lurkers-guide/guide/111

<!-- TITLE In the Beginning -->

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

<blockquote><cite>
Two-hour TV movie.
Covers the Earth-Minbari War in more detail, including Delenn's involvement
and the death of Dukhat.
</cite>

</blockquote>

<pre><a href="/lurk/p5/intro.html">P5 Rating</a>: <a href="/lurk/p5/111">8.94</a>

Production number: TNT MoW 2
Original air date: January 4, 1998
DVD release date: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005NTNP/thelurkersguidet">December 4, 2001</a> (barebones)
                  <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0002B15UQ/thelurkersguidet">August 17, 2004</a> (full-featured)

Written by J. Michael Straczynski
Directed by Mike Vejar
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0345424522/thelurkersguidet">Novelization</a> by Peter David
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000009QQN/thelurkersguidet">Music</a> by Christopher Franke
</pre>

<p>
<strong>Note: This guide page assumes prior knowledge of the first four
seasons of the show, since the movie originally aired after season four
was complete.  There are spoilers here for the series.</strong>




<p>
<hr size=3>

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

   <li>@@@883991639 Londo was among the Centauri delegation to Earth at the
	start of the Earth-Minbari War.  He advised Earth's leaders not to
	seek contact with the Minbari, or if they did so, to send only one
	ship so as not to appear threatening.  Earth's military leaders,
	full of hubris after the victory over the Dilgar
	(<a href="009.html">"Deathwalker"</a>)
	ignored that advice and sent an expedition, led by the Prometheus
	(<a href="057.html">"A Late Delivery from Avalon"</a>)
	to gauge whether the Minbari represented a threat to Earth's
	expansionist ambitions.

<p>
   <li>@@@883991639 The Rangers existed during the thousand-year interval
	between the previous Shadow War and the present, but weren't well
	thought of by Minbari in general.  They were poorly funded and had
	few members.  Their head at the time of the war, Lenonn, attempted to
	persuade the Grey Council that the Shadows were awakening and that
	the Rangers should be granted more funding and manpower, but his word
	alone wasn't persuasive enough.

<p>
   <li>@@@883991639 Kosh and another Vorlon, probably Kosh's replacement
	(<a href="062.html">"Walkabout"</a>)
	were present both on Minbar and onboard the Grey Council's ship and
	consulted with Dukhat.  After his death, Delenn spoke to both of
	them on a few occasions, though in typical Vorlon fashion they offered
	little in the way of decipherable advice.  Their presence was known
	only to Dukhat, and later to Delenn and Lenonn, but not to the rest of
	the Grey Council.

<p>
   <li>@@@883991639 The Grey Council was on its way to Z'ha'dum, to verify
	the truth of Valen's prophecy, when the Prometheus attacked and
	began the war
	(<a href="075.html">"Atonement."</a>)

<p>
   <li>@@@883991639 The Centauri refused to provide Earth with weapons or
	support during the war, fearing the wrath of the Minbari.  The Narn,
	however, were more than happy to sell modified Centauri weaponry.
	G'Kar personally closed the deal with the Earth government, noting
	that if the Minbari discovered the weapons, they'd likely identify
	them as Centauri in origin and attack the Centauri anyway.

<p>
   <li>@@@883991639 At one point during the war, while Sheridan was serving
	as first officer aboard the Lexington, a Minbari ambush in an
	asteroid field killed the captain and left Sheridan in charge.  The
	ship was disabled and its support vessels destroyed.  He ordered his
	weapons officers to remove the warheads from three tactical nuclear
	weapons and plant them on nearby asteroids.  Then he sent a distress
	signal, which drew a Minbari cruiser into the area.  Two of the nukes
	were sufficient to destroy the cruiser, which later turned out to be
	the flagship Black Star.  His victory boosted flagging morale among
	Earthforce.

	<p>
	This incident has been referred to several times during the course
	of the series, first upon Sheridan's arrival on the station
	(<a href="023.html">"Points of Departure"</a>)
	and later, in more detail, in
	<a href="036.html">"There All the Honor Lies."</a>

<p>
   <li>@@@883991639 After he destroyed the Black Star, Sheridan was sent on
	a secret mission.  Accompanied by Franklin and G'Kar, he was to meet
	with Lenonn, the head of the Rangers, to attempt to arrange peace
	negotiations.  Unfortunately, Londo learned of the meeting and,
	mistaking it for an arms shipment thanks to G'Kar's involvement,
	arranged for a Centauri sneak attack that killed Lenonn.  The
	Minbari captured Sheridan and Franklin, but Delenn ordered them
	released after Sheridan relayed a message from Lenonn indicating
	that Earth hadn't been responsible for his death.

