The Best Politician in Science Fiction: Chrisjen Avasarala from The Expanse

hello and welcome back to my episode of generation films my name is american ben there she is at the window dreaming of the night as her world gives into darkness her eyes attend the skies enraptured in stars their light offering visions of times long gone away she seeks in fire to find herself in easy days when the world was but a simple dream and nothing lay beyond the mind this night her heart doesn't treat the song of time rewind back to days of melody and adventure in the void to the return of lives forgotten and that match of wills on the rosinante where passions collide in zero g i smashed it when my son was killed ah perhaps then our song asks more of us in peril of the journey that imagine we of days never seen when statues and their masters yet stood unbroken back back shall we sing to when dreams abound in consonants before the days when tyrants roamed and loved the land throughout rang so true and free more simply to go home to go home again when in her words she was young and restless and the world seemed magical and beautiful christian of asarala was born into a powerful political dynasty her name carrying with it great reputation among the people of earth the planet that she too calls home from youth she's known no way of existence but that of life in a treacherous web of politics and corruption her father prepared her to be strong and wise in such a world in expectation that she would one day meet a destiny on which the fate of the soul system would depend with his death avasarala inherited the mandate of her name to be the constant force of virtue where many voices would befell her sacred home and threaten the future of civilizations from earth to the belt and beyond it is on this day that we look into the soul of this woman to discover who she is and what she left behind our first introduction to avasarala entices us to believe that she's a cruel and manipulative politician a type of character that we know all too well though the show does enough to give us reason to have patience with her when we see a vasarala using the encumbrance of gravity to torture heiki sabang a belter who is accused of smuggling contraband stealth tech for the outer planets alliance it becomes easy to assume that she is the villain in this the expanses universe you wish to hurt earth the earth that is now crushing your weak belt her lungs and your fragile battle bones meanwhile very soon after being introduced to undersecretary of the united nations sadavir aaronright we see him scold of asarala for using such unethical techniques to extract information from hiki one the secretary general has publicly disavowed gravity torture if you want to talk to that doctor you put him in the tank and it's easy to then assume that he might be the positive counteracting force against the vasarala's undiluted cruelty within the world of the un we've seen this politician before a lifetime political actor who in her own little bubble rarified from the common man self-righteously impugns a misunderstood marginalized group in this case the belter comprised opa and paints its members as terrorists the opa demands legitimacy through violence they haven't earned it any other way and listen one thing that indeed remains true about avasarala is that she is a master of cunning and intimidation wielding the two in unison as warhammers which swing down on the parole and bourgeois alike to pound from such souls any information of some value to our fair public servant the lady of assarala she will use whatever tactic she must to get the information that she wants there are places far worse than this and i imagine there is a mother somewhere who would love to see her boy again avasarala knows exactly what to say to someone to make them do as she desires and that's something that i will get back to later the point for now though is that she knows quite well how to make people cave to her will by force of the mind and in order to build the credibility to pull this off she never breaks from character in conversation well almost never so for the moment you're completely useless and therefore have no excuse not to come to my house this afternoon here as you see she charms u.n secretary to mars frank de graaf and invites him to a meal at her house she shows interest in how he's doing treats him like family and yet she seems to be doing this not out of a genuine desire to connect with an old friend but instead for some ulterior motive and by the way during that meal at her house we first get to meet a vassarella's husband arjun who pales in contrast with a vasarala's mesmeric charm and natural esteem this wine came from that vineyard please don't tell me i'm drinking your pee because it's delicious no no arjuna listen you make everyone uncomfortable [Music] but i digress as we see with frank degraff vassarala is always up to something there's no conversation she has that can really be taken at face value when she goes to visit holden's mother their back and forth begins with what seems to be gentle niceties cervantes jimmy liked to think of himself as a knight he thought it was a funny story avasarala isn't trying to make small talk here she's directing an inquiry to holden's mother trying to see if she can infer something about holden's personality based on what might be an interest he has in the works of legendary spanish writer miguel de cervantes not surprisingly the conversation between the two soon takes on a more serious tone and descends into veiled threats as a vassarala makes her move to extract the information she seeks kicked out of the navy he fell in with a radical fringe group in the belt because it reminded him of home i can make chess up too she's desperate to get answers she wants to understand holden through his mother and she quickly ascertains that she can appeal to the woman's sense of motherhood in order to do so i want to stop it before anyone else loses a kid avasarala has a phenomenal political mind and she knows how to balance endearment with force never do we see her employ these two measures more adeptly than when she is cross-examining bobby draper at the un following the ganymede incident tell me if you could choose would you still serve yes ma'am avasarala wants information from draper but she doesn't begin by grilling her instead she offers cordial conversation she puts bobby at ease she has a strategy and when that strategy is almost derailed by a third party to the a b conversation she has to quickly and sternly reclaim control in order to keep her plan from failing call due respect madam where are you going with this where my goddamn like damn then when bobby is relaxed a vasara adopts a socratic approach to the discourse asking questions in succession until bobby crackson almost admits the truth about what happened on ganymede then why did he fire what was the reason we thought we were under attack under attack so you were fired upon avasarala establishes herself as the alpha in order to isolate bobby and then makes bobby back herself into a corner [Music] sometimes when the day and nightly code gives way its breath to new light's flowers she dreams in time rewind of golden kingdom majesty wherein the devil's garden bound angels