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lurkers-guide


								<!-- TITLE Lines of Communication -->


								<h2><a name="OV">Overview</a></h2>


								<blockquote><cite>

								Franklin and Marcus try to convince the leaders of the resistance to go along

								with Sheridan's plan to unseat Clark.  Delenn investigates a series of attacks

								on Minbari allies.  Minbar begins to slide toward civil war.

								</cite>


								<a href="http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Monaghan,+Marjorie">Marjorie Monaghan</a> as Number One.

								<a href="http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Seganti,+Paolo">Paolo Seganti</a> as Phillipe.

								<a href="http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Stevens,+G.+Wesley">G.W. Stevens</a> as Forell.

								</blockquote>


								<pre><a href="/lurk/p5/intro.html">P5 Rating</a>: <a href="/lurk/p5/077">8.30</a>


								Production number: 411

								Original air week: April 28, 1997

								<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000DGBEY/thelurkersguidet">DVD release date</a>: January 6, 2004


								Written by J. Michael Straczynski

								Directed by John Flinn III

								</pre>


								<p>

								<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00000ADJR/thelurkersguidet">An

								episodic soundtrack is available.</a>


								<p>

								<hr size=3>


								<h2><a name="BP">Plot Points</a></h2>

								<ul>


								   <li>@@@862188871 At least one race, the Drakh, made its home on Z'ha'dum

									during the Shadows' tenure there.  They evacuated before Z'ha'dum's

									destruction and are in search of a new home and revenge against the

									people who defeated their masters.


								   <li>@@@862188871 Marcus and Franklin have convinced the resistance movement

									on Earth and Mars to follow Sheridan's lead, and to refrain from

									future terrorist attacks aimed at destabilizing Earth's government.


								   <li>@@@862188871 Ivanova is preparing for an additional job, as head of the

									"Voice of the Resistance," an attempt to counter ISN by broadcasting

									opposition views, as well as messages intended for the resistance

									fighters themselves, to Mars and Earth.


								   <li>@@@862820397 ISN, meanwhile, seems to be preparing Earth's citizenry

									for an eventual assault on Babylon 5, building up public support for

									such a move in advance.


								   <li>@@@862215725 Sheridan was involved in the suppression of the food

									riots on Mars after the Earth-Minbari War, for which he's resented

									by some Mars residents.


								</ul>


								<h2><a name="UQ">Unanswered Questions</a></h2>

								<ul>


								   <li>@@@862188871 Are the Drakh the only survivors of Z'ha'dum?  How many of

									them remain?


								   <li>@@@862188871 Are the Drakh the ones responsible for planting Keepers on

									the Centauri Regent

									(<a href="073.html">"Epiphanies"</a>)

									and Captain Jack

									(<a href="076.html">"Racing Mars"</a>)?


								   <li>@@@862724503 Why did the Drakh emissary appear to shimmer?  Do the

									Drakh have access to the Shadows' invisibility technology?


								   <li>@@@862188871 What does the warrior caste hope to gain by forcing the

									other castes out of cities?


								</ul>


								<h2><a name="AN">Analysis</a></h2>

								<ul>


								   <li>@@@862188871 Franklin has bought into Sheridan's cult of personality,

									though it's not entirely clear why.  His reaction to the skeptical

									resistance leader is exactly the kind of thing Garibaldi complained

									about in

									<a href="076.html">"Racing Mars,"</a>

									and may be counterproductive in that it makes Garibaldi's allegations

									all the more credible.


								   <li>@@@862821766 Phillipe bombed the Red Planet Hotel, which was where

									Franklin and Marcus were staying.  Was the appearance of the Earth

									security forces there a coincidence, or were they after Franklin and

									Marcus?


								   <li>@@@862820397 Why does Sheridan think he has the power to promise Mars

									independence after Clark is out of office?  Does Sheridan plan to

									assume the presidency himself?  Or was that simply more improvisation

									on Franklin's part?  Presumably not; it's unlikely Sheridan gave him

									the authority to make that kind of promise without consultation.


								   <li>@@@862188871 How will Sheridan break through Earth's jamming of

									outside broadcasts?  Franklin was able to get a message back to

									Babylon 5, but presumably it's a thornier problem to try to

									broadcast programming to all of Earth.  Perhaps he'll enlist the

									help of Draal; Epsilon 3 likely has the power to cut through

									whatever interference Earth can muster.  Delenn is unlikely to be

									able to provide any Minbari assistance, considering what's going

									on on Minbar, though the White Star fleet might be useful mobile

									transmitters.


								   <li>@@@862513121 If Number One indeed treats all her former lovers like

									she treated Phillipe, Franklin may be in for a rough ride.


								   <li>@@@863024596 In the first scene with Franklin, Number One rubbed her

									neck, similar to Captain Jack before his Keeper was discovered

									(<a href="076.html">"Racing Mars."</a>)

									Any significance, or just a stiff neck?


