lurkers-guide/guide/091

<!-- TITLE The Paragon of Animals -->

<h2><a name="OV">Overview</a></h2>

<blockquote><cite>
Sheridan clashes with the League ambassadors over G'Kar's declaration of
principles.  Garibaldi attempts to enlist the aid of the refugee telepaths.
</cite>

<a href="http://us.imdb.com/Name?Downes,+Robin+Atkin">Robin Atkin Downes</a> as 
Byron.
</blockquote>

<pre><a href="/lurk/p5/intro.html">P5 Rating</a>: <a href="/lurk/p5/091">8.16</a>

Production number: 504
Original air date: Feburary 4, 1998
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00019071C/thelurkersguidet">DVD release date</a>: April 13, 2004

Written by J. Michael Straczynski
Directed by Mike Vejar
</pre>

<h3>Watch For</h3>
<ul>
   <li>@@@887657453 <a href="#NO.spell">A spell-checker.</a>
</ul>

<p>
<hr size=3>

<h2><a name="BP">Plot Points</a></h2>
<ul>

   <li>@@@886670096 The Centauri have been using telepaths in their military
	for over 300 years.

   <li>@@@886670096 At Garibaldi's behest, and with great trepidation, Sheridan
	has approved the use of telepaths as intelligence operatives of the
	Interstellar Alliance.  Byron has agreed to supply Garibaldi with
	two members of his group, well-trained telepaths who will ferret
	out dark secrets wherever they lie.

   <li>@@@886670096 For the past 10 years, the Drazi have been secretly
	supporting raiders who attack minor worlds on the edge of Drazi space.
	Byron has uncovered the secret and brought it to Sheridan's attention,
	and now the Drazi have most likely stopped the practice.

   <li>@@@886670096 Lyta has been in the mind of two people at the moment of
	death.  It's a tremendously traumatic experience; a telepath actually
	sees what she believes is the soul departing, and a little of the
	telepath's departs as well.  She says Bester has scanned the dying
	on numerous occasions in an attempt to try to see what's on the other
	side -- something she says isn't supposed to be known by the living --
	and his soul has been diminished as a result.

   <li>@@@886709948 Byron believes that telepaths are superior to mundanes,
	and feels that mundanes don't think of telepaths as anything but tools
	to be used when needed.

   <li>@@@886709304 Byron's telepaths, if he's to be believed, make no effort
	to shield their thoughts from one another.  Nor do they make any effort
	to avoid picking up the thoughts of others around them, something
	Byron claims takes a lot of effort to avoid.

</ul>

<h2><a name="UQ">Unanswered Questions</a></h2>
<ul>

   <li>@@@886670096 When did Lyta previously scan a person at the time of
	death?

   <li>@@@886670096 Is her story about Bester true?

   <li>@@@886670096 Have the Drazi stopped supporting the raiders entirely?

   <li>@@@886670096 How did the raider ships nearly destroy a White Star?
	Are they getting support from people other than the Drazi?

   <li>@@@886702789 Did the Enphili join the Alliance?

   <li>@@@886708396 Did the Drazi sign the declaration?  Have they cut off
	their support for the raiders as a result?

   <li>@@@886708396 Did Earth join the Alliance?  If so, who signed the
	paperwork on Earth's behalf?  Lochley?

   <li>@@@886670245 What changes did G'Kar make to the declaration?

</ul>

<h2><a name="AN">Analysis</a></h2>
<ul>

<p>
   <li>@@@886709804 How did the Ranger get to the Enphili homeworld?  Are
	White Stars routinely patrolling the territories of governments who
	haven't joined the Alliance yet?  Sheridan did arrange for border
	patrols
	(<a href="079.html">"Rumors, Bargains and Lies"</a>)
	so perhaps the Enphili were close enough to the Drazi border to be
	within range of existing Ranger patrols.

<p>
   <li>@@@886709804 Sheridan has the power to order the White Star fleet into
	combat.  Is that a power of the President of the Alliance in general,
	or Sheridan in particular?  Do the Rangers still owe allegiance to
	Sheridan and Delenn personally, or will command of them pass to
	Sheridan's successor when he leaves office?

<p>
   <li>@@@886670096 Lyta's first experience scanning a dying person may
	be related to the secret Bester knows about her
	(<a href="073.html">"Epiphanies."</a>)
	It might also be related to the reason she left the Psi Cop division
	(<a href="041.html">"Divided Loyalties."</a>)
	One possibility is that she was with Bester when he had the experience
	she recounted to Garibaldi; if what he was doing was forbidden in
	some way, her secret might be guilt by association.

<p>
   <li>@@@886708122 Is Lyta's sympathy with Byron's cause what it appears
	to be?  Clearly she's dissatisfied with her treatment at the hands
	of Sheridan and the others, and has been for some time (she complained
	about it to Zack in
	<a href="073.html">"Epiphanies."</a>)
	At the same time, though, she does appear to see that her work with
	the Alliance is doing a lot of good, and Sheridan does appear to be
	appreciative of her, despite Byron's claims to the contrary.

	<p>
	So the question is, what's Lyta's motivation for returning to Byron and
	asking to learn more about his ideas?  Is she genuinely interested in
	joining his cause, or does she sense that he's a potential danger?  If
	it's the latter, she might be engaging in a covert operation of her
	own, learning all she can about Byron's plans with the intent of
	reporting them to Sheridan if they turn out to be a threat to the
	Alliance.

<p>
   <li>@@@886670096 Sheridan appears to be dead wrong in his reasoning for
	allowing Byron's colony on the station.  His assumption, stated again
	in this episode, is that they'll be on his side should war erupt
	between telepaths and normals.  But from Byron's conversation with
	Lyta, it appears more likely that his group will be the ones to
	<em>start</em> a conflict against mundanes.  It's even possible
	they'll find themselves at odds with the Psi Corps, since the Corps
	appears to prefer taking control in more subtle, insinuative ways
	and might view an open conflict as too great a risk.

	<p>
	If Byron's group really does spark a conflict between telepaths and
	mundanes, it would explain the 2361 commentator's view that allowing
	the colony was the biggest mistake in Sheridan's career
	(<a href="088.html">"The Deconstruction of Falling Stars."</a>)

<p>
   <li>@@@886703118 Byron promised Lyta he'd give Garibaldi two "highly
	trained" telepaths.  Where were they trained?  Are they former Psi
	Corps members?  Were they trained by nonhuman telepaths?  Did the other
	refugees conduct the training?

	<p>
	If they're former Corps members (or even if not) the possibility
	exists that there are Corps agents in Byron's group.  The Corps is
	capable of implanting hidden personalities such that extremely powerful
	telepaths don't notice them (e.g. Talia's implanted alter ego,
	which wasn't noticed by Ironheart in
	<a href="006.html">"Mind War."</a>)

	<p>
	That's assuming, of course, that Byron's group is legitimate at all;
	they might <em>all</em> secretly be working for the Corps, their
	refugee story simply a cover to convince Sheridan to allow large
	numbers of telepaths to gather unquestioned on the station.

</ul>

<h2><a name="NO">Notes</a></h2>
<ul>

   <li>@@@870986860 The title is from Shakespeare's
	<a href="http://the-tech.mit.edu/Shakespeare/Tragedy/hamlet/hamlet.html">"Hamlet,"</a>
	specifically Hamlet's speech in
	<a href="http://the-tech.mit.edu/Shakespeare/Tragedy/hamlet/hamlet.2.2.html">act 2, scene 2:</a>

	<blockquote>
	What a piece of work is a man!  How noble in reason!  How infinite
	in faculty!  In form and moving how express and admirable!  In action
	how like an angel!  In apprehension how like a god!  The beauty of
	the world!  The paragon of animals!  And yet, to me, what is this
	quintessence of dust?  Man delights not me: no, nor woman neither,
	though by your smiling you seem to say so.
	</blockquote>

<p>
   <li>@@@886668869 The beginning of the second draft of the Interstellar
	Alliance Declaration of Principles:

	<p>
	The Universe speaks in many languages, but only one voice.  <BR>
	The language is not Narn or Human or Centauri or Gaim or Minbari.

	<p>
	It speaks in the language of hope.  It speaks in the language of trust.<BR>
	It speaks in the language of strength, and the language of compassion.<BR>
	It is the language of the heart and the language of the soul.  <BR>
	But always it is the same voice.

	<p>
	It is the voice of our ancestors speaking through us.  <BR>
	And the voice of our inheritors waiting to be born.  <BR>
	It is the small, still voice that says we are One.

	<p>
	No matter the blood, no matter the skin, <BR>
	No matter the world, no matter the star, <BR>
	We are One.  <BR>
	No matter the pain, no matter the darkness,<BR>
	No matter the loss, no matter the fear.<BR>
	We are One.

	<p>
	Here, gathered together in common cause <BR>
	We agree to recognize this singular truth and this singular rule: <BR>
	That we <em>must</em> be kind to one another.

	<p>
	Because each voice enriches us and ennobles us,  <BR>
	And each voice lost diminishes us.  <BR>
	We are the voice of the universe, the soul of creation, <BR>
	The fire that will light the way to a better future.

	<p>
	We are One.

<p>
   <li>@@@888082633 The text of Franklin's letter to the Ranger's parents:

	<blockquote>
	Your son served with honor and died bringing us news that may help to
	save the lives of literally thousands of people, people he did not
	know, but whose lives mattered more to him than his own.
	</blockquote>

<p>
   <li>@@@887657453 <a name="NO.spell">When Franklin is composing the
	letter</a>
	to the Ranger's parents, the words "Spell Check Online" are visible
	at the top of the screen.

<p>
   <li>@@@886709304 Byron's comment that telepaths have to concentrate on
	songs or other distractions to keep from inadvertently reading the
	thoughts of others may be a reference to the novel "The Demolished
	Man" by Alfred Bester, in which the protagonist, seeking to shield
	his thoughts from telepaths, forces himself to concentrate on a
	catchy tune.

<p>
   <li>@@@887658019 <a name="NO.cruiser">The name of the new race</a>
	being harassed by the Drazi,
	Enphili, sounds almost identical to the name of a Minbari cruiser in 
	<a href="065.html">"Shadow Dancing."</a>
	In that episode, Sheridan ordered the Minbari cruiser Imphili to
	protect a group of Drazi ships.

<p>
   <li>@@@887783860 Continuity glitch: Sheridan handed a copy of the
	declaration to the Hyach ambassador (the orange-skinned alien with
	the large cranial lobes.)  Immediately afterward, G'Kar passed copies
	of the declaration out to everyone, including the Hyach ambassador,
	who no longer had the one Sheridan gave him.  Of course, it's possible
	Sheridan took the scroll back.

<p>
   <li>@@@898570048 Continuity glitch: During Lyta's time in the mind of the
	Ranger, as he's dying, he approaches the door and is casting a shadow on
	the equipment to the left of him, just inside the door. There is a
	cut to Lyta, then back to the Ranger, and his shadow has disappeared.
	Most likely the actor was digitally added to the picture in the final
	shot so he could be made to stretch into the distance, while he was
	actually standing on set before the cut to Lyta.

</ul>

<h2><a name="JS">jms speaks</a></h2>
<ul>

<p>
   <li>@@@887704582 <em>About Kim Strauss</em><br>
	He does tend to play Drazis a lot, primarily the ambassador, for
	purposes of continuity, unless he's not available.

	<p>
	Re: Hamlet...one of the wonderful aspects of Shakespeare's work
	is that it lends itself to reinterpretation and reinvention; cynical
	lines can be read with hope, and vice versa, and somehow, the darned
	thing tracks.  One recent version of Hamlet mounted by Joseph Papp
	starred a woman actor in the title role, and it worked beautifully.

<p>
   <li>@@@887704657 <em>What were Sheridan and Delenn drinking at dinner?
	Did Delenn's transformation enable her to drink alcohol?</em><br>
	Nonalcoholic wine, at worst...I sometimes have it myself, since
	I don't drink.

<p>
   <li>@@@887704582 I like the declaration a lot.

