The Lurker's Guide to Babylon 5
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<!-- TITLE Walkabout -->
<h2><a name="OV">Overview</a></h2>
<blockquote><cite>
Lyta tests the limits of the Shadows' newly-discovered weakness.
Dr. Franklin goes on a journey to discover his place in life, and meets a
singer in Downbelow. The new Ambassador Kosh arrives on the station.
</cite>
<a href="http://us.imdb.com/Name?Gimpel,+Erica+(II)">Erica Gimpel</a> as Cailyn.
<a href="http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Balgobin,+Jennifer">Jennifer Balgobin</a> as Dr. Hobbs.
<a href="http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Tallman,+Patricia">Patricia Tallman</a> as Lyta Alexander. <a href="http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Sachs,+Robin">Robin Sachs</a> as Na'Kal.
</blockquote>
<pre><a href="/lurk/p5/intro.html">P5 Rating</a>: <a href="/lurk/p5/062">7.89</a>
Production number: 318
Original air week: August 18, 1996 (UK)
September 30, 1996 (US)
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00009OOFK/thelurkersguidet">DVD release date</a>: August 12, 2003
Written by J. Michael Straczynski
Directed by Kevin Cremin
</pre>
<p>
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000002VUW/thelurkersguidet">An
episodic soundtrack is available.</a>
<p>
<hr size=3>
<h2><a name="BP">Backplot</a></h2>
<ul>
<li> Lyta has previously carried "pieces" of Kosh with her. This is
most likely what she was doing at the end of
<a href="048.html">"Passing Through Gethsemane."</a>
<li> At least ten Narn ships have survived the battle with the Centauri,
damaged but able to be repaired. A new Narn fleet seems to be gathering.
<li>@@@864894608 It takes the White Star 20 minutes to recharge its jump
engines after they've been taken offline and their energy diverted into
the weapons systems.
<li> The Vorlons are a long-lived race, are relatively few in number, and
death is a rarity among them. It had been a very long time since a
Vorlon had died.
<li>@@@844797640 Franklin is a Foundationist. The Foundation apparently
borrows customs and beliefs from various cultures, perhaps in the
belief that no one people has all the right spiritual answers.
</ul>
<h2><a name="UQ">Unanswered Questions</a></h2>
<ul>
<img src="/lurk/gif/062/vshipmsg.gif" border=1 width=160 hspace=2 height=120 align=right>
<li> What was the message the Vorlon ship showed to Sheridan?
<li> Lyta, a P5, could barely hold one Shadow ship at bay. How much
telepathic energy is required to defeat a Shadow ship? What effect
would a high-rated telepath like Bester have on a Shadow vessel?
<li> Is Lyta still "only" a P5, or has she been enhanced by her relationship
with Kosh?
<li> Why does the new Vorlon insist on being called Kosh in public and
private? What does he mean by his statement that "We are all Kosh?"
(see <A HREF="#AN">Analysis</A>)
<li> Where did the pattern in Kosh's quarters come from, and what does it
mean? (see <A HREF="#AN">Analysis</A>)
<li> Why did Lyta bleed from her eyes during the battle? Was it just the
strain, or is there some deeper explanation?
<li> Why didn't the forces of Light take the destroyed Shadow craft in tow
for analysis?
<li> Why didn't the Minbari cruiser open fire on the "held" shadows?
<li> Lyta required 'line of sight' to the Shadow ship in order to attack it.
Did the Minbari telepaths also need to see the Shadows in order to
attack them?
<li> How did the Vorlon ship know where to find Sheridan?
<li> Does the "piece" of Kosh that may be left behind in Sheridan have
anything to do with Sheridan's place as "The One?" How might it fit in
with Kosh's statement that if Sheridan goes to Z'ha'dum, he will die?
It may explain Kosh's final words to Sheridan: "As long as you're
here, I'll always be here."
<li>@@@847070191 Do the Shadows know a piece of Kosh survived?
<li> Does the different style and color of the new Vorlon ambassador's
encounter suit denote anything?
