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- <!-- TITLE In Valen's Name, Part 3 -->
-
- <h2><a name="OV">Overview</a></h2>
-
- <blockquote><cite>
- The return of Babylon 4 leads the crew to a dangerous encounter and Delenn
- to revelations about the life of Valen.
- </cite></blockquote>
-
- <p>
- Issue 14 (March 1998)
-
- <p>
- Setting: Season four, after
- <a href="/lurk/guide/072.html">"Into the Fire"</a>
-
- <pre> Writer: Peter David
- Artist: Mike Collins</pre>
-
- <p>
- <hr>
- <p>
-
- <h2><a name="SY">Synopsis</a></h2>
-
- <p>
- Ramde Haxtur leads his people in prayer to the Z'ondar, aboard the Tak'Cha
- flagship. He recalls how they fell from the Z'ondar's grace long ago and
- now hope to be worthy of his greatness someday. Haxtur tells Cozon to
- prepare the ships for battle; he will personally lead an attack on Ende
- X'ton to rid it of the alien invaders. This, he says,
- will be done in the Z'ondar's name.
-
- <p>
- Ivanova contemplates what Sinclair would do if faced with alien attackers
- while plummeting headlong into a planet's atmosphere on a derelict space
- station. Ultimately, she decides that only course of action is to bend over
- and kiss herself good-bye.
-
- <p>
- Ivanova counts twenty Tak'Cha ships. Sheridan takes the fighter Garibaldi
- got up and running, hoping his experience with the White Stars will afford
- him the skills needed to pilot it. Ivanova has her doubts, for he has never
- flown a Minbari ship before.
-
- <p>
- Delenn access the recording of a Tak'Cha disciple of Valen, named Ramde
- Zarwin. According to Zarwin, his people joined Valen's crusade against the
- Shadows and fully embraced his teachings. However, Valen felt that they had
- perverted his teachings and cast them out. Zarwin himself was there for
- Valen's "Times to Come" speech and was awed by Valen's Vorlon escorts, who
- appeared to him as Tak'Cha gods. In Zarwin's eyes, Valen was sent by the
- gods. Valen eventually based the Anla'Shok's staff on a Tak'Cha weapon
- called a barrken, and Zarwin taught him to use such a weapon. Zarwin was
- humbled and amazed at how quickly Valen outstripped his teacher's skills.
- However, Valen was disturbed to learn that the Tak'Cha had mis-interpreted
- his teachings to mean that one should relish the glory of fighting a war for
- a cause.
-
- <p>
- Sheridan, in an effort to stall the Tak'Cha, flies out among their ships but
- then simply spins in place. The Tak'Cha are confused by the tactic, but do
- not attack. Instead they watch warily until Sheridan accidentally fires on
- the lead ship, mistaking the firing controls for the reverse thrusters.
- Haxtur is furious at being shot at and opens fire on Sheridan's ship.
-
- <p>
- Zarwin recalls how Valen called him, Rashok, and Nukenn before him. Valen
- had planned to assign the three of them a mission, hoping at least one of
- them would succeed in seeing it through. The mission: to hold a message for
- Delenn for a thousand years, then deliver it to her in time to prevent the
- Earth-Minbari War. However, his Vorlon companion wisely reminded him that
- without the war, he would never gone into the past, which would have meant
- no Valen, no Babylon 4, and no defeat of the Shadows. Like it or not, Valen
- was powerless to alter history and prevent the deaths of millions.
-
- <p>
- The Tak'Cha disable Sheridan's fighter, and he crashes the ship into the
- station's Cobra Bay. There is a large explosion, but he (and Garibaldi, who
- happened to be in the bay) survives.
-
- <p>
- Zarwin further recalls how Valen became outraged upon hearing that the
- Tak'Cha had decimated the Yolu and numerous other races who had refused to
- fight in Valen's war against the Shadows. In the Tak'Cha's mind, any
- unwilling to follow Valen into the fire and the darkness must be punished,
- and they believed they should be the punishers, and that Valen would want it
- this way. Horrified that so many innocent lives were taken in his name, he
- cast them out. Ashamed, they returned home, unsure how they had failed the
- Z'ondar but hopeful of one day serving him again.
-
- <p>
- Ivanova informs Sheridan that their rate of descent has increased, with only
- three or four hours until they burn up. The Tak'Cha board Babylon 4 and
- plant explosives to flush the aliens out. However, Delenn appeals to them
- with a gesture of friendship and the phrase, "Z'ondar -- Zarwin -- Tak'Cha
- -- Minbari." Having worshipped her name for a millennium, they are in awe
- of her and immediately break off their attack. The Tak'Cha rescue the
- Babylon 5 team, and together they watch as the older station meets its fate.
- As the station burns up, Delenn recalls a final recording of Valen's words:
-
- <p>
- "My name is Valen... and I have served my people like no other. I led them
- into fire... into darkness... into death... and they followed me without
- hesitation. They acclaim my victories and hail me as a great leader. They
- speak of my successes as if they are as infinite as the stars. And yet, for
- all that I've accomplished... I lie awake, listening to the screams of the
- dead and dying, those who are already gone, and those are yet to be born. A
- few words from me could avert the Earth-Minbari conflict. A warning to
- Delenn or Duhkat... But without the war, there would be no Babylon 4 and no
- Babylon 5. There would be no rallying point against the Darkness... and the
- Shadows would win, now and a thousand years from now. I cannot deviate from
- the circle of which I am a part. I am the beginning of the story, as
- Zathras said... and a prisoner of it. I dare not change the end. Still...
- it's been a good life... lives... over all. Delenn, Catherine, Susan,
- Michael... if any of you see this somehow.. don't cry for me. For in the
- final analysis, I've always been too hard on myself. I'll be content to let
- history judge me, and all that has been done in Valen's name. And as for
- me... I've received my own reward, because I've found her. At long last...
- I've found... her."
-
-
-
- <H2><A NAME="BP">Plot Points</A></H2>
-
- <H2><A NAME="UQ">Unanswered Questions</A></H2>
- <ul>
-
- <li> Who did Valen find? Catherine?
-
- </ul>
-
- <H2><A NAME="AN">Analysis</A></H2>
-
- <H2><A NAME="NO">Notes</A></H2>
- <ul>
- <li> This story first appeared in the official B5 magazine in
- the UK. It wasn't published standalone in the US until three months
- later.
-
- <li> Synopsis by Rich Handley
- <a href="mailto:cardsafe@unix.asb.com">cardsafe@unix.asb.com</a>.
-
- </ul>
-
-
- <H2><A NAME="JMS">jms speaks</A></H2>
-
- <pre>
-
- </pre>
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