SECOND
POSTED BY: MIKER
UPDATED: Tuesday, September 1, 2026 04:26
VIEWED: 29874
PAGE 5 of 14
Mal didn't tell Tracey because Tracey didn't want to listen. And started shooting people.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:I think the reason with Tracey was the same as why Mal shoots the Alliance military man who was trying to surrender on Haven. It had nothing to do with justice in Mal's mind. When somebody gets in his way and will never again be useful to Mal, they become targets, things, not people to be persuaded. It is automatic, a reflex, with Mal. He doesn't need to think before pulling the trigger. It is instinct.
Originally posted by BYTEMITE:
Mal didn't tell Tracey because Tracey didn't want to listen. And started shooting people.
That's why Mal killed all of Patience's men but left her alive. Patience was still worth dealing with in the future and her men weren't.
Same thing happened to the guy named Crow, who Mal kicked into Serenity's engine. Crow declared he wouldn't be Mal's bagman and then he made a death threat to Mal and then Mal killed him and moved on to the next guy and asked him to be the bagman. I'll take a leap of imagination and say that the next guy would have also died if he had refused Mal's demands.
It is all about Mal's instincts. Ethics, morals, rules of war don't guide him. Maybe he feels bad later, but not at the moment of the kill. It feels right.
Same thing with Zoe. Jayne would be different. That guy was never remorseful about anybody he killed. And Book constantly regrets every kill, even the ones that deserved it.
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
"That's why Mal killed all of Patience's men but left her alive. Patience was still worth dealing with in the future and her men weren't". SECOND
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly
Mal shot the last of Patience's men in the leg. After that guy had just shot Mal in the arm. He didn't kill him. Mal shot those who needed shooting without regret but not unless it needed doing.
Jayne killed Tracey.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
> It had nothing to do with justice in Mal's mind.
Oooor Mal has a different concept of justice than you do. It happens.
Considering all the people you mentioned Mal killing in cold blood were in fact people who were actively trying to kill them or threatening to kill them or retroactively tried to kill him and the crew and other people at the time, I'm not really sure they're more sympathetic than he is.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Mal also could have popped one off on the guy who shot him in out of gas. He could kill coldly and did but not without a reason. Like he had to.
" Just doing what you would have done. Well as you can clearly see I haven't ". Mal and the guy who shot him parting words.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:I'll say Mal was looking more at his bullet-torn sleeve than at the target, so he missed killing him. Zoe did shoot somebody in the back while he was escaping on a horse. Get in the way of Mal, Zoe or Jayne and you're almost surely dead. Mal never gives much thought to working out a way to deal with anybody dangerous or unworthy of his trust. First thing that comes to his mind is killing them. There are exceptions: when Mal is not doing the planning. Inara left Saffron in the garbage bin. Inara doesn't instinctively kill problems in order to deal with them. Mal did not kill Saffron the other time, possibly because Inara would not approve of coldblooded murder of women. Mal didn't kill the sword duelist, either. He can restrain himself when Inara is watching.
Originally posted by MIKER:
Mal shot the last of Patience's men in the leg. After that guy had just shot Mal in the arm. He didn't kill him. Mal shot those who needed shooting without regret but not unless it needed doing.
Jayne killed Tracey.
Another time Mal was expecting Jubal Early to suffocate in space. To Mal's regret that did not happen and Early returned in a comic book, more dangerous than before. I don't expect Early to survive Mal, unless Mal can use him to rescue Zoe. Waiting for the next issue to find out.
And to Tracey Mal said You mailed your ugly business to me. I'll go to Hell before I watch you turn and bite us for the favor. Something like that. That's the death sentence. Mal didn't have to pull the trigger. Zoe, Jayne or the police could do it for him.
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:Nah, he wouldn't have. UNLESS that one also started a rant about hunting them all down & killing them too. Fortunately, he was smarter than that.
Originally posted by second:
then Mal killed him and moved on to the next guy and asked him to be the bagman. I'll take a leap of imagination and say that the next guy would have also died if he had refused Mal's demands.
I think you may not be rememberin' that "Darn" that Mal muttered before he kicked Crow out; he doesn't enjoy killin' no one.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:Mal is not a psycho serial murderer; killing is his most expeditious method to handle people problems. When Inara would disapprove, Mal finds a less efficient, longer path to a solution.
Originally posted by CHRISISALL:Quote:Nah, he wouldn't have. UNLESS that one also started a rant about hunting them all down & killing them too. Fortunately, he was smarter than that.
Originally posted by second:
then Mal killed him and moved on to the next guy and asked him to be the bagman. I'll take a leap of imagination and say that the next guy would have also died if he had refused Mal's demands.
I think you may not be rememberin' that "Darn" that Mal muttered before he kicked Crow out; he doesn't enjoy killin' no one.
"Since when is killing wrong? I missed that lesson in Sunday Bible school. All I remember are those Old Testament stories about slaying God's foes. I watched a lot of TV, too." - Mal Reynolds
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
"If someone tries to kill you, you try and kill 'em right back."
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
I think you are being a little hard on Mal SECOND. In Heart of Gold Inara gave Mal the go ahead when the town tyrant killed her friend. It was written all over her face when she and Mal exchanged glances. Yet he didn't. After Mal pushed Early into nothingness in Objects in Space, Mal and Inara were in front of the infirmary. Inara implied in the way she asked Mal if he would survive, she could care less. Besides, Early had taken Mal on pretty easily a few minutes before. It would not be prudent to give the guy a chance.
The best example that Mal played to win was in serenity. When the operative
said to Mal, " I am unarmed " and Mal said " good " and shot him. He would do what he knew or believed he had to. No more, no less.
P.S. Anyone who has or does own a gun. Should know DON'T PULL IT UNLESS YOU INTEND TO USE IT. THE NEXT RULE IS SHOOT TO KILL.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME