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327 lines
18 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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Sheridan's forces attempt to liberate Proxima 3. Londo tries to
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enlist G'Kar's aid in backing Sheridan against Earth. [15]Marcia
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Mitzman Gaven as Commander Levitt. [16]Richard Gant as Captain
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MacDougan. [17]Ken Jenkins as Captain Hall.
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[18]P5 Rating: [19]9.16
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Production number: 415
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Original air week: May 26, 1997
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Written by J. Michael Straczynski
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Directed by Mike Vejar
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_________________________________________________________________
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Plot Points
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* Sheridan's forces have liberated Proxima 3. In the process,
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several additional Earth Alliance cruisers defected to his side.
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Some are remaining to guard Proxima 3 against retaliation by
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President Clark.
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* During the Earth-Minbari War, G'Kar personally supervised the sale
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of Narn weapons to Earth.
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* Londo and G'Kar have agreed to throw the support of their
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respective governments behind Sheridan. The nonaligned worlds have
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apparently dissolved their mutual defense pacts with Earth and are
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staying out of the conflict, aside from loaning ships to help
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defend Babylon 5 itself.
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* Garibaldi has left the station for Mars, and never intends to
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return. He plans to try to help free Earth, but not in concert
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with Sheridan, whose methods Garibaldi opposes.
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Unanswered Questions
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* What exactly will come of the declaration of support by Centauri
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Prime and Narn? Will they provide military support to Sheridan?
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Did he know the declaration was coming?
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* Does Londo's declaration mean that he has voided the nonagression
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treaty between Centauri Prime and Earth ([20]"The Fall of Night?")
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Does the implantation of a Keeper on at least one Centauri
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official ([21]"Epiphanies") spell trouble for Centauri support of
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Sheridan's cause?
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* What was Vir writing when he fell asleep?
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* What business did Garibaldi have in Centauri space?
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* What does Garibaldi plan to do to fight for Earth?
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* How does Sheridan hope to use the frozen telepaths?
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Analysis
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* Sheridan told Commander Levitt the League wasn't getting involved
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because he wanted this to be a clean fight, presumably meaning no
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alien involvement. But in fact, aliens are already involved; the
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crew of the White Star fleet is largely Minbari, and the ships
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themselves are a Minbari/Vorlon concoction.
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Earth forces being attacked by Minbari-made vessels with Minbari
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crews would seem perfect propaganda fodder for Clark, further
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"evidence" that Sheridan has gone over to the Minbari side as
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suggested in [22]"The Illusion of Truth."
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Of course, it could be argued that many Minbari are part human
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anyway ([23]"Atonement") and thus aren't completely out of place
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in a human civil war, but that argument would likely do little to
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dampen the effect of Clark's propaganda, should he choose to
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concoct any.
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* Patriotism and its effects played a key thematic role in this
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episode. Sheridan's patriotism (as described when he spoke to the
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other captains about the ideals of the Alliance) drove him to
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attack his own people. Garibaldi's patriotism, if his conversation
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with Vir is to be believed, is strong as well, but Sheridan's
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methods are abhorrent to him. Londo's patriotism led him to
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forsake his friends, and now he finds himself alone. G'Kar's
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patriotism lost him his eye.
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Perhaps even Clark believes he's acting in Earth's best interest,
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though that puts him on a collision course with Sheridan.
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* Did Garibaldi tell Edgars about Sheridan's imminent campaign? If
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so, Edgars doesn't appear to have relayed the information to Earth
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Force, since the commanders at Proxima 3 were unaware Sheridan was
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on the move. On the other hand, Garibaldi didn't know the
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particulars of the first phase of the campaign.
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* Garibaldi apparently didn't visit G'Kar to say goodbye (or at
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least, no such visit was shown.) Why not, especially given what
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G'Kar went through while searching for him?
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* G'Kar is apparently still working on the book he started while in
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prison ([24]"Messages from Earth.")
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* When Londo asked about G'Kar's eye, G'Kar responded, "It sees."
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His eye is therefore probably not, at present, the "eye that does
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not see" from Lady Morella's prophecy ([25]"Point of No Return.")
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Was his natural eye in fact the one referred to by the prophecy?
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Since it needs to be recharged nightly to continue seeing
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([26]"Atonement") and since it's not in evidence 17 years in the
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future, when G'Kar and Londo kill each other ([27]"War Without
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End, Part Two") the artificial eye may yet turn out to be the one
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Morella was referring to.