<li>@@@871091092 Is this the same Vorlon who was on Minbar in
<a href="060.html">"War Without End?"</a>
<li> How did G'Kar manage to persuade the other races to come to Sheridan's
aid in his battle against the Shadows?
<br clear=all>
</ul>
<h2><a name="AN">Analysis</a></h2>
<ul>
<img src="/lurk/gif/062/koshqtrs.gif" border=1 width=160 hspace=2 height=120 align=right>
<li> The strange pattern which the new Vorlon sees on the screen in
Kosh's quarters could be a representation of Kosh's death. It could be
construed as a diagram of two or more Shadows attacking a Vorlon. It
could also be construed as a diagram of Shadows being accompanied by a
human. Presumably the human would be Morden, and the images were
burned into the wall in some form, silhouettes, when Kosh was killed.
<li> It's clear that Lyta believes, based on her vision, that Sheridan may
hold part of Kosh within him. What that means -- for Sheridan, for
Lyta, and for Kosh -- remains to be seen.
<li>@@@844797979 How did the piece of Kosh get into Sheridan's mind? If
it was the result of Kosh's contact with Sheridan, might G'Kar also
have a piece of Kosh following their contact in
<a href="050.html">"Dust to Dust?"</a>
<li>@@@844881004 More disturbingly, might Morden also have a piece of Kosh,
present as he was at Kosh's death? Perhaps that was why the Shadows
brought Morden along; they wanted someone there who could carry
part of a Vorlon.
<li>@@@844797979 In
<a href="033.html">"All Alone in the Night,"</a>
Kosh tells Sheridan, "I have always been here." Could he perhaps
have been referring to Sheridan's mind, implying that Sheridan has
carried a piece of Kosh for quite some time?
<li> Might the statement that "We are all Kosh" suggest that the Vorlons
exist more as a collective whole than as individual entities? (See also
<A href="#JS">JMS speaks</a>.)
<li> The tide may be turning, now that it's clear that telepaths are
effective weapons against the Shadows, especially considering that all
major races except the Narn have telepaths. (Which begs the question:
what will the Shadows' response be?)
<li>@@@844376937 Telepathic control over Shadow ships is tenuous at
best, and may be limited to preventing them from attacking; the three
ships being held by the Minbari telepaths were free to flee the scene
when G'Kar and the others arrived.
<li>@@@844376937 In
<a href="024.html">"Revelations,"</a>
G'Kar told Na'Toth that when Narn warships jump into normal space,
they're briefly out of contact because of the energy drain of the
jump engines. Yet the G'Tok was able to fire on the Shadow warship
before it even left the vortex. Does that mean that the weapons
systems take less energy than establishing faster-than-light
communications? Perhaps Narn FTL communication involves the use
of the jump engines to beam a signal into hyperspace, and the
effect in "Revelations" was simply a matter of the jump engines
needing to recharge from the ship's main power source.
<li>@@@844895893 The Shadows now probably know that the White Star is
capable of solo jumps. It seems Sheridan has decided that keeping
that capability a secret is no longer of strategic importance
(<a href="045.html">"Matters of Honor."</a>)
Or perhaps he figures that the secret is out by now anyway, perhaps
as of Delenn's emergence from a jump point in the White Star in
close proximity to Babylon 5, and thus presumably in full view of
a large number of people
(<a href="054.html">"Severed Dreams."</a>)
<li>@@@844376937 The new Kosh's ship is reddish in color, as is his
encounter suit's eyepiece, perhaps suggesting the link between Vorlons
and their ships.
<li>@@@844900656 Every sentient race, according to G'Kar, has food resembling
Swedish meatballs. The Narn call it "breen." Since the Vorlons have
manipulated all the younger races, perhaps Swedish meatballs are really
a Vorlon delicacy, part of an intricate plan to defeat the Shadows
through culinary unity.
</ul>
<h2><a name="NO">Notes</a></h2>
<ul>
<li> In Australian aboriginal cultures, a "walkabout" is a ritual in which
a young man goes on a solitary journey through the wilderness in an
attempt to learn more about his own character and strength.
