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Originally posted by AJ:
Going back to the old Early comment in OiS, "that's no shepherd". Some have suggested that this was surmised from observation, but Early's done his research. He clearly knows all about EVERYONE on board, and how to push their buttons. He made damn sure (like with Mal), that Book wasn't going to have much of a chance to fight back.

Now I believe that he is a man of faith, maybe even a shepherd (at least officially) and possibly "doing penance" for something, but as others have pointed out, he's quite up-to-date on what's happening in the contemporary world, and his skills are certainly not rusty! I wouldn't rule out the possibility of him still being in active service (although definitely with a long history), such as undercover, but at the same time he could be in need of a low profile for some reason, and I'm largely convinced that he's not "tracking" River, or any of the Serenity crew.

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Originally posted by Thalos:
IMHO:

I believe that Book was a higher up in the Alliance and in fact he was at Serenity Valley and after seeing all the blood-shed decided to turn to God, Why?

Well, because based on what we know of Joss, wouldn't it be perfect story symmetry that at the point in which Mal lost his Faith, was the time at which Book "gained" his?

"Whoa, good Bible."

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