Serenity premise
POSTED BY: Blackadder7
UPDATED: Tuesday, January 1, 2008 03:59
VIEWED: 4341
PAGE 1 of 2
Ok, so I've been thinking about this, let's see if someone can come up with a plausible explanation (other than 'suspension of disbelief' or 'then there would have been no movie').
One of the premises of Serenity is that the Alliance doesn't want anyone to know that they in fact created the Reavers. Since they clearly will go to great lengths to protect a secret such as that (witness the Operative obliterating Haven and killing anyone who's harbored Mal and crew before), why not just eradicate the Reavers? They'd be protecting the 'verse from mindless, raving, cannibal-killers, and then their 'secret' would be a non-issue.
So why DIDN'T the Alliance just wipe out the Reavers? It's not like they were hiding. They all congregated in the space outside Miranda, and given the state of their ships, they're pretty easy to spot.
Thoughts?
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Cuz Reavers are 
ing scary. You saw how badly they freaked the Operative out...
I don't think that being cautiously ashamed, or selectively ashamed, or in any way ashamed of who I am is any way to live my life.
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by Blackadder7:
One of the premises of Serenity is that the Alliance doesn't want anyone to know that they in fact created the Reavers. Since they clearly will go to great lengths to protect a secret such as that (witness the Operative obliterating Haven and killing anyone who's harbored Mal and crew before), why not just eradicate the Reavers? They'd be protecting the 'verse from mindless, raving, cannibal-killers, and then their 'secret' would be a non-issue.
So why DIDN'T the Alliance just wipe out the Reavers? It's not like they were hiding. They all congregated in the space outside Miranda, and given the state of their ships, they're pretty easy to spot.
Thoughts?
1. The Reavers were actually protecting the secret of Miranda.
2. If they killed all the Reavers, people would find out that Miranda was a beautiful colony with all these dead people who just lied down. Someone might figure it out.
3. The Reavers served a purpose of keeping the central planets in order. Better safe under the Alliance then eaten by Reavers. Stuff like that.
Remember when Mal said Try again on this very ground wiped clean. The Alliance might have just been waiting until the Reavers all died out (they were riding around without core containment) and then the Alliance would have cleansed Miranda and started over. It is a perfect planet. Has one moon just like Earth.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
I had considered your points 1/2, and came to the conclusion that if you kill all the Reavers and clean up Miranda, there's no 'secret' to keep. It seems too reminiscent of the evil villain that puts the hero in a death-trap room and walks away (you KNOW the hero will escape every time). You leave such an awful 'secret' out there and just wait it out, someone's bound to find it.
I keep coming back to the hiring of the Operative to 'clean up the mess' regarding River, including killing Dr. Mathias, and it is inconsistent to me that the Alliance wouldn't just 'clean up the mess' of Miranda.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Because exterminating the Reavers and fixing Miranda would cost too much money and manpower, so the Alliance decided came up with a more cost-effective plan: tell everyone that Reavers are only a myth and hope it goes away. It's supposed to be a fictitious example of how governments can be irresponsible in handling their mistakes.
"I swear, having you guys in my corner is like being friends with Zorro."
-Joss on us fans and our persistent reputation
Thanks, Joss!
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
One other point: to destroy the Reavers takes military force. How can you keep a secret with all those people out there fighting? It's gonna get back home no matter what you do to keep it down.
All the other points are just as true.
'Course now that the secret's out, why not just go and wipe them out? May improve the Parliament's image too.
"Target the Reavers. Target the Reavers. Target everyone. Somebody fire!"
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Yeah, originally I didn't say anything about it, then I added the "and manpower" bit.
"I swear, having you guys in my corner is like being friends with Zorro."
-Joss on us fans and our persistent reputation
Thanks, Joss!
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Having key members of Parliament keeping a secret is one thing. The thousands of workers needed to clean up Miranda, they'd need to keep the secret, or just kill all the workers when they were finished on Miranda. Harder to keep those secrets.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Maybe because Miranda occurred before just before the war. All the Alliance's resources were devoted to the war effort. Then, after the war, they just figured that if they had to fight the Reavers that would only draw attention to the situation.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
another issue-- the Reavers are a great scare tactic. " Give thanks to your benevolent Parliament, government, and Army for protecting YOU against the Reaver menace. Just think of what they might do to your town or planet. The War against Reaver Terror must go on." ( Forgive me, a moment of RWED seems to have slipped in there...)
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME