The Coffee Shop Tribute To Ianto Jones

"You will never be just a blip in time, Ianto Jones."

‘The stream will cease to flow;

The wind will cease to blow;

The clouds will cease to fleet;

The heart will cease to beat;

For all things must die.’

An extract from All Things Will Die,

By Lord Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892)

On July 9th 2009, the world belonging to Ianto Jones came crashing to the ground. After releasing Jack Harkness from the concrete engulfed cell in Ashton Down, both Ianto and Jack entered Thames House and confronted the 456. It was to be the last battle Ianto faced. The 456 released a toxic virus into the building, sealing the fate of all the office staff and that of the young Welshman. He died in Jack’s arms.

To many, Ianto seems to have given voice to a segment of the LGBT population who were very glad to have a beautiful and witty metrosexual spokesperson.  It didn't hurt that he was shagging the omnisexual Captain Jack himself.  He represented the struggle for self-acceptance, coming to terms with his own perception of sexuality and sexual expression.  As time went by, Ianto became the hero he so obviously wanted to be, and as we know, the legend of a hero is what lasts in the psyche long after the hero is gone.  He longed for a place to belong and he found his niche, filling in the gaps where other team-members' specializations failed.  Ianto, quite literally, seemed to know everything.

He was more than simply a man learning to understand his own heart; Ianto, whether butler or gun-toting operative, was a boy who came to manhood in Torchwood, where no one ever lives to draw their pension.