lurkers-guide/guide/115

<!-- TITLE A Call to Arms -->

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

<blockquote><cite>
The Drakh launch a devastating attack against Earth.
Leads into the sequel series,
<a href="113.html">"Crusade."</a>
</cite>

<a href="http://us.imdb.com/Name?Todd,+Tony">Tony Todd</a> as Captain Anderson.
</blockquote>

<pre>
Production number: TNT MoW4
Original air date: January 3, 1999
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0002B15UQ/thelurkersguidet">DVD release date</a>: August 17, 2004

Written by J. Michael Straczynski
Directed by Mike Vejar
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0345431553/thelurkersguidet">Novelization</a> by Robert Sheckley
</pre>

<p>
<hr size=3>

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

   <li>@@@915442325 The telepath war took place sometime between 2262 and 2267.

   <li>@@@915442325 The Drakh obtained a Shadow planet-killer when their
	masters left.  It was the only one, and it has been destroyed.

   <li>@@@915442325 As a result of the joint human-Minbari effort to build
	a new class of large warships
	(<a href="105.html">"Movements of Fire and Shadow"</a>)
	two prototypes were built, the Excalibur and the Victory.  Both
	feature powerful weaponry, including a main gun that almost
	completely discharges the ship's power reserves in one burst.
	The Victory was destroyed defending Earth and the Drakh wiped out
	the Alliance's shipyard, leaving the Excalibur the only ship of its
	class for some time to come.

   <li>@@@915442325 Earth has been infected with an extremely advanced
	plague built with Shadow technology.  It was released into Earth's
	atmosphere before the Drakh could adjust it to attack Earth's
	biologies.  Alliance scientists, though they lack the technical
	ability to counteract the plague, have examined it and believe that
	it will take the disease about five years to fully adjust to human
	physiology.  Some people will fall victim earlier, but once the
	disease has adapted itself, nobody will be left alive on Earth.

   <li>@@@915442325 As a result of the plague, Earth has been quarantined.

   <li>@@@915442325 The Rangers have been given a new top priority: seeking
	out all the worlds where ancient races have walked, in the hopes of
	uncovering technologies that might help cure the plague.  The
	Excalibur will act as a research vessel and will follow up on any
	leads the Rangers uncover.

</ul>

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

   <li>@@@915442325 Where are the technomages?

   <li>@@@915442325 Is Dureena the last of her kind, or were others able
	to escape before the Shadows destroyed her world?

   <li>@@@915442325 For what purpose did the Shadows build the plague?  Was
	it simply intended as a means of genocide, or does it do something
	else as well?

   <li>@@@915442325 Why did Galen go to Babylon 5?

   <li>@@@916161855 Were any of the B5 crew (Ivanova and Franklin, for
	instance) on Earth during the attack?

</ul>

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

<p>
   <li>@@@915442325 One element of technomage society is a group known as
	the Circle.  It's unclear whether there's just one, but individual
	technomages appear to be accountable to the Circle.

<p>
   <li>@@@915442325 How long has the Thieves' Guild operated on Babylon 5?
	Garibaldi clearly learned about it at some point.  Was he aware of
	it while he was head of security on the station?  Has he told Zack
	about it?

<p>
   <li>@@@915442325 The jump points formed by various Alliance and Drakh
	ships looked different than earlier in the series.  Was there an
	advance in hyperspace technology in the five years since the founding
	of the Alliance?

	<p>
	At least one advance in hyperspace technology (Earth's, anyway) was
	in evidence: Sheridan ordered the Excalibur to move off the hyperspace
	beacon to slip around the Drakh fleet.  Perhaps improved hyperspace
	navigation is a benefit of the Minbari or Vorlon components of the
	Excalibur's design; Earth-built ships were previously unable
	to navigate in hyperspace without using the beacons
	(<a href="027.html">"A Distant Star"</a>).
	Whether the rest of Earth's fleet has been upgraded with improved
	navigation systems remains to be seen.

<p>
   <li>@@@915443113 What was the null-space effect that took the Excalibur
	from Daltron 7 to the Drakh fleet?  Do the Drakh have the ability to
	set up an instantaneous link between two points in space?  If so,
	that's a capability that's beyond anything the Shadows were seen to
	have; Shadow ships traveled in hyperspace regularly.

