brennen
/
lurkers-guide


								<!-- TITLE Rumors, Bargains and Lies -->


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


								<blockquote><cite>

								Sheridan tricks the League of Non-Aligned Worlds into accepting his proposed

								defense pact.  Delenn tries to work with an old rival to defuse a brewing

								Minbari civil war.

								</cite>


								<a href="http://us.imdb.com/M/person-exact?+Vickery,+John">John Vickery</a> as Neroon.

								</blockquote>


								<pre><a href="/lurk/p5/intro.html">P5 Rating</a>: <a href="/lurk/p5/079">8.33</a>


								Production number: 413

								Original air week: May 12, 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 Mike Vejar

								</pre>


								<p>

								<hr size=3>


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

								<ul>


								   <li>@@@863427621 The League of Non-Aligned Worlds has agreed to give the

									White Star fleet authority to operate as a police force along its

									borders.


								   <li>@@@863465106 Civil war has broken out in the Minbari capital city.


								   <li>@@@863465106 Three quarters of Clark's cabinet resigned in protest of

									his martial law decree.


								</ul>


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

								<ul>


								   <li>@@@863427621 Is Neroon really betraying Delenn?


								   <li>@@@864002776 The episode focused on the religious and warrior castes.

									What happened to the worker caste?  Are they participating in

									the fighting, and if so, which side have they taken?


								</ul>


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

								<ul>


								   <li>@@@863465106 Will the Non-Aligned Worlds' pledge to help Sheridan with

									any larger missions extend to his conflict with President Clark?  Even

									in its diminished state, the combined forces of the Non-Aligned Worlds'

									navies would likely be a great asset if the conflict came down to a

									direct, prolonged series of battles.  On the other hand, intervening

									in internal Earth matters isn't what the ambassadors had in mind; they

									might balk at sending their ships to die for the cause of overthrowing

									Earth's government.


								<p>

								   <li>@@@864003857 By allowing the White Star fleet to patrol Centauri space

									in search of the Drakh (among others,) Londo has given Sheridan

									direct influence over the ability of the Shadows' allies to exact their

									revenge on Centauri Prime.  Perhaps that's the source of Londo's

									comment in

									<a href="061.html">"War Without End"</a>

									about Sheridan allowing the Shadows' dark servants to slip through to

									Centauri Prime; if Sheridan uses the White Star fleet for some larger

									mission as he hints he might, it'll presumably be at the cost of

									Centauri Prime's defense against the Drakh.


								<p>

								   <li>@@@865971732 During the conversation between Londo and the Drazi

									ambassador, Londo's duplicity is underscored by the staging of the

									scene.  In most of the scene, two images of Londo can be seen: his

									reflection in the mirror or his portrait.  The rest of the time

									his face is obscured by a curtain.


								<p>

								   <li>@@@863427621 In the past, Delenn has attempted to preserve Lennier's

									innocence (e.g. by trying to leave him behind in

									<a href="075.html">"Atonement."</a>)

									But from Lennier's point of view, she has an innocence of her own, and

									he sees himself as its guardian.


								<p>

								   <li>@@@863427621 Neroon may not be betraying Delenn at all; he told Shakiri

									the he knew the religious caste's counterattack plans, but Delenn

									made no mention of a counterattack.  It's possible his departure

									was, in fact, all part of Delenn's plan; Lennier wasn't privy to

									the conversation between Delenn and Neroon, so he wouldn't know

									the details and would be fooled by Neroon's departure.


								<p>

								   <li>@@@864003334 By revealing how much she relies on Lennier, Delenn may

									have given valuable information to an opponent.  Neroon was honorable

									enough and helped Lennier, and seems uninterested in directly battling

									or hurting Delenn (if he'd been interested in that, he wasted several

									opportunities while on her ship.)  But if Neroon passes the information

									along to Shakiri, Lennier may find himself in danger.


								<p>

								   <li>@@@864028581 Neroon said of the situation on Minbar, "We are a world

									gone mad."  That's the same thing one of the council members told

									Delenn in

									<a href="075.html">"Atonement,"</a>

									before declaring, as Neroon did, that the fire would have to burn

									itself out and couldn't be stopped.  Yet the Earth-Minbari War

									did stop abruptly; perhaps the same will happen in this case.


								<p>

								   <li>@@@864584789 Neroon's comment about loving a good mystery also echoed

									<a href="075.html">"Atonement,"</a>

									in which Delenn said to the Grey Council that mysteries are a gift

									from the universe and shouldn't be ignored.


