Binro

Binro was an outcast living in the city of Shur. He realised the lights in the night sky over Ribos were not ice crystals, but in fact distant suns, not unlike the sun his own world circled. He took measurements, developing a rudimentary astronomy in the process, and was able to prove that the two seasons of "Icetime" and "Suntime" were due to the change in distance of Ribos from its sun.

His discoveries, however, were counter to Ribosian religious doctrine, which claimed that the change of seasons was due to an eternal battle between the Sun gods and Ice gods, and he was branded a heretic. It is implied he was tortured while being forced to recant.

Through a chance meeting with an off-worlder, Unstoffe, Binro learned that he was correct in his discoveries, Unstoffe telling Binro the truth about his own origins and assuring him that one day in the future the people of Ribos would recognise that he had been right. He repaid this kindness by helping Unstoffe escape the Graff Vynda-K.

Attempting to warn Binro of the Graff Vynda-K's approach, he was shot and died in Unstoffe's arms. (DW: The Ribos Operation)