The story opens with a flashback aboard Serenity
near the planet Greenleaf.
This world has been mentioned in previous adventures and
will become the home of Simon and Kaylee's family by the
time of Brand New
'Verse.
On page 3, during the flashback,
Mal mentions that Badger has some pirate sims that need to
be smuggled into some backwater on Twisp. This is the first
mention of the world called Twisp in the 'Verse.
On pages 6-7,
River's girlfriend, Rose, remarks that River has been
restless since Shakti left for walkabout. Shakti is River's
daughter, first seen in
Brand New 'Verse,
father unrevealed. The term "walkabout"
refers to a rite-of-passage journey across the world
(universe), usually by adolescents, as part of growing into
an adult.
Pages 6-7 reveal that
Rose has proposed to her, but River has not given an
answer.
Page 9 reveals that a manned gun turret has been newly added
to Serenity at the time of Mal's 60th birthday.
On page 12, Mal describes a ship move he calls a Holy
Hoburn: a dive into the atmosphere of a planet that bigger
ships cannot pull off, allowing a smaller ship like
Serenity to shake them. "Hoburn", of course, was Wash's
last name.
Pages 12-19 reveal that River has a telepathic connection
with
Rose, even over stellar distances.
Page 17 implies that River and Rose were both victims of the
Academy.
In the shards of River's memory on page 39, panel 1, the
shard in the upper left corner may be an image of Ma
Reynolds, whom she first met in
"Serenity Valley".
The story ends with 60-year old
Mal and Zoe agreeing to command Serenity once
again.
Back to Firefly/Serenity
Episode Studies