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378 lines
22 KiB
378 lines
22 KiB
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[1][ISMAP]-[2][Home]
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### GUIDE ### [3][Background] [4][Synopsis] [5][Credits] [6][Episode
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List] [7][Previous] [8][Next]
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_Contents:_ [9]Overview - [10]Backplot - [11]Questions - [12]Analysis
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- [13]Notes - [14]JMS
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_________________________________________________________________
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Overview
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Zack makes a discovery in the search for Garibaldi. Delenn's plan
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to attack the Shadows runs into trouble. Ivanova and Marcus attempt
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to solicit aid from more First Ones. [15]Wayne Alexander as Lorien.
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[16]Wortham Krimmer as Emperor Cartagia. Eric Zivot as Verano.
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Jonathan Chapman as Ambassador Lethke.
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[17]P5 Rating: [18]8.66
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Production number: 403
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Original air week: November 18, 1996
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Written by J. Michael Straczynski
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Directed by John McPherson
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_________________________________________________________________
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Plot Points
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* Lyta's telepathic abilities were enhanced by the Vorlons to enable
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her to more easily carry one of them.
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* The Vorlons, apparently determined to wipe the Shadows out once
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and for all, have begun destroying worlds that have had contact
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with the Shadows, and to that end have amassed a fleet of
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thousands of ships.
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* Sheridan has returned to Babylon 5, as has Garibaldi.
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* Initially, when the Vorlons and Shadows took on the task of
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looking after the younger races, they were equally balanced,
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obeyed rules of engagement, and respected each other's
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perspectives. But at some point, one of them grew tired of the
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arrangement and the two started fighting in earnest, with the
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younger races caught in the middle.
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Unanswered Questions
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* Who, if anyone, was on the ship that carried Garibaldi's lifepod?
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Why were they transporting him, and why did they self-destruct?
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* What was done to Garibaldi? Was he implanted with a new
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personality, like Talia Winters?
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* What was the program that activated as Garibaldi's pod was
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ejected?
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* Why did Lorien accompany Sheridan?
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* How did they get to Babylon 5? Was that Lorien's ship?
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* What exactly did Lyta learn when she scanned Kosh?
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* What exactly does Sheridan have in mind to end the war once and
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for all?
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* What happened to Marcus' family? His brother died in a Shadow
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attack ([19]"Matters of Honor,") but what about his parents?
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Analysis
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* Delenn said, "Everyone I hold dear is gone." She didn't list
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Lennier among them. Why not?
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* Lyta says she allowed the Vorlons to modify her because she
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believed. Believed in what? What did they tell her about their
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intentions? Does she know anything about the Shadows and Vorlons,
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and the nature of their conflict, that Sheridan would find useful?
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* What made the Vorlons change their strategy? Most likely it has
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something to do with the "unexpected door" they feel Sheridan
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opened on Z'ha'dum ([20]"The Hour of the Wolf.") By attempting to
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wipe out the Shadows, it's arguable they've lost the war on a
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philosophical level; attempting to wipe out a race to gain
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supremacy is exactly the method the Shadows advocate.
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On the other hand, if there's no way to get the Shadows to stop
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fighting and causing wars except by completely destroying them,
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the Vorlons may have reached the conclusion that the very
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existence of the Shadows means their philosophy can never take
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hold.
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* Given that the old Kosh, at least according to Lyta, cared about
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the younger races, would he have approved of the Vorlons' change
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in strategy? If not, will the piece of him still alive in Sheridan
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try to stop the plan?
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* Lyta referred to the old Kosh as "the _real_ Kosh." What isn't
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real about the new Kosh? What is the new Kosh's actual name (or
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its human-pronounceable version?)
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* Lorien's visit to B5 would seem to indicate that he, at least,
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still cares about the younger races. What can he do about it?
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Presumably he'll be able to provide valuable information, but does
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he have any capabilities beyond that? For example, does he have
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access to technology millions of years more advanced than even the
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Shadows and Vorlons?
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In [21]"Whatever Happened to Mr. Garibaldi?" he appeared to have a
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significant presence on the "dream plane" (for lack of a better
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term) through which Kosh sent the dreams to Sheridan in [22]"All
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Alone in the Night" and [23]"Interludes and Examinations." It's
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plausible that that's where much of a Vorlon's consciousness
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lives; if so, Lorien may be capable of much more direct impact on
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the Vorlons than his physical presence implies. Whether the same
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is true in the Shadows' case is less clear, but the fact that the
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Eye at Z'ha'dum found Ivanova while she was in the Great Machine
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([24]"Voices of Authority") suggests that they too have some
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presence in that mode of existence.