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* Londo offered a toast to the humans, who he regards as a bridge
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between the Centauri and Narn. This echoes Delenn's statements
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([28]"And Now For a Word," [29]"Lines of Communication") that
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humanity's greatest strength is the ability to form communities of
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diverse people.
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* The drink Londo referred to while talking to G'Kar was in [30]"The
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Coming of Shadows," bought by G'Kar after he learned the Centauri
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Emperor had come to make peace with the Narn.
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Shortly thereafter, Londo did have some inkling that he was losing
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his friends thanks to his activities; he offered Garibaldi a drink
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in [31]"Acts of Sacrifice," acknowledging that the two were still
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"friends, if only for a little while."
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* Londo's rationale for the joint declaration was nearly identical
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to Sheridan's argument for allowing the White Star fleet to patrol
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Narn and Centauri space ([32]"Conflicts of Interest.") However,
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since Sheridan apparently decided not to publicize the fact that
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both the Narn and Centauri had agreed to the patrols (assuming the
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Narn agreed -- it's only been explicitly stated that the Centauri
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did) this joint declaration is the first official act of unity
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that's been shown.
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* Vir's nightmare presumably related to the assassination of
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Cartagia ([33]"The Long Night.") It's odd that he cried out, "I
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didn't do it," when in fact he did kill Cartagia, perhaps an
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indication that part of him still doesn't believe what he did.
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On the other hand, it's possible he was dreaming of something
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else, perhaps one of the precognitive dreams Centauri have. In
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that case, one candidate that'd fit his exclamation would be his
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discovery of the dead bodies of Londo and G'Kar ([34]"War Without
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End, Part Two.")
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One other Centauri has been shown awakening from a nightmare
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recently: the Regent in [35]"Epiphanies," who awoke to discover he
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had a Keeper attached to his neck.
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* Earth appears to have improved its scanning technology; White Star
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ships were hit more than once during the battle. Previously, Earth
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weapon systems haven't been able to lock onto Minbari ships (e.g.
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[36]"Points of Departure.") Presumably the White Stars, which
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incorporate much more advanced Vorlon technology as well, are even
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harder to get a fix on. Perhaps the Shadows supplied Earth with
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some technical tips.
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It's possible manual targeting was used (novel [37]"The Shadow
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Within") and the Earth ships simply got in a few lucky shots, but
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that runs counter to Sheridan's message to the other captains that
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he wouldn't consider them hostile if their weapons didn't lock on.
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That message wouldn't make sense if they weren't capable of
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locking on anyway. On the other hand, since Sheridan wanted to
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test the hostility of the Earth ships, he may have ordered the
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White Stars to turn off their countermeasures. In [38]"Points of
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Departure" Minbari ships were able to make themselves trackable by
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the station's scanners as desired.
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Either way, only one White Star was seen to have been destroyed,
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and then only because it smashed into a cruiser seconds after
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being hit. Possibly the White Stars are advanced enough that a
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momentary loss of control is the only real impact from a single
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hit by Earth weapons.
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* While Marcus was gathering information on the hostility of the
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Earth cruisers, his contact on Proxima 3 was under attack by
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ground forces. What happened to the ground forces after the space
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battle? Sheridan appeared to consider the planet liberated once
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the commander of the Heracles capitulated; did she have authority
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over all Earth forces in the region, or are there still holdouts
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on the surface?
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* Sheridan promised to liberate Proxima, then take the battle to
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Mars and finally to Earth. What about the colony on Orion 7, which
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seceded from the Earth Alliance at the same time Proxima 3 did?
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([39]"Severed Dreams") Perhaps it has already fallen, or maybe
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it's not under as much duress as Proxima was, so Sheridan felt the
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best way to liberate it was to take back Earth. Or perhaps it's a
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small colony and Clark didn't deem it worth the effort to take
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back.
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* In [40]"War Without End, Part One" the White Star's Vorlon
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technology adapted its defenses to shrug off blasts from Shadow
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fighters after it was hit. Will the surviving White Stars from the
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battle at Proxima 3 now be more resistant to Earth's weapons, and
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thus even more potent weapons?
