The Lurker's Guide to Babylon 5
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  1. In Darkness Find Me
  2. [1][ISMAP]-[2][Home]
  3. [3]
  4. ### GUIDE ### [4][Index] [5][Next]
  5. Overview
  6. Commander Sinclair is recalled to Earth and discovers a long-kept
  7. secret that leads to a new assignment.
  8. Issue 1 (January 1995, released December 6, 1994)
  9. Setting: Between [6]"Chrysalis" and [7]"Points of Departure"
  10. Writer: J. Michael Straczynski
  11. Penciller: Michael Netzer
  12. Inker: Rob Leigh
  13. Colorist: Robbie Busch
  14. Letterer: Tracy Hampton Munsey
  15. _________________________________________________________________
  16. Synopsis
  17. A few days after being recalled from Babylon 5 (cf. episode [8]"Points
  18. of Departure") Commander Sinclair is languishing in Earthdome, Geneva,
  19. waiting for someone to tell him why he was called back. His nights, as
  20. always, are filled with horrible dreams, replays of the Battle of the
  21. Line. He tries to prevail on a senator to tell him what's going on,
  22. but is rebuffed, with an additional admonition to stop spreading
  23. rumors about President Santiago being assassinated.
  24. Then, in the middle of the night on January 6, 2259, some
  25. heavily-armed men escort Sinclair to see President Clark. Clark
  26. introduces him to Rathenn, of the Minbari Grey Council. Rathenn
  27. introduces himself and says he's come to take Sinclair back to his
  28. home. Not Mars Colony, where his body was born -- but to his soul's
  29. home.
  30. Rathenn uses a triluminary on Sinclair, who is suddenly able to recall
  31. in full what happened after he was taken aboard the Grey Council's
  32. cruiser at the Battle of the Line (cf. episode [9]"And the Sky Full of
  33. Stars.") He was drugged, interrogated about Earth targets, and
  34. tortured after he tried to escape. He recalls the whispers of the Grey
  35. Council as Delenn confirms that he has a Minbari soul.
  36. Rathenn explains that every human pilot the Grey Council examined had
  37. a Minbari soul, or part of a Minbari soul, and that the Minbari
  38. population has been declining for the past six thousand years. At
  39. first the Grey Council blamed the soul hunters (cf. episode [10]"Soul
  40. Hunter") but the decline was too great to be accounted for that way.
  41. That day, they discovered why the Minbari race was dying, where all
  42. the souls were going. Since no Minbari had killed another in thousands
  43. of years, the Grey Council surrendered.
  44. Clark says that the Grey Council told the Earth government of their
  45. findings, and that both the government and the Council agreed the
  46. information would not be taken well by the public. Earth officials
  47. gave the Council permission to wipe Sinclair's memory; they were on
  48. the verge of defeat and weren't about to object to such a small demand
  49. by the Minbari. "We were dying," Clark explains later, after Rathenn
  50. has left. "It didn't matter that it was insane... _Everything_ was
  51. insane. If it made them stop killing us... well, that was fine by us."
  52. Clark tells Sinclair he's free to resign his commission with full
  53. retirement pay. Or he can accept a new assignment, his most important
  54. one to date: accept the Minbari government's invitation to come to
  55. their world as ambassador. Clark promises to keep Sinclair informed
  56. about Garibaldi's condition. As for why the Minbari wanted Sinclair,
  57. Clark speculates: "Maybe they feel guilty about what they did to you.
  58. Maybe they're comfortable with you. And maybe they _need_ you. We've
  59. heard about trouble between the Minbari religious caste and the
  60. military caste. It's possible that... well, the religious caste might
  61. just need an experienced soldier to talk to."
  62. Sinclair's shuttle arrives at the Grey Council's cruiser. As he waits
  63. to be greeted, he pulls out a small slip of paper and reads. He's
  64. shortly greeted by several hooded Councilmembers and a few members of
  65. the military caste, and explains that he was reading a [11]poem by a
  66. long-departed writer, something he wants to share with the Council in
  67. the hopes that it will help them understand. He is escorted away by
  68. the Councilmembers, as one of the military looks on, expression
  69. twisted in hatred.
  70. Backplot
  71. * No Minbari has killed another (intentionally, presumably) for
  72. several thousand years. (See [12]jms speaks)
  73. * The Grey Council believes Sinclair has a Minbari soul.
  74. * Some within the Earth government have known the reason behind the
  75. Minbari surrender from the start, and gave the Grey Council
  76. permission to wipe Sinclair's mind. Clark claims to have not
  77. learned the secret until he took office as President.
  78. Unanswered Questions
  79. * What does the triluminary do to Sinclair such that he can remember
  80. everything all of a sudden? Is there a single function it performs
  81. that explains its seeming variety of uses? (cf. episodes [13]"And
  82. the Sky Full of Stars," [14]"Chrysalis")
  83. * Who in the Earth government knew about the Minbari surrender?
  84. Someone other than the President, probably, since Santiago was
  85. dead when Clark took office. It's also possible the Minbari told
  86. Clark themselves.
  87. * Why did the Grey Council choose to reveal their secret to Sinclair
  88. now? Why have they invited him to become ambassador after pushing
  89. so hard to get him in command of Babylon 5 (cf. episode [15]"Signs
  90. and Portents"?)
  91. Analysis
  92. * Sheridan was wrong about Clark being the only other person who
  93. knows about the situation with Minbari souls (cf. episode
  94. [16]"Points of Departure.") How widespread the knowledge is, and
  95. how it's being used, may be important story points in the future.
