Who Was Shepherd Book?
By Jeffrey | April 30, 2007
From the first moment that we meet Book we are made aware that he is a shepherd from the Southdown Abbey. His mission is to bring “the word to those as need it told”.
It doesn’t take long for it to be obvious that all is not as it seems, though.
He is too aware of how the world works, especially when it comes to the law - both sides of it - and the Alliance.
Since the series ended far too soon the answer was never revealed.
So who was Shepherd Book?
Conjecture on possible answers has existed since the series was on the air; that Book was an operative for Blue Sun, an ex-con, or even an undercover agent for the Alliance.
I think the answer is both far more simple, and even more complicated.
What We Know
He was a believer. A man experienced in clichéd rhetoric - “The journey is the worthier part”, “It’s not about making sense, it’s about having faith” - and principled dogma.
He was also well-versed in underground dealings, as evident by his involvement in various activities of the Serenity crew and his knowledge of who Adelei Niska was.
And he must have, or have had, a relationship in some way with the Alliance because of their no-questions-asked urgency in admitting him for medical aid in the episode Safe.
A Possible Answer
Those qualities match up with another character not depicted until the Serenity movie: an Operative of the Alliance.
Like Book, the Operative was a “believer”. Perhaps not of a religious nature, as Book claimed, but more of the principled kind.
He was a man “who believed hard, and killed without asking why,” as Book himself would state in Haven.
But he wasn’t a cold, ruthless killer, either. He killed for “principle”, for the “greater good”. He didn’t need to know the reasons why, but rather that his actions would satisfy those unknown reasons.
It doesn’t take long for this to be shown, either, as he kills the commander in the first of the film, forcing him to fall on his sword, and justifying it as a “good death”.
Why It Doesn’t Work
Book is not a killer, though, nor does he commit principled crimes.
In fact, he has a breakdown with Inara in the pilot episode of Firefly sobbing, “I’ve beaten a lawman senseless, I’ve fallen in with criminals. I watched the captain shoot the man I swore to protect. I think I’m on the wrong ship.”
However, this fact might actually back up the Operative idea.
Why It Works
At the end of Serenity, Mal succeeds in transmitting the video of the true background of the reavers, with the Operative himself being forced to watch.
He is beaten at that point, and seems to relinquish his role as an Operative, stating to Mal that, “they (the Alliance) have no further use for me.”
It is possible a similar experience happened to Book. It is possible he went through something that forced him to see the errors of whom he served, and left to become a shepherd, or at least to pose as one.
Regardless, the possibility of Book being a former Operative is the answer that makes the most sense.
We’ll just have to convince Joss Whedon that he needs to tell us Book’s true history.
Of course, he’d probably answer the same way Book did, “No, I don’t.”
Topics: Rants |
i have heard alot of crazy idears of books past, this one made a little more sence than him being mals father..but heres my idear of his past..i belive that derial book or shepperd book had something to do with the war of inderpendance,this would back up the episode of safe were he gets onto the alliance ship and where in serenity he guns down the ship, but i don’t believe he fought for the alliance. this is why,in no episodes was book saw by any alliance member and saw as a high ranking persons of the war who would obviously be famous, but maybe he fought for the browncoats but after seeing they were loosing the war betrayed them and told the alliance something(maybe plans of the battle of serenity valley O.o)and that might of gave the alliance the victory but after beng depressed ect of betraying those he fought for he joined the abbey.i hope you enjoyed my rant and it’s opened your eyes! please post your idears of sheppars past (i am also sorry for any typo’s i may of made)
Posted by: rob on May 1st, 2007 at 8:58 amIt’s an interesting idea, that’s for sure!
I just wish the show hadn’t been canceled so one of us could have been proven right (or wrong!). :)
Posted by: Jeffrey on May 1st, 2007 at 11:49 amI think the operative idea is probably correct. At the very least, Book was the only crewmember to know what an operative was before they encountered one. “That’s trouble you’ve not known.”
Posted by: Dan on May 4th, 2007 at 8:44 amAlso, he could easily be a killer. Remember the episode on the central planets, where he and river hold off a whole gaggle of attacking alliance soldiers? The man knows how to shoot.
He also took down an entire alliance ship in the movie.
I think Whedon did his best to come-around-again to Book’s story with the Operative’s arc in Serenity. He gave us a story that’s close enough in its sweep to point to Book’s progression before he stepped onboard the ship in the first episode.
Posted by: Ben on February 13th, 2008 at 2:33 pmI have to say I agree with most of the thread about Shepard Book. However there are two moments from the series and feature film that deviate a little from this. Firstly in ‘Objects in Space’, Book is knocked out cleanly by the bounty hunter, but later tells Jayne how he put up a strong fight. Indicating to me he wants to be seen as a fighter. Secondly in the feature film, after being mortally wounded, he tells Mal that he short down the Alliance ship, saying it in a way that could be seen as, ‘look at me and what I did, I’m a true fighter now!’ It just feels like he was trying a bit too hard to be something that he had never been before.
Posted by: Hasan on July 1st, 2008 at 11:46 am