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From: koreth@spud.Hyperion.COM (Steven Grimm)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5
Subject: Why "Shadows?" -- speculation on darkness, light, and souls
Date: 14 Apr 1995 14:41:51 -0700
Organization: Hyperion, Mountain View, CA, USA
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I don't think I've seen this brought up before.  Possible spoilers for the
rest of the season and beyond; proceed at your own risk:


Why are the apparent baddies called "Shadows?"  At first, I just sort of
accepted the name at face value; shadows connote darkness, stealth, and so
forth.  But the first time we hear the word used in reference to the new
race (Lady Ladira in "Signs and Portents") it's not really used as a proper
noun; it's more a description.  This makes me think there's more to the
name than meets the eye.

So what does the word "shadow" tell us about these folks?  Three possibilities
come immediately to mind.  The first, which has been discussed here, is that
they're related to one of the other races, a different aspect of one of them,
connected but not really the same.  The obvious choice is the Vorlons, of
course (though I'm not so sure about that.)  If this is what the word meant,
it also implies that the shadows can never be destroyed; where there's light,
there must also be shadow.

Second, if you want to take "shadow" really literally, you can ask: what's
the light, and what's causing the shadows to be cast?  I have a vague feeling
that the Minbari, standing as they do between the darkness and the light, may
be an integral part of the picture; their presence is preventing the light
from going everywhere it should.  Maybe when they go, so do the shadows --
and if that's true, and the prophecy says the shadows will be destroyed,
Delenn's transformation is an act of self-preservation on her part, not
self-sacrifice.

This has some appeal, since it ties in with the whole soul-migration issue.
Humans aren't getting Minbari souls; Minbari have been standing in the way
of souls that were supposed to go to humans, recycling them over and over.
Stealing them, if you want to look at it that way (a nice irony given their
hatred of soul hunters!)  Where are the souls coming from?  The Vorlons.
Yes, I'm suggesting that Vorlon souls are migrating into humans, not the
other way around as has been discussed frequently.  Note Delenn's speech in
"Babylon Squared," in which she says of humans: "They are the future."

In this case, the shadows are the result of the souls not reaching their
destinations, and maybe what they're up to is trying to rectify that problem
in a way that's not clear to us yet.  Kosh's encounter with Morden in "Signs
and Portents" suggests that the migration is not voluntary on the part of
the Vorlons.

Finally, the third possible meaning of "shadow" -- a remnant, a lesser
version of something that came before.  Maybe they're the remains of some
*really* ancient force that was nearly destroyed, and is now trying to
regain some of its past glory or to finish work that it once started.  It
has more important things to do than deal with a bunch of little races
who might try to interfere.  It devotes a small fraction of its resources
to getting them to squabble amongst themselves so they're too busy to
notice what else is going on; its true aims have nothing at all to do with
the Narn or the Centauri or mass killings.  In fact, if I were to hazard a
guess along these lines, I'd say the current war's real purpose is to
distract the Minbari by making the Centauri look like a threat.  (In that
case, they'll probably try to arrange for the humans to join in the war on
the Centauri side.)

What defeated them when they were stronger than they are now?  Something we
haven't seen yet, maybe.  Perhaps something that was itself destroyed in the
process, but I doubt that.  If this third theory is right, there's yet
*another* invisible player in this game.  I'm guessing we'll find out about
it in the next batch of new episodes if so.

Comments?

-Steve