lurkers-guide/ftp/Guide/002.Soul-Hunter

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   _Contents:_ [9]Overview - [10]Backplot - [11]Questions - [12]Analysis
   - [13]Notes - [14]JMS
   
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Overview

     Delenn is in danger when a soul hunter, an alien who captures the
     souls of the dying, arrives at the station. [15]W. Morgan Sheppard
     as Soul Hunter #1. [16]John Snyder as Soul Hunter #2.
     
Sub-genre: Suspense
[17]P5 Rating: [18]7.05

Production number:  102
Original air date:  February 2, 1994

Written by J. Michael Straczynski
Directed by Jim Johnston

  Watch For
  
     * The Soul Hunter mentions the death of someone to Sinclair. That
       name will come up again.
     * [19]A fluid flowing the wrong way.
       
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Backplot

     * The soul hunter of this episode has visited Earth before.
     * Minbari are trained from childhood to protect their souls from
       soul hunters.
     * The soul hunter had a unique perspective on a significant event in
       Minbari history:
       
     [to Sinclair] "Minbari: jealous, selfish, private. We have saved
     only a few - very rare. The rarest of all, their leader Dukat,
     dying; your fault, your war; the pinnacle of Minbari evolution. We
     came, I, others. They made a wall of bodies to stop us! He died.
     And his dreams, his ideas - all that he was, all that he could ever
     be - gone... wasted... jealous..."
       Later he recognizes Delenn from the Grey Council, which was
       responsible for stopping him.
       
Unanswered Questions

     * Why do all races but humans know about soul hunters? Since they
       all share the Minbari's fear of them, do most of them share the
       [20]Minbari belief in reincarnation?
     * Why are so many non-humans [21]moving to Earth? They must face a
       fair amount of prejudice there. (cf: [22]"The War Prayer")
     * What are the "certain classes" of Minbari in which Delenn says
       soul hunters have always taken a particular interest?
     * "Your fault, your war," says the soul hunter to Sinclair,
       recounting [23]Dukat's death. Was he referring to humans in
       general, Sinclair in particular, or Dukat?
     * "If only you could see," says the soul hunter to Franklin.
       Apparently he can actually observe the soul's departure from a
       dying body. Later we see, possibly through Delenn's eyes, a blue
       wispy something escape as she breaks a soul vessel. Does this mean
       that Minbari too can see souls?
     * With a glimpse into Delenn's soul, the soul hunter exclaims, "You
       would plan such a thing? You would _do_ such a thing? Incredible."
       He's had a long history with the Minbari - what would so surprise
       him? (Revealed in [24]"Chrysalis" and [25]"Revelations")
     * Recovering in Medlab, Delenn says to Sinclair, "I knew you would
       come. We were right about you." Clearly, the Minbari have made
       predictions about him. However, Sinclair didn't really prove
       anything about his character by rescuing Delenn - someone else
       could easily have been the one to find her. Perhaps he's just
       fulfilled part of a prophecy, thereby confirming his role in it.
       (cf: [26]"Parliament of Dreams")
     * Combining the above questions, does Delenn's incredible plan
       involve the Minbari predictions about Sinclair?
     * As the soul hunter himself challenged, why is one of the great
       Minbari leaders acting as their ambassador on Babylon 5? Sinclair
       is now wondering the same thing.
       
Analysis

     * Delenn meets Sinclair just as he's going to check out the injured
       pilot, and offers to help him ID the fellow. She has a knack for
       being at the right place at the right time. (cf: [27]"The
       Gathering").
     * Sinclair did not call for backup when he encountered the soul
       hunter, even though there were four others nearby searching for
       Delenn. He has a tendency to put himself into dangerous
       situations. (cf: [28]"Infection")
     * During this episode there are three different stories told about
       the soul. Sinclair heard all three, and doesn't know which to
       believe. All he knows is what he saw.
       
        _Franklin:_
                There is no soul that survives the body. With advanced
                technology, he allows, one could preserve a record of
                someone's personality, but death is death.
                
        _Delenn:_
                All sentients have immortal souls. When a Minbari dies
                its soul merges with the souls of other dead Minbari.
                These are recycled into future generations, so as
                individuals advance their own souls, the Minbari as a
                whole advance.
                
        _soul hunter:_
                All sentients have _ephemeral_ souls. When a person dies,
                the soul expires into oblivion. However, soul hunters
                have a prescient attraction to death - if they so choose
                they can capture and preserve a soul "for the greater
                good" at the moment it leaves the body. They carry with
                them a bag full of the souls they have "saved", each in
                its own glass vessel.
                
       For a Minbari, the soul hunter's method of preservation is true
       death, for it cuts a soul off from the rest and diminishes the
       next generation; for a soul hunter, the true loss is _uncollected_
       souls.
       These are completely irreconcilable belief systems.
       
Notes

     * Dr. Franklin arrives on the starliner Asimov, which we see again
       later.
     * Dr. Kyle is on his way to a new assignment working with the
       president. He's much needed there what with "so many aliens
       migrating to Earth," as Franklin puts it.
     * The average human lifespan is almost 100 years.
     * Ivanova conducts a simple funeral with these words: "From the
       stars we came, and to the stars we return, from now until the end
       of time. We therefore commit this body to the deep."
     * The soul hunter tells Sinclair his opinion of the Minbari: "pale,
       bloodless, look in their eyes and see nothing but mirrors,
       infinities of reflection..."
     * When Delenn is recovering in medlab at the end of the episode,
       she's attached to a machine that should presumably be pumping
       blood back into her body. But the fluid is flowing out of her
       instead. The shot was played backwards so the director could get
       the camera movement he wanted.
       
jms speaks

     * Well, I just saw a cut of the episode that's going to air second,
       the one guest-starring Morgan Shepherd. Oh, man...on the question
       of Did you learn anything from the pilot...this thing *moves* like
       a sumbitch. It's a very unusual, very *creepy* episode in many
       ways. And filled with character stuff...and a good bit of
       background about some of our characters rendered in active ways.
       I'm really dying to see what people think of this one when it
       airs. It manages to take what would normally be considered a
       science *fantasy* issue, and deal with it from a science fiction
       perspective, without compromising on the latter at all. It's a
       very, *very* strong episode.
     * _Who's right, the soul hunter or the minbari?_
       Yes.
     * We leave the question open: Is he actually taking souls, or simply
       encoding the personality matrix and, in essence, creating an
       artificial version of the individual's personality?
     * The various characters take their own stands, which vary. Franklin
       only considers the possibility of cloning someone's personality
       matrix, for instance. And again, it depends on how you *define*
       soul. The Soul Hunter defines it not as something supernatural,
       but as the collection of thoughts, personality, feelings and the
       very essence of the person that dies with the body. That
       definition is broad enough to encompass just about anything. Then
       you get into the more specific ideas of what a soul is.
       One person at a post production house we've used has indicated
       that he has "theological problems" with working on that episode;
       not because it's *against* what he believes -- he's worked on
       horror movies and stuff with devils and the like -- but because it
       takes a point of view he doesn't much like...in that he has to sit
       and defend the whole *context* of his ideas...meaning, it's making
       him think. He can just poo-poo the stuff against what he believes,
       support what he does believe in...but he isn't quite sure where
       this show comes down, or where it makes *him* come down. I've had
       any number of problems with people on a show before, but this is
       the first time I've run into a theological problem.
     * What the soul was, who's right, and even whether this is SF or
       Science Fantasy, was it explained enough to merit one over the
       other ... how can I put this...? I don't want to spoon-feed stuff
       to people. What I want is not to hit someone with a MORAL, or a
       message, or "This is what a soul is," or "This is what makes it an
       SF series," I want to start discussions. Arguments. Preferably a
       bar fight or two.
       We present an issue. Here are the sides. Now...what do YOU think
       about it? I want this show to ask, "Who are you? Where are you
       going?" That's half the fun. Some of my favorites pastimes in
       college were sitting in the commons, or the library, arguing this
       stuff from every possible angle. You think I'm gonna tell you what
       to think? What it means? No. The goal is to provoke discussion.
       Preferably passionate discussion.
       Otherwise I might as well just start renting billboards and
       putting up signs.
     * Re: why soul hunter #1's ship was out of control...the second soul
       hunter comments that they've been tracking him, and caught up with
       him a few days ago. They attacked, "and he escaped, his ship
       damaged." That is what brought him here...and led his pursuers to
       this place as well.
     * _Will we see more soul hunters?_
       Eventually.
     * And yes, humans would probably have *heard* of Soul Hunters,
       distantly, as a legend. I see no reason why they would believe
       they existed, particularly with a title like that, unless and
       until actually encountering one.
     * Re: Sinclair's actions toward the Soul Hunter...the device he uses
       was trained on Delenn. It was spiraling up to full power
       throughout the scene. Just as Sinclair's thrown, you see it
       starting to come to critical mass...it's shooting at Delenn. There
       isn't/wasn't time to sit there and figure out how it works, and
       shut off the right button. He turned it so that it faced away from
       her...and the Hunter was caught in his own machine.
       There was nowhere else to go with the machine.
     * In "Soul Hunter," Franklin notes that the average human life span
       is now about a hundred years. It's quite a bit longer for the
       other races; G'Kar is about 70 or more, but is considered
       mid-range, equal to a human in early 40s, among Narns. Delenn is
       in about the same position, equal to 30s-40s in her terms, but in
       years a bit older. They are a pretty long lived people. Centauri
       aren't quite as long-lived, but they do a bit better than the
       Narns. The Vorlons......are.
     * To the question about a Soul Hunter's strength...yes, it is *very*
       considerable. Even with one arm he was able to slam the hell out
       of the commander, pick him up and again slam him against a wall
       before throwing him about 10 feet across the room. Had he not been
       stopped, and stopped good, yes, he would've torn Sinclair to
       ribbons.
     * Delenn was shattering the soul globes in order to let the souls
       escape, rather than playing with them. Look on the floor around
       her, and you'll see shattered globes. There should also be a sound
       of them breaking in her hands, the light goes out, and something
       escapes....
     * You're most definitely welcome; it was something we did to honor
       Asimov, who determined the shape of this genre for many writers.
     * Why is part of me tempted to decide that around the year 2223 the
       most revered figure in Earthforce Command was General Ira Asimov,
       a brilliant strategist for whom the liner was named....?
       There are certain benefits to a design-your-own-future
       universe....
     * I deeply admired Asimov. Harlan Ellison, this series consultant,
       was as dear a friend to Asimov as anyone could be. I named the
       starliner after Asimov shortly after his death, because I will
       personally miss him, and for Harlan, as his friend.
     * In your complaints regarding the commander flying off on
       occasional missions (and he only does it about 3 times out of 22
       episodes, so I hardly see this as a problem), you are forgetting
       several other *realities* of military life. If you're a pilot,
       even as a commander, you have to log in X-number of hours flying