<p>
   <li>@@@883991639 After scanning Sinclair with the triluminary
	(<a href="008.html">"And the Sky Full of Stars"</a>)
	the Grey Council learned not only that he had a Minbari soul, but
	specifically that he had Valen's soul.  Delenn volunteered to watch
	Sinclair after his memory was wiped, to ensure he never learned what
	had happened to him.

<p>
   <li>@@@883991982 Londo watched most of Delenn and Sheridan's conversation
	in the Centauri prison cell
	(<a href="061.html">"War Without End part 2."</a>)

</ul>

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

   <li>@@@883991639 What was the Omega incident?  (See
	<a href="#NO.omega">Notes</a>)

</ul>

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

<p>
   <li>@@@884711589 Dukhat's ritual line during Delenn's induction into the
	Grey Council, "Will you follow me into fire, will you follow me into
	darkness?" was a reference to Valen's founding of the Council.  The
	questions also occur in the Minbari rebirth ceremony
	(<a href="005.html">"The Parliament of Dreams"</a>)
	suggesting that the founding of the Council was considered a rebirth
	by the Minbari (not unreasonable, if it gave them new hope in their
	losing war against the Shadows as well as fundamentally altering the
	structure of their society.)

<p>
   <li>@@@884116342 According to
	<a href="023.html">"Points of Departure,"</a>
	Sheridan destroyed the Black Star by mining the asteroid belt in
	Earth's solar system.  The implication here, however, was that the
	attack took place far away; at that point in the war, it's said
	several times, the Minbari were only attacking outlying colonies
	and minor, poorly-defended worlds.  Of course, it's possible they
	were making occasional forays deeper into Earth space as well,
	possibly to force Earth to spread its defenses thin.

<p>
   <li>@@@884711169 It only took two nuclear warheads to knock out the Black
	Star.  Why didn't Earth start attacking the Minbari with nuclear
	weapons as a matter of course?  Perhaps it was simply that any
	incoming missiles or ships were destroyed before they could get close
	enough to be effective, though on a few occasions (e.g. the
	Battle of the Line) Starfuries did seem to get as close to the Minbari
	cruisers as the Lexington's asteroids were.  Was the Black Star only
	vulnerable because its defenses were down due to the Lexington's
	apparent lack of power?  If so, that implies the Minbari have some
	way to counteract the effects of nuclear explosions.

<p>
   <li>@@@884157630 The meeting between Lenonn and Sheridan took place on
	an outpost world in the Epsilon system.  That may be the same system
	where B5 was eventually built (it orbits Epsilon 3.)  That makes some
	sense, as B5 is located in neutral space bordering the major races.

	<p>@@@889493609 
	In the novelization, the meeting place was described as an abandoned
	Drazi colony (which doesn't preclude it being in the same system as
	B5, of course.)

<p>
   <li>@@@883991639 How did Sheridan and Franklin get away from the Minbari
	cruiser?  Did the Minbari really take the time to drop them off at
	some neutral location from which they could find their way back to
	Earth?  Unless it was done in secret, that would presumably have
	attracted some attention -- two humans arriving on a Minbari ship
	wouldn't have been a common sight.

<p>
   <li>@@@884247891 When the triluminary glowed for Sinclair, Delenn
	immediately knew that it meant he had Valen's soul.  Why, then, did
	it take her another fourteen years, until
	<a href="075.html">"Atonement,"</a>
	to recall that the triluminary also glowed for <em>her,</em> and to
	thus deduce that she was somehow related to Valen as well?

<p>
   <li>@@@884116342 Delenn's promise to watch Sinclair explains why the
	Minbari insisted that he be the one to head Babylon 5
	(<a href="013.html">"Signs and Portents."</a>)
	Putting him in a position in which he'd be forced to have contact
	with her simplified her task greatly.

</ul>

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

   <li>@@@884157291 Londo claimed to have had 4 wives.  One of them, depending
	on how his statement is interpreted, could be the Centauri Republic
	itself.  The other three were Timov, Daggair, and Mariel, the last
	two only for a short while before Londo had their marriages annulled
	(<a href="029.html">"Soul Mates."</a>)
	Of course, he also claimed to have been fond of all his wives, which
	didn't appear to be true of Timov, Daggair, or Mariel.