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* Commander Levitt knew that the League worlds had sided with
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Sheridan. How did she know, if Babylon 5 is officially cut off
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from Earth? The most likely answer is that she'd been watching the
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Voice of the Resistance broadcasts, which indicates that they are
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indeed reaching the colonies.
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Notes
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* The Alexander ([41]"Severed Dreams") has survived and is
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apparently now patrolling Proxima 3 to guard against retaliation
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by Clark's forces.
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* The Vesta's logo (visible on the bridge) is a stylized flame in a
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brazier. Vesta is the Roman goddess of the hearth. The Heracles'
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logo appears to incorporate arrows in the "H" at the bottom,
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probably a reference to Heracles' poison arrows from Greek
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mythology.
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* The ship that withdrew from the battle was the Juno. In Roman
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mythology, Juno was the goddess of light and birth. In Greek
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mythology she was called Hera.
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* The names of two of the ships that surrendered had symbolic
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relation to Sheridan's campaign. The Furies were goddesses who
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punished crimes against one's kin. Nemesis was the goddess who
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punished hubris -- putting oneself above the gods.
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* The Pollux was named after Greek mythology as well. Castor and
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Pollux, the two main stars of the constellation Gemini, were
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brothers. When Pollux was killed, Castor was so despondent that
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Zeus agreed to turn them both into stars so they could always be
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together.
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* Possible continuity glitch: Just before Garibaldi's arrival, Vir
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drops his pen while he's asleep. When he stands up, he's holding
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the pen again. Of course, he might have picked it up upon
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awakening.
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* Effects glitch: The Earth Alliance logos on the Pollux and the
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Furies are backwards. The "E" can be seen to point to the left
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rather than the right.
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jms speaks
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* _Why don't we ever see Clark?_
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I wanted to keep Clark more a force than a person...and Vir has
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just been off doing his usual Vir stuff...he's back this coming
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week.
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* Proxima 3 is in the Proxima Centauri system, next door to Proxima
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2, but no one goes there because the tourist season is way too
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short.
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* "It seems to me that the White Stars (particularly in the numbers
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I perceived in this Ep) should have been able to deal with the
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Earth ships like lamb to a slaughter."
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Yeah, if all you want is to slaughter fellow humans and officers;
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if you want to try to minimize the body count of your fellow
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officers, who you want to eventually side with you, it's more
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difficult, you have to keep the kid gloves on...which endangers
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you in the long run.
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* "were these White Stars tired or something? I would've expected
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that a couple of them could just go slice-slice, sever the
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rotating sections on the EA ships and have 'em for breakfast."
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Sure, if all you're interested in is slaughtering the
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opposition...they were designed for "destroy"...when you have to
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pull your punches to avoid just going in and killing EVERYthing in
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sight...which will only work *against* you in the long run, it
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becomes more difficult.
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* _There were a lot of ethical decisions on all sides, something you
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don't usually see in military SF. Were you in the military?_
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No, I wasn't in the military, just having missed the Vietnam
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draft. The points you mention are all the ones I wanted to get
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into with that episode, and the ones a lot of folks have
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overlooked in suggesting that it should have been an episode about
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slicing-and-dicing the enemy (the enemy in this case being our own
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species). The show, at root, is about ethics, among other things,
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and the ethical choices will continue to get more difficult the
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deeper you go. There is a very fine line that Sheridan's walking
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in all this.
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* It's certainly an issue I care about quite a lot, and the delicate
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balance between orders and conscience, between what you think you
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should be doing vs. what you feel you *must* do, is the heart of
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99% of all drama.
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* "G'Kar seems to know that it's Mollari at his door -- why else
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would he wait so long to call, "Enter?" But how did he know -- was
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it an official request by Londo?"
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If you recall, when Garibaldi visited Vir, Vir mentioned that
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Londo was arranging a meeting with G'Kar, so it was definitely set
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up in advance.
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* The Londo/G'Kar stuff was nifty...and yes, he's struggling toward
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redemption as best he can, making a real effort, which is
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important, because if he's going to end up with a Keeper on him
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eventually, as we've seen, best to feel for him, which you can't
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if he's a bad guy.
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Set 'em up, knock 'em down....
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* If G'Kar came around too easily or quickly, it would ring false;
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it had to go through some time and reflection. But even though one
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could certainly agree with his anger over what's happened, G'Kar
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has to try and overcome that and even transcend it.
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[47][Next]
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[48]Last update: September 21, 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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