Honor Before Reason/Live-Action TV: Difference between revisions

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** Mal does make it a point to help out people who are in dire straits, though; in "The Train Job," the moment he finds out the cargo he stole is medicine for the dying villagers he chooses to return it. When the local lawman remarks that people have a choice to make when they find out the details of a situation like theirs, Mal's only response is that he feels they ''don't'' have a choice at all.

** Even ''[[Heroic Sociopath|Jayne]]'' has a few instances of this. One particular example is in "War Stories," where he outright tells the rest of the crew that going to rescue Mal from Niska's army of thugs is insane and a suicide mission. Later on, as everyone is preparing to go on the rescue mission, Jayne appears, fully loaded with all of his guns and ready to do his part. At the surprised look of the rest of the crew, his only response is a confused "What?"

** Jayne's sense of honor showed through in its own way; after betraying Simon and River Tam to the feds in "Ariel" and having to bust them back out due to getting pinched right long with them, he pleads with Mal [[Treachery Cover Up|not to let the others know about his dishonorable actions]], even while he was faced with his own death by being [[Thrown Out the Airlock]]. That's the only reason Mal spared him.

** Jayne's sense of honor showed through in its own way; after betraying Simon and River Tam to the feds in "Ariel" and having to bust them back out due to getting pinched right long with them, he pleads with Mal [[Treachery Cover-Up|not to let the others know about his dishonorable actions]], even while he was faced with his own death by being [[Thrown Out the Airlock]]. That's the only reason Mal spared him.

*** It's also worth noting that Jayne could have easily left both of them there to distract the Feds and make a clean getaway, but he still helps them escape.

*** Maybe he just didn't think of it.

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** Perhaps the most extreme case is the fifth season, when she has to choose between saving her sister or saving the universe. She threatens everyone with death if they go near her sister. Then she [[Take a Third Option|takes a third option]].

** That's not honour before reason. Honour is choosing to do the right thing, Buffy was choosing to let everyone else die horribly because she didn't feel like she could deal with her sister dying. That's pretty much the opposite of this trope.

* [[Doctor Who ~~(TV)~~|The Doctor]] could easily, ''easily'' wipe out the alien threat of the week, but he insists on giving them a choice, usually involving finding another world for them to settle on, free of intelligent life. It's only when they refuse that he shows them [[Beware the Nice Ones|why that might have been a good idea]].

* [[Doctor Who|The Doctor]] could easily, ''easily'' wipe out the alien threat of the week, but he insists on giving them a choice, usually involving finding another world for them to settle on, free of intelligent life. It's only when they refuse that he shows them [[Beware the Nice Ones|why that might have been a good idea]].

** A perfect alternative example appears in the 1996 TV movie; a police officer is preventing the Doctor and his companion from reaching their destination. Time is running out, the entire planet Earth is at stake, and the Doctor doesn't have time to reason with the police officer. So he swipes the officer's gun. However, he is also not the kind of man who points guns at innocent people, no matter what the situation. So he points the gun ''at himself'' and yells "[[Stop or I Shoot Myself|Now stand aside before I shoot myself]]!"

** Gets more than a little [[Anvilicious]] when the Doctor opposes eliminating ''the Daleks'', even though they're dedicated to wiping out all non-Dalek life in the universe.

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** When told that Neroon is coming to assassinate her, Delenn forbids Lennier to tell Sheridan, believing that the Minbari people should deal with their own internal dirty laundry without foreign interference.

** Minbari generally think they are putting [[Honor Before Reason]]. The real picture is more complex and depends on which Minbari you talk to.

** It is notable that Delenn seems to have some confidence that [[Combat By Champion|Combat by]] [[Self Immolation]] will in fact turn all the Minbari to her side and that after her death her instructions for rebuilding the Grey Council would be followed. In any case both the warrior caste and the religious caste accepted her right to rule by virtue of the Starfire Wheel, despite the fact that the warriors had won the war. Which means ordinary Minbari must have had a sense of honor, enough to counter the scheming of the politicians.

** It is notable that Delenn seems to have some confidence that [[Combat By Champion|Combat by]] [[Self-Immolation]] will in fact turn all the Minbari to her side and that after her death her instructions for rebuilding the Grey Council would be followed. In any case both the warrior caste and the religious caste accepted her right to rule by virtue of the Starfire Wheel, despite the fact that the warriors had won the war. Which means ordinary Minbari must have had a sense of honor, enough to counter the scheming of the politicians.

** When Lando orders Narn evacuated because [[I Gave My Word|he gave his word]] to G'kar, he says "All I have left is my honor." Actually some would doubt that but he did have ''some'' honor left.

* [[George Clooney|Doug Ross]] on ''[[ER (TV)|ER]]'' was driven to do what was right for children, regardless of the consequences to himself or his career. That's admirable, but he was also very short-sighted when it came to the consequences of his actions to his friends and colleagues, and eventually left the hospital in disgrace due to some very questionable decisions.