Firefly Timeline

7/27/2019 Firefly Timeline

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/20/12 Firef ly Timeline

1

Firefly Timeline

by Edgar Governo

"Here's ho w it is..."

--Malcolm Rey nolds, opening narration

This timeline is intended as a guide to the ev ents depicted in the telev ision seriesFirefly (and its feature film

continuation,Serenity), as well as the internal history described in that series and film. The format of thetimeline is based mo re o r less on that found inStar Trek Chronology: A History of the Future , by Michael

Okuda and Denise Okuda.Firefly is, of cour se, 200 2 Mutant Enemy Inc and 20 th Century Fox Telev ision,

whileSerenity is 2005 Mutant Enemy Inc and Universal Pictures, and this timeline is in no way affiliated

with any of those entit ies.

A variety of sourc es were used in constructing this timeline:

The fourteen episodes ofFirefly itself, naturally, along with the opening narrations included with those

episodes as originally br oadcast in North America.

The feature filmSerenity , just as naturally.

The "R. Tam Sessions," a sequence of video clips released online (and included in theSerenity :

Collector's Edition DVD) which depic t scenes from River Tam's time at an Alliance-sponsored academy

"Those Left Behind," aSerenity tie-in co mic boo k story written by Joss Whedon and Brett Matthews.

"Better Days," aSerenity tie-in comic book story also written by Joss Whedon and Brett Matthews.

"Float Out," aSerenity tie-in comic book story written by Patton Oswalt.

"The Shepherd's Tale," aSerenity tie-in comic book story written by Joss Whedon and Zack Whedon.

"The Other Half," aSerenity tie-in comic bo ok story written by Jim Krueger.

"Downtime," aSerenity tie-in comic book story written by Zack Whedon.

Deleted scenes and other features included in the v ideo release of the series (both on DVD and Blu-

Ray).

Deleted scenes and other features included in the v ideo release o f the feature film (on DVD, HD-DVD,

andBlu-Ray).

Serenity: The Official V isual Companion, particularly the shoo ting script for the film and "A Brief

History o f the Universe, c irca 250 7 A.D.," a pre-production memo by Joss Whedon.

Firefly: The Official Companion (Volume One andVolume Two ), particularly the original shooting

scripts for the series.

Firefly: Still Flying, particularly the short stor ies "Crystal" by Brett Matthews, "Fun with Dick and Jayne

by Ben Edlund, "Take the Sky " by Jose Molina, and "What Holds Us Down" by Jane Espe nso n.

The novelisation ofSerenity , written by Keith R.A. DeCandido.

T he Official Firefly Website (now defunc t), including v ideo interv iews and script fragments which

were av ailable on that site.

Serenity : The Official Mov ie Website , including exc lusive co ntent available on that site.

Other publicity and online resources, most notably direct co rrespondenc e with Jim Krueger.

Under each entry , there is an explanation of how I arriv ed at the date in question. For simplicity, I hav e

grouped many references to the past into periods of time rather than specific years, since admittedly,

ev idence from the filmed material itself is pretty scarc e. I have also c hosen to attempt only a rough

breakdown o f 2517 and 25 18, the y ears in whic h the series and film take plac e.

The main supposition I made that is not based o n any o f the above sourc es is that the series takes place in the

episode o rder presented in the DVD release of the series, rather than the production o rder or the original

airing order of episodes. I made this assumption for purposes of narrative c larity, since the series has a

co ntinuing storyline, and the DVD order prov ides the sequence of events as intended by the creators o f

Firefly.

Should you dispute any of the dates in this timeline, or y ou want to prov ide yo ur own speculations, feel free

to contact me with your thoughts. Y ou can find many more fictional timelines at The History of Things That

Never Were.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1416507558/edgargovernhistohttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1416507558/edgargovernhistohttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1845763149/edgargovernhistohttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1845763726/edgargovernhistohttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1845760824/edgargovernhistohttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1845760824/edgargovernhistohttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1845760824/edgargovernhistohttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1845760824/edgargovernhistohttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000BW7QWW/edgargovernhistohttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000FA57N0/edgargovernhistohttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B001EN71CW/edgargovernhistohttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B001EN71CW/edgargovernhistohttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B001EN71CW/edgargovernhistohttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B001EN71CW/edgargovernhistohttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B001EN71CW/edgargovernhistohttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B001EN71CW/edgargovernhistohttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B001EN71CW/edgargovernhistohttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B001EN71CW/edgargovernhistohttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1595827390/edgargovernhistohttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1595825614/edgargovernhistohttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1595825614/edgargovernhistohttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1595825614/edgargovernhistohttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B003OEXO7U/edgargovernhistohttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1595821627/edgargovernhistohttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1593074492/edgargovernhistohttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000Q9IZ5C/edgargovernhistohttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000Q9IZ5C/edgargovernhistohttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000Q9IZ5C/edgargovernhistohttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0671536109/edgargovernhistohttp://www.mts.net/~arphaxad/history.htmlmailto:[email protected]://www.serenitymovie.com/http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1416507558/edgargovernhistohttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1848565062/edgargovernhistohttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1845763726/edgargovernhistohttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1845763149/edgargovernhistohttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1845760824/edgargovernhistohttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B001KOFH2G/edgargovernhistohttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000FA57N0/edgargovernhistohttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000BW7QWW/edgargovernhistohttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B001EN71CW/edgargovernhistohttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000AQS0F/edgargovernhistohttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1595827390/edgargovernhistohttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1595823271/edgargovernhistohttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1595825614/edgargovernhistohttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B003OEXO7U/edgargovernhistohttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1595821627/edgargovernhistohttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1593074492/edgargovernhistohttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000Q9IZ5C/edgargovernhistohttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0671536109/edgargovernhisto


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2ww.mts.net/~arphaxad/f irefly .html

1776

July 4

The Second Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylv ania, approv es the Declaration o f

Independence, formally establishing the United States of America.

[Historical accounts.]

1787

September 28

The Constitution of the United States is submitted for r atificatio n.


1798

Samuel Taylo r Coleridge publishes the po em "The Rime o f the Anc ient Mariner" in the co llectionLyric al

Ballads.

[Historical accounts. The Operative and Mal bo th c ite the image o f the alb atross from this po em in Serenity,

suggesting that at leastsome aspects o f Earth-That-Was are c ommonly known in their society--though Mal

also asks Inara not to faint at the idea that he has read a poem.]

1860

December 20

A spec ial c onv ention calle d in South Caro lina unanimo usly passes an o rdinance of sec essio n from the Union.

In the nex t two months, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas also v ote to secede.

[Historical accounts. Sinc e the American Civil War and its aftermath make up the main histo rical analogy at

wo rk in Firefly, it seems useful to offer some of the principal eve nts of that period for historical context. Of

co urse, using this analogy means that Malcolm and Zoe represent Confederates...]

1861

February 8

Delegates from six of the sece ded states, meeting in Montgomery , Alabama, formally establish the

Confederate States of America, under President Jefferson Davis. In the next four months, Virginia, Arkansas,

Tennessee, and North Carolina secede from the Union and join the Confederacy .


April 12

Confederate artillery , under the command o f General Pierre G.T. Beauregard, is fired o n Fort Sumter in

Charleston, South Carolina, beginning the American Civil War.


1863


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January 1

United States President A braham Lincoln issues the final Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that all slaves

in the rebellious states are now free.


July 13

The Battle of Gettysburg is fought in Pennsylv ania, with the Union Army of the Potomac, under the commandof General George G. Meade, defeating the Confederate A rmy of Northern Virginia, under the command of

General Robert E. Lee. This will later be c onsidered the mo st important battle of the A merican Civil War,

turning the tide o f war against the South.

[Historical accounts. This batt le has be en cited as the histo rical analogy for the Battle o f Serenity Valley,

andThe Killer A ngels by Michael Shaara, an historical novel abo ut the battle, served as series creator Joss

Whedon's initial inspiration for what ultimately became Firefly.]

1864

July 11

Confederate force s, under the command of General Jubal Early, pro be and fire upon the Union defences of

Washingto n, DC, throwing the c ity into a state of high alert.

[Historical accounts. Given the e xistence o f an historical Jubal Early, it is unclear whe ther the character of

Jub al Early from "Objects in Space" w as using his real name or operating unde r a pse udonym--River did c all

him a liar, after all. It has also been reported that the historical Jubal Early is a distant ancestor of actor

Nathan Fillion.]

1865

January 3 1

The US Congress passes the Thirteenth A mendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery throughout the

United States. The amendment is then submitted to the states for ratification.

[Historical accounts. Unfortunate ly, it w ould appear that slavery has b ec ome legal again b y 2517 , as

slaves, slave-trading, and indentured servitude are mentioned in "Serenity," "The Train Job," "Shindig,"

"Jaynestown," and "Trash;" and implied b y the act ions in "Safe" and "Our Mrs. Reynolds."]

April 9

General Ulysses S. Grant, supreme c ommander o f the Union armies, acc epts the surrender of General Rober t

E. Lee, supreme commander of the Confederate forces, at A ppomattox Court House, near Richmond, V irginia


April 26

Union General William T. Sherman rece ives the surrender o f Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston at

Durham Station, North Carolina, ending the American Civ il War.


1867


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The Reco nstruction Ac ts are passed by the US Congress, part of an ongoing effort to solv e the political, social,

and eco nomic prob lems arising from the readmission to the Union of the sece ded Confederate states. Under

the superv ision of the US Army , all of these states are readmitted ove r the next three y ears.


1877

The last Federal troops withdraw from the Southern states, bringing a formal end to the Reconstruc tion

Period.


1886

Frances Hodgson Burnett publishes the nov elLittle Lo rd Fauntlero y.

[Historical accounts. Mal calls Simon "Lord Fauntlero y" in "Serenity," again suggesting that some aspec ts o f

Earth-That-Was are commonly known in their society.]

1945

The Nationalist Party and the Chinese Communist Party begin to fight for contro l of territories formerly held

by the Japanese, leading to the Chinese Civil War.


Jack Williamson co ins the term "terraforming" to desc ribe the pro cess o f modify ing a planet, moon, o r other

bo dy to a mo re Earth-like atmosphere or ecology , hab itable fo r humans.


1949

October 1

With most o f the Chinese mainland now held by the Peo ple 's Liberat ion Army, Chairman Mao Zedong o f the

Chinese Communist Party proc laims the People 's Republic o f China, with its capital at Beijing.


1950

June 25

North Korea, at the pro mpting of the Sov iet Union and without the adv ance knowledge o f the Chinese,

launches a c arefully planned attack across the 38th parallel into South Korea, beginning the Korean War. The

United States is the principal country to join the United Nations effort o n the side of South Korea to halt the

North Korean invasion.

[Historical accounts. A s the Ko rean War has be en the o nly war (to this po int) in whic h the United States and

modern China have had military forces in direct co nflict, it seems w orthy of reference here.]

Novem ber 25

Having warned the United Nations that the presenc e of UN forces in North Korea would be unacceptable to

the secur ity o f the People's Republic o f China, the Chinese gov ernment intervenes in the war on the side of

North Korea.


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1953

July 27

The Korean Armistice is conc luded and signed at P'anmunjom by representatives of the United Nations forces

and the o pposing North Korean and Chinese armies. A Demilitarised Zone is established, and the 38th parallel

is accepted as the de facto boundary between North and South Korea.


1961

May 5

The United States launches the Mercury 3 mission using the Freedo m 7 spacec raft on a suborbital flight

carry ing astronaut Alan B. Shepard, Jr., the first citizen of that country to journey into space.


1968

Novem ber 22

The Beatles release what is popularly known as The White Album, which includes the song "Cry Baby Cry,"

writte n by John Lenno n and Paul McCartney .

[Historical accounts. Mal and Wash q uote this so ng in "Serenity," once again suggesting that some aspects

of Earth-That-Was are commonly know n in their society. Since Mal in particular tends to make such

reference s to the past, how eve r, he may be more cultured than the average citizen.]

2003

October 15

China launches the Shenzhou 5 spacecraft into or bit carry ing taikonaut Y ang Liwei, the first citizen of that

country to journey into space.


2004

June 21

Scaled Composites launches SpaceShipOne past the boundary of space carry ing commerc ial astronaut Mike

Melvill, the first person to pilot a privately financed craft into space .

[Historical accounts. In spirit, at least, SpaceShipOne is a distant anc esto r ofSerenity, which is also a

commercial spaceship.]

2005 to 2459

The United States and China, the two great superpo wers of the Earth, gradually grow together and form the

Anglo-Sino A lliance (though their empires remain separ ate), rather than killing e ach other as o riginally

predicted. In a somewhat ironic reversal, the American Empire annexes England.


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[Firefly w ebsite and "A Brief History of the Univ erse, c irca 2507 A.D." In an interv iew on the site , series

creator Joss Whedo n first described some of this background to account for the mix of cultures in the

Alliance, and the pre-production memo giv es further details. This h istory is implic it in the design of the

Alliance flags seen in "The Train Jo b" and "Bushwhacked," a co mbinatio n of the present-day flags of the tw o

co untries in question.]

The Lassiter, the original handheld laser pistol and forerunner of all later laser technology , is invented. It will

one day be univ ersally known for its historical significance.

["Trash" and "The Message." The Lassiter's status as an Earth-That-Was artifact means that, by definitio n, it

wo uld have to be deve loped w hile the Earth still was. Saffron also describes it as "an antiquity of

unspeakable value ," suggesting its extreme age.]

The Earth is "used up," rendering it uninhabitable, as the planet cannot handle the growing population and

resourc e needs of humankind. Amazingly enough, instead of wiping itself out, the human rac e rises to the

challenge of finding a new home for the species. A nearby star is located, with a new solar system that is home

to dozens o f planets and hundreds of moons, almost all of which hav e enough mass and solidity to be

templates for new Earths.

[Opening narration and "A Brief Histo ry of the Univ erse, circa 2507 A.D." It is nev er made e ntire ly c lear

whether Earth still exists physically or not by the time o f the series, although its description as "Earth-That-

Was" makes that somew hat unlikely. On the o ther hand, the opening scenes ofSerenityshow ships leaving

an Earth that appears devastated but not completely destroyed.]

Through giant atmosphere pro cessing planets, terraforming technolo gies, gravity regulation, and the

introduction of ev ery known form o f Earth life, each planet in the system become s its own little (or, in some

cases, huge) Earth, though the process takes decades. A ll of these worlds are specifically made as close to

Earth-That-Was as possible, matching Earth's gravity and atmosphere.

[Opening narration, "Sere nity ,"Serenity, and "A Brief History of the Universe, c irca 250 7 A.D." Zoe te lls

Dobson that the central planets, as w ell as the bo rder moons, were made to resemble Earth, while young

River's teache r and the pre-production memo describe the proc ess in further detail.]

Humanity emigrates to this new solar sy stem en masse, with every person willing and able to leave the Earth

migrating there to co lonise its worlds. The journey takes so long that an entire generation never even sees theoutside of a spaceship, but the planets are ready for habitation and civ ilisation begins to rebuild.

[Opening narration, Serenity, and "A Brief History of the Universe, c irca 2 507 A.D." The shadowplay seen in

"Heart of Gold" provides a visual representation of the human diaspora, while the o pening scenes o fSerenity

actually sho w ships (what the shoo ting script calls "huge, intricate space-freighters") leaving Earth-That-

Was itself.]

Americ a and China work together throughout the c olonisatio n proc ess, and their cultures gradually meld at

many levels. Over time, American and Chinese culture meld to gether to the po int that English and Mandarin

even become integrated languages.

[Firefly w ebsite and "A Brief History of the Univ erse, c irca 2507 A.D." In the same website interv iew

mentioned abo ve, series creator Joss Whedon explained that this was his co ntextual justification forincluding Chinese dialogue in the series. Although the c haracters we see over the course of the series speak

primarily in English, with the o ccasional Manadarin interjectio n, one might presume that at least some of

their contemporaries prefer the reverse.]

The two central, major planets that form the Core of this new system are Sihnon (an outgrowth o f Chinese

influence) and Londinium (an outgrowth of Amer ican influence).

[Firefly w ebsite . In an interview on the site, series creator Joss Whedon explained this aspect of the series

backstory, de scribing Sihnon as "basically China" and Londinium as "basically America." Although these

details are not addressed directly in the se ries, Sihnon is mentioned in "Serenity," "Bushwhacked," and

"Heart of Gold;" Londinium is (obliquely) mentioned by Mal in "Serenity;" and the names o f both planets are


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listed on a screen in young River's classroom displaying a map of the ne w system in Serenity.]

As Sihno n develops, it is mo re cro wded and mo re complic ate d, but ultimate ly not that different, from other

dev eloped planets. The Great City itself is said to be "like an o cean o f light," in a way that cannot be captured

by pic tur es.

["Serenity ." Inara described w hat Sihnon is like to her client.]

Several o ther planets in the system are also co nsidered part of the Core, including Ariel and Osiris. Ariel is

quite a nice place , by most acc ounts, with beautiful museums, some o f the finest restaurants in the Core, and

the oppo rtunity to go hiking or swim in a bioluminescent lake.

["The Train Jo b" and "Ariel." Book describes Simon, w ho is from Osiris, as having b een "a doctor on the

central planets," while "Ariel" is quite explicit in describing its titular planet as part of the Core. Contrary to

what some viewe rs may think, Persephone is notpart of the Core--Kaylee describes he r trip to Ariel as he r

"first time in the Core," though we have seen he r on Persephone seve ral times before that.]

Prostitution is legalised in the form o f the Companion Guild, whose registered Companions hav e great social

status conferred upo n them--to the po int that some planets will not ev en let a ship dock without a dece nt

Companion o nboard. The Guild is organised into Houses (such as House Madrassa, based on Sihnon) run by a

House Mistress or House Priestess, who has a say in how Companions conduct their affairs. At a Companion

Acade my , present and future Companio ns engage in an intensiv e--and arguab ly lifelong--c ourse of study that

includes training in seduction, body language, and signals, along with music and rituals such as theCompanion Greeting Ceremony , invo lving tea.

["Serenity ," "Bushw hacked," "Our Mrs. Rey nolds," "Jaynestown," "Trash," and "Heart of Gold." Mal explains

to Book how restrictive planets can be w ithout the be nefit of a Companion abo ard one's ship. Inara tells

Magistrate Higgins that "the Companio n Greeting Ceremony is a ritual w ith centuries of traditio n,"

suggesting the age of the Companion Guild. I have place d its establishment at this point on the assumption

that the c once pt of Companions was deve loped in the Core after the initial human exodus.]

Companion Guild law stipulates, amongst other things, that Companions choo se their o wn clients from a

Client Registry , and no Companion will eve r co ntract with someone who has earned a black mark in that

registry. Engaging a Companion is not about sex for money , as there is no shortage of those willing to offer

that, so the proc ess is more formal and selective--Companions take their cues from their clients, and are putat ease if they're respectful.

["The Train Jo b," "Shindig," and "Bette r Days." Inara tells Kaylee about this aspect of Guild law, and later

explains to Atherton why no Companion w ill contract with him, while Simon attempts to explain the

selection proc ess to Jayne on Pelorum.]

Guild law also requires all Companions to undergo a physical examination once a y ear in order to renew their

licence. Other guidelines include the notion that Companions do no t "kiss and tell" about their clients, and a

"co mplicated" policy on dating.

["Out of Gas" and "Ariel." Inara explains all of the se rule s at different points to different people . A s yo u can

see, nearly every episode ofFireflyreveals a new de tail about the Companions.]

Humanity continues to spread o ut throughout the sy stem, terraforming and co lonising hundreds of new

Earths. Some are rich and flush with new technologies, while others struggle to get by with the most basic

equipment, though all are as c lose to Earth-That-Was as the terraforming process allows.

[Opening narration, "Sere nity ," andSerenity.It is difficult to reconcile the "new solar system" described in

Boo k's narratio n and later in Serenitywith the "who le new galaxy of Earths" described in Mal's narration.

The idea of two wav es of terraforming and colonisation--the first to the Core, followed by a more

widespread outgrowth--helps explain why the outlying colonies w ould be so much less advanced than

those w hich had been established first, and why the Core planets wo uld eventually be mo tivated to form the

Alliance themse lves.]


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Ever y planet that is terraformed for human life has its own "little quirks," amongst them Bowden's Malady, an

ex tremely degenerative affliction of the bone and muscle that can nevertheless be treated effectiv ely with

regular doses of Pasceline D. One planet in the Georgia System, in particular, finds that the air down

underground, mixed up with the ore proce ssors, is a perfect recipe for the disease. Every body in the mining

co mmunity of Paradiso on that planet eventually co mes down with Bowden's, even those who have nev er set

foot in a mine.

["The Train Jo b." She riff Bourne describe s the nature of Bowden's Malady to Mal and Zo e, inc luding its

co nnection to the terraforming process. It is unclear what significance a term like "the Georgia System"

wo uld have, given that all of the settled w orlds are desc ribed as be ing in a single solar system.]

The psychotic dictator Shan Yu, fancy ing himself quite the warrior poet, writes vo lumes on war, torture, and

the limits of human endurance. Amo ngst his works is the adage, "Live with a man forty y ears. Share his house,

his meals, speak on every subject. Then, tie him up and hold him ov er the v olcano's edge--and on thatday,

y ou will finally meet the man."

["War Stories." Book disc usses these w ritings with Simon, and Niska is also shown to be aw are of them.

Although the place and time of Shan Y u's re ign are no t spe cified, he appe ars to b e c onsidered a so mewhat

distant historical figure. I have placed him here to a llow for any number of possible locations w here he

might've ruled, while acknow ledging that he probab ly does not date from the era of Earth-That-Was. Shan

Y u is a fictional character unique to Firefly, and should not be c onfused with the character of the same nam

from the animated feature film Mulan, nor with the historical Chinese gene ral Xiang Y u or the Chinese

military strategist Sun Tzu.]

As the A lliance terraforms its border mo ons, settlers are dumped there with nothing but blankets, hatc hets,

and maybe a herd. Some o f these moons manage to make it, but others end up in bad shape, suffering plagues

and famine--though some of the repo rts of such suffering are ex aggerated.

["Serenity ." Dobson asks ab out the bo rder moons, and Mal and Zo e describe to him what they 're like. Mal's

co mments suggest that this practice of careless co lonisation is an ongoing problem.]

2460

Derrial Book is bo rn.

[Conjecture based on the age of actor Ron Glass. Book's full name is given in Serenity, although he mentions

that he is "called Book" in the e pisode "Serenity," making it somew hat unclear whether this has always b een

his actual name, o r if it simply one that he goes b y in the present.]

2465

Gabriel Tam is born.

[Sho oting script for "Safe." Simon's father is describe d as being 5 0 at the time of the episode 's flashbac ks.

Gabriel's name is also from the sc ript, as it is not given in the e pisode itself.]

2467

Regan Tam is born.

[Sho oting script for "Safe." Simon's mother is describe d as be ing in her "late 40 's" at the time o f the episo de 's

flashb acks. Regan's name is also fro m the script, as it is no t giv en in the episo de itse lf.]

2475

A man is bor n who will o ne day hav e a double bypass operation at St Lucy 's Hospital in A riel City .

["Arie l." A yo ung intern tells Simon that the man he ultimately saves is a forty-tw o-ye ar-o ld.]


9/33



2477

Jayne Cobb is born to Radiant Cobb.

[Conjecture based on the age of actor Adam Baldw in. His mo ther's name is giv en in "Better Days." The

shoo ting script for "The Message" seems to sugge st that Jayne also has a brother named Matty.]

2480

Derrial Book sails in a Firefly, but it is not a model with extenders, so it tends to shake.

["Serenity ." Book describe s this experience to Kaylee , saying it happened "long b efo re (she was) crawling."

The specific year is conjecture, ho we ver, and co uld easily be earlier or later than this.]

2484

February 15

Zoe A lleyne is born v esselside, and she will be raised on a spaceship. Her Social Control Number is

129,426,3,3523.

[Conjecture based on the age of actress Gina To rres. Zoe's birth year was c onfirmed on an informationscreen in a deleted scene from Serenity, available on the DVD release of the film, which also indicated the

specific date, the indication that she w as born vesse lside, and her Soc ial Control Number. The sho oting

script for "Heart of Gold" includes a c ut line in which Zoe mentions w here she was raised. Zoe 's full name at

birth is given in the same information screen just mentioned (though it misspells her married name as

"Washburn"), as well as o n the Serenity web site. Some sources had previously given her full name as Zoe

Warren.]

2486

Hoban Washburne is born on a planet where the po llution is so thick, o ne cannot see a single star.

[Conjecture based on the age of actor Alan Tudyk. Wash talks about the planet he 's from in "Our Mrs.Reynolds." Wash's full name is giv en in Serenityand on the Serenity website. Some publicity for the series

had give n his full name as Wash Warren.]

September 20

Malcolm Reynolds is born on Shadow. His mother has a ranch there devoted mostly to running cattle, and

she, along with about forty ranc h hands, will raise him. Acc ording to him, nobody runs cattle harder or

smarter than she doe s, and she tells him, "Don't brand the c attle, brand the buy er--he's the one likely to stray .

His Soc ial Control Number is 099,836 ,5,41 12 .

[Conjecture based on the age of actor Nathan Fillio n. The specific date comes from an information sc ree n

view ed by The Operative in Serenity, though it misspells his first name as "Malco m" and gives Mal's birthyear as 2468, which would seem to be inco nsistent with the dates in the series itself and Mal's apparent age.

(Could this hav e be en a transposition of the year given here?) Similarly, some early promotional material

for the series gave Mal's birthdate as Septe mber 20, 247 2. Mal talks about h is mo ther and w he re he's from in

"Our Mrs. Reynolds," though his use of the past tense tends to imply that his mother has died, w hile his Soc ia

Control Number is show n on the same information screen just mentioned.]

2490

Late Novem ber

Simon Tam is born o n Osiris to Gabriel and Regan Tam. He is v ery smart, to the po int of being considered


10/33


10/3ww.mts.net/~arphaxad/f irefly .html

gifted.

[Conjecture based on the age of actor Sean Maher. The time o f year comes from the c eleb ration of Simon's

birthday in "Out of Gas," while the names of his parents co me from the shooting sc ript for "Safe." Many

view ers seem to think that Simon should be significantly younger than this based on his appearance as a

child in a flashback from "Safe," but acto r Zac Efron, w ho playe d Y oung Simon, was 1 5 at the time that

flashb ack was filmed. Although Simo n never explic itly says he w as b orn on Osiris, it is safe to assume that

that is the case. Simon talks about h ow smart he is to point out how much smarter River is in "Serenity."]

2491

Fess Higgins is born.

["Jaynesto wn." Magistrate Higgins makes a po int o f noting that his so n is tw enty-six.]

2494

Inara Serra is born o n Sihnon. She will study to be a Companion there.

[Conjecture based on the age of actress Morena Baccarin, and the assumption that I nara is no olde r than she

appears to be. I nara says she was born on Sihnon and studied to b e a Companion there in "Serenity," and her

full name is mentioned in "Shindig."]

2497

Kaywinnit Lee Fry e is born.

[Conjecture based on the age of actress Je wel Staite. Kaylee's full name is mentio ned in "Shindig."]

2499

A bo y is bo rn who will o ne day hav e an encounter with Kay lee in her home.

["Objects in Space." As Kaylee tells it, she w as surprised whe n it turned out he w as fourte en ye ars o ld at the

time.]

2501

River Tam is bo rn on Osiris to Gabriel and Regan Tam. She is mo re than gifted, and ev ery thing she does--

including music, mathematics, theoretical phy sics, and dance--comes as naturally to her as breathing does to

anyo ne else, though she can also be a real brat about this. Her bro ther Simon will one day say she was bor n

with a third ey e. A mongst the languages she will know over time, besides English and Mandarin, are

Esperanto, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Latin, and Russian.

[Serenity.Simon de scribe s River as "a seventeen-year-old girl" at the time of the film, a lthough Commander

Harken had earlie r described the two o f them as "(a)dult siblings" in "Bushw hacked." A s with Simon, her

place o f birth is a safe assumptio n. Simo n talks abo ut how much of a gift River w as in "Serenity ," while Riv erquote s Simon's claim abo ut how intuitive she is to her interview er in "R. Tam, Session 1, Excerpt." River is

depicted translating a verbal exchange into all o f the languages listed in the Serenitynovelisation (page

103).]

2503

Hoban Washburne enters flight school, arguably just to see what the hell ev ery one is talking about regarding

the stars in the sky, which he has neve r seen. At o ne point, he is laconic there .

["Our Mrs. Reynolds" and "War Storie s." Wash finds himself telling Saffron w hy he thinks he ente red flight

scho ol, and later tells Mal about his terse tendencies. Although Wash never mentions how old he w as at the


11/33

/20/12


time, present-day regulations stipulate that one must be at least sev enteen years of age to ob tain a private

pilo t certificate, whic h is a prerequisite for comme rcial pilot certification.]

Amongst Wash's classmates in flight school is an unhy gienic young man known to Wash as Manfred A sbach,

although that name is a fake o ne he c reated just for flight schoo l, as he wanted to say he is a certified pilot

despite being unable to actually fly a ship. He has no actual piloting skill whatsoev er but hacks his way into

the flight school c omputers and makes them do what he wants. Every time he enters the simulator, it flies

perfectly because he 's told it to days earlier; and every time he gets into an actual ship, he's preprogrammed it

to do on autopilot prec isely what the lesson calls for. Even when he does poorly , as some of the exe rcises

simply cannot be prepro grammed and require actual skill to do right, he hacks into the co mputers that holdthe grades and c hanges them to perfection. As a result, Asbach is first in their class while Wash is second.

[Serenitynove lisation (page 1 26). Wash recalls these details as part of how he o riginally encountered Mr.

Universe.]

Refusing to believe that someone so inept co uld beat him out, Wash confronts Asbac h at graduation, and he

rev eals the truth about himself. Wash has two choices, to beat him up or to keep his secret in exc hange for

occasionally making use of his serv ices, and the latter option strikes him as a better long-term benefit. Wash

also reassures himself that seco nd in his class in flight scho ol isn't too bad, all things considered.

[Serenitynove lisation (page 1 27 ). Wash further rememb ers how he learned of Mr. Universe's activities at

the flight school.]

The only name A sbach will answer to afterwards is "Mr. Universe." In addition to the pilot's certification, he is

also an ordained shepherd, a professional planet-diver, and a licenced pro specto r, though he can perform

none o f those tasks, either.

[Serenitynove lisation (pages 126-127 ). Wash remembers these facts about Mr. Universe as well, although

he w ould presumably only know of them after the initial confrontation.]

2504

River Tam starts correc ting her bro ther Simon's spelling.

["Safe." Simo n tells h is parents that River started do ing this whe n she w as three.]

2506

There is a call for settlers on Miranda, a world at the far edge of the sy stem. Thirty million peo ple settle there,

and the Alliance mixes a chemical called the Pax into the air proc essors in an effort to curb aggression. The

chemical is too effectiv e, with the majority of the population becoming so passive that they ev entually die.

Howev er, a tenth of one perc ent of the population have the oppo site reaction, beco ming unco ntrollably

v iolent.

[Serenity.Kaylee remembers the call for se ttlers "a while b ack," while Mal and Zoe mention that this was

"just before the w ar."]

The Alliance sends a team to inv estigate what happened on Miranda, but they are all killed on the planet. One

scientist surviv es long eno ugh to send a message with their findings, along with a few of the images they had

reco rded o f the dead, but she is killed in the midst of sending the signal.

[Serenity.Mal says that the signal is "about twelve years o ld."]

The Alliance suppresses the sec ret of their failed ex periment on Miranda, along with any rec ord o n the Cortex

of the planet's ex istence. Rumour spreads that Miranda is a black ro ck, where the terraforming didn't hold,

and that just a few settlers d ied.

[Serenity.Mal o ffers vague rec ollections o f what he's he ard abo ut Miranda.]


12/33



The central planets of the Core which form the A nglo-Sino Alliance decide that all of the settled planets hav e

to join under their rule.

There is some disagreement o n that point.

As a result , the A lliance wages the War to Unite the Planets (o r Unific atio n War) to bring those planets under

their rule, fighting against the Independent Faction, also known as Brownco ats.

[Opening narration. The specific year is seemingly c onjecture, but would have to b e after the ev ents on

Miranda, de scribed as being "just befo re the war" in Serenity; and before the initial flashback seen in "Safe,"

as young River makes reference to an "Independent squad," suggesting that the war is already underway.The name of the "War to Unite the Planets" was g iven in a deleted scene from the episode "Serenity,"

available o n the DVD release of the series and (in rough form) on the Firefly we bsite; while the name

"Unification War" is given on the Serenity website. It is likely that the Independents w ould hav e a different

name for the w ar...but then, history is programmed by the w inners.]

Malcolm Reyno lds joins the war as a soldier o n the side of the I ndependents, attaining the rank of sergeant in

the 57 th Overlanders unit of the Balls and Bayonets Brigade, under the co mmand of Colonel Orbrin. Ov er

time, Sergeant Rey nolds gains a reputation for inspiring loyalty in peo ple.

[Opening narration, "Sere nity ," "Bush whacked," and "The Message." Mal describe s himse lf as o ne of "a few

idiots" who tried to fight the Alliance, w hile both Badger and Commander Harken mention his rank. The

name of Mal's brigade, also mentioned by Badger, may not be what it was formally called (suggesting asobriquet similar to that o f the I ron Brigade in the American Civil War), but an information screen in a

deleted scene from Serenity, available on the DVD release o f the film, gives this name as well. Ac cording to

"Bushwhacked," Mal's tendency to inspire loyalty is well-known eno ugh to be indicated in the Alliance's

record on him. Colonel Orbrin is mentioned in "The Message."]

Amongst those Browncoats who fight alongside Mal are Corpor al Zo e A lleyne (also part of the 5 7 th

Overlanders), Lieutenant Ben Baker, Bendis (also in the 57 th), Bourke, Sergeant DeLorenzo, Green/ Grin (from

Sergeant DeLorenzo's platoon), Johannsen, Kiri, McAv oy (also in the 57 th), Monty , Tedesco, Private Tracey ,

and V itelli.

["Serenity ," "Bushw hacked," "Trash," "The Message," the Serenity DVD, and the Serenitynovelisation (pages

5-6, 1 5-16, and 1 76). Mal and Zoe are see n fighting together o nsc ree n, tho ugh Zo e also tells Commande rHarken that she "fought with a lot of peo ple in the w ar." In the same deleted scene from Serenityreferred to

abov e, an information screen show s Zoe's rank and indicates that he r unit was the same as Mal's.

Lieute nant Baker, Bendis, and Green are casualtie s of the Battle of Serenity Valley , as sho wn in the e piso de

"Serenity," though the Serenitynovelisation gives Baker a first name and refers to the characte r named

Green (per the subtitles on the Firefly DVD) by the nic kname Grin. The Serenitynovelisation also names

Sergeant DeLo renzo, McAvoy, Johannsen, and Tedesco as casualtie s, and Bourke and Kiri as surv ivors, of

the same b attle. Monty is de scribed by Saffron as a "war buddy" in "Trash." Tracey is see n and V itelli is

mentioned in "The Message."]

Jayne Cobb does not join in the conflict, as the pay isn't good enough on either side.

["The Train Jo b." Jayne notes that he "didn't fight in no war." The idea that this was b ec ause of pay comes

from the Serenitynove lisation (page 62).]

Alliance ships of this era use a particular landing se quence and set of dummy identific atio n codes whic h the

Browncoats become familiar with, though some ships will continue to use them years later.

["Better Days." Zoe tells Mal that Ephraim Sanda's ship has landed on Pelorum using these same metho ds

"from the war."]

Mal acquires an antique gun that will get him through the war, and that he will ultimately keep afterwards.

["Those Left Behind." Mal rec alls the gun as "one o f only two things" that stuc k with him afte r the war,

although he doe s not specify exactly w hen he acquired it.]


13/33



On his first tour, a piece of shrapnel tears up a nerv e c luster in Mal's back, so he has it mov ed.

[Serenity.Mal describes this event to The Operativ e.]

Early October

At the Tam Estate o n Osiris, y oung Simo n Tam is doing homewor k, while his sister is try ing to play a war game

with him, telling him offhand that his tex tboo k is wrong. Their father arriv es o n the scene and speaks to Simon

about his homework, as well as Simon's desire for a dedicated sour ce box to acc ess the Cortex. His father says

he forbids it--but also that Simon's mother has already ordered one for him, much to Simon's delight. Thedeal, Simon is told, is that he will repay his father by becoming a brilliant docto r.

["Safe." These events are shown in flashback, and the o nsc ree n caption indicates this happened "11 Y ears

Ago ."]

2507 to 2510

Merciless cannibalistic killers known as Reavers be gin appearing at the edges of the sy stem, "like the

bo gey man from stories." Not kno wing their origins, the general po pulac e c omes to think o f this as the natural

co nsequence o f humanity pushing out further ever y y ear--some men go savage on the edge of space after

be ing too lo ng remov ed from civ ilisatio n. They hav e no philo sophy, having forgo tte n how to be men, and

some believ e that they became no thingness itself when confronted with the nothing at the edge of the galaxy .Howev er, Reavers are only the stuff of campfire stories to most people, and no Alliance gov ernment ev er

co nfirms their existence , so many do not believ e they really ex ist. Legend has it that if Reavers take a ship,

they will rape its crew to death, eat their flesh, and sew their skins into their clothing--and if the crew is v ery ,

v ery luc ky , they will do it in that o rder .

["Serenity ," "Bushw hacked," andSerenity.In the film, Jayne mentio ns that Reavers h ave been showing up

ov er "the last ten ye ars," though they presumably started he ading out from Miranda soo n after the Pax had

its effec t on them. Zoe assures Simon that Reavers are more than just stories, and describes w hat they are

capable of doing, in the episode "Serenity;" while Mal and Boo k later discuss the humanity, o r lack thereof,

of the Reavers themselve s in "Bushwhacked." Kaylee also quotes Book's observations in the film.

Inte restingly enough, Reavers are alw ays de scribed spec ifically as men, so it is unclear if there are actually

Reaver women.]

Simon Tam enters the best MedAc ad on Osiris.

["Serenity ." Simon de scribe s the quality of the institutio n to the c rew . Simon's path th rough medic al scho ol is

assumed to be roughly analogous to the present-day US method of beco ming a doc tor, though it is also

assumed that he undertook both his undergraduate and medical studies at the same academy. It is unclear

exactly how old he was w hen he began on this path, but one c an imagine that he was fairly quick to keep his

promise to h is father.]

Mal and Zoe's platoon is stuck in a trenc h outside o f New Kashmir during the winter campaign for mo re than a

week, while the A lliance is entrenched less than ten y ards away . With no ammo to speak of and no o rders, the

platoon gets to talking to the Alliance soldiers, y elling across insults and jokes. Ten minutes after mentioning

that they are out o f rations, a bunch of apples rain into their trench. The captain tells them to wait, but theyare so hungry that they start eating immediately--not realising that the apples contain Griswalds, grenades

about the size of a battery which respond to pre ssure. Though the grenades don't make much noise, three

guys get their heads blown off, leav ing bodies which just end at the ribcage. From that point on, Mal and Zoe

always c ut their fresh fruit before eating it.

["War Stories." Zoe tells th is story to Kaylee to e xplain w hy she and Mal never just munch on fruit, altho ugh

it is unclear which w inter she is referring to.]

Alliance bioweapo ns expert Durran Haymer targets neighbourhoo ds with v aluables, wipes out every liv ing

soul without damaging the goods he is after, then goes in and takes whatever he wants. Haymer bec omes o ne

of the biggest c ollecto rs of Earth-That-Was artifacts in the universe this way, with warehouses full of items,


14/33



but his prize piec e is the Lassiter--o ne o f only two known to still exist--which he was luc ky enough to pick up

for nothing. He ev entually ob tains a private estate on Bellerophon and ex hibits the Lassiter in his parlour

along with other artifacts from his co llection.

["Trash." Saffron describe s Haymer's histo ry, indic ating how he obtained the Lassiter. She only offers that

this practice to ok place "during the w ar," without mentioning a more specific time or place. A mongst the

othe r items glimpsed in Haymer's collec tion are seve ral classical paintings, a grandfather clock, a model

sailing ship, an early payphone, and an entire telepho ne boo th, though it is unclear how or why the last

item w ould've been taken o ff Earth-That-Was in the first place .]

Colonel Orbrin gets dead drunk and spends three hours "pissing on" about the enlisted men under his

co mmand--saying they 're scum and that they're not fighters--before passing right out. No o ne is able to ev en

mov e him, so Private Tracey takes the opportunity to snip off his walrussy, wax ed up moustache, which the

co lonel is extremely proud of. When the colonel wakes up the next morning, he is furious to disco ver it is

gone, but he can't simply say , "Someone stole my moustache," so he c alls together all of the platoons, fiercely

ey eballing all the men without saying a word. They think he's going to shoot them, but he finally c omes up to

Tracey , who has glued on the mo ustache and is staring the co lonel down while wearing it on his own face.

["The Message." Mal and Zo e share this sto ry w ith Inara in the midst of reminisc ing abo ut Tracey, although

they do not mention precisely whe n it took place during the war. It is unclear exactly ho w Tracey got

through this predicament, although he seems to have a knack for getting out o f difficult situations.]

The Battle of Sturges is fought in space, leav ing many shipwrecks in its aftermath. It will become no toriouslywell-known, c onsidered by some to be the b loodiest, shortest battle in the entire war, with many liv es "snuffed

in a blink." Unbeknownst to the general public, the battle is actually fought over a stash of money .

["Those Left Behind." Badger brings up the b att le and its reputation, tho ugh Mal conte nds "it was a distant

seco nd" in terms of casualties. I have assumed that Badger is telling the truth about the reasons for the

battle.]

A shepherd says to Mal that the Biblical commandment is no t, "You will not kill, " as it is often mistranslated,

but in fac t, "You will not commit murder."

[Serenitynove lisation (page 9). At the time o f the Battle of Serenity Valley, Mal recollec ts that this happened

"round a year or so back."]

2511

Hoban Washburne spends six weeks on a moo n where the principal form o f recreation is juggling geese,

particularly go slings.

["Our Mrs. Reynolds." Wash tells Zo e this happe ned "about a year befo re (the y) met ."]

The Battle of Du-Khang. In the ruins of a Buddhist temple, Private Tracey is nearly killed by an Alliance so ldie

sneaking up on his position, but Zoe gets behind the soldier and slits his throat. Zoe berates Tracey for letting

his guard down and forgetting about stealth--and at that moment, Mal charges o nto the sc ene, shoo ting wildly

and yelling about where he is before taking cov er. The Independents are overmatched, and Tracey tells his

superiors that "this rock" isn't worth their lives. Zoe asks Mal if they're to hold, and Mal dec ides to cov er for

their shell-shocked lieutenant by inventing an order from him to join up with the 22nd. Zoe and Tracey go

along with this, and Zoe is ready to round up the troo ps, when a seeker comes in. Mal uses a deco y so that the

seeker ex plodes abov e them, but shrapnel rains down and injures Tracey , making him unable to walk. Mal

carries him off as the Alliance forces roll into the temple.

["The Message." These ev ents are sh own in flashback, and the o nsc ree n caption indicate s this happened

"Seven Y ears Earlier," but this must have taken place be fore the Battle o f Serenity Valley , at which Mal and

Zoe w ere also present. A lthough it may not seem like this was intended to be set so close to the e nd o f the

war, the dating of the episode itself leaves no other interpretation, and the scene do es co nvey a sense of the

Brow ncoats be ing o n the v erge o f "inevitable c rushing defeat."]


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ww.mts.net/~arphaxad/f irefly .html

Late March

The Battle of Serenity Valley is fought on Hera. It is among the most dev astating and decisive battles of the

war, as the valle y is considered a key position by bo th sides, and it is bitterly fought ov er . The Alliance say s

they are going to waltz through the valley, but the Independent Faction, with sixteen brigades and twenty air-

tank squads, do not make v ictory easy for them, holding the valley against Alliance forces for almost two

months.

["Serenity ," the Firefly DVD, and the Firefly web site. Mal tells the other Browncoats about the Alliance's

claim, saying that they "choked them with those words." A deleted sce ne from "Serenity," available on theDVD release o f the series and (in rough form) on the Firefly website , provides additional details abo ut the

battle.]

Sergeant Malcolm Reynolds is stationed o n Hera and in command o f thirty -odd grunts, including Zoe A lleyne

Five day s into the battle, there are so many o fficers dead that he co mmands two thousand, and he keeps all of

them together, fighting, and sane. The Browncoats are forced to pile up the bo dies of fellow soldiers and

friends to build a wall because they hav e no cov er, while blood just keeps pouring out of them. The survivo rs

slip in it half the time, finding out that "bloo dbath" is not just a figure o f speech.

[Firefly DVD and web site. In the same deleted sc ene, Zoe tells Simo n about the role she and Mal playe d in the

battle, tho ugh they "didn't turn the tide o f glorious history."]

Mid-May

Superior numbers and a brilliant deep-flank strategy by General Richard Wilkins begin to turn the tide at

Serenity Valley in the Alliance's favour.

[Firefly DVD and web site. The same deleted sc ene indicates that this changed the c ourse of the battle. Along

with its use he re, Richard Wilkins is the name o f the Mayor of Sunnydale w ho se rved as the main villain in

the third season ofBuffy the V ampire Slayer, also created by Joss Whedon.]

Malcolm Reyno lds's unit holds while waiting for air suppo rt from the 82nd, which nev er arriv es. A s a result,

the Alliance ov erwhelms the battleground with their firepower.

["Serenity ." These events are sho wn in flashback, and the o nsc ree n caption indicates that the present-dayevents of the episode o ccur "Six Y ears Later."]

Nearly half a million peo ple lie dead o n the field at the end of the battle, abo ut a third of them on the side of

the A lliance; Malcolm Rey nolds himself has maybe four hundred grunts still intact. A lthough the fighting is

ov er, bo th sides leave their surv ivo rs there--wounded and sick and "near to mad as can still walk and talk"--

while they negotiate the peace, and those soldiers keep dy ing.

[Firefly DVD and web site. In the same deleted sc ene referred to earlier, Zoe also describes the aftermath of

the battle.]

Unification Day (Late May )

After a week o f negot iations, a peace agre ement is reached, with the I nde pendents surrendering to A lliance

forces.

["The Train Jo b," the Firefly DVD, and the Firefly w ebsite . Lund says it was "(s)ix ye ars today(that) the

Alliance sent the Brow ncoats running." In the same deleted sc ene referred to earlie r, Zoe tells Simon that

they w ere left at Serenity Valley for a week w hile bo th sides negotiated the peace , so I have taken

Unification Day to be the day those nego tiations w ere finalised, providing an official end to the war.]

All of the settled wo rlds are united as a result of the peace agreement and the A nglo-Sino A lliance, which had

originally formed on Earth-That-Was, co mes to be formally known as the Union o f Allied Planets. It is

considered by some to be the dawn of a new galaxy .


16/33



[Opening narration and "The Train Jo b." The notio n of "the A llied Planets" is first mentioned in "The Train

Job," while the full name of the Alliance is stated in "Ariel." The Serenity w ebsite , ho wever, refers to bo th the

"AngloSino A lliance" and the "Universal Alliance" in the same paragraph, c ausing further pote ntial

co nfusion. The idea that one Alliance replaced the o ther is somew hat conjectural (suggesting a political

evolution along the lines of the League o f Nations giving way to the United Nations after World War II), but

it would help explain the two name s given for the Alliance, and why it was c alled the "War to Unite the

Planets" to begin w ith.]

The duty status of both Sergeant Malcolm Reynolds and Corporal Zoe A lleyne at the end of the war is that of a

"NonTrialed Browncoat," though Mal is also awarded a valour c ommendation for his actions in the Battle o fSerenity Valley.

[Serenityand the Serenity DVD. An information screen view ed b y The Operative in the film lists Mal's

commendation, though it is unclear who wo uld be left amongst the I ndependents at this point to give out

such an honour; while a deleted scene available o n the DVD release of the film includes different information

screens w hich list Mal and Zoe's status.]

Radicals within the Independent ranks dub themselv es Dust Dev ils and keep fighting after their side has stood

down, treating civ ilian militia like they were still soldiers despite not bo thering to wear uniforms. Some

co nsider them terror ists who kill a lot of goo d people, making it that much harder for a unified peace to take

hold; but "Dust Dev ils" is spoken with pride on the rim, where others c onsider them lo cal hero es o r simply

"strong-minded folk."

["Better Days." Ephraim explains the nature of the Dust Devils to I nara, while Mal later gives his own

definition of them to her, indicating they operated "mostly just after" the war. Jayne also describes the Dust

Devils as terrorists w he n the c rew discusses them.]

Although Mal had been a volunteer , and thus "too k it personal" and "shut do wn so me" when the Brownc oat

brass gav e up the cause, he nev er becomes a Dust Dev il. Zo e doe s so, ho wev er, as she still c onsiders herse lf

just a so ldier, o ne o f the fighting so ldiers who happened to call themselv es "peacemakers."

["Better Days." Zoe tells th e c rew who was a Dust Devil and w ho wasn't. Her descriptio n suggests that she

and Mal were still in some sort of contact during this period, despite choo sing separate paths immediately

after the war.]

Ten Dust Dev ils mount an attack on an A lliance tank, though one A lliance soldier can't believe it when their

ey e in the sky registers only ten hostiles. An ex plosive is droppe d into the tank, blowing it up and throwing

Ephraim Sanda clear of the v ehicle with someone standing ov er him.

["Better Days." The se events are sho wn in a b rief flashback, appare ntly being recounted by Ephraim to four

othe r men under his command in the present day. Given the revelations later in this story, the figure

standing over Ephraim is implied to be Zoe.]

The Dust Dev ils eventually scatter, but the A lliance gets a bead on a few now and again, and they want it

known that those crimes are nev er forgiven, so they send former Alliance soldiers turned Special Ops agents

such as Ephraim to "not forgive ." Since these agents c onsider them terrorists and war c riminals, the war is no t

ov er in their ey es until ev ery last Dust Dev il is hunted down and executed.

["Better Days." Ephraim details his duties to Inara, and later reiterate s his take o n the Dust Devils to tho se

under his command. Zoe w as already mo re directly asso ciated w ith Mal (who was e xplicitly not a Dust

Devil) whe n he purc hasedSerenity, so the Dust Devils wo uld've presumably scattered before then.]

2512

A con artist go ing by the name Y olanda marries Durran Haymer and ac tually tries to build a life with him,

thinking that he is a decent man, "the genuine article." He has mo ney , which she believ es will help keep her

from straying, but she eventually disappears the same day as Heinrich, Haymer's young security

programmer. She does not marry or kill Heinrich, but puts him in a position to die easily, and in time, she

forgets his name.


17/33



["Trash." Saffron describe s he r actions to Mal, tho ugh it is unknown ho w long she spe nt w ith Haymer befo re

deciding to leav e.]

Haymer suspects that Y olanda and Heinrich may hav e left together, because he had seen the two o f them

talking, but thinks otherwise when Heinrich's bo dy is found. He nev er sto ps looking for his wife, though they

only find her shuttle.

["Trash." Hayme r says it has b ee n six years from the day Y olanda/Saffron's shuttle was found, and Mal later

mentions the six-year figure as we ll. One can assume that Saffron's version o f what happened to her, as told

to Haymer, is fabricated.]

Bored one day , River Tam decides to c reate an entire language called Tobrik. To make it a special challenge,

she requires that the language not have the v erb "to be ," which is fine right up until she tries to translate

Hamlet.

[Serenitynove lisation (page 10 3). River remembers that she made up the tongue "when she was eleven." In

its lack of the v erb "to be," and the co nsequent difficulty in translating Shakespeare, her constructed

language is similar to Klingon.]

An older salesman attempts to sell Malcolm Reynolds a certain used ship in a shipy ard, extolling its v irtues

and noting how smart a purchase it is, but Mal hardly hears a word he say s, as in the distance, a midbulk

transport ship with a standard radion-accelerator c ore (c lasscode 0 3-K64, Firefly) has caught his eye . He

ultimately purchases that ship.

["Out of Gas." These events are sho wn in flashback. The precise classification of the ship is given by River in

"The Train Job," though Book also referred to it as "an aught-three" in "Serenity."]

Mal opens up the do ors to his newly-bought ship to sho w it off for Zoe Alley ne, who thinks it's a deathtrap and

is surprised he ev en paid money for it. He tries to sell her o n what it can be for them--freedom from the long

arm of the A lliance--but Zo e calls him on the fact that the ship isn't running now. Mal assures her that it will,

telling her he already has a name picked o ut for it.

["Out of Gas." These events are sho wn in flashback. On the DVD commentary for the e piso de, writer Tim

Minear and direc tor David Solomon indicate that this to ok place "five years ago."]

Mal names his new Firefly v esselSerenity .

[Conjecture. Assumes Mal w ould've dedicated the name o f the ship so on afte r hav ing that name picked out.]

Mal hires Bester , a "genius mec hanic," as one o f his crew, in part to makeSerenity operational.

["Out of Gas." Mal had not hired any of his crew at the time of the previous flashback, but Beste r is already

aboard by the time he and Zoe me et Wash.]

Hoban Washburne, a moustached pilot, assures Mal and Zoe that with a few modifications, it shouldn't be a

problem to "get some real manoeuv rability" out ofSerenity. Mal asks if that means he'll take the job, and Wash

replies that it just might, so Mal tells him to make himself at home whilst they leave the bridge. Mal is pleased

with Wash, but Zo e doesn't like him--something about him bothers her . Mal tells he r that it 's about t ime theyhire a qualified pilot now that they finally have a mechanic, just as that mechanic, Bester, walks by .

["Out of Gas." These events are sho wn in flashback. This is assumed to take plac e fairly soon after the

previous flashback, as it appears Serenityhas yet to leav e the planet where Mal purchased it.]

Although Wash c ould take a lot of jobs (such as piloting a cruiser, with full benefits, v acations, and less death-

defying), he will ultimately stay withSerenity because of his feeling for Zoe and his desire to be around her.

["Those Left Behind." Wash tells Mal that he does "all manne r of stupid things" so he can ke ep the w oman he

love s nearby. In the letter column for Better Days #1, a quoted c omment from Joss Whedon reinforces the

idea that since Wash met Zoe "as he chec ked out the ship...he co uld have taken the job 'cause of her."]


18/33



Mal hears tell that a couple of Brownco ats who had disappeared wound up on Haven, and when he follows

them to find out what happened, it turns o ut that the mining community there is willing to harbo ur the

occasional fugitive for a small price. Since Mal has a ship, he offers to prov ide them with a ferry serv ice on

those oc casions when it is required.

[Serenitynove lisation (page 1 37 ). Mal recalls that he "first came across Haven shortly after he ac quired

Serenity." Given that Mal was capable of both tracking dow n the Brow ncoats in question and offering the

services o f his ship, this presumably to ok place after Serenitywas running properly.]

Amongst the many characters the Serenity crew will deal with in the co urse of their trav els are Horowitz, the

Holden bo ys, Capshaw, and Gruvick.

["Serenity ." At the Eav esdown Docks, Zoe and Mal "go through th e list" of the ir co ntacts, noting that

Horowitz c an't afford their cargo, the Holde n bo ys "w ouldn't touch it," Capshaw has "been brain-blown,"

and Gruvick is dead be cause his town "got hit by Reavers" who burned it dow n. Nothing is known of the

nature o f these encounters or when they took place, so Mal and Zoe c ould have had these adve ntures at any

time after the ship was fully operational.]

The crew ofSerenity have "a perfectly legitimate co nflict of interest" ov er salv age rights with Patience on

Whitefall, the fo urth moo n of Athens. In the course of that c onflic t, c ertain words are exchanged, along with

certain bullets, and Patience shoo ts Mal.

["Serenity ." Mal only says it's b ee n "a long time" since this happened. Zoe and Wash mentio n this inc ident aswe ll, and Patience is surprised that Zoe is still sailing with Mal, but the shooting script for "Serenity"

indicates that Jayne doe s not know who Patience is, so this could have taken place at any point whe n those

three were a part of the c rew but Jayne w as not yet abo ard.]

Over time, Patience co mes to o wn half of Whitefall, just about be coming may or.

["Serenity ." Mal says that Patience "owns half that damn mo on now," and she late r co nfirms her ow n rise in

status there.]

2513

Zoe A lleyne marries Hoban Washburne, disobey ing Mal's order to the c ontrary . Their marriage ceremo nydoes not c all for Zoe to swear o bedience to Wash.

["War Stories." Mal and Wash argue about this in Niska's Skyplex. The marriage is assumed to have taken

place fairly soon afte r the y met, espe cially since Kaylee automatic ally thinks of Wash as b eing married to

Zoe in "The Me ssage," implying that she has never known that not to be the c ase . On the DVD commentary

for "Shindig," co stume designer Shaw na Trpc ic indicates that the cord aro und Zoe's neck is a symbol of her

marriage bond to Wash, but in "Out of Gas," we see that she w as already we aring it before she even met him

Mal does not say w hy he was against the marriage, and no other details of the wedding are known.]

Nandi is at practice, play ing a baroque piece on the dulcimer, and the instructor keeps say ing to her, "Y ou're

playing it, notfee ling it." The fifth time he says it, she takes the dulcimer and smashes it into kindling, which is

when it occurs to her that a Companio n's life might just be a little too constr icting for her. A s a result , she

choo ses to leave Sihnon.

["Heart o f Gold." Nandi tells Mal that "(i)t w as the dulcimer" which drove her away from b eing a Companion

The exact timing of her departure is unclear, as Nandi only says she "was gone lo ng before" Inara was. It

co uld have taken place earlier or later than this, but Nandi mentions that Inara loo ks "exactly the same as

the day (she) left," and this date allow s Inara to be at least an adult at the time in que stion.]

House Madrassa orders Inara Serra to shun Nandi when she leaves, even though they are friends, and Nandi is

aware of this.

["Heart o f Gold." Nandi says to Inara that she knows ab out the order, whic h is w hy "(t)he House w ould tell

(her) not to c ome" to her aid.]


19/33


ww.mts.net/~arphaxad/f irefly .html

Nandi trucks out to the border, learns to say "ain't," and co mes to a moon run by Rance Burgess to find work.

Instead, she finds a dung heap of a bo rdello, power edly cheaply with solar sheeting and run by "a pig" who has

half the girls strung out on drops. There is no Guild out there, they let the men r un the Houses, and they don't

ask for references, so she and this man do not get along.

["Heart o f Gold." Nandi describe s what she found to Mal, while Kaylee explains to Jayne the reason why the

bordello "looks like a frozen dinner pack."]

Nandi disposes o f the man running the bo rdello and takes contro l of the Heart of Gold, along with the

unregistered girls and boy s who work there, including Chari, Emma, Helen, Lucy , and Petaline. In time, she

cuts a piece of territory out of other men's hands, building the business up from nothing.

["Heart o f Gold." The girls w ho are named all appear in the e piso de. Nandi mentio ns that "it took (he r) years

to dev elop the bo rdello into w hat it is, and when Mal asks her what bec ame of the man, she merely replies

that "he ain't playin' the dulc imer anymore."]

Kaylee Fry e has an encounter with someone who is y ounger than he seems--so much so that she thinks he

must've been some kind of genetic ex periment, as she is very surprised to discov er he is only fourteen years

old when his folks co me by to fetch him. She is "whupped hard" by her father as punishment.

["Objects in Space." Kaylee tells Riv er this sto ry as they're playing jacks. This had to hav e happened while

Kaylee w as still living w ith her family , but given ho w she tells the story, she was presumably punished for

being significantly older than the guy in question.]

Mid-May

Jayne Cobb partners up with Stitch Hessian.

["Jaynesto wn." Stitc h says the y ran together for six months be fore the ro bbery on Higgins' Moon, although

the circumstances by w hich they came to w ork together are unknown.]

Unification Day (Late May )

Malcolm Reynolds finds himself in an Alliance-friendly bar, "looking for a quiet drink," and ends up in a

barfight. He will continue to find himself in this situatio n every y ear on U-Day.

["The Train Jo b." Zoe says this "alw ays" seems to happe n "co me U-Day," so it h as presumably b ee n go ing o n

at least as long as Mal has ownedSerenity.In order for Zoe to b e justified in th is observaion, it would have

to happen on e nough oc casions to co nstitute a habit.]

Mid-November

Jayne Cobb and Stitch Hessian arriv e in Canton, a to wn on Higgins' Moon, and after standing up to Magistrate

Higgins, Jayne brings Stitch in on a robber y which he has planned. Together, they steal a hov ercraft from the

magistrate and pull a second-storey on his estate, robbing strongbox es co ntaining sixty thousand in

untraceable c urrency from his safe. They get away clean, but the hov ercraft is tagged by anti-aircraft fire,

causing it to lose altitude and forc ing them to dump the fuel reserv e, the life support, and even the seats in anattempt to stay airborne. With the shuttle at thirty feet, only Jayne, Stitch, and the money are left, so Jayne

pushes Stitch himself out, costing Stitch one o f his ey es. After tossing Stitch, howev er, the shuttle co ntinues to

go down, and Jayne finally dumps the strongbox es as well, accidentally dropping them on the mudders in

Canton's town square.

["Jaynesto wn." The full story of Jayne and Stitc h's rob be ry is revealed over the course o f the episo de, with

Jayne, Stitc h, and Magistrate Higgins offering different fac ets of it. The nature of Jayne's initial

co nfrontation w ith the magistrate isn't spec ified, but Fess Higgins makes reference to w itnessing it himself,

and the people o f Canton are all personally familiar with Jayne. I t is also unclear wh at they w ere stealing

"sixty thousand" of, as v arious forms of currency are referenced during the series, including "credits" and

"platinum."]


20/33



Although Jayne manages to escape, Stitc h is immediately captured by Magistrate Higgins, who has him loc ked

up in a steaming hotbox .

["Jaynesto wn." Stitc h says that he 's "spent the last four years" in that box, c larifying the spe cific t imeframe

of the original robbery.]

After discov ering the fate of his money , Magistr ate Higgins sends his pr ods into Canton to take it back from

the mudders, but they resist, and there are too many to put down, so in the end, he simply c alls it a bonus.

["Jaynesto wn." A yo ung mudder tells Jayne w hat happe ned after he left.]

Believ ing that Jayne dro pped the money into Canton's town square deliberately , the mudders celeb rate him

as a folk hero, writing a song abo ut his exploits called "The Hero of Canton" and erecting a statue of him in the

square. Magistrate Higgins rolls into Canton, wanting to tear the statue down, but the whole town riots as a

result. In time, the legend of The Hero o f Canton ev en spreads to o ther worlds.

["Jaynesto wn" and "Bette r Days." The yo ung mudder also rec ounts these ev ents to Jayne, though it is only

assumed the the so ng was co mposed around the same time. Based on the statue, it appears Jayne also had a

goatee during this period. In "Better Days," a Buddhist monk is surprised that Jayne is real, recognising him

just as Jayne is giving the mo nk a large sum of money, whic h w ould no doubt only serve to reinforc e the

legend.]

