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919 lines
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919 lines
38 KiB
<!-- TITLE War Without End, Part One -->
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<h2><a name="OV">Overview</a></h2>
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<blockquote><cite>
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Ambassador Sinclair returns to pull Babylon 4 through time
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(<a href="020.html">"Babylon Squared."</a>) Part 1 of 2.
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</cite>
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<a href="/lurk/universe/actors.html#ohare">Michael O'Hare</a> as Ambassador Sinclair.
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<a href="http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Choate,+Tim">Tim Choate</a> as Zathras.
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</blockquote>
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<pre><a href="/lurk/p5/intro.html">P5 Rating</a>: <a href="/lurk/p5/060">9.28</a>
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Production number: 316
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Original air week: May 13, 1996
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00009OOFK/thelurkersguidet">DVD release date</a>: August 12, 2003
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Written by J. Michael Straczynski
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Directed by Mike Vejar
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</pre>
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<p>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00000ADJT/thelurkersguidet">An
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episodic soundtrack is available.</a>
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<p>
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<strong>Note: this episode is more momentous than most. Think twice before
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proceeding to the spoilers if you haven't seen it.</strong>
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<p>
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<hr size=3>
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<h2><a name="BP">Backplot</a></h2>
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<ul>
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<li>@@@831940422 The last Shadow war nearly ended in defeat when the command
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center, a Minbari space station, was destroyed by Shadow forces. But
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shortly thereafter, a replacement arrived out of nowhere: Babylon 4.
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With Babylon 4 in place, the Minbari, the Vorlons, and their allies were
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able to drive the Shadows off Z'ha'dum and destroy a good two-thirds
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of the Shadows' warships. Until Delenn arrived at Babylon 5, the
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origin of the replacement station was a mystery to the Minbari.
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<li>@@@831940422 Six years ago, just before Babylon 4 vanished, some of the
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Shadows' allies recognized the station from the last war. A group of
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Shadow fighters tried to deliver a fusion bomb onto the station, whose
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destruction would look like an accident and would lead to a Shadow
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victory, or a stalemate, in the previous war. They were fought off by
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the White Star, which travelled back in time through the rift in
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Sector 14 to stop them. These events were recorded by Varn in the
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Great Machine.
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<li>@@@831940422 The Great Machine is responsible for opening the time rift
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and allowing Babylon 4 to be pulled backward through time. However,
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opening the rift strains the Machine, and Draal, to its limits.
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<li>@@@831940422 The White Star's Vorlon technology includes the ability to
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learn from past experiences. Its previous encounters with Shadow
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vessels have strengthened its resistance to some Shadow weapons.
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<li>@@@831940422 There is at least one Vorlon on Minbar, a fact that's known
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to at least some of the former Grey Council.
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<li>@@@831940422 In one possible future, Sheridan is destined to win the war
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against the Shadows, but not entirely destroy them; some Shadow minions
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will come to Centauri Prime, where an older Londo reigns as Emperor, and
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lay waste to the capital city.
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<li>@@@831940422 While on Minbar, Sinclair gained a reputation among the
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Rangers for answering questions cryptically.
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<li>@@@831940422 The Rangers were put together with the help of the Grey
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Council, or at least some of its number, including Rathenn, the Minbari
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who restored Sinclair's memory in the comic issue
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<a href="/lurk/comic/001.html">"In Darkness Find Me."</a>
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He's an old friend of Delenn's; she asked Draal about him in
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<a href="018.html">"A Voice in the Wilderness, Part 1."</a>
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And he seems to revere her, accepting Sinclair's status without
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question at her behest.
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<li>@@@831940422 At the close of the last Shadow war, someone who knew
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Sinclair would be on Minbar left him a note in a sealed box. The box
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was stored in a temple for over nine hundred years with instructions to
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not open it until a specific date, a date which has now arrived.
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<li>@@@832006488 During their first visit to Babylon 4, Garibaldi and
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Sinclair both saw the same flashforward of Garibaldi defending the
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station against unknown attackers.
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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>@@@831940422 Who left the note for Sinclair? (See
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<a href="#AN.note">Analysis</a>)
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<li>@@@832444915 Sinclair has a scar on his cheek (as also shown in
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<a href="020.html">"Babylon Squared."</a>)
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Where did he get it?
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<li>@@@832059717 Where did Delenn's note come from? How long has she had it?
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<li>@@@831940422 What was the Vorlon doing on Minbar? Has he/she/it been
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there all along?
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<li>@@@831940422 How far into the future has Sheridan been thrown?
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<li>@@@831940422 Why did Sheridan end up on Centauri Prime, presumably some
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distance from Sector 14?
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<li>@@@832059717 What did Londo mean by greeting Sheridan, "Welcome back from
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the abyss?"
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<li>@@@833172496 Where did Zathras come from? Has there been a community
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of his people on Epsilon 3 for generations, or are they more recent
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arrivals?
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<li>@@@832058597 Why was Zathras honored to meet Sheridan? What were the
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things Draal instructed him not to mention?
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<li>@@@832749392 When Zathras was looking at the Great Machine, he said,
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"Not good." What was he talking about? Was the strain of opening
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the time rift causing the Machine to malfunction?
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<li>@@@832060088 Were the Shadows, or their allies, also responsible for
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the sabotage of Babylons 1, 2, and 3? If so, why didn't they destroy
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Babylon 4 before it was finished?
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<li>@@@832096008 Did Babylon 4 survive the war? If so, where is it now?
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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>@@@831940422 <a name="AN.note">It seems likely</a>
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that Sinclair left himself the note. In
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<a href="020.html">"Babylon Squared,"</a>
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Sinclair was shown to be present on Babylon 4 when it shifted through
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time; and from his message to Garibaldi, it seems the note told him
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he was destined to stay in the past and help defeat the Shadows then.
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<p>
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<li>@@@831940422 If that's correct, and the Minbari holy books contain
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instructions about the box, it suggests Sinclair was involved in writing
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the books. Very possibly he was Valen, "a Minbari not born of Minbar,"
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as Lennier described Valen in
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<a href="048.html">"Passing Through Gethsemane."</a>
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Sinclair, as the Grey Council discovered
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(<a href="023.html">"Points of Departure"</a>)
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somehow has a Minbari soul.
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<p>
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<li>@@@831940422 Which leads to the question, what does Sinclair's time
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travel have to do with the Minbari soul migration, if anything? Does
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he have a Minbari soul because he's a giant figure from Minbari legend,
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or vice versa?
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<p>
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<li>@@@832058597 Presumably, if Sinclair is Valen and Draal knows about it,
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that's why Zathras was honored to meet Sinclair. What Zathras knows
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about Sheridan, though, is an open question -- perhaps he has been
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watching recent events unfold on Babylon 5 and simply respects
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Sheridan's stand against Earth and the Shadows.
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<p>
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<li>@@@832581786 Rathenn appears to defer to Sinclair. If a former member
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of the Grey Council looks to Sinclair for direction, Sinclair must be
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one of the most influential people on Minbar.
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<p>
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<li>@@@831940422 Londo's description of Sheridan's victory over the Shadows
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makes it sound like a fairly distant event, but the Centauri capital
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city was burning while Sheridan stood there. Perhaps the Shadow minions
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Londo mentioned have been slowly destroying the city, building by
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building, since the close of the war, and the Centauri have been
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powerless to stop them. Or, perhaps, the end of the war isn't as
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far back as Londo implies. (It's interesting to note that Londo
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doesn't appear surprised by Sheridan's appearance or by the fact that
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Sheridan hasn't aged.)
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<p>
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<li>@@@832581494 Sheridan looks older (his hair is lighter) and may be
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dressed in something other than his uniform
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as he visits Londo in the throne room -- it looks like he's wearing
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a leather jacket, but his outfit isn't shown clearly enough to tell
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for sure. If it's different, though, could his trip forward be along
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the lines of the flashforward experienced by Sinclair and Garibaldi,
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rather than a physical transfer? If so, where is his body?
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<p>
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<li>@@@832006488 If Babylon 4 is being sent back to help defeat the Shadows
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in the previous war, will other equipment be sent too? For instance,
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loading the docking bays full of Minbari fighters (or better still,
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Vorlon fighters) could do as much to turn the tide of battle as the mere
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presence of the station, especially assuming that Minbari and Vorlon
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weapons have improved in the intervening thousand years.
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<p>
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On the other hand, perhaps the non-destruction of the Shadows in the
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last war wasn't a matter of military strength after all; perhaps
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the Shadows hid somewhere such that they were impossible to wipe out.
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If so, will the same thing happen again? Londo's accusation suggests
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it will, to some extent.
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<p>
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<li>@@@832096008 How long after Delenn arrived on Babylon 5 did she figure
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out where Babylon 4 came from? Were the Minbari really so uninterested
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in Babylon 4 that the Grey Council never saw a picture of the station?
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Did Delenn recognize the similarity in design as soon as she arrived,
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or did she find a picture of Babylon 4 in B5's archives?
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<p>
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<li>@@@832096008 Along similar lines, was the station not identified as
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"Babylon 4" when it appeared in the past? If it was, the Minbari
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should have at least heard of the Babylon Project in its earlier
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stages, and would have known B4's identity before Delenn arrived on
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B5. It's possible the Minbari
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lost whatever records contained the name of their second base of
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operations, or that Sinclair convinced the Minbari to leave such
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information out in the interest of not altering the future.
