Firefly Timeline: by Edgar Governo

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Firef ly Timeline
Firefly Timeline
by Edgar Governo
"Here's how it is..." --Malcolm Rey nolds, opening narration This timeline is intended as a guide to the ev ents depicted in the telev ision series Firefly (and its feature film continuation, Serenity ), as well as the internal history described in that series and film. The format of the timeline is based more or less on that found in Star Trek Chronology: A History of the Future , by Michael Okuda and Denise Okuda. Firefly is, of course, 2002 Mutant Enemy Inc and 20th Century Fox Telev ision, while Serenity is 2005 Mutant Enemy Inc and Univ ersal Pictures, and this timeline is in no way affiliated with any of those entities. A v ariety of sources were used in constructing this timeline: The fourteen episodes of Firefly itself, naturally , along with the opening narrations included with those episodes as originally broadcast in North America. The feature film Serenity, just as naturally . The "R. Tam Sessions," a sequence of v ideo clips released online (and included in the Serenity: Collector's Edition DV D) which depict scenes from Riv er Tam's time at an Alliance-sponsored academy . "Those Left Behind," a Serenity tie-in comic book story written by Joss Whedon and Brett Matthews. "Better Day s," a Serenity tie-in comic book story also written by Joss Whedon and Brett Matthews. "Float Out," a Serenity tie-in comic book story written by Patton Oswalt. "The Shepherd's Tale," a Serenity tie-in comic book story written by Joss Whedon and Zack Whedon. "The Other Half," a Serenity tie-in comic book story written by Jim Krueger. "Downtime," a Serenity 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 DV D and BluRay ). Deleted scenes and other features included in the v ideo release of the feature film (on DV D, HD-DV D, and Blu-Ray ). Serenity: The Official V isual Companion, particularly the shooting script for the film and "A Brief History of the Univ erse, circa 2507 A.D.," a pre-production memo by Joss Whedon. Firefly: The Official Companion (V olume One and V olume Two), particularly the original shooting scripts for the series. Firefly: Still Flying , particularly the short stories "Cry stal" by Brett Matthews, "Fun with Dick and Jay ne" by Ben Edlund, "Take the Sky " by Jose Molina, and "What Holds Us Down" by Jane Espenson. The nov elisation of Serenity , written by Keith R.A. DeCandido. T he Official Firefly Website (now defunct), including v ideo interv iews and script fragments which were av ailable on that site. Serenity : The Official Mov ie Website, including ex clusiv e content av ailable on that site. Other publicity and online resources, most notably direct correspondence with Jim Krueger. Under each entry , there is an ex planation 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 y ears, since admittedly , ev idence from the filmed material itself is pretty scarce. I hav e also chosen to attempt only a rough breakdown of 251 7 and 251 8, the y ears in which the series and film take place. The main supposition I made that is not based on any of the abov e sources is that the series takes place in the episode order presented in the DV D release of the series, rather than the production order or the original airing order of episodes. I made this assumption for purposes of narrativ e clarity , since the series has a continuing story line, and the DV D order prov ides the sequence of ev ents as intended by the creators of Firefly. Should y ou dispute any of the dates in this timeline, or y ou want to prov ide y our own speculations, feel free to contact me with y our thoughts. Y ou can find many more fictional timelines at The History of Things That Nev er Were.
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1776
July 4 The Second Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsy lv ania, approv es the Declaration of Independence, formally establishing the United States of America. [Historical accounts.]
1787
Septem ber 28 The Constitution of the United States is submitted for ratification. [Historical accounts.]
1798
Samuel Tay lor Coleridge publishes the poem "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" in the collection Lyrical Ballads. [Historical accounts. The Operative and Mal both cite the image of the albatross from this poem in Serenity , suggesting that at least some aspects of Earth-That-Was are commonly know n in their society--though Mal also asks Inara not to faint at the idea that he has read a poem.]
1860
Decem ber 20 A special conv ention called in South Carolina unanimously passes an ordinance of secession from the Union. In the nex t two months, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Tex as also v ote to secede. [Historical accounts. Since the American Civil War and its aftermath make up the main historical analogy at w ork in Firefly , it seems useful to offer some of the principal events of that period for historical context. Of course, using this analogy means that Malcolm and Zoe represent Confederates...]
1861
February 8 Delegates from six of the seceded states, meeting in Montgomery , Alabama, formally establish the Confederate States of America, under President Jefferson Dav is. In the nex t four months, V irginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina secede from the Union and join the Confederacy . [Historical accounts.] April 12 Confederate artillery , under the command of General Pierre G.T. Beauregard, is fired on Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina, beginning the American Civ il War. [Historical accounts.]
1863
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January 1 United States President Abraham Lincoln issues the final Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that all slav es in the rebellious states are now free. [Historical accounts.] July 13 The Battle of Getty sburg is fought in Pennsy lv ania, with the Union Army of the Potomac, under the command of General George G. Meade, defeating the Confederate Army of Northern V irginia, under the command of General Robert E. Lee. This will later be considered the most important battle of the American Civ il War, turning the tide of war against the South. [Historical accounts. This battle has been cited as the historical analogy for the Battle of Serenity V alley, and The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara, an historical novel about the battle, served as series creator Joss Whedon's initial inspiration for w hat ultimately became Firefly . ]
1864
July 11 Confederate forces, under the command of General Jubal Early , probe and fire upon the Union defences of Washington, DC, throwing the city into a state of high alert. [Historical accounts. Given the existence of an historical Jubal Early, it is unclear w hether the character of Jubal Early from "Objects in Space" w as using his real name or operating under a pseudonym--River did call 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 31 The US Congress passes the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slav ery throughout the United States. The amendment is then submitted to the states for ratification. [Historical accounts. Unfortunately, it w ould appear that slavery has become legal again by 251 7 , as slaves, slave-trading, and indentured servitude are mentioned in "Serenity," "The Train Job," "Shindig," "Jaynestow n," and "Trash;" and implied by the actions in "Safe" and "Our Mrs. Reynolds."] April 9 General Uly sses S. Grant, supreme commander of the Union armies, accepts the surrender of General Robert E. Lee, supreme commander of the Confederate forces, at Appomattox Court House, near Richmond, V irginia. [Historical accounts.] April 26 Union General William T. Sherman receiv es the surrender of Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston at Durham Station, North Carolina, ending the American Civ il War. [Historical accounts.]
1867
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The Reconstruction Acts are passed by the US Congress, part of an ongoing effort to solv e the political, social, and economic problems arising from the readmission to the Union of the seceded Confederate states. Under the superv ision of the US Army , all of these states are readmitted ov er the nex t three y ears. [Historical accounts.]
1877
The last Federal troops withdraw from the Southern states, bringing a formal end to the Reconstruction Period. [Historical accounts.]
1886
Frances Hodgson Burnett publishes the nov el Little Lord Fauntleroy. [Historical accounts. Mal calls Simon "Lord Fauntleroy" in "Serenity," again suggesting that some aspects of Earth-That-Was are commonly know n in their society.]
1945
The Nationalist Party and the Chinese Communist Party begin to fight for control of territories formerly held by the Japanese, leading to the Chinese Civ il War. [Historical accounts.] Jack Williamson coins the term "terraforming" to describe the process of modify ing a planet, moon, or other body to a more Earth-like atmosphere or ecology , habitable for humans. [Historical accounts.]
1949
October 1 With most of the Chinese mainland now held by the People's Liberation Army , Chairman Mao Zedong of the Chinese Communist Party proclaims the People's Republic of China, with its capital at Beijing. [Historical accounts.]
1950
June 25 North Korea, at the prompting of the Sov iet Union and without the adv ance knowledge of the Chinese, launches a carefully 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 on the side of South Korea to halt the North Korean inv asion. [Historical accounts. As the Korean War has been the only w ar (to this point) in w hich the United States and modern China have had military forces in direct conflict, it seems w orthy of reference here.] Nov em ber 25 Hav ing warned the United Nations that the presence of UN forces in North Korea would be unacceptable to the security of the People's Republic of China, the Chinese gov ernment interv enes in the war on the side of North Korea.
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[Historical accounts.]
1953
July 27 The Korean Armistice is concluded and signed at P'anmunjom by representativ es of the United Nations forces and the opposing 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. [Historical accounts.]
1961
May 5 The United States launches the Mercury 3 mission using the Freedom 7 spacecraft on a suborbital flight carry ing astronaut Alan B. Shepard, Jr., the first citizen of that country to journey into space. [Historical accounts.]
1968
Nov em ber 22 The Beatles release what is popularly known as The White Album, which includes the song "Cry Baby Cry ," written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney . [Historical accounts. Mal and Wash quote this song 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 references to the past, how ever, he may be more cultured than the average citizen.]
2003
October 15 China launches the Shenzhou 5 spacecraft into orbit carry ing taikonaut Y ang Liwei, the first citizen of that country to journey into space. [Historical accounts.]
2004
June 21 Scaled Composites launches SpaceShipOne past the boundary of space carry ing commercial astronaut Mike Melv ill, the first person to pilot a priv ately financed craft into space. [Historical accounts. In spirit, at least, SpaceShipOne is a distant ancestor of Serenity , w hich is also a commercial spaceship.]
2005 to 2459
The United States and China, the two great superpowers of the Earth, gradually grow together and form the Anglo-Sino Alliance (though their empires remain separate), rather than killing each other as originally predicted. In a somewhat ironic rev ersal, the American Empire annex es England.
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[Firefly w ebsite and "A Brief History of the Universe, circa 2507 A.D." In an interview on the site, series creator Joss Whedon first described some of this background to account for the mix of cultures in the Alliance, and the pre-production memo gives further details. This history is implicit in the design of the Alliance flags seen in "The Train Job" and "Bushw hacked," a combination of the present-day flags of the tw o countries in question.] The Lassiter, the original handheld laser pistol and forerunner of all later laser technology , is inv ented. 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 definition, it w ould have to be developed w hile the Earth still w as. 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 resource needs of humankind. Amazingly enough, instead of wiping itself out, the human race rises to the challenge of finding a new home for the species. A nearby star is located, with a new solar sy stem that is home to dozens of 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 History of the Universe, circa 2507 A.D." It is never made entirely clear w hether Earth still exists physically or not by the time of the series, although its description as "Earth-ThatWas" makes that somew hat unlikely. On the other hand, the opening scenes of Serenity show ships leaving an Earth that appears devastated but not completely destroyed.] Through giant atmosphere processing planets, terraforming technologies, grav ity regulation, and the introduction of ev ery known form of Earth life, each planet in the sy stem becomes its own little (or, in some cases, huge) Earth, though the process takes decades. All of these worlds are specifically made as close to Earth-That-Was as possible, matching Earth's grav ity and atmosphere. [Opening narration, "Serenity," Serenity , and "A Brief History of the Universe, circa 2507 A.D." Zoe tells Dobson that the central planets, as w ell as the border moons, w ere made to resemble Earth, w hile young River's teacher and the pre-production memo describe the process in further detail.] Humanity emigrates to this new solar sy stem en masse, with ev ery person willing and able to leav e the Earth migrating there to colonise its worlds. The journey takes so long that an entire generation nev er ev en sees the outside 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, circa 2507 A.D." The shadow play seen in "Heart of Gold" provides a visual representation of the human diaspora, w hile the opening scenes of Serenity actually show ships (w hat the shooting script calls "huge, intricate space-freighters") leaving Earth-ThatWas itself.] America and China work together throughout the colonisation process, and their cultures gradually meld at many lev els. Ov er time, American and Chinese culture meld together to the point that English and Mandarin ev en become integrated languages. [Firefly w ebsite and "A Brief History of the Universe, circa 2507 A.D." In the same w ebsite interview mentioned above, series creator Joss Whedon explained that this w as his contextual justification for including Chinese dialogue in the series. Although the characters w e see over the course of the series speak primarily in English, w ith the occasional Manadarin interjection, 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 sy stem are Sihnon (an outgrowth of Chinese influence) and Londinium (an outgrowth of American influence). [Firefly w ebsite. In an interview on the site, series creator Joss Whedon explained this aspect of the series backstory, describing Sihnon as "basically China" and Londinium as "basically America." Although these details are not addressed directly in the series, Sihnon is mentioned in "Serenity," "Bushw hacked," and "Heart of Gold;" Londinium is (obliquely) mentioned by Mal in "Serenity;" and the names of both planets are
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listed on a screen in young River's classroom displaying a map of the new system in Serenity . ] As Sihnon dev elops, it is more crowded and more complicated, but ultimately not that different, from other dev eloped planets. The Great City itself is said to be "like an ocean of light," in a way that cannot be captured by pictures. ["Serenity." Inara described w hat Sihnon is like to her client.] Sev eral other planets in the sy stem are also considered part of the Core, including Ariel and Osiris. Ariel is quite a nice place, by most accounts, with beautiful museums, some of the finest restaurants in the Core, and the opportunity to go hiking or swim in a bioluminescent lake. ["The Train Job" and "Ariel." Book describes Simon, w ho is from Osiris, as having been "a doctor on the central planets," w hile "Ariel" is quite explicit in describing its titular planet as part of the Core. Contrary to w hat some view ers may think, Persephone is not part of the Core--Kaylee describes her trip to Ariel as her "first time in the Core," though w e have seen her on Persephone several times before that.] Prostitution is legalised in the form of the Companion Guild, whose registered Companions hav e great social status conferred upon them--to the point that some planets will not ev en let a ship dock without a decent Companion onboard. 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 Academy , present and future Companions engage in an intensiv e--and arguably lifelong--course of study that includes training in seduction, body language, and signals, along with music and rituals such as the Companion Greeting Ceremony , inv olv ing tea. ["Serenity," "Bushw hacked," "Our Mrs. Reynolds," "Jaynestow n," "Trash," and "Heart of Gold." Mal explains to Book how restrictive planets can be w ithout the benefit of a Companion aboard one's ship. Inara tells Magistrate Higgins that "the Companion Greeting Ceremony is a ritual w ith centuries of tradition," suggesting the age of the Companion Guild. I have placed its establishment at this point on the assumption that the concept of Companions w as developed in the Core after the initial human exodus.] Companion Guild law stipulates, amongst other things, that Companions choose their own clients from a Client Registry , and no Companion will ev er contract 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 process is more formal and selectiv e--Companions take their cues from their clients, and are put at ease if they 're respectful. ["The Train Job," "Shindig," and "Better Days." Inara tells Kaylee about this aspect of Guild law , and later explains to Atherton w hy no Companion w ill contract w ith him, w hile Simon attempts to explain the selection process to Jayne on Pelorum.] Guild law also requires all Companions to undergo a phy sical ex amination once a y ear in order to renew their licence. Other guidelines include the notion that Companions do not "kiss and tell" about their clients, and a "complicated" policy on dating. ["Out of Gas" and "Ariel." Inara explains all of these rules at different points to different people. As you can see, nearly every episode of Firefly reveals a new detail about the Companions.] Humanity continues to spread out throughout the sy stem, terraforming and colonising 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 close to Earth-That-Was as the terraforming process allows. [Opening narration, "Serenity," and Serenity . It is difficult to reconcile the "new solar system" described in Book's narration and later in Serenity w ith the "w hole new galaxy of Earths" described in Mal's narration. The idea of tw o w aves of terraforming and colonisation--the first to the Core, follow ed by a more w idespread outgrow th--helps explain w hy the outlying colonies w ould be so much less advanced than those w hich had been established first, and w hy the Core planets w ould eventually be motivated to form the Alliance themselves.]
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Ev ery planet that is terraformed for human life has its own "little quirks," amongst them Bowden's Malady , an ex tremely degenerativ e affliction of the bone and muscle that can nev ertheless be treated effectiv ely with regular doses of Pasceline D. One planet in the Georgia Sy stem, in particular, finds that the air down underground, mix ed up with the ore processors, is a perfect recipe for the disease. Ev ery body in the mining community of Paradiso on that planet ev entually comes down with Bowden's, ev en those who hav e nev er set foot in a mine. ["The Train Job." Sheriff Bourne describes the nature of Bow den's Malady to Mal and Zoe, including its connection to the terraforming process. It is unclear w hat significance a term like "the Georgia System" w ould have, given that all of the settled w orlds are described as being in a single solar system.] The psy chotic dictator Shan Y u, fancy ing himself quite the warrior poet, writes v olumes on war, torture, and the limits of human endurance. Amongst his works is the adage, "Liv e with a man forty y ears. Share his house, his meals, speak on ev ery subject. Then, tie him up and hold him ov er the v olcano's edge--and on that day , y ou will finally meet the man." ["War Stories." Book discusses these w ritings w ith Simon, and Niska is also show n to be aw are of them. Although the place and time of Shan Y u's reign are not specified, he appears to be considered a somew hat distant historical figure. I have placed him here to allow for any number of possible locations w here he might've ruled, w hile acknow ledging that he probably does not date from the era of Earth-That-Was. Shan Y u is a fictional character unique to Firefly , and should not be confused w ith the character of the same name from the animated feature film Mulan, nor w ith the historical Chinese general Xiang Y u or the Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu.] As the Alliance terraforms its border moons, settlers are dumped there with nothing but blankets, hatchets, and may be a herd. Some of these moons manage to make it, but others end up in bad shape, suffering plagues and famine--though some of the reports of such suffering are ex aggerated. ["Serenity." Dobson asks about the border moons, and Mal and Zoe describe to him w hat they're like. Mal's comments suggest that this practice of careless colonisation is an ongoing problem.]
2460
Derrial Book is born. [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 episode "Serenity," making it somew hat unclear w hether this has alw ays been his actual name, or if it simply one that he goes by in the present.]
2465
Gabriel Tam is born. [Shooting script for "Safe." Simon's father is described as being 50 at the time of the episode's flashbacks. Gabriel's name is also from the script, as it is not given in the episode itself.]
2467
Regan Tam is born. [Shooting script for "Safe." Simon's mother is described as being in her "late 40's" at the time of the episode's flashbacks. Regan's name is also from the script, as it is not given in the episode itself.]
2475
A man is born who will one day hav e a double by pass operation at St Lucy 's Hospital in Ariel City . ["Ariel." A young intern tells Simon that the man he ultimately saves is a forty-tw o-year-old.]
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2477
Jay ne Cobb is born to Radiant Cobb. [Conjecture based on the age of actor Adam Baldw in. His mother's name is given in "Better Days." The shooting script for "The Message" seems to suggest that Jayne also has a brother named Matty.]
2480
Derrial Book sails in a Firefly , but it is not a model with ex tenders, so it tends to shake. ["Serenity." Book describes this experience to Kaylee, saying it happened "long before (she w as) craw ling." The specific year is conjecture, how ever, and could easily be earlier or later than this.]
2484
February 15 Zoe Alley ne is born v esselside, and she will be raised on a spaceship. Her Social Control Number is 1 29,426,3,3523. [Conjecture based on the age of actress Gina Torres. Zoe's birth year w as confirmed on an information screen in a deleted scene from Serenity , available on the DV D release of the film, w hich also indicated the specific date, the indication that she w as born vesselside, and her Social Control Number. The shooting script for "Heart of Gold" includes a cut line in w hich Zoe mentions w here she w as 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 w ell as on the Serenity w ebsite. Some sources had previously given her full name as Zoe Warren.]
2486
Hoban Washburne is born on a planet where the pollution is so thick, one 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 given in Serenity and on the Serenity w ebsite. Some publicity for the series had given his full name as Wash Warren.] Septem ber 20 Malcolm Rey nolds is born on Shadow. His mother has a ranch there dev oted mostly to running cattle, and she, along with about forty ranch hands, will raise him. According to him, nobody runs cattle harder or smarter than she does, and she tells him, "Don't brand the cattle, brand the buy er--he's the one likely to stray ." His Social Control Number is 099,836,5,41 1 2. [Conjecture based on the age of actor Nathan Fillion. The specific date comes from an information screen view ed by The Operative in Serenity , though it misspells his first name as "Malcom" and gives Mal's birth year as 2468, w hich w ould seem to be inconsistent w ith the dates in the series itself and Mal's apparent age. (Could this have been a transposition of the year given here?) Similarly, some early promotional material for the series gave Mal's birthdate as September 20, 247 2. Mal talks about his mother and w here 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 Social Control Number is show n on the same information screen just mentioned.]
2490
Late Nov em ber Simon Tam is born on Osiris to Gabriel and Regan Tam. He is v ery smart, to the point of being considered gifted. www.mts.net/~arphaxad/f iref ly .html
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gifted. [Conjecture based on the age of actor Sean Maher. The time of year comes from the celebration of Simon's birthday in "Out of Gas," w hile the names of his parents come from the shooting script 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 actor Zac Efron, w ho played Y oung Simon, w as 1 5 at the time that flashback w as filmed. Although Simon never explicitly says he w as born on Osiris, it is safe to assume that that is the case. Simon talks about how smart he is to point out how much smarter River is in "Serenity."]
2491
Fess Higgins is born. ["Jaynestow n." Magistrate Higgins makes a point of noting that his son is tw enty-six.]
2494
Inara Serra is born on Sihnon. She will study to be a Companion there. [Conjecture based on the age of actress Morena Baccarin, and the assumption that Inara is no older than she appears to be. Inara says she w as born on Sihnon and studied to be a Companion there in "Serenity," and her full name is mentioned in "Shindig."]
2497
Kay winnit Lee Fry e is born. [Conjecture based on the age of actress Jew el Staite. Kaylee's full name is mentioned in "Shindig."]
2499
A boy is born who will one day hav e an encounter with Kay lee in her home. ["Objects in Space." As Kaylee tells it, she w as surprised w hen it turned out he w as fourteen years old at the time.]
2501
Riv er Tam is born on Osiris to Gabriel and Regan Tam. She is more 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 any one else, though she can also be a real brat about this. Her brother Simon will one day say she was born with a third ey e. Amongst the languages she will know ov er time, besides English and Mandarin, are Esperanto, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Latin, and Russian. [Serenity . Simon describes River as "a seventeen-year-old girl" at the time of the film, although Commander Harken had earlier described the tw o of them as "(a)dult siblings" in "Bushw hacked." As w ith Simon, her place of birth is a safe assumption. Simon talks about how much of a gift River w as in "Serenity," w hile River quotes Simon's claim about how intuitive she is to her interview er in "R. Tam, Session 1 , Excerpt." River is depicted translating a verbal exchange into all of the languages listed in the Serenity novelisation (page 1 03).]
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 nev er seen. At one point, he is laconic there. ["Our Mrs. Reynolds" and "War Stories." Wash finds himself telling Saffron w hy he thinks he entered flight school, and later tells Mal about his terse tendencies. Although Wash never mentions how old he w as at the time, present-day regulations www.mts.net/~arphaxad/f iref ly .html stipulate that one must be at least seventeen years of age to obtain a private 10/33
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time, present-day regulations stipulate that one must be at least seventeen years of age to obtain a private pilot certificate, w hich is a prerequisite for commercial pilot certification.] Amongst Wash's classmates in flight school is an unhy gienic y oung man known to Wash as Manfred Asbach, although that name is a fake one he created just for flight school, 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 computers and makes them do what he wants. Ev ery time he enters the simulator, it flies perfectly because he's told it to day s earlier; and ev ery time he gets into an actual ship, he's preprogrammed it to do on autopilot precisely what the lesson calls for. Ev en when he does poorly , as some of the ex ercises simply cannot be preprogrammed and require actual skill to do right, he hacks into the computers that hold the grades and changes them to perfection. As a result, Asbach is first in their class while Wash is second. [Serenity novelisation (page 1 26). Wash recalls these details as part of how he originally encountered Mr. Universe.] Refusing to believ e that someone so inept could beat him out, Wash confronts Asbach at graduation, and he rev eals the truth about himself. Wash has two choices, to beat him up or to keep his secret in ex change 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 second in his class in flight school isn't too bad, all things considered. [Serenity novelisation (page 1 27 ). Wash further remembers how he learned of Mr. Universe's activities at the flight school.] The only name Asbach will answer to afterwards is "Mr. Univ erse." In addition to the pilot's certification, he is also an ordained shepherd, a professional planet-div er, and a licenced prospector, though he can perform none of those tasks, either. [Serenity novelisation (pages 1 26-1 27 ). Wash remembers these facts about Mr. Universe as w ell, although he w ould presumably only know of them after the initial confrontation.]
2504
Riv er Tam starts correcting her brother Simon's spelling. ["Safe." Simon tells his parents that River started doing this w hen 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 people settle there, and the Alliance mix es a chemical called the Pax into the air processors in an effort to curb aggression. The chemical is too effectiv e, with the majority of the population becoming so passiv e that they ev entually die. Howev er, a tenth of one percent of the population hav e the opposite reaction, becoming uncontrollably v iolent. [Serenity . Kaylee remembers the call for settlers "a w hile back," w hile Mal and Zoe mention that this w as "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 surv iv es long enough to send a message with their findings, along with a few of the images they had recorded of the dead, but she is killed in the midst of sending the signal. [Serenity . Mal says that the signal is "about tw elve years old."] The Alliance suppresses the secret of their failed ex periment on Miranda, along with any record on the Cortex of the planet's ex istence. Rumour spreads that Miranda is a black rock, where the terraforming didn't hold, and that just a few settlers died. [Serenity . Mal offers vague recollections of w hat he's heard about Miranda.]
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The central planets of the Core which form the Anglo-Sino Alliance decide that all of the settled planets hav e to join under their rule. There is some disagreement on that point. As a result, the Alliance wages the War to Unite the Planets (or Unification War) to bring those planets under their rule, fighting against the Independent Faction, also known as Browncoats. [Opening narration. The specific year is seemingly conjecture, but w ould have to be after the events on Miranda, described as being "just before the w ar" in Serenity ; and before the initial flashback seen in "Safe," as young River makes reference to an "Independent squad," suggesting that the w ar is already underw ay. The name of the "War to Unite the Planets" w as given in a deleted scene from the episode "Serenity," available on the DV D release of the series and (in rough form) on the Firefly w ebsite; w hile the name "Unification War" is given on the Serenity w ebsite. It is likely that the Independents w ould have a different name for the w ar...but then, history is programmed by the w inners.] Malcolm Rey nolds joins the war as a soldier on the side of the Independents, attaining the rank of sergeant in the 57 th Ov erlanders unit of the Balls and Bay onets Brigade, under the command of Colonel Orbrin. Ov er time, Sergeant Rey nolds gains a reputation for inspiring loy alty in people. [Opening narration, "Serenity," "Bushw hacked," and "The Message." Mal describes himself as one of "a few idiots" w ho 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 w hat it w as formally called (suggesting a sobriquet similar to that of the Iron Brigade in the American Civil War), but an information screen in a deleted scene from Serenity , available on the DV D release of the film, gives this name as w ell. According to "Bushw hacked," Mal's tendency to inspire loyalty is w ell-know n enough 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 Corporal Zoe Alley ne (also part of the 57 th Ov erlanders), 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, Priv ate Tracey , and V itelli. ["Serenity," "Bushw hacked," "Trash," "The Message," the Serenity DV D, and the Serenity novelisation (pages 5-6, 1 5-1 6, and 1 7 6). Mal and Zoe are seen fighting together onscreen, though Zoe also tells Commander Harken that she "fought w ith a lot of people in the w ar." In the same deleted scene from Serenity referred to above, an information screen show s Zoe's rank and indicates that her unit w as the same as Mal's. Lieutenant Baker, Bendis, and Green are casualties of the Battle of Serenity V alley, as show n in the episode "Serenity," though the Serenity novelisation gives Baker a first name and refers to the character named Green (per the subtitles on the Firefly DV D) by the nickname Grin. The Serenity novelisation also names Sergeant DeLorenzo, McAvoy, Johannsen, and Tedesco as casualties, and Bourke and Kiri as survivors, of the same battle. Monty is described by Saffron as a "w ar buddy" in "Trash." Tracey is seen and V itelli is mentioned in "The Message."] Jay ne Cobb does not join in the conflict, as the pay isn't good enough on either side. ["The Train Job." Jayne notes that he "didn't fight in no w ar." The idea that this w as because of pay comes from the Serenity novelisation (page 62).] Alliance ships of this era use a particular landing sequence and set of dummy identification codes which the Browncoats become familiar with, though some ships will continue to use them y ears later. ["Better Days." Zoe tells Mal that Ephraim Sanda's ship has landed on Pelorum using these same methods "from the w ar."] Mal acquires an antique gun that will get him through the war, and that he will ultimately keep afterwards. ["Those Left Behind." Mal recalls the gun as "one of only tw o things" that stuck w ith him after the w ar, although he does not specify exactly w hen he acquired it.]
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On his first tour, a piece of shrapnel tears up a nerv e cluster in Mal's back, so he has it mov ed. [Serenity . Mal describes this event to The Operative.] Early October At the Tam Estate on Osiris, y oung Simon Tam is doing homework, while his sister is try ing to play a war game with him, telling him offhand that his tex tbook is wrong. Their father arriv es on the scene and speaks to Simon about his homework, as well as Simon's desire for a dedicated source box to access the Cortex . His father say s he forbids it--but also that Simon's mother has already ordered one for him, much to Simon's delight. The deal, Simon is told, is that he will repay his father by becoming a brilliant doctor. ["Safe." These events are show n in flashback, and the onscreen caption indicates this happened "1 1 Y ears Ago."]
2507 to 2510
Merciless cannibalistic killers known as Reav ers begin appearing at the edges of the sy stem, "like the bogey man from stories." Not knowing their origins, the general populace comes to think of this as the natural consequence of humanity pushing out further ev ery y ear--some men go sav age on the edge of space after being too long remov ed from civ ilisation. They hav e no philosophy , hav ing forgotten how to be men, and some believ e that they became nothingness itself when confronted with the nothing at the edge of the galax y . Howev er, Reav ers are only the stuff of campfire stories to most people, and no Alliance gov ernment ev er confirms their ex istence, so many do not believ e they really ex ist. Legend has it that if Reav ers 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 lucky , they will do it in that order. ["Serenity," "Bushw hacked," and Serenity . In the film, Jayne mentions that Reavers have been show ing up over "the last ten years," though they presumably started heading out from Miranda soon after the Pax had its effect 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;" w hile Mal and Book later discuss the humanity, or lack thereof, of the Reavers themselves in "Bushw hacked." Kaylee also quotes Book's observations in the film. Interestingly enough, Reavers are alw ays described specifically as men, so it is unclear if there are actually Reaver w omen.] Simon Tam enters the best MedAcad on Osiris. ["Serenity." Simon describes the quality of the institution to the crew . Simon's path through medical school is assumed to be roughly analogous to the present-day US method of becoming a doctor, 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 w as w hen he began on this path, but one can imagine that he w as fairly quick to keep his promise to his father.] Mal and Zoe's platoon is stuck in a trench outside of New Kashmir during the winter campaign for more than a week, while the Alliance is entrenched less than ten y ards away . With no ammo to speak of and no orders, the platoon gets to talking to the Alliance soldiers, y elling across insults and jokes. Ten minutes after mentioning that they are out of rations, a bunch of apples rain into their trench. The captain tells them to wait, but they are so hungry that they start eating immediately --not realising that the apples contain Griswalds, grenades about the size of a battery which respond to pressure. Though the grenades don't make much noise, three guy s get their heads blown off, leav ing bodies which just end at the ribcage. From that point on, Mal and Zoe alway s cut their fresh fruit before eating it. ["War Stories." Zoe tells this story to Kaylee to explain w hy she and Mal never just munch on fruit, although it is unclear w hich w inter she is referring to.] Alliance bioweapons ex pert Durran Hay mer targets neighbourhoods with v aluables, wipes out ev ery liv ing soul without damaging the goods he is after, then goes in and takes whatev er he wants. Hay mer becomes one of the biggest collectors of Earth-That-Was artifacts in the univ erse this way , with warehouses full of items,
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but his prize piece is the Lassiter--one of only two known to still ex ist--which he was lucky enough to pick up for nothing. He ev entually obtains a priv ate estate on Bellerophon and ex hibits the Lassiter in his parlour along with other artifacts from his collection. ["Trash." Saffron describes Haymer's history, indicating how he obtained the Lassiter. She only offers that this practice took place "during the w ar," w ithout mentioning a more specific time or place. Amongst the other items glimpsed in Haymer's collection are several classical paintings, a grandfather clock, a model sailing ship, an early payphone, and an entire telephone booth, though it is unclear how or w hy the last item w ould've been taken off Earth-That-Was in the first place.] Colonel Orbrin gets dead drunk and spends three hours "pissing on" about the enlisted men under his command--say ing they 're scum and that they 're not fighters--before passing right out. No one is able to ev en mov e him, so Priv ate Tracey takes the opportunity to snip off his walrussy , wax ed up moustache, which the colonel is ex tremely proud of. When the colonel wakes up the nex t morning, he is furious to discov er it is gone, but he can't simply say , "Someone stole my moustache," so he calls together all of the platoons, fiercely ey eballing all the men without say ing a word. They think he's going to shoot them, but he finally comes up to Tracey , who has glued on the moustache and is staring the colonel down while wearing it on his own face. ["The Message." Mal and Zoe share this story w ith Inara in the midst of reminiscing about Tracey, although they do not mention precisely w hen it took place during the w ar. It is unclear exactly how Tracey got through this predicament, although he seems to have a knack for getting out of difficult situations.] The Battle of Sturges is fought in space, leav ing many shipwrecks in its aftermath. It will become notoriously well-known, considered by some to be the bloodiest, shortest battle in the entire war, with many liv es "snuffed in a blink." Unbeknownst to the general public, the battle is actually fought ov er a stash of money . ["Those Left Behind." Badger brings up the battle and its reputation, though Mal contends "it w as a distant second" in terms of casualties. I have assumed that Badger is telling the truth about the reasons for the battle.] A shepherd say s to Mal that the Biblical commandment is not, "Y ou will not kill," as it is often mistranslated, but in fact, "Y ou will not commit murder." [Serenity novelisation (page 9). At the time of the Battle of Serenity V alley, Mal recollects that this happened "round a year or so back."]
2511
Hoban Washburne spends six weeks on a moon where the principal form of recreation is juggling geese, particularly goslings. ["Our Mrs. Reynolds." Wash tells Zoe this happened "about a year before (they) met."] The Battle of Du-Khang. In the ruins of a Buddhist temple, Priv ate Tracey is nearly killed by an Alliance soldier 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 onto the scene, shooting wildly and y elling about where he is before taking cov er. The Independents are ov ermatched, and Tracey tells his superiors that "this rock" isn't worth their liv es. Zoe asks Mal if they 're to hold, and Mal decides to cov er for their shell-shocked lieutenant by inv enting 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 troops, when a seeker comes in. Mal uses a decoy 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 events are show n in flashback, and the onscreen caption indicates this happened "Seven Y ears Earlier," but this must have taken place before the Battle of Serenity V alley, at w hich Mal and Zoe w ere also present. Although it may not seem like this w as intended to be set so close to the end of the w ar, the dating of the episode itself leaves no other interpretation, and the scene does convey a sense of the Brow ncoats being on the verge of "inevitable crushing defeat."]
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Late March The Battle of Serenity V alley is fought on Hera. It is among the most dev astating and decisiv e battles of the war, as the v alley is considered a key position by both sides, and it is bitterly fought ov er. The Alliance say s they are going to waltz through the v alley , but the Independent Faction, with six teen brigades and twenty airtank squads, do not make v ictory easy for them, holding the v alley against Alliance forces for almost two months. ["Serenity," the Firefly DV D, and the Firefly w ebsite. Mal tells the other Brow ncoats about the Alliance's claim, saying that they "choked them w ith those w ords." A deleted scene from "Serenity," available on the DV D release of the series and (in rough form) on the Firefly w ebsite, provides additional details about the battle.] Sergeant Malcolm Rey nolds is stationed on Hera and in command of thirty -odd grunts, including Zoe Alley ne. Fiv e day s into the battle, there are so many officers dead that he commands two thousand, and he keeps all of them together, fighting, and sane. The Browncoats are forced to pile up the bodies 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 surv iv ors slip in it half the time, finding out that "bloodbath" is not just a figure of speech. [Firefly DV D and w ebsite. In the same deleted scene, Zoe tells Simon about the role she and Mal played in the battle, though they "didn't turn the tide of glorious history."] Mid-May Superior numbers and a brilliant deep-flank strategy by General Richard Wilkins begin to turn the tide at Serenity V alley in the Alliance's fav our. [Firefly DV D and w ebsite. The same deleted scene indicates that this changed the course of the battle. Along w ith its use here, Richard Wilkins is the name of the Mayor of Sunnydale w ho served as the main villain in the third season of Buffy the V ampire Slay er, also created by Joss Whedon.] Malcolm Rey nolds's unit holds while waiting for air support from the 82nd, which nev er arriv es. As a result, the Alliance ov erwhelms the battleground with their firepower. ["Serenity." These events are show n in flashback, and the onscreen caption indicates that the present-day events of the episode occur "Six Y ears Later."] Nearly half a million people lie dead on the field at the end of the battle, about a third of them on the side of the Alliance; Malcolm Rey nolds himself has may be four hundred grunts still intact. Although the fighting is ov er, both sides leav e their surv iv ors 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 DV D and w ebsite. In the same deleted scene referred to earlier, Zoe also describes the aftermath of the battle.] Unification Day (Late May ) After a week of negotiations, a peace agreement is reached, with the Independents surrendering to Alliance forces. ["The Train Job," the Firefly DV D, and the Firefly w ebsite. Lund says it w as "(s)ix years today (that) the Alliance sent the Brow ncoats running." In the same deleted scene referred to earlier, Zoe tells Simon that they w ere left at Serenity V alley for a w eek w hile both sides negotiated the peace, so I have taken Unification Day to be the day those negotiations w ere finalised, providing an official end to the w ar.] All of the settled worlds are united as a result of the peace agreement and the Anglo-Sino Alliance, which had originally formed on Earth-That-Was, comes to be formally known as the Union of Allied Planets. It is considered by some to be the dawn of a new galax y .
www.mts.net/~arphaxad/f iref ly .html
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[Opening narration and "The Train Job." The notion of "the Allied Planets" is first mentioned in "The Train Job," w hile the full name of the Alliance is stated in "Ariel." The Serenity w ebsite, how ever, refers to both the "AngloSino Alliance" and the "Universal Alliance" in the same paragraph, causing further potential confusion. The idea that one Alliance replaced the other is somew hat conjectural (suggesting a political evolution along the lines of the League of Nations giving w ay to the United Nations after World War II), but it w ould help explain the tw o names given for the Alliance, and w hy it w as called the "War to Unite the Planets" to begin w ith.] The duty status of both Sergeant Malcolm Rey nolds and Corporal Zoe Alley ne at the end of the war is that of a "NonTrialed Browncoat," though Mal is also awarded a v alour commendation for his actions in the Battle of Serenity V alley . [Serenity and the Serenity DV D. An information screen view ed by The Operative in the film lists Mal's commendation, though it is unclear w ho w ould be left amongst the Independents at this point to give out such an honour; w hile a deleted scene available on the DV D 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 bothering to wear uniforms. Some consider them terrorists who kill a lot of good 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 consider them local heroes or simply "strong-minded folk." ["Better Days." Ephraim explains the nature of the Dust Devils to Inara, w hile Mal later gives his ow n definition of them to her, indicating they operated "mostly just after" the w ar. Jayne also describes the Dust Devils as terrorists w hen the crew discusses them.] Although Mal had been a v olunteer, and thus "took it personal" and "shut down some" when the Browncoat brass gav e up the cause, he nev er becomes a Dust Dev il. Zoe does so, howev er, as she still considers herself just a soldier, one of the fighting soldiers who happened to call themselv es "peacemakers." ["Better Days." Zoe tells the crew w ho w as a Dust Devil and w ho w asn't. Her description suggests that she and Mal w ere still in some sort of contact during this period, despite choosing separate paths immediately after the w ar.] Ten Dust Dev ils mount an attack on an Alliance tank, though one Alliance soldier can't believ e it when their ey e in the sky registers only ten hostiles. An ex plosiv e is dropped into the tank, blowing it up and throwing Ephraim Sanda clear of the v ehicle with someone standing ov er him. ["Better Days." These events are show n in a brief flashback, apparently being recounted by Ephraim to four other 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 ev entually scatter, but the Alliance gets a bead on a few now and again, and they want it known that those crimes are nev er forgiv en, so they send former Alliance soldiers turned Special Ops agents such as Ephraim to "not forgiv e." Since these agents consider them terrorists and war criminals, the war is not ov er in their ey es until ev ery last Dust Dev il is hunted down and ex ecuted. ["Better Days." Ephraim details his duties to Inara, and later reiterates his take on the Dust Devils to those under his command. Zoe w as already more directly associated w ith Mal (w ho w as explicitly not a Dust Devil) w hen he purchased Serenity , so the Dust Devils w ould've presumably scattered before then.]
2512
A con artist going by the name Y olanda marries Durran Hay mer and actually tries to build a life with him, thinking that he is a decent man, "the genuine article." He has money , which she believ es will help keep her from stray ing, but she ev entually disappears the same day as Heinrich, Hay mer's y oung 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.
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["Trash." Saffron describes her actions to Mal, though it is unknow n how long she spent w ith Haymer before deciding to leave.] Hay mer suspects that Y olanda and Heinrich may hav e left together, because he had seen the two of them talking, but thinks otherwise when Heinrich's body is found. He nev er stops looking for his wife, though they only find her shuttle. ["Trash." Haymer says it has been six years from the day Y olanda/Saffron's shuttle w as found, and Mal later mentions the six-year figure as w ell. One can assume that Saffron's version of w hat happened to her, as told to Haymer, is fabricated.] Bored one day , Riv er Tam decides to create an entire language called Tobrik. To make it a special challenge, she requires that the language not hav e the v erb "to be," which is fine right up until she tries to translate Hamlet. [Serenity novelisation (page 1 03). River remembers that she made up the tongue "w hen she w as eleven." In its lack of the verb "to be," and the consequent difficulty in translating Shakespeare, her constructed language is similar to Klingon.] An older salesman attempts to sell Malcolm Rey nolds a certain used ship in a shipy ard, ex tolling 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 core (classcode 03-K64, Firefly ) has caught his ey e. He ultimately purchases that ship. ["Out of Gas." These events are show n 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 doors to his newly -bought ship to show 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 on what it can be for them--freedom from the long arm of the Alliance--but Zoe 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 out for it. ["Out of Gas." These events are show n in flashback. On the DV D commentary for the episode, w riter Tim Minear and director David Solomon indicate that this took place "five years ago."] Mal names his new Firefly v essel Serenity. [Conjecture. Assumes Mal w ould've dedicated the name of the ship soon after having that name picked out.] Mal hires Bester, a "genius mechanic," as one of his crew, in part to make Serenity operational. ["Out of Gas." Mal had not hired any of his crew at the time of the previous flashback, but Bester is already aboard by the time he and Zoe meet 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 of Serenity. 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 leav e the bridge. Mal is pleased with Wash, but Zoe doesn't like him--something about him bothers her. Mal tells her that it's about time they hire a qualified pilot now that they finally hav e a mechanic, just as that mechanic, Bester, walks by . ["Out of Gas." These events are show n in flashback. This is assumed to take place fairly soon after the previous flashback, as it appears Serenity has yet to leave the planet w here Mal purchased it.] Although Wash could take a lot of jobs (such as piloting a cruiser, with full benefits, v acations, and less deathdefy ing), he will ultimately stay with Serenity because of his feeling for Zoe and his desire to be around her. ["Those Left Behind." Wash tells Mal that he does "all manner of stupid things" so he can keep the w oman he loves nearby. In the letter column for Better Day s #1 , a quoted comment from Joss Whedon reinforces the idea that since Wash met Zoe "as he checked out the ship...he could have taken the job 'cause of her."]
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Mal hears tell that a couple of Browncoats who had disappeared wound up on Hav en, and when he follows them to find out what happened, it turns out that the mining community there is willing to harbour the occasional fugitiv e for a small price. Since Mal has a ship, he offers to prov ide them with a ferry serv ice on those occasions when it is required. [Serenity novelisation (page 1 37 ). Mal recalls that he "first came across Haven shortly after he acquired Serenity . " Given that Mal w as capable of both tracking dow n the Brow ncoats in question and offering the services of his ship, this presumably took place after Serenity w as running properly.] Amongst the many characters the Serenity crew will deal with in the course of their trav els are Horowitz, the Holden boy s, Capshaw, and Gruv ick. ["Serenity." At the Eavesdow n Docks, Zoe and Mal "go through the list" of their contacts, noting that Horow itz can't afford their cargo, the Holden boys "w ouldn't touch it," Capshaw has "been brain-blow n," and Gruvick is dead because his tow n "got hit by Reavers" w ho burned it dow n. Nothing is know n of the nature of these encounters or w hen they took place, so Mal and Zoe could have had these adventures at any time after the ship w as fully operational.] The crew of Serenity hav e "a perfectly legitimate conflict of interest" ov er salv age rights with Patience on Whitefall, the fourth moon of Athens. In the course of that conflict, certain words are ex changed, along with certain bullets, and Patience shoots Mal. ["Serenity." Mal only says it's been "a long time" since this happened. Zoe and Wash mention this incident as w ell, and Patience is surprised that Zoe is still sailing w ith Mal, but the shooting script for "Serenity" indicates that Jayne does not know w ho Patience is, so this could have taken place at any point w hen those three w ere a part of the crew but Jayne w as not yet aboard.] Ov er time, Patience comes to own half of Whitefall, just about becoming may or. ["Serenity." Mal says that Patience "ow ns half that damn moon now ," and she later confirms her ow n rise in status there.]
2513
Zoe Alley ne marries Hoban Washburne, disobey ing Mal's order to the contrary . Their marriage ceremony does not call for Zoe to swear obedience to Wash. ["War Stories." Mal and Wash argue about this in Niska's Skyplex. The marriage is assumed to have taken place fairly soon after they met, especially since Kaylee automatically thinks of Wash as being married to Zoe in "The Message," implying that she has never know n that not to be the case. On the DV D commentary for "Shindig," costume designer Shaw na Trpcic indicates that the cord around Zoe's neck is a symbol of her marriage bond to Wash, but in "Out of Gas," w e see that she w as already w earing it before she even met him. Mal does not say w hy he w as against the marriage, and no other details of the w edding are know n.] 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, not feeling it." The fifth time he say s it, she takes the dulcimer and smashes it into kindling, which is when it occurs to her that a Companion's life might just be a little too constricting for her. As a result, she chooses to leav e Sihnon. ["Heart of Gold." Nandi tells Mal that "(i)t w as the dulcimer" w hich drove her aw ay from being a Companion. The exact timing of her departure is unclear, as Nandi only says she "w as gone long before" Inara w as. It could have taken place earlier or later than this, but Nandi mentions that Inara looks "exactly the same as the day (she) left," and this date allow s Inara to be at least an adult at the time in question.] House Madrassa orders Inara Serra to shun Nandi when she leav es, ev en though they are friends, and Nandi is aware of this. ["Heart of Gold." Nandi says to Inara that she know s about the order, w hich is w hy "(t)he House w ould tell (her) not to come" to her aid.]
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Nandi trucks out to the border, learns to say "ain't," and comes to a moon run by Rance Burgess to find work. Instead, she finds a dung heap of a bordello, poweredly 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 run the Houses, and they don't ask for references, so she and this man do not get along. ["Heart of Gold." Nandi describes w hat she found to Mal, w hile Kaylee explains to Jayne the reason w hy the bordello "looks like a frozen dinner pack."] Nandi disposes of the man running the bordello and takes control 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 of Gold." The girls w ho are named all appear in the episode. Nandi mentions that "it took (her) years" to develop the bordello into w hat it is, and w hen Mal asks her w hat became of the man, she merely replies that "he ain't playin' the dulcimer anymore."] Kay lee Fry e has an encounter with someone who is y ounger than he seems--so much so that she thinks he must'v e been some kind of genetic ex periment, as she is v ery surprised to discov er he is only fourteen y ears old when his folks come by to fetch him. She is "whupped hard" by her father as punishment. ["Objects in Space." Kaylee tells River this story as they're playing jacks. This had to have happened w hile Kaylee w as still living w ith her family, but given how she tells the story, she w as presumably punished for being significantly older than the guy in question.] Mid-May Jay ne Cobb partners up with Stitch Hessian. ["Jaynestow n." Stitch says they ran together for six months before the robbery on Higgins' Moon, although the circumstances by w hich they came to w ork together are unknow n.] Unification Day (Late May ) Malcolm Rey nolds 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 situation ev ery y ear on U-Day . ["The Train Job." Zoe says this "alw ays" seems to happen "come U-Day," so it has presumably been going on at least as long as Mal has ow ned Serenity . In order for Zoe to be justified in this observaion, it w ould have to happen on enough occasions to constitute a habit.] Mid-Nov em ber Jay ne Cobb and Stitch Hessian arriv e in Canton, a town on Higgins' Moon, and after standing up to Magistrate Higgins, Jay ne brings Stitch in on a robbery which he has planned. Together, they steal a hov ercraft from the magistrate and pull a second-storey on his estate, robbing strongbox es containing six ty thousand in untraceable currency from his safe. They get away clean, but the hov ercraft is tagged by anti-aircraft fire, causing it to lose altitude and forcing them to dump the fuel reserv e, the life support, and ev en the seats in an attempt to stay airborne. With the shuttle at thirty feet, only Jay ne, Stitch, and the money are left, so Jay ne pushes Stitch himself out, costing Stitch one of his ey es. After tossing Stitch, howev er, the shuttle continues to go down, and Jay ne finally dumps the strongbox es as well, accidentally dropping them on the mudders in Canton's town square. ["Jaynestow n." The full story of Jayne and Stitch's robbery is revealed over the course of the episode, w ith Jayne, Stitch, and Magistrate Higgins offering different facets of it. The nature of Jayne's initial confrontation w ith the magistrate isn't specified, but Fess Higgins makes reference to w itnessing it himself, and the people of Canton are all personally familiar w ith Jayne. It is also unclear w hat they w ere stealing "sixty thousand" of, as various forms of currency are referenced during the series, including "credits" and "platinum."]
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Although Jay ne manages to escape, Stitch is immediately captured by Magistrate Higgins, who has him locked up in a steaming hotbox . ["Jaynestow n." Stitch says that he's "spent the last four years" in that box, clarifying the specific timeframe of the original robbery.] After discov ering the fate of his money , Magistrate Higgins sends his prods 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 calls it a bonus. ["Jaynestow n." A young mudder tells Jayne w hat happened after he left.] Believ ing that Jay ne dropped the money into Canton's town square deliberately , the mudders celebrate him as a folk hero, writing a song about his ex ploits 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 of Canton ev en spreads to other worlds. ["Jaynestow n" and "Better Days." The young mudder also recounts these events to Jayne, though it is only assumed the the song w as composed 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 monk a large sum of money, w hich w ould no doubt only serve to reinforce the legend.]
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Simon Tam graduates from his MedAcad in the top three percent of his class. At 23, he is rather y oung to be a doctor. ["Serenity." Simon indicates his rank at the school to the crew . The precise timing of his graduation is conjectural, but assumes that he w ould've gotten through medical school at a somew hat faster pace than a medical student w ould in the present day, as Kaylee notes how young he seems to have earned this title. This also allow s enough time for Simon to complete his internship before he begins having concerns about River, as he is already a surgeon w hen he first voices his concerns to his parents.] Mal goes to ask Bester about "y et another delay " and finds him hav ing sex with someone in the engine room. When Mal confronts him about this, Bester tells him that engines "make her hot," and that he can't get them back in the air again any way , because the secondary grav boot is shot. The girl in question disagrees, ev en as she's putting her clothes back on; when Bester protests, she persists in her opinion, ex plaining that it's the reg couple that's bad, and not only points it out for both of them, but fix es it on the spot herself. Impressed by her talent, Mal immediately offers her a job on the ship for as long as she can keep her in the sky . The girl ex citedly goes off to ask her folks for permission, and Bester asks Mal what he needs two mechanics for--to which he say s that he really doesn't. ["Out of Gas." These events are show n in flashback. The specific date is somew hat arbitrary, as the shooting script for the episode only offers that this w as "in a different time," but assumes that Kaylee w as old enough that her parents w ould allow her to head off on her ow n.] Bester is kicked off Serenity, 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 Kay lee Fry e. ["Out of Gas." These events are implied by the flashback and by the fact that Kaylee is indeed the ship's mechanic from this point forw ard.] Kay lee paints a floral pattern all around the dining room of Serenity. [Firefly w ebsite. In an interview on the site, executive producer Tim Minear gave this as the contextual answ er to w ho painted the flow ers in the first place. The timing is conjecture, and assumes that she did this soon after becoming one of the crew .]
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Simon Tam, already a gifted doctor, finishes his internship in eight months, becoming licenced to practice medicine. ["Serenity." Simon tells to the crew how quickly he finished his internship, as this normally takes a year to complete. Present-day guidelines indicate that internship completion is the minimum training requirement for obtaining a medical 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 climbing on top of the statue of Hippocrates. There are no Feds until Simon starts singing (possibly the national anthem), but Simon talks (or possibly pay s) the Feds out of telling his father. ["Objects in Space." Simon recounts this "morality tale" to Kaylee, noting that "reports vary" and he is "fuzzy on aspects" of some of the details.] Simon becomes a resident trauma surgeon in one of the best hospitals in Capital City on Osiris, on his way to a major position--possibly ev en the Medical Elect. ["Serenity" and "Safe." Simon tells Kaylee w hat his medical position w as and w here he w orked, and Simon's mother mentions his privileged position in flashback w hen he begins to show concern over w hat might be happening to River. Given how much more time is required to complete 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 nev er heard of before where Riv er Tam could be sent to learn. Although they hav e the money to send her any where, this academy has the most ex citing and challenging program, and Riv er wants to go, so she is sent there. ["Serenity." Simon describes w hat happened, telling the crew that River w as fourteen at the time. River's mentioning of Capital City w ithout specifying the planet in "R. Tam, Session 1 , Excerpt" suggests that the academy may be located on Osiris, and this idea is reinforced by the description of the academy's location as being "on a central planet" in the Serenity novelisation (page 87 ).] Simon gets a few letters from his sister at first, but then, he doesn't hear from her for months. ["Serenity." Simon describes how he gradually lost contact w ith River.] Riv er Tam is interv iewed by someone at the institute she is attending, and this interv iew 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 Phy sics a challenge, though she is already in the graduate program, where they call her "Little Mouse;" and that V olger is a little jealous of her because she's so y oung, as he plans to become v ery important. The interv iewer asks if V olger told her he was jealous, but she indicates that people "tell y ou things all the time without talking." When the interv iewer say s that she is v ery intuitiv e, Riv er mentions Simon, and how he hates when she can tell which girls he likes, though she also calls him a genius, say ing that she could nev er do what he does. The interv iewer assures her that she could do whatev er she put her mind to, and tells her that's what the Alliance needs, what this institute is all about--her mind, and letting it do ev ery thing it could. The interv iewer then asks Riv er 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 interview er that Simon is "a trauma surgeon in Capital City," so this video clip w ould have to have been recorded after he made surgeon, although it also seems to be fairly soon after she first entered the academy. The interview er in these sessions is played by series creator Joss Whedon.] During another interv iew at the institute, the interv iewer asks Riv er 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 interv iewer responds that it's "perfectly natural to feel a little nerv ous," but she requests a transfer back to Gen Ed. He responds that she told them that was no good for her, that it was too slow, which is why she is there. Riv er tells the interv iewer that it hurts, and he say s he can help her with that, noting how proud Doctor Mathias is of how she's progressing, to which she say s, "I'm not progressing."
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["R. Tam, Session 22, Excerpt." Given how 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 course of her "treatments" at the academy.] Later on in that session, Riv er say s, "It's the Pax ." When the interv iewer asks her to tell him what she sees, she describes how he "lost the first one"--he cut too deep, and the first one died on the table. One of his attendants cried, by her description, and he comforted her, say ing, "We're doing such good work." The interv iewer asks Riv er if she understands that that is true--the work they do there is v ery important, and she's a part of that-but she responds by asking to see her brother. The interv iewer replies that she can write to him any time she likes, which makes her more upset as she reiterates her request. The interv iewer say s that he is sure her brother is v ery busy , at which point Riv er becomes more docile and simply agrees with him. ["R. Tam, Session 22, Excerpt." There is a jump cut in the video clip itself, implying a gap of time betw een this footage and w hat is show n immediately beforehand. The placement of this session here also suggests that the interview er's comments to River after she asks to see Simon may have inspired her to w rite her coded letters. It is unknow n how long ago the interview er "lost the first one," but he does not question the accuracy of w hat River sees.] Simon finally gets another letter from Riv er, 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 concerns that Riv er 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, say ing he should not risk his career ov er this. ["Serenity" and "Safe." These events are show n in flashback in the latter episode. Simon's mother indicates that he is already a surgeon at this time and he might "throw all that aw ay" by meddling in River's activities at the Academy.] In time, Simon manages to deduce that Riv er's letters are a code, simply say ing, "They 're hurting us. Get me out." Despite his efforts, howev er, he is unable to get near her. ["Serenity." Simon tells the crew that he w as unable to reach River "for tw o years" before being contacted by the underground movement 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 goes out of her mind and tries to kill her two daughters, managing to kill one of them. The other daughter, Ruby , surv iv es, but stops talking after that point. ["Safe." Doralee tells Simon w hat happened, explaining that it w as "tw o years ago."]
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Inara Serra leav es Sihnon, reportedly because 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 heavily implied in the series that there w ere deeper reasons for her departure. The timing is somew hat conjectural, but assumes that Inara left soon before w e saw her originally renting her shuttle from Mal.] Nandi is shocked to learn of Inara's leav ing, as Inara could hav e been House Priestess in a few y ears time, and does not know why she did so. ["Heart of Gold." Nandi reveals this to Mal after asking if Inara ever told him w hy she left.] In the course of Riv er Tam's modifications at the academy , the institute's doctors open up her skull, leav ing a scalpel scar, and make repeated incisions into her brain--ev en though it is healthy and this would normally be done only to lobotomise a person and remov e damaged tissue. They strip her amy gdala, a filter in the brain that keeps one's feelings in check when one does not want to feel scared or worried or nerv ous. As a result, Riv er now feels ev ery thing, as she can no longer push these feelings to the back of her mind.
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["Ariel." While looking at her scan in the neuroimager at St Lucy's Hospital, Simon tells Jayne w hat he can infer about w hat w as done to River. Although the incisions w ere no doubt an ongoing process at the academy, the placement of this here suggests that the stripping of her amygdala is w hat River is referring to in "R. Tam, Session 1 65, Excerpt" w hen she tells the interview er that he, or they, "cut it out."] During an interv iew at the institute, Riv er is ranting about why she's not sleeping, say ing that she has a sy stem, and that her mattress can't be trusted, it has to be gutted. She asks the interv iewer if he's worried that she cut up her mattress for no reason, or if she had a perfectly good reason that he can't see. The interv iewer simply asks her why she cut up her mattress, and she replies that she is try ing to protect her spine. He asks Riv er if she is worried she might be injured, noting that her mov ement trainers hav e giv en her ex cellent marks, but she replies that no one will giv e her a mission. When the interv iewer asks about that, she say s she has a reason--she is reasonable. ["R. Tam, Session 1 65, Excerpt." Besides the various indications in this video clip that River has been further modified at the academy, I have placed this session here on the assumption that the sessions occurred at regularly spaced intervals during her time there.] Later on in that session, Riv er angrily say s that her mov ement hasn't been dictated y et, but she is not there for nothing. She tells the interv iewer that he knows she has a spine, adding that there is "something wrong with the body politic." Later still, Riv er screams and grabs at the table in front of her, gasping that something is sticking in her--that it's in the mattress and it's crawling inside her--before y elling, "Y ou cut it out! Y ou cut it out! Y ou cut it out!" ["R. Tam, Session 1 65, Excerpt." There are jump cuts in the video clip itself, implying gaps of time betw een each segment of footage and w hat is show n immediately beforehand.] Late Septem ber Malcolm Rey nolds shows one of Serenity 's shuttles to Inara Serra, a registered Companion and potential renter. She is interested, but insists on a number of conditions--complete autonomy and priv acy , an understanding that she won't serv ice him or any one in his employ , and some measure of assurance that when she makes an appointment with a client, she is in a position to keep that appointment. Mal say s he'll take all that into consideration, but she tells him she already knows he'll rent the shuttle to her--for one quarter less than his asking price--because she can bring a certain respectability to his ship that others can't. He questions why she is ev en there, and what she could be running from, but she ducks the question, and adds that he does not get to call her a whore. Mal promises that he won't do so ev er again. ["The Train Job," "Bushw hacked," and "Out of Gas." In "The Train Job," Inara tells Book she has been on the ship "eight months now ," w hile in "Bushw hacked," she tells Commander Harken that "(i)n a few w eeks, it w ill be a year" since she came aboard. These events are finally show n in flashback in "Out of Gas."] In time, Inara will call Mal by names which are worse than "whore." ["Serenity." Inara assures Book that she has done this.] Mid-October Jay ne Cobb; his boss, Marco Ferlinghetti; and another lackey are holding guns on Mal and Zoe. The three want to know where Mal and Zoe hav e hidden some goods, but they won't say , and Mal offers Jay ne a better cut than the sev en percent straight off the top he gets now--along with his own room and full run of the kitchen--if he switches ov er to his crew. When Marco shouts at him, Jay ne shoots him in the leg, trains his gun on the lackey , and keeps talking to Mal, ultimately accepting his offer. ["Our Mrs. Reynolds" and "Out of Gas." These events are show n in flashback in the latter episode. In "Our Mrs. Reynolds," Mal tells Jayne he is "not the man (he) met a year ago." Although he says this in the midst of a ruse, there is no reason to think the date reference is inaccurate. Marco's last name comes from the Serenity novelisation (page 45).]
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Mid-Decem ber Inara undergoes a phy sical ex amination on a Core world in order to renew her Companion registration, as required by Guild law. It goes as ex pected. ["Ariel." Inara explains to Wash that all Companions have to do this once a year, and later tells Kaylee that the outcome of her current "check-up" w as the "(s)ame as last year." It seems redundant that Inara w ould have to explain this requirement, how ever, as she w as already attached to Serenity at the time of this examination.]
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Early January - Mid-May Atherton Wing engages Inara Serra's serv ices at least once with Malcolm Rey nolds's knowledge, though Mal nev er actually sees him. Mal pictures him as older than he actually is. ["Shindig." Mal recognises Atherton's name as that of "a regular," but has never seen w hat he looks like before the episode.] A carrier run by a skeleton crew blows out, killing all hands. The wreckage is left adrift, although the derelict transport has a cargo of at least three crates containing pure, genuine A-grade foodstuffs made up of protein, v itamins, and immunisation supplements. One bar of these foodstuffs will feed a family for a month or more, but there is a gov ernment stamp imprinted on ev ery molecule, making the cargo worth only two hundred in platinum. ["Serenity." An officer on the Dortmunder says the carrier blew out "a few months back." Badger first mentions the government stamp to Mal, w hile Mal later describes the exact nature of the "treasure" and its discounted value to Patience.] During an interv iew at the institute, the interv iewer notes to Riv er Tam that she is v ery quiet today , and asks how her session with Doctor Mathias went. She tells him that Doctor Mathias gav e her a mission, and the interv iewer asks if he told Riv er her mission out loud or if she just heard it, to which she responds that "he play s hide and seek" with her. When the interv iewer checks if she meant Doctor Mathias, she say s that her brother is a doctor, that he thinks he can find her, but she is "deep down" and does not make a sound. The interv iewer asks Riv er what mission Doctor Mathias gav e her, but she say s she can't tell him, and the interv iewer replies that she can tell him any thing, she knows that. She repeats that she can't tell, then holds out her hand and say s she'll "hav e to write it down." ["R. Tam, Session 41 6, First Excerpt." I have placed this session here on the assumption that it occurs late in River's time at the academy, and River's statement that Simon "thinks he can find (her)" supports the idea that she can sense he is close to locating her.] Later on in the recording of that session, the interv iewer is sitting alone at a table when he suddenly begins to gasp and choke. He reaches up with his hand and pulls a bloody pen from his neck, throwing it onto the table, before gasping again and falling to the floor. At that point, Riv er appears directly in front of the recording dev ice, holding up her own bloodied hand to a transparent barrier and say ing, "I can see y ou." ["R. Tam, Session 41 6, Second Excerpt." The numbering of the video clips themselves indicates that this second excerpt w ould follow immediately after the first, though their separation also suggests some gap of time betw een them.] Serenity has two jobs that do not pay well enough for the crew to put together any sav ings, followed by weeks without work. ["Serenity." Jayne complains that they "ain't had a job in w eeks," w hile Mal indicates that their last tw o jobs w ere "w eak tea," leaving the ship and its crew in a precarious financial situation.] Simon Tam is contacted by some men from an underground mov ement, who tell him that his sister Riv er is in
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danger, as the gov ernment is "play ing with her brain." They indicate that if he funds them, they can sneak her out in cry o and get her to Persephone, from which he can take her wherev er he'd like. ["Serenity." Simon tells the crew how he w as able to get River out. There are no other know n details about w ho composed this underground movement, or how they w ere aw are of w hat w as happening at the academy.] Simon is arrested for being in a blackout zone on Osiris, though he was only talking to someone who might be able to help Riv er. His father, Gabriel Tam, is called away from a dinner party to bail him out, pay ing two thousand credits to do so, but hav ing to walk through the door of the facility where Simon is being held goes on Gabriel's permanent profile. He tells Simon that if this continues, he won't come for him again, and asks if Simon is coming home. Simon does not answer. ["Safe." These events are show n in flashback. It is unclear w hether this incident w as a result of the first contact betw een Simon and the underground movement, but Simon's father seems to indicate that this is part of a pattern of behaviour. This arrest may have been the source of Simon's mugshot, seen in "Objects in Space."] Simon goes back to the blackout zone and accepts the offer from the underground mov ement. In turn, they are successful in getting Riv er to him as promised. Once the Alliance becomes aware of his sneaking her out, howev er, they crash his accounts. Amongst the things Simon is able to bring with him is a medkit containing v aluable medicines such as iv oprov aly n (a common immune booster), propox in, and hy drozapam. [Shortly before "Serenity," as Simon is first seen on Persephone w ith River in tow . Kaylee mentions to Jayne in "The Train Job" that Simon is "not rich" because the Alliance crashed his accounts, w hile in "Safe," Simon tells his father that he is "going right back" to the blackout zone w here he w as arrested. Simon lists some of the medicines he had w hen he came onboard, along w ith their street value, in "Ariel;" one of these, ivoprovalyn, is also mentioned on the Serenity w ebsite.] Simon acquires a set of glasses with lenses resistant to retina-scanning sensors. ["Better Days." Mal and Simon discuss the nature of his glasses, w ith Simon reminding Mal that "(t)hey got me aboard your ship just fine" in "Serenity." He may have acquired them earlier than this, but he is not seen w ith them during the escape sequence in Serenity . ] Badger becomes aware of the derelict transport with a cargo of foodstuffs onboard, and he hires the crew of Serenity to pull this illegal salv age. Although he is aware of the goods, howev er, he does not realise that they are imprinted by the Alliance. [Shortly before "Serenity," as the present-day events of the episode begin w ith the salvage underw ay. Badger mentions the illegality of the job w hen he quotes the bulletin w hich came up on the Cortex, w ith the implication being that said bulletin is his first indication of the Alliance stamp on the cargo.] Shepherd Derrial Book of the Southdown Abbey , who has been "out of the world for a spell," decides to walk it a while, and perhaps bring the Word to those who need it told. He brings along what he can from the garden he had at the abbey . [Shortly before "Serenity," as Book is first seen on Persephone looking for passage on a ship, and he tells Inara he's "been out of the abbey tw o days" at the end of the episode. Book explains his reasons for leaving the abbey to Kaylee, although the full story of his life as a preacher is unknow n, and he later tells Zoe about the garden to explain w hy he has fresh fruit w ith him.] The Alliance sends Lawrence Dobson undercov er to track down Simon and Riv er Tam, as Riv er is considered a precious commodity worth a great deal of money . [Shortly before "Serenity," as Dobson boards Serenity at the same time as Simon and Book, w hile he w ould have presumably had Simon bound by law earlier if he'd had the opportunity to do so.] Late May
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"Serenity " [As w ith the other episodes in the series, the dating of "Serenity" is a rough estimate, w orking back from the specific date given in "Our Mrs. Reynolds" (discussed in further detail under said episode). In this case, it is assumed to take place only a short time before "The Train Job," and the episode itself spans approximately tw o days. The very first Blue Sun logo seen in the series appears on the Crybaby, w hich seems to have been made from a can of Blue Sun coffee. Blue Sun logos are also visible on crates at the Eavesdow n Docks on Persephone.] Jay ne shav es off his goatee, but immediately allows it to start growing back. [Conjecture. In "Serenity," Jayne has a full goatee, w hile in "The Train Job," he has just a faint hint of one. It is unclear w hat w ould motivate him to make this particular grooming choice.] Unification Day "T he T rain Job" [Again, this episode is assumed to take place very shortly after "Serenity," and the moon seen at the beginning of this episode may even be w here the crew w as headed at the end of that one. The crew are also seen still dealing w ith issues from that episode--Kaylee is still asking for a compression coil, for example, and the crew speaks of Simon and River as if they have only recently come aboard the ship. The onscreen caption "251 7 A.D." during the opening narration indicates the year in w hich (most of) the series takes place. Jayne also acknow ledges how hard it is to keep track of time in this episode by asking, "What month is it?"] Early June - Mid-August With Mal consistently refusing to let her buy a new compression coil for Serenity 's engine, Kay lee Fry e ev entually drops the matter. [Conjecture. In both "Serenity" and "The Train Job," Kaylee tells Mal how necessary it is to get a new compression coil, explaining the problems that the faulty one they have is currently causing and could cause in the future, but she does not mention it in subsequent episodes. Mal w ould eventually pay the price for this decision in "Out of Gas."] A retrofitted transport ship is licenced to a group of six teen families, including those of Sharone Schultz and Johann Robinson, out of Bernadette. They are prov ided with Alliance hearth subsidies and are due to touch down in Newhall as settlers, but the ship is set upon by Reav ers, who take out the port thrust and kill all but one of the passengers. The attack happens so quickly that the Reav ers leav e no sign of a struggle. ["Bushw hacked." An ensign on the Alliance Cruiser says the transport ship w as due in New hall "three w eeks ago." The names of the tw o settlers are visible on the personal log screen w hich Zoe looks at.] Kay lee has something "twix t her nethers" that isn't battery -operated. [Serenity . At the Maidenhead, Kaylee mentions that it's been "going on a year now " since this w as the case. Admittedly, her comments seem meant to imply that this last happened before she met Simon, but the dating of the film itself w ould place this event here.] Rance Burgess impregnates Petaline, his fav oured whore at the Heart of Gold bordello. ["Heart of Gold." Nine months before the episode, in w hich Petaline gives birth.] The Reav ers feast on their v ictims aboard the transport ship, forcing the lone surv iv or to watch, and leav e their bodies hanging in the ship's storage compartment. Ev ery thing is left on, allowing the ship to power down on its own, but they launch the lifeboat and leav e an ex plosiv e booby trap for any potential rescue ships. Left alone on the ship and confronted with the will of the Reav ers, the only course left to the surv iv or is to become one of them, desecrating his flesh and ev entually losing his mind.
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["Bushw hacked." Mal tells Simon the lifeboat "launched more than a w eek ago," so I assume the Reavers took their time.] Late August "Bushwhacked" [My first instinct w ould not have been to place such a w ide gap betw een this episode and "The Train Job," but it w as unavoidable, as the same character (Inara) makes reference to the same event (coming aboard Serenity ) in both episodes. The brow n tank top Jayne w ears throughout this episode has a Blue Sun logo on it.] Mid-Septem ber "Shindig" [Beginning w ith this episode, my assumption is that, lacking evidence to the contrary, an episode occurs tw o w eeks after the one before it. The episode itself spans approximately five days. The boxes, cans, and food packets w hich River frantically tears apart all have Blue Sun logos on them.] Early October "Safe" [Going against my assumption almost immediately, this episode occurs three w eeks after "Shindig," as referenced several times during the episode itself. The shooting script for this episode includes a cut line in w hich Simon tells Mal that he and River "have been on (the) ship for more than tw o months now ," but that short timeframe is incompatible w ith other references in the series as aired.] October 18-20 "Our Mrs. Rey nolds" [This episode features the only specific date given in the series--October 24, the date given by Inara for their scheduled arrival on Beaumonde. Mal tells Saffron they w ill take five days to get there, and the episode begins the day before that statement, resulting in a specific start date. In turn, the episode itself spans approximately tw o days, providing the end date.] October 26 - Nov em ber 9 Serenity arriv es on Beaumonde, in the city of New Dunsmuir, and spends two weeks on the planet. ["Our Mrs. Reynolds." Mal tells Inara they'll be on Beaumonde "a day or tw o late," and she had earlier asked him to be "exactly sure" they w ould spend at least tw o w eeks there.] Mid-Nov em ber "Jay nestown" [Assumed to take place soon after the crew 's stay on Beaumonde. The episode itself spans approximately one day.] A fresh warrant for the arrest of Simon Tam comes up ov er the Cortex , with his birthday attached to it. ["Out of Gas." Mal tells Simon this to explain how the crew knew about his birthday in the first place.] Late Nov em ber
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"Out of Gas" [Unfortunately, there is no information in the episode to provide a more specific birthday for Simon. The present-day events of the episode span just a few hours.] Early Decem ber Shepherd Book gets off Serenity at the Bathgate Abbey for a brief meditational respite. [Betw een "Out of Gas" and "Ariel." Book does not appear in the latter episode as a result.] Serenity goes to three places where there are no jobs "worth hav ing," leading the crew to begin suspecting that they aren't really looking for work at all. ["Ariel." Wash mentions the lack of w ork on their last three stops, and Jayne complains about not looking hard enough. It's possible that one of the three places in question w as the Bathgate Abbey, mentioned above.] Mid-Decem ber "Ariel" [Conveniently, this lines up rather w ell w ith River's statement that the Feds "took Christmas aw ay" w hen she gets captured along w ith Simon and Jayne. River slashes Jayne's Blue Sun tank top, w hich appears to be the same one he w ore in "Bushw hacked." When Jayne reaches the Telefonix terminal at St Lucy's Hospital, it is displaying a Blue Sun commercial carrying the slogan "Live Life With Blue Sun!" The spokesmodel in the commercial is played by Kelly Wheeler, assistant to producer Gareth Davies and a regular contributor to the Official Firefly Website.] Jubal Early , a bounty hunter, begins tracking Simon and Riv er Tam, as he plans to take them into custody and get the substantial reward being offered. ["Objects in Space." Early tells Simon he's been tracking them "since the Feds w ere tipped off on Ariel," w hich means he w aited quite a w hile before finally making his move...] Serenity begins making drops to sell the medicine from the heist on Ariel to v arious middlemen, with the proceeds being split amongst the crew. [Betw een "Ariel" and "War Stories."] Jay ne uses his cut of the money to buy a crate of genuine apples for the rest of the crew, much to their consternation. He also forwards some credits to his mother, which are helpful, as Matty is still sick with the Damplung. ["War Stories" and "The Message." Inara mentions that Jayne bought the crate, an act described by others on the crew as frighteningly confusing, and the letter from Jayne's mother mentions the forw arded credits, w hich are assumed to have been sent during the same period. The shooting script for "The Message" seems to suggest that Matty is Jayne's brother.] Wash suggests to Zoe that they forget the fence and go straight to the source, contacting the local MD's at their drop points so they will get better prices and be assured that the drugs are getting to the right people. Zoe tells Mal about this, but Mal rejects it out of hand, thinking it'll get back to someone and cause trouble if they eliminate the middlemen instead of play ing nice in a quadrant where they already hav e enough enemies. Zoe doesn't argue the point, choosing instead to lie to Wash and say that she didn't get a chance to tell the captain his idea. ["War Stories." Wash discovers the lie w hen Mal is talking to the crew , then confronts Zoe about it to get the true story.]
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Late Decem ber Shepherd Book comes back aboard Serenity and learns about the heist on Ariel, discov ering that Simon is "moonlighting as a criminal mastermind." [Betw een "Ariel" and "War Stories," though it's assumed to be fairly close to the latter, as Book seems to have only just learned about w hat happened w hen talking to Simon in that episode.] "War Stories" [Contrary to the conventional w isdom amongst view ers of the series, it w ould seem that not all of its episodes occur in 251 7 , as seen in its opening narration. Indeed, the references w ithin the series itself make it impossible for this to be the case, as demonstrated elsew here.]
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January 1 - March 30 Kay lee Fry e does her best to patch up the Serenity crew's ground Mule, but it nev er works right after the damage caused by setting off a passel of grenades in it. [Serenity novelisation (page 52). Assumes that Kaylee attempted these repairs fairly soon after "War Stories," in w hich the Mule w as originally damaged.] Jay ne Cobb's mother makes him a knitted hat to keep him warm in his trav els, and mails it off to him along with a short letter. ["The Message." Assumes that the package w ould take a w hile to make its w ay through the post, and that it w as a w hile after that before Jayne picked it up.] Lieutenant Womack, an Alliance officer who got his command stripes at the Silv erhold Colonies, starts running a job on the side smuggling enhanced human organs, though the technology 's not ready and he is operating away from his jurisdiction. The blastomeres are unapprov ed, likely unstable, and the only way they can mov e or ev en incubate the lab-grown organs is in a person, so Womack recruits Tracey to transport them. Tracey is paid to hav e his organs scooped out and replaced with artificial ones, leav ing a nearly inv isible scar, and agrees to go to a clinic on Ariel to take out those goods (v alued at a million credits or more) and put his own organs back. ["The Message." Assumes this w hole process w ould've taken up some time. Simon explains the instability of such organs, Tracey makes reference to "this million-credit meat," and Book mentions Womack's credentials, noting that he w ants his presence on St Albans to be a secret.] "Downtim e" [My placement of this comic book story here is meant to take advantage of the existing gap of time betw een episodes in this period as w ell as to put it betw een "War Stories," w hen Wash and Zoe argue about her taking sides, and "The Message," w hen Wash is w illing to risk flying through a snow y climate (w hich he is not w illing to do in this story).] Zoe begins talking to Wash about hav ing a baby . Wash feels that this is not the best time to bring a helpless person into their liv es, giv en that they 're "deep in the rough and tumble" and neither of them sees that changing any time soon. Zoe is undeterred by such an objectiv e assessment, as she's not afraid to try hav ing a child despite the risks. ["Heart of Gold." Zoe tells Wash his excuse "is getting a little w orn" w hen this subject comes up, suggesting that they've been having this same discussion for a w hile.] March 31
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Inara Serra obtains a client, the last one before a significant dry spell. ["Trash." Inara complains to Mal that she hasn't had a client for three w eeks.] April 1-20 Serenity spends some time looking for work "off the radar," v isiting backwater moons, slums, and frontier planets without so much as a temple built. None of these places has any suitable Companion clients. ["Trash." Inara tells Mal that he has been keeping her from conducting her affairs by not visiting w orlds w here both of them could w ork.] Serenity sneaks a cargo of little geisha dolls with big heads that wobble past the Alliance to transport. ["Trash." Inara points out that this particular shipment w as the last cargo the crew snuck past the Alliance before the episode. One has to w onder w hy w obbly-headed dolls w ould be considered contraband, though Mal seemed to indicate that they w ere popular.] Tracey gets a better offer for the human organs he is smuggling from a buy er who is willing to go three times the going rate--enough money so he could get his parents off St Albans, where they liv e, and set them up someplace warm. He skips out on his scheduled drop spot to meet with the new buy er, but Womack and his cohorts get wind of what he has planned. When Tracey shows up, he finds that the new buy er is dead and there are some men waiting for him. He is only just able to get away . ["The Message." Tracey says he "w as supposed to be at the drop spot tw o w eeks ago."] Knowing that Womack and his men will nev er stop looking for him so long as he is aliv e, Tracey buy s a drug (possibly by phodine) from someone to make it appear as though he were dead, figuring that they 'll stop looking for him that way . He then arranges to hav e himself mailed in a crate to Malcolm Rey nolds and Zoe, and records a message asking them to deliv er his body to St Albans. Although the guy who sells him the drug tells him he won't dream, he does dream of his family en route. ["The Message." Tracey explains that he w as told he'd "be under a w eek or so," though he "(n)ever did ask" w hat the drug w as called.] A crate with no return, addressed to Mal and Zoe, arriv es at the franchise of the Allied Postal Sy stem run by Amnon Duul. Amnon weighs it, then sends a wav e to Mal say ing that he's holding some post for him and his crew. ["The Message." Amnon tells Mal the crate has been there "near a w eek," as that w as w hen he w eighed it. Amnon's last name is from the episode's shooting script, as it is not given in the episode itself.] April 21-24 "T rash" [Again, my instinct w ould not have been to have such a w ide gap betw een this episode and "War Stories," but again, references w ithin the series made this unavoidable, as Mal tells Monty his first encounter w ith Saffron w as "about half a year back," and that encounter has a specific date attached to it. The episode explicitly spans seventy-tw o hours, w hile the specific dates derive from Wash's statement that Haymer's party is "this w eekend," w ith this being the w eekend in 251 8 closest to the half-year figure.] April 25-30 Mal tries to fence the Lassiter, but no one will touch such a priceless artifact. Realising that Mal is out of his league, Inara offers to help by contacting people she knows in the highest ranks, despite the potential risk to her career. ["The Message." Inara and Mal discuss his striking out and her offer, even as he is turning it dow n. In the
course of this conversation, Inara compares the Lassiter's fame to that of the Mona Lisa--w hich Mal has never heard of, suggesting that many aspects of Earth-That-Was may not be know n outside of the upper echelons of society.] Mal reads the wav e from Amnon, then directs Serenity to the space station where Amnon operates so they can pick up their post and obtain some supplies. [Shortly before "The Message." Mal mentions reading the w ave. The episode itself suggests that Amnon has been Mal's regular postman for some time, as Tracey know s enough to correctly address himself to his particular station.] "T he Message" [Assumed to take place very shortly after "Trash," as the crew is still trying (unsuccessfully) to fence the Lassiter. The episode itself spans approximately tw o days. The space station includes a giant video billboard located near Serenity w hich is seen playing a Blue Sun commercial, as w ell as a scrolling ad for Blue Sun atop the station. Strangely enough, the space station's bazaar also includes a sign for St Lucy's Hospital, last seen in "Ariel."] Mid-May "Heart of Gold" [This episode and "Objects in Space" provide the main chronological interruption of the series' original production order--these tw o episodes w ere produced betw een "War Stories" and "Trash," but the creators of Firefly have chosen this to be the proper sequence of events.] Late May "Objects in Space" [Conveniently, and perhaps symbolically, the last episode of the series takes place around a year after the first episode of the series. The episode itself spans just a few hours.] Early June Serenity 's crew finds a buy er for the Lassiter, and the funds go to purchase a fancy new hov er Mule, Mal's pride and joy . Though the new Mule isn't cheap, it is an air v ehicle, and therefore considerably more useful than the old Mule, which was strictly a ground v ehicle. [Serenity novelisation (page 52). It is unclear exactly w hen this happened, as the crew already have this Mule in "Better Days," but Mal remembers that it "(t)ook a spell to find a buyer," and he still thinks of this Mule as new at the time of the film.] "Better Day s" [This comic book story must take place after the series, as the hover Mule makes an appearance, but before "Those Left Behind," as Book and Inara are still on the ship.] "T hose Left Behind" [This comic book story is assumed to take place fairly soon after "Objects in Space," as Inara is still packing to leave and the ship has not yet arrived at her scheduled point of departure, though Mal also indicates that they're not getting there "as fast as (she)'d like."] Mid-June - Late July The mining community on Hav en wav es Mal, telling him that a thief is tired of running from the Alliance and wants to settle www.mts.net/~arphaxad/f irefdown ly .html and do some honest work. Mal is willing to pick the y oung man up and bring him to
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wants to settle down and do some honest work. Mal is willing to pick the y oung man up and bring him to Hav en, though this is the first time Serenity has trav elled there since Shepherd Book came onboard. When the crew is preparing to depart, Book--who had already announced his intention to leav e Serenity --say s that he will be stay ing behind. Mal can't conjure a good reason not to let him stay , especially since plenty of the local miners are spiritual folk who welcome the notion of a preacher in their midst, so Book follows through on his plan. His contributions to the community include a small v egetable patch and more use of the local church. For his part, Mal tells himself that truth be known, he won't miss Book's pray ing ov ermuch. [Serenity novelisation (pages 1 37 -1 38). Mal remembers this occurring "(a) few months back," though Book announced his intentions in "Those Left Behind."] The Alliance begins tracking down smugglers through high-risk assignments by infiltrating the people inv olv ed, then torturing and brutally murdering them at rendezv ous points. [Shortly before "The Other Half." The w ounded Alliance agent's thoughts betray his past actions and future intentions to both River and the reader. This agent also becomes aw are of Simon and River's true identities as escaped fugitives.] Mal agrees to a cargo smuggling trip for the crew of Serenity, but insists on half of their transport charge up front this time. When the person who hired them actually agrees to pay it, he has a bad feeling about the job, so he puts Riv er down with the man. [Shortly before "The Other Half." Zoe, Mal, and Simon all mention Mal's getting half up front, and Mal explains to River w hy he included her.] "T he Other Half" [In response to a direct question about the chronological placement of this comic book story, w riter Jim Krueger told me that he "really saw this taking place around the midpoint of the Firefly season. It could be a little later than that, but at least the midpoint." The absence of Inara and Book, how ever, along w ith Mal's apparent aw areness of River's abilities and w illingness to include her on a job, w ould seem to indicate a later placement closer to the events of the film.] Serenity undergoes a number of modifications, including the addition of more monitors and control panels to the cockpit and a new bulkhead with a circular pattern in the cargo bay . [Betw een "Objects in Space" and Serenity . These changes may have occurred through a gradual process, or they could have been the result of a one-time retrofit, but this explains the various cosmetic differences in the ship betw een the series and the film.] On orders from The Operativ e, subliminal broadwav es begin to go out from the Alliance high military containing behav ioural modification triggers, in the hopes of locating Riv er Tam. Amongst the many places where this signal is hidden is an adv ertisement for Fruity Oaty Bars. [Serenity . Mr. Universe mentions that he has seen the signal in question often over "the last few w eeks."] Early August Serenity [The dating of the feature film is a very rough estimate. There is no explicit reference in the movie to how much time has passed since the end of the series, but this point allow s enough time for Inara to establish herself at the Companion training house and for Book to establish his refuge on Haven after they both leave Serenity , along w ith allow ing for various other noticeable changes. Although Mal says that Simon and River have been on the ship for "(e)ight months," such a short span is incompatible w ith the numerous references to the passage of time in the series. The main story of the film itself begins on a Sunday, and spans approximately one w eek. Blue Sun logos are visible on some of the crates in the ship's cargo bay, as w ell as on the bottle Jayne passes to Simon in the ship's dining room, and the Blue Sun commercial from "Ariel" can briefly be seen on one of Mr. Universe's many video screens.]
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"T he Shepherd's T ale" [To the extent that this graphic novel can be said to have a present-day segment at all given that it is told as a series of flashbacks in reverse chronological order), that segment w ould be the first, set during the events of the feature film. The captions w hich indicate the timing of the various flashbacks include a number of contradictions w ith the passage of time in the series, including the implication that "Jaynestow n" took place tw o years before the movie and that "Serenity" took place tw o years before that.] Early Nov em ber "Float Out" [This comic book one-shot must take place at least several months after the feature film, as Zoe is show n to be visibly pregnant w hile that is not the case in the movie (if she is even aw are of her pregnancy at that time). Although this particular dating of the story is an estimate, it cannot take place any more than nine months after the film, as that is the earliest point in time w hen she could've conceived a child w ith Wash.] Filtered into the Cortex November 25, 2003. Last w ave sent out September 1 8, 201 1 . Return to the Timeline Archives Smack Dab in the Middle of the Blue No pow er in the 'verse can stop me. arphaxad@mts.net
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