<p>
   <li>@@@887704582 The funny part of it is...the editors made a point of
	dropping in my writing credit just when G'Kar says his muse is talking
	to him....

<p>
   <li>@@@887657633 <em>The declaration didn't say anything about
	rights.</em><br>
	That's fine, if this were a constitution or something based on
	coming out from under an opressive government, as the colonies did. 
	This is an incremental process; get the principles in place, and then
	build the laws and the constitution on that.  Get them on board for one
	thing they can sign, and then use that as a platform to get them to
	sign the more restrictive stuff. And bear in mind you only heard part
	of it; the full thing would go on for many many pages.

<p>
   <li>@@@887704582 Byron's feelings about mundanes comes out later in more
	detail...I wouldn't call it a hatred.  A resentment, yes, and certainly
	there's a sense of having been mistreated...but he's surprisingly not a
	violent person, as we'll find.

<p>
   <li>@@@887704582 "I wouldn't be surprised to see Byron realize that
	the mundanes have talents that teeps generally do not."

	<p>
	Clog dancing...?

<p>
   <li>@@@887704582 "Quick question: regarding what Byron said about the
	amount of effort it takes to block out the thoughts of mundanes, I was
	wondering--have any non-teep humans given thought, time, or effort to
	creating any sort of artificial 'shielding' device to keep their
	thoughts to themselves? Is it impossible, or just not something they
	would bother with, figuring it's up to the teeps to deal with it?"

	<p>
	Some of them have trained at it a bit, and learned little tricks
	that can help...one such tries it later this season.

	<p>
	"As for Lyta, I felt like she was sort of an abused child, always
	looking for that benevolent authority figure."

	<p>
	Yep, that's what she's doing, looking for someone to believe in.

	<p>
	"I don't know if I buy the idea of death of the soul, but if it
	explains Bester, I guess I can swallow it."

	<p>
	Bear in mind, though, that Lyta also said that that's the mind's
	only way of interpreting what it's seeing, not that it *is* what she's
	seeing, so it doesn't necessarily validate or invalidate the notion of
	a soul.

<p>
   <li>@@@888082462 <em>About the shot of Lyta looking into the council
	chamber</em><br>
	The Lyta-outsider view was to further reinforce her on the
	outside of the group.

<p>
   <li>@@@887657633 <em>Why enlist only human telepaths?</em><br>
	Remember though that the purpose of the teeps is to gather
	covert intelligence.  There are two operative words there: covert and
	intelligence.

	<p>
	Intelligence against whom?  Logically, this would involve in
	part keeping tabs on worlds not in the Alliance...and some that *are*
	in the Alliance.  If you think the Drazi are up to something, and you
	have Drazi telepaths on your team...are they going to cooperate against
	their own government?  If you leave them out, won't they find out if
	they're in the company of the other teeps on a daily basis?  The covert
	part also goes out the door.
 
<p>
   <li>@@@887657633 "But if the hypothetical Drazi teeps are Rangers,
	would they have loyalty to the Drazi government, or to Entil'zha?"

	<p>
	Maybe they would..one hopes they would...but why take that
	chance if you're in Sheridan's shoes, trying to make this thing work?

<p>
   <li>@@@887657788 Yeah, I'm sure that some Minbari teeps could be
	trusted...but would they function well in a covert situation?  They're
	mainly out in the open.

	<p>
	One other thing I forgot to mention in my note to Nancy...if you
	put out the word that you want 2 teeps from each world...that kind of
	kills any chance of putting together a group of telepaths that's going
	to operate IN SECRET, a covert unit, yes...?

<p>
   <li>@@@887658091 <em><a href="#NO.cruiser">About the word
	"Enphili"</a></em><br>
	Coincidence.

<p>
   <li>@@@887704789 White Stars are not invulnerable.  If they saw what they
	were told were a friendly fleet coming in, to join them in an offense,
	they would have their defenses down.  And a full-scale Drazi fleet would
	also somewhat outnumber the White Stars.  A Pearl Harbor style attack
	on White Stars would effectively decimate the fleet before they would
	have a chance to respond.

</ul>