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<p>
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<li>@@@832007102 If the Great Machine opened a rift for Babylon 4 six years
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ago (while, it should be noted, the machine was under Varn's control,
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not Draal's) and can still open a rift today for the White Star, will it
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be able to open other rifts to send more people back? Or is Draal
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simply not as capable of handling the strain as Varn was?
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<p>
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On the other hand, maybe the original time rift was generated from the
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present day by Draal, and Varn wasn't involved at all. In that case,
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the Machine may only be able to manipulate time once.
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<p>
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<li>@@@832357291 If B4 was being pulled back in time, why did it reappear
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four years later than it vanished? Sinclair, according to
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<a href="020.html">"Babylon Squared,"</a>
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interrupted the station's time travel to allow the crew to get off.
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But if it was travelling backward through time, that should have
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caused it to reappear some time before it vanished.
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<p>
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Maybe B4 will have to be pulled forward to the present day, from which
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point Draal can send it back -- that is, maybe Draal can only open
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rifts between the present day and some other time, not between two
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arbitrary times.
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<p>
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<li>@@@832058597 The Great Machine's time-manipulation abilities suggest that
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perhaps it was built specifically to pull Babylon 4 back through
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time. If so, who built it, and how did they know about Babylon 4?
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Their technology in that area exceeds the Minbari's, which says that
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the Machine's builders were First Ones. In that case, what was the
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role of Varn's people?
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<p>
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<li>@@@832058597 Delenn told Sheridan that the Minbari did not have the
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technology to control a time field "as unstable as this one." How
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much time-manipulation technology <em>do</em> they have?
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<p>
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<li>@@@832181516 If there's a Vorlon on Minbar, could it have been
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responsible for Delenn's childhood vision
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(<a href="040.html">"Confessions and Lamentations?"</a>)
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<p>
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<li>@@@832444915 In
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<a href="020.html">"Babylon Squared,"</a>
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Zathras hands his time stabilizer to the space-suited figure (possibly
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Sinclair,) who promptly vanishes. Was that a replacement for Sheridan's
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stabilizer, or for another broken one?
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<p>
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<li>@@@832444915 Ivanova's wish has come true -- she's on Babylon 4 and
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Garibaldi is left behind.
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(<a href="020.html">"Babylon Squared"</a>)
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<p>
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<li>@@@832749298 In Ivanova's distress call, she says, "This is Earth
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Alliance station Babylon 5." Presumably in the heat of the moment
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her Earth Force training kicked in and she didn't consider that B5
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isn't an Earth Alliance station any more. (See
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<a href="#JS.ea">jms speaks.</a>)
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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>@@@831940422 As in
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<a href="020.html">"Babylon Squared,"</a>
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the term "unstuck in time" is a reference to Kurt Vonnegut Jr.'s
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"Slaughterhouse Five."
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<li>@@@832444169 Garibaldi's attempted passwords: "Jeff," "Jeffrey," "peekaboo"
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(Garibaldi's computer password, most recently used in
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<a href="055.html">"Ceremonies of Light and Dark,"</a>)
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"Susan," "Michael,"
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"socks," "fasten," "zip" (the last three from the conversation between
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Sinclair and Garibaldi on their way to Babylon 4 in
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<a href="020.html">"Babylon Squared,"</a>)
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and finally, "hello, old friend," Sinclair's opening line in the
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message delivered to Garibaldi by the Ranger in
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<a href="031.html">"The Coming of Shadows."</a>
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<li>@@@839287158
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Viewers outside North America may have some difficulty recognizing
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all the partnerships to which Sinclair compares himself and Sheridan.
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"Butch and Sundance" were Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid, two
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outlaws from the days of the Old West (of more recent fame for the
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movie in which they were portrayed by Paul Newman and Robert Redford).
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"Lewis and Clark" were not Lois Lane and Clark Kent, but Meriwether
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Lewis and William Clark, who explored much of the territory of the
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Louisiana Purchase (a vast expanse between the Mississippi River and
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the Rocky Mountains that the United States acquired from France in
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1803) from 1804 to 1806, eventually reaching the Columbia River in
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the Pacific Northwest. "Lucy and Ethel" were Lucy Ricardo and Ethel
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Mertz, the characters portrayed by Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance in
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the 1950s sitcom "I Love Lucy."
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<li>@@@832444431 The building in which Sinclair and Rathenn talk bears
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some resemblance in outline to the encounter suit of the Vorlon
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inside -- and even more resemblance to a Shadow.