  96. * The coverup of Santiago's assassination appears to be very
  97. effective, unless the senator Sinclair speaks with is in on it as
  98. well. Everyone seems convinced that it was a simple accident.
  99. Notes
  100. * Sinclair's d*ck makes an appearance on page 17. Or a swan, anyway.
  101. * Oddly, there are some inconsistencies with the series:
  102. + Clark tells Sinclair that he's giving Ivanova a field
  103. promotion to commander, _before_ Sheridan arrives on Babylon
  104. 5 and puts in the paperwork (in episode [17]"The Geometry of
  105. Shadows.") On the other hand, it's possible Sheridan actually
  106. requested the promotion as soon as he got his assignment, or
  107. that Clark was planning on promoting Ivanova anyway.
  108. + Sinclair's recollection of his last words on the Line are
  109. different. In [18]"And the Sky Full of Stars" he says, "If
  110. I'm going out I'm taking you bastards with me! Target main
  111. cruiser, set for full velocity ram." Possibly to tone down
  112. the language, the comic renders this as, "If I'm dying I'm
  113. taking you demons with me! Target lead Minbari cruiser! Set
  114. for full velocity ram!"
  115. * Even _Clark_ thinks Sinclair is stiff: "Excuse me, Commander, but
  116. is that as much at ease as you get?"
  117. * There's a slight gaffe on page 19; Sinclair's uniform is backwards
  118. in the mirror. (The strap should be on the other side of the
  119. buttons, as shown on page 22.)
  120. jms speaks
  121. * By the "flip side" of stories I was referring to the other side of
  122. events. I.e., in episode one, Sinclair is reassigned, but we hear
  123. about this mainly when he's away. In the comic, we'll see where he
  124. is, and see his reaction to what's going on. In B-squared, we saw
  125. the present events in the vanishment of B4; in a future episode,
  126. we'll actually see our characters make the decision to go back in
  127. time and yank B4 forward, what went wrong, and so on.
  128. * It's not supposed to be a blasted landscape around Geneva, and
  129. didn't look like that in the pencils.
  130. * The word "bastards" was in the script I turned in to DC. It got
  131. changed to "demons" by the editor. That change was made at the
  132. last minute; all the inked and penciled versions I'd seen before
  133. had the right word in it. I'm considerably less than thrilled
  134. about it.
  135. * Prior to the time of Valen, the Minbari's greatest spiritual
  136. leader, there was killing of Minbari by Minbari. There were three
  137. warring castes, which he pulled together when he formed the Grey
  138. Council (three from each caste forming nine, Worker, Warrior,
  139. Religious Caste). Since that time, and the Minbari have been in
  140. space for well over a thousand years, they have pretty much hewn
  141. to that rule; it is their greatest taboo. Once the three sides
  142. were integrated, the warrior caste mainly contented itself with
  143. external threats.
  144. * Rathenn said the soul migration had been going on for 6000 years;
  145. Lennier in [19]"Points of Departure" said one or two thousand.
  146. What gives?
  147. Rathenn spoke incorrectly.
  148. * Rathenn said Sinclair did not *entirely* remember their meeting;
  149. he then refreshed this memory.
  150. * _Squaring the account of Ivanova's promotion with "The Geometry of
  151. Shadows"_
  152. The president spoke truthfully; Sheridan could petition for a
  153. promotion for her, but it's up to Earthforce to grant it, so the
  154. line still tracks. (Note also there's no pronoun there; "Giving
  155. her a field promotion." The imperial We still stands, though.)
  156. Also, Sheridan says he put through the paperwork the day after he
  157. got there; which is fairly close to the time frame in the story in
  158. which the President says they'll be giving Ivanova a promotion.
  159. There's no discontinuity here.
  160. * _In "Points of Departure," Sheridan implied he told Clark about
  161. the soul migration._
  162. Sheridan did NOT tell President Clark about the Minbari soul
  163. situation. Clark already knew about it. Sheridan's line is, "I
  164. spoke with the president. He is the only other person who knows
  165. why the Minbari surrendered." Also, in the first issue of the
  166. comic, this prior knowledge on Clark's part is clear as well.
  167. Last update: October 30, 1996
  168. References
  169. 1. file://localhost/cgi-bin/imagemap/titlebar
  170. 2. LYNXIMGMAP:file://localhost/lurk/maps/maps.html#titlebar
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  172. 4. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/comic/index.html
  173. 5. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/comic/002.html
  174. 6. file://localhost/lurk/guide/022.html
  175. 7. file://localhost/lurk/guide/023.html
  176. 8. file://localhost/lurk/guide/023.html
  177. 9. file://localhost/lurk/guide/008.html
  178. 10. file://localhost/lurk/guide/002.html
  179. 11. file://localhost/lurk/making/ulysses.html
  180. 12. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/comic/001.html#JS:kill
  181. 13. file://localhost/lurk/guide/008.html
  182. 14. file://localhost/lurk/guide/022.html
  183. 15. file://localhost/lurk/guide/013.html
  184. 16. file://localhost/lurk/guide/023.html
  185. 17. file://localhost/lurk/guide/025.html
  186. 18. file://localhost/lurk/guide/008.html
  187. 19. file://localhost/lurk/guide/023.html
  188. 20. file://localhost/lurk/lurker.html
  189. 21. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/comic/001.html#TOP
  190. 22. file://localhost/cgi-bin/uncgi/lgmail
  191. 23. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/episodes.php
  192. 24. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/comic/002.html