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- ### GUIDE ### [3][Background] [4][Synopsis] [5][Credits] [6][Episode
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- _Contents:_ [9]Overview - [10]Backplot - [11]Questions - [12]Analysis
- - [13]Notes - [14]JMS
-
- _________________________________________________________________
-
- Overview
-
- Sheridan tricks the League of Non-Aligned Worlds into accepting his
- proposed defense pact. Delenn tries to work with an old rival to
- defuse a brewing Minbari civil war. [15]John Vickery as Neroon.
-
- [16]P5 Rating: [17]8.33
-
- Production number: 413
- Original air week: May 12, 1997
-
- Written by J. Michael Straczynski
- Directed by Mike Vejar
-
- _________________________________________________________________
-
- Plot Points
-
- * The League of Non-Aligned Worlds has agreed to give the White Star
- fleet authority to operate as a police force along its borders.
- * Civil war has broken out in the Minbari capital city.
- * Three quarters of Clark's cabinet resigned in protest of his
- martial law decree.
-
- Unanswered Questions
-
- * Is Neroon really betraying Delenn?
- * The episode focused on the religious and warrior castes. What
- happened to the worker caste? Are they participating in the
- fighting, and if so, which side have they taken?
-
- Analysis
-
- * Will the Non-Aligned Worlds' pledge to help Sheridan with any
- larger missions extend to his conflict with President Clark? Even
- in its diminished state, the combined forces of the Non-Aligned
- Worlds' navies would likely be a great asset if the conflict came
- down to a direct, prolonged series of battles. On the other hand,
- intervening in internal Earth matters isn't what the ambassadors
- had in mind; they might balk at sending their ships to die for the
- cause of overthrowing Earth's government.
- * By allowing the White Star fleet to patrol Centauri space in
- search of the Drakh (among others,) Londo has given Sheridan
- direct influence over the ability of the Shadows' allies to exact
- their revenge on Centauri Prime. Perhaps that's the source of
- Londo's comment in [18]"War Without End" about Sheridan allowing
- the Shadows' dark servants to slip through to Centauri Prime; if
- Sheridan uses the White Star fleet for some larger mission as he
- hints he might, it'll presumably be at the cost of Centauri
- Prime's defense against the Drakh.
- * During the conversation between Londo and the Drazi ambassador,
- Londo's duplicity is underscored by the staging of the scene. In
- most of the scene, two images of Londo can be seen: his reflection
- in the mirror or his portrait. The rest of the time his face is
- obscured by a curtain.
- * In the past, Delenn has attempted to preserve Lennier's innocence
- (e.g. by trying to leave him behind in [19]"Atonement.") But from
- Lennier's point of view, she has an innocence of her own, and he
- sees himself as its guardian.
- * Neroon may not be betraying Delenn at all; he told Shakiri the he
- knew the religious caste's counterattack plans, but Delenn made no
- mention of a counterattack. It's possible his departure was, in
- fact, all part of Delenn's plan; Lennier wasn't privy to the
- conversation between Delenn and Neroon, so he wouldn't know the
- details and would be fooled by Neroon's departure.
- * By revealing how much she relies on Lennier, Delenn may have given
- valuable information to an opponent. Neroon was honorable enough
- and helped Lennier, and seems uninterested in directly battling or
- hurting Delenn (if he'd been interested in that, he wasted several
- opportunities while on her ship.) But if Neroon passes the
- information along to Shakiri, Lennier may find himself in danger.
- * Neroon said of the situation on Minbar, "We are a world gone mad."
- That's the same thing one of the council members told Delenn in
- [20]"Atonement," before declaring, as Neroon did, that the fire
- would have to burn itself out and couldn't be stopped. Yet the
- Earth-Minbari War did stop abruptly; perhaps the same will happen
- in this case.
- * Neroon's comment about loving a good mystery also echoed
- [21]"Atonement," in which Delenn said to the Grey Council that
- mysteries are a gift from the universe and shouldn't be ignored.
- * The religious caste member said he heard Delenn say, "The
- religious caste could not be allowed to win this war." But she
- actually said, "The warrior caste cannot be allowed to win this
- war. The religious caste cannot be allowed to win either." Was he
- simply embellishing a half-overheard comment (e.g. if he only
- heard the second sentence up to "win") or did he choose to ignore
- or lie about the context?
