A mini-essay on Ianto up through Torchwood, "Children of Earth." *SPOILERS*

[hsavinien]

 

  I stand - head high, face set, tie straight - in mourning. 
Ianto Jones has died.

Jack: And this is Ianto Jones. [Ianto nods]  Ianto cleans up after us, gets us everywhere on time.
Ianto: [smiling] I try my best.

Jack: And he looks good in a suit.

Ianto: Careful, that's harassment, sir.

(Ianto does, in fact, look very good in a suit.  He's addressed by the...salacious John Hart as "Eyecandy" throughout the entire episode "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang.")  He's very "metro" (which is a silly term), very smart in appearance and professional in habit, probably reacting to his lower-class upbringing.  Besides that, he's polite (unless given good reason not to be) and more than anything else, capable.  Ianto is, from the beginning, the Torchwood team member who "cleans up the messes" in more than the obvious ways and keeps things running smoothly.  Torchwood tends to make a lot of messes.  Ianto introduces himself to Jack by helping capture the Pterodactyl that later becomes the Hub pet and then to subdue a Weevil. 

We eventually learn that Ianto worked for Torchwood One, though in precisely what capacity, I have heard no definitive word.  Fan speculation ranges from middle-management to Intelligence to various special projects.  In any case, he a surprising number of skills for a "teaboy".  Beside making wonderful coffee, Ianto is a talented hacker, an organiser, good with weapons, a navigator, can act as logistics coordinator or technical support, skilled with telecommunications and mathematics, administration and clothing.  He's clever and witty, with a very dry, deadpan approach, and laughs at graveyard humor.  Ianto has an amazing memory for trivia and knows the layout of Torchwood Three better than anyone except (possibly) Jack himself.  On the other hand, he's not originally a field agent.  He's not as comfortable with it as even Toshiko, as evidenced by his edginess in "Countrycide".  He dislikes himself or people he knows putting themselves into dangerous situations.  His ability to deal with field-work gradually changes and strengthens over the course of the show.  One notable point is that while Ianto is very proficient with technology, he does not rely on it, which benefits the team on several occasions.

After the death of many of his colleagues during the Cybermen/Dalek incident., he manages to pick up the pieces of his life and transfer everything to Torchwood Three.  He shows stubbornness and determination, managing to talk his way into Torchwood, and a positive talent (desperation-bought) for deceit, as he manages to secret Lisa and all the contraptions to keep her alive.  IN Torchwood.  Under Jack's nose.  That ends sadly for him, of course, but he's paid a bit more attention from that point on, as the team, and Jack, begin to recognise the skills he keeps quietly to himself.  (Though, I don't believe that we can say that all of them *cough*Owen*cough* respect him, they do recognise that he's more than he appears.) 

Ianto feels very deeply but shows it rarely.  He's willing to give up everything on the chance that he can save the woman he loves and can't believe that it's impossible, even presented with dire evidence to the contrary.  Again, that ended badly, but it doesn't do him any injustice to point it out.  Later in the series, he gives Gwen the information she needs to track down the missing people ("Adrift") because she wants so much to help the bereaved.  He understands.  Fans call Gwen the 'heart' of the Torchwood team, but Ianto's that too, just more privately and more quietly, fixing what he can without running about making noise about it.

[over phone] Jack: Have faith, with a dashing hero like me on the case, how can we fail?

Ianto: He is dashing, you have to give him that.

Owen: And what if they can't stop it?

Tosh: They'll stop it.

Owen:Yeah, but if they can't?

Ianto: Then it's...all over.

Owen: [after a pause] Let's all have sex.

Ianto: [deadpan] And I thought the end of the world couldn't get any worse.

Jack.  Ianto tells his sister in  "Children of Earth" that he's not really attracted to men in general, just to Jack.  He's had girlfriends and indeed, nearly destroyed himself over the ill-fated Lisa.  Near the end of Series 1, however, he starts responding to Jack's flirting, and seems not terribly concerned about that.  I'm very fond of that in him, the calm acceptance of a personal shift that he faces.  Of course, almost everyone responds well to Jack.  They maintain a casual relationship, but there are indications even from the beginning that Ianto is becoming more attached than he could wish.  Ianto's reaction to Jack's disappearance in "Captain Jack Harkness" and the mockery it earns from Owen means that he stays fairly quiet about his feelings.  They are, to use the rude term, "fuck-buddies."  And then, after Jack gets back, he asks him out on a proper date.  Canon.  Male/male relationship.  Canon!

Ianto: [perches on the edge of Jack's desk] I know you get lonely.

Jack: Going home wouldn't fix that. Being here, I've seen things I never dreamt I'd see, loved people people I never would have know if I'd stayed where I was. [looks directly at Ianto] And I wouldn't change that for the world.

[Ianto kisses Jack]

And they continue, more or less solidly.  Jack's a bit gun-shy, still dodging the word "couple" in the early days of "Children of Earth," and Ianto's always a little touchy about Jack's attention on others (pretty understandable, I figure, given Jack's broad attitude toward love/attraction.) 

In "Children of Earth" we finally meet Ianto's family - his sister Bea, her two children and her husband, who calls Ianto 'gay' but isn't terribly hostile about it.  We start to get a feel for his background beyond Torchwood and Lisa.

And then, he dies.

Ianto is poisoned by the 456 species and dies in Jack's arms, before the frantic Jack can get him out of the danger zone.

Why?

Why is it so necessary to destroy a happy ending for Ianto?  Granted, dying in one's lover's arms is not the worst way to go, but why does he have to die at all?  For once, can't we have a homosexual relationship with a Happy Ever After (or at least until death from old age)?

Shows can be 'edgy' and 'adult' without killing off a favorite character.  To repeat the lesson I tried to instill in my philosophy professor, tragedy is not any more meaningful than comedy.  Cleverness and intelligence don't require everything to end in tears.  The human condition includes joy as well as sorrow and growing from pain requires there be life left to live.  Besides Gwen (pregnant)/Rhys, Jack (gone off into the universe) and a theoretical Martha Jones.

Comments

[glorious-clio.livejournal.com]

*seconded
In retrospect, I feel like they wanted to stop after series three. No more Torchwood AT ALL. And for that to happen, everyone had to be gone/unable to work for Torchwood anymore. I think that's why the show went the way it did.

All I have to say is: SAD TIMES
*sob*

[hsavinien.livejournal.com]

That was my interpretation as well. -_-

[yuri-shoujo.livejournal.com]

*sigh* the killing off every happy homo couple is trying. Even Whedon is guilty guilty guilty of it. (Granted he kills everyone's happy, but...) I dunno the Torchwood universe well enough to know if this is a normal thing where they kill ALL happy (or if it's possible, is Jack like the Doctor, all time warpy every where and crap because that does make happily ever after difficult..), which makes it a little more acceptable, but still. Fail. I haven't heard one fan that enjoyed this mess yet, actually, and there is a mass of y'all on my flist...

I like tragic romances even, (lol Shiz/Nat.) but egh. Happy would be nice once in a while... Any show daring enough to put homos out there seems to be big into killing them... >_<;

[hsavinien.livejournal.com]

It wasn't always the "everyone dies" show. It tended toward the depressing, but there was usually a glimmer of light. For me, Ianto was it. -_- Actually, the Doctor's been getting more depressing too. I think RTD is honestly under the impression that this makes the show better instead of just sending the fanbase into great clouds of gloom. There wasn't even really a point to Ianto's death, except for showing him being assertive (and...punishing him for it? wtf.) He was standing up to an alien monster, so he died. That's not usually the pattern for main characters.