       time per month in order to continue to qualify for flight pay.
       This is a *requirement*. And it doesn't just mean flying around
       the station a few times.
       Second, many commanders -- as recently as Vietnam and afterward --
       did and continue to go out on missions and sorties because it is
       rather expected of them, and because it maintains the respect of
       the rest of the squadron(s).
       Third, and possibly most important, Earthforce is the same as the
       contermporary Air Force in one important respect: promotion up the
       ranks is tied *directly* to combat experience and, in this case,
       combat flying. That's why women fighter pilots and helicopter
       pilots have been fighting so *vigorously* to be allowed to fly
       combat missions; they know that they can't be promoted fully up
       the line without that. Sinclair has no desire to be a commander
       all his life, he'd like to move on. Hence it behooves him to get
       in combat time whenever possible.
       Your statement that it "doesn't wash" has nothing to do with how
       the military *actually* works, and everything to do with the
       skewed and inaccurate portrayal of the military that you get from
       Trek. This is absolutely legitimate, and the B5 mailbox these days
       is partly crammed with letters from vets thanking us for getting
       this part right.
       I suppose I could mention this in passing in dialogue, but then it
       becomes a matter of sticking in dialogue not because it's
       important to an episode, but because some folks would like things
       explained to them. I don't think that's my responsibility.
     * I answered you elsewhere here on this topic earlier this evening.
       To just nit for a moment, to say that Sinclair picks up "every
       derelict ship" seems a little unfair...he's picked up *one*, and
       only one, and only picks up one this entire season. Why him? A)
       Because he's good at it, B) he could use the flight pay, C) it'll
       look good on his record, and D) because as he says as he leaves,
       it's a potential first-contact situation. (NOt to mention E, that
       he has a death-wish.)
       I would submit to you that this is NOT the same as having one
       character do a zillion different jobs on the station. I think that
       you're reacting to something you've seen on Trek, and are assuming
       based on an example of one that we're doing it in B5 as well.
       We're not. Also, in "Purple," Garibaldi sends a different team out
       to handle the gunfire, so there are others who do things. Question
       becomes, how many new and recurring characters do you want to
       introduce? There are currently *14* regular and recurring
       characters on B5, and there are many folks who are saying that's
       too many. As it is, we do introduce an aide to Garibaldi who takes
       care of some stuff for him. Just as Sinclair delegates to Ivanova,
       and Ivanova delegates to the observation dome techs.
       I just feel that you're leaping to a conclusion based on a paucity
       of evidence, built upon your experiences with another show. We're
       simply not doing this.
     * Normally, I don't tend to respond to negatives, because I don't
       generally want to get in the way or be perceived to be getting in
       the way of criticism. I don't. But I feel I have to respond to
       some of this. If the show is open to criticism, then it seems to
       me that some of the critiques should be open as well. And some of
       these I think are quite unfair.
       1) When did they move the jump gate (re: the time required to get
       from the gate by Kosh's ship, as opposed to the Hunter ship).
       They/we didn't. Once again, and I wish people could remember this,
       Kosh's ship BEGAN TO DECELERATE the instant it emerged from the
       gate, in order to dock with B5 without smashing into it. The Soul
       Hunter ship was out of control, careening in at full speed. (This
       was a widely discussed reason why the Vorlon fleet got to B5 so
       quickly as vs. Kosh's ship. They were moving fast to get into
       striking position.)
       2) The Hunter's ship was on autopilot, set to come out of the
       first gate it came to.
       3) There was still time for the station's defense grid to blow the
       ship. Yes, pieces would have continued onward, but a hell of a lot
       of its inertia would've been taken out by the incoming fire, and
       any remaining pieces would've either been taken out as well, or
       would have been so small as to not damage the hull (which is
       *very* thick at that point) given its blast-enforced deceleration.
       4) Yes, Sinclair would've gone up with it. You pays your money,
       you takes your chances.
       5) There was no "the Earth is going to explode" story here; you
       have a ship colliding with the station, that has to be stopped. It
       has to be stopped within the period between when it emerges from
       the gate, and the time it would collide. You want to know how much
       time you have to work in. Maybe it's a dramatic device, but it's
       also exactly what you would do. What would you prefer? "Lieutenant
       Commander, how much longer until impact?" "Uh...I dunno...can you
       hang on a second?"
       6) Re: the "funny forehead" comment...it was not what I've
       understood the FF syndrome to mean...a regular head with a little
       treatment on the front. This was a whole-head prosthetic, covering
       the entire back of the head. So wrong on that one. And re: n'grath
       having 6 legs rather than 4...who're you to say that? Ever seen a
       praying mantis? Do all insects all over the galaxy have to have
       six legs to qualify? You don't like minimal makeup, you don't like
       full-body prosthetics ...you understand that this comes out as
       "nothing will please me except a real alien." You tell me where to
       find one in Central Casting, and I'll hire him.
       7) Okay, here's my biggest gripe: the note that the soul aspect
       was Trek and "katra." Let me be clear on this: I don't give a damn
       what Trek has or has not done now, long ago, or will do in the
       future. We can't be constantly looking over our shoulder, limiting
       our universe because of another show. If your only frame of
       reference when it comes to discussing the soul is Star Trek, then
       that's profoundly disappointing, but it's got nothing to do with
       me. The basic concept goes back to the beginnings of civilization
       (that your soul can be captured somehow). Further, there were no