2514

Simon Tam graduates from his MedAcad in the top three perc ent of his class. At 23, he is rather yo ung to be a

doctor.

["Serenity ." Simon indicates his rank at the scho ol to the c rew . The precise timing o f his graduation is

conjectural, but assumes that he w ould've gotten through medical school at a somewhat faster pace than a

medical student wo uld in the present day, as Kaylee notes how young he seems to hav e earned this title.

This also allow s enough time for Simon to c omplete h is internship before he be gins having concerns about

River, as he is already a surgeo n whe n he first voices his concerns to his parents.]

Mal goes to ask Bester about "yet another delay" and finds him having sex with someone in the engine room.

When Mal confro nts him abo ut this, Bester tells him that engines "make her hot," and that he can't get themback in the air again anyway , bec ause the sec ondary grav bo ot is shot . The girl in q uestion disagrees, even as

she's putting her c lothes back on; when Bester protests, she persists in her opinion, ex plaining that it's the reg

co uple that's bad, and not only points it out for both of them, but fixes it on the spot herself. Impressed by her

talent, Mal immediately offers her a job o n the ship for as long as she c an keep her in the sky . The girl

ex citedly goes o ff to ask her folks for permission, and Bester asks Mal what he needs two mechanics for--to

whic h he say s that he really do esn't.

["Out of Gas." These events are sho wn in flashback. The spe cific date is somewhat arb itrary, as the sho oting

script for the episode only o ffers that this was "in a different time," but assumes that Kaylee was old enough

that her parents wo uld allow her to head off on her ow n.]

Bester is kicked offSerenity, while the girl obtains permission from her parents to accept Mal's offer of

employ ment as the ship's mechanic. Mal quickly learns that her name is Kaylee Frye .

["Out of Gas." These events are implie d by th e flashback and by the fact that Kayle e is inde ed the ship's

mechanic from this point forward.]

Kaylee paints a floral pattern all around the dining room ofSerenity .

[Firefly w ebsite . In an interview on the site, executive producer Tim Minear gave this as the conte xtual

answer to who painted the flowers in the first place . The timing is conjecture, and assumes that she did this

soon after beco ming one o f the crew.]

2515


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/20/12


Simon Tam, already a gifted doc tor, finishes his internship in eight months, becoming licenced to prac tice

medicine.

["Serenity ." Simon te lls to the crew ho w quickly he finished his internship, as this no rmally takes a year to

co mplete. Present-day guidelines indicate that internship completion is the minimum training requirement

for o btaining a medic al licence.]

Simon makes surgeon, along with some of his fellow medical graduates. They are now the elite, and the world

is theirs, so Simon celebrates by drinking sake, getting naked, and c limbing on to p of the statue o f

Hippocrates. There are no Feds until Simon starts singing (possibly the national anthem), but Simon talks (or

possibly pays) the Feds out o f telling his father.

["Objects in Space." Simon recounts this "morality ta le" to Kayle e, noting that "reports vary" and he is "fuzzy

on aspec ts" of some of the details.]

Simon become s a resident trauma surgeo n in one o f the best hospitals in Capital City o n Osiris, on his way to a

major position--possibly ev en the Medical Elect.

["Serenity" and "Safe." Simon tells Kaylee what his medic al position was and w here he w orked, and Simo n's

mothe r mentions his privileged position in flashback when he b egins to show co ncern ove r what might be

happening to River. Given ho w muc h more time is required to c omplete a surgical residency as opposed to

an internship, I have assumed that Simon w as still a resident w hen he left Osiris.]

The Tam family is made aware of a gov ernment-sponsored academy they had neve r heard of before where

River Tam could be sent to learn. Although they have the money to send her anywhere, this academy has the

most ex citing and challenging program, and Riv er wants to go, so she is sent there.

["Serenity ." Simon de scribe s what happened, telling the c rew that Riv er w as fourte en at the time. River's

mentioning of Capital City w ithout spec ifying the planet in "R. Tam, Session 1 , Excerpt" suggests that the

acade my may be located on Osiris, and this idea is reinforced b y the description of the ac ademy's location

as being "on a c entral planet" in the Serenitynovelisation (page 87).]

Simon gets a few letters from his sister at first, but then, he doesn't hear from her for mo nths.

["Serenity ." Simon de scribe s ho w he gradually lo st c ontact with River.]

River Tam is interviewed by someone at the institute she is attending, and this interview is the first of many to

be recorded. Riv er tells the interv iewer that she likes school, though things sometimes mov e a little slowly for

her; that she is finding Physics a challenge, though she is already in the graduate program, where they call her

"Little Mouse;" and that Vo lger is a little jealous of her bec ause she's so y oung, as he plans to become v ery

important. The interv iewer asks if Vo lger told her he was jealous, but she indicates that people "tell you things

all the time without talking." When the interv iewer say s that she is v ery intuitive, River mentions Simon, and

how he hates when she can te ll which girls he likes, though she also c alls him a genius, say ing that she could

nev er do what he does. The interviewer assures her that she co uld do whatever she put her mind to, and tells

her that's what the A lliance needs, what this institute is all abo ut--her mind, and letting it do ev ery thing it

co uld. The interviewer then asks River if that sounds like something she'd be interested in, to which she

simply asks, "Would I still be allowed to dance?"

["R. Tam, Session 1 , Excerpt." River tells the inte rviewer that Simon is "a trauma surgeon in Capital City," so

this video clip wo uld have to have be en recorded after he made surgeon, although it also seems to be fairly

soon after she first entered the ac ademy. The interviewer in these se ssions is played by series creator Joss

Whedon.]

During another interv iew at the institute, the interv iewer asks River if she understands why "these treatments

are important." She tells him that she thinks there's been an error, and that she may not be the right subject

for this program. The interviewer re sponds that it's "perfectly natural to feel a little nervous," but she requests

a transfer back to Gen Ed. He respo nds that she told them that was no good for her, that it was too slow, which

is why she is there. River tells the interviewer that it hurts, and he says he can help her with that, noting how

proud Docto r Mathias is of how she's progressing, to which she say s, "I'm not progressing."


22/33



["R. Tam, Session 22, Excerpt." Given ho w high the session numbers ultimately go, and River's relative

lucidity here, this session is assumed to have been recorded somew hat early on in the co urse of her

"treatments" at the ac ademy.]

Later on in that session, Riv er say s, "It's the Pax ." When the interviewer asks her to tell him what she sees, she

describes how he "lost the first one"--he c ut too deep, and the first one died o n the table. One o f his attendants

cried, by her desc ription, and he co mforted her, say ing, "We're do ing such good work." The interviewer asks

River if she understands that that is true--the work they do there is ve ry important, and she's a part o f that--

but she responds by asking to see he r bro ther. The interv iewer replies that she c an wr ite to him any time she

likes, which makes her more upset as she reiterates her reque st. The interv iewer says that he is sure herbrother is v ery busy , at which po int Riv er becomes mor e doc ile and simply agrees with him.

["R. Tam, Session 22, Excerpt." There is a jump c ut in the v ideo c lip itself, implying a gap of time be tw ee n this

foo tage and w hat is sh own immediately befo rehand. The placement of this session he re also suggests that

the interviewer's comments to River after she asks to see Simon may have inspired her to write her co ded

letters. It is unknow n how long ago the interviewer "lost the first one," but he do es not que stion the

accuracy o f what River sees.]

Simon finally gets another letter from River, but it makes no sense to him, as she talks about things that nev er

happened and jokes they nev er shared, ev en misspelling some words. Before long, Simon shows his parents

her letters, ex pressing his co ncerns that River is try ing to tell him something someone doesn't want her to

say, but they tell him this is just paranoia and dismiss it, saying he should not risk his career ov er this.

["Serenity" and "Safe." These ev ents are shown in flashback in the latter episode. Simon's mother indic ate s

that he is already a surgeo n at this time and he might "throw all that away" by meddling in River's activities

at the Academy.]

In time, Simon manages to deduc e that River's letters are a code, simply saying, "They're hurting us. Get me

out." Despite his efforts, howev er, he is unable to get near her.

["Serenity ." Simon te lls the crew that he w as unable to re ach River "for two y ears" before being c ontacted by

the underground mov ement that got her out. It is quite remarkable that Simon continued to excel in his

medical studies amidst these events.]

A woman on Jiangy in go es o ut o f her mind and tr ies to kill he r two daughters, managing to kill one o f them.The other daughter, Ruby, surv ives, but stops talking after that point.

["Safe." Dorale e tells Simo n what happened, e xplaining that it w as "tw o years ago."]

2516

Inara Serra leaves Sihnon, reportedly b ecause she wants to "see the univ erse," although she retains her status

as a registered Companion.

["Serenity ." Inara gives this reason for leaving to her client, though it is he av ily implie d in the series that

there w ere deepe r reasons for her departure. The timing is somew hat co njectural, but assumes that Inara

left soon before we saw her originally renting her shuttle from Mal.]

Nandi is shocked to learn o f Inara's leav ing, as Inara could have been House Priestess in a few years time, and

does not know why she did so.

["Heart o f Gold." Nandi reveals th is to Mal after asking if Inara ever told him w hy she l

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