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192 lines
7.2 KiB
192 lines
7.2 KiB
<h2><a name="OV">Overview</a></h2>
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<blockquote><cite>
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Lost, on the run and stranded on a Centauri outpost, Keffer and
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Garibaldi are overtaken by strange aliens with the power to control
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minds.
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</cite></blockquote>
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<p>
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Issue 7 (August 1995, released June 6)
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<p>
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Setting: Before
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<a href="/lurk/guide/031.html">"The Coming of Shadows"</a>
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<pre> Writer: Tim DeHaas
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Premise: J. Michael Straczynski
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Penciller: John Ridgway
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Inker: Robbie Busch</pre>
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<p>
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<hr>
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<p>
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<h2><a name="SY">Synopsis</a></h2>
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<p>
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Garibaldi and Keffer are walking across a valley, two hours away from the
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Centauri city they spotted from the summit. Garibaldi reassures Keffer
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that they got enough of a head-start on the aliens that they should reach
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the city before their pursuers are able to catch up. As they press forward,
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Garibaldi continues the story of his first mission with Sinclair.
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<p>
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Sinclair and Garibaldi had taken shelter in a cave to wait out the dust
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storm. With only five days of air and food, it wasn't easy to just wait,
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but at least they were in radio contact with Lt. Sanchez aboard Garibaldi's
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shuttle. Sinclair believed the worst of the storm was over.
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<p>
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Garibaldi tired of the conversation between Sinclair and Sanchez
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and moved closer to the mouth of the cave, where he started drinking.
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He recalled a previous assignment, as head of security on Io, and the death
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of his friend Frank Kemmer (cf. episode
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<a href="/lurk/guide/011.html">"Survivors"</a>)
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-- a death Garibaldi felt responsible for.
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<p>
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Garibaldi found himself out on the surface, apparently after wandering
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off in his stupor. He reactivated his commlink to find Sanchez urgently
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trying to contact him. Sinclair, it seems, had noticed Garibaldi's
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absence, and started to go out looking for him -- but the mouth of the
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cave had collapsed, and Sinclair was pinned down just outside the cave,
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almost out of air. Sanchez hadn't heard from Sinclair for five
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minutes, possibly because he'd blacked out.
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<p>
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Sanchez told Garibaldi that if Sinclair died, it would be on Garibaldi's
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head. That struck home; Garibaldi immediately went looking for Sinclair,
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aided by a flare fired from the ship by Sanchez. Following the flare's
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lead, Garibaldi found a collapsed cliffside, and soon came across
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Sinclair. He was almost too late, but eventually Sinclair regained
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consciousness after Garibaldi switched air cylinders. As soon as Sinclair
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came to, he wrestled Garibaldi to the ground and threatened to kill him
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if Garibaldi ever did something as stupid as wandering off again.
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<p>
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Keffer notes that in fact, Garibaldi's wandering saved Sinclair's life;
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Sinclair would never have survived if he'd been at the back of the cave
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when it collapsed.
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<p>
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Meanwhile, the aliens -- humanoid, fanged creatures with feline eyes --
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have not only caught up with Garibaldi and Keffer, but overtaken them,
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and enter a small forest, where they somehow meld with the trees. Keffer
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and Garibaldi arrive shortly thereafter, and Keffer begins acting paranoid,
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accusing Garibaldi of keeping them out in the open so they can be picked
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off by the alien ship. He pulls a gun on Garibaldi and takes Garibaldi's
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weapon.
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<p>
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As Garibaldi tries to argue, he feels something try to control him,
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too, get him angry at Keffer. He ducks out of the way as Keffer fires,
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manages to zigzag out of the line of fire a couple more times. One of
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Keffer's shots hits a tree and sends an alien flying off to the side.
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That breaks the aliens' grip, and as they close in to attack, Keffer tosses
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Garibaldi his gun. The two manage to kill all the aliens, but the creatures
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self-destruct before the bodies can be examined.