								   <li>@@@862188871 The Drakh ships, especially the transport, looked more

									Vorlon in design than Shadow.  Have they looted the Vorlon homeworld

									as well, or is it just a coincidence?


								   <li>@@@865362770 The Drakh aren't the only race who worked for the Shadows,

									though of course they might have been the only ones to escape with

									technology from Z'ha'dum.  Neither the surgeons and pilot in

									<a href="058.html">"Ship of Tears"</a>

									nor the creature in

									<a href="027.html">"The Long Dark"</a>

									were Drakh in appearance, though the latter arguably bore a

									resemblance when it was shown briefly reflected in Mariah's tube.


								   <li>@@@862858863 It's also possible the Drakh weren't allies of the Shadows

									at all; the Vorlons may have similarly had minor races acting as

									aides, and those aides would likely be just as upset as the Shadows'

									about Sheridan and Delenn driving their masters away.  Of course,

									the statement that the Drakh had just lost their home would seem to

									indicate that Delenn's supposition about their association with

									the Shadows was correct; the Vorlon homeworld is probably still intact.


								   <li>@@@862817771 The Drakh may have some kind of group mind.  At the very

									least, they have a different notion of personal identity than most

									other races.  They appear to regard the name "Drakh" as both a

									collective name and a personal one, and their emissary interrupted

									Forell before he could utter Delenn's name, dismissing it as

									"unimportant."  On the other hand, they're familiar enough with the

									notion of individual names to recognize Delenn's once it was spoken.


								   <li>@@@862793127 Delenn's reaction to the destruction of White Star 16,

									while arguably justified, bore similarity to her reaction to the

									death of Dukhat: ordering a relentless attack on those responsible.

									Of course, this time she was in control of the situation and wasn't

									enraged, but it's interesting in light of her earlier comment that

									she wouldn't repeat the mistakes made during first contact with

									humanity.


								   <li>@@@864957852 Delenn commented to Sheridan that she felt humans could

									have been Minbar's most dangerous enemy due to their ability to form

									communities of diverse elements.  This echoes her comment in

									<a href="037.html">"And Now For a Word,"</a>

									in which she said that the forming of communities was one of humanity's

									greatest strengths.


								</ul>


								<h2><a name="NO">Notes</a></h2>

								<ul>


								   <li>@@@862815695 Marcus said he was from Arisia Colony.  That's a reference

									to the Lensman series by E. E. "Doc" Smith.


								   <li>@@@862793127 Sheridan referred to the Drakh as "wild cards."  And in

									fact, "Drakh" is "card" pronounced backwards.


								   <li>@@@861953516 One of the Minbari seen reacting in fear from the

									Drakh emissary is Dennis Michael, a

									CNN entertainment reporter and a big fan of the series.

									He was also a Narn in

									<a href="043.html">"Comes the Inquisitor."</a>


								   <li>@@@862858863 As the Drakh emissary entered the White Star's bridge,

									the lights on the wall dimmed.


								   <li>@@@866950614 The real reason the Drakh shimmered, according to

									special effects technician Ken Busick, was that the costume didn't

									look convincing enough.  So to give the Drakh an otherworldly

									appearance, the scene was digitally manipulated in postproduction.


								</ul>


								<h2><a name="JS">jms speaks</a></h2>

								<ul>


								   <li>@@@862724503 <em>Why did Franklin send a video message?</em><br>

									So they could see him and know by seeing him that he arrived

									safely; a text message could be sent by *anyone* who could've

									intercepted them.


								<p>

								   <li>@@@862765238 The issue of waste of bandwidth is not as big a deal to

									an advanced technology (from today's standards); also, any really good

									telepath could rip out those codes and keys in about 10 seconds.

									Further, they would've had a password to use (as in "the board," which

									he used) to verify that he was all right and not being forced to make

									the call.


								<p>

								   <li>@@@863020903 In that scenario, there is no such thing as ANY kind of

									secure communication, which puts us pretty much back where we started.


								<p>

								   <li>@@@862818984 <em>About the Drakh ships</em><br>

									I indicated a flower-like design.  With the lethalness

									behind them, it seemed like a nice contrast.


								<p>

								   <li>@@@862989808 <em>White Star 16 wasn't too tough.</em><br>

									Of course, you have no way of knowing how many previous hits it

									took during the fight, and are assuming it only got two.


								<p>

								   <li>@@@863020810 <em>Why did Delenn run?</em><br>

									As she states in the episode, they were at that time

									*surrounded* and if they turned to fire, would get destroyed.

									Firepower doesn't solve every problem; one good hand-held Lancet

									missile can put down a full-sized cruiser if it hits right.  They were

									in the MIDDLE of the Drakh, just as they said, and that's NOT a

									defensible position.  They had to get away, outside that group, so they

									could mount an offensive.  This they did.


								</ul>