<p>
<li>@@@850757656 Metazine, the painkiller Cailyn used, was also used on
Sinclair to keep him unconscious in
<a href="008.html">"And the Sky Full of Stars."</a>
<p>
<li>@@@844882197 <a name="NO.credit">In the initial UK broadcast, as</a>
well as the first-run US broadcast, Patricia Tallman's first name
was misspelled "Patrica" in the opening credits.
<p>
<li> JMS wrote both songs in this episode. See
<a href="#JS.songs">jms speaks.</a>
<p>
<li> When the ship bearing the new ambassador arrives, Sheridan originally
says, "Welcome to Babylon 5." This line was edited out later.
</ul>
<h2><a name="JS">jms speaks</a></h2>
<ul>
<li> As it happens, as soon as I finish the two-parter, this
week, the next script will get a lot more into Lyta and the
Vorlons and all that jazz.
<p>
<li>@@@864605945 It came out pretty well; it's exceeded by Shadow Dancing,
Z'ha'dum and Rock, but it ain't bad.
<p>
<li>@@@864605945 Re: "Walkabout," thanks...of the final 5, it's not at the top,
but it ain't bad. If you happen to be out of the house this coming
Thursday, and miss "Grey 17 is Missing," you miss a little, but not a
lot. It's okay. But the ones after that are just *killer*.
<p>
<li>@@@864605945 <em>Was this supposed to come before "War Without
End?"</em><br>
Correct. Initially we'd wanted to put Walkabout in first, but
that would have meant airing only WWE1 in that sweeps period, and
having to wait until the fall for part 2, which seemed not only
excessive but remarkably stupid. So we reversed the shooting/airing
order to accommodate that, and the fact that we knew we'd need a LOT of
EFX in WWE1, and this would give us time to do it properly.
<p>
<li>@@@864605945 <em>Will the order be corrected when TNT airs the
series?</em><br>
Not really, because it doesn't make *that* much difference to
risk confusing them about it....
<p>
<li>@@@844882197 <em>About
<a href="#NO.credit">Patricia Tallman's misspelled name</a></em><br>
WHAT?!?!
<p>
Are you sure? We changed it on my copies here.....
<p>
<li>@@@844882197 (slow burn)
<p>
We delivered a corrected print ages ago.
<p>
Someone gon' DIE.
<p>
<li> It's fair to say that Lyta has been...aided, slightly, in
her abilities. But I'm not ready to pull the trigger on that one for a
while yet.
<p>
<li> The new Vorlon arrives in Walkabout.
<p>
<li><em>Is the new ambassador the same as Kosh?</em><br>
Actually, no, the replacement isn't Kosh, as you say, it's
another Vorlon, with a very different personality...the "we are all
Kosh" is more of a conceptual thing....
<p>
<li>@@@864605945 I'd say this Kosh has a bit more of an edge to him....
<p>
<li>@@@864605945 <em>Will we ever find out what was written on the side
of Kosh's ship?</em><br>
What, do I look like someone who can speak Vorlon? Oh, sure, a few
words, mainly "Where is the bathroom" and "What's that smell?" but to
translate something like that...pfsh, please.
<p>
(Answer: probably not.)
<p>
<li>@@@865960802 <em>What did the ship say?</em><br>
"Welcome to Hawaii."
<p>
There was apparently a hideous malfunction...they never talked
about it thereafter....
<p>
<li> Franklin isn't gone from the show; he's in the very next
episode, in a major way, and has a big part in "Shadow Dancing." He
just has a lot to work out right now.
<p>
<li>@@@844912488 "When is walkabout a legitimate choice, and when is it
a cop-out?"
<p>
When you're more afraid of what you're running *to* than what you're
running *from*.
<p>
<li> <a name="JS.songs">It's not widely known -- I guess
mainly</a>
because I haven't ever mentioned it much -- but from time to time I've
written songs. Mainly the lyrics; I know how the music should sound,
but I'm incapable of reading music...I think it's the same mental
glitch that hits me when I try to do certain kinds of math. "X is a
numerical value." "No, X is a letter, 7 is a numerical value." I can't
ever seem to make the one equal the other in my head. Similarly, a
black note on a piece of paper isn't the music...anyway, it's a
glitch.)
