War Stories : Why Go Back? by Jongsstraw

FIREFLY EPISODE DISCUSSIONS

War Stories : Why Go Back?

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POSTED BY: JONGSSTRAW
UPDATED: Wednesday, March 19, 2014 17:58
SHORT URL: http://bit.ly/1cQ8Kgs
VIEWED: 10095
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Monday, October 15, 2007 3:55 AM

JONGSSTRAW

Every time I watch this episode I can't help but to ask WHY did they go back anywhere near Niska's station? They had already unloaded most of the loot from the hospital job on Ariel, just had a small box of medical supplies left...so why go somewhere where Niska could find them?

Also......what happens to the station after the crew wound or kill all of Niska's men and send Niska on the run? Does he still own and operate it after Mal and Serenity leave?

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Monday, October 15, 2007 3:03 PM

MERRYK

Don't space stations move? Maybe they didn't know Niska was near it until they got there. Or not at all. Mal's pretty bad about getting info about the jobs he does.

--
"My way of being polite, or however...well, it's the only way I have of showing you that I like you. Of showing respect." Simon Tam, Jaynestown

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Monday, October 15, 2007 9:58 PM

BULLET0IN0THE0BRAINPAN0SQUISH

Quote:
Originally posted by Jongsstraw:
Also......what happens to the station after the crew wound or kill all of Niska's men and send Niska on the run? Does he still own and operate it after Mal and Serenity leave?

This is the stuff of which fanfics are made.^^

Maybe they thought that since they are on the other side of the world, Niska won't find them?

The thing that confuses me though is the foil around the tube leading to Niska's office. Isn't that the thing you put in the car windows to keep the heat out?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I don't know what I'm saying. I never know what I'm saying.... -River Tam, Serenity (2005)

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Tuesday, October 16, 2007 6:40 PM

KNIGHTREYEDER

Niska, like all perpetual bad tastes will be back.

Mal ain't scared ah nuthin.

Mal's expression in the scrapyard when he first see's Serenity says it all.

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Sunday, October 21, 2007 6:04 AM

RIVERFLAN

Probably because Mal thought Niska wouldn't be actively looking for him, and he didn't know Niska was there. That's my guess, anyway.

@)~*~*~*$)~*~*~*)~(*~*~*~($*~*~*~(@

Gots to get away from the green, nasty dragon
\~~~*~~^~~*~~~/
My favorite quotes:

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Sunday, October 21, 2007 8:48 AM

FREELANCERTEX

I'm pretty much in agreement with everyone above. I think Niska moves his station to wherever he thinks there might be merchandise to obtain or sell. Serenity just happened to be there at the wrong time :-\

__________________________
Have you ever wondered why in a dream you can touch a falling sky?
Or fly to the heavens that watch over you?

"I am a leaf on the wind, watch how I soar."

A man is least himself when he speaks in his own person. Give him a mask and he will show you his true self.

You can't take the sky from me...

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Sunday, October 21, 2007 9:33 PM

BULLET0IN0THE0BRAINPAN0SQUISH

I've read somewhere that a Skyplex is like a space shopping mall. Can't remember where I read it though (Could it be the Firefly wiki? Can't...remember...properly!). So Niska's skyplex is a shopping mall? Didn't seem like one... or maybe I was just dreaming when I read the thing....huh.....

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I don't know what I'm saying. I never know what I'm saying.... -River Tam, Serenity (2005)

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Monday, October 22, 2007 11:46 AM

FREELANCERTEX

......maybe, cuz I don't remember seeing or hearing of that anywhere :-P You never see anyone but Niska and his thugs roaming around the place, I'd think if it were a mall you'd see people passing...iunno. I thought he was a gangster (well, he kind of is O.o)

__________________________
Have you ever wondered why in a dream you can touch a falling sky?
Or fly to the heavens that watch over you?

"I am a leaf on the wind, watch how I soar."

A man is least himself when he speaks in his own person. Give him a mask and he will show you his true self.

You can't take the sky from me...

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Monday, October 22, 2007 7:13 PM

SORCHA425

Continuing the topic of Niska's bad decorating taste or personal style. . . I soooo would love to see Mrs. Niska. . . especially when she makes Niska "hear about it at dinner" after he tortures and kills her nephew.

