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Commandant Mele-On Grayza
Grayza-250
First appearance Into the Lion's Den - Lambs to the Slaughter
Last appearance Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars
Details
Gender Female
Species Sebacean (Assumed)
Affiliation Peacekeepers
Age Unknown
Portrayed by Rebecca Riggs
"Grayza is a manipulator!"
― Scorpius

A powerful Peacekeeper commandant, Mele-On Grayza is driven to put an end to Scorpius' wormhole research.

Character History[]

Pre-Show[]

Grayza was a Sebacean female with a pale white/grey countenance and dark lips who rose through the Peacekeeper ranks to achieve the status of commandant. Politically astute and ruthlessly ambitious, she used anyone or anything at her disposal to achieve her goals. To this end, she had a gland implanted in her chest that secreted a substance known as Heppel oil, which she used to bend her (male) victims to her will. A drawback to the gland is that it severely lowered her lifespan, but it is unknown as to what degree.

Season 3[]

Commandant mele-on grayza

Commandant Grayza

Grayza was first seen when she arrived aboard Scorpius' command carrier to put a stop to his wormhole research, considering it to be a threat to her efforts to negotiate a truce between the Sebaceans and the Scarran race. She made no real attempt whatsoever to listen to Scorpius.

Season 4[]

However, she became intrigued by John Crichton and his wormhole knowledge, believing it to be a potential bargaining chip in her dealings with the Scarrans, and set out to capture Moya. She was successful in tracking the crew down, locating them on the planet Arnessk. Calling her interrogation techniques agreeable, she drugged and raped Crichton: the stated purpose was to gain access to his wormhole knowledge, using allegedly more pleasurable methods than torture; the plan failed, though Crichton spent most of the following cycle traumatized by his treatment at Grayza's hands. Humiliated once again, Grayza directed Braca to keep searching for Moya - word spread quickly to bounty hunters of the price she put on Crichton's head - but this also failed. Finally, when her bid for peace was lost, Grayza ordered her command carrier to engage the Scarrans in conflict, only to be stopped by Braca, who had secretly been allied with Scorpius while pretending to be loyal to Grayza. He assumed command of the command carrier.

CommandantGrayza

Grayza relaxing

The Peacekeeper Wars: The Mini-series[]

Although reported by Braca to be under sedation in the brig at the end of the series, by the time of the Peacekeeper/Scarran War, Grayza was seen as an advisor to the Peacekeeper Grand Chancellor, whilst also pregnant. The child's father was not identified, though Maryk believed it to be his and Grayza gave no suggestion that this was not the case.

Grayza eventually killed the Grand Chancellor when he told her of his intention to surrender to the Scarrans, and she took command of the Peacekeeper forces herself, engaging Emperor Staleek's fleet over Qujaga. When Crichton finally demonstrated the destructive powers of the wormhole weapon, she realized the truth and proposed a truce with the Scarrans "for the sake of our children". She was last seen aboard Moya, signing the peace treaty alongside Emperor Staleek, overseen by the Eidelons.

The Comics[]

When the Grenniji emerged from the Gray Space and began their conquest of the Uncharted Territories on the behalf of Kkore, Grayza attempted to collaborate with them. However, when Aeryn Sun showed the Peacekeepers how they had strayed from their original purpose, Grayza was stripped of command and imprisoned by Admiral Tav Josbek, who awarded Aeryn Sun Grayza's rank of Commandant. Grayza attempted to reclaim her command with the help of forces still loyal to her, but the mutiny was suppressed. After a court-martial, Grayza was expelled from the Peacekeepers.

Quotes[]

  • Your authority is not absolute, Scorpius.
  • (to Scorpius): You shouldn't have made me into an enemy. (to John) And you shouldn't have pointed a weapon at me.
  • No Scorpius, you hold onto secrets because you fear that when you finally do tell me everything you will die. And you're probably right.
  • I always assumed John Crichton was just an outlaw. An excuse for Scorpius' mistakes. But he destroyed a command carrier. The Scarrans desire him. Perhaps, somehow, I can use him. Perhaps Scorpius' enemy will be my friend.
  • (To John): What I want may not be as bad as you think. You might even like it.
  • My interrogations are much more agreeable than Scorpius' methods.
  • Would you have a weapon in your armory and leave it unused out of squeamish good taste?
  • John Crichton, do not destroy the Sebacean people.
  • Everything that I have done has been calculated to gain peace.
  • In my hands - you can have peace! I - CAN - HAVE - PEACE!
  • A war is inevitable.
  • Didn't Scorpius tell you? Truce with the Scarrans is suicide.

Trivia[]

  • Riggs was pregnant during the filming of the miniseries; it was decided to simply have the character be pregnant than try and disguise the issue, a choice that wound up suiting the character quite well.
  • Raelee Hill auditioned for the role, and impressed the producers enough that, while they didn't give her the part, they created the final-season character Sikozu for her.
  • Grayza's unusual appearance (compared to other Peacekeepers) is in keeping with other close Sebacean-like bipeds in the show, who often had slightly unusual skin or more commonly eye-coloring. For example, she closely resembles the Kanvians from "Thanks for Sharing" and the Freslin distributors in "Scratch and Sniff," both human-like with unusually bright blue eyes. The Kanvians were also very pale, like Grayza. Since the Peacekeepers don't represent all Sebacean civilizations, there's no reason to think Grayza isn't fully Sebacean, and that her unusual makeup is simply inherent phenotypical variation within the species. Her pale skin and bright blue eyes could be the equivalent of striking red hair and green eyes among Sebaceans. This would also explain the appearance of Scorpius's nurse, who had similar but less exaggerated makeup.

Appearances[]

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