<p>
So when I write songs, and I have a specific melody I'm hearing
in my head, I'm invariably placed in the humiliating position (since I
can't play a musical instrument) of humming it, or somehow trying to
suggest it to the music-person. Suffice to say it looks really goofy
and stupid.
<p>
Anyway...despite this, I do sometimes write songs, and like to
keep my hand in, as they say. I did two songs for an ABC-TV prime-time
Real Ghostbusters special, did a few songs that have been recorded by
small groups (you've never heard of any of them, trust me), another
song that, much to my chagrin, is apparently still being used in church
songbooks (and that's all I will ever say about that)...and when I
decided to do a show with a singer for B5, I wrote a couple of songs
for that one, with Chris Franke providing the music.
<p>
They're bluesy, Billie Holliday kinds of songs, updated
slightly. I'm actually very pleased with how they came out (Erica
Gimpel, one of the cast members from Fame, plays the part and sings the
songs). Several folks around here want either or both songs to come
out on the next B5 album, but I"m loathe to do so, on the theory that
the soundtracks work better in the style we've already used, all
instrumental. (There've even been some inquiries from music people
who've heard the songs about releasing them commercially, but that
would mean adding about 30 seconds to each song to make them airplay
compatible, and I'm not sure I want to take on the extra hassle just
now.)
<p>
<li> <em>Who did the music?</em><br>
I wrote the lyrics, Chris Franke did the music.
<p>
<li>@@@843430375 <em>Are the songs linked to elements of the
story?</em><br>
Not coincidences, no, but not quite as tightly linked as you suggest.
Thematically indicative more than anything that points to story specific
elements.
<p>
<li>@@@843430375 I figured it might be cool to continue the song over the
credits. That happens one more time this season.
<p>
<li>@@@844881146 Here's what I think is a bit of cultural short-sightedness.
Everybody keeps saying, "well, if they had that kind of music,
shouldn't it have been shown to be an oldies bar or something?"
<p>
Look at classical music for a moment. Goes back to Beethoven,
Brahms, Bach and lots of composers whose names don't even begin with
B. And earlier. Now, I don't mean to alarm anyone or startle anyone
with this revelation, but classical music is *still being written and
performed* hundreds of years later. Not old stuff, new stuff, of
that school and in that style. The orchestral suites in the Star
Wars movies are strongly based on classical compositions...is that
"oldies" stuff? You've got one of the longest running musical plays
running now in London, in "Phantom of the Opera," a *new* composition
(well, mostly, knowing how Webber works).
<p>
Jazz and blues kinda formally began in the 1920s and 1930s, but its
roots run back to spirituals and african-american music in the
1800s. And it didn't just stop suddenly in the 1930s. There's still
new material being written in that style now; so should Stevie Ray
Vaughn's albums or performances have been labeled "oldies?" After
all, it's sixty years later and more.
<p>
Certain musical styles will stay with us for a long, long time. Not
performances based on old stuff, but new material in that vein, for
those forms that have shown themselves to be enduring. 200 years
from now, in addition to other forms, you're still going to have
original blues songs, original classical compositions, original jazz,
original compositions in the style of gregorian chants, on and on and
on.
<p>
It's odd when people try to apply illogical rules to the future that
don't apply now; no one said, as noted, that a Stevie Ray Vaughn
concert should be billed as an "oldies" event, or an oldies
bar...even though it's over half a century since serious blues
started going...it's just silly.
<p>
<li>@@@844028242 Vorlon ships come out backwards when possible to help
decelerate.
<p>
Pat has interesting eyes...they're slightly larger than is the norm, and
they take some getting used to. Those eyes are one of the things that
beckoned to me to cast her...they're the eyes of a telepath, who sees
more than should be seen. They're terrific eyes.
<p>
<li> <em>So, were the shadows following Lyta, or were they an image on the
wall?</em><br>
They weren't following Lyta. We were in Kosh's old quarters, and those
images were burned into the wall when Kosh died. Bear in mind that she
doesn't actually meet the new ambassador until the next scene.