<p>
   <li>@@@915442325 The Shadow plague may be nanotechnological rather than
	biological in nature.  The fact that it's known to be actively
	adapting to Earth's biology implies that it possesses at least
	rudimentary analytical powers; if it were simply mutating at
	random there would be no way to give any kind of estimate of
	how long it'd take to affect humans.

	<p>
	Does each individual germ or nanodevice act autonomously or are they
	in communication with each other?  Perhaps the plague as a whole is
	a sentient being of sorts, its component parts exchanging information
	as neurons do but on a much larger scale.

<p>
   <li>@@@915442325 Sheridan appeared to believe that on some world, there
	would be a ready-made cure for the plague; he didn't state the
	Excalibur's mission in terms of seeking out new technologies that
	might allow a cure to be developed by the Alliance.  His assumption
	only holds true if the Shadows used their plague in the distant
	past; in that case some of the older races might have found a way
	to combat it.  If, on the other hand, the plague was a more recent
	development or it was never deployed, the First Ones might not
	have had an opportunity to develop a cure specifically aimed at it.

<p>
   <li>@@@915602941 Since he seemed to have some knowledge of the whereabouts
	of the First Ones
	(<a href="049.html">"Voices of Authority"</a>)
	Draal and the Great Machine might be a logical place to begin the
	search for a cure to the plague.  Exactly how much information he
	has is unclear; he might have only known about those First Ones
	who were still around when he took up stewardship of the Great Machine.

<p>
   <li>@@@915471360 As a key member of the Alliance, Earth is no doubt host
	to thousands of alien visitors of various races.  Will they be wiped
	out by the plague as well?  Will it adapt to their respective biologies
	at the same rate as humans', or will it leave them alone in favor of
	eliminating the dominant lifeforms on the planet?

<p>
   <li>@@@915701816 Sheridan is probably not terribly popular on Earth. He
	mentioned people are still wary of him from "the last time
	[he] led a fleet to Earth Space." He is also actively
	supporting Mars, which may not be very popular on Earth. 

	<p>
	And now, many will probably blame him for the plague the
	Drakh unleashed on Earth, as it was revenge for the Shadow
	War, a war in which Earth took little to no part. It is
	likely that many people will die in the plague, even if
	a cure is eventually found (Sheridan said some would 
	die of it sooner than others).

	<p>
	This may help explain the attitude of the academics 100 years
	in the future
	(<a href="088.html">"The Deconstruction of Falling Stars"</a>),
	who seemed annoyed at the mythology surrounding Sheridan. 

<p>
   <li>@@@916162342 How will the quarantine be maintained?  There are
	undoubtedly some number of people on Earth who'll want to leave
	despite the quarantine -- maybe they don't believe the plague really
	exists, for example.  How will they be prevented from piloting a
	ship off the planet?

	<p>
	An Alliance blockade is a likely possibility; it'd be too risky to
	allow Earth to patrol its own skies since the people on patrol might
	very well be the ones who decide to leave.

	<p>
	If there are in fact alien ships orbiting Earth shooting down anyone
	who tries to leave, that probably serves to make Sheridan even less
	popular, even among those who believe the plague really exists.  No
	doubt some on Earth will use the situation to stir up the same
	anti-alien sentiment President Clark was able to tap into.  If so,
	after a cure is found and the quarantine ends, Earth might not be a
	very supportive member of the Alliance.  Resentment from the time of
	the plague may well be the seeds of Earth's later break from the
	Alliance
	(<a href="088.html">"The Deconstruction of Falling Stars"</a>).

</ul>

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

   <li>@@@915700823 Technomages were introduced in the season-two episode
	<a href="025.html">"The Geometry of Shadows."</a>

   <li>@@@915827189 The flu hasn't been cured in 2267.

   <li>@@@915442325 This movie acts as a bridge between the original B5
	series and the sequel,
	<a href="113.html">"Crusade."</a>
	Originally, TNT planned to premiere the movie on January 3, 1999
	and begin airing "Crusade" the same week, but "Crusade" ended up
	being delayed.

   <li>@@@915471020 Drazi sex organs are located under their left arms,
	and include an orifice that can be used to stash small items.

</ul>

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

<p>
   <li>@@@889490546 Just got clarification and verification: 
	Thirdspace does indeed air July 19th, and another B5 TV movie airs
	November 23rd, and one more on January 3rd.