- * The religious caste has been the butt of jokes about surrendering
- "ever since the war," according to the same religious caste
- member. Clearly that can't be referring to the Shadow War, since
- they didn't surrender. Does the comment indicate that most Minbari
- still consider the Earth-Minbari War to be the major war of recent
- memory? Since the warrior caste is the group making the jokes, the
- implication is that they didn't particularly participate in the
- Shadow War.
- * The two storylines in the episode can be seen as point and
- counterpoint on the subject of deception and secrecy (the title is
- evidence that this isn't an accident.) Delenn kept her plans
- secret from her compatriots and nearly died with them as a result.
- Neroon was attacked for the same reason. Sheridan kept secrets as
- well, and asked Franklin and Londo to lie for him, and it helped
- his plans come to fruition.
- Lennier's deception played into the theme; he kept the true nature
- of the sabotage from Delenn, with no immediate ill effect.
- However, it's possible that by maintaining Delenn's excessive
- faith in her caste, Lennier in fact deprived her of vital
- information she'd do well to take into account in the future.
- Ivanova held fast to the ideal of truth, but every other major
- player in the story participated in some form of deception: the
- rebellious religious caste members hid their plot, the League
- ambassadors kept their "knowledge" of the new enemy from Sheridan,
- and Neroon lied to either Delenn or Shakiri about his intentions.
-
- Notes
-
- * Delenn mentioned this as the second time she'd seen Lennier near
- death. The first was in [22]"Convictions," in which he risked his
- life to save Londo Mollari.
- * Ivanova tells Sheridan that Marcus is waiting for him on channel
- 4. That's a reference to the network that shows B5 in the UK.
- * Editing glitch: during the opening scene, a piece of food appears
- on Marcus' fork while the camera shifts to Sheridan; the scene
- shifts again and he hasn't picked the food up yet.
-
- jms speaks
-
- * The Sheridan stuff was fun, in that I got to play Sheridan as the
- one being manipulative for a change, smart for a change...not just
- Londo or the usual suspects. It made for a nifty change of pace.
- And yeah, Mira brought a lot of truth to this episode...and will
- bring even more in next week.
- * _Ivanova looked like she was reading from a teleprompter._
- Yeah, we had Claudia use a teleprompter there to add to the sense
- of having to read something...and enjoy the happy-go-lucky
- Sheridan...it's the last you'll see of him for a long time....
- * _Lennier seems to be doing more peacemaking than Delenn. Is he the
- real bridge between races? Why does the religious caste follow
- Delenn?_
- No, I wouldn't say Lennier is a bridge in any sense along those
- lines.
- Delenn, you must understand, is a True Seeker, and among the
- religious caste there isn't much more admirable than
- that...combined with the fact that she *did* fulfill prophecy, she
- *was* the chosen of Dukhat, she *did* help end the Shadow
- War...yeah, she's had some problems here and there, but what
- important leader doesn't? Any one of those items would be a
- sufficient crown on a lifetime of achievement...the cumulative
- effect is quite daunting and impressive.
- * _Are Lennier's patience, humor, and devotion unique?_
- No, many Minbari share in those traits.
- * "Are tears a normal Minbari physical reaction, or is weeping (for
- Delenn) one of the changes mandated by her chrysalitic"
- We've seen Delenn cry before, when she and G'Kar were in her
- quarters and she was explining why she did not get involved in the
- Narn/Centauri war.
- * _How did Londo see an Earth sitcom if all broadcasts to B5 are
- being jammed?_
- Easy. The incident Londo is mentioning happened prior to the
- blackout. He never said it *just* happened, he said the *last*
- time Rebo and Zooty did their routine, everybody was doing it.
- * _Were Rebo and Zooty references to real people?_
- No, not intended as tributes to anyone, just a cool sounding pair
- of names (but also annoying sounding).
-
-
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- [29]Last update: June 10, 1997
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- References
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- 15. http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Vickery,+John
- 16. file://localhost/lurk/p5/intro.html
- 17. file://localhost/lurk/p5/079
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- 23. file://localhost/lurk/lurker.html
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- 27. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/078.html
- 28. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/080.html
- 29. file://localhost/lurk/lastmod.html
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