       soul hunters in ST, it was placement of one's spirit in another
       body. I'm getting real tired of the notion that if Trek did
       something, nobody else ever can do it. Like the person who said
       that Trek invented nanotechnology, and thus when we used it in the
       pilot episode in the nanotech machine G'Kar swallows, we were just
       copying Trek's nanites.
       I refuse to surrender creative control of this series to the ghost
       of Star Trek's used notions. From time to time, we'll cross into
       areas they have also touched. We'll touch it differently. Deal
       with it. But please don't put a Star Trek (tm) tag on the soul,
       and the history of the soul.
       8) You say a guard's gun was taken *twice* in this episode. Where
       is #2 (if #1 is the medlab guard)? I see a guard being attacked
       from behind, but not his gun being taken.
       9) Re: the second soul hunter's makeup being "inferior" to the
       first: they were essentially exactly the same...same material,
       same design, minus the stone, which varied...I'm sorry, but they
       were made, applied and used in exactly the same way.
       10) Why drain her of blood? Why the hell not? In some countries,
       that was used as a means of execution. Bleeding was also used (in
       theory) to heal. Okay, let's say he used poison. "Why use poison?"
       you probably would've asked. "Oh, it was the old poison gag, and
       they find a convenient antidote." There's no difference.
       11) How did the hunter relate his sense of death to a wall map? I
       ask again...why not? If you can buy it happens at all, why not?
       How is that any different than walking through a hall, or being
       drawn to a planet? This is strictly a straw-man example, as is
       much of what you cite.
       This, frankly, is what I find so offensive in your note. You take
       things that as a matter of opinion you might have done
       differently, and then try to hold it up as a fault. You set up
       straw man arguments that could be just as easily turned around on
       anything, mischaracterizing something in order to take a cheap
       shot.
       12) Why didn't Sinclair link in when he found the hunter? Because
       he only "found" the hunter when he was being SHOT AT. And at that
       point you don't want to raise your voice because you'll be shot at
       again.
       13) You complain that the soul globes seemed to wait until the
       moment Sinclair freed them to act (as though it were the bag that
       had been holding them in). Sure, they could've emerged...and
       floated. A lot of good that would've done them. What they needed
       was someone who could stop him, and that was Sinclair's task. They
       were able to distract the hunter long enough for that to happen.
       Minus Sinclair, what were they supposed to do, bedazzle him to
       death?
       14) Re: shining things into the camera = NBC Mystery Movie. See
       point 11a above. I'm not responsible for your cultural reference
       points.
       I don't mean to yell, but thing is, I don't mind genuine
       criticism, if we specifically do something that is objectively
       *wrong*. If you don't like something, that's also fine. But I'm
       tired of people who confuse opinion with fact, and that if it
       isn't done their way, then it isn't somehow *right*...and the
       notion that Star Trek has invented, patented and qualified for
       sole claim on whole aspects of our history, literature, culture,
       theology and language, and that anybody who touches on these areas
       is just doing Trek stuff.
       As far as I'm concerned, the Trek-soul-katra thing treated the
       soul as little more than a misplaced pair of sunglasses. Here we
       tried to get into the issues *behind* the soul...where does it
       come from, where does it go, does it survive the death of the
       body, or does it go on ...to give some mystery and beauty to the
       notion. To have it dismissed as just another riff on katra is
       offensive and insulting and narrow. And all of those issues just
       seemed to flit by without comment.
       I don't mean to get angry, but this is one I'm very proud of, and
       to see it sideswiped and mischaracterized and straw-man'd to death
       in this fashion is just something that I had to respond to.
     * Re: your statement that the headwear of the S.H. is "stolen" from
       the Ferengi...may I be so bold as to respond to your rather loud
       note with some volume of my own? To wit: watch something other
       than Star Trek, and maybe spend a little time learning stuff about
       your own world. The headware is based upon the kind used in
       various african and aboriginal tribes. Trek didn't invent it; we
       have photos of its use through history, as well as sketches going
       back further. As it happens, the costume designer has never seen
       "DS9," doesn't watch TNG, has no idea what a Ferengi is. Neither
       do I intend to not do something, based in real history, just
       because some other show has done drawn on that same background.
       You clearly think that if something appeared in ST, then ST must
       have invented it, and that if it appears anywhere else, it must've
       been influenced by ST. Wrong on both counts. I would suggest that
       you have been watching too much ST, and not nearly enough of the
       Discovery Channel.
     * Re: the medical tools...we brought in a medical science
       consultant, who helped us design our instruments. His sense was
       that we're moving more and more toward light as a system of
       treatment, non-invasive procedures, that sort of thing. No, there
       aren't anything like those devices in today's operating
       rooms...but this is 250 years from now. In any event, it *is*
       based on the latest info we're getting on new science from our
       medical advisor.
     * I would not describe n'grath as a "Mafia boss," since that's a
       very specific term. Nor is it really any kind of organization.
       He's a fixer, somebody you go to when you need something...a
       bodyguard, forged identicards, what-have-you.
     * Garibaldi is quite aware of n'grath...and knowing that if he just
       vanished, somebody'd take his place in five minutes, prefers the
       trouble he knows to the trouble he'd have to track down.
       
     _________________________________________________________________
                                      
   Originally compiled by Matthew Ryan _matt@uhs.uchicago.edu_

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