<p>
   <li>@@@915700588 <em>Why wasn't the movie promoted heavily?</em><br>
	I am in total darkness when it comes to understanding TNT's
	philosophy of promotion.  They did little for this, I guess because it
	was the last of B5 in someone's view, promoted the hell out of the
	Houdini flick, which cost about 3 times more than we did...and we ended
	up getting exactly the same ratings.  With a little real promotion, we
	could've done even better.

<p>
   <li>@@@915700588 It did 2.8, which was a higher number than they were expecting
	(they'd sold the ads at 2.7, which means they made money off it), and
	equal to the Houdini movie.

<p>
   <li>@@@894388070 A Call to Arms isn't a Crusade pilot, it's a B5 movie that
	somewhat sets the stage for the new show, but is not a part of it.

<p>
   <li>@@@911070058 <em>How would you characterize the movie?</em><br>
	It's very different than all the rest; I thought that River would be the
	better story of the last two, but Call is a better *movie*, oddly
	enough.  It rips straight through with the action of ItB, but very
	self-contained.

<p>
   <li>@@@894134577 <em>Why no Mira Furlan in this movie?</em><br>
	Basically, I'm just trying to move around the characters because we 
	have a huge cast, and we can't afford to have every one of them in 
	every movie.  Mira had big parts in two of the movies, so we gave 
	some other folks a chance (like Josh Cox, who had not been in any of 
	them, and Tracy).  We even did one without Bruce (River) so we could 
	again spread things around a bit in an attempt to be fair to
	the largest number of cast members.

<p>
   <li>@@@912704656 <em>When does Crusade take place?</em><br>
	Five years after the events of Season 5.

<p>
   <li>@@@915610802 <em>About the score by Evan Chen</em><br>
	I suppose we could've stayed with the safe choice, with Chris,
	or done a nice, safe, droning Voyager style score that you don't even
	notice, but we're looking to take chances, and that means some people
	will like what you do, some won't.  Some won't like it because it's
	different.  Neil Gaiman told me that a number of fans of any form,
	including his own, say they want something new and challenging that
	takes chances...but if they don't like the form of that chance, they
	blame you for somehow doing it wrong...and they want the next new thing
	to be just like the last thing you did.

	<p>
	I can't tell you the number of people who said "why can't you
	just do the John Williams style music instead of this?"  Because it's
	been done, and it's cliche, and by god we're going to push what's
	"expected" to try some new things.  Otherwise what the hell's the
	point?

	<p>
	"Of course, you've been through this before.  I seem to recall a lot
	of people complaining when Christopher Franke replaced the composer for
	the pilot.  I don't doubt that a lot of the people screaming loudest
	now are the very ones who complained about Franke when he started."

	<p>
	I don't know about the latter, but I can sure confirm the
	former.  And that's why I sometimes wish the viewer responses were
	logged as much as my own have been.  When we brought in Chris to
	replace Stewart Copeland, you can't *believe* how much email I got from
	people saying to trash him, fire him, it's that "euro-trash techno-
	crap" most called it.  "He uses sounds and banging instead of music,"
	people complained (which he did mainly in the first two seasons), "it's
	distracting and it's not appropriate, get rid of him."

	<p>
	But we didn't.  I told people to give him time to settle into
	the show, and on the other hand to let them get used to a different
	kind of sound than what they expected.  ("I guess you couldn't afford
	to hire a real composer like TNG uses," was another popular line.)

	<p>
	Evan ain't Chris, nor should he be, nor should he *have* to be. 
	He is a brilliantly talented composer.  This is his first shot at a
	dramatic series, and as he settles in (as Chris settled in), I think
	people are going to be as loyal to what he's doing in Crusade as they
	were to Chris in B5. He's a classically trained composer, who threw it
	all away to come study jazz under some of the best jazz men in
	Chicago...washing dishes to support himself when he had been at the top
	of his field in China...because he loves music, and loves to
	experiment.

	<p>
	In the course of Crusade, we're going to see some places we've
	never seen before...and thanks to Evan, we're going to hear some things
	we've never heard before.  He's a find, and a genuine, fresh talent,
	and I stand behind him 100%.

	<p>
	And the people who say they are fans of Chris Franke's should
	think twice before doing to him what so many people did so rudely to
	Chris when he first came aboard.

<p>
   <li>@@@915700588 It kind of goes to show you how thin the layer of trust
	goes...you'd think by now, after doing 5 years of B5, people would
	think to cut a little slack and give a chance, assume that there's an
	intent here, rather than saying suddenly I'm an idiot for not putting
	in the kind of music they expected.