K

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Tuesday, October 23, 2007 1:28 AM

BULLET0IN0THE0BRAINPAN0SQUISH

Quote:
Originally posted by sorcha425:
Continuing the topic of Niska's bad decorating taste or personal style. . . I soooo would love to see Mrs. Niska. . . especially when she makes Niska "hear about it at dinner" after he tortures and kills her nephew.

K

That's a very shiny idea! Imagine if Niska's already that demented, how demented does his wife have to be to actually marry him? Won't it be shiny if Mrs. Niska's like the landlady in the movie Kung Fu Hustle? Then, Niska would look really tame next to her.. teeehee

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I don't know what I'm saying. I never know what I'm saying.... -River Tam, Serenity (2005)

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Tuesday, October 23, 2007 4:01 AM

GWEK

One of our early (ie, not our best, so if you read it, please go easy on us!) episodes over at www.stillflying.net explores Niska's family a bit.

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

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Tuesday, October 23, 2007 4:15 AM

WASHNWEAR

Quote:
Originally posted by bullet0in0the0brainpan0squish:
Quote:
Originally posted by sorcha425:
Continuing the topic of Niska's bad decorating taste or personal style. . . I soooo would love to see Mrs. Niska. . . especially when she makes Niska "hear about it at dinner" after he tortures and kills her nephew.

K

That's a very shiny idea! Imagine if Niska's already that demented, how demented does his wife have to be to actually marry him? Won't it be shiny if Mrs. Niska's like the landlady in the movie Kung Fu Hustle? Then, Niska would look really tame next to her.. teeehee

I dunno...I see maybe Barbara Bush...or, failing that, Estelle Costanza...or one of Stella Mudd's (Harry Mudd's wife) sisters...

It was all shrieking harridan fishwives when we got here!

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Tuesday, October 23, 2007 6:51 AM

FREELANCERTEX

Niska...family.....*twitch*...does not compute. *twitch*

__________________________
Have you ever wondered why in a dream you can touch a falling sky?
Or fly to the heavens that watch over you?

"I am a leaf on the wind, watch how I soar."

A man is least himself when he speaks in his own person. Give him a mask and he will show you his true self.

You can't take the sky from me...

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Tuesday, October 23, 2007 8:29 PM

BULLET0IN0THE0BRAINPAN0SQUISH

Quote:
Originally posted by GWEK:
One of our early (ie, not our best, so if you read it, please go easy on us!) episodes over at www.stillflying.net explores Niska's family a bit.

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

I've read stillflying.net and that's a gorram shiny site! (esp. loved Letters to Home, won't it be nice if all of Jayne's accounts were drawn in anime? just a thought...) Which ep was about Niska's family? And when can we read the ep after Moment of Silence?^^

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I don't know what I'm saying. I never know what I'm saying.... -River Tam, Serenity (2005)

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Wednesday, October 24, 2007 4:10 AM

GWEK

Quote:
Originally posted by bullet0in0the0brainpan0squish:
Quote:
Originally posted by GWEK:
One of our early (ie, not our best, so if you read it, please go easy on us!) episodes over at www.stillflying.net explores Niska's family a bit.

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

I've read stillflying.net and that's a gorram shiny site! (esp. loved Letters to Home, won't it be nice if all of Jayne's accounts were drawn in anime? just a thought...) Which ep was about Niska's family? And when can we read the ep after Moment of Silence?^^

You may be happy to know that we're trying to get some of the eps illustrated, and a lot of the artists have an anime/manga style.

The Niska-related episode is our second one (1x17: Hero Complex).

As for episodes beyond "Moment of Silence"... I'm working on it! The project had a bit of a setback in that most of our writing staff (myself included) developed personal conflicts pretty much simultaneously. Our next two episodes, tentatively titled "Miranda" and "A Leaf on the Wind," are already written and are currently being edited.

If you haven't already signed up at our forum, you may want to do so. When we have a new ep, I post here on fff.net, but also send out an email to all forum members.

Um... Apologies for kinda hijacking the thread. Now, back to our regularly-programmed discussion. :)

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

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Thursday, November 1, 2007 10:38 PM

JEWELSTAITEFAN

It's not like they are in an infinite area, these planets and moons aren't all that far apart, and from our Earth to our sun only takes them 16 days to travel.

Plus they paid Niska back his money. The dude who refused to got kicked into the engine intake, and the next one promised to take the money back to Niska. They can't avoid one world forever.

