lurkers-guide/guide/103

<!-- TITLE Darkness Ascending -->

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

<blockquote><cite>
Lennier uncovers hard evidence about the source of the cargo ship attacks.
Lise arrives to see Garibaldi.  Lyta attempts to strike a deal on behalf of
the rogue telepaths.
</cite>

<a href="http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Gentile,+Denise">Denise Gentile</a> as Lise.
<a href="http://us.imdb.com/Name?Yniguez,+Richard">Richard Ynigues</a> as Montoya.
</blockquote>

<pre><a href="/lurk/p5/intro.html">P5 Rating</a>: <a href="/lurk/p5/103">8.74</a>

Production number: 516
Original air date: June 3, 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 Janet Greek
</pre>

<p>
<hr size=3>

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

   <li>@@@896925016 Lennier has observed firsthand an attack on civilian
	Brakiri ships by a Centauri attack force.  He has brought a recording
	of the attack back to Sheridan and Delenn, who have called a closed
	meeting of all the Alliance worlds except the Centauri.

   <li>@@@896926070 The Centauri royal court has learned that Sheridan and
	other Alliance representatives believe the Centauri responsible for
	the attacks on Alliance ships.  They've asked Londo to do whatever he
	can to keep the Centauri from being blamed, and have suggested to him
	that the real culprits are Narns making use of ships and weapons left
	behind when the occupation of Narn ended.

   <li>@@@896926070 Lyta has made a deal with G'Kar: in exchange for a few
	deep-space-capable ships and a considerable sum of money, she will
	give the Narn access to the genetic codes of hundreds of rogue
	telepaths, enough to allow the Narn to isolate the genetic basis of
	telepathy and start to engineer it back into their race.  She intends
	to send telepathic scouting parties into deep space in search of a
	world suitable for habitation by a telepath colony.

   <li>@@@896986273 Garibaldi has started having nightmares about failing to
	be around to help the Alliance when he's needed.  In one dream, he
	saw a vision of Lyta, who said she'd decided to stop hiding what the
	Vorlons did to her and was testing the limits of her powers.

   <li>@@@896926609 Lise has discovered Garibaldi's drinking, though for the
	moment he seems to have convinced her that he has it under control.
	He doesn't, though: despite promising to her that he wouldn't drink
	while she was visiting, he hasn't been able to resist the urge.

</ul>

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

   <li>@@@896925016 What was happening in Garibaldi's dream?
	Was Lyta really involved at all?

   <li>@@@896926609 What unpleasant secrets has Lise discovered about her
	newly-inherited company?

   <li>@@@898541644 Did Lise take Garibaldi's advice and flee the station?

   <li>@@@898541644 Was Lise fooled by Garibaldi's attempt to convince her he
	could stop drinking?

</ul>

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

   <li>@@@896925016 Is Lennier's solo mission what Morden was referring to
	as "betraying the Anla'shok" in
	<a href="096.html">"Day of the Dead?"</a>
	He did indirectly disobey the chain of command by disregarding
	Sheridan's order to return to Babylon 5, but on the other hand he was
	arguably still well within the bounds of loyalty since he was acting
	on behalf of the head of the Rangers.

<p>
   <li>@@@896925016 Delenn strongly implied that Sheridan had considered
	sending Lennier to the Centauri border, but had decided against
	it.  Is that the case, or was she just assuming that he would do so if
	presented with the choice?  If he did consciously decide not to send
	Lennier at some point, why didn't Delenn attempt to argue the case with
	him then?

<p>
   <li>@@@898543790 Delenn apparently thinks the situation with the Centauri
	is going to end badly.  Londo was obviously surprised when she
	hugged him, a departure from her normal reserve.  What did she think
	was going to happen to Londo such that this was her last chance to
	embrace him?

<p>
   <li>@@@896926609 Does Garibaldi actually intend to return to Mars?  That
	doesn't square with accepting the job of director of covert
	intelligence for the Alliance.  Though it's possible he could perform
	many of his job duties from an office on Mars, he'd be far away from
	one of the most convenient sources of intelligence information:
	Babylon 5.

<p>
   <li>@@@896986946 Garibaldi's dream was ambiguous.  It may have been
	completely metaphorical, his own mind warning him about his alcoholism.
	His vision of Lyta may have been a manifestation of his distrust of
	telepaths and his knowledge that they're still affecting his mind.

	<p>
	On the other hand, much of it could be literal.  Kosh had the ability
	to visit people in dreams
	(<a href="033.html">"All Alone in the Night,"</a>
	<a href="059.html">"Interludes and Examinations"</a>)
	so the Vorlons might have given Lyta the same power.  Glimpses of
	possible futures have been seen, e.g. Ladira's vision of the
	destruction of Babylon 5
	(<a href="013.html">"Signs and Portents"</a>)
	or Londo's dream of the arrival of the Shadows on Centauri Prime and
	his eventual coronation and death
	(<a href="031.html">"The Coming of Shadows."</a>)
	If such visions are an extension of telepathic power, it's possible
	that contact with Lyta was allowing Garibaldi to incorporate elements
	of precognition into his dream.

	<p>
	Depending on how much of Garibaldi's dream was based in reality, it
	raises some questions: What was happening in the Zocalo?  Why were
	Lyta's eyes glowing white, instead of going black as they generally
	do while she's exercising her enhanced powers?  (They glow white
	when she's possessed by a Vorlon, e.g. in
	<a href="072.html">"Into the Fire,"</a>
	but are otherwise black even when she's doing something
	Vorlon-related, e.g. remembering her time on the Vorlon homeworld in
	<a href="095.html">"Secrets of the Soul."</a>)
	What exactly was she doing to Garibaldi, and why did she choose him?

<p>
   <li>@@@896987744 The rough time the waiter at Fresh Air gave Garibaldi
	may have been due to knowledge of Garibaldi's heavy drinking, since he
	has had food from the restaurant delivered to his quarters while drunk
	(<a href="102.html">"Meditations on the Abyss."</a>)

<p>
   <li>@@@896987934 G'Kar's test of Lyta wasn't as useful as he seems to
	think: if she <em>was</em> scrupulous in the use of her powers, she'd
	have little choice but to answer "no" to his request.  But if she was
	willing to go to any lengths to get what she wanted, she would almost
	certainly have been scanning him and would have easily discovered why
	he was really asking her to spy on the ambassadors.  Armed with that
	knowledge, she would also have said "no."  So her answer doesn't
	actually say much about how far she's willing to compromise her
	principles on behalf of the rogues.

</ul>

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

   <li>@@@896925016 Lyta's conversation with G'Kar took place in
	<a href="000.html">"The Gathering."</a>
	The Narn interest in acquiring telepaths was also a factor in
	<a href="017.html">"Legacies."</a>

   <li>@@@896987744 Garibaldi mentioned that Catherine Sakai disappeared
	over a year ago.  Her disappearance is covered in more detail in the
	novel
	<a href="/lurk/novels/009.html">"To Dream In the City of Sorrows."</a>
	One possible chronological discrepancy is that according to the book,
	Sakai disappeared before Sinclair returned to the station in
	<a href="060.html">"War Without End,"</a>
	which would make it at least two years, not one.  Of course, Garibaldi
	may not have found out about her disappearance until some time after
	it happened.

   <li>@@@896987744 In
	<a href="102.html">"Meditations on the Abyss,"</a>
	a Minbari fighter with 15% of its oxygen remaining only had an hour's
	worth of air, implying a six-hour air supply.  But in this episode,
	Montoya mentioned that fighters normally have over thirty hours of
	air.  It's possible that the oxygen supply isn't a reserve of oxygen
	per se, but rather the capacity remaining in an air recycling
	system, and that the system recycles more efficiently when it's at
	full capacity.

</ul>

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

   <li>@@@897030289 "OK, so is anyone going to try to pass *this* one off
	as non-arc 'filler'?"

	<p>
	Exactly.  See, that's where I get nuts about some of the other
	comments. A number of folks said last week's was just filler...but last
	week we saw the process by which Lennier was sent to White Star 27,
	what he was looking for, and why...we were introduced to the captain,
	the mission...and now this week it pays off.  It seems like the
	*result* is considered arc, and the set-up is considered "filler."

	<p>
	Similarly, Lyta's actions in this episode (and those that are
	going to follow) are a direct result of the whole Byron thread, which
	is going to spiral further in some interesting directions.  Some said
	the Byron stuff was just filler...but it was there to move Lyta into a
	whole new direction that will have a substantial effect on the show and
	her character (and at least one other).

	<p>
	It seems to me that repeatedly, people dismiss something new in
	the mix as filler or non-arc...when in fact it's ABSOLUTE arc stuff
	once you've seen the whole thing.  (Except for those who only seem to
	feel that results are arc, not setups, which is as nutty a view as I've
	ever heard.)

<p>
   <li>@@@897030289 <em>Was Lyta flirting with G'Kar?</em><br>
	I wouldn't say she has any sexual interest in G'Kar...she had
	her pleasure threshold expanded with Byron just recently, and as for
	her parting comment, I think it came more under the category of "you
	ain't getting it, but since you were still wondering..."  A friendly
	plink.

<p>
   <li>@@@898543837 <em>How would a human and Narn mate, anyway?</em><br>
	Well, as G'Kar said in the pilot, there would have to be rather
	substantial genetic manipulation and adjustment to allow for the
	different DNA structures to mix.

	<p>
	After that, it would require the usual: dinner, flowers, and
	being willing to sit through a chick-flick....

<p>
   <li>@@@898543471 <em>Delenn didn't take any guff from Sheridan.</em><br>
	That's one of my favorite scenes from that episode...she basically yanks
	his pants up over his head and ties them in a knot.  Someone trained in
	the religious caste can argue her way around just about anything and
	anyone.

	<p>
	Minbari religious caste make Jesuits look like intellectual softies by
	comparison. 

<p>
   <li>@@@898544209 <em>But she made a big assumption about why he didn't
	want to send Lennier.</em><br>
	She's right because she's married to the guy and knows him inside and
	out, including how he thinks and why he does things.

	<p>
	When you live with somebody like that, you can go out and buy a pair of
	shoes, and in the morning, complain that they're too tight...and never
	mention it again for the rest of the day...then in the evening you sigh,
	as you're taking them off, and he or she says, "Don't worry, we can
	always have them stretched."

<p>
   <li>@@@898543523 <em>Wouldn't the Centauri have noticed air
	escaping?</em><br>
	The amount of oxygen taken would have been very minimal, given the size
	of Lennier's ship (little more than coffin-sized), and the volume would
	be replaced by the carbon dioxide from Lennier's ship.  The hole would
	have been self-sealed by the Minbari fighter, which was designed to do
	this sort of thing in order to sneak past enemy lines.

</ul>