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* Destroying planets may seem excessive, but perhaps the Vorlons are
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doing so, rather than simply wiping out all surface life, because
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of the Shadows' habit of burying their ships underground
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([25]"Messages From Earth") and building cities underground
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([26]"Z'ha'dum.") They may feel that completely destroying a
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planet that's been visited by the Shadows is the only way to
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ensure that there are no surprises left behind.
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* Is the current Vorlon rampage due in part to the death of the
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original Kosh at the hands of the Shadows? If so, there's a
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parallel to the Earth-Minbari War, in which, according to Delenn
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([27]"Ceremonies of Light and Dark") the Minbari went collectively
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mad after the death of their leader Dukhat at human hands.
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* By wiping out younger races as they battle the Shadows, the
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Vorlons can no longer really claim to be looking after their
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juniors. What will the other First Ones think of that? They don't
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seem to be on particularly good terms with the Vorlons to begin
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with ([28]"Voices of Authority") and this change in attitude may
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further irritate their peers. Lorien will likely be able to
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provide greater insight into the feelings of the other First Ones
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toward the Vorlons.
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* If the Vorlons are truly intent on wiping out any worlds the
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Shadows have touched, that means they'll be targeting Mars,
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Centauri Prime, Earth, and B5. Depending on how recently a planet
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has to have had contact to be considered tainted, they may also
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destroy Narn. Only the Minbari seem, so far, to have never been
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under Shadow influence, so their homeworld may be spared.
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The only evidence so far of Shadow influence is the assassination
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attempt against Kosh in [29]"The Gathering," but given that the
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Shadows didn't try to touch Kosh until the Vorlon offensive in
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[30]"Interludes and Examinations," the hallway meeting in
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[31]"Signs and Portents" notwithstanding (Kosh initiated that
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confrontation too) it's more likely the Minbari warriors were
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acting of their own volition.
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* The Vorlons' new tack is somewhat ironic, given that they filed an
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official protest when the Centauri used mass drivers to bombard
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Narn from space ([32]"The Long, Twilight Struggle.") Clearly the
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Vorlons don't have any qualms about attacking planets from space
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if _they're_ the ones doing it.
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* Since the Shadows have already come to Centauri Prime, could the
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blasted landscape of [33]"War Without End, Part Two" be due to a
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Vorlon attack, not the doing of the Shadows? If the Vorlons attack
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because of the Shadow presence, that would explain Londo's
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bitterness toward Sheridan, who he might consider to be on the
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side of the Vorlons.
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* Does Sheridan share the Vorlons' goal of wiping the Shadows out
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completely, or does he have some other plan in mind? The fact that
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Lorien accompanied him suggests the latter, since Lorien commented
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that he didn't approve of warfare among his juniors ([34]"Whatever
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Happened to Mr. Garibaldi?") On the other hand, his speech to the
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crowd did imply that he had genocide against the Shadows in mind.
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* The original Kosh tried to train Sheridan "to fight legends"
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([35]"Hunter, Prey.") But in his speech, Sheridan appeared to be
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setting himself up as a legend of sorts: "the only man to come
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back from Z'ha'dum alive." (A claim, incidentally, which isn't
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true; Morden and Anna were on Z'ha'dum and left alive, if
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changed.) His bravado seems to indicate he now sees himself as
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having a larger role to play than before, and validates the
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Shadows' view of him as a nexus ([36]"Z'ha'dum.")
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Oddly, in [37]"Interludes and Examinations," Sheridan pointed out
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to Kosh that the _Vorlons_ were legends, or wanted to be perceived
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as such. Did Kosh know that eventually Sheridan might have to
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combat the Vorlons?
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* Sheridan returned from Z'ha'dum under unknown circumstances,
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accompanied by an alien he won't tell anyone about. Garibaldi's
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whereabouts were unknown for two weeks, and he turned up in a ship
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that self-destructed to avoid being closely investigated. Why,
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then, do Delenn, Ivanova, and the others accept both of them back
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seemingly without question? Given the threat of implanted
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personalities and other modifications ([38]"Divided Loyalties,"
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[39]"Z'ha'dum") the crew should at least be skeptical that both
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returnees are what they appear.
