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								   _Contents:_ [9]Overview - [10]Backplot - [11]Questions - [12]Analysis

								   - [13]Notes - [14]JMS


								     _________________________________________________________________


								Overview


								     A girl entering puberty exhibits telepathic abilities, and the crew

								     must decide whether to turn her over to the Psi Corps. The corpse

								     of the Minbari military leader who oversaw the Battle of the Line

								     is the focus of a diplomatic incident. [15]John Vickery as Neroon.

								     Grace Una as Alisa Beldon.


								Sub-genre: Intrigue

								[16]P5 Rating: [17]7.87


								Production number:  115

								Original air date:  July 20, 1994


								Written by D. C. Fontana

								Directed by Bruce Seth Green


								     _________________________________________________________________


								Backplot


								     * The Grey Council ordered the surrender at the Battle of the Line.

								     * Many among the Minbari warrior caste do not approve of the

								       surrender, a fact which has caused something of a rift between the

								       religious and warrior caste.

								     * Caste membership is determined by heritage. Membership in the

								       religious caste takes precedence if one parent is in the religious

								       caste and the other is a warrior. (This is ambiguous; Delenn's

								       statement on the matter could be interpreted to mean that the

								       mother's caste takes precedence over the father's.)

								     * The Earth-Minbari War began with the death of Dukhat, the head of

								       the Grey Council at the time.

								     * The war was regarded as a holy war among the Minbari, and had the

								       full support of the religious caste at least part of the time.

								     * One of the warleaders (heads of the military clans?) committed

								       suicide rather than obey the order to surrender.

								     * Telepaths are highly regarded among the Minbari, and are fed and

								       clothed by people in exchange for providing their services.

								     * The Narn keep alien slaves, or at least are reported to do so.


								Unanswered Questions


								     * What is the significance of the word "chrysalis?" Note that this

								       is the title of the first-season finale.

								     * How was Delenn able to sense that she was being probed?


								Analysis


								     * Delenn's identity doesn't seem to be a secret among the warrior

								       caste, or at least its upper echelons. The warriors seem to be

								       playing along and keeping her secret safe.

								     * As JMS mentions below, in the original airing order, this episode

								       came after [18]"Babylon Squared." If that is the intended

								       chronological order of the two episodes, then Delenn's statement

								       to Neroon that she speaks for the entire Grey Council takes on

								       different connotations; it is plausible in that case that she is

								       lying and hadn't even consulted the Council.

								     * Likewise, the device used to stun the guard appears to be a

								       triluminary; its presence makes much more sense if this episode is

								       after [19]"Babylon Squared." Its exact function is still a

								       mystery; did it in fact stun the guard, put him in some sort of

								       stasis, or something else?


								Notes


								     * The only first season script that was developed outside the B5

								       offices.


								jms speaks


								     * Originally, this ep was to be broadcast later in the run, because

								       I didn't want two PsiCorps episodes back-to-back, and for one

								       little detail that will become clearer after "Babylon Squared"

								       airs; it would've been better to have followed that episode, but

								       again, these eps are made to be watched in just about any order,

								       so it's okay in the long run.

								     * Yeah, the audio thing with Talia is something I thought of during

								       the final audio mix. We wanted to convey somehow her trying to get

								       through and initially it was just distortion. Then I figured, wait

								       a second, she is going to be thinking what she's going to say

								       before she says it, why not pre-lap the dialogue? Unfortunately,

								       for some damned reason, the high-tech studio wasn't set up to do

								       that effect, so we took Talia's dialogue, digitized it, laid it in

								       on a second side track, and played the one over the other, one

								       preceding the other by I think about 20 frames or so. The key was

								       to make the *second* voicing the one synched to her lips, not the

								       first one. Worked out pretty cool.

								     * You will see some of the warrior caste in "Legacies," coming up in

								       July. You don't see them much because they only go where they're

								       needed.

								     * Generally, the religious caste takes precedence over the warrior

								       caste.

								     * From cradle to grave, the Minbari are taught that there is no

								       greater goal, no nobler thing than to serve. They are raised to be

								       totally self-sacrificing. The only exception is when someone in

								       the religious caste believes he or she has received a calling,

								       which if sincerely felt cannot be contravened (since usually this

								       too involves serving). So for a Minbari telepath, this is their

								       means by which they may serve, and they are given great respect.

								       It never even occurs to them to do otherwise.

								       Lately, there has been a bit of a change brewing; "a

								       self-involvement above the needs of others" (as someone notes in

								       "Voice") that has begun creeping into the Minbari race. And

								       they're not happy about it.

								     * Overall, I'd say that "Legacies" came out better than "War

								       Prayer," because Dorothy had more time to get to know the

								       characters, and because it was better directed. (As a

								       parenthetical, Larry DiTillio has developed some of his own

								       scripts as well, specifically "TKO" and "Eyes." "Legacies" is the

								       one I'd say was developed "outside the office" in the sense of

								       being a freelance effort. Everything else was either an assigned

								       premise or done in-house by staff.)

								     * Stuff like wearing gloves is only enforced if you're a member of

								       Psi Corps; Allysa wasn't. In addition, though she had P10

								       *potential*, the talent was sporadic, came and went.

								     * Regarding "Legacies," there's one brief blip in there that we're

								       going to see again; I'm not sure I'd call it a clue, but certainly

								       a cue...a hint of something to come. You won't have to wonder what

								       it is; it'll be shown in a flashback in that particular yet-to-air

								       episode.


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								      [26]Last update: March 27, 1996


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