	<p>
	Another wife may have been mentioned in
	<a href="018.html">"A Voice in the Wilderness part 1."</a>
	Londo told Garibaldi about marrying a dancer in his youth, then
	regretting it soon after.  She may have been one of the three wives
	from
	<a href="029.html">"Soul Mates,"</a>
	or not; it was never made clear.

<p>
   <li>@@@884157394 One detail about the attack on the Grey Council's ship
	was left out: the appearance of Soul Hunter ships, as shown in
	<a href="075.html">"Atonement."</a>

	<p>@@@889493609 
	In the novelization, a Soul Hunter appeared, and the Minbari made
	a wall of their bodies to prevent him from getting to Dukhat's body.
	Delenn was among those forming the wall.

<p>
   <li>@@@889493609 <a name="NO.omega">According to the novelization,</a>
	the Omega Incident was an unjustified attack on a Dilgar ship by
	Captain Jankowski.  The attack led to Earth's involvement in the Dilgar
	War.

<p>
   <li>@@@884116342 During the series, Ivanova wears one earring; it's one of
	a pair of lucky earrings.  She gave the other to her brother Ganya
	before he flew out on his final mission.

<p>
   <li>@@@884276058 Londo quotes the human saying, "Pride goeth before a
	fall."  Though widely known, this is actually a misquote of
	<a href="http://www.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Proverbs+16:18">Proverbs
	16:18,</a>
	"Pride goeth before destruction and an haughty spirit before a fall."

<p>
   <li>@@@884116342 The brief glimpse of a gunner onboard the Prometheus
	after the order to fire was given was from
	<a href="057.html">"A Late Delivery from Avalon."</a>

<p>
   <li>@@@860696890 The story is framed by the old Londo Mollari
	(<a href="061.html">"War Without End"</a>)
	telling the tale to a group of Centauri children before Sheridan and
	Delenn are brought before him.  (See
	<a href="#JS.londo">jms speaks</a>)

	<p>@@@889493609 
	According to the novelization, the children are related to Urza Jaddo,
	who Londo was forced to kill in
	<a href="039.html">"Knives."</a>
	Londo promised to care for Urza's house, thus the presence of his
	relatives in the royal palace.

<p>
   <li>@@@865704805 Filming ended June 30, 1997.

<p>
   <li>@@@884631046 A slight glitch: When Captain Sterns was killed, his
	blood floats into the cabin since there's no gravity (which is logical
	since the Lexington had no rotating section.)  But another crewman
	had blood running down his face, which wouldn't happen without gravity.

<p>
   <li>@@@884631179 Continuity glitch: While Sheridan was on the Minbari
	cruiser, his uniform's stat bar was sometimes on and sometimes
	dangling.

<p>
   <li>@@@881254979 A
	<a href="http://www.randomhouse.com/delrey/sample/B5_inthebeginning.html">sample chapter</a>
	from the novelization is available from the publisher's site.

<p>
   <li>@@@1089729443 This movie was released twice on DVD, once as a
	<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005NTNP/thelurkersguidet">barebones edition</a>
	along with
	<a href="000.html">"The Gathering"</a>
	and later as part of a collection of the
	<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0002B15UQ/thelurkersguidet">B5 Movie Collection</a>.

</ul>

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

<p>
   <li>@@@881861493 We've finished the producers' cuts of the two TNT
	Movies, and have come through without notes.  Everyone loves 'em, and
	agrees that while Thirdspace is very cool, In the Beginning is the
	best thing we've ever done.  On every level: acting, writing, the
	directing, sets, costumes...everything.  This one's got Hugo written
	all over it.  (Which makes it hard to look at, but there you are.)
	Maybe even Ace.

<p>
   <li>@@@884632629 It's a very moving and emotional movie in a lot of
	places, which was the goal.  If it doesn't touch you, there ain't much
	point to doing it.

<p>
   <li>@@@884020417 <em>How much did it cost?</em><br>
	If "it" means the series, it's always been under $900 thousand per
	episode.  If "it" means ItB, the production cost was just a tick under
	three million bucks.

<p>
   <li>@@@854165392 TNT will show the pilot movie.  The theory is to do the
	prequel first, then the pilot, then the series through one run at
	least, then the second original TV movie to freshen the cycle, then
	onward.

<p>
   <li>@@@867512979 In the Beginning will air in January, on a Sunday, in
	a 4 hour block the other half of which is the original B5 pilot, and
	then it will go to daily M-F runs of the first 4 seasons at 6 or 7 p.m.