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</ul>
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<h2><a name="JS">jms speaks</a></h2>
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<ul>
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<li> <em>November 30, 1995</em> -
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As I write this, I've just started
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writing "War Without End, Part One," #316, the first part of the two
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episodes that bring Sinclair to Babylon 5, which we'll shoot sometime
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after the first of the year. It's been touch and go, but we've finally
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been able to schedule all of the guest cast members from "Babylon
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Squared" for this one, which is the flip side of that episode. It's
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probably going to be the most expensive show we've done yet, due to
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the hideous production requirements for this one. It's also the one
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I'm most nervous about writing, even more than "Fall of Night,"
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because an awful lot happens here, and it has to be done just right.
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It's going to be probably the toughest writing job of the series to
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date.
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<p>
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I'll be putting Sinclair and Sheridan together a lot, which is
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shaping up to be an interesting combination. We're also going to see
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Minbar for the first time.
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<p>
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<li>@@@865188944 "In WWE(1)I noticed a larger than usual group of
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offhand lines (ethel &.../wait in car.../cool-you know what I'm
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talking about). Was this scripted? Or was someone just ad libbing?"
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<p>
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There's almost NO ad-libbing allowed on the show. You can't change a
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word unless someone comes to my office and approves it, and it can't
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change the meaning. (I.e., the actor is having a hard time saying
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"shibboleth" or something.) Everything said in this show is scripted,
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offhand comments included.
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<p>
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<li>@@@832444086 <em>Did you work out the circular sequence of events
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as you went, or was it all mapped out beforehand?</em><br>
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No, it all has to hang together, or it's kinda useless. It just
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required working out the details of what was, is, and will be. Then I
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walked on water....
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<p>
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<li>@@@832553946 <em>Why didn't Sinclair interact with G'Kar?</em><br>
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The problem is that you've got about 42 minutes to tell your
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story. You have to get into it, and get into it fast. Unless there's a
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reason for the scene to be there, if it doesn't move the plot along, it
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shouldn't be there. You'll note there isn't even a B-story in the
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two-parter...there wasn't room.
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<p>
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Sure, it would've been nice to have Sinclair meet G'Kar, sit around,
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talk about how they've changed...have Sinclair and Londo meet, talk
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about stuff...have him and Ivanova sit around, talk about stuff...but
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then you've got just a bunch of scenes that are basically, "Well,
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hello, how've you been?"
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<p>
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The next sounds you would've heard would be the click of remote controls
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changing channels across the nation.
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<p>
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As it is, in that two-part episode, you've got Delenn, Garibaldi,
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Sinclair, Sheridan, Marcus, Ivanova, Lennier, Zathras, Major Krantz,
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Krantz's second...it's our most character-intensive episode in a long
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time, all of them being present in every other scene, plus the other
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three characters we see in part two. It was, quite simply, stuffed to
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the gills, and there wasn't room for a single wasted word.
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<p>
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That's the difference between a novel and a television show; you can
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stop the action in a book as often as you want to have asides, but you
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can't do that in TV with as much facility. To do the scenes you
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describe would've meant turning this into a three-parter, and as it is
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part one is almost an extended teaser for part two. It would've been
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moreso with these additional scenes.
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<p>
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If it isn't necessary, it shouldn't be there.
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<p>
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<li>@@@832581630 It would've been
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nice to see some of those scenes, it just wasn't practical. And you
|
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have to make hard choices. As someone once said of writing, "You have
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to kill all your darlings," meaning the nifty little things you'd *like*
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to do, as opposed to the things you *have* to do.
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<p>
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<li> Actually, Mike Vejar is directing the two-parter, and I'm
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absolutely thrilled about it; Mike's been our mainstay for
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some time, and he's just terrific. (He directed "Convictions,"
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and "Inquisitor.")
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<p>
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<li> Well, reactions have been coming in on the two parter, and so far
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everyone's wog-boggled. Peter Jurasik called to say he didn't know
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what I'm smoking these days, but to please send ten pounds of it to
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his house at *once*. Mumy went nuts over it, everyone's very
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excited...including and especially Michael O'Hare, who got his copy
|
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of the script today, read it straight through, and is *extremely*
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excited by the story, and what happens with his character, and is
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VERY much looking forward to the shoot.
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<p>
|
|
<li> (Oh, and lest I forget, yes, Zathras does return in "War," as does
|
|
Sinclair, who has a lot of great scenes with Marcus, Sheridan, Delenn,
|
|
Zathras and others. It also has some real surprises in store, including
|
|
some flash-forwards from WAY down the line.)
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li> <em>January 22, 1996</em><br>
|
|
Today was a very interesting day; today Michael O'Hare returned to the
|
|
Babylon 5 stages in preparation for shooting the two-parter, which
|
|
begins tomorrow. Today he came by for his wardrobe fitting and to get
|
|
his hair trimmed, say hi to folks, and hang out...lunch was me, John
|
|
Copeland, Michael and Bruce Boxleitner eating together at one of the
|
|
tables in the lunch area behind the stage, lots of laughing and kidding,
|
|
and the two get on great. (Turns out they'd worked on other projects
|
|
before, including the short-lived A Rumor of War series by Sterling
|
|
Siliphant.)