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Friday, November 2, 2007 1:25 PM

TRAVELER

My impression is this space station can travel. So Mal may not have known Niska was even in orbit about this planet.

http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=28764731
Traveler

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Wednesday, January 9, 2008 8:29 PM

JEWELSTAITEFAN

While perusing the Official Companion books, I reread a scene scripted but not shown (although referred to) in the aired episode.

Inara is at the Councilor's home, pleading for the World Council (of Ezra) to claim jurisdiction over Niska's Skyplex and stop Niska from murdering Mal.
The Councilor states that a year ago, they might have been able to do so, but in the intervening time Niska has bought off most of the World Council, and so trying now to claim jurisdiction would not work.
This shows us that Niska's Skyplex has been orbiting Ezra for the past year. The Train Job was about 4-5 months before War Stories, so this was during the past year. Further, during TTJ Niska had not as much power as now, and he's been expanding his power and influence since TTJ, becoming unassailable by legal or jurisdictional means by the time of War Stories.

Others have mentioned that maybe the U-Day bar occured on Ezra, and/or the Train Job itself. In the U-Day scenes of TTJ there are 3 moons in the background sky, and leaving atmo from the bar scene we see the nearby planet with rings around it - no further sight of 3 moons. In WS, the drop sight we see all sides, all angles of view, whether with Mal/Wash and Bolles, or with Zoe/Jayne/Book. No sign of 3 moons or any planet with rings, so this seems to indicate the U-Day bar scene was not on Ezra.
Further, After making contact at the U-Day Bar, Mal tells Inara they made contact, and will go to Niska's Skyplex, but don't yet know where the job will be. This seems to suggest that the U-Day bar is also not the planet the Skyplex is orbiting, thus not Ezra.

On the other hand, perhaps Hancock and Paradiso are located on Ezra. When Niska describes the Job, no mention is made of another planet, or how long it might take to get there, including the plans regarding Crow. The map of the train route does not state a planet, nor does anybody involved. Thus by ommission one can assume they are discussing the planet which the Skyplex is orbiting, which we can now understand is Ezra.

Somebody has stated that Hancock and Paradiso are located on Regina, but I have not understood how that conclusion has come about, or where the evidence of such a claim is found.

If Paradiso is located on Ezra, then an interseting insight comes about. Mal and Zoe hiest the medicine, then return it to Paradiso. Niska was robbing the medicine of the planet he orbited so he could sell it on the black market for big cash. Niska is spending the year buying off the World Council members of Ezra. Therefore these Councilmembers are turning their backs on their constituents while allowing Niska to rob them blind, suffering Bowden's disease, and probably anything else niska feels like doing.
Although we are surely not surprised that Mal/Zoe hold a higher ethical and moral standard than these World Council members, this does help solidify just how much higher of a level Mal and Zoe are above the fray, not to mention the planetary officials.
Mal & Zoe good. Alliance bad.

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Wednesday, January 9, 2008 9:26 PM

PLATONIST

The Councilor really shows her true colors in those scenes. She plays powerless and humiliates Inara for coming to her private residence. Inara practically has to beg her for the derma mender. What a BITCH!

Too bad they didn’t film those; it shows the Alliance’s weakness in maintaining order, out on the rim.

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Wednesday, January 9, 2008 10:44 PM

WHITESILENCE

The Skyplex and Niska's space station are two separate locations.

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Wednesday, January 9, 2008 10:55 PM

JEWELSTAITEFAN

Quote:
Originally posted by whitesilence:
The Skyplex and Niska's space station are two separate locations.

?????
Please explain.

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Wednesday, January 9, 2008 11:14 PM

WHITESILENCE

From http://www.fireflywiki.org:
Sky Plex - A space station that has optimized a large portion of it's habitable space for client services such as shopping, entertainment, and so forth.

I interpreted BULLET0IN0THE0BRAINPAN0SQUISH's question to mean that they thought Niska's home in the sky and the skyplex visited by Serenity's crew in 'The Message' were one and the same. They are clearly not.

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Wednesday, January 9, 2008 11:38 PM

JEWELSTAITEFAN

The Space Bazaar where Serenity gets it's Post in The Message is not Niska's Skyplex, agreed.

The Skyplex Niska meets them on in The Train Job and the Skyplex where Niska kills Mal in War Stories are the same Skyplex, correct? If so, in both instances it is orbiting Ezra.

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Wednesday, January 9, 2008 11:58 PM

ASARIAN

Quote:
Originally posted by whitesilence:

The Skyplex and Niska's space station are two separate locations.

