The Anorak Zone Forums

[Apparatchik]

I think in the Hoyle novelization, Cally is the one to go with Blake to see Avalon.

In Star One, for me , the crucial scene is the discussion the five have. Blake, Jenna, Vila, and Avon all want to go to Star One, albeit for varying reasons. Only Cally voices an objection, based solely on an ethical/moral basis. I see this as a major step in softening the character. Cally is an idealist, but not a killer at heart. Now Avon, on the other hand!

[em_dee]

Interesting points, all.

Two things I want to add -

First up, for me, I like Cally's character arc, as understated as it is. It's like she travels in the other direction from the others - as Avon, Blake, et al shift from petty criminals to career revolutionaries, she softens and becomes the crew's conscience. Isn't it suggested at the start that for all her urban guerilla tactics she's still naieve and inexperienced ? She's a 'girl' in series one, but come series three she taunts Bayban by suggesting she'd like to be the " woman " who killed him. Look at how she reacts in Rumours of Death - a marked contrast with her death wish right at the outset. It's as if being separated from her own people and then being a telepath in the presence of human minds has forced her to become compassionate to compensate for it all.

Secondly - is she a true alien ? I get the impression from Dawn of the Gods that the Auronar's ancestors were human, but not colonists. That is, aliens took them from Earth in some unspecified primitive time and decided to enhance and adapt them, possibly in an experiment. In Dawn of the Gods Cally says the Gods " left the first man and woman " which sort of suggests they picked them up from elsewhere and dumped them on Auron.

[Apparatchik]

em_dee - I think you sum up the character perfectly. Thank you very much. The best Blake's 7 characters did change: especially Blake, Avon and Cally.