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* Sheridan's speech from the catwalk echoes his appearance on the
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catwalk in the dream in [40]"All Alone in the Night." If Garibaldi
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symbolized "the man in between," a description that fits Lorien at
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least as well as anyone else, then was the Sheridan on the catwalk
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"the man on the other side," presumably the other side of death?
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If so, Sheridan has now become that man.
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* G'Kar's refusal to scream was foreshadowed in [41]"The Parliament
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of Dreams." In that episode, when he was put into paingivers by
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the Narn assassin and tortured, he said he would rather die than
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cry out.
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Notes
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* Marcus has never been romantically involved with anyone. This was
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hinted at in [42]"A Late Delivery From Avalon," in which he
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jokingly compared himself to Sir Galahad, the chaste knight from
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Arthurian legend. In [43]"Ceremonies of Light and Dark," he told
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Delenn he'd lost a woman he cared a great deal for, but that's not
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necessarily a contradiction; he didn't say she felt the same way.
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* The scene in which Ivanova asks Delenn for one of the White Star
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ships was originally written and filmed for [44]"Whatever Happened
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to Mr. Garibaldi?" but was cut from that episode for time.
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* This is the first regular episode to feature all the cast members
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listed in the opening credits; aside from [45]"The Gathering," all
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the earlier episodes were missing at least one.
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* G'Kar was whipped 39 times, because 40 would kill a Narn. That's
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probably a reference to the Old Testament. [46]Deuteronomy 25:1-3
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warns against whipping a man more than 40 times; more than that
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will cause one to lose the respect of one's brothers.
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Some renditions of the New Testament also show Jesus being whipped
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39 times by Pilate, though that number doesn't appear in the Bible
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itself. The Apostle Paul was whipped 39 times, which was the
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maximum number under Jewish law, to ensure that miscounting
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wouldn't cause one to give more than 40 lashes.
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* This is the second time Garibaldi has awakened from a traumatic
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event and found his commanding officer missing; Sinclair left the
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station while he was in a coma ([47]"Revelations.")
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jms speaks
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* _About Londo and Vir deferring to each other before the G'Kar
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torture scene_
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It's the roller coaster theory: if you move someone to horror or
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fear or shock from a neutral place, the emotional jump is less
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than if they're laughing...then suddenly you whipsaw them into the
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absolute emotional opposite.
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* I will, on *rare* occasions, address a note or correction directly
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to an actor while we're shooting, but in general I give any notes
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to the director on the set, who passes them on to the actor. There
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really can't be a multiplicity of voices talking to actors on the
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set...it can become confusing, and they can get contradictory
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directions. They can get skittish and lose concentration.
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One occasion where I *did* do this recently...in the scene where
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Londo explains to Cartagia why he shouldn't be killed for being
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late, the director had Londo playing that scene submissive and
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nervous in rehearsals, didn't understand that the whole point of
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the exercise was Londo standing up to Cartagia, but doing so in a
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very sly way, not giving him any room to maneuver. Cartagia likes
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Londo because there's intelligence and steel, in a very
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manipulative fashion..."you think the same way I do," Cartagia
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says. So before we shot the scene, I pulled Peter aside and gave
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him the correction, and that's how we shot it.
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But, again, those incidents are fairly rare.
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* _Do actors ever ask you for clarification?_
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That, yes...very often, while the actor is prepping, they'll come
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by my office, or at lunch ask about a particular passage, for
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clarification on my part, as opposed to an adjustment on their
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performance.
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* _A planet-busting weapon is so improbable as to be more magic than
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technology._
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Re: "magictech"...I believe it was Arthur C. Clarke who pointed
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out, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable
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from magic."
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You wanna go argue with Clarke, feel free.
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Lemme just make one point here. In the handful of decades between
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the discovery of the atom, and its use at Hiroshima, we learned
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how to blow up substantial portions of the planet and render it
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uninhabitable. But it would've taken a lot of them, hundreds, to
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do the job. In the 50 years since then, with the development of
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thermonuclear weaponry, the job is even easier. It's been reckoned
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that you'd only need about 75 really decent sized thermonuclear
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detonations to render the entire continental United States dead
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and uninhabitable.
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The shadows and the vorlons are *millions* of years ahead of us.
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We're talking differences in technology that are orders of
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magnitude beyond what we can hope to comprehend.
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I think a planet killer eminently achievable.
