@write2topcat said:

Contracted to help Earth's leader Sec-Gen Gillis to write a speech about the war, Hannah Shaffer castigated him, demanding to know how many people had to die in the war. Her argument was almost infantile. It consisted mainly of saying that people dying in wars is an awful thing. Well, yes that is true. But she pointedly had nothing to suggest about how Sec-Gen Gillis should respond to attacks by the other side.

Granted, the war was built on a lie and was unnecessary, but that information was not known to Shaffer or Sec-Gen Gillis at that time. Gillis was attempting to conscientiously conduct the war the best he could given the information he had. Shaffer offered no advice on how to respond to the hostilities from Mars.

What bothers me most about this scene is Shaffer's smug air of moral superiority. She was judgmental yet had no practical advice. She all but accused him of playing God and of glorifying war, but all we saw of Gillis was a man who wanted to minimize casualties as much as possible.

Seriously what could you say to a leader to stop him make an ass of himself starting a war?

I cant imagine anything I could say that could avert a war ...other than "OK if you want to start a war be the first to go out lead the troops in to battle."

When their life's are on the line- reality always looks grimmer.

The war was already ongoing. Gillis didn't start it. It was secretly started by someone else but Gillis doesn't know that yet. And it's clear that he hates putting his people at risk.

If you can watch it on DVR go back and check it again. Gillis didn't start it. Nor does he find it glorious. He is worried as hell that his decisions may lead to more people dying.

I think that within an episode or two he will discover that his second in command was responsible for the war, and that he lied to everyone. The premise of the war was false. It was a false flag. At that point he will likely try to have his second arrested, but will he be able to do that before his second has him killed?

@write2topcat said:

Contracted to help Earth's leader Sec-Gen Gillis to write a speech about the war, Hannah Shaffer castigated him, demanding to know how many people had to die in the war. Her argument was almost infantile. It consisted mainly of saying that people dying in wars is an awful thing. Well, yes that is true. But she pointedly had nothing to suggest about how Sec-Gen Gillis should respond to attacks by the other side.

Granted, the war was built on a lie and was unnecessary, but that information was not known to Shaffer or Sec-Gen Gillis at that time. Gillis was attempting to conscientiously conduct the war the best he could given the information he had. Shaffer offered no advice on how to respond to the hostilities from Mars.

What bothers me most about this scene is Shaffer's smug air of moral superiority. She was judgmental yet had no practical advice. She all but accused him of playing God and of glorifying war, but all we saw of Gillis was a man who wanted to minimize casualties as much as possible.

Just because I can’t tell you how to put out a grease fire—doesn’t mean I shouldn’t tell you that pouring gasoline on it isn’t the way.

She wasn't there to give hands-on advice--she is not a strategist; that's what advisers, counselors, and military leaders, etc. are for. She was there because her moral compass points true north. She had no axes to grind, no revenge to seek, no selfish ambitions to fulfill, no ego to feed.

Words are her weapons for change. Words have their own power—they can start a revolution or quell a riot.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident….”

“I have a dream that one day….”

“When in the course of human events….”

“Four scores and seven years ago….”

“From where the sun now stands….”

She had a right to be upset--they double-crossed her. She was there to write her strong sense of right and wrong into words of inclusion--not words that involved an Us vs. Them outcome.

Too bad Gillis let Errinwright use him to cannibalize her--what started out as a "greater-good"--speech.

@FormerlyKnownAs said:

She had a right to be upset--they double-crossed her.

But that happened in the episode after the scene I was speaking of.

She blamed him for the war, but Gillis didn't start it. In fact he was against the idea of sending the strikes which prompted the attack on S America. He was worried that it might result in greater loss of life. But his second convinced him that Mars was about to attack Earth anyway. He wasn't the warhawk he has been made out to be.