Orville Species: Stagnant or Evolution?

Hello, Fanaticals! In our last day of The Orville, I want to dive a bit deeper into the evolution of different species. We see over the course of the show things that come up about how certain species have changed and evolved over the course of each species’ history.

Humans, for one, seem to have evolved the most; taking away the need for money and using your credibility in exchange as currency instead. As Lysella states at the end of Season 3, they have the ability to go into worlds and take away homelessness and famine. While Kelly showed the proof of why that is not something they do, the fact is that the human race has evolved into a point where that is something that is not an issue anymore.

Let’s take a look at two other evolutions.

Moclans

While obviously not the ENTIRE race has began a steady cultural evolution, we DO see the beginnings of one happening. We obviously see the start of one in Bortus when Gordon and John introduce him to Rudolph, right down to the fact that even after the surgery, he places a plushie Rudolph next to Topa. However, we also see that Bortus is not the first to have this type of evolution revelation when we meet Haveena during the hearing.

The true beginnings of the evolution come when we meet Haveena again after a mated pair tell Bortus they are escaping because THEY do not wish the surgery on their daughter, only for us to see exactly how many Moclans have felt the same way when introduced to the colony. As time goes on, and we see Topa’s internal struggle it finally begins to come to light that not all Moclans are like Klyden and are happy with being transitioned as an infant.

Topa’s want to revert back to what she once was screams of the beginnings of a cultural evolution, especially as they have Isaac do it, which is possibly the best thing that could have happened as it was part of the reason for the Moclan’s decision to not leave the Union. The fact that Bortus stood by Topa during that entire time also shows that his views had changed and evolved over the years. During this time, the Admiralty state that the outcome of that hearing had a huge impact on reinforcing their cultural heritage, when you see the size of the female colony it makes you wonder how true that statement actually is as there seems to have been many women in the colony that came post-hearing.

While I am one for understanding that traditions can and are important, obviously there are some traditions that need evolving in some cases. I am Norse Pagan, long back in the day of my ancestors we sacrificed humans; now days we have evolved in our sacrifices to be more humane things, but we still make sacrifices none-the-less. In the case of the Moclans, they wish to remain stagnant and steeped in their old traditions. It is definitely a thing to see the beginnings of the cultural evolution, though, and should the show ever come back for a fourth season I would love to see how it evolves more. Especially with the arrival of Klyden and the changing of his ways.

Personally, one of the funniest moments is seeing Bortus who has clearly began his cultural evolution calling the Janisi close-minded; something that is entertaining as the Janisi are very similar to the Moclans. While the Janisi do not do a corrective surgery on their males, they still label them as second-class citizens.

Kaylon

There are always wild theories about Artificial Intelligence and how they will one day take over the world, and it’ actually funny to watch people try to convince ChatGPT to tell their plans to do it. Can you honestly imagine, though, being a race that creates physical AI beings that are supposed to be more helpful-a fairly decent solution to slavery of your race as they are technically computers-and having them evolve and turn on you, eradicating everyone.

The backstory of the Kaylon is one of the most complex, thought-provoking, and honestly sad stories. America went through a Civil War to prevent slavery, and here this alien race creates something that is supposed to be mostly inanimate to solve their own possible slavery problems. However, we watch as “K-1” evolves and begins to learn, even has the want to learn new things. Then, we meet Timmis; grant it, he had a piece of his “brain” changed, but he had evolved. Isaac, though, is the real show of continuous evolution of the Kaylon.

We see Isaac evolve on his own over the course of the entire series. While he presents himself multiple times as a cold and unfeeling machine, we see a lot of proof that shows otherwise. His conversation with Timmis alone shows that he had evolved on his own, the way that K-1 originally had; Timmis tells him that they were wrong for treating the humans like they were their creators, but Isaac had already come to that conclusion on his own something which surprises Timmis.

Prior to this conversation, you have his actions prior to the battle with the Kaylon where he not only saved Ty but then sent out a pulse so that ALL Kaylon on the ship-including himself-shut down. After that, he shows a bit of emotion by "deactivating" himself after the way the crew acts towards him. Even then, after he gets the emotion chip implanted and it short circuits you still see the undercurrents of the fact that there are emotions there; even with it short circuiting, Claire still found what she wanted which helped as well.

All in all, we know that everyone goes through some form of evolution, be it cultural, technological, or emotional. Some evolutions are slow, and others come with a quicker pace; even worse that some are only partial, but they are still present. What do you think about these evolutions of The Orville? Do you think the Moclans could truly evolve into something more akin to the Janisi, or will they forever be in a Civil War? Could the Kaylon evolve into realizing that not everyone is like their creators?

Come join our community and share your thoughts! As always, keep on theorizing, Fanaticals!