<p>
   <li>@@@864919949 TNT is a commercial cable network, so there will be
	commercials.  As I recall, the running time to which I wrote the
	scripts was 94 minutes 10 seconds.

<p>
   <li>@@@884632629 We got the ratings, and I can't release them yet,
	that has to come from TNT, but suffice to say they're dancing in the
	aisles over at TNT.  Again, I can't give specifics yet, but they had a
	very specific rating in mind that they felt was the best we would
	probably get, which we beat handily, and they felt that the pilot, being
	a rerun, wouldn't do that well...and it ended up doing as well as the
	maximum they'd hoped the prequel would get.

	<p>
	They're stunned.

<p>
   <li>@@@884374485 Turns out we virtually tripled our regular audience, and
	*built* each quarter hour, which means folks were jumping in all
	through, and those who came, stayed.

<p>
   <li>@@@884374485 There were a number of big fans of the show in TNT
	programming who kept bugging management to pick up the show, do the
	movies...and whose necks were on the line if it didn't work...who are
	now dancing in the aisles.

<p>
   <li>@@@865719116 <em>Is "In the Beginning" a linear story?</em><br>
	Never said it was linear, only that it predates B5.

<p>
   <li>@@@867175069 No, the movie won't be linear per se, but broken up by
	Londo's narration, which will collapse some events together so we can
	cover the whole history of the war in about 2 hours.

<p>
   <li>@@@857584668 Plans are to have Dukhat in the B5 prequel.

<p>
   <li>@@@867911105 <em>Will Delenn's makeup be the version from the
	pilot?</em><br>
	No, we're using the series makeup, rather than add one more
	permutation.

<p>
   <li>@@@889494163 It made more sense to put it in line with the series, since
	there's 22 of the first season, and only 1 of the pilot.

<P>
   <li>@@@865719137 You may not find out who built the Great Machine in
	the series, but that will be one of the features of one of the planned
	TNT movies. And there will be more on the Valen/Sinclair transformation
	as well.

<p>
   <li>@@@866443970 ItB contains surprises and turnarounds for many of the
	series veteran fans, and it does a great job of laying the foundation
	for the first two seasons for the newbies.

	<p>
	It's a most elegant dance...and I'm actually kinda proud of it.

<p>
   <li>@@@874424493 <em>Will ItB spoil some of season one's
	mysteries?</em><br>
	That's an interesting question.  When I sat down to write In the
	Beginning, my feeling was that I should look at the long term.  Would
	the hole in Sinclair's mind be the same mystery it was in season one,
	or would it be kind of known thereafter?  If so, then do you want to
	play with the mystery, or set up what actually happened?  I figured,
	okay, let's go for the latter...let's let the audience know (which will
	mostly know by now anyway), and set up the background, with the
	characters not knowing the first season. I took basic greek tragedy as
	my model, with ItB functioning more or less as a Greek chorus that sets
	things up.

	<p>
	If you want to play it as a strict mystery, then no, probably
	don't go near ItB...but frankly, if I were going to start someone off
	on B5, I'd definitely want to start with ItB, which sort of skims in
	and out of the overall storyline in a beautiful fashion.

<p>
   <li>@@@889494163 "I know you probably couldn't have made a movie about the
	Earth-Minbari War without giving away the ending, but I was kind of
	hoping the details would be left more vague than they were for the
	benefit of new viewers."

	<p>
	I came to that part of my decision-making process, and realized
	that in 2, 5 or 10 years, the secret ain't gonna be secret anymore...so
	why not play into that, and make the audience aware up front, which
	adds a different kind of tension, like seeing the bomb under the table
	when the characters eating dinner don't know it's there.

<p>
   <li>@@@889494163 <em>Sheridan and Franklin had already met when Sheridan
	arrived on B5.</em><br>
	Yeah, in my notes on Sheridan I had him meeting Sheridan before,
	but never did much with it at the time...we never see the first time
	Sheridan and Franklin meet in the second season, and when we do they're
	hanging out pretty casually, as people who've met each other before
	might.  Bear in mind, also, that there's about 11 years between the two
	incidents, and at best they were casual acquaintances on one mission.

<p>
   <li>@@@860696654 <em>From coproducer George Johnsen</em><br>
	The Nova Class Dreadnaughts have been around for quite a long time, but
	are getting a "sprucing up" for further development. As we discovered in
	our own navy, there is a need for several classes of ship of varying
	sizes.

	<p>
	The Omega Class are the next development in that series.  The habitat
	section was added, as well as more armored sections.  There is a further
	development of that class under discussion.  You can also see some
	design elements of the class contained in the Cortez.