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* _If the Shadows and Vorlons are so far advanced, why haven't the
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Shadows wiped everyone out already, including B5?_
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Because up until now, they haven't been out to destroy everyone,
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that's not the point...you can't sow chaos if there's no one
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around in which to sow that chaos. And they may have some ideas on
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how B5 could be turned to their advantage....
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* Bear in mind that the White Stars are partially based on Vorlon
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technology, which is similar in strength to the Shadows. That
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helps a lot. Also, other ships can have an influence in sufficient
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numbers. Even a lion can be brought down by a sufficient number of
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hyenas. The idea that higher technology always equals victory
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didn't help Custer.
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* I don't see it really as a change of heart...they've always been
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very ruthless in their way. Remember, it was the Vorlons who
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simply decided to off Deathwalker in first season.
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There's some amount of escalation going on, obviously, which will
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be explained a bit more in upcoming episodes, but they've always
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been this way, it's your perception of them that's at odds. You
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fell for what they wanted you to see them to be.
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* _Who's the worse enemy, the Shadows or the Vorlons?_
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Who is the greater foe?
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It is always the one closest to where you live.
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* _About the original Kosh_
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Certainly he came to care about us more than the vorlons intended.
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* _Kosh can keep secrets from Lyta when she's carrying him. Can she
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do the same?_
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She can keep secrets a little...but not if he pushes.
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* _Was Sheridan's uniform different?_
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No, that's the funny thing...I've seen a number of posts about how
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his uniform was changed, but it *wasn't*. It was exactly the same
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outfit right out of the wardrobe closet...not sewn, not cleaned,
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just dusted off a bit, by hand, the way he might've upon coming
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in. You can clearly see that the sleeve is still torn as he's up
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there.
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All I can figure is that the red Z'ha'dum lighting made it look a
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lot worse than it was.
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* _Is Ivanova's hug a sign she's attracted to Sheridan?_
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No, it was just relief, letting her guard down, allowing herself
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to feel, which she hadn't done much before this. There's no
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romantic interest there. You can have situations where men and
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women work together, and can care about one another, without it
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turning into more than that.
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Men seem to understand this less often than women.
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* _Sheridan seemed a lot more belligerent, and seemed to be
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suggesting genocide against the Shadows._
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Yup, I'd say it's very likely that some people close to Sheridan
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are going to be wondering about his attitude...and maybe even
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acting on it.
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* Someone should get outraged...and will. It's simply a matter of
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picking the right time and place to *do* something with it.
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* Certainly there will be some people who will wonder exactly the
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same thing you do, within the context of the show...and wonder if
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Sheridan's gone too far, gotten too messianic in his approach....
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Ah, the fun never stops....
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[53][Next]
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[54]Last update: November 5, 1997
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References
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1. file://localhost/cgi-bin/imagemap/titlebar
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2. LYNXIMGMAP:file://localhost/lurk/maps/maps.html#titlebar
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3. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/background/069.shtml
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4. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/synops/069.html
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5. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/credits/069.html
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6. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/episodes.php
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7. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/068.html
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8. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/070.html
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9. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/069.html#OV
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10. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/069.html#BP
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11. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/069.html#UQ
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12. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/069.html#AN
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13. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/069.html#NO
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14. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/069.html#JS
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15. http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Alexander,+Wayne
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16. http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Krimmer,+Wortham
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17. file://localhost/lurk/p5/intro.html
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18. file://localhost/lurk/p5/069
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19. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/045.html
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20. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/067.html
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21. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/068.html
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22. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/033.html
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24. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/049.html
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26. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/066.html
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27. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/055.html
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28. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/049.html
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29. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/000.html
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30. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/059.html
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31. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/013.html
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32. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/042.html
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33. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/061.html
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34. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/068.html
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35. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/035.html
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36. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/066.html
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37. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/059.html
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38. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/041.html
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39. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/066.html
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40. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/033.html
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41. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/005.html
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42. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/057.html
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43. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/055.html
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44. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/068.html
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45. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/000.html
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46. http://www.gospelcom.net/bible?passage=Deuteronomy+25:1-3
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47. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/024.html
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48. file://localhost/lurk/lurker.html
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49. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/069.html#TOP
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50. file://localhost/cgi-bin/uncgi/lgmail
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51. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/episodes.php
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52. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/068.html
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53. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/070.html
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54. file://localhost/lurk/lastmod.html
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