2459 - Serenity's keel is laid
2460 - Henry Evans is born
2471 - Evans runs away from home
2477 - Jayne Cobb is born; Evans joins the Independents
2481 - Malcolm Reynolds is born
2484 - Zoe Alleyne is born
2486 - Hoban Washburne is born
Fun with Dick and Jayne
(children’s book parody) •••--
(20. Ben Edlund 2010/05 Titan Books)
A brief look at Jayne’s childhood.
A ten-year-old Jayne makes money with a friend killing stray cats and dogs for the Port Authority so that they can buy smokes and hootch, and bet on the hobo fights. He wears an orange knit toque with ear flaps.
2487
2490 - Evans goes undercover
2493 - Simon Tam is born; Saffron Pike is born (for what that's worth)
2495 - Kaylee Frye is born
The Land
(comic short) ••••-
(33. Ethan Young 2020/11 Boom!Studios)
Wash and his dad take a long trip.
Wash’s father makes the decision to flee the central planets as the Alliance cracks down on dissent. In a series of small hops, he and his 10 year old boy make their way in their old ship to Wash’s uncle’s place. Wash Sr. is forced to sell his wedding ring to fix their ship on the way. On yet another layover, young Wash is bored. He stumbles on Dinoworld, a tourist trap about the dinosaurs that once roamed Earth-that-was. Wash is entranced, but his dad can’t afford the entrance fee. He gets Wash some toy dinos instead, which Wash immediately sets to playing with.
2496
2497 - Evans is an up-and-coming cadet in the Alliance officer corps
2500 - River Tam is born
2501 - Evans is disgraced after 'Operation Blitzkrieg' fails
Born for the Stars
(comic short) •••••
(33. Jared Cullum 2020/11 Boom!Studios)
Wash dreams of flying one day.
A teenaged Wash has his head stuck in the clouds. He dreams of flying but flight school is expensive. His friend, Saul, gets him a job at the scrap yard. Alliance gunships bear down on an Independent supply ship and it crashes into the yard. Saul hangs dangerously in mid-air. Wash flies the downed firefly’s shuttle to rescue his friend. His cranky boss, Ruth, is impressed. So is the Alliance commander. He grants Wash a scholarship to flight school.
2502
2503 - Wash enters flight school
2506 - the outer planets officially secede from the Union of Allied Planets
2507 - Evans finds his faith
2508 - Mal & Zoe fight together on New Kasmir
2510 - Battle of Du-Kang; Simon enters med school
2511 - Battle of Serenity Valley; Armistice
Boss Moon: Birth of a Unificator
(comic short) ••••-
(30. Greg Pak 2019/05 Boom!Studios)
War is over. A young ex-major is approached by the Alliance to round up war criminals.
The war is over. On Barstow, former Alliance major Gloria Moon tries to leave the war behind. She saves an inept sheriff from some outlaw Browncoats. She is approached by the Alliance to join a special unit to hunt war criminals.
2512
2512 - Mal buys Serenity; Mal hires Wash; hires Kaylee; Simon begins his internship
Take the Sky Away
(comic short) •••--
(33. Jorge Corona 2020/11 Boom!Studios)
Wash and his moustache run a job for Mal.
Mal asks his new pilot to pick up a job planet-side. Wash knows the planet, having grown up there. It’s an industrial centre with a sky as thick as soup. It brings back bad memories for Wash; no stars. The cargo turns out to be four refugees, a father and his three daughters. The Alliance has banned emmigration. Wash must attempt a risky flight manoeuver to escape the planet. The father sacrifices himself to make it work. Back on Serenity, Wash is warmed by the sight of Zoe as much as by the sight of the stars.
2513
2514 - Jayne robs Higgins' Moon; Simon is a trauma surgeon; River enters the Academy
2516 - Mal hires Jayne; Mal rents space on Serenity to Inara Serra
R. Tam Sessions
(web videos) •••••
(17. Joss Whedon 2005/08-09 Universal Pictures)
Session recordings of patient R. Tam over the course of their treatments at the Academy.
Session 416(b): the pen is mightier than the sword. • Session 1: intake interview. • Session 22: River begs to be returned to gen-ed. • Session 165: River begs to see her brother. • Session 416(a): River begs for a mission.
2514-2517
Serenity
(TV episode) •••••
(1. Joss Whedon 2002/12 FOX)
The small cargo ship Serenity takes on passengers.
Battle of Serenity Valley. Space salvage. Cry baby, cry. Book, Dobson, Simon (and River) join Serenity on Persephone. Jobs with Badger and Patience go south. Kaylee gets shot by Alliance agent Dobson. Reaver encounter in space; later, Reaver chase on Whitefall. Mal offs Dobson.
The Train Job
(TV episode) •••••
(2. Joss Whedon, Tim Minear 2002/09 FOX)
Another job goes south, but Mal does the right thing.
U-Day bar fight (Lund). River at the Academy. Mal and Zoe successfully rob a train on Paradiso, but get pinched by the local law. Inara rescues them. Mal reneges on Niska but returns his money; kills Crow; returns the meds. Sheriff Bourne looks the other way.
Bushwhacked
(TV episode) •••••
(3. Tim Minear 2002/09 FOX)
Space is a dangerous place. The crew of Serenity are detained by the authorities.
The crew investigates a dead ship for pickin’s, finds one survivor and signs of Reavers. An Alliance cruiser intercepts Serenity. Harkin interrogates everyone in search of the Tams. They elude him using spacesuits. Mal warns Harkin about the survivor, then helps take out the new Reaver.
Shindig
(TV episode) •••••
(4. Jane Espenson 2002/11 FOX)
Mal and escort crash a high society ball.
Inara sees an old and persistent client on Persephone. Badger hires Mal to smuggle cows. Mal and Kaylee attend a ball. Mal gets jealous and finds himself in a duel. Atherton Wing is blacklisted by the Companion Guild.
Safe
(TV episode) •••••
(5. Drew Greenberg 2002/11 FOX)
Everyone needs a doctor, then superstitious locals complicate things.
School age Simon and River; med student Simon worries about / searches for River. Simon hurts Kaylee’s feelings while River wanders off. Mal delivers cows to Jiangyin. Book gets shot. Hill folk kidnap Simon and try to burn River for witchcraft. Without a doctor, Mal flies to an Alliance cruiser nearby. They treat Book surprisingly well. Mal rescues his two newest crew.
Our Mrs. Reynolds
(TV episode) •••••
(6. Joss Whedon 2002/10 FOX)
A night of partying leads to confusion and worse when a young woman stows away on Serenity.
Mal gets hitched. Saffron hijacks Serenity for scrappers. Inara kisses Mal but hides that fact. Vera dons a spacesuit and saves the day.
Jaynestown
(TV episode) •••••
(7. Ben Edlund 2002/10 FOX)
A downtrodden moon celebrates its hero.
Inara sees Magistrate Higgins’ son on Higgins’ Moon. While looking for their contact, the crew find a statue of the hero called Jayne. Drinks on the house! Simon and Kaylee get tight. Jayne weren’t no hero, but Canton will always love him.
Home
(comic short) •••••
(33. Giannis Milonogiannis 2020/11 Boom!Studios)
Serenity is attacked by scrappers.
Serenity is pursued by scrappers [looking for payback after eluding their nets earlier]. They disable her with an EMP. Kaylee’s prepared and quickly reboots Serenity, but not before the junker Pickens confronts them. He doesn’t want Mal or Serenity. He wants to hire Wash. They’ll pay anything to have him as their pilot. Wash refuses and blows ‘em up.
Out of Gas
(TV episode) •••••
(8. Tim Minear 2002/10 FOX)
An accident cripples Serenity, and we learn how her crew was formed.
Mal buys Serenity; shows her off to Zoe; hires a cocky, moustachioed Wash; fires his mechanic and hires Kaylee. Simon gets a birthday cake. A fire leaves Serenity adrift with dwindling air. Mal orders abandon ship; he stays to attempt repairs. He trades for an essential part but is shot and runs out of air. The crew returns against his orders in the nick of time.
Ariel
(TV episode) •••••
(9. Jose Molina 2002/11 FOX)
The crew smuggles River into a hospital.
Simon hires the crew to smuggle River into a hospital. Jayne betrays Simon and River but his plan backfires. Two Hands-of-Blue come for River. Mal almost spaces Jayne.
War Stories
(TV episode) •••••
(10. Cheryl Cain 2002/12 FOX)
Niska meets the real Captain Reynolds.
Inara takes a female client. Jayne retires to his bunk. Wash insists on working a mission for a change. Wash and Mal are tortured by Niska. Zoe and the crew mount a rescue. River shoots three dead with her eyes closed.
Trash
(TV episode) •••••
(11. Ben Edlund, Jose Molina 2003/07 FOX)
The crew plans to steal a priceless antique of the Earth-that-was.
Monty has a new wife, Bridget (Saffron, six months later). Saffron offers Mal a juicy heist (Durran Haymer’s Lassiter) on Bellerophon. Jayne, Kaylee & Wash rewire a trash bin. Turns out Saffron was also married to Haymer as Yolanda. Saffron double crosses Mal and leaves him naked in the desert. Inara double-double crosses Saffron. Simon and River let Jayne know they know about the Ariel betrayal.
Bad Company
(comic book) ••••-
(29. Josh Lee Gordon 2019/03 Boom!Studios)
A cocky con-woman tells her life story.
A street urchin on a rich core world steals for a living since her sick father can’t work. Evading the authorities she stumbles into a companion madrassa where the high priestess, Pema Khandro, takes her under her wing. The girl’s father dies of the pox ravaging the underclass. She turns to the madrassa where she grows up as a scullery maid. Several years pass; outside the tranquil madrassa, people riot for access to medicine. Near the end of the war, the Alliance cracks down on the companion guild. Major Kren blackmails Khandro into supplying a novice companion for the governor’s Unification Gala. The insufferable Emeline Goodhope is chosen. The maid, inspired by supportive words from her childhood friend (and old fence) Lizzie, decides to take her fate into her own hands. She drugs Goodhope and takes her place at the gala. At the gala she learns that the governor has been withholding meds from the poor (and that the ruling class is aware of the Miranda genocide). She kills him to avenge her father, and flees the planet with the help of an ident card (in the name of Saffron Pike) from Lizzie.
[After the Alliance tracks down Durran Haymer’s trash bin, finds Yo-Saf-Bridge, and arrests her,] Boss Moon interrogates her in search of Malcolm Reynolds and Zoe Alleyne for war crimes. Saffron tries seducing Moon and gets her gun. She vouches for Reynolds’ good character and refuses to work with Moon. Moon shares that she grew up poor on the rim. Saffron clocks Moon, spaces Moon’s cargo, steals an escape pod and flies away.
Notes: We know the woman in this story by her aliases, especially the one she used when we first met her, Saffron. But Saffron is really a woman without a name. In this story we learn that her totem animal is the hummingbird. There is a sub-family of hummingbirds called coquettes. One of the species in this group is named Lesbia victoriae. We have no indication that Saffron’s father was a birder but I like to think he named his daughter Victoria.
2) Khandro’s house was not on Sihnon, Osiris or Persephone. Likely neither on Beaumonde or Bellerophon.
The Message
(TV episode) •••••
(12. Joss Whedon, Tim Minear 2003/07 FOX)
Mal and Zoe are entrusted with the last wish of an old war buddy.
Simon insults Kaylee again. Jayne gets a hat. Mal and Zoe get the body of their friend from the war. Battle of Du-Khang. Tracey is actually alive and smuggling organs. Lt. Womak comes for Tracey. Tracey panics and turns on his old friends, even though they had his back. The crew returns Tracey’s body to his family on St. Albans.
The Sting
(graphic novel) •••--
(31. Delilah Dawson 2019/11 Boom!Studios)
The women of Serenity have a girl’s night out that starts with a spa and ends with crime.
Mal insults Inara again. Inara takes Kaylee, Zoe and River out for a day at the spa while Mal waits for a job. Inara is frustrated with her non-relationship with Mal. Saffron has been hiding on Serenity eavesdropping. She joins the gals at the spa and blackmails them into helping her with a diamond heist. • Wash has been pestering Zoe to start their family. Zoe isn’t ready to give up misbehavin’. Zoe trails their mark but blows her cover and gets locked in a closet by an angry nun. • Saffron traps Inara in a convent, perhaps for life. Inara tries to escape but can't. She comforts a heartbroken hunk which helps her process her feelings about Mal and Serenity. • Kaylee saves Zoe from the nuns, cracks their mark's safe using her heart, and keeps bullets from flying during the robbery. • River reminds everyone that Inara is still trapped. River disables Saffron when she tries to abscond with the diamonds. Kaylee ejects Saffron from the mule. The women race to rescue Inara. River locates her room, Zoe busts it open. Kaylee lifts them to safety. Back on Serenity, the girls dissemble about being out all night. Mal apologizes to Inara. Zoe tells Wash she’s ready to have a baby. River reveals the diamonds she lifted off Saffron.
Heart of Gold
(TV episode) •••••
(13. Brett Matthews 2003/08 FOX)
Inara asks Mal to help an old friend of hers.
The crew agrees to help a companion friend of Inara’s who now runs a brothel; Nandi and her girls are up against the town boss, Rance Burgess. The crew prepares for a show down. Zoe tells Wash she thinks it's time to start their family. [Once Zoe sets her mind to something...] Wash thinks their life is too rough and tumble at the moment. Mal sleeps with Nandi. Inara sobs in private. Nandi learns of Inara’s feelings for Mal, and apologizes. Nandi dies. Rance is executed by his baby-mama. Inara tells Mal she’ll be leaving Serenity.
Objects in Space
(TV episode) •••••
(14. Joss Whedon 2002/12 FOX)
A quizzical, sadistic interloper attacks Serenity.
River wanders thru the crew’s thoughts, mistakes a gun for a twig. Kaylee tells of River’s supernatural aim. Bounty hunter Jubal Early quietly boards Serenity. He neutralizes the crew, interrogates Simon to find River. River taunts Jubal through the intercom, while she coordinates the crew to space Jubal. Jubal floats away philosopically.
2517 - a shiny year of misbehavin'
Crystal
(short story) •••--
(20. Brett Matthews 2010/05 Titan Books)
An experimental treatment temporarily clears River’s head and enhances her abilities.
Simon gives River a treatment [because of the recent twig incident] that temporarily clears her mind and enhances her psychic abilities. She hurriedly visits each crew member and sees their futures. She tells Jayne he’ll be heroic, Book that he dies first, Zoe that she’s going to be tried but will be OK. She thanks Kaylee for something, and gives Wash an urgent hug. She answers two unspoken questions for Inara, one about her and one about Mal. Then she passes out. As she fades, she sees herself piloting Serenity with Mal. When she wakes, River finds Mal but now that the voices are back in her head she can’t put her finger on what she’d wanted to share with him, what she’d seen that lies ahead for them. [Mal starts to apprehend River's psychic talents.]
The Other Half
(comic short) •••--
(19. Jim Krueger 2008/08 Dark Horse Comics)
Mal adds Simon and River to the team for a job transporting valuable cargo by stagecoach.
Hired to kidnap an Alliance warrant officer, Mal, Zoe, Jayne, Simon and River transport their captive to the exchange point on a stagecoach. On their way, they have to fight off Reavers. The gang can handle the Reavers swarming the coach, but they're also taking fire from two Reaver ships! Serenity arrives and Wash somehow blows up the Reaver ships. [Book wields RPGs from the cargo bay during flight?] During the melee, River reads the WO, learns the job is a trap, and kills him. (Inara, Book, Simon and herself are absent from River’s vision of a slaughtered crew.) She keeps the kill secret because the crew was looking forward to their payday. In confidence, Mal tells River he suspected the set-up and welcomes her to the crew.
Downtime
(comic short) ••••-
(23. Zack Whedon 2010/11 Dark Horse Comics)
Serenity is grounded by a snow storm. Crew members pass the time, each in their own way.
Serenity is grounded by a snow storm. Simon treats Jayne for the clap. [Jayne consoled himself at a brothel after the stagecoach job went south.] Zoe and Wash get frisky. While the others make do, River walks into the storm and kills a gang about to ambush them. When she returns, she tells Book that she knows killing comes easily to him too.
What Holds Us Down
(short story) ••••-
(20. Jane Espenson 2010/05 Titan Books)
Kaylee and Wash are separated from Serenity and must save themselves from angry scrappers.
A job robbing a junkyard for parts goes bad. [The snow storm allowed Kaylee to inventory some needed repairs.] Kaylee and Wash are separated from Serenity, both wounded, Wash badly. They take refuge in a scrapped Series One Firefly. The owners of the yard move from ship to ship looking for them with deadly intent. Kaylee drags Wash below decks into the service crawl space and sets about fixin’ the ship. She makes endless trips shuttling heavy parts to the grav rotor while Wash slips in and out of consciousness. She keeps him talking as much as possible. The scrappers locate them but Kaylee manages to get the ship’s engine going and they escape. She suffers a mild radiation burn. Back on Serenity, Kaylee confides to Simon that it was Wash that kept her going, that he saved them.
Departures
(Fanfic)
(Jeff Hohner 2020/06 EBiC)
The crew of Serenity is reduced to five.
Simon takes River to convalesce on a quiet moon. Mal promises to return for his doctor and his favourtite psychic. Inara keeps her word and leaves Serenity. When she departs on Valentine, she hides her tears. Kaylee does not. A few days later, Book is called away. Mal gives him a supportive nod as Book climbs into an Alliance shuttle on Osiris. Mal orders his crew of four back to work.
The Rescue
(Fanfic generated by board game)
(Jeff Hohner, Sean Sweigart et al. 2020/06 EBiC)
Unification Day is here again and Monty’s in trouble.
On U-Day, Monty is kidnapped by Lund on a small moon near Niska’s skyplex. The crew volunteer to help him, all but Jayne. Kaylee hacks for info and gets wounded. Wash helps her out. Zoe finds Monty and kills several punks. The gang hefts a drugged and groggy Monty back to Serenity. They find a healthy pay day sewn into the lining of his browncoat which he shares.
Goose Juggling
(Fanfic generated by board game)
(Jeff Hohner, Sweigart et al. 2020/06 EBiC)
The crew attempts to rob a gang of thugs guarding a rich Cortex link.
Kaylee learns of a local gang with an open Cortex terminal. The crew stakes out their compound then moves in to rob them. They blackmail one guard into abandonning his post. With Kaylee and Wash’s help, Jayne knocks out another guard. Kaylee, Wash and Zoe slip into the Cortex room. Mal and Jayne distract and intimidate the remaining guards. Kaylee and Wash skim phat loot. Zoe orders them to depart. As they step outside an alarm sounds, and the Magistrate’s men appear. Jayne loses his cool but Mal keeps his. Jayne and Zoe are downed but not before Zoe levels many foes with a grenade. Wash drives them all to safety.
Special Delivery
(Fanfic generated by board game)
(Jeff Hohner, Sweigart et al. 2023/07 EBiC)
Mal delivers a package. Wash and Kaylee help.
Zoe and Jayne convalesce on Serenity while Mal takes Wash and Kaylee to market on a small delivery job. Mal orders everyone to get gussied up. Kaylee can't wear her frilly dress, so Wash does. Mal relents and lets the kids have their fun. At the market, punches and gunfire ensue. Wash gets shot, the dress gets torn. Kaylee stitches Wash up. He changes out of the bullet magnet, and Mal delivers the package.
Questionable Objectives
(Fanfic generated by board game)
(Jeff Hohner, Sweigart et al. 2023/07 EBiC)
Mal get a tip, something valuable on a mining moon.
Wash and Kaylee are grounded. Niska waves Mal with a suspicious tip about a mining camp. The crew puts on overalls, tucks their guns into pockets, and walks into the camp one at a time. They're not sure exactly what they're looking for. Mal finds a hostage in the main building. It's Simon! He tires to evade Blue Sun security to escape but is stopped by a Hands-of-Blue agent. Wash tries to help but is frozen by the HoB device too. Zoe, Mal and Jayne dispatch the blue-hand, several miners and many Blue Sun security officers. Mal convinces one he's in charge and marches him offsite. Kaylee keeps busy trying to misdirect attackers. Finally she sees Simon and runs into his arms.
Better Days
(comic miniseries) ••••-
(18. Joss Whedon, Brett Matthews 2008/03-05 Dark Horse Comics)
Finally a job pays off big. The crew goes on vacation, but the crew’s past follows them.
The crew pulls off a daring heist. Unfortunately their client can't pay. He trades a hot tip that leads to millions. For once, the crew is in the money! Jayne gives away some money for real. Meanwhile, Inara learns her client, an Alliance ex-soldier (Ephraim Sanda), is still active. During the heist, Kaylee complains to Wash that Simon isn't interested in her. Wash contradicts her and encourages her to persevere. • The crew vacations in luxury on Pelorum, but the weapons executive they stole from is on their trail. So is Alliance agent Sanda. He's looking for a browncoat who kept fighting after the war in a unit called The Dirt Devils. Everyone fantasizes about spending their money. Kaylee fantasizes about Simon. The crew thwarts a robbery at their resort. Sanda uses Inara as bait to trap Mal. Mal witnesses Simon leaving Inara's shuttle. Later, Inara scolds Mal that Simon was making a medical visit. • To save Mal, Zoe calls out Sanda: she was the Dirt Devil. At the showdown with Sanda, the weapons executive attacks out of the blue and destroys Sanda's ship. The crew and Sanda band together to defeat him. Sanda lets Zoe go, but not before Wash ceremonially clocks him. While away from Serenity, the crew's bank is stolen. Mal doesn’t seem to mind as much as the others. Inara is onto Mal but can't fault him: the crew will have to stay together and keep scrabbling for a living.
Good Help Is Hard to Find
(Jeff Hohner, Seiji Kanai 2014 EBiC)
Bounty hunter Jubal Early returns to Serenity, with help.
Jubal returns to Serenity with a small crew to try to kidnap the Tams again. His crew are less than competent and their hostages keep escaping. Eventually he succeeds. His crew has been killed but he flies away with Simon and River.
Dobson Does the Dishes
(Fanfic intro for board game)
(Jeff Hohner 2020 EBiC)
The crew searches for Jubal, Simon and River.
Wash intercepts a suspicious message. Kaylee determines it’s from Agent Dobson. He has offered to buy Simon and River from Jubal on Whitefall. Mal asks for help from Patience. She agrees. Mal sets a trap for Jubal. It works. Mal frames Jubal and alerts the Alliance. Jayne frees Simon and River. Mal sets a trap for Dobson. He doesn’t show. Patience is pissed she missed the action. Kaylee pampers Simon, curses Jubal, cries. Inara comforts her. Jayne threatens Jubal in absentia. Simon tries to console Kaylee but fails. River finds Dobson’s body in the cargo bay. Mal and Jayne toss his body overboard, again. He must have been killed by one of the crew but no one confesses. Wash suggests they guess by wagering dishes, and the game commences.
The Unification War
(comic series) •••--
(28. Greg Pak 2018/11-2019/12 Boom!Studios)
Mal and Zoe are haunted by the war, and hunted by a special Alliance task force.
Pilgrims. Outlaws. Unificators. Browncoats. A powerful Alliance governor. Many battles ensue.
The Ballad of Chang-Benitez
(comic short) ••••-
(32. Greg Pak 2020/10 Boom!Studios)
Leonard muses on the difference between a bandit and a thief.
Kaylee, Jayne and Leonard split a recent haul. Jayne suggests they skim, but Kaylee insists they honour their agreement to set aside most for buying Wash and Zoe a homestead. Leonard agrees with Kaylee. Jayne slags Leonard. A young Leonard witnesses his parents being kidnapped. He approaches the sheriff for help but is told his parents were in arrears with their protection tax. Leonard sells his horse to raise the tax money. The sheriff takes his money but still refuses to investigate. He informs the boy that his family is now protected but that the coverage isn’t retroactive. Leonard gets the gun from over the fireplace. He finds the sheriff laughing over the bodies of his parents, and bragging that their farm will soon be his. Leonard shoots him dead.
Those Left Behind
(comic miniseries) ••••-
(16. Joss Whedon, Brett Matthews 2005/07-09 Dark Horse Comics)
Things come to a head on Serenity while old nemeses conspire.
Book delivers a Sunday sermon in a small town while Mal, Zoe and Jayne rob the town’s bank. In the middle of the job, a rival gang hijacks the spoils and pulls the bank’s alarm. The town comes running. Book helps the gang escape. Wash and Kaylee too. Inara asks Mal when he’ll facilitate her departure from Serenity. Mal puts her off gruffly. • On Whitefall, the Hands of Blue approach Lawrence Dobson. He’s still alive! He's no longer an Alliance agent, and has a cheap cybernetic eye. He accepts their help to avenge himself on Mal. Badger approaches Mal with a lucrative job. He claims no knowledge of the bank job double-cross. Mal puts Inara off again; Badger's job must come first. Book defends Inara, and Mal insults him too. Book loses his temper and hits Mal. Wash encourages Mal to think again about the importance of love, to no avail. • Serenity arrives at the Battle of Sturges, now a graveyard in space, and the site of Badger's treasure. The tiny ship of the Hands is there too and latches onto Serenity’s belly. River panics and sedates herself. Inside a dead ship, in zero G, at the treasure’s coordinates, Mal, Zoe and Jayne are ambushed by Dobson and his goons. The Hands board Serenity and attack Kaylee. They wear bodysuits of blue. Simon knocks them back onto their ship. Dobson gloats; Mal keeps him talking; Zoe makes the first move and they take out all of Dobby’s guys. Mal shoots Dobson in his last eye. Shoots him again too. The Hands try to re-breach Serenity but Kaylee works to thwart them. Wash scrapes the Hands’ ship off Serenity with some fancy flying, scoops Mal et al. as they transit back from the space wreck, and incinerates the Hands with a full burn. Inara departs. Mal wishes he had told her to stay. Book tells Mal he’s got to leave too. Mal protests but Book is firm. Mal is desolate but doesn’t let on. The Alliance assigns a new asset to reclaim River.
2518-2520 - three more years of misbehavin'
Serenity
(feature film) •••••
(15. Joss Whedon 2005/08 Universal Pictures)
A mysterious planet draws Serenity to the fringe of the ’verse while they are pursued by a zealous Alliance operative.
Simon frees River. An Alliance Operative is set on Simon and River’s trail. River is triggered in a bar. Mr. Universe reveals the Alliance search and “Miranda.” Inara tips Mal to a trap on Sihnon; he attends and meets the Operative. The Operative kills all of Serenity’s allies including Book on Haven. The crew braves Reaver space and reach Miranda. They learn the Alliance’s (and River’s) secret: Pax. The Operative kills Mr. Universe. Mal leads the Reavers into the Alliance armada. Wash dies. The crew makes a last stand against Reavers while Mal goes to release the truth. The Operative corners Mal. The battle turns against the crew. River activates herself and slays all. Mal broadcasts the Miranda vid. The Operative orders the Alliance to stand down and releases Serentiy.
Take the Sky
(short story) •••--
(20. Jose Molina 2010/05 Titan Books)
An elderly Mal deals with having broadcast the signal.
Mal contemplates the ramifications of broadcasting the Signal. How will becoming a saviour affect his future? He resigns himself to the likelihood of having to stop flying and becoming a recluse, absent Zoe, Inara, the children of Simon and Kaylee, etc. Then he gets back to the job at hand.
The Shepherd’s Tale
(graphic novel) ••••-
(22. Zack & Joss Whedon 2010/11 Dark Horse Comics)
Book reviews the events of his life.
Book’s life flashes before his eyes as he dies on Haven: happy days on Serenity; leaving the Abbey and finding Serenity; finding his faith when down and out; being expelled from Alliance command after the disaster of his early war offensive; rising through the ranks of the Alliance as a brutal interrogator; becoming a mole for the Independents and killing randomly for a new identity; joining the Independents to escape gang life; running away from home and his abusive father.
2521 - a watershed year
Float Out
(comic book) •••--
(21. Patton Oswalt 2010/06 Dark Horse Comics)
Tales of Wash’s glory days as a daring pilot before he joined Serenity.
Three pilots reminisce about their dead friend Wash, his flying skills and kindness. They name their new ship in his honour. Zoe insists they christen it with cheap sake, Wash’s fave. Zoe is pregnant.
It’s Never Easy
(comic short) ••••-
(24. Zack Whedon 2012/05 Dark Horse Comics)
A wiry stranger approaches Serenity while everyone but Mal is in town gathering supplies.
The crew (a pregnant Zoe, Jayne, Kaylee, Simon and Inara) goes to town for supplies. Mal is approached by a stranger named Frosty for passage. Frosty shoots Mal to steal Serentiy. River ninjas Frosty. The crew returns and readies for take off. River gets a pony (horse).
Leaves on the Wind
(comic miniseries) •••••
(25. Zack Whedon 2014/01-06 Dark Horse Comics)
Nine months after the events of Serenity, life goes on.
In the wake of the Miranda revelation, the Alliance searches for Serenity. Bea and the New Resistance search for Mal. Inara and Mal are bunking together. Kaylee and Simon too. Zoe gives birth to Emma. Jubal approaches the Alliance. Bea locates and bribes Jayne to take her to Serenity. • Zoe must be hospitalized. The Alliance swoops and Zoe is arrested by Commander Rodgers. Mal is despondent. To help rescue Zoe, River suggests she search for Alliance secrets in her head. Jayne leads Bea to Serenity. Mal is pissed. Sure enough, Jubal has followed Bea. He destroys her ship, and boards Serenity. • River searches her psyche and learns she was one of dozens of experimental subjects. Jayne is sweet on Bea. Jubal almost takes Serenity again. Kaylee wallops him. River suggests they rescue the others like her. Zoe is shipped to a brutal prison planet. Mal and Inara consider the way forward. Mal visits the Operative’s hermitage and asks for his help. • The crew resents the arrival of the Operative. Mal drops Jubal to his death from 30,000 feet. The crew plans to raid the Academy. The Operative provides access codes, Bea and the N.R. provide a ship. Zoe fights for what’s right in prison. Mal kisses Inara goodbye. At the Academy, the raiders are ambushed by the Alliance and a fully altered psychic soldier. • The soldier easily gets the better of River, Jayne, Bea and Mal, but Mal is able to use the panic button Kaylee built for him. The Operative kills his former boss, Denon, but is confronted by the Operative Kalista. He surrenders and prepares to commit seppuku. Serenity arrives with dozens of N.R. browncoats. Kalista flees, Rodgers is captured. Mal carries the sedated psychic soldier onto Serenity. Rodgers reveals he has infiltrated the N.R. and destroyed it completely. Mal is finally roused. • River probes Rodgers’ mind and finds Zoe’s location. Kaylee rigs a rich burn which alerts Zoe to make a break. Prison guards pursue, but she’s scooped into the mule and whisked away. Rodgers is dumped as Serenity flies away. Zoe runs to Emma. Mal says goodbye to the Operative on Theophrastus. Simon has finally calmed the psychic soldier. Her name is Iris. She and Bea make plans to travel together. Zoe confronts the Operative on her own, gives him a gun, and shoots him dead (off stage). Mal checks in with Zoe. Serenity’s crew is battered but whole. Kalista finds a badly injured Jubal and sets to healing him at the Academy where all but two psychic soldiers still sleep. Kalista vows to reunite her ‘family’. She herself is a psychic soldier.
2522
The Warrior and the Wind
(comic short) •••••
(26. Chris Roberson 2016/05 Dark Horse Comics)
River tells a bedtime story.
Auntie River tells Emma a bedtime story while Zoe is out on a job. There once was a brave warrior. One day she came across the wind tangled in some trees. He was tired of wandering alone, had come down from the sky and taken a body. She freed him and they travelled together each less lonely than before. They met a pirate and joined his crew. The wind helped him sail. As they travelled, they gathered other friends: an angry monk, a kind archer, a rough giant, a flower girl blacksmith, and a doctor who carried a tiny, broken dancer in a box. One day they were set upon by wild men. To save his friends, the wind turned back into a gale and swept away the monsters. To make sure the warrior would not be lonely without him, the wind left a gift for her in a treetop, a baby. Zoe returns from work and thanks River for her help.
No Power in the ’Verse
(comic miniseries) ••---
(27. Chris Roberson 2016/10-2017/03 Dark Horse Comics)
about 1.5 years after Leaves
2524
Windfall
(comic short) •••••
(33. Jeff Jensen 2020/11 Boom!Studios)
Wash and Zoe finally get some time off together.
While working with Zoe and playing with Zoe, Wash runinates on life, falling leaves and death. Zoe and Wash vacation alone together on an exotic moon with magnificent trees. It is a perfect few days. Zoe choses the moon to bury Wash on. Wash's modest stone marker crumbles under a tree planted long ago on his grave.
an undetermined date in the 27th century
Note: "The Flight Lesson" (the last story in the 2020 collection "Watch How I Soar" published by Boom!Studios) is not included in this catalogue because it occurs in an alternate timeline, and offers no explanation for its altered course of events.