	<p>
	The newer ships under development are all of smaller classes, like the
	Olympus Class Corvette, the Badger heavy fighter, and the Cotten Class
	Deep Penetration Tender.  We will see these participate heavily in the
	second of the TNT movies.

<p>
   <li>@@@883993504 <em>How long between the war and Londo's recounting of
	it?</em><br>
	It's 35 years from the time in which Londo is speaking, and Anna and
	Sheridan weren't married during the war, they were married after.

<p>
   <li>@@@884374100 <em>Didn't you promise no cute kids or robots?</em><br>
	Hello...is anyone there...?  I always said that in relation to SERIES
	REGULARS AND RECURS.  Every time we have a kid on the show, and we've
	had several, somebody throws this at me without once remembering that
	this applies to series regulars/recurs, like Wesleys or the bots from
	Buck Rogers.  

	<p>
	And then somebody gigs me for something I didn't say.

<p>
   <li>@@@860696890 <a name="JS.londo"><em>Spoiler for "War Without End
	part 2"</em></a><br>
	The Londo scene in question
	is the one that takes place moments before Sheridan and Delenn are
	brought in, and then allowed to escape.  (War Without End.)  He can't
	exactly see to their execution since they outlive him in story
	continuity, now can he?

<p>
   <li>@@@884374485 The karmic point of no return is the whole of his
	<em>[Londo's]</em> life, from ItB's events through the bombing of Narn,
	which led to the death of hundreds of thoudands or more.

<p>
   <li>@@@884632630 Londo's first wife was a dancer, who he was forced to
	divorce by his family.

	<p>
	Adira reminds him of her a lot.

<p>
   <li>@@@884632630 "But that still doesn't explain the "cared for them
	all deeply" part in relation to the other three..."

	<p>
	We remember what, and how, we choose to remember.

<p>
   <li>@@@884374485 "Did you consider putting the scene of the hunter
	confronting the Minbari at the battle of the line into the movie?"
	(<em>Ed. note: not the Battle of the Line, but the initial attack
	on the Grey Council ship, as mentioned in
	<a href="002.html">"Soul Hunter."</a></em>)

	<p>
	Yeah, for some time, in fact...but the logistics involved in
	staging a full-scale assault, dozens of soul hunters, the fight itself,
	would've taken up about 10-15 minutes minimum, which would have had to
	come out elsewhere, and I can't find 15 minutes in that movie that's
	expendable.  One can only do so much in the amout of space, and time,
	and money, one has.

<p>
   <li>@@@884374669 There wasn't time to do it in the movie...it would've
	taken about 10-15 minutes to set it up and pay it off properly, and I
	couldn't find 15 expendable minutes in ItB.  There's a brief window
	after the body's death where the soul hunters can still move in, so
	there was time...we showed their ships moving in in Atonement, and to
	do so again here would get in the way and really confuse new viewers.

<p>
   <li>@@@884374485 <em>About Kosh and Ulkesh, the other Vorlon</em><br>
	No, I wouldn't call them friends.  They had a certain respect
	for one another, but Ulkesh always thought Kosh was soft, and Kosh
	always worried that Ulkesh was dangerous.  In their own ways, both were
	right.

<p>
   <li>@@@884630587 It wasn't so much a case of Ulkesh turning against the
	effort, but finally hitting the end of his patience with the humans,
	and his predecessor's decision to let the "natives" get out of control.

<p>
   <li>@@@884374485 <em>Were Kosh and Ulkesh near the top of the Vorlon power
	structure?</em><br>
	It's not a hierarchy as you or I would understand it...and the
	weird thing is, though I kinda know how it functions, I'll be damned if
	I can figure out how to explain it in words.

<p>
   <li>@@@884632738 Zha is the usual reference for the future, whose meaning
	changes depending on whether it's a suffix or a prefix, and what it's up
	against. Isil-zha usually means change, changing the future, coming of
	a new age; entil-zha is the one who creates or guides the forces
	creating the future; and z'ha'dum (with the broken zha) is the death of
	the future, or the dark future.

	<p>
	Kosh and Ulkesh were contemporaries, though Ulkesh was
	the more military of the two, very isolationist, while Kosh was the
	curious one, interested in the younger races, and more willing to
	extend himself (with sometimes unfortunate results).  Kosh always
	worried what Ulkesh would do without his moderating presence...and
	ultimately had to be the one to take him down to allow the younger
	races to step forward.