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Anyway, it's a great atmosphere, and everybody's psyched for the
|
|
two-parter. It's like he never went away.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li> <em>January 23, 1996</em><br>
|
|
[...] today is Michael O'Hare's first day of shooting here on
|
|
the B5 stages for the two-parter, featuring his return to the station
|
|
from Minbar, and propels him into the center of attention for most of
|
|
the two parts. Everyone's having a great time so far, he and Bruce have
|
|
been hanging out a lot, and the episode should be a real toad-strangler
|
|
when it's finished.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li> A toad-strangler, a barn-burner, a doozy...it's a good thing.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li> <em>Won't Sheridan and Sinclair both be standing around giving orders?
|
|
</em><br>
|
|
The similarity is only if
|
|
you choose to define them by their narrow roles. Their personalities
|
|
are vastly different. Also, Sinclair's been through a lot in the
|
|
intervening couple of years, he's grown, he and Marcus would definitely
|
|
have something of a relationship since he would've been there while
|
|
Marcus was being trained, and so on. And their roles in the story are
|
|
very different.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li> My guess is that "War Without End" may well pass by
|
|
<a href="031.html">"CoS"</a>
|
|
as all time favorite...until the next one comes along.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li> <em>Did you reuse footage from
|
|
<a href="020.html">"Babylon Squared?"</a></em><br>
|
|
We did both; we reshot some scenes from B2, and used some footage
|
|
directly from that episode. Some pretty elegant matches, too, I think.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@839783104 The vision of B5 blowing was the same as the one from
|
|
<a href="013.html">Signs.</a>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@833178382 <em>Why weren't the new uniforms in the flashforward in
|
|
"Babylon Squared?"</em><br>
|
|
We only saw the black flak
|
|
uniforms in B2, because I knew we'd be changing them, but wanted to
|
|
hide that fact (as I did with Delenn's line to Sinclair in B2, done
|
|
off-camera to hide her change). And the Minbar cityscape was done by
|
|
Eric Chauvin.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@833560031 <em>About Ivanova cracking under pressure</em><br>
|
|
With most of their systems down, everyone around her dead,
|
|
Sheridan dead, knowing she's about to die and there's nothing she can
|
|
do about it, and obviously knowing full well who's out there...about to
|
|
witness the deaths of a quarter million sentients on the station...I
|
|
felt a bit of an outburst, a final letting go of the emotions, was not
|
|
inappropriate for her. (Although I do think Claudia may have played it
|
|
a bit too hysterical at times; separate the lines from the performance
|
|
and look at it again.)
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@839783104 "You hand this woman a script and say to her,
|
|
'Miss C., everyone around you is dead and you are in command.<br>
|
|
The station is falling down around you and you're in terrible
|
|
pain, about to die by decompression or laser burns or crushing--or
|
|
worse, you could become a Morden and be controlled by the Shadows the
|
|
rest of your life.<br>
|
|
You have no hope of rescue.<br>
|
|
You may not know where you are.'<br>
|
|
And then you say she was a tiny bit on the hysterical side?"
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Hey...from where I sit, that's just another day at the office.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Don't know many producer/writers, do you?
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@839783849 I don't believe anyone on Minbar was wearing shorts.
|
|
It's not the season for that.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@832308936 <em>Was the voice of the Vorlon on Minbar the same actor
|
|
who did Kosh?</em><br>
|
|
Yes, that was Ardwight again.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@832444086 There probably wasn't a credit there because it was an
|
|
incidental voice rather than a recurring voice.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
The other Vorlon also sounded different because I directed
|
|
Ardwight in different inflections...literally stood there outside the
|
|
booth using my hand like a baton to indicate the rising and falling
|
|
inflections as he spoke, to give it a wave kind of sound.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@834863912 <em>Sinclair's Minbari words are subtitled "alright,"
|
|
which is a misspelling -- it's really "all right."</em><br>
|
|
Yep, it was misspelled, and it wasn't misspelled in the script. When I
|
|
saw that on the final tape, it was too late to correct it for this
|
|
airing. It'll be corrected later. (Somebody wasn't being careful when
|
|
they did the captioning.)
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li> As Sinclair notes when he arrives at B5, his status as ambassador is
|
|
pretty much gone after the coup.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@833560520 <em>Won't Earth ask where its ambassador is?</em><br>
|
|
Well, Minbar isn't being very receptive to Earth at the moment,
|
|
and will probably just put them on hold...indefinitely....
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@833442235 <em>How did Sinclair get so cryptic so quickly?</em><br>
|
|
He was kinda Zen when he left, frankly...and two years living
|
|
among Minbari, learning their language, learning to think the way they
|
|
do, learning the whole history of the shadow war...that can have a
|
|
pretty profound effect on you. It obviously wasn't all hanging around
|
|
the Hyatt Minbar and watching reruns of I Love Lennier for two
|
|
years....
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@833179405 <em>Sinclair wasn't on Mars during the riots in the first
|
|
season, so how does Sheridan know him from them?</em><br>
|
|
It's been established that there have been previous riots on
|
|
Mars, including the food riots referenced in, I believe, the pilot.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li> <em>Will the relationship between Delenn and Sheridan cause problems
|
|
with Sinclair?</em><br>
|
|
Well, remember that we never defined what those feelings were between
|
|
Sinclair and Delenn; she had a great deal of respect and admiration
|
|
for him, yes. And she had a fair measure of faith in him as well.
|
|
Question is, what's the root of that? We'll learn some of that in
|
|
the two-parter. As for Sinclair, he was mainly involved with Sakai.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@833442235 Sakai certainly wouldn't have wanted to get tied down to life on
|
|
Minbar, and Sinclair knew that his life would be difficult now with the
|
|
rangers, so they parted ways.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@833442235 Marcus's look came because he overheard the Minbari-language
|
|
part of the discussion, and knew something was up. It made him more
|
|
watchful of Sinclair, which pays off in WWE2.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@832144671 I like Zathras...he's just nuts.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@832236521 <em>Will we learn who Zathras' people are?</em><br>
|
|
Eventually, though that answer isn't terribly important.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@832308936 <em>Why didn't the Shadows destroy B5 before it went
|
|
online?</em><br>
|
|
B5 wasn't destroyed because it wasn't the one that would be
|
|
taken back. Yes, the prior stations would've looked more like B4 but
|
|
they were sabotaged *very* early in the construction process. You'll
|
|
learn why he didn't want Garibaldi along next ep.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@832444086 The B1-B3 sabotages had nothing at all to do with the B4
|
|
situation; it was just done by forces opposed to the very notion of the
|
|
Babylon Project.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@833491960 The first 3 Babylon stations never got much past
|
|
the very earliest stages of construction, just some hull elements, that
|
|
sort of thing, nothing that could be recognized. Other forces took
|
|
them out, mainly for political reasons.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@832308936 B4 survived the prior shadow war, but in very bad shape;
|
|
didn't last much longer after that.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@839783104 <em>Is the war room staffed continuously?</em><br>
|
|
Yes, the war room would have to have support personnel there
|
|
when the big guys are off having fun or sleeping.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@833178161 <em>Why did Sheridan's clothes change?</em><br>
|
|
His clothing is different because that's the future Sheridan,
|
|
into whom the current Sheridan has sort of slid....
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@833442235 <em>Was whatever destroyed Sheridan's stabilizer related
|
|
to the creature in "Knives?"</em><br>
|
|
No, that was just the result of the blast.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@846743236
|
|
The energy being that got Sheridan in "Knives" had no relation to
|
|
anything in the ongoing story; it just existed outside our normal
|
|
universe, and got in and out via the rift (which also served to remind
|
|
us that it was still there).
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@833442235 Sheridan "leapt" into his future self, hence the difference
|
|
in wardrobe and appearance. Londo wasn't suprised to see him. If you
|
|
recall the Centauri guard when we first arrive in the Palace, he says,
|
|
"I think he's awake again, would you like to see?" The implication
|
|
being that he's been beaten into unconsciousness, hence Londo's line,
|
|
"Welcome back from the abyss." It was at that moment of
|
|
unconsciousness that he "slid" into his future self.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@832443782 The time-flash (which in Sheridan's case is much more
|
|
pronounced than what we've seen before) slides you forward or backward
|
|
in time to where you are at that moment. At that moment, 18 years from
|
|
now (in the story), Sheridan was/will be on Centauri Prime. So when he
|
|
slid along the time line, that's where he ended up. Just as in Babylon
|
|
Squared, when Garibaldi had a timeflash back to his time on Mars. It
|
|
blips your perception to another point in your life, wherever you
|
|
happen to be.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@833560655 Sheridan slid forward in time, to wherever he was
|
|
at that moment in the future. He didn't just go hopping around
|
|
aimlessly; if he flipped 10 days ahead, he'd come into his body at that
|
|
point 10 days from now, wherever he happened to be. At that moment, 17
|
|
years down the road, he happened to be on Centauri Prime.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@865188944 I'd rather let part 2 get into what exactly happened to
|
|
Centauri Prime....
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@832444086 <em>Has Sheridan slid past his death on Z'ha'dum?</em><br>
|
|
Well, who can say at this point *what* happens on Z'ha'dum...?