	<p>
	What's most interesting, and in some ways most galling, is the
	number of posts I've seen in the last day or so from people who watched
	CTA again, and said, "On second viewing, the music didn't bother me as
	much, and I kind of like it in places."  Maybe they should've been a
	little less quick on the trigger and the condemnation.

	<p>
	As for some of the comments I've seen, basically saying he
	should be killed (literally, someone suggested putting a gun to his
	head and pulling the trigger) to some *very* xenophobic comments about
	his being asian and that's the problem, with *that kind* of
	music...they do not even merit a reply.

<p>
   <li>@@@915610802 Actually, Chris Franke is sufficiently impressed with
	Chen -- who has never scored a TV show before, this is his first shot
	and he shows much potential, we're very happy -- that he's going to
	release Chen's score to ACtA and later episodes via his own label.

<p>
   <li>@@@915610802 "Is Franke gone then with the end of B5 and is Chen
	the Man behind Crusade's music? Or is Call an interim step music?"

	<p>
	Yes and no.  If there are any other B5 TV movies, or features,
	we'll almost certainly use Chris.  For Crusade, it's Evan.

<p>
   <li>@@@915610802 "Submitted for your consideration: sometimes the
	music and sound effects became confused - was that a weapons
	discharge/hit, or a techno-percussion note?  Were the repeated
	clashing/crunching sounds at the end of the battle mood conveying
	music, or the sound of the Drahk hatches opening to spew out the
	bio-weapon?  I also thought that the music was occasionally mixed too
	loudly."

	<p>
	The first part of that is a common problem in an action show;
	most of the really interesting music happens at the bottom, using the
	lower frequencies.  But the lower frequencies are also where you'll
	usually find explosions, clashing, crunching, banging and the like...so
	sometimes the two get muddy.  You clear out one or the other as much as
	you can, but sometimes it overlaps and you get fuzziness in the track.

	<p>
	As for mixing it loudly...yeah, I've generally done that on B5. 
	I like my music loud.

<p>
   <li>@@@915700588 I like the music.  I like the edginess of it.  I wouldn't do
	that particular style on a regular basis, because I think it would wear
	thin after a while, but for this movie it was right.  He's doing more
	thematic stuff for the series, but keeping the approach of using a
	variety of styles, including Chinese scales and stuff, which makes the
	episodes sound nifty and exotic.

	<p>
	So yeah, I like it...but I also like the kind of edgy, growly
	stuff Ry Cooder did for LAST MAN STANDING, so go figure.

<p>
   <li>@@@915610802 I spot the music on everything, from movies to the
	episodes. That means sitting with the composer and saying "music in at
	1:07:13 (one minute, seven seconds, 13 frames), out at 2:23:18."  When
	we did the pilot, I wasn't sure how much music it did or didn't need,
	never having done this before, so I went drier than I should have.

	<p>
	In the case of CtA, I knew we were going to have some wall-to-
	wall music later, so I held back a bit earlier on, otherwise you do way
	too much to fit in, and you over-burden the composer.  River was also
	spare at the top.

<p>
   <li>@@@915610802 <em>What's "ramming speed?"</em><br>
	Ramming Speed.

	<p>
	If you are approaching a target at speed X, you still have a
	chance to peel away at the last moment.  If you are approaching a
	target at the top speed your engines can provide, such that you cannot
	turn away or be deflected, that's speed Y.  Speed Y is ramming speed.

<p>
   <li>@@@915700588 "Seems an odd order.  Why not maximum speed or full
	speed ahead?  Does EF rules provide for ramming of other starships?"

	<p>
	Because it also implies "...and we're going to HIT that ship." 
	Ramming speed says both.  You could say, "Give me maximum speed, set a
	course to RAM the ship," or you could say "Ramming speed."  Same exact
	content, shorter terms.  Brevity is our friend.  Pedantry is not.

<p>
   <li>@@@915700588 <em>Will the disease be totally implausible to
	people who know about biology?</em><br>
	We have covered all three of the virus concerns in the way we
	built this particular virus, thanks to help from the Jet Propulsion
	Laboratory, which consulted with us on its design.  Trust me, it's
	solid, and totally thought-through.

<p>
   <li>@@@921525450 <em>The novelization says Galen was an apprentice
	to Elric.  Is that official or just the author's invention?</em><br>
	Yes, that's canonical.

</ul>