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133 lines
6.1 KiB
133 lines
6.1 KiB
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<p>
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<font size="+2">Season One</font>
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began with an attack, then backed off to allow time to introduce
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most of the major characters, species, and forces and touch on most
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of the themes, only to gather force again at the end with a set of intense
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episodes that raise as many questions as they resolve. The prominent
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threads are the Centauri-Narn conflict, the Shadows, the Psi Corps, happenings
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on Earth, the Minbari surrender, what happened to Sinclair at the Battle
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of the Line, what happened to the previous Babylon stations, and the Vorlons.
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<h2>Centauri-Narn Conflict</h2>
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<p>
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As the season began, the Narns launched a preemptive and unprovoked strike
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against a Centauri agricultural outpost
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(<a href="../guide/001.html">"Midnight on the Firing Line."</a>)
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The official Centauri response was to do nothing, but due to his personal
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involvement with events there and his great desire that the Centauri show
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the mettle of their former age of empire, the somewhat foppish Ambassador
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Londo Mollari, with the sympathetic support of the humans and Minbari, tried to
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defy his government and sanction the Narn. The two sides continued to bicker
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until in exasperation Londo called for help from his new friend Mr. Morden.
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The Shadows launched a preemptive and unprovoked strike against a Narn outpost
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(<a href="../guide/022.html">"Chrysalis"</a>)
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-- and utterly destroyed it (to Londo's moderate distress.)
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<h2>The Shadows</h2>
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<p>
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The first encounter B5 had with the Shadows occured when a mysterious, polite
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man named Morden arrived and asked each of the alien ambassadors, "What do you
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want?"
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(<a href="../guide/013.html">"Signs and Portents"</a>)
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Delenn suspected what Morden represented; Kosh
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certainly knew; G'Kar only wanted to annihilate the Centauri. Morden seemed
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to approve most of Londo's desire for the Centauri to reclaim their lost
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empire, so he ingratiated himself by doing Londo a great favor. It was only
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after the Shadows attacked the Narn that G'Kar made a connection between this
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new enemy and an ancient enemy of lore. He traveled to the rim of known
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space and found a deadly force on Z'ha'dum, a world thought to be long dead
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(<a href="../guide/024.html">"Revelations."</a>)
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However, his unconfirmed warnings of a great threat fell, and continue to
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fall, on deaf ears in the council chambers.
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<h2>The Psi Corps</h2>
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<p>
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Almost as secretive, and certainly as nefarious, is the Psi Corps. Although
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Talia is reasonable and ethical, the behavior of her superiors in the
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organization is questionable. Among many who view the Corps with
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suspicion, Ivanova's hatred of them is almost legendary. They
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hunted Jason Ironheart to the station because after completing their
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experiments on him he could see into their machinations for global domination
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(<a href="../guide/006.html">"Mind War."</a>)
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The Corps' security arm, the Psi Cops, as represented by Bester, appear to be a
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particularly sinister breed.
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<h2>Earth</h2>
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<p>
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The idea that the Psi Corps might be manipulating the Earth government was
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lent confirmation when a connection arose between them and the
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assassination of the Earth President and the installment of his successor
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(<a href="../guide/024.html">"Revelations."</a>)
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There are other ominous signs of changes coming from Earth,
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among them the anti-alien Homeguard
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(<a href="../guide/007.html">"The War Prayer"</a>)
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and the squelching of the Mars independence movement
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(<a href="../guide/018.html">"A Voice in the Wilderness."</a>)
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Whatever the cause, things "back home" are becoming continuously bleaker.
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<h2>Minbari Surrender and The Battle of the Line</h2>
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<p>
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Twelve years ago humans were responsible for the death of the Minbari
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leader. In retaliation, the Minbari declared war, and in the final hour, as
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their ships were poised for the destruction of Earth, the Minbari Grey
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Council captured one human, Sinclair, attempting to ram their ship. In the
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course of their interrogation they discovered to their horror that Minbari
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souls were being reborn in human bodies. Because Minbari refuse to harm
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their own, and due to an ancient prophecy regarding the joining of their
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souls and the fight against a great enemy, the Grey Council ordered the
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Minbari to surrender. They maintained an interest in Sinclair, however, and
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effectively selected him to run B5. They also invited him to Minbar as the
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first Earth ambassador
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(<a href="../guide/023.html">"Points of Departure."</a>)
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<p>
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Delenn, who was present at the questioning of Sinclair, was chosen by
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the Grey Council to be the leader of the Minbari
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(<a href="../guide/020.html">"Babylon Squared."</a>)
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So deep was her belief in the prophecy and her role to play in fulfilling it
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that she not only declined the nomination but defied the Council's orders,
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spinning a cocoon and metamorphosing into a Minbari-Human hybrid.
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Perhaps she is right, for the instant a
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<a href="../guide/002.html">"Soul Hunter"</a>
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(a caretaker of the "greatest
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souls") saw her, he tried to collect her soul prematurely.
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<h2>Previous Babylon Stations</h2>
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<p>
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The first three Babylon stations were sabotaged. The fourth vanished
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immediately after coming online. Four years later it reappeared and a
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strange alien named Zathras explained that B4 was being drawn through time by
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"The One," (a much older Sinclair aided by Delenn) to serve in a great
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galactic war
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(<a href="../guide/020.html">"Babylon Squared."</a>)
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People on B4 experienced time shifts, and
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Sinclair envisioned Garibaldi's last stand in a battle aboard B5.
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<h2>The Vorlons</h2>
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<p>
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The Vorlons are almost as much a mystery at the end of the season as at the
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beginning. As Kosh arrived on the station
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(<a href="../guide/000.html">"The Gathering"</a>)
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he was the victim
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of an assassination attempt by a Minbari. Lest we think the Vorlons are
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ineffectual or completely uninvolved, they enigmatically destroyed a ship
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bearing the secret of immortality to Earth. Kosh also showed an interest in
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Talia, to the point of making a mental recording of her
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(<a href="../guide/009.html">"Deathwalker."</a>)
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<h2>Other Issues</h2>
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<p>
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The planet below B5 was found to contain vastly powerful machinery and
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weapons. Delenn's former mentor Draal replaced the sentient heart of the
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machine
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(<a href="../guide/019.html">"A Voice in the Wilderness."</a>)
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