by their time as happy yellow jasmines she dreams of roses and their lovers who restrained delight in fire's blessing praying only to a love plague dance so long ago in wind alas nature's fruit poisons by tempted hand that buttercups belie despair and live on in spoiled chains yet unyielding are they still as root share sacred joys of kingdoms pure and golden still does love continue from unbounded petal elegance eternally in dreams [Music] to understand christian of asura it is imperative to understand the power of her mind she thinks in a very special way at one point she just about gives the game away in regards to her mentality when it comes to social interactions my father taught me something never listen to what people say just watch what they do here avasarala describes how she operates in conversation she almost never takes words at face value the result of being raised in politics i suppose she doesn't so much listen to what people say she listens to what they're thinking someone might say one thing to avasarala or deny something else but avasarala isn't paying attention to the literal meaning of their words she will just continue on responding as if the person said out loud what she thinks they're thinking then why waste your time on a meaningless career like myself you're two modest childs someone entrusted you to transport pieces of the holy grail at one point of vasarala meets with aaron wright and jules pierre mao to ask mao if he has knowledge of protegent funneling money to build a fleet of secret stealth ships so you had no knowledge of the money being funneled from president to build a fleet of secret stealth ships of course not madam she doesn't even consider accepting his denial she knows he's hiding something and so she just moves right on to the next step in the conversation assuming he's lying the fact is these stealth ships were built by your company under your watch and of course as she does this she's calculating how she can persuade now into complying and the people of earth will hold you personally responsible when the first rock falls from the sky avasarala has a keen radar for dishonesty but in the political world it wouldn't be wise of her to directly accuse people of mendacity such a tactic would make her the enemy of many so she has mastered the art of delicate interrogation whereby she allows people she's speaking to to save face while not compromising her ultimate goal whatever that may be in any given conversation we see this on display when she asks aaron right if he's had any contact with mao because she wants to get in touch with him and aaron wright says no have you had any contact with him no i have no idea where he is we need to know what he knows you should convince him to come in from the cold avasarala knows this is a lie but rather than say so she continues on to explain why she needs to get in touch with mao softly implying that she knows that aaron wright knows how to make that happen i will rain hell fire down on them all i will freeze their assets cancel their contracts [ __ ] their business he or she threatens aaron wright by threatening mao make no mistake this energy is directed at aaron wright she is cleverly pressuring him into obliging her request by the way i'm not positing that ivasarala spontaneously engages in all of this cunning she has already thought about how a conversation or situation will play out long before it happens she is always many steps ahead of everyone else and so in a way she does play the long game only she starts playing before the other party knows they're even involved in a game i met your mother ellis [Music] when everyone else said you were a terrorist i went to find out for myself at one point when she's on the rosinante she needs to convince holden to help her get a message to admiral suther on the un agatha king about aaron wright's corruption something holden isn't eager to do but avasarala isn't worried i've met his mother i get the impression he won't be able to ride the fence for long she has already analyzed how holden can be manipulated and what he will ultimately do based on inferences he's made in her conversation with his mother since avasarala is able to so proficiently analyze people and predict what they will do she is also a good judge of character give them the guidance control of the messiahs mr secretary i vouch for james holden we can trust him well before her time on the rosinante during the aeros incident when holden implores the u.n security council to hand off control of earth's missiles to fred johnson of vasaralla confidently vouches for holden she is absolutely sure of his integrity because of some sort of equation in her head that lets her know that holden is not capable of deceit in this situation avasarala doesn't just use her analytical prowess to evaluate individuals either she has an entire map of the soul system's power structure laid out in her head her mind playing out scenario after scenario in a doctor strangely and type of way after the ganymede incident rather than just assume absolute complicity on the part of the martian government avasarala deduces that the answer cannot be that simple they were the aggressors on ganymede so what was that fear the whole system has been a tinderbox since eras no one can explain it mars thinks it's our weapon we think it's theirs of course as we know ganymede wasn't the result of an official act on the part of mars but more of a rogue faction within the martian marine corps and thus war for the time being is avoided do you remember how in the video i did on amos i said that amos is always in other people's minds well avasarala is always in everyone's mind no scenario no threat is left unconsidered avasarala is so conditioned to operating in this careful analytical way that it just comes natural for her to craft her words with so much meaning even if that means trading metaphors with her grandchild i worry about people who throw rocks nobody cut the rocks that big it just happens sometimes because you know gravity it's hot in here ah we must pause look at me a grotty pauper where i speak of a vision brilliant such that should the stars she looks upon dare return the gesture would they be to the lowly witness but shadows and reflection of true and holy light then flee the stars with they and lose the world to penalty of darkness that so too would run from station a shame that in all the heavens was it powerless in light of unbounded beauty that which but teases in the eyes and prospers most where mortal things shall not reach and thus by her elegance immeasurable in words is it every day and never night okay that got a little bit weird but the point is that if we're going to honor a lady such as christian of asserallah then i better shape up spruce up and set the mood now let's continue the story of the one and only christian of asurala master of intrigue legend of the un deep state mamacita the blood of my enemies it's just grape juice it's just just grape juice okay so i think we've established that secretary of assaran is political in mind and ruthless in behavior this is what's easiest to pick up about her from just a surface examination but as always with these videos and characters in the expanse specifically we have to think a bit harder a bit deeper to understand why avasarala acts as she does from her introduction onwards avasarala never shows herself to be a completely cold person but when she goes to work she goes hard because she has to do what she has to do for the good of all she screws over un secretary tamar's frank de graaf uses him in order to determine if mars is involved in the destruction of the canterbury an action which results in his permanent banishment from the red planet at least you had the respect to stab me in the chest she brings him wine to apologize and i think she truly is sorry she feels bad for what she did but don't get me wrong she doesn't regret it and she knew going into it what the consequences could be we may have stopped at war for a while anyway avasarala never lets the personal outweigh the political or better yet than necessary and that is in a world full of insecure power hungry people a unique and exceptional strength you will do anything to win just like your father that's what got him killed again and again in the expanse of vasara gets accused of playing politics for selfish gain but she doesn't really gain from this earth does this is why it's so hard to answer the question as to whether or not cristiano vasarala is a good person if you ask me my answer would be yes tremendously so but good bad here really depends on what we prioritize in terms of judging her how do we weigh her intentions versus her actions how do we then weigh her actions versus the ends which are intended to justify the means at one point she asks her ex-colleague carlos davila for access to his spy on taiko station in order to keep an eye on fred johnson i need to borrow your spy on taiko station what for to keep an eye on fred johnson when davila refuses she persuades him with talk of his imprisoned son esteban who's up for parole how's your son estaban he's up for pearl soon so would a vasara actually do something cruel had the villa still refuse to help well maybe she wouldn't want to but she also understands how people operate she knows that sometimes one must be machiavellian in order to achieve just outcomes using political science terms she is of the belief that one must establish a credible threat of force in the political system in order to get others to move this is also a reflection of her somewhat hobbesian view of the world she can't rely on people's better natures when appealing to them for help and we see a vassarala's dark view of humanity reflected in her pessimism in season four she finds herself at odds with u.n home secretary nancy gao we've sent out hundreds of probes to the rings not one of them has turned up any little green men you haven't seen it yet so it doesn't exist that's your argument you can't control a goddamn gold rush secretary gao wants to allow people to explore the new worlds that can be accessed via the ringgate system but avasarala is much more hesitant she believes that terrible things will ultimately arise from the system's formation in general avasarala does not have a positive outlook for the future i like the things you see better than the one side her pessimism isn't some sort of irrational emotional response she spent a lifetime in politics and her experience informs her attitude and her predictions for how events will unfold moving forward ah posteriori avasarala's pessimism then often produces a dark humor what just checking in ma'am no i wasn't murdered in the last 30 seconds and this humor is rather endearing because it helps her connect with people via a common understanding of the human condition she often uses this dark humor to cope with having to deal with rather depraved people i was going to ask you where you got those lovely couches but i don't want to run out of sparkling conversation before your boss joins us one can imagine that such a humor develops in dark times in youth when faced with harrowing circumstances amidst unspeakable suffering [Music] she dreams in time rewind of flowers dancing in the wind purified of stigma that entreats chain daisies die bloodshot amaryllis and sanguine sheik speak faithful of the heart still dancing in her dreams on the wind and golden kingdom where rivers of sorrow and mountains of ash are lost to tyrants in the sand as time corrupts the light that even perfect asters always die away for new blooms rise from earth as sweet as they can be gardens submit to asp whose fangs blaspheme the dahlias and purple passionflower kin but yellow jasmines keep on dancing heaven with their souls dream on their hearts in eden to days of paradise return and dearest time rewind my friends it's time for some history let's switch to the studio for a breakdown that's better now where were we in late december 2007 benazir budo chairman of the pakistani people's party was leaving a rally in pindi a capital city in the punjab region of pakistan as she was whisked away in a bulletproof vehicle she opened the car's escape hatch and rose to honor her people with salutations as she did a man in the crowd drew a gun opened fire on her and detonated a suicide vest killing the woman who was the righteous heart of her nation a legend had perished budo grew up in a politically powerful family in a country searching through upheaval for an identity in the mid-1970s her father the prime minister of pakistan was ousted in a military coup and later executed her brother murtaza on the other hand turned to terrorism in a world of blood and chaos everyone has to make a choice the irrepressible buddha however persevered no matter the slings and arrows she survived imprisonment in exile to be elected prime minister of pakistan twice the first woman to hold such office during her time in power and beyond she pushed to liberalize and secularize her homeland she fought for women's rights and modernization against forces eager to kill her for daring to dream of such iniquitous things no matter the threat she pressed on unstirred and left her country forever changed budo was to many a controversial figure she was accused of corruption at various points of her reign and her agenda certainly won her a fair helping of enemies i wouldn't dare speak to the charges against her without greater knowledge of the events in question and yet one can imagine that to push her country forward she did things that would not weigh easily on the liberal heart budo was seeking to cultivate she played a game of cunning of psychology of patience for valiant hearts often lie in wait for the wicked to falter how how did anyone let alone a woman in such a conservative repressive society rise to accomplish what she did well in a world of blood and chaos rabbits must hunt as wolves and in the bloody and chaotic world of the expanse the spirit of benazir budo her fire her intellect her right and noble conscience all together flower again in the body and mind of christian of asarala after watching just the first couple of episodes of the expanse and while still getting to know christian of asarawa i remember instinctively thinking to myself this has been a zerbuda no doubt in my mind the two women just share so much in common including their fates of great significance christian of vassarala is a woman who is committed to her undesirable destiny i'm sure she would love for her world to be such a place that she could just retreat to a villa far from the cesspool of politics and drink wine read books and nap all day but alas it's not and avasarala can not just leave the u.n to the wolves in season one aaron wright is very eager to pin the blame for the destruction of the cant and the donager on fred johnson in the opa but even though ivassarala doesn't trust the opa she isn't quite as willing to draw such a conclusion what if he's telling the truth you believe him i believe we need a full investigation of the views and drives in question avasarala probably suspects from very early on that aaron wright is dirty that he's trying to make scapegoats out of easy targets but she's also smart enough not to show her hand right away part of the entire game she plays in the un is working within the rules so she can continue to have an effect on the game itself so she won't be eliminated from it by people who see her as a threat i advise that we deploy our fleet to secure any base that might become a martian foothold here aaron wright suggests deploying the u.n fleet to secure any base that could potentially become a martian foothold avasarala agrees but doesn't seem to want to do you concur i do she suspects that aaron wright is up to no good and indeed he wants to get rid of any evidence linking mao to the proto-molecule however where a more naive politician might fight aaron right on deploying the fleet of vasurala picks her battles the wise thing to do right now is to target the ncrn fleet system-wide mars isn't stupid enough to start a war that will end civilization over a rat hole like phoebe later she's able to talk secretary general esteban sorrento gillis aka dr [ __ ] out of launching a strike on the mcrn fleet and in doing so she prevents a war from breaking out so for the sake of earth avasarala plays the game she even does some unscrupulous things lets some bad things happen so she can win the larger battles she knows that she is one of the few people in the government who is sincerely committed to doing the right thing for the people of earth and for the soul system at large and so she cooperates with the people she disagrees with at times in order to avoid creating enemies who might attempt to eliminate her from the game that's not to say she isn't aware of the corruption that surrounds her there's a reason she hires coatyard to spy for her to do the dirty work that she cannot do herself you break the law and you don't get caught you kept a scrapbook on me oh don't flatter yourself you have skills which i thought might be useful someday avasarala knows what the deal is with aaron wright and other corrupt officials at the u.n but she also knows how to play smart she puts on an impenetrable poker face when she's in the political arena projects fearlessness to those around her but she's fully aware of the danger she's in again it would seem like she should just flee this madness and live in peace but she serves because she knows that without her the un is lost tell him you need assurance of my safety why is avasarala so worried about her own life here i mean okay yes she wants to live but also she knows she needs to survive for the sake of earth this isn't really an egotistical notion either it's an honest analytical one she is an important person if you're going to sell me out i understand it's the rational choice but you have to stop earning right you can see here that avasarala's central motivation for escaping mao's ship alive is so that she can fight back she's not thinking about frolicking on the beat she's thinking about earth's future but i mean if you do like the beach i'll take it to the beach and no problem i like the beach i like them down i'll go to the beach this video is so long at one point avasarala has a revealing conversation on the rosinante that offers a window into how her perspective of the world and her role in it was formed good coffee can save the world coffee of course she knows exactly how to pander to hold but not that quote this my father used to keep his statue of atlas on his desk he told me i had even stronger shoulders than him her father clearly raised her to believe in herself but more importantly to see herself as someone important in the world someone who can do great things and she very consciously accepts this fate i realized there were very few adults in the room and that like it or not i was one of them this line right here is key to understanding of vassarala's mentality and ultimately her behaviors as well she didn't choose to be a part of this complicated system-wide political conflict but here she is one of the few people capable of affecting positive change within it and so she very consciously thinks and acts in a way that might not necessarily suit the more lighthearted side of her nature even if avasarala is playing this game she's also always watching over the people of earth right now this is just a bad idea but you hit send and it's treason if i do nothing millions could die she's clearly willing to risk everything to do the right thing her motivations are entirely pure she's the one force at the u.n who time and time again keeps earth out of conflict when other officials push for it and she is always actively thinking of how earth's actions will be interpreted by the other powers ready the arsenal and give the secretary a line to the martian prime minister we don't want them mistaking our miseries for a first strike as i said earlier she is always in everyone's mind at once and that's the level of thinking that's required of her to prevent the soul system from descending into catastrophic war it's of little surprise that when a vassar is in deep space far from the u.n and unable to check the disreputable doofus on the security council bad things happen on your command sir fire out of the way aaron wright is able to push secretary general sorrento gillis into making a decision that provokes the martian navy into launching a missile at earth the missile successfully achieves landfall and on impact levels a portion of south america leaving millions dead now if avasarala were to stop it just being a proponent for the good of earth it could be said that she's wholly fulfilling her duty as a leader bound by code to advocate for the humans on terra but i don't think that we can quite stop there because avasarala is also bound by her morals which require of her that she forsake tribal loyalties for the sake of a universal good you'll recall that in the video we did on bobby draper we discussed how bobby isn't really such a great marine because her sense of truth and justice precede her love of the martian state see the story of bobby draper is the story of a person being constantly pushed and pulled between her loyalty to the state that raised her and her natural tendency to pursue truth and justice the very reason she takes an attitude with her superiors at times is because what they order her to do and say conflicts with what she believes is right bobby is not so well cut out to be a soldier she's too independent-minded they fired first maybe not at us but they definitely fired first sergeant this is bigger than you i know i'm not wrong about that well to me avasarala is similar in this way on the surface she's a cunning political actor committed absolutely to earth but underneath her sense of justice and her morality subvert her earth first modus operandi and this is part of why despite having different personalities bobby and avasarala develop a profound chemistry don't be an idiot this won't bring back your dead marines man for the first think about avasarala's actions this way is it really necessary for the good of earth that avasarala grill draper for the truth about what happened on ganymede no no then why would he open fire without orders did he panic i don't know he then why did he fire i mean mars is willing to take responsibility for the ganymede incident and pay reparations but avasarala prefers the truth so she isn't content to simply accept mars's expiation of course the truth stands to benefit earth here and avasaral is partly using the meeting to furtively signal to bobby that she's an ally but there are other examples of a vassarella's principles we can look to as well at one point aaron wright comes to her to admit that he's been working with mao i was aware of his weapons research because i was working with him first off she admits that she has been aware of aaron wright's corruption the whole time you've known for a while ever since you had frank the graph killed as we discussed earlier avasarala carefully calculates her moves and will turn a blind eye to corruption if it does not behoove her or earth to act on it at any given moment however to the point aaron wright's actions could stand to benefit earth after all he's working to procure a super weapon for his government this was a way to guarantee the safety of the earth at a terrible price you're the one who taught me that earth must come first and heiress aaron wright in a way is an earth first absolutist and that he's willing to do whatever it takes to enhance the standing of the un and the humans under its jurisdiction though i suppose that one could argue that his personal greed is involved as well nonetheless obtaining the proto-molecule stands to benefit earth but avasarala does not condone aaron wright's actions you know that has nearly destroyed this planet you will have to answer for your part in that she refuses to cover for him and demands he come clean to the people of earth why because it's the right thing to do she will not advance earth's interests at the cost of her values within society people of similar values tend to attract each other avasarala senses bobby's just nature and vice versa this has to be a mind game you are the enemy we cannot afford to be enemies anymore the way in which a vassar allah so voraciously pursues the truth during the unmcr meeting bears the mark of someone transcendent of tribal bias she is that earnest wolf among flesh-worshipping brethren and that decency that justice inspires bobby's justice to reveal itself in time rewind are there 80 million flowers tried but seeing iris wilting in the darkness when fellow sun spurn light to cries for the deceit of dying angels is the beauty of the lilac a dream that sanctions roaming eyes to look only in but glances the flower that conquered the sea so very far away she wonders of bleeding daylilies drifting soundless in the wind that relent to vile tempest where long ago they rained when merry tulips ripe in bloom invite the merchant reaper angels do as flower tears and shun the day to hide where golden kingdoms beyond the killing fields and vacant sky blossomed still in the alley of love and yellow jasmines [Music] now we still must address why later on the rasanante a vasuralis seeks to prevent the rossi's crew from destroying io so that the earth can obtain a sample of the proto-molecule i haven't been completely honest with you you can't know kyle i need the protomolecule blowing up io kind of seemed like the best option for the entirety of the sole system in this situation but as anyone who watched the expanse game theory video i did knows this isn't necessarily true you have to keep in mind avasarala expresses a desire to obtain a proto-molecule sample for earth only after she finds out that naomi gave one to the belt fred johnson already has a sample how could you be so stupid to give it to the opa avasarala is a rational and highly intelligent political actor thus she knows how power dynamics can shift with the introduction of weapons of mass destruction if earth fails to obtain the proto-molecule where mars does not then earth stands to see its status in the soul system greatly diminished earth doesn't have a sample but i don't want it as a weapon you know what's happening on venus the entire system is at risk maintaining the power balance is probably the best option for keeping the entire system in check and depending on your definition of justice this could thus be the most ethical option as well i need a sample for the good of earth mars and the belt for the good of us all it's also worth pointing out that when avasarala inherits the position of secretary general at the un after sorrento gills's abdication and aaron writes arrest she calls for peace among the states of the soul system we would be justified to seek vengeance but instead we will choose peace we must choose peace she doesn't signal aggression towards mars and the belt rather she encourages unity and demonstrates a commitment to pursue the good of all of course we must point out that a vasserala's position as a politician isn't equal to bobbies as a marine where bobby's prioritization of morality over loyalty to mars suggests that she isn't entirely suited to be a marine it can be argued that ivaral's commitment to justice for all actually makes her a strong leader and that the byproducts of cooperation might very well benefit earth so thus far we've established that avasarala is a devastatingly intelligent politically minded person whose machiavellian scheming is tamed by great virtue but we've also posited her as a bit of an unshakable character and i think we need to address this as well i wouldn't actually suggest that avasarala doesn't get scared i don't think she's 100 entirely sure of what's going to happen next and she almost surely is not always confident that her plans will work out successfully in my view of actually seems to exhibit fear or become distressed quite often what now frank degraff was found dead in his home this morning this scene is very indicative of how vassarala deals with emotion as we find out later she realizes in this moment that aaron wright is corrupt and even aside from that i think the death of her friend catches her off guard shakes her a bit if you will and yet she seems to dismiss the heaviness of it all i'm so sorry i can finish later we can finish now given the nature of her position and the unforgiving political world she exists within avasarala has learned to deal with her emotions by repressing them for the sake of her larger cause and her image she cannot show weakness among enemies or anyone actually lest they discover a weak point that might be worth exploiting and at least while at the un she's in familiar territory she's in control and thus can hide her emotions this is why when she goes into space an environment she's unfamiliar with her emotions bubble to the surface if anyone else but me comes through that door you put them on the ground don't you dare leave us here avasarala is clearly scared here but too proud to admit it and she expresses fear as anger but in this situation in which she doesn't have full control over her surroundings her fright remains palpable when she takes off in the razorback with bobby she seems even more terrified sit still you're gonna need it oh get me off this ship hit your tits and pucker up it's time to peel the pace the point here is to demonstrate that a vassarala isn't some unfeeling automaton no offense to robots full offense to robots instead she's sane she's aware of the dangers around every corner and the tough exterior she projects in the face of the horrible things that happen around her at the u.n is reflective to me of great strength a strength that is often gained i might add when growing up amidst tyranny and corruption of course anger isn't the only way that avasarala expresses fear as we said earlier she tends to confront terrifying situations with dark humor when is the last time you left earth none of you got that missus also when you mysteriously vanish no one will ever find your body it's clear that she's scared here and she's taking it out in a jocular way on the people helping her it's this kind of humor during terrible times when we have no control that saves us little laughs at dark things keep us going even when the world we know and love is dying away and humor itself becomes a language for a vasarala so take control of this boat i'll ask that safe port where we can broadcast out for help unless you have a better bad idea no avasarala is worried for kotyar as well as herself here and she is expressing that through a cynical joke the most important thing to recognize about avasarala's fear is that it never trumps her sense of justice remember she's the one who chooses to meet with now in space and put herself in a vulnerable position there's a comms buffer somewhere in the memory panels get it from me please now is this our priority and rights message should be under the one that proves he's a treasonous piece of [ __ ] we discussed earlier how while on mao ship of vasarala ultimately worries about herself because she knows she plays an important role as a leader on earth and that none of the scumbags at the un can fill her shoes well in this scene we see that she's not even in any rush to leave the guanxi in she ain't taking off without securing incriminating evidence against aaron wright this is a woman who knows how to put her personal feelings on hold for the sake of her mission she has a truly indomitable will when she's finally preparing to board the razorback to leave the guancian she seems to know that this is the last time she's going to see kotyar it's gonna be okay okay don't forget your antibiotics look into her eyes this is a woman who knows pain this is a woman who has left those she loves behind before she brought cochar into all of this and she's scared for it and sad but her conviction allows her to push on and not let her attachments morph into weakness and y'all know i don't like to break the fourth wall but i've got to do so to say this is some of shora aghdashlu's best acting she's able to vividly portray a stubborn but simultaneously vulnerable and sullen disposition here and it's really beautiful performing i need to start my suit take off all that tinsel is this really the time for fashion advice f6g that junk will tear your head off you decide a skill no doubt derived from truth that avasarala expresses anger when she's scared is what makes bobby such a great partner and foil for her see bobby isn't sensitive i'm sorry about kotya did you kill him then [ __ ] your stories out of fear of vassarella is kind of rude to her but bobby just shakes it off she's a marine she fights proto-molecule hybrids in hand-to-hand combat so she doesn't need a vassara to be appreciative of her and plus bobby recognizes that she means well if i die make sure you don't you have to tell someone what really happened in almost every moment that a vasara is consumed with fear so too does she worry about justice being served even when safe and recovering in the med bay on the rostanante in her first conversation with holden she gets right back to focusing on the mission at hand this isn't just about the war we need to contain the protomolecule make sure it doesn't fall into the wrong hands shaken but not deterred as a vasorally's justice triumphs over her fear we cannot thus say that we have found much of a flaw let alone a fatal one so then does this woman have any weakness that our enemies might exploit well yes and i'm about to contradict myself when i say a vassarola's optimism is at times her downfall we poor public servants are always looking for some fat private sectors payoff down the road but i'm not looking avasarala believes in people she believes in the un's purpose and she is dutiful even in refuge from the eye of her subjects now obviously i've spent much of the time here trying to convince you that avasarala is a cynical person disenchanted by a lifetime immersed in the political realm yes she is rather distrustful of man but as we've also established she is good-natured and where nurture has repressed a buoyant soul behind a resolute veneer still at times the spirit begs shine through you're the only person that knows the truth about him the only person anyone might actually believe and that puts you in a precarious position something changed with aaron right now there's two ways to look at a vasarala's decision to turn a blind eye to aaron wright's corruption the first we've discussed she's crafty patient cautious and knows when to play her hand and when not but as we see in that last scene she also seems to believe that aaron wright is redeemable and that to me is her nature you need to use these hearings to tell them everything tell them yourself a tone for your sins in trying to persuade him to admit his transgressions avasarala is appealing to aaron wright's integrity she would only do this if she sincerely believes that aaron wright still has good living within him that's a vassarala's optimism despite everything her smarts her experience her suspicions of aaron wright himself she still believes he can be saved and so she lets her guard down you were instrumental in bringing sergeant draper to our side she's given us critical information on the martian weapons test on ganymede all of that will go in your favor she lets aaron wright come clean to the public on his own terms she even encourages him consoles him shows him sympathy and aaron wright the wretched fiend he is preys on this vulnerability and now you've thrown me to the wolves for fulfilling my sacred oath while you grovel at the foot of mars avasarala breaks her own rules here rules she knows must be respected and she almost dies for it i've spent this whole video trying to argue that avasarala is this cunning politician a master interlocutor who wields words against man as reigns upon a steed she knows all sees all and always has a plan she even admits to aaron wright that she has known of his complicity with mao since the time of frank de graaff's murder and yet still she allows aaron wright the time and space to nearly eliminate her optimism is an ultimate weakness i suppose for no matter the extent of one's mastery over reality those of tender nature must by mandate of the soul bear their goodness among the wicked and leave their hearts to plunder that avasarala has this optimism we of course then need to deal with the harassable demeanor she takes on as we move into season four ellis was a brother of ganymede who gives a [ __ ] i didn't bring you here to teach me mythology she displays a new found cruelty and behaves more one-dimensionally than before perhaps her mood is indicative of the enormous pressure she faces in her new position as secretary general but it's still weird to see her so completely change the way she treats people she scored very high marks on her placement test and got into the apprentice law you'll have time or patience to read her whole [ __ ] biography just tell me what you found on her she just becomes downright mean and the political ascendancy of nancy gao only heightens her displeasure as a vasarala lets her anxiety take control her political scheming becomes unrestrained she cheated what do you want to do with this leak discreetly when it comes to nancy gow it's not hard to explain how a vasarala justifies her actions in her own mind as we've stated before she sees herself as somewhat of earth's last hope she spent her whole life learning the ins and outs of the u.n she's made sacrifices to her personal well-being for the sake of earth and committed her full efforts over many years to preventing system-wide catastrophe now some hot-shot wonderkind who is barely out of college is lecturing her on morality and trying to take her job there's been another incident new terra that's what our citizens call it in case you forgot does its name change what's happening there listen it's disappointing that avassaral lets her anger take the wheel in season four her sudden transmogrification from endearing curmudgeon to mean-spirited bully is a little perplexing however she does continue to care very deeply for the vitality of the soul system and earth's position within it and given what she has done for the planet and the risks she's taken i can kind of understand why when someone tells her this no matter where the debate leads we need you to come off as more approachable nurturing she responds with this the caring family matriarch it tested out oh but perhaps i'm just letting my biases get the best of me here after all this heart of mind too is desperate for possession by that regal spirit chained away in queenly beauty and this is where we have to address our june again he's the one who keeps telling of vassar allah not to trust her judgment and instead to listen to her aides and be duplicitous with the public i should have trusted my judgment you were honest with the people there's no bad judgment there you stop it i mean i'm supposed to buy arjun's empty moralizing here do you know what i would have told of asarala be yourself that's what you do best and i will be right there behind you the whole way ma'am would losing be so bad [Music] i don't show um yeah maybe losing isn't the end of the world arjun but i mean let's not hope for it avasarala is kind of important to earth maybe you could acknowledge that for once instead of trying to oh i don't know bring her down all the time but i digress again despite of vassarala's snappish behavior in season 4 through it all she is never really lost to darkness though she becomes somewhat beholden to her insecurities in the seat of power she still works earnestly to protect the earth the very reason for her irritability is her fear for the future of her planet and the soul system and when she eventually does lose her position as secretary general to nancy gao her words to gow and handing over power are reassuring as to her purity one of us is wrong i think it's you but i hope it's me good luck our future is in your hands now avasarala does not want to be right at all costs she does not root for her opponents to fail at the expense of earth rather her pessimism is derived from reason and she's happy to be wrong in the name of earth's perpetuation [Music] a ray of hope undying keeps the snowdrops dancing still in wind for pestilence of tyrants cursed carry in the air when land by kingly beast is barren and oceans refuse indulge the moon forever is the hydrangea dance ever more in earnest to carry poise in turpitude as the seed of greatest nature is kindled by the lotus killer when empty gardens make for fertile grounds and in lands of flowers slain doth blood of new beginnings find its way in soil that from the fall of angels singing into death should rise a golden kingdom recalled when time rewinds to live once more for dreamers wishing from the alley of love and happy yellow jasmines and that's a vasarala that's the story of the most masterful cunning charming plotting genius politician in science fiction that's her that's the story except one thing we're not done and you can throw out just about everything i just said yes we could see of vasarala as defined by her upbringing in a cold complex political world where the corruption and deceit of those who inhabit it cultivate a machiavellian mastermind from a soft bubbly soul but there's one fact we have yet to think about that perhaps forces us to rethink the very nature of our hypothesis see avasarala is a mom well she was a mom but once a mother always a mother if we look back at her actions from the very beginning many of those which we attributed to her skills and persuasion and manipulation we can actually see everything she does through the lens of her experience as a mother there are places far worse than this and i imagine there is a mother somewhere would love to see her boy again yes perhaps hirovasarala is just trying to scare the belter but her words are also reflective of her empathy she sincerely wants his mother to see him again for she knows the pain that comes with losing a child perhaps the fire that drives a vasarala within the halls of the u.n is not only born of a desire to protect the earth but of hurt of anger of a mother suffering the opa killed your son you sure this isn't personal you're damn right it's personal avasarala is a strong woman but she's also a human being and though the death of her son isn't much touched upon her behaviors reveal it weighs heavily on her soul you owe me that i owe you anything my son yes your son i failed my job until nepal died i owe him when we take another look at avasarala's conversation with holden's mother it's not so clear that her words were all cleverly designed to extract information servants jimmy liked to think of himself as a knight he thought it was a funny story i never perhaps here she's not only trying to figure out what kind of man holden is from his books but rather she is thinking of her own son look closely are there tears there in her eyes but then of course there is that moment when she propositions the woman with a malicious narrative she could paint about her son kicked out of the navy he fell in with a radical fringe group in the belt because it reminded him of home i can make chess up too avasarala will do anything to get the information that she needs this is not a subtle threat here but she also adds this i have two governments and whatever the hell the opa calls itself on a course toward a war i want to stop it before anyone else loses a kid yes the tactic of vasara takes here can hardly be described as nice or compassionate but to her the ends once again justify the means the ends being that mothers stop losing their sons to malevolent actors in the soul system you put all your hopes on your son i pressured mine to join the marines avasarala was probably different before her son's death more lighthearted and optimistic and jingoistic but man took from her a piece of her heart one that cannot and will not be replaced i've been wanting for someone to come around and tell me that it was all a terrible mistake but my son is still alive parents who have lost a child will often say that their lives shattered their worlds ended the very day that their child died i think we can say too that a vasarala or some part of her passed on with her son just as one might leave behind one's old self in any sort of happier times before tragedy before death when home was as we cherish it in memory let's think again about a vassarala's stoic response to the news of frank de graaf's demise i can finish later we can finish now it seems at first here that avasarala responds to the news dispassionately in order to project strength to those around her lest she show vulnerability and reveal a weakness worth exploiting so too must she remain focused for the sake of duty and yet one cannot help here but imagine that once a mother loses a son she experiences the greatest pain of all and there's no further tragedy that might break a soul already shattered thus after her son's death the death of all to her that was home the only thing that now matters is that for her son she brings down those in the soul system who would threaten the lives of sons everywhere one might in this understand a vasarala's detachment from her emotions from life lived outside of the u.n and her job sorry just know i want to be there with you and help you with that sad little garden but our home is threatened avasarala prioritizes her work over her marriage this is a subplot that runs throughout the series i wouldn't go as far as to say that she doesn't love arjun it's more that she's not willing to confront her emotions anymore and open herself up to old wounds she's only alive she's only on earth now to do a job she is but a shell of her former self committed to her mission and uninterested in attending to her personal life or other selfish desires [Music] or maybe she just hates arjun i don't know but i digress as i often do almost every step of the way during her journey avasarala reminds us in both subtle and blatant terms that the death of her son affects her in defining ways remember her father's statue of atlas the one that we said earlier her father used to inspire confidence in her well had we met avasarala earlier in life perhaps this is all we'd need to know about the statue however we only know post-tragedy of asarala who says this let me guess it's still on your desk to inspire you every day no i smashed it when my son was killed we can take the smashing of the statue as symbolic of the smashing of a vassarala's identity the death of a part of herself and the bright-eyed idealism that went along with it in its place now stands an ailing soul still so pure and joyous at its core but in pain projecting a new found pessimism and numbness in yearning for yesterday when avasarala gives a speech to the families of the marines who were slain during the boarding of the pazuza she finally confronts some of the emotions she's been dealing with related to her son and she does so in public view my son chernopol was a marine when he died all i wanted to know was who was responsible who was the person i could hate she gives a heartfelt touching speech one that makes clear just how much she struggles with her son's death and the role she played in it as a vasarala has lived her whole life beholds into the people it's fitting that she shares this sensitive moment with the general public oh wait what's that i said i want to be alone did you leak the images from new terra oh arjun is sweeping in for a lecture he's now upset that avasarala used their son's death for political gain and revealed the events taking place on illis to the public this isn't about the ring worlds it's about your pride you told me to connect with the voters emotionally good point she's right you wanted me to play this game so i did you don't get to be upset with me because i didn't play by your rules all your words today were lies i don't know call me crazy but i feel like a vasara has had a pretty hard week maybe just be there for her show her some support for all she does but no the good professor just can't do it and then avasarala loses the election to nancy gao and could just use her husband by her side but arjun once again makes everything about himself come with me please you should go alone you know what that's it i'm sorry avasarala you could do better much better but i digress as always and i suppose we have to close this out with something meaningful ah yes christian of asarala she is the righteous heart of her nation the champion of her people an arc of light wherein starless rooms of highest station wolves in parley dispute the fate of mankind avasarala employs cunning intelligence and deception to her advantage at the u.n she is if you will a master of schemes but righteous schemes she'll often lie but only for the sake of truth she plays the game she humors enemies in bout to shield the earth from lustful hands that would destroy that which she only knows to love she by truest nature is truly just and loving by every way of the joyful heart in a world spared of wolves in tempest might she escape to finer regions and enjoy the healing embrace of silence where love runs the fields unbound and all that stirs in chaos are flowers dancing in the wind alas this life is not befit the world of terror where chanson treats the lust of fallen men to ring the fruits of angels and bind their flowers and chains it is to this reality that avasarala gives herself a sacrifice of peace that others might prosper and imagine days to come avasarala is not a woman made for hush and leisure nay she is born for destiny a destiny for the ages to remember an echo of her deeds and for that will she toil in the test of gods though still by trial of madness through rivers of tears and mountains far behind where golden kingdoms bowed to tyrants did shora never let her soul ascent to darkness and if the soul though what devils may come should live on in truth to nature then so too shall dreams persist forever waiting in eternity to rise again from the alley of love and yellow jasmines [Music] and that's the video if you enjoyed it please do give it a big thumbs up please do comment down below uh this video took a lot of time and effort and i really am eager to see um what you think of it and your opinions on this great character uh from the expanse subscribe to our channel hit that notification bell so you don't miss a damn thing for now my name is american ben and i'll catch you next time generation films peace

Channel: Generation Films

Views: 120,790

Keywords: the expanse, expanse

Id: 6516d5wQ0IY

Length: 64min 31sec (3871 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 11 2020