Inara's Vial by Unicorn

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

Inara's Vial

POSTED BY: UNICORN
UPDATED: Wednesday, August 13, 2008 04:33
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Tuesday, August 12, 2008 6:45 PM

I'm sure this has been thought of and probably discussed like a million times without me, but I'm an infrequent lurker and missed it, so here goes:

I think Inara's vial must have been intended as an assassin's tool. Now hear me out.

We know she had to go to the capitol city for her checkup, routine ambassadorial maintenance, if you will. In the discussions on the original DVD that was released, Joss mentions the fact that someone asked if the vial contained some kind of suicide drug that Inara intended to take so she wouldn't be raped to death by reavers. He says "No" to that idea but commends its creativity.

For a long time I believed she must be slowly languishing from some horrible, wasting but uncommunicable disease. Staying in the populous provinces might be painful if you rise to the top and then slowly but surely lose it. But that was too poem-y, and Joss doesn't usually go for that kind of stuff.

But if that vial contains poison intended for somebody else on the ship, to be administered at a given time or at a given signal from some internal or external source, then what we have is an interesting situation with a complex character and unclear motives and sympathies-- signature Joss scenario.

I suppose this has already been hashed out six or seven times, but since I missed it... I think her intended target has to be the Captain, or if not (how could it not be?) then one of his original crew, since she joined up with them early. I don't want to think of our beloved Inara in a poor light, but this is the only outcome that makes any sense to me in light of the fact that this is Joss we're dealing with here.

Any takers?

THIS IS A SIG FILE

There is no such thing as a weed.

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Tuesday, August 12, 2008 6:48 PM

FUTUREMRSFILLION

Interesting, but why Mal? Who on the ship warrants an assasin? The Tams certainly, Book maybe - but the rest of them? And since The Tams and Book were not on the ship when she came aboard.....hmmmmm

Oh and welcome! We like our lurkers out in the open.....where we can see them!

I am on The List. We are The Forsaken and we aim to burn!
"We don't fear the reaper"

FORSAKEN original

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Tuesday, August 12, 2008 7:16 PM

EMBERS

Tim Minear let that particular cat out of the bag...
you aren't too far off:
http://www.whedon.info/Tim-Minear-reveals-another.html
(you're right that it didn't have to do w/an illness, but I still thought that her obscure response to the results of her tests on Ariel suggested that her health, while not worse, was also not better... But who knows?)

New Firefly fans should check this out: http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=2&t=15816

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Tuesday, August 12, 2008 7:55 PM

SHINYGOODGUY

A reviewer of that particular article called it "awesomeness upon awesomeness."

The story of Inara's vial. Reading that article gave me goosebumps. "Awesomeness" is too simple a word to describe what i just read. It makes me miss our heroes even more now.

The series could have broken records...hell it could have made new ones. The Dark Knight has nothing on the sheer power of that story. Did you feel the greatness of what Tim talked about in his interview. Wow.

We just have to get FF/Serenity back now.

Usually I'll post a quote here, but I'm just to sad after reading that article. The people at (you know where) just did not know what they had on their hands. Shinygoodguy, out.

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Tuesday, August 12, 2008 8:17 PM

SHINYGOODGUY

Ok, I'm a little more composed now. So here's what I think could be Inara's secret. I think the assassin scenario is very much a possibility. In the pilot ep Inara's "guest" comments on her description of her home planet and ask why she would leave.

The look on her face tells me she did not want to leave, she was forced to. I smell a Fox here, what I mean to say that I think the Alliance got to her in some way and has "asked" her to carry out a mission. Now I'm not sure its Mal (perhaps because of his service during the war), maybe its Niska.

On second thought, it may not be the Alliance because of the way the Operative mercilessly pounded on our girl in the BDM. I don't think the Alliance would have their operatives beaten like that. It could be Niska or Badger, who has a dislike toward our captain.

Shiny! Let's be bad guys!

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Wednesday, August 13, 2008 4:06 AM

EMBERS

well at the beginning of 'Firefly' I don't think that Mal was seen as a big enough threat to be given much attention from the Alliance,
they wanted the Tams, but cared nothing about random smugglers...
so I don't think the Alliance would recruit someone in Inara's position of importance to 'squash a cockroach' (the way the Alliance Captain referred to the smugglers when he responded to the 'cry baby' in the pilot.

I also (in terms of Niska) think that it is a mistake to base all scenarios for the future on the few characters we met in the first half of the first season... I think Joss planned to have a lot more characters (good and bad) introduced over time...
I do think Niska was going to return, but after being on twice I don't think there was any hint that he was of any interest to Inara.

But of course I always imagined that she was trying to get lost, going out into the black to escape something back home. Of course the fact that she went and worked at an out lying training house (and the fact that she knew the Guild of Companions would back her up in black balling Atherton Wing does show that she was still in good standing with the Guild...).

I do think that Joss will find a way to tell us future stories... sooner or later.

New Firefly fans should check this out: http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=2&t=15816

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Wednesday, August 13, 2008 4:33 AM

GWEK

Over in our virtual series at www.stillflying.net, we dealt with the black vial in a few of our episodes (in particular, see the season two episodes "Open Wounds" [2x09] and "Shards" [2x15]). Links below:

http://www.stillflying.net/Scripts/s2/209.pdf
http://www.stillflying.net/Scripts/s2/215.pdf

Maybe not exactly the way Joss intended, but I like to think he wouldn't hate what we did.

George

www.stillflying.net: "Here's how it might have been..."

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