<p>
It was the same effect you would get in a massive energy burst that
"paints" shadows on the wall, which only he could see.
<p>
Those are two different scenes; the first one takes place in Kosh's
quarters, the second one out in the hallway. Perhaps that could've been
made clearer....
<p>
<li>@@@843430375 <em>Garibaldi said he went over Kosh's quarters with a
fine-toothed comb. How'd he miss the image?</em><br>
Watch the scene again; the first time the new Vorlon looks at the wall,
he sees nothing; the next time he looks at it, the lens wide open, the
image is somewhat distorted around the edges, and now he's seeing the
afterflash. Only certain types can see it.
<p>
<li> <em>Is there significance to the different eye-piece colors
of the two Koshes? Why no one would suspect Kosh suddenly
having a different encounter suit?</em><br>
No signicance to the eyepiece color; no reason to assume Vorlons only
have one encounter suit their entire life.
<p>
<li>@@@843430375 Actually, the new Vorlon's encounter suit is more
purple/red than green. The design is a matter of form following
function.
<p>
<li> <em>On differences between the two Koshes:</em><br>
They're not that far apart in age, but yes, Kosh would be a bit
older.
<p>
<li> The look of the new Vorlon was developed by John Vulich of Optic Nerve
based on my suggestions. I got in after a bit and redesigned/sketched
the headpiece a bit, and recommended the colors used. We're actually
doing a bit of fine-tuning on the new Vorlon prior to next season.<p>
<p>
<li>@@@844880143 Re: the new Kosh...yeah, the look is intentional. I
worked with Optic Nerve to get the new lines right, messed with their
sketches until I had what I wanted. It's very effective in some lights,
less so in others, but the sense comes across.
<p>
<li>@@@889494600 <em>Is the new Kosh really Ulkesh from the novel
<a href="/lurk/novels/009.html">"To Dream in the City of Sorrows?"</a>
</em><br>
The new Vorlon was Ulkesh, yes...the Kosh thing was meant in a
Vorlon philosophical sense. They ain't wired up like the rest of us.
<p>
<li>@@@843430375 Sheridan commands the Army of Light, Delenn as second.
If the AOL speaks with one voice on something of importance, they have
to be listened to. When Sheridan put himself on the front lines, he was
then taking on the role of soldier, not commander. They also felt it
risked leaving them without said commander if it went wrong.
<p>
Bear in mind that their orders in *no* way compromised his actual
mission, or over-rode his decision. They were sending along a secondary
mission to keep an eye on the primary mission. I don't see a conflict
here.
<p>
<li>@@@843430375 Just some comparisons to illustrate...during
WW II, the head of naval operations for the Japanese fleet insisted
on being on board during several of their more pivotal missions. His
subordinates insisted that additional ships be sent as escorts given
his importance to war strategy. That's a very rigid military
structure, but when *all* the subordinates get together on something,
to go against it causes more problems than it's worth.
<p>
Even within the context of a conventional military situation, there's
flexibility. If a commanding officer gives an order which is
immoral, illegal, or against the rules of engagement, a subordinate
can refuse to implement that order, even give a countermanding order
which, depending on the situation (such as a nuclear missile firing)
would take precedence over the CO's order (though you'd first have to
relieve the CO of command, and if you do that, you'd darned well
better be prepared to back it up with every legal and moral means at
your disposal, or it's mutiny). Heck, it was just this kind of
dilemma that was at the core of the movie "Crimson Tide," and was
brought up in the recent war crime trials going on investigating what
happened in Bosnia, with a soldier being asked why he didn't refuse
to carry out an order to kill civilians.
<p>
Ain't a lot of black-and-whites in the world, but a whole lotta
greys.
<p>
<li>@@@843430375 There's nothing dangerous at all about a fleet coming out of
hyperspace or a jump point together.
<p>
<li><em>The UK cut Lyta's line from the Shadow battle, "Burn, you
bastards!"</em><br>
They cut that? How curious...I didn't know that. From what I'd seen of
British TV, some shows use the word bastard like I use a comma, they're
ubiquitous....
