Pa'u Zotoh Zhaan
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| Farscape character | |
 |
|
| Pa'u Zotoh Zhaan | |
|---|---|
| Title | Pa'u |
| Homeworld | Delvia |
| Race | Delvian |
| Gender | Female |
| Affiliation | Moya's crew |
| Portrayer | Virginia Hey |
Pa'u Zotoh Zhaan is a fictional character on the television science fiction series Farscape, played by Virginia Hey.
Zhaan is a Delvian, a blue, spiritual, humanoid plant species, and a Pa'u (priestess) in their religious order. It is later revealed that she murdered her lover who was collaborating with the Peacekeepers, which she and her associates felt was a betrayal of Delvians. Zhaan was imprisoned aboard Moya for this offense. She has also been an anarchist. Since becoming a priestess, her violent past and violent urges have often been a source of inner conflict.
Like other trained Delvians, Zhaan has several empathic and telepathic abilities. In the pilot episode of Farscape, she is shown to possess great speed and manual dexterity when working one of Moya's consoles. This ability is also seen in the episode "Exodus from Genesis", when she creates a Spirit Painting of Rygel.
She is also skilled in medicine and other related sciences. During her time aboard Moya, she is often seen making drugs and explosives in her workshop to assist her shipmates. As a Delvian priestess, she is generally reluctant to employ violence (especially as the series progresses), but is willing to do so in defense of herself or others. She has no qualms about cutting off one of Pilot's (regenerating) arms or vamping Rygel to accomplish her goals, yet is deeply troubled when asked to inflict pain on others with her mental abilities.
As a Pa'u, Zhaan's spiritual abilities significantly improve upon achieving a new level. When first introduced, Zhaan is a level nine Pa'u. Later in the series, she gains a level, making her a level ten Pa'u. When shielding John Crichton's mind from the psychic torture of another Pa'u, she reveals that she has the ability to prevent mental damage to another using her mind. In the episode "Bone to Be Wild" she shows that for short periods of time she can make herself invisible.
Zhaan causes herself to become critically ill to save the seemingly dead Aeryn Sun. While searching for a planet with the right conditions for Zhaan to heal, John Crichton diverts Moya to investigate a wormhole instead, where the Leviathan collides with another spacecraft. In order to save Moya and her crew, Zhaan sacrifices herself by piloting the other craft away before it is destroyed.
[edit] Trivia
- Virginia Hey left the show early in the third season because the character's extensive makeup was affecting the health of her kidneys.
- Zhaan dies in the fourth episode of Season 3, "Wait for the Wheel". She would make return appearances in two fourth-season episodes, "John Quixote" and "Unrealized Reality".
