In the final episode of Firefly, the bounty hunter Early indicates Book is not a Shepherd. Is there any in-universe explanation for this claim?
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9possible duplicate of What was Shepard Book's past in Firefly?– PearsonArtPhotoCommented Aug 25, 2011 at 0:56
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4 Answers
Whedon has previously stated that one of Early's key abilities is to quickly evaluate people - he sees in Book attributes not often present in a Shepherd (effectively a pastor), but rather those of his past as a double-agent officer in the Alliance (see What was Shepherd Book's past in Firefly? and the graphic novel @MPelletier references for some details).
answered Aug 25, 2011 at 4:42
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1The point at which it's said, it's pretty much irrelevant that Jubal Early can read people quick; he was retconned to an actual agent of the Alliance in Serenity– aramisCommented Aug 29, 2011 at 21:21
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1@aramis: Not entirely irrelevant - there had already been many incidents indicating that Book is way too badass to possibly have a non-violent past. (Note that Early makes a point of taking him down quickly and without warning. Compare to his treatment of Kaylee or Simon.)– TynamCommented Sep 21, 2012 at 14:47
The best explanation would be in The Shepherd's Tale, the comic book that came out in 2010. While Early is not encountered, it is clear that Book has had a tumultuous past.
answered Aug 24, 2011 at 23:46
Jubal Early is outting a former Alliance agent, Book, who, as Early will later, comes out of a crisis of faith with a new outlook. And in Book's case, new faith. We don't know how Early will come out of it...
The first evidence of this is in one of the episodes, the one where Book gets medical treatment for one of the crew on an Alliance starship simply by showing his ID.
Early, by the way, isn't a bounty hunter. He's an Alliance operative, working for the central command, and with huge autonomy. (See Serenity - explicit in one of the trailers, even.)
The implications are that Book may have been similar level, but it's clear that Early also has access to the data records of the Alliance and KNOWS Book's past.
So the implications are, "Mal, do you realize you have an Alliance agent in your crew?" in an attempt to break the cohesion of the crew.
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9Yes, Jubal Early is a bounty hunter - it sounds like you're confusing him with the Operative in the movie.– John CCommented Aug 29, 2011 at 21:45
In Serenity, Book tells Mal that he wasn't always a shepherd and also that he doesn't have to tell him about his past, leaving it mysterious but implying something interesting.