<p>
<li>@@@843430375 <em>Why not use Bester in the test?</em><br>
Because Bester is on Earth or Mars, can't just drop everything and come
when beckoned, and it would take 3 days to get there, and they were in
kind of a hurry to test this. Besides, P10s are very few and far
between; they're more likely to have lower levels as their main weapons,
so best to see what impact those will have.
<p>
<li>@@@844882375 The fragmentation or fractionalizing is also
visually cued by the last shot of Franklin through the window, split
into many versions of himself.
<P>
Re: the hand-on-shoulder gesture, from Marcus it was an
upbraiding, stop-him motion, whereas from Sheridan it was one of
congratulation.
<p>
<li>@@@845974618 It's imagery, yes, of his still being fractured, still
looking to find himself, as it were.
<p>
<li>@@@843430375 <em>Why isn't Sheridan setting up propaganda to help
turn the Shadows' allies, such as Earth, against them?</em><br>
There's really no need for propgaganda. By about now, everybody out
in this part of space knows the situation...and what's going on back
home is secondary to winning the war. Also, you can be sure that if
they set up a network -- and who has time in the middle of a war -- you
can be sure Earth would find some way to jam it.
<p>
<li>@@@843430375 You're the leader of an isolated space station with a
quarter million inhabitants, who need air, food, supplies, space,
support. You no longer have ties to Earth, no support from there, no
money, so you have to rely on whatever docking fees you can get from
other worlds. You're in the midst of a war in which you have few
resources, little money, allies that have a tendency to turn on one
another, nobody's giving you a break, your position is tenuous as
hell, you're constantly undermanned, shorthanded....
<p>
Now you tell me where the heck you're going to get the time,
resources, money and manpower to launch a propaganda operation, which
if you're going to broadcast (and what's the point otherwise?) on an
interstellar basis is going to require extensive and expensive
facilities, broadcast repeaters, tacyhon carrier wave generators to
get around the time-delay aspects, writers, directors, broadcast
engineers, spokespersons, propaganda specialists, psychologists,
technicians, camera equipment, space in which to PUT all of this
stuff...on and on and on.
<p>
<li>@@@843430375 <em>The Minbari could help with the propaganda.</em><br>
For starters, having just had a MAJOR WAR with the Minbari, which
nearly wiped out Earth, and many folks back home *hating* the
Minbari...do you think for one second that they're going to believe a
word of what the Minbari say to them? Do you think the government
would allow this to go through unjammed? Hell, EarthGov would have a
field day with this..."See? It's all alien propaganda, just like we
told you, they're trying to destabalize Earth."
<p>
Second, I don't think the Minbari have the propagandists, writers,
directors, and others needed to put together a propaganda network,
and would find the whole idea immoral to begin with...and a couple of
paragraphs of text are meaningless...Earthgov says "it's not true,"
and it's your word against theirs. That's why you must have
absolute, unvarnished PROOF, otherwise it blows up in your face,
which any journalist worth his or her salt knows.
<p>
<li>@@@843430375 <em>Does the Army of Light have access to any of the
Minbari's resources?</em><br>
Yes, they do...but bear in mind that the Minbari are currently having
their own problems. The Grey Council has fallen apart, the Military
Caste (as we'll see in one of the next episodes) is having some
serious doubts about how the Religious Caste is handling things, and
that much of the support given Earth (by way of B5) has been covert;
the White Star program was launched in secret, and the greater amount
of the Minbari population aren't aware they're so much "in bed" with
the humans (as it were). As far as they're concerned, we're
apparently necessary to the plan, but not much more than that. So I
think they wouldn't be warm to the notion of extending their services
overmuch to Earth.
<p>
<li>@@@844882375 <em>Is the White Star more powerful than a regular Minbari
cruiser because of the Vorlons' involvement in its design?</em><br>
The Vorlons were cooperating in the recent past, yes, and it
still takes a couple of Minbari cruisers under most circumstances to
take out an immobilized shadow vessel, though one can do it if the
firepower is concentrated and prolonged.
</ul>
<p>
Originally compiled by Jason Snell.