Seems my original reply on the subject went astray, not sure how.
Anyway, since I was away at the time of the original thread and only caught the tail end, I'd just like to thank you for giving me the opportunity to give my two penneth on the episode.
I see 'Deliverance' as a defining episode for Avon.
I see it as a significant, but not necessarily defining, one.
An episode that brought
one more dimension to his character. This is over-simplifying, but I see a 'kinder, gentler' Avon here. Which is way out of character for what we've seen up to this point.
Actually, I don't see anything out of character in Avon's actions at all. Avon, while proving his leadership abilities to Blake, manages to lose Jenna; to save face, he returns and strikes a bargain with one of the natives in exchange for shelter and help finding her--notice that he doesn't help Meegat, other than by switching the lights on, until he knows Jenna is safe. It's not unknown for him to agree to provide a service in exchange for the help he needs to achieve his own ends, nor, for that matter, to fancy a woman.
Just as 'Aftermath'
showed us that Avon does have some social manners and that he can be a gracious guest,
Well, we've always been told that Avon is above all a civilized man, and since he was in the house of a fellow rebel who admires his work, he was hardly likely to smash up the furniture and rape the Mellanby women...
But in this case, I felt he was genuinely touched by Meegat's pathetic,
There's something pathetic about her, it's true...
selfless devotion to the prophecy and by her genuine innosence.
Hang on, though, I think there's something deeper here. Operating from the hypothesis that Deliverance is a riddle, a test if you will, I think Meegat can be seen as (forgive me, feminist faction) the bait in the trap.
The Fathers, we learn, needed a man (Meegat is looking for a Lord, not just anyone) with the skills to fire off the rocket-- an outworlder, presumably, as the local population don't seem up to the task. Now, if that man is the sort to fire off the rocket out of the goodness of his own heart, then all he needs is someone to point him in the right direction. Most people, however, need a little more incentive than that.
Furthermore, you don't want him sticking around afterwards, or talking to too many people while he's there. Messiahs who hang about after they save the world can be dangerous. And the Fathers were very aware that their Messiah was only a man, and thus that whatever action he took after he'd fired off the rocket, he could never come up to people's expectations.
Consequently, you set up a scenario in which your technical expert is greeted by a pretty young woman with a request for help, and who knows how to identify the man with the skills needed to fire off the rocket. By appealing to his erotic rather than his intellectual or other faculties, you ensure that he'll stick around long enough to do the task, but that he won't hang about for too long afterwards; as the great poet said, cookin' lasts and kissin' don't. A much more sensible approach than that of the society in 'Time Squad,' whose aggressive attitude got their gene bank thrown into the void for their pains.
When Avon enters the cave he is initially wary. However, Meegat, by appealing to his ego, holds his interest long enough for him to work out that a bargain of mutual benefit can be struck.
While he works, he has contact with no one from the Cephlon society--which might reveal the hero's feet of clay--other than Meegat. And yes, there does seem to be an attraction between them during this-- but evidently not one with a strong enough pull to keep him there or to cause him to take her with him.
By leaving, however, Avon frees the population. He has to disillusion poor Meegat in doing so, of course. But by disillusioning her, he leaves her and her society free to get on with their lives, post-prophecy.