I'm confused. No wait, I think maybe you're confused. :)

Does that (large) space station in The Message even have a name? I 'sppose you could call it a skyplex too. But the skyplex that's referenced in the shooting script belongs to Niska, and orbits Ezra. Also, there's no evidence of any kind says it's anything but stationary. Men like Niska don't go about their merry, irresponsibly hopping around the 'Verse, but instead establish defendable, predictable strongholds -- makes his presence known and solid. :)

--
"Mei-mei, everything I have is right here." -- Simon Tam

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Thursday, January 10, 2008 12:05 AM

JEWELSTAITEFAN

Quote:
Originally posted by asarian:
Quote:
Originally posted by whitesilence:

The Skyplex and Niska's space station are two separate locations.

I'm confused. No wait, I think maybe you're confused. :)

Does that (large) space station in The Message even have a name?
--
"Mei-mei, everything I have is right here." -- Simon Tam

The script states it is a Space Bazaar.

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Thursday, January 10, 2008 12:19 PM

WHITESILENCE

I would assume they're the same skyplex. The the physical structure as well as Niska's office appear to be the same in both episodes.

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Thursday, January 10, 2008 8:56 PM

JEWELSTAITEFAN

In The Train Job, the script specifies the location as Niska's Skyplex.
In War Stories, the script specifies the location as Niska's Skyplex.
In The Message, the script specifies the location as Space Bazaar.

Why would these be assumed to be the same place? Since wiki is reknowned for it's inaccuracies and false data, try not to use that as a source, particularly when Joss says different.

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Monday, March 24, 2008 7:29 PM

JEWELSTAITEFAN

Quote:
Originally posted by Jongsstraw:
Everytime I watch this episode I can't help but to ask WHY did they go back anywhere near Niska's station? They had already unloaded most of the loot from the hospital job on Ariel, just had a small box of medical supplies left...so why go somewhere where Niska could find them?

Also......what happens to the station after the crew wound or kill all of Niska's men and send Niska on the run? Does he still own and operate it after Mal and Serenity leave?

A thought has occurred to me, from a different perspective.
Did Inara schedule the Councilor as client before or after Mal decided to sell the meds to Bolles?
This is the last of the dropoffs, they have been selling the take for a while now.
Perhaps we have assumed that Mal made the decision to sell on Ezra, and Inara maganed to get a client there.
However, Inara has been hassling Mal about not getting clients, and maybe Mal let her request for destination Ezra go because he wanted to let her work. Then the trip to Ezra was for Inara, and selling to Bolles just coincided.

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Monday, March 24, 2008 9:23 PM

JEWELSTAITEFAN

Also, in the wake of this Spitze3r call girl thing, another thought occurs.
In the mentioned unaired scenes at the Counselor's home, there is no impressive deference to the great honor of having a Registered Companion present. No reservations for Distinguished Guest. Inara is seemingly treated as a common call girl or escort, not as an exhalted Registered Companion, of High Social Standing.
The Councilor seems to be highly offended at the presence of Inara, and Inara also pretends to be on other business (sounds like she is a lawyer/solicitor) to decieve the husband from understanding she is an R.C.
Does this strike anybody else funny?
The "advanced sexual maturity" of this verse that Joss talks about seems absent.

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Tuesday, April 1, 2008 2:55 AM

SPACEANJL

The Inara/Councilor scene makes sense if you consider that the Councilor is obviously not telling her husband everything about herself! (And the 'solicitor' line would seem to be about political petitoning, rather than law.) Companions might be High Status, but not necessarily house-guests. Plus Inara doesn't seem to have announced herself as such.

I think it draws on that idea that people cannot always be themselves entirely, and this would seem particularly true in politics.

I also think Inara is beginning to realise the difference between being a Companion in the Core, and being outside that envelope.

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Monday, March 10, 2014 7:29 PM

JEWELSTAITEFAN

bump

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Wednesday, March 19, 2014 2:39 PM

JONGSSTRAW

Whoa! Good bump!

I had forgotten about this thread from 7 years ago. Lots of interesting responses.

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Wednesday, March 19, 2014 5:58 PM

JEWELSTAITEFAN

You're welcome.
I am looking for some info and will try to put some things together, and this thread had some of what I was looking for, plus I might be able to add to it. Hard to find some things from long ago, so bump was the way to help me.

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