Favorite Characters: Irisa (Defiance)

Genre stories are no stranger to badass women who are handy in a fight, both of the human (Zoë Washburne, Melinda May) and non-human varieties (Aeryn Sun, Wonder Woman.) Yes, we’ve definitely seen the blueprints for Irisa’s character before. But as I’ve said, it’s not so much about the archetypes themselves as it is what you do within them, and I really like how Defiance explores Irisa (a few Irisa-related spoilers.)

A young Irathient woman who was born on the terraformed Earth, Irisa has the unfortunate distinction of being singled out for great purpose. And this isn’t even the kind of “great power, great responsibility”/“Chosen One” stuff that burdens the lives of heroes ranging from Harry Potter to Buffy. This is the “her parents sold her to a cult as a child” kind of great purpose. When she was a kid, Irisa was hailed by a group of zealots as the prophesied Devouring Mother, an instrument of colossal destruction.

Fortunately for Irisa, the cult was interrupted mid-ceremony by Nolan, who killed the perpetrators and took Irisa in to raise her as his own. Her childhood is spent in relative anonymity, but it’s still marked by violence, with Nolan teaching Irisa the importance of doing what has to be done in order to survive in a harsh world. By the time we meet Irisa in the pilot, she’s a hard young woman who wields knives like they’re extensions of her hands. She’s a skilled scavenger, and she’s used to having no roots or connections other than Nolan.

Moving to Defiance challenges a lot of the notions Irisa was raised on. Her priorities start to stretch beyond her and Nolan’s survival. The two of them both get caught up in the concerns of the town, and even if Irisa is initially more eager to move on than Nolan is, she too quickly finds herself starting to care about Defiance, more than she’s using to caring about anything outside the two-person bubble of her and Nolan. She begins a tentative flirtation with Tommy, and probably more significantly for Irisa, develops friendships with the Irathient spirit riders who live outside town.

Even though we’re introduced to an Irisa who is incredibly capable and undoubtedly lethal, Defiance demonstrates the ways that she’s still growing up and coming into herself. Though she’s definitely strong-willed and will bicker with Nolan about field tactics, Irisa is generally used to falling in line behind him, half daughter and half deputy. As they settle in in Defiance, however, Irisa starts to reckon with who she is and what she wants. Whether that’s exploring her culture amid her own people, guardedly pursuing a shy romance, or confronting the apparent great purpose that still lays dormant inside of her, Irisa begins to make more of her own decisions. It’s a neat journey for the character to take, marked by a great deal of inner conflict and a lot of pain, but it’s fascinating to watch.

Relationship Spotlight: Irisa & Joshua Nolan (Defiance)

The other major family relationship from Defiance that I really need to talk about. While not as twistedly-fascinating as the Tarrs and all their drama, Nolan and Irisa are both our first window into the world of the terraformed Earth and the heart of the show. And yes, there’s still some twisted fascination in there, but a lot of love too (some Nolan-Irisa-related spoilers.)

Nolan is old enough to remember Arkfall, when the Votans first arrived on Earth, and he’s old enough to have fought in the Pale Wars and become a legit legend, one of the “defiant few” of St. Louis who laid down arms and kickstarted the current uneasy peace in which humans and Votans are living. As such, while he’s well-versed in the collision of cultures that forms the terraformed Earth and speaks enough to at least get by in a few Votan languages, he’s also not a stranger to distrust of/anger against Votans. Which makes his adopted Votan daughter something of a surprise.

Irisa, a young Irathient woman Nolan rescued as a child from a religious cult that designated her the prophesied “Devouring Mother” (show mythology, not getting into all that here.) Their meeting is rooted in trauma on her part and violence on his, as he kills the cultists holding her captive (including her parents, who offered her up as a sacrificial lamb.) When the dust settles, Nolan takes Irisa and raises her as his own, teaching her the brutal principles of survival in a dangerous world. By the time we meet them at the start of the show, they’re a resourceful pair of scavengers who aren’t afraid to mix it up with anyone looking to mess with them. After growing up constantly on the move, coming to Defiance is the first home Irisa has had in a long time.

Nolan views Irisa as both a beloved daughter and a valued ally. He absolutely trusts her to have his back in a fight and knows that she and her knives can take care of themselves, but at the same time, he’s deeply protective of her, ready to go berserk if anyone hurts her (physically or emotionally.) And while Irisa has no illusions about who her father is – they have few boundaries between them, and she’s the first to roll her eyes at some of Nolan’s sexual conquests – she’ll still do pretty much anything for him. They have “one rule,” and even though both say on multiple occasions that it’s a stupid rule, they doggedly stick to it: they live or die together. That means no matter how dangerous or hopeless the situation is, neither will leave the other when the world’s falling down around them.

Which isn’t to say that conflicts can’t come between them. Both are strong-willed and stubborn, so they’ll argue over tactics often enough, and they’ll get in one another’s business when they think the other is making a bad decision. More significantly, being in Defiance and in close proximity to a community of Irathient spirit riders, Irisa comes back in regular contact with her own people for the first time in years, and this becomes a sticking point between her and Nolan. Irisa comes to realize how Nolan’s love for her doesn’t negate his wariness towards Irathients and other Votans, seeing how he regards her more like a human and discounts the legitimate differences between their races and cultures. For example, she suffers from flashes of memories that Nolan has labeled PTSD, when she’s actually having visions of the past. For Nolan’s part, he blames the spirit riders for driving a wedge between him and Irisa without recognizing that it’s his attitude that’s making her pull away. It’s a good, strong conflict that’s interesting to watch unfold, and I really like what the show does with it.