Lysella

**Lysella** is a barista from the planet Sargus 4. In late 2419, she helped the USS *Orville* rescue Navigator John LaMarr from Social Correction. In 2422, Lysella returned to the *Orville* and was granted asylum.

She is portrayed by American actress Giorgia Whigham.

## History

### The Outsiders

Main article: Majority Rule
A month prior to the *Orville* arriving on Sargus 4, Lysella observed Lewis and Tom on their apology tour. Distracted during their apology, she downvoted them, finding one to have untrustworthy eyes. When the ship arrived, Lysella met the ground team at the coffee shop she worked at, flirting with John LaMarr before he began to receive hundreds of thousands of downvotes, a shocked Lysella ejecting the team from the shop when passed 500,000 downvotes.

Later, Chief of Security Alara Kitan and Doctor Claire Finn returned to speak to Lysella in the coffee shop, hoping she could give them more information about the Sargun government. Before they could speak, Alara was accosted by a Kelvic man, angry that she was wearing traditional Kelvic headpiece. Alara and Claire subsequently retreated to the shop's restroom, Lysella following them in when the offended man had left, allowing her to see Alara's alien features.

Over a meal, Alara and Claire explained to Lysella that they, along with John, were aliens looking for Lewis and Tom. Informing the two that Tom was dead, Lysella subsequently pointed the two to where Lewis was. Discovering that the brain damage done to Lewis was irreversible, Captain Ed Mercer ordered Lysella brought to the *Orville* for an insider perspective on Sargun society. After meeting the crew, Lysella explained how Sargus 4's voting system worked before advising Isaac on how to manipulate the Master Feed to paint LaMarr in a sympathetic light and get him acquitted. Lysella was subsequently returned to her planet, the crew unaware that she had managed to pocket a comscanner.

After the *Orville* had left, Lysella, changed by her experiences, decided to no longer vote in the Master Feed.

### Asylum

Main article: Future Unknown
Over the next three years, the situation on Sargus 4 had devolved, people becoming ever more scared to speak out, despite justifiable reasons for their anger. Lysella lost two friends to these worsening conditions. Knowing that the *Orville* was returning to Sargus 4, Lysella called ahead and asked to come aboard. Once aboard, Lysella removed her badge and requested sanctuary. Granting the request, Captain Mercer assigned Commander Kelly Grayson to help Lysella adjust to life in the Planetary Union.

After learning about the near utopian daily life of the Union, Lysella began to regret leaving her world, feeling as though she had abandoned her people, Kelly opining that she was suffering from survivor's guilt. Lysella soon decided to return home, the crew providing her a shuttle, only for its security systems to detect a comscanner in her bag. When Lysella defended that she only wanted to help her people, Kelly brought her to the Environmental Simulator and showed her the history of Gendel 3, a world to which Union explorers had introduced advanced technology to try and help, only to create a nuclear holocaust. Shaken by what she'd seen, Lysella reconsidered her decision and ultimately decided to stay in the Union. She was later present at Claire and Isaac's wedding, having been adopted as Kelly's unofficial "little sister".

## Personality

Lysella is outgoing - she enjoys parties and socializing with her cadre of friends. Based on the state of her quarters, she is neat and orderly. After discovering the alien origin of Claire and Alara, she quickly finishes a presumably alcoholic beverage in moments.

Lysella is portrayed as a typical Sargun, blithely unaware that their voting system permanently damages individuals based solely on public disapproval. At the start of the episode, she uses upvotes and downvotes liberally to punish or reward people for qualities she likes. For example, Lysella vows to downvote a woman named Jessala who did not return a borrowed, unidentified item, and quickly upvotes LaMarr based on his attractive appearance alone. However, by the episode's end she no longer participates in the voting system, having grown as a character and recognising the flaws of her society after contact with the crew of the *Orville*.

Lysella also displays a sneaky and resourceful side, having stolen a comscanner which she later uses to contact the *Orville* and attempting to the steal the specs for Planetary Union technology. She also, however, forms deep friendships and two of her friends being socially corrected causes her to seek asylum aboard the *Orville*.

## Behind the scenes

In an interview following the finale of Season 3, *The Orville* creator Seth MacFarlane described *Majority Rule* as having been a fan-favorite episode and thus part of the reason that Lysella was brought back. He stated further that Lysella is "*us*," being the audience in a number of ways in her point of view, somebody who says "Man, I'd much rather live in that world than the one I live in now." He also described Giorgia Whigham, Lysella's actress, as being a fantastic actress.

## Appearances

* *Episode 1x07: Majority Rule*
* *Episode 3x10: Future Unknown*

## References

1. ↑ "Majority Rule"
2. ↑ "Future Unknown"
3. ↑ "Majority Rule"
4. ↑ "Future Unknown"
5. ↑ Mitovich, Matt (August 10, 2022). *The Orville*'s Seth MacFarlane Explains Drama-Free Finale — And Why the Hulu Series' First F-Bomb Was Defused. TV Line. Retrieved on August 13, 2022.