Thomas Perry was a human Admiral in the Planetary Union.
Perry's responsibilities as admiral seem to have been diplomatic: He oversaw first contact with Regor 2 and diplomatic talks with the Nazh; he managed the signing of the Lak'vai Pact of Tarazed 3; and he attended the Planetary Union Council during the crisis over the The Sanctuary, a refuge for Moclan females.
In 2422, he betrayed the Union to give the Krill and Moclans a weapon the Orville had created for mass destruction.
He is portrayed by American actor Ted Danson.
History[]
More than any other admiral, Perry monitored diplomatic relations within, and on behalf of, the Planetary Union.
First contact with Regor 2[]
Over October and November 2420, Perry presided over the USS Orville's first contact with Regor 2. And when First Officer Kelly Grayson and Second Officer Bortus were apprehended by the Regorians as Giliacs, Perry ordered Captain Ed Mercer not to retrieve the officers by force:
A month passed while the Orville waited in orbit. In consultation with the admiralty, Perry sent a diplomatic envoy to replace the Orville, citing internal pressure within the fleet to get the Orville back on active and uncertainty whether Kelly and Bortus were still alive.[1]
As a last-ditch attempt before leaving, the Orville created an illusion that the Giliac system had changed, and the Regorians released the captive Union officers.[1]
Signing the Lak'vai Pact of Tarazed 3[]
Following the Battle of Earth against the Kaylon, the Union and the Krill opened diplomatic negotiations, which Perry might have been a part of. The two sides hastily agreed to a ceasefire.[2]
After a month, relations had advanced to the point of a lak'vai pact - a Krill sign of good faith toward a peace agreement. Perry assigned the Orville to meet with the Davoro'kos in orbit of Tarazed 3. Peace was jeopardized when Orrin Channing boarded the Orville, an escaped Union officer accused of destroying four Krill vessels. Though sympathetic to Orrin's plight, Perry considered extraditing him to salvage the peace process.[2]
Orrin learned Perry was thinking of sending him to the Krill and stole a shuttle to bomb the Davoro'kos. He was unsuccessful and killed in an explosion in space. The peace process was revived and both sides signed the Lak'vai Pact of Tarazed 3 shortly after.[2]
Council hearing on The Sanctuary[]
In 2421, a secretive refuge of Moclan females known as "The Sanctuary" petitioned the Planetary Union Council for recognition as a sovereign state. Sovereignty would protect them from Moclus' forcible sex transition surgeries from female to male.
Perry attended closed-door deliberations between other human admirals - Tucker, Ozawa, and Halsey - and Captain Ed Mercer. He held a centrist position between Ed, who was in favor of recognition, and the admirals:
- Let's stick to the issue. In the Moclans' view, the children living on that colony are victims, and from their cultural standpoint it's true, they had no say in their parents' decision to leave Moclus.
He chastised Ed for accusing the Union of potentially permitting Moclus to continue abusing the fundamental rights of women simply for access to their weaponry.
Nazh and the Okudum[]
Later that year, the Orville's senior officers contacted Perry after discovering that Nazh, a technologically advanced people, had enslaved members of the primitive Okudum species and forced them to mine dysonium ore by hand. Because intervention might mean a second war begun in the middle of the Kaylon conflict, Perry ordered the Orville to an outpost on Rochelle while he would take over diplomatic talks with the Nazh.[3]
New Horizons[]
In 2422, Perry betrayed the Planetary Union to give Teleya and the Moclans an anti-Kaylon weapon that the Orville had created, which had the capacity to destroy any Kaylon constructs within a theoretically limitless radius upon activation. After telling Teleya that he intended to turn himself in upon returning to Earth, Teleya, not wanting the Krill-Moclan alliance to be revealed just yet, ordered the destruction of Perry's shuttle, killing all aboard. Tom Halsey later expressed that Perry had made no secret of his opinion of the Planetary Union Council's decision to not use the weapon to wipe out the Kaylons. He explained that Perry had always been a healthy voice of dissent against the more progressive elements of the Admiralty, but expressed shock that he would throw away his life.[4]
Appearances[]
- Episode 2x05: All the World is Birthday Cake
- Episode 2x10: Blood of Patriots
- Episode 2x12: Sanctuary
- Episode 2.5x03: Heroes, Pt. 1
- Episode 3x04: Gently Falling Rain
- Episode 3x06: Twice in a Lifetime
- Episode 3x09: Domino