it seems like a sincere moment. In a deleted seen he tells the doctor to research the battle of Serenity. Clearly the name has meaning for him beyond his knowledge of what it means to Zoë & Mal.

Just like Mal retreated from society after the battle, so did book. Mal, the rebel became a Buccaneer and Book becomes a preacher, both trying to escape the horrible reality of the war and the parts they played in the insanity of killing on a mass scale.

Book obviously worked for the winning team and was likely a hero judging by the reception he gets when he flashes his creds. When Mal asks to see his credentials Book promises that he’ll reveal that in time. To me this shows that even though he has earned the Captains deep respect, he feels Mal might still hold a grudge for an “enemy” officer from the battle that change the course of both their lives.

Hopefully we’ll see when the movie comes out. As for Inara’s past, I have no clue

Shiny

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