If Sax despised Phyllis, then why did he have a romantic and sexual relationship with her?Īll the quotes below come from 'Part 4, The Scientist as Hero' of Green Mars, but some are out of order.Īt this point in the trilogy Sax has known Phyllis for decades, the scene takes place in 2091 while the first 100 landing is 2026.

I guess romantic partners are a lower priority to her than getting back in power. Maybe a second question is why she would turn Sax over to UNTA. She, on the other hand, almost certainly knew that UNTA used torture and arbitrary imprisonment against its political opponents. He did not approve of her goals of wanting economic power over Mars. He hated that she supported UNOMA and UNTA control over Mars. He disliked the way she ingratiated herself with authoritarian government agencies by turning over her former friends to them. He could not stand her harsh personality. Phyllis Boyle was killed by by Kasei and Maya while they were saving Sax from torture. They torture him, damage the verbal expression parts of his brain, and almost kill him. She turns Sax Russell over to UNTA security officials. Phyllis Boyle eventually realizes who she is dating.

He knows who she is and that she might eventually recognize him by his manners, his personality, or something else.

She does not know who he is at first because of his altered appearance even though the two of them worked closely together for years when they were among the first colonists on Mars. In the second book of the Mars Trilogy, Phyllis Boyle and Sax Russell engage in a brief sexual relationship. This puts her at odds with many of the First Hundred, and the Greens (who want a Green livable Mars independent of Earth), and the Reds (who want to keep Mars in its original pre-terraformed state). She is in favor of the increasingly authoritarian United Nations Office of Mars Affairs (UNOMA) and its successor, the corporate/quasi-fascist United Nations Transitional Authority (UNTA). Phyllis Boyle is another member of the First Hundred. His appearance is eventually altered so that he can hide and only a few people know his true name. Because of his role among the First Hundred and as a 'Green', Sax Russell is wanted by the authoritarian UNTA agency that controls economic development on Mars. He is a brilliant scientist and a leader of the Green Mars movement. In the Mars Trilogy, Saxifrage 'Sax' Russell despised Phyllis Boyle.

Mars trilogy