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<p>
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"Did you <em>see</em> those things?" asks Keffer. "They could have torn
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us apart... but they tried to mind-warp us into killing each other instead."
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<p>
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"Yeah," says Garibaldi. "Always work from behind the scenes... leave
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no traces... leave no <em>witnesses...</em>" If this has anything to do
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with what he saw on Mars, Garibaldi says, they're in <em>big</em> trouble.
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<p>
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Because what he saw on Mars, looking on with Sinclair from the top of a
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canyon, was a large Shadow cruiser, apparently excavating another Shadow
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ship from beneath the surface -- while figures from a nearby building stood
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and watched.
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<H2><A NAME="BP">Backplot</A></H2>
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<ul>
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<li> Both Garibaldi and Sinclair have seen a Shadow ship in action, years
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before Sinclair took command of Babylon 5.
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<li> Garibaldi saved Sinclair's life twice on Mars, once inadventently
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and once out of remorse.
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</ul>
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<H2><A NAME="UQ">Unanswered Questions</A></H2>
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<ul>
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<li> What were the aliens? Were they merely servants of the Shadows, along
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the lines of the creature in
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<a href="/lurk/guide/027.html">"The Long Dark,"</a>
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or were they something else? (see
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<a href="#JS:creatures">jms speaks</a>)
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<li> Why did they try to get Garibaldi and Keffer to kill each other rather
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than simply attacking from their ship? (see
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<a href="#shadows">Analysis</a>)
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<li> What else did Garibaldi and Sinclair see on Mars, and what do they
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know about what they saw? Garibaldi's comment suggests they may have
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seen more than just a ship. (see
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<a href="#AN:psi">Analysis</a>)
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</ul>
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<H2><A NAME="AN">Analysis</A></H2>
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<ul>
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<li> <a name="shadows">The creatures' strategy</a>
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of pitting Garibaldi and Keffer against each other seems to be
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consistent with the Shadows' modus operandi; the Shadows are pitting
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the Narn and Centauri against each other rather than striking
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directly. Perhaps their caution and indirection stems from their
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defeat at the hands of the Minbari and First Ones a thousand years
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earlier, when they moved too quickly and were perhaps too direct.
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<p>
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<li> It was already revealed (in
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<a href="/lurk/guide/027.html">"The Long Dark"</a>)
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that some servants of the Shadows were already on their way back to
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Z'ha'dum before the Icarus landed there and reawakened the Shadows
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themselves (cf. episode
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<a href="/lurk/guide/038.html">"In the Shadow of Z'ha'dum."</a>)
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But if Sinclair and Garibaldi saw a large Shadow ship before then,
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it suggests that either some Shadows were awake before the Icarus
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incident, or that their servants are allowed to pilot their vessels
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unaccompanied.
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<p>
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If the latter is the case, why didn't those servants awaken the
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Shadows before the Icarus' crew did?
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<p>
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<li> <a name="AN:psi">What was the set of buildings</a>
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overlooking the Shadow ship's excavation? We know of one secret
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installation on Mars -- a Psi-Corps training center (cf. episode
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<a href="/lurk/guide/018.html">"A Voice in the Wilderness."</a>)
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This could be how Garibaldi knew about the training center, and
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if true, it suggests a strong link between the Shadows and the
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Psi-Corps.
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</ul>
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<H2><A NAME="NO">Notes</A></H2>
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<ul>
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<li> The cover picture is something of a temporal slipup; the young version
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of Sinclair is fighting with the present-day Garibaldi (judging by
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the latter's lack of hair.)
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</ul>
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<H2><A NAME="JMS">jms speaks</A></H2>
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<ul>
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<li> <a name="JS:creatures">The comics version</a> shows creatures that are
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not the shadows themselves but some of the many creatures who serve
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them.
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<li> Actually, in the comic, you never saw shadows influencing anyone's
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mind; you saw their humanoid (in this case) servents doing this.
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</ul>
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<pre>
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</pre>
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