<p>
   <li>@@@884374485 <em>About the sequence leading up to the Battle of the
	Line</em><br>
	Yeah, I'm real happy with that sequence, starting with the top
	of the act and straight through to the President's speech...I think
	it's one of those moments when we committed art.

<p>
   <li>@@@885924539 "In the "2 years" montage in "In The Beginning", we
	see an Earth Alliance ship ram a Minbari cruiser amidships, blowing a
	hole through its middle. Does this mean that Sheridan's was not the
	only ship that destroyed a Minbari battleship during the war?"

	<p>
	Sheridan was the only one to score a *victory* against a Minbari
	war cruiser.  Meaning he survived.  Ramming one, and dying in the
	process, ain't a victory...at best it's a draw.

<p>
   <li>@@@884632630 "I nearly cried when the President asked the military
	to "hold the line" so that a pitiful few hundred could escape. In that
	single moment, you feel that even if the Minbari had done it, those few
	refugees would have sired a people who, eventually, would have made it.
	Just at that moment, you see the echo to the ball of light flying into
	the encounter suit a million years hence."

	<p>
	It's a very moving scene, even for me.  There's something in
	particular about a female president making that request, and giving
	those orders, that is especially strong.  I don't know why that should
	be, but somehow it is. We as a people tend to forget our own strength,
	and as Londo says, our stubborn nobility.  We only seem to remember it
	when we stand on the edge of the abyss, when it's almost too late to do
	anything about it.

	<p>
	"I always have felt this show is about him."

	<p>
	Yeah, in many ways, it is.

<p>
   <li>@@@879537326 <em>Will Sinclair even be mentioned?</em><br>
	Nobody said he wouldn't be mentioned; using the footage we shot from
	"And the Sky Full of Stars," he's in the last part of the movie.  Bear
	in mind that at the time he was a squadron leader assigned to Earth as
	part of the defense network there, so didn't have a great deal to do
	with the larger parts of the war.

	<p>
	Basically, each character (with the exception of one or two) gets one
	or two scenes in the movie (we have a lot of them, remember).  To
	bring Michael out from New York, at first class airfare, plus
	accommodations, salary, for one or two scenes (one of which we already
	*had* him for) was impossible under the budget, much as we discussed
	it and would've been interested in doing so.

<p>
   <li>@@@889494471 <em>How do you work out using footage of an actor
	from one episode in another episode?</em><br>
	You just call up their agent and work out an arrangement.

<p>
   <li>@@@889503646 I think if you add up all the footage from other episodes,
	it's probably less than about 5 minutes total.

	<p>
	I figure, if we shot it right the first time, why redo it?  Also, if we
	take the position that this "happened," it should be identical, and a
	restaging wouldn't be identical.

<p>
   <li>@@@882987794 <em>Did Sinclair undergo a "preliminary psi probe" as
	assumed by Delenn in the novelization?</em><br>
	I don't have the book in front of me, but if that refers to the one
	after his capture, then yes.

<p>
   <li>@@@889494471 "There was one notable flashback scene [from
	<a href="008.html">"And the Sky Full of Stars"</a>]
	that did not make it into the movie, in which Sinclair rushes Delenn and
	pulls her hood off.  Also we never saw Sinclair surrounded by the Grey
	Council and blasted by the staff.  Given how "In the Beginning"
	progressed I'm not sure how those scenes could have fit in."

	<p>
	This happened shortly after the events shown.

<p>
   <li>@@@889503542 "That would be the only place they would fit, but then
	I wonder why a Grey Council member would blast Sinclair after they
	already know he has Valen's soul."

	<p>
	Remember that Sinclair was going for them at that moment, and
	the blast didn't hurt him, only knocked him out...they were
	deliberately *not* trying to hurt him.

<p>
   <li>@@@880917882 <em>About the novelization</em><br>
	Peter did a fine job with the book.  He added a few bits here
	and there, for which he should get the credit, and overall did a very
	good job of it.  

<p>
   <li>@@@881861605 I think that most of the inconsistencies you note are
	primarily due to the translation from script to print, prior to Peter
	seeing any of the actual footage (it's never stated in the script, for
	instance, that any of the Grey Council have seen Valen).

	<p>
	While Entil-zha has a vague translation, which is what is stated in
	"Dream," we've translated isil-zha ever since Marcus appeared in the
	show...Franklin asks while they're in medlab, if you recall, and he
	points to the center stone and says it's called isil-zha, meaning the
	future.

</ul>