Why did Inara leave Shinon?
POSTED BY: ncbrowncoat
UPDATED: Monday, January 7, 2008 07:26
VIEWED: 10576
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Ok, here's a question for all you people that have nothing to do but be online on Thanksgiving Eve...like me.
Why did Inara leave Shinon and choose Serenity?
I have a half baked theory that Inara really loved being a Companion. She loved it so much and was so good at it that she made some powerful enemies.
She was obviously the toast of Shinon and the head priestess's chosen successor. That's enough to make any woman, much less another Companion jealous;jealous enough to try to kill Inara or implicate her in a scandal.
The head priestess knew Inara had a thirst for adventure so she more than suggested that Inara head out to the Border for her own safety. At least until the scandal blew over and it was safe for Inara to return.
The priestess may have even known that a House was planned for a Border moon and knew Inara would have invaluable experience to pass on to future Companions.
It fits with the vial too. The vial may have been the murder weapon. And the dialog where she says that she just wants to live.
Why she chose Serenity I'm not too sure. She may have had some kind of connection to Fireflys or it just suited her.
Come on now. Discuss.
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This is where Mal went to save her from the Operative? In one of the deleted scenes it was made quite clear that Inara was disappointed in the direction of the Companion Program, but I don’t think she was ever sure about staying with Serenity until Mal told her that he didn’t go there looking for trouble and only went there to save her. A very subtle expression flashed across Inara’s face in that instant and I think it was then she decided to stay. IMHO
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Quote:
Originally posted by rallem:
This is where Mal went to save her from the Operative? In one of the deleted scenes it was made quite clear that Inara was disappointed in the direction of the Companion Program...
I'm pretty sure (maybe 95% sure) that the Training House was not on Sihnon. Also, I think that Inara was comparing the border moon Companion program with the one where she was educated. I didn't see it as disappointed merely illustrating differences in the two Training House philosophies.
I love all the theories on why she did leave her home planet except the illness and the non-aging theories which don't really ring true to me.
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My take, though I doubt it matches Joss's plans, (cause those were so deeply buried and the clues so indirect that who really knows?) is that there was indeed some kind of scandal. But I don't see it as coming from the House. It's surely an interesting idea! But I see Inara as so very proud of her status as a Companion that I don't see any source of badness in the Guild. Not that she knows of anyway. It's certainly possibly that she was betrayed somehow and doesn't know it...
Anyhow, instead of saying that another Companion set Inara up for a scandal, how about Inara involving herself in one? She seems to have a different character than most Companions - Joss said somewhere that Shindig's purpose was partly to show that she felt more at home on Serenity than in "her own world," which is the high society of the party. Adn I like the idea that she's not perfect, that she may have screwed up, instead of being a perfect Companion, so perfect that others were jealous...
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Quote:
Originally posted by mal4prez:
My take, though I doubt it matches Joss's plans, (cause those were so deeply buried and the clues so indirect that who really knows?) is that there was indeed some kind of scandal. But I don't see it as coming from the House. It's surely an interesting idea! But I see Inara as so very proud of her status as a Companion that I don't see any source of badness in the Guild. Not that she knows of anyway. It's certainly possibly that she was betrayed somehow and doesn't know it...
Anyhow, instead of saying that another Companion set Inara up for a scandal, how about Inara involving herself in one? She seems to have a different character than most Companions - Joss said somewhere that Shindig's purpose was partly to show that she felt more at home on Serenity than in "her own world," which is the high society of the party. Adn I like the idea that she's not perfect, that she may have screwed up, instead of being a perfect Companion, so perfect that others were jealous...
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That's an interesting idea Mal4Prez. Inara may have screwed up royally and was exiled as punishment, more than likely involving a client or some one powerful and not another Companion?
It would make a good fic but I can't write Inara at all.
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I think that the various Companion Houses were aligned politically with different factions, and when the House Madrassa's faction fell out of power, then it wasn't too healthy for the leading Companions in the House to stay around Sihnon.
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Quote:Part of this is sort-of what I'm planning myself... not the exhiled and punished part, but... uh, I must say no more.
Originally posted by ncbrowncoat:
Inara may have screwed up royally and was exiled as punishment, more than likely involving a client or some one powerful and not another Companion?
Although, after reading this thread I am really liking the idea of the Guild with factions and such. I never saw it that way, but I like. There's all kind of room for fun in that. Who's gonna write it, hmmm? My hands are too full already...
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Considering there doesn't seem to be much fluctuation of power within the Alliance, and the general concept of the Guild as one big organisational structure, I don't think any kind of serious rivalry between the houses, let alone a dangerous or political kind, is very likely. After all, mere geography already necessitates the existence of more than one Companion House. They could all be run in the exact same and identical way.
The Guild seems to have a strongly spiritual basis, so I doubt they run their Houses like money-making machines, causing them to compete. Considering the overall Guild structure has the final say in all matters, as opposed to the single Houses, I don't see much diverse political affiliation going on, either. Single Companions may have different political views, but I don't think they are fixed to Houses.
As for Inara's reason.... I can see a scandal. I can see a personal tragedy unrelated to the Guild or society. I can see a case of the walls of her set-in-stone future closing in on her and needing to run away (like she always does *pets*).
I can't see Inara running away from the Guild itself, or involved in serious crime or espionage or anything else overtly political. Her reactions on the show don't mesh with that sort of thing.
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I don't see anything overtly political either but maybe involving a client with a lot of political power.
Also, the Guild is the keeper of lots of secrets, political, financial and personal. Who know what is spilled between the sheets. That would give the Guild as a whole a lot of power and if the Guild or a Companion were to misuse the information (not necessarily Inara)just imagine the damage that could be done to a person, business or even the political structure.
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Quote:
Originally posted by ncbrowncoat:
Also, the Guild is the keeper of lots of secrets, political, financial and personal. Who know what is spilled between the sheets. That would give the Guild as a whole a lot of power and if the Guild or a Companion were to misuse the information (not necessarily Inara)just imagine the damage that could be done to a person, business or even the political structure.
Which is probably why Inara keeps emphasizing confidentiality over and over and over again.
Stressing that bond of silence and trust is probably the only way to do their work in the social spheres that the Guild inhabits. Sort of, holding themselves up to a standard like medical confidentiality, only not regulated by law but by internal rules.
Hell, it might be regulated by the same laws that govern confidentiality between psychologist and patient or that of religious confession.
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