								<p>

								   <li>@@@864588190 The religious caste member said he heard Delenn say,

									"The religious caste could not be allowed to win this war."  But she

									actually said, "The warrior caste cannot be allowed to win this

									war.  The religious caste cannot be allowed to win either."  Was he

									simply embellishing a half-overheard comment (e.g. if he only heard

									the second sentence up to "win") or did he choose to ignore or lie

									about the context?


								<p>

								   <li>@@@864588347 The religious caste has been the butt of jokes about

									surrendering "ever since the war," according to the same religious

									caste member.  Clearly that can't be referring to the Shadow War,

									since they didn't surrender.  Does the comment indicate that most

									Minbari still consider the Earth-Minbari War to be the major war of

									recent memory?  Since the warrior caste is the group making the jokes,

									the implication is that they didn't particularly participate in the

									Shadow War.


								<p>

								   <li>@@@863427621 The two storylines in the episode can be seen as point and

									counterpoint on the subject of deception and secrecy (the title is

									evidence that this isn't an accident.)  Delenn kept

									her plans secret from her compatriots and nearly died with them as

									a result.  Neroon was attacked for the same reason.

									Sheridan kept secrets as well, and asked Franklin and Londo to lie

									for him, and it helped his plans come to fruition.


									<p>

									Lennier's deception played into the theme; he kept the true nature

									of the sabotage from Delenn, with no immediate ill effect.  However,

									it's possible that by maintaining Delenn's excessive faith in her

									caste, Lennier in fact deprived her of vital information she'd do well

									to take into account in the future.


									<p>

									Ivanova held fast to the ideal of truth, but every

									other major player in the story participated in some form of deception:

									the rebellious religious caste members hid their plot, the League

									ambassadors kept their "knowledge" of the new enemy from Sheridan,

									and Neroon lied to either Delenn or Shakiri about his intentions.


								</ul>


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

								<ul>


								   <li>@@@864003655 Delenn mentioned this as the second time she'd seen

									Lennier near death.  The first was in

									<a href="046.html">"Convictions,"</a>

									in which he risked his life to save Londo Mollari.


								   <li>@@@865705464 Ivanova tells Sheridan that Marcus is waiting for him on

									channel 4.  That's a reference to the network that shows B5 in the UK.


								   <li>@@@864582344 Editing glitch: during the opening scene, a piece of

									food appears on Marcus' fork while the camera shifts to Sheridan;

									the scene shifts again and he hasn't picked the food up yet.


								</ul>


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

								<ul>


								   <li>@@@863798106 The Sheridan stuff was fun, in that I got to play

									Sheridan as the one being manipulative for a change, smart for a

									change...not just Londo or the usual suspects.  It made for a nifty

									change of pace.


									<p>

									And yeah, Mira brought a lot of truth to this episode...and will

									bring even more in next week.


								<p>

								   <li>@@@863715772 <em>Ivanova looked like she was reading from a

									teleprompter.</em><br>

									Yeah, we had Claudia use a teleprompter there to add to the

									sense of having to read something...and enjoy the happy-go-lucky

									Sheridan...it's the last you'll see of him for a long time....


								<p>

								   <li>@@@864002776 <em>Lennier seems to be doing more peacemaking than

									Delenn.  Is he the real bridge between races?  Why does the religious

									caste follow Delenn?</em><br>

									No, I wouldn't say Lennier is a bridge in any sense along those

									lines.


									<p>

									Delenn, you must understand, is a True Seeker, and among the

									religious caste there isn't much more admirable than that...combined

									with the fact that she *did* fulfill prophecy, she *was* the chosen of

									Dukhat, she *did* help end the Shadow War...yeah, she's had some

									problems here and there, but what important leader doesn't?  Any one of

									those items would be a sufficient crown on a lifetime of

									achievement...the cumulative effect is quite daunting and impressive.


								<p>

								   <li>@@@864893404 <em>Are Lennier's patience, humor, and devotion

									unique?</em><br>

									No, many Minbari share in those traits.


								<p>

								   <li>@@@864060805 "Are tears a normal Minbari physical reaction, or is

									weeping (for Delenn) one of the changes mandated by her chrysalitic"


									<p>

									We've seen Delenn cry before, when she and G'Kar were in her

									quarters and she was explining why she did not get involved in the

									Narn/Centauri war.


								<p>

								   <li>@@@864500179 <em>How did Londo see an Earth sitcom if all broadcasts

									to B5 are being jammed?</em><br>

									Easy.  The incident Londo is mentioning happened prior to the

									blackout. He never said it *just* happened, he said the *last* time

									Rebo and Zooty did their routine, everybody was doing it.


								<p>

								   <li>@@@864542764 <em>Were Rebo and Zooty references to real

									people?</em><br>

									No, not intended as tributes to anyone, just a cool sounding

									pair of names (but also annoying sounding).


								</ul>