33 replies to this topic

[The Admiral]

In the film, we first hear Silva's name after he's been captured and is in quarantine. M calls him Mr Silva. He then shouts at M to call him by his real name - which she doesn't. Once she's left, she tells Bond what his real name is, Tiago Rodriguez, and why she gave him up to the Chinese.

My question is why is there another name for him? And where does it come from?

[thecasinoroyale]

That's what I was thinking - no answers given. But when Bond and Silva meet, no names are given, so the first time we hear it, M knows it already - so is this a name she gave him out of Station H back when he was with MI6?

So the fact she uses it, he snaps because that's not his name, the name she gave him, he has a REAL name and he wants her to remember that.

I don't know - I hope it comes clear somehow...!

[The Admiral]

But she knows his real name, so why not use it?

I'm guessing he adopted the new name after he evaded capture from the Chinese (I'm guessing he escaped) so that no one would know he was alive. M said his name was on the memorial wall at MI6, assuming she was referring to Tiago Rodriguez, and that it would be struck off. Once M had captured him, he could use his original name - and he wanted M to call him this, as there was no point using his cover name.

But the question still remains - how did M know his cover name was Silva?

He know's James's name when they first meet, but he doesn't introduce himself.

[AgenttiNollaNollaSeitsemän]

But she knows his real name, so why not use it?

Because of spite. Raoul Silva was probably originally Rodriguez's nom de guerre - his cover identity when working for MI6 in Hong Kong.

Edited by AgenttiNollaNollaSeitsemän, 28 October 2012 - 08:49 PM.

[MkB]

It did not seem to be strange to me.
Presumably, he has a "real" name, Rodriguez, under which he was known as an MI6 agent. When he went rogue, it made sense for him to get a new name to operate, and he picked Silva. From a close scrutiny of the trailers, we know that the username under which he uploads videos of the NATO agents on YouTube is a reshuffle of the letters in "SILVA".
By the time he's confronted with M, he has presumably been already interrogated, so it's only normal that all MI6 staff know his "Silva" identity, even if he's not spelled it out for the audience.

[JCRendle]

Ah Admiral, long time no see - Good to have you back around these parts. Now, on topic:- I believe it's a way of showing that M used her agents like pawns. Something that could be used and discarded. She doesn't think of him as him, but by his alias - a way of, in his mind, degrading him as a person.

Why Rodriguez/Silva has an alias and James Bond doesn't (It's not a code name, the grave stone proves that, Mr Tamahori) is the thing that got me wondering.

[AgenttiNollaNollaSeitsemän]

My guess is that M had a gut feeling all along who was behind the attack.

Why Rodriguez/Silva has an alias and James Bond doesn't (It's not a code name, the grave stone proves that, Mr Tamahori) is the thing that got me wondering.

Bond has used several "MI6-sanctioned" aliases - Robert Sterling and Bryce are the most recent.

Edited by AgenttiNollaNollaSeitsemän, 28 October 2012 - 08:54 PM.

[JCRendle]

Why Rodriguez/Silva has an alias and James Bond doesn't (It's not a code name, the grave stone proves that, Mr Tamahori) is the thing that got me wondering.

Bond has used several "MI6-sanctioned" aliases - Robert Sterling and Bryce are the most recent.

True, but they were throw away names. Not a whole alias that he was known by. In MI6 he is James Bond, Rodriguez, predominately, seems to be known as Silva.

True, I'm basing this off a few lines of dialogue in one film - so I may be mistaken.

[Pussfeller]

So "Silva" is sort of like "St. John-Smythe".

[thecasinoroyale]

Pretty much - Bond has Robert Sterling, Tiago Rodriguez has Raoul Silva.

But it annoys the hell out of him when his former boss who he would give his life for still calls him by the former name he was known as, Silva.

[JCRendle]

But it annoys the hell out of him when his former boss who he would give his life for still calls him by the former name he was known as, Silva.

I think this was the point.

[tiagojb]

Hi. It's been a long time since I last posted on CBn, but maybe I have some interesting info about his name. I myself am named Tiago ( I'm glad with a villain with the same name as mine), that's a Portuguese/Brazilian name. Curious enough, it's English version is James (references of translations worldwide, for it is also a biblical name). Maybe the writers are kinda saying that Tiago was some kind of James (Bond), a kind that went wrong. Silva clearly mentions he was one of M's favorites, as Bond is.

[thecasinoroyale]

Welcome to the boards Tiago! Thank you for that information too - that's very interesting it's an English version of James.

A popular name for spies in MI6 it seems...!

[SecretAgentFan]

Tiago = James?

That is shocking... Thanks for the heads up!

[HellIsHere]

Yes, the Portuguese translation of James is... Tiago. I can confirm that.

[Pussfeller]

In fact, wasn't there a Fleming novel where Felix calls Bond "Santiago"?

[Vauxhall]

Portuguese speakers - is the surname more likely to be spelt Rodriguez or Rodrigues?

[AgenttiNollaNollaSeitsemän]

In fact, wasn't there a Fleming novel where Felix calls Bond "Santiago"?

Santiago, or Saint James, was the codeword cried out in Goldfinger.

[tiagojb]

In Brazil, the name would be spelled Rodrigues. In fact, that's one of my father's surnames.

[Major Tallon]

In fact, wasn't there a Fleming novel where Felix calls Bond "Santiago"?

Goldfinger, chapter 21.

[bonds_walther]

Thanks for the information, Tiago.

Edited by bonds_walther, 31 October 2012 - 10:02 AM.

[marktmurphy]

Was anyone else sort of worried he might turn out to be M's son when he said he had another name?

[SecretAgentFan]

Was anyone else sort of worried he might turn out to be M's son when he said he had another name?

Yes! I was even worried that M could have been revealed as Bond´s real mother.

[Whalltt]

Portuguese speakers - is the surname more likely to be spelt Rodriguez or Rodrigues?

In Portuguese it's spelt Rodrigues. But commonly, english speakers promounce it ...guez.

Javier Bardem in an interview to a portuguese cinema show when asked about Silva being a very common portuguese name, admitted that they imagined a portuguese ancestry to the caracter, even though it's irrelevant to the plot in the film.

It's here at 03:40

http://www.tvi.iol.pt/videos/13729057

[bonds_walther]

When he said that Silva was not his real name, I started thinking it might have been a name from Bond's past. B-L-O...

Then I thought, no - it can't be.

I had been staying spoiler free and I did recall rumours of a return for Blofeld. It turns out that his real name was much more imaginative!

[seawolfnyy]

I think Silva was simply his code name while working in Hong Kong and his real name is Tiago Rodriguez.

[Iceskater101]

Yeah that's what I thought too. Or Jason Bourne that's not his original name, it was Daniel something I thought. So maybe he had that name and then he adopted the name Silva when he was doing missions. Or when he was deserted by MI6 he wanted a different name since Tiago was dead when he was captured. I don't know.

[Goldbadge]

During some of the movie I was actually thinking not that M was his mother, but that maybe Silva was Bond's half brother or something similar, or if not related, and more likely, that he was also raised for a time at Skyfall and had contact with Bond at an early age before being adopted or something similar.

[007jamesbond]

Silva=Alias name
Rodrigues=birth name

simple as that

[Duško Popov]

Not sure if this thread has come to an answer yet but as a spy thriller writer I think I know what's happened:

 

Tiago Rodriguez is his real name. Raoul Silva is the alias he has been living with, on his island. M refers to him as Mr. Silva, avoiding calling him by his real name, because she is ashamed of what he has become. She removes his personal feelings by calling him by his alias and not his real name.

As for how she knew the alias name, Bond most likely mentioned it in a report (Bond films tend to ignore reports because they're boring for the viewer) or MI6 ran Rodriguez through their system after he was captured, and found the name Raoul Silva.

He illegally obtained the island he resides on, but he most likely put all of the land in his name to cover himself legally anyway; Raoul Silva would have been the pseudonym used in the ownership documents.

 

Any more intelligence knowledge required?