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Episode Studies by Clayton Barr

enik1138
-at-popapostle-dot-com
          Firefly: Eternal Life Firefly
"Eternal Life"
Firefly: 20th Anniversary Special
BOOM! Studios
Written by Josh Lee Gordon
Illustrated by Nicola Izzo
Colored by Lucia Di Giammarino
Lettered by Jim Campbell
Cover by Marc Aspinall
August 2022

 

The Serenity crew has another run-in with Project Anima, twenty years after the first.

 

Notes from the Firefly/Serenity Chronology

 

This story takes place when Emma Washburn is a young adult and Rasalia has joined the crew, so during the "Brand New 'Verse" era of Firefly.

 

Characters appearing or mentioned in this issue

 

musicians

priest

partygoers

Emma Washburn

Lu Bao

Zoe Washburn

abuelita/grandmother

Rasalia Robles de Meras

Salo

Chejo

Shepherd Book (mentioned only, deceased)

shepherds

Mal (mentioned only)

Project Anima 

 

Didja Know?

 

This is a 20-page story from Firefly: 20th Anniversary Special, the second of two stories. It is untitled, so PopApostle has given it the title of "Eternal Life", from the last line of the Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi quoted at the end of the story in honor of words spoken by Shepherd Book twenty years earlier. This second story in the special is a follow-up to the one called "Instrument of Peace" on PopApostle. 

 

Didja Notice?

 

On page 2 of the story, a fair amount of Spanish is spoken.

 

Abuelita/grandmother:  "Mi abuelita learned from her abuelita, y ella de su abuelita, who learned from su abuilita en la tierra que fue..."
"My grandmother learned from her grandmother, and she from her grandmother, who learned from her grandmother in the land that was..."
Rasalia:  
"The only thing my abuelita could cook was taco time."
"The only thing my grandmother could cook was taco time."
Abuelita/grandmother:  
"Que es el 'taco time'?"
"What is 'taco time'?"
Salo:  
"Nothing abuelita. Raz was saying she wasn't as good a cook was you..."
"Nothing grandmother. Raz was saying she wasn't as good a cook was you..."
Abuelita/grandmother:  
"Oh Rasalia, es una alecria to speak la lengua antigua with someone who knows..."
"Oh Rosalía, it is a joy to speak the ancient language with someone who knows..."
Rasalia:  
"Por supuesto, abuelita--"
"Of course, grandmother--"
Abuelita/grandmother:  
"Not like mi nieto. My grandson shows no interest in the old ways...pero mi nieto mayor...all of these people are here today to welcome Chejo home. Te lo dijo? Chejito has been doing missionary work, speaking la palabra, making us proud."
"Not like my grandson. My grandson shows no interest in the old ways...but my oldest grandson...all of these people are here today to welcome Chejo home. Did he tell you? Chejito has been doing missionary work, speaking the word, making us proud."
Salo:  
"You told us, abuelita..."
"You told us, grandmother..."

 

    On page 3 of the story (panel 3), Salo says, "'Chejito, su niño dorado,' her golden boy." "Chejito, su niño dorado" is Spanish for "Chejito, my golden child."

    In the same panel, Salo uses a Chinese word written in Chinese characters, 狗屎 (go shi). This means "shit." The word is repeated on page 19.

 

On page 3 of the story (panels 4-5), Chejo says, "Oh Dios! Soy salvo ahora...s-salvado de todos mis pecados." This is Spanish for "Oh God! I'm saved now...s-saved from all my sins."

 

On page 4, Abuelita says "Era que los Reavers?" and "Parate! Mi Chejito is a good boy." This is Spanish for "Was that the Reavers?" and "Stop! My Chejito is a good boy."

 

Also on page 4 of the story, in panel 4, Chejo exclaims, "我的天阿!" This is Chinese for "Oh my god!"

 

Chejo says he and his people had just finished raising a church on Hubal. Hubal is a moon of the gas giant planet Djinn's Bane in the Kalidasa system of the 'Verse.

 

Chejo remarks the old freighter that the folks on Hubal had booked out for his people, the Lodestone, is an old pre-war Canton-class ship. This is the first mention of Canton-class freighters.

 

On page 5 of the story, Chejo says el diablo and Dios. These are Spanish for "the devil" and "God". He says el diablo again on page 8.

 

On page 6 of the story, Abuelita says, "Mi pobre niño!" This is Spanish for "My poor child!"

 

On page 8 of the story, someone on Serenity says, "我不相信我的眼睛!" This is Chinese for "I don't believe my eyes!"

 

Also on page 8 of the story, someone else, probably Abuelita, says, "Madre de Dios..." This is Spanish for "Mother of God..."

 

A food packet or something with the Blue Sun logo on it is seen floating among the space wreckage on page 8 of the story.

 

The closing quotes of the story on the last page are the Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi. Shepherd Book was seen to begin speaking the prayer near the end of "Instrument of Peace". The full prayer is:

 

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.

 

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