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@833560145 <em>Would the future Sheridan notice being slid
|
|
into?</em><br>
|
|
The future Sheridan would have a little memory of what happened
|
|
during that time, but it'd be almost dreamlike, two steps removed.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@833475135 <em>How did the Shadows know about Babylon 4?</em><br>
|
|
Well, if the Minbari had records of B4's visual look, given that
|
|
the Shadows are advanced, would they not also have the potential to
|
|
recognize it for what it was once it was nearing completion from their
|
|
own records?
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@832444086 <em>Did the Minbari agree to help fund B5 because they
|
|
knew about B4?</em><br>
|
|
No, because if you remember, even Delenn didn't know where B4
|
|
came from until she came to B5, well after completion.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@839190055 <em>Why don't the Minbari have many records of the last
|
|
war?</em><br>
|
|
It was also a very devastating war, and one of their mistakes
|
|
was that there were those who were entrusted to keep the past, sort of
|
|
a more advanced version of storytellers, who put all their data in one
|
|
basket, as it were...very possessive and jurisdictional. When they and
|
|
that center of data were taken out, a lot was lost. One drawback of a
|
|
very rigid and structued society.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@839190055 <em>But if that happened early in the war, wouldn't they
|
|
have records from after that point?</em><br>
|
|
Certainly it would've occured in the last days of the war.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@833179293 <em>Do the Minbari have time travel?</em><br>
|
|
They've played with some research in this area, but they aren't
|
|
anywhere near the tech required to actually do anything with time.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@833179293 <em>Why hasn't Minbari ship design changed?</em><br>
|
|
The design *has* changed; the main section is much longer, and
|
|
more primitive looking, less tricked out. You can see a bit of it
|
|
there, but you will see them in more detail in part two.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Sinclair was scarred during ranger training duties.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@839784051 <em>Would arguing with Kosh in
|
|
<a href="059.html">"Interludes and Examinations"</a>
|
|
have been the original source of the scar?</em><br>
|
|
No, because you'll note that Sheridan isn't scarred by it. No,
|
|
you have to remember that one doesn't just transplant one storyline
|
|
onto another. It doesn't work that way. Sinclair has his arc,
|
|
Sheridan has his own.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@839784051 Sheridan wasn't a "backup"
|
|
for Sinclair, he was brought in specifically because I needed somene
|
|
who could and would do things in a different way, and had a different
|
|
arc. If it was going to track 1-to-1 you wouldn't *need* a new
|
|
character.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
And the swipe Kosh took at Sheridan wouldn't be *nearly* enough
|
|
to cause a huge scar like that.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@832493213 "1) Assuming the present is the time period during which
|
|
we watch Babylon 5 and the period we saw at the beginning of the WWE
|
|
episode, does the possible fall of B5 (if the mission fails) take
|
|
place in the past or the future? We see Ivanova screaming in the
|
|
mysterious transmission that "they're killing us" and that the
|
|
Captain is dead, so I assume this indicates that the possible fall of
|
|
B5 takes place in the future since Sheridan is the only Captain
|
|
(Sinclair was a Commander, non?). But we also see Sinclair reliving
|
|
his flashback with Gerabaldi from Season one in which B5 falls, and
|
|
he then seems to indicate that his mission is to prevent such a
|
|
catastrophe. Since Sinclair is there, with Gerabaldi, this would
|
|
seem to suggest that the fall of B5, if the mission fails, takes
|
|
place in the past in relation to the present with which we are all
|
|
familiar.(Breath) So, if the mission fails, when will B5 fall; past
|
|
of future??? Or perhaps put another way: Will B5 possibly fall
|
|
under Sheridan's command or Sinclair's? <-- God, that's
|
|
complicated."
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Nope. The scenes are all in the future. Garibaldi specifically
|
|
identifies the distress call as coming from 8 days in the future.
|
|
Sinclair's vision wasn't a flashback, but a flash forward; even the
|
|
blowing of B5 was identified by Lady Ladira as in the future. It's
|
|
*always* been placed in the future, though most of this was in the
|
|
first season, which hasn't been reshown. Also, in the first act,
|
|
Garibaldi again *specifically states* that when they went to B4,
|
|
there was a glimpse of the future and the fall of B5.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
"2) Faced with the end, why would the bloodied Ivanova feel compelled
|
|
to deliver a play-by-play to a non-existant audience? Or even to one
|
|
that is there? I found that strange."
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
First she was trying to get help. Second, there should be some
|
|
record of what happened for those who would investigate. They would
|
|
need to know, just the way a signal operator sends out a distress
|
|
call for as long as possible as the ship sinks. SOP.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
"4) About Delenn's slide show: It looks as though Minbari ships have
|
|
remained basically the same for the past 1000 years. I could not see
|
|
one change. Why is that?"
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Because you weren't looking closely enough. The older Minbari ships
|
|
are much longer and tubular in design; you'll see them better in the
|
|
second half, but there's definitely a difference.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
"5) The preview showed Gerabaldi giving 'em hell with a big gun. Why
|
|
wasn't that in the episode (I know, some scenes in previews don't
|
|
show up in the actual ep, but it seemed important)?"
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Because we were seeing the sequence from Sinclair's point of view; he
|
|
was gone by the time Garibaldi began firing, so he wouldn't have seen
|
|
it. Story logic.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
"7) Londo spoils us all by telling us Sheridan wins the war--suspense
|
|
exit stage left--unless the time line is somehow further altered,
|
|
which would go against the inevatability theme JMS seems to be
|
|
playing."
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Okay, everybody who thought I was going to have our heroes fight a
|
|
war for two whole years or so, and then *lose it*...a major dramatic
|
|
disappointment to say the least...raise your hands.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
In any event...quite frankly, several of your "serious nitpicks" are
|
|
actually incorrect, and come from making assumptions or simply not
|
|
paying attention when someone says something clearly in dialogue, as
|
|
Garibaldi does, that the flash was of future events, and then IDs the
|
|
signal as from 8 days ahead.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@839783104 <em>If Sinclair had stayed with the station, who would
|
|
have been transported to Centauri Prime?</em><br>
|
|
I appreciate the questions, but there are so many alternate
|
|
timelines flying around right now...I'm not sure I want to further
|
|
complicate the issue.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@865282881 I could answer this, but if I expand the time paradox loop
|
|
any further, I would end up not answering it because I'd already
|
|
answered it, which means it wouldn't get answered, requiring me to
|
|
answer it now, and pretty soon the universe implodes, and I don't want
|
|
that on my conscience.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@833177878 There are no alternate univeses, only alternate or possible
|
|
futures. If they didn't go back, the future in which Sinclair is there
|
|
with Garibaldi -- having come back to see through the final battle --
|
|
and in which Sheridan is killed, and Ivanova is calling for help...that
|
|
future will come true.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@832554014 <em>Why was Garibaldi left behind?</em><br>
|
|
It's a story point, and it'll be explained clearly in part two. What,
|
|
you think I'd have something this odd going on and not explain it?
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
It's coming. Be patient.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@833179293 <em>The flash to the firefight was Sinclair's, not
|
|
Garibaldi's.</em><br>
|
|
Actually...incorrect. Whenever there's a timeflash, people see
|
|
one thing or another. When Sinclair and Garibaldi first came aboard,
|
|
there was a timeflash. We saw what Sinclair saw, we have no idea from
|
|
that scene what Garibaldi saw. No reason he couldn't have seen
|
|
something from about that same period. It wasn't stated either way at
|
|
the time.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@839747849 <em>But Krantz said it was different for
|
|
everyone.</em><br>
|
|
Hey, who're you gonna believe, Krantz or me?
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Besides, it could've been a sequence from the fall of B5, but
|
|
not that exact MOMENT, so it WOULD be different, so NYAH.
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<p>
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(suddenly I'm five years old)
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<p>
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<li>@@@833177826 <em>How did Zack know about the White Star?</em><br>
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The White Star has been common knowledge ever since it
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|
came in at the end of "Severed Dreams." Certainly, by virtue of being
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|
Garibaldi's second in command, he'd know about it. At this point, most
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|
everything is out in the open now.
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|
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<p>
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<li>@@@833475135 I'm sure Garibaldi will eventually end up on the White
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Star; and the Minbari will also probably begin slowly acquiring
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|
English, and vice versa.
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|
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<p>
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|
<li>@@@846743236 <em>Why was Delenn so nervous after Sheridan
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|
vanished?</em><br>
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|
She didn't know what was coming, and that worried her. She is most
|
|
secure when she has a definite plan of action, and variables aren't
|
|
something the Minbari are good at in any event, they're very rigid and
|
|
structured.
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|
|
|
<p>
|
|
And we'll be seeing the Sigma walkers again in the not too distant
|
|
future. And some of their pals.
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|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@837967816 <em>Was Sinclair speaking Minbari during his entire
|
|
conversation with Delenn, with English presented for the viewers'
|
|
benefit?</em><br>
|
|
No, he slid into Minbari at that point to try and conceal what
|
|
was being said from the others on the bridge.
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|
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|
<p>
|
|
<li>@@@833177985 <a name="JS.ea"><em>Why did Ivanova claim B5 was
|
|
an Earth Alliance station?</em></a><br>
|
|
The name of the station is still the same; it was built by the
|
|
Earth Alliance. So that's how she'd refer to it.
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|
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|
</ul>
|