Dinal is a female Kandarian that made her debut in Mortality Paradox.
She is portrayed by American actress Elizabeth Gillies.
History[]
A Test[]
Dinal originates from Kandar 1, the members of which once worshiped Kelly Grayson as a goddess referred to as "Kelly." Roughly 50,000 years have passed from their perspective since their previous encounter with the crew of the USS Orville two years ago in the universe of the Planetary Union. Since that time, the Kandarians have mastered genetic engineering, using it to "take the reins" of evolution. This has resulted in all Kandarians becoming immortal.
However, as Dinal herself later explains to Ed Mercer, immortality came with a price: with no further biological hurdles to overcome, her people became complacent and discontent with their lives. They couldn't die, so once they'd experienced all that the universe had to offer, there was nothing else to do. Dinal thus came up with the idea of luring in the crew of the Orville to the seemingly lifeless planet of Narran 1 and using them for an experiment. She reaffirms Kelly that her existence as a goddess had long since been debunked by science as the Kandarians Baleth and Fadolin had previously explained at their last meeting.
Dinal created temporary macro-universes where Ed, Kelly, Gordon Malloy, and Bortus were each made to believe they were about to die. At the moment of "death", the Kandarians entered their minds so that they could personally witness mortality. Dinal monitored the experiment herself by taking the form of Talla Keyali, allowing her the additional opportunity of interacting with the crew and studying their reactions. Eventually, once all four crew members had caught on to what was happening, Dinal shed her disguise and dispelled the illusion, returning them to the surface of Narran 1.
Challenged by Mercer, who pointed out that his ancestors had also once used other species for experimentation without their consent, Dinal simply reminded him that for her kind, such limitations were meaningless and that one day, humanity would reach the same level of development. Nonetheless, she assured the crew that their encounter had been fruitful for her and the Kandarians, and as such, she was confident they would meet again before transporting herself back home.