Entry tags:
Babylon 5 Rewatch: Signs and Portents/ Legacies
This week, it's time for THE arc episode of the season, which it is named after, and for Neroon's debut episode. Incidentally, either I never noticed this before for some reason, or I had forgotten about it, but watching these two directly after another while skipping the three in between makes it clear that at some point in production, Legacies must have been meant to come first, since Delenn only starts to build the glass pyramid there, while in Signs and Portents, she's a bit further on with the building.
I know I've been bitching about the s1 raider subplots feeling like they're only there so the network gets its space battles, but in this episode, they actually contribute to and are well connected to the main plot. For first time watchers, they might even work as a red herring as to what that Lady Ladira sees. Also, it's a good demonstration of how the station's defense system is supposed to work in interaction with the star furies.
Let's face it, though, this isn't why this episode is so important and even s1 bashers call it a must watch. I can't remember anymore what exactly I thought when Morden first showed up, but it was along the lines of "is he from the Mafia?" Given the previous subplots in which gangsters and criminal goings on abounded, it was a not unreasonable guess. I thought this would be yet another of this gangster subplots, and Morden would be connected to the Raiders. Then the first near-encounter with Kosh happens, and it's more of a hint that there might be a Tolkien-esque influence going on, especially once, for the first time in this season, the Shadows are named, and very briefly near the end also seen; Middle Earth in space m ore than The Godfather. Going back, of course, it's evident that Morden is Mephisto(pheles), and by the episode's ends, he has found his Faust.
This is hardly the first time I've rewatched, but I'm still in awe of how well all this is built up. Morden's "What do you want?" question comes across as G'Kar perceives it at first, just irritating, though smiling men asking this are clearly up to no good. (Mind you,![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
andraste once pointed out G'Kar could also have assumed Morden was coming on to him. Given G'Kar is famously xeno in his erotic preferences. *g*) And then G'Kar does give a serious answer, but you can still take it as his usual bluster when the Centauri are mentioned, plus Morden doesn't stick around afterwards. Next, the Morden-Delenn meeting is on a very different emotional note, since she doesn't see him as irritating but is suspicious from the start, plus seems to have a guess whom he might represent, and it's not the raiders. (If you rewatch, you're wondering what Morden was thinking, approaching Delenn. Then again, Delenn never answers that question through the show; I wonder what her answer would have been at this point? Anyway, that Morden does try his luck with her despite having to be aware that unlike G'Kar and Londo, she probably can guess who sent him still asks for fannish speculation; fire away. While all this is going on, we have the seemingly unconnected parallel plot about Londo, Lord Kiro, Lady Ladira and the Eye, and I remember assuming that it was just happening so Lady Ladira can have her visions. I certainly didn't pay that much attention to Kiro's "Where did it all go wrong, Mollari?".
And then. Peter Jurasik is so good. I think until this point, while Londo has had individual serious scenes, he's mostly used as a comic relief character by the overall narrative, and a first time watcher is bound to think that is more or less his purpose on the show. And the scene with Morden starts on a light note, too, Londo is irritated by Morden, like G'Kar was, mentally elsewhere, busy, and finally is pestered into giving a serious reply. At which point you don't need to notice Christopher Franke's background music changes to realize he's indeed entirely serious about what he says here, and this is no funny matter, this will have consequences. Because wanting an Empire back is not something that can ever happen in a good way. Further comments are spoilery for the rest of the show, so newbies beware and skip to the next episode down below.
What
Do
You
Want?
Now, I've not been following B5 fanfic in recent years, but did anyone ever write the AU where Londo doesn't reply and therefore, Morden has to go with G'Kar? (The problem with G'Kar's reply was that his wishes didn't extent beyond the destruction of the Centauri, and that's less good material to work with from the Shadows' pov, but it's a beginning, and much as Morden in the time line proper branched out beyond Londo to Lord Refa and Cartagia once he had a foothold within the Centauri, I'm assuming he could have found Narn who had more expansionist concrete goals.) I've always thought that one of several reasons why G'Kar eventually is able to make his peace with Londo is that he's aware that there but for the grace of a Centauri reply went he. I.e. if Morden had given him the destruction of the Centauri at this point, as requested, with a complete genocide, he'd have gone for it, and while his later actual choices were (mostly) all to his own credit, at this particular point he was lucky not to get tempted. (The other time G'Kar gets lucky is when Emperor Turhan has his heart attack, because if Turhan hadn't, the war would have been started by G'Kar, the Narn would not have gotten any sympathy from the humans and Minbari due to having been the aggressors, and the Centauri would stll have had the Shadow backup enabling them to win.) So in the universe where G'Kar doesn't get lucky the first time and Morden and the Shadows pick him, how does the rest of the story unfold?
Another spoilery question: I had forgotten Lady Ladira says at the end that the future is still in motion and there are several possible futures, of which the one from her vision where the station explodes is but one. A few weeks earlier we discussed whether the future is fixed in the B5 verse, andandraste pointed out to me that we know of at least one successfully averted timeline, the one where Garibaldi dies defending the station which Sinclair catches a glimpse of, and which he (Sinclair) does manage to prevent. All other prophecies on the show come true, though, as Vir in Londo's head says in "The Very Long Night of Londo Mollari", "prophecy is just a guess that comes true; if it doesn't, it remains a dream". Anyway, my question, and ignore the Doylist aspect of cast changes etc: is what Ladira shows Sinclair the Garibaldi-lethal future he will manage to avert, or is it the actual future where the destruction of B5 will have a completely different reasons than what Sinclair and Ladira assume?
Who
are
You?
Who
do you
Serve?
This one, Star Trek legend's D.C. Fontana's second contribution to the season, was an episode I didn't appreciate until my first proper rewatch decades ago when the first dvds were released, which is also true for Neroon and the Delenn & Neroon relationship. In my defense, I had watched the show on German tv when it was originally broadcast, i.e. dubbed into German, and thus missed Jon Vickers' killer voice. :) More seriously, young me also back in the 1990s was instinctively distrustful against any aggressive military character and also saw Delenn as the heroine, meaning of course she had to be in the right. It escaped me that the episode is subtler than that, and also that the way Delenn pulls rank on Neroon here, and the very high-handed way she goes about it, not even trying to come to an understanding with him about Brammer (or anything else) is a clear set up for certain s2 developments.
This time around, it occurs to me that both of Fontana's episodes, The War Prayer and Legacies, have Delenn interacting with fellow Minbari who are not Lennier, and while she has a very different relationship with her friend the poet than she does with Neroon, in both cases these are intriguing looks on Delenn with fellow adults in her own cultural context, so to speak. (No offense, Lennier! You just come across as very young in s1.) The increasing rift between Religious and Warrior Caste gets introduced here (along with Neroon), and again, the first time around, I just paid attention to the "the Warrior Caste is angry they were ordered to surrender when they were winning, and now they're spoiling for a rematch" main text, and not to the with hindsight pretty important aside that the Warrior Caste were never told why they should surrender, either, so their increasing bad feelings about this are somewhat understandable. That Delenn doesn't see it and has this blind spot where Lennier's "Parliament of Dreams" sentence "understanding isn't required, only obedience" is the attitude she expects is, again, good set up for the future, as is Neroon, after spending the episode glaring at Sinclair, showing himself actually receptive to Sinclair's courtesy and respect in his final scene with him.
Continuity glitches: given how important to the outbreak of the Earth/Minbari war the Minbari habit of open gunports as a sign of respect was, you'd think ten years later all station personal would know about it, never mind Sinclair, but okay, exposition for the audience.
Delenn, excellent liar (if she wants to be): seriously, she's good, see her telling Sinclair how serious Brammer's body getting snatched is in the initial scene with Neroon. I was going to ask how that squares with "Minbari never lie", but of course Delenn doesn't say anything that isn't literally true - this is a serious situation which could have awful consequences - , she just omits that she created it.
Meanwhile in the telepath subplot: Ivanova and Talia have their first date at the end of the episode, we get a reminder that the Narn have no telepaths, which will become long term plot relevant, and I'm paying more attention to Delenn's description of how Minbari telepaths fare than the last time. It occurs to that what she says - that the telepaths who want to serve are honored for doing so, and that their clothing and needs etc. are provided for in recognition of their service - could also be printed on a Psi Corps propaganda leaf let as a self description, because that sure as hell is how the Corps sees itself. Note Delenn doesn't mention what, if any, the rules for Minbari telepaths are who don't want to serve. Given the Minbari are actually a very hierarchic society with rules and rituals for jut about everything, somehow I doubt it's "they can do whatever they want!" I hope Alisa doesn't get disillusioned.
Then again, my sympathy for Alisa is somewhat limilted by her "Narn minds, ugh" reaction to Na'Toth earlier. Which is irrational of me - Na'Toth certainly doesn't offer a home and money out of the goodness of her heart -, but it does feel like a bit of a plot device to explain why Alisa doesn't take the free cash in exchange for spending some genetic material.
The other episodes
I know I've been bitching about the s1 raider subplots feeling like they're only there so the network gets its space battles, but in this episode, they actually contribute to and are well connected to the main plot. For first time watchers, they might even work as a red herring as to what that Lady Ladira sees. Also, it's a good demonstration of how the station's defense system is supposed to work in interaction with the star furies.
Let's face it, though, this isn't why this episode is so important and even s1 bashers call it a must watch. I can't remember anymore what exactly I thought when Morden first showed up, but it was along the lines of "is he from the Mafia?" Given the previous subplots in which gangsters and criminal goings on abounded, it was a not unreasonable guess. I thought this would be yet another of this gangster subