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 Del Tarrant
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| Lurena |
Posted on 23-01-2022 22:57
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 Alpha Grade  Posts: 1995 Joined: 16.01.22 |
 * Tarrant is brave, young, handsome - there are three good reasons for anyone not to like him. * to quote Avon. But he's also intelligent and a skilled pilot. He can behave arrogant and impulsive now and then. A renegade Federation officer. |
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| OneSparePart |
Posted on 28-01-2022 18:12
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 Alpha Grade Posts: 7257 Joined: 16.01.22 |
A man of contrasts: intelligent but thick Great pilot, lousy lander Kind but nasty (see Vila) Bad taste in women.....ah..... Silflay hraka, u embleer rah!
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| Travisina |
Posted on 28-01-2022 18:29
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 Admin  Posts: 941 Joined: 14.01.22 |
A man of contrasts: intelligent but thick Great pilot, lousy lander Kind but nasty (see Vila) Bad taste in women.....ah..... I think one of Steven Pacey's complaints was the inconsistent way the character was written. But I think that makes him more real, more human. Clever people can behave very stupidly. When he learned to fly, he skipped the lessons on how to land. Was he off sick, or chasing a pretty woman? As a Vila fan, I find Tarrant's bullying objectionable. Yet I can see how he would find Vila irritating. Bad taste in women - well, so did Avon, tbh. There is no point being grown up if you can't be childish sometimes
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| Brad |
Posted on 28-01-2022 18:44
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 Moderator  Posts: 3369 Joined: 15.01.22 |
A man of contrasts: Great pilot, lousy lander Whenever I watch Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade, and hear this exchange, I think of Tarrant: Henry Jones (Sean Connery): I didn't know you could fly a plane! Indiana (Harrison Ford): Fly, yes. Land, no. . .  Cockatoo? What Cockatoo? I don't see a Cockatoo! |
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| Moon Disc |
Posted on 28-01-2022 19:13
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 Delta Grade  Posts: 16 Joined: 16.01.22 |
As a Vila fan, I find Tarrant's bullying objectionable. Yet I can see how he would find Vila irritating. And yet, Tarrant was the only one to volunteer to get Vila's body when they thought he was dead in Dawn of the Gods. I always thought that said a lot about him. I liked him a lot more after that. The bullying of Vila is pretty low and inexcusable. Tarrant usually has a reason, which is no excuse, but at least it's not just for laughs. Compare that with Dayna who snipes at Vila for the fun of it. By S3, Cally is really the only one who is kind to Vila. No wonder he got upset when Soolin brought her up in Sand. |
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| Brad |
Posted on 28-01-2022 20:07
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Moderator Posts: 3369 Joined: 15.01.22 |
I think one of Steven Pacey's complaints was the inconsistent way the character was written. But I think that makes him more real, more human. And is it really that inconsistent? Tarrant was gallant, but he was also a product of an Alpha Grade Federation upbringing and education. Is Tarrant being gallant one episode, and a bully the next, any more inconsistent than Avon: Headhunter: Oh, you'll have to do better than that, Orac, if you expect me to kill them. Orbit: Vila, I know you're here, come out. Inconsistent writing, perhaps, but perhaps these inconsistencies are also inherent in the Federation Class system. . . Cockatoo? What Cockatoo? I don't see a Cockatoo! |
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| AnneArthur |
Posted on 02-03-2024 14:28
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 Alpha Grade Posts: 6058 Joined: 16.01.22 |
I'm not sure about the 'lousy lander' bit. He actually managed to bring Scorpio down more or less intact on Gauda Prime, and survived with relatively minor injuries. I used to work for someone who flew planes in his spare time - his instructor apparently used to say 'If you can walk away, it's a good landing; if you can re-use the plane, it's a great landing' (I would really like Tarrant's instructor to have said this - maybe I will put it in a fic one day). By these standards, the crash-landing on Gauda Prime is a good landing. I agree about the bullying - although I think that to someone used to military discipline, Vila's laziness, excuses and general insubordination would be annoying bordering on inexcusable. But I think that he is brutal - he will bully, intimidate and hurt people pragmatically to achieve his aims. Avon, by contrast, can be cruel, in that he can actively enjoy hurting people. (I also think that it is his jokes about Vila at the end of Powerplay that give the green light to both Tarrant and Dayna - you see them exchange looks, and I think that they both pick up the idea that Vila is fair game at this point. Avon then rows back and becomes protective of Vila, but the damage has been done.) |
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