Reavers....How do they....

POSTED BY: IndyBlues
UPDATED: Thursday, March 23, 2006 17:22
VIEWED: 12094
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INDYBLUES

Tuesday, March 21, 2006 2:58 AM

Multiply?? I assume they are all male, considering all the rape and cannibalism, woman and children wouldn't last very long.

They mention in the series how they are men who went to the edge of the universe, and basically lost their minds, and the film explains their existence. I just figure they wouldn't live forever, so without women, they would die out.

Plus, without stating any spoilers, for those who may have not seen the film yet, how far back does the incident on Miranda actually happen?
The Reavers story sounded like it was told to children sort of like the Bogeyman, (which is basically timeless) in order to frighten them, from what Simon says in the pilot episode.

I have a speculation, but since I'm new to the 'verse, I'd like to hear your theorys.
'Blues

PENGUIN

Tuesday, March 21, 2006 3:08 AM

In the movie Mal says that the recording is about 12 years old...That means River would have been about 5. At that point there would have been no need to multiply.

AZHEA

Tuesday, March 21, 2006 3:17 AM

And Kaylee says she remembers a call for people to settle there. She must have been young though.

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I look out for me and mine... that don't include you 'lessen I conjure it does.

THEPISTONENGINE

Tuesday, March 21, 2006 3:36 AM

Just thinking about the whole timeline...

Remember the beginning of Safe, where River is pretending to be part of a Alliance platoon attacked by browncoats, that must have been at least ten years before Serenity the episode. That means the war must have lasted at least four years. Add another two-three years, and that'd put the Miranda incident around the time of the war. No wonder it never made the newswaves.

That being said, there isn't enough time for Reavers to die out. My favorite theory about Reaver multiplication is the theory offered by Mal in Bushwhacked.

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Carry the Nuttin'

ZAKNRFAMA

Tuesday, March 21, 2006 3:49 AM

The women would last. Reavers aren't stupid, they're just insane and extremely violent. They might abuse some women, but I think there'd still be a very fair amount of them, and they wouldn't eat their own young.

INDYBLUES

Tuesday, March 21, 2006 2:00 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Zaknrfama:
The women would last. Reavers aren't stupid, they're just insane and extremely violent. They might abuse some women, but I think there'd still be a very fair amount of them, and they wouldn't eat their own young.

Well, no one knows for sure if there ARE women, and if they would or wouldn't eat the young.
They seem to kill anything weaker than them,..true survival of the fittest.

I agree with THEPISTONENGINE, that they basically torture all but one in a group, and leave a survivor,..basically making them a new recruit.

Although, I wonder,....do they try and come back to get the survivor, or does the survivor make it back to them somehow??

This is turning quite interesting.
'Blues

ROB150185

Tuesday, March 21, 2006 2:27 PM

If the population of Miranda was 30 million, then there would have been originally about thirty-thousand Reavers. Add twelve years to that.....

I'll be in my bunk...

BROWNCOAT1

Tuesday, March 21, 2006 2:48 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by ThePistonEngine:
That being said, there isn't enough time for Reavers to die out. My favorite theory about Reaver multiplication is the theory offered by Mal in Bushwhacked.

I agree w/ ThePistonEngine. I think Mal had the right of it in that some people who are left alive by the Reavers when they attack can not help but become Reavers themselves when they witness the carnage & brutality of such an assault. Perhaps Reavers can tell which victims have the weakest will and leave them alive to watch so they become Reavers. Could be this is how they grow their numbers.

__________________________________________

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Richmond, VA & surrounding area Firefly Fans:

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ARCADIA

Tuesday, March 21, 2006 2:49 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by IndyBlues:
Well, no one knows for sure if there ARE women, and if they would or wouldn't eat the young.
They seem to kill anything weaker than them,..true survival of the fittest.
/B]

Well... wouldn't Reaver women be just a crazy and violent as Reaver man? One of the reasons women "weaker" than men is because society conditions them to be passive -- at least, treditionally; this is changing. Now, assuming either that a) the influence of PAX would dominate over social conditioning, or b) that society doesn't condition women to necessarily be passive (thus, producing awsome warrior women like Zoe), it seems likely to me that somewhere, there are reaver women, they have not all be killed off Darwinian style.

I agree with Zaknrfama. They might beat each toher up (women and men) and they might abuse their kids (possibly to the point that they don't cry when the weaker ones die), but they are a functioning society with enough intelligence to fly ships, navigate ships, and (hardest of all) land ships without dying (even if their flying is semi-suicidal). They probably just keep their kids on the ships in Reaver territory, waiting for them to come of age, or something.

Also, since many people seem curious about the timeline, I sumbulled acorss this ( http://snipurl.com/nwzo) when I was doing research for a fanfic. It is speculative, but very thoughtfully put together. I found it very helpful.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Objects in Space"
River: It's just an object. It doesn't mean what you think...

INDYBLUES

Tuesday, March 21, 2006 3:09 PM

Yes, I believe Reaver women would be just as, if not MORE, violent and crazy as the Reaver men.
I'm just saying that the men "might"(choosing words carefully) overpower the women, by numbers, not by being better or stronger.

I don't want to turn this into a ERA debate. Firefly has plenty of strong, intelligent, and powerful women, onboard Serentity, and even more that the crew meet in their travels.

I'm talking about Reavers. More than once in the series it is stated that they are "men".
They rape, kill, and sew pieces of your skin into their clothing(hopefully in that order),
so violating(I hate the word rape) various women for procreation, seems against their ways.

The timeline clears it up that they aren't dying out anytime soon, I just wasn't certain on "when" they were created.

So, is it a given, that the way they increase their ranks, is the way it is explained (and shown) in "Bushwacked"?
Seems the best explaination to me, so far, and kind of what I figured at the start of this thread.

However, I am always open to newer and better options.
'Blues

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