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Avon and Gan 
24th-Oct-2009 12:51 am
I've been taking a look at Gan's character and I discover that I really like him. He's the true voice of conscience on the ship. I would have liked to see more of him. It's too bad he didn't really come into his own until Shadow and PP.

This is a little conversation between Avon and Gan. Spoilers for Pressure Point. And some dialogue borrowed from Shadow, Time Squad and Star One.

Gan: Avon, Blake isn't listening.

Avon: Does he ever?

Gan: He does listen to us.

Avon: Does he really? Try saying something he doesn't want to hear or refuse to do what he wants.

Gan: What do you mean?

Avon: An experiment, for your edification. Tell him you refuse to go to Earth and attack Control because it's too dangerous. He's going to get us all killed.

Gan: But he's promised us he wouldn't. We're just going to scout the outer perimeter defences. We won't even be in scanner range of Earth defences.

Avon: And you believe that?

Gan: I do.

Avon: Then you're a fool. (Avon turns to leave but turns around, a sliver of sarcasm in his eyes) Why did all of you demand that Blake promise he wouldn't lead you on a suicide mission to make a pointless gesture? Is it because you believe in him?

Gan: Blake is passionate.

Avon (with a sneer): Another word for obsessed beyond reason.

Gan: He doesn't think things through sometimes.

Avon: Try all the time. One of these days his fanaticism and inability to think will get us all killed.

Gan: That's all you care about isn't it?

Avon: That he will get all of us killed? (with a knowing smile) Isn't that why you forced him to make the promise? Blake's idea of destroying the Federation is to get all of us killed in the process. Dying hardly constitutes winning.

Gan: Then we'll help him see other ways.

Avon (scoffs): With Blake, there is only one way. His.

Gan: You really hate him don't you?

Avon: When this is over, I am done. I am finished. I want to be free. Following Blake requires a level of stupidity, I have not been capable of in a long time.

Gan: Then why are you still here?

Avon: Certainly not by choice. Blake can do whatever he wants. Stir up a thousand revolutions. Wade in blood up to his armpits.

Gan: That doesn't sound like Blake.

Avon: Have you forgotten the Terra Nostra and Shadow? Or has that conveniently escaped your memory?

Gan (hems): Blake needs to win.

Avon: And to achieve that he is willing to do anything. Become like the Terra Nostra. Become like the Federation.

Gan: He's trying to destroy the Federation but…he shouldn't have tried to work with the Terra Nostra or tried to be a drug pusher.

Avon: I'm surprised you're agreeing to help him destroy Control.

Gan: But we're not. He promised us we weren't going anywhere near Earth. He knows its suicide. No one in two hundred years has been able to do it. Not massive rocket attacks from space, not ground assaults. Every kind of attack has been thrown against it and they've all failed.

Avon: And you think a little thing like suicide and getting us all killed will stop Blake? That is why you forced him to promise that he won't, isn't it? We should use Control. Not destroy it.

Gan: I don't know, all that power…

Avon: And you think killing hundreds of millions of Blake's rabble is the better solution?

Gan: But… (his eyes open wide) I didn't think…

Avon: That's no surprise.

Gan: That would make us murderers. Of innocent people.

Avon: And you think that matters to Blake? He is only concerned with winning, with tearing out the heart of the Federation even if it means wading in the blood of others to do it. Yours and anyone else's he can use.

Gan: But he's promised us not to go near Earth. That means we won't be destroying Control. We won't be killing all those people.

Avon: You're a fool if you think Blake's promises can be trusted.

Gan: We have to stop him. Make him see reason.

Avon: Blake and reason, do not belong in the same sentence.

Gan: Are you going to help him destroy Control?

Avon: If only to rid myself of him. If we succeed, if we destroy Control, the Federation will be at its weakest. It will be more vulnerable than it has been for centuries. The revolt in the Outer Worlds will grow. The resistance movements on Earth will launch an all-out attack to destroy the Federation. They will need unifying. They will need a leader. Blake will be the natural choice.

Gan: And what do you get out of this?

Avon: The ship and my freedom.

Gan: Avon, I don't want to destroy Control. Not if it means killing a lot of innocent people.

Avon: Then you have a problem.

Aftermath Avon enigmatic
24th-Oct-2009 05:24 am (UTC)
I think Gan was a good, kind, and altruistic man, offering to give his life for the others in 'Bounty' and doing so in 'Pressure Point'. I have no idea why some people think he's a psychopath. Psychos don't have ethics, or care about anyone but themselves.
24th-Oct-2009 05:47 am (UTC)
Yes. I liked him in Cygnus. He had a good head on his shoulders and seemed a natural leader on the planet. He does get to shine a few times but not enough unfortunately.

The psychopath bit could be because of Breakdown. When the limiter broke down, some people may assume what came out was the real Gan.
24th-Oct-2009 06:25 am (UTC)
A limiter limits though; it doesn't add behaviours that weren't there before, like generosity and empathy. The whole psycho Gan thing creeps me out, and much comes from the authors of Liberation who seem to put themselves out to have eccentric theories. I like the book for facts, like cast lists and dates, not their weird and often cynical and nasty ideas. And anyway, the BBC's own publicity called Gan a gentle giant.
24th-Oct-2009 06:33 pm (UTC)
Yup, I agree about the limiter. I'm of the opinion that when it malfunctioned, it may have played with his brain a bit, making him more like a crimmo. The limiter wouldn't have given him the good impulses, it would have only limited any ability to do permanent harm.
24th-Oct-2009 10:28 pm (UTC)
Yep. And don't they say in the ep that the malfunction causes the violence. After all, it's discharging into the area it's meant to be controlling.
24th-Oct-2009 08:57 pm (UTC)
I always figured that when the limiter malfunctioned it destroyed his reasoning ability at the same time as it caused him great pain. So his violence wasn't anything to do with personality, rather an animal reaction to agony.

In someone else a malfunctioning limiter may have made them run in blind panic, or go catatonic.
24th-Oct-2009 09:07 pm (UTC)
Yeah, it would be hard to tell which areas of the brain a malfunctioning limiter would affect. Hmm...I feel a plot bunny hopping in my head.
24th-Oct-2009 09:10 pm (UTC)
*feeds plot bunny a carrot*
24th-Oct-2009 10:30 pm (UTC)
You know, Blake may have been wrong about Gan being dead. [big grin]
24th-Oct-2009 11:42 pm (UTC)
And those plot bunnies keep on hopping around in my head...
24th-Oct-2009 05:38 am (UTC)
Gan was a character of modesty and moral strength. I wished he had been allowed to continue on in the role of being the medic, as when he treated Jenna's arm in Time Squad and Blake's hand in Duel.
24th-Oct-2009 05:49 am (UTC)
Yes, or even take a stronger leadership role would have been nice. I think he had that ability.
24th-Oct-2009 12:36 pm (UTC)
I wish Gan had fallen in love with Avalon and jumped ship to be her second, replacing the man that got killed. People would have listened to him more if he was off the ship & it would have been good for Liberator to liase with a known character to unite the rebels.

24th-Oct-2009 06:34 pm (UTC)
Hop. Hop. Hop.
24th-Oct-2009 06:36 pm (UTC)
I really wished that he would have been the leader. He would have made a far better one. I liked him on Cygnus.
24th-Oct-2009 06:38 pm (UTC)
I wouldn't have like Gan as leader. There wouldn't have been enough conflict and dirty dealings. :^)
24th-Oct-2009 07:37 pm (UTC)
Different people like different things. I like conflict too but for me it's just icing, one of many ingredients that make things interesting. But for me, I actually have to be able to like and respect a leader and I would be able to with Gan, or even Hal Mellenby. But that's a personal choice and taste. We all have different ones.
24th-Oct-2009 08:52 pm (UTC)
Oh, Hal! I loved him. But in either case, they would have taken the show in such a different direction I can't tell what it would have been. Avon might have been happy and mellow and not snarked! :^)
24th-Oct-2009 09:05 pm (UTC)
Yes, I like to explore different directions ;) I like Avon happy as well as angsty, snarky, and any myriad of flavours, including chocolate ;)

I might actually do one with Hal Mellenby on the ship. I really liked Avon's interaction with him.
24th-Oct-2009 09:11 pm (UTC)
I have had a plotbunny of Hal/Avon slash for years. It's never broke out of its hutch, though. :^)
24th-Oct-2009 09:12 pm (UTC)
The bunnies need to be freed! I'd be very interested in reading it, if you don't make it too explicit ;)
24th-Oct-2009 08:35 pm (UTC)
Interesting use of quotes.
Got a bit repetitive though.
Gan would never be able to stand up against Gan, he was a follower, not a leader.

Re the limiter it seemed to give him some pain. if it was malfunctioning it is not unreasonable to suppose that it was exaggerating the traits it is supposed to suppress.
24th-Oct-2009 08:45 pm (UTC)
Yeah, I agree about the repetition. I'll have to clean this up. It was a quick piece dashed off in a few minutes.

Do you mean, Gan would never be able to stand up to Blake? That's where I'm not sure. I agree he didn't have the intelligence to be a leader, but that would be where someone like Avon would have been invaluable. Gan seemed to have no difficulty leading on Cygnus Alpha or even in the corridor scene on the London. He was a natural and a strong leader. He just couldn't stand up to Blake, but then none of them could.

Gan showed a great deal of strength at times. Even demanding that Blake listen to him or accusing Blake of making them all murderers. The only other one who did it that forcefully was Avon. I think, Gan's problem was that he still believed in Blake but as the episodes progressed, he was more resistant to what Blake said. When he thought Blake morally wrong or was doing something that did not make sense, he was very straight forward and direct in his opposition to Blake. He didn't just follow or jump when Blake dictated something, like he did in most of the first season. Unfortunately, like with when Avon opposes him, Blake had the support of the others.
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