Assorted general Firefly/Serenity questions

POSTED BY: Anna
UPDATED: Wednesday, March 8, 2006 22:45
VIEWED: 6897
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ANNA

Tuesday, March 7, 2006 7:21 PM

Hello! New member, not super-new to the 'Verse, but new to this here forum. My apologies in advance for anything that has already been discussed to death, or if this is posted in the wrong place, all that jazz. Just a few (possibly stupid) musings and questions that I thought I'd throw together in one big ol' melting pot so as not to spam the boards.

Well, where to start?

In the Serenity movie, what happened to Mal "if I ever shoot you, you'll be awake, you'll be facing me, and you'll be armed" Reynolds during the scene with the Operative in the companion training house? Sure, I know the Operative should be taken out ASAP, but...I don't know, although, I guess he also left a man behind.

River...do you think she was psychic before the Alliance got their hands on her? Or was it only as a result of their meddling?
Why did they strip her amygdala? What good would it do? Give her fear and adrenaline to fight with??
This is probably very stupid, but were River and the others made to combat the Reavers? Or, just made anyway?

Speaking of Reavers, since they travel in packs, wouldn't they just start to kill and rape and torture each other? I doubt they have any sort of loyalty amongst themselves. If the Reavers were a result of Miranda, will there ever be more of them, or will they run out? How could they create more? I guess the unfortunate soul left to watch will turn Reaver, but is that enough to sustain the race (for lack of a better word)?

Dammit, I KNOW I had more. Oh well, final question...

...Who here has a craving for fruity oaty bars?

Oh, actually, that's another thing: why were they broadcasting that ad? Did they WANT to set her off?? I really can't think of any reason, but maybe I'm missing something.

Anyway, it's mighty nice to be here and to make acquaintance with you folks! I doubt I'll be posting much (of value, at least ) but even from the glimpse I've gotten, I love reading what you all have to say.

MATTCOZ

Tuesday, March 7, 2006 7:33 PM

Mal shooting first was kindof a jab at George Lucas, but for the story it made sense because he understood how much of a threat the operative was. He shot three unarmed men in the movie, one out of mercy, one out of necessity, one out of justified anger.

I think River was very gifted and atleast showed the potential to have psychic abilities. Wasn't made clear if their meddling brought it out of her or not. The stripping of her amygdala wasn't given a specific purpose, but they very well could have done it just to see how she would react to it.

Reavers probably do attack eachother, but they prefer us regular humans. I guess we taste better and have prettier skin.

They broadcasted the ad to set her off so they could find her, and it worked.

NUCLEARDAY

Tuesday, March 7, 2006 7:35 PM

Howdy, Anna, welcome to our little corner of the 'verse. Make yourself at home, and post as often as you like ;p

Let's see... my two cents on a few of those questions:

I think when Mal shot the Operative at the training house, it sort of hinted at just how dangerous he knew the Operative was. One thing I liked about Firefly was hwo you could feel that these characters really cared about staying alive, etc. Sure they stand up for certain things, and sometimes that means risking life and limb... But there's also some scenes where Mal obviously knows what the stakes are. (Like in the Serenity pilot, with Patience. He throws the money back at first... he knows a shootout could mean him or Zoe eating lead, and he'd rather live to get paid another day.) Also, he's not been having the best of times lately, so his normally shaky moral compass may have been a bit troubled...

And my take on the Fruity Oaty Bar commercial: Yeah, I think they were trying to draw River out. They knew what it would do, and knew that she'd create some manner of commotion. (Also, my own inference: They knew someone was hiding her, obviously. Perhaps they also hoped that whoever had taken her in might now have some second thoughts... It's one thing to shelter a harmless crazy girl, and another thing entirely to let a unpredictable killer onboard...)

________________________________________________
You can take my hope when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers.

ANNA

Tuesday, March 7, 2006 7:37 PM

Yeah, I thought that might have been why they were broadcasting it, but then, surely they knew what she'd do, that she might kill someone? But, then I remember it's the Alliance.

I guess the Reavers leave poor acne-ridden teenagers alone then :P

ANNA

Tuesday, March 7, 2006 7:39 PM

And thank you for the welcome! :D

SAB39

Tuesday, March 7, 2006 7:40 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Anna:
Hello! New member, not super-new to the 'Verse, but new to this here forum.

I'm new here too so I have no idea whether these things have been discussed before either.

Quote:
River...do you think she was psychic before the Alliance got their hands on her? Or was it only as a result of their meddling?
Why did they strip her amygdala? What good would it do? Give her fear and adrenaline to fight with??

Maybe the bit of your brain that allows you to choose not to feel things is also the part that's stopping you from feeling other people's thoughts...

Quote:
Speaking of Reavers, since they travel in packs, wouldn't they just start to kill and rape and torture each other? I doubt they have any sort of loyalty amongst themselves.

I think they must have pack-loyalty of some sort and they're not entirely unintelligent either - it takes cooperation to operate a large ship and as we saw in the BDM there are quite a lot of Reavers per ship. It's almost as if they're beings who have irresistable urges, but are more than capable of applying intelligence to the question of "what would be the easiest way to satisfy those urges?". Almost like drug addicts I guess.

The big question I had about the Reavers from the movie was why, if 99.9% of the population of Miranda just lay down and let themselves die, the proto-Reavers that were forming at the same time didn't attack the comatose population. One Reaver per 1000 people isn't many, but one Reaver can do a hell of a lot of damage and none of the Mirandans seemed damaged in any way. Not interesting enough prey?

Quote:
If the Reavers were a result of Miranda, will there ever be more of them, or will they run out? How could they create more? I guess the unfortunate soul left to watch will turn Reaver, but is that enough to sustain the race (for lack of a better word)?

Good question. I assumed that this was their way of reproducing too. I wonder if the Reavers are instinctively capable of telling which people have the genetic makeup to turn Reaver and have Pex (is that the right name?) in their own atmosphere to trigger it. But you're right, they'd need to make a lot of attacks to get enough people to sustain the race that way.

Quote:
Oh, actually, that's another thing: why were they broadcasting that ad? Did they WANT to set her off?? I really can't think of any reason, but maybe I'm missing something.

Because they wanted to cause the exact effect that they did cause - River got triggered, caused a ruckus, which got noticed by enough people that news of it made it back to the Operative, thereby giving away River's location...

STORYMARK

Tuesday, March 7, 2006 7:44 PM

Seems the first and second question have been answered in the same way I would have, so I'll just address question 2.

In the River Tam sessions, it is implied that River already possesed some physchic, or at the least, empathic abilities. I believe Simon had a line in one of the episodes about River always knowing what he was thinking. That could be just the bond between siblings, or it could be further evidence of pre-meddling psychic ability.

Or, I could just be remembering wrong.

"I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him."

DAVEC5

Tuesday, March 7, 2006 8:24 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Anna:
Just a few (possibly stupid) musings and questions that I thought I'd throw together in one big ol' melting pot

let me add to the welcoming.....

ok, not stupid questions at all....you have gotten some good answers for the questions already, but here is 2 more cents worth...

Mal and (Opie) the Operative - so, Opie was facing Mal, he was awake - two out three ain't bad.... i think the consensus is that Mal realized the danger he was in not to mention Inara...and he did what needed to be done.

i think River had some psychic ability or the Alliance would not have been so interested in her in the first place...

it's hard to imagine the Reavers not turning on one another, but they did have the ability to maintain and fly their ships, so perhaps there was some form of leadership there. As for more Reavers, they were actually a result of the PAX, not just Miranda, so if the Alliance wanted to create more uber bad guys, they would have means to do so.

finally, the hidden message was probably used to draw out River, which it did....

& welcome, glad you made it!

...and we all shine on...

GIXXER

Tuesday, March 7, 2006 8:48 PM

Mal would shoot Simon armed and face to face because he's on his crew, he has some regard for him, and like everyone else, he's certain Simon has never hit anyone he shot at.

The Operative, on the other hand is very bad news, and needs to be shot first. Only an idiot would bring chivalry to a gunfight, and against someone who kills for a living? I've got no problem with prudence.

Reivers. A lot of talk about reproduction. I don't think they've been around long enough to have lived a generation. I'll have to check the movie, but I'm not sure how long ago the pax experiment was.

Doorbell... Gotta go.

KWICKO

Tuesday, March 7, 2006 8:48 PM

Quote:
In the Serenity movie, what happened to Mal "if I ever shoot you, you'll be awake, you'll be facing me, and you'll be armed" Reynolds during the scene with the Operative in the companion training house? Sure, I know the Operative should be taken out ASAP, but...I don't know, although, I guess he also left a man behind.

River...do you think she was psychic before the Alliance got their hands on her? Or was it only as a result of their meddling?
Why did they strip her amygdala? What good would it do? Give her fear and adrenaline to fight with??
This is probably very stupid, but were River and the others made to combat the Reavers? Or, just made anyway?

Speaking of Reavers, since they travel in packs, wouldn't they just start to kill and rape and torture each other? I doubt they have any sort of loyalty amongst themselves. If the Reavers were a result of Miranda, will there ever be more of them, or will they run out? How could they create more? I guess the unfortunate soul left to watch will turn Reaver, but is that enough to sustain the race (for lack of a better word)?

Dammit, I KNOW I had more. Oh well, final question...

...Who here has a craving for fruity oaty bars?

Oh, actually, that's another thing: why were they broadcasting that ad? Did they WANT to set her off?? I really can't think of any reason, but maybe I'm missing something.

My take on your questions:

1. Mal - I think he views people on his ship (passengers, cargo, or crew) a bit differently than he views "outsiders". For example, he views Simon as *possibly* someone he'll have to have a confrontation with, someday, but he's willing to give him the benifit of the doubt for now. And he's honorable enough to let Simon know that if there DOES come a time when he views him as an enemy, or at least enough of a potential enemy to warrant a confrontation, it will be an "honorable" confrontation, and he'll give Simon a fighting chance. For a "known enemy" or an outsider like The Operative or Jubal Early, he's under no such self-obligation; he can kill them without warning, because it's what they'd do to him if given the opportunity.

2. River - (a) I feel they saw some telepathic *potential* in her, at least, and wanted to further explore that. They also saw her almost-inhuman intelligence level and her grace and ability to discern patterns of movement (like dancing and fighting moves, for instance) at an accelerated rate. Such an ability would make her a formidable weapon, even without being a reader.

(b) I don't know why her amygdala was stripped, unless it was to enhance/unleash some characteristics, or simply as an experiment in eugenics, just to see what would happen. Such experiments aren't unheard of even in our own recent history...

(c) Interesting concept. River MIGHT just be the ideal weapon to turn loose upon the Reavers, but maybe not, and I'll get to the reasons why in a moment...

3. Reavers - I view them as pack animals, or as similar to certain human cannibalistic tribes. They'll eat their own if it's absolutely necessary, but outsiders are their *preferred* meal. I guess non-Reaver meat is just sweeter, juicier, and more tender... creepy as that sounds. As for why they don't turn on each other, I suppose for the same kinds of reasons that hyenas don't turn on each other very often; they recognize others of their kind, and don't view them as food or as rape-bait.

As for continuin their species, I just don't think they're too worried about that. Sure, they could conceivably keep a few "normal" humans around as a breeding colony, but probably only in the sense that we keep cattle: for food. I think the Reavers are interested in keeping themselves alive, but only really this one generation of Reavers. I don't know if they realize it yet, but I don't think they're going to be breeding more Reavers.

The Alliance seems to believe something similar, from where I'm sitting. They've taken Miranda off the maps and out of the history books, and they disavow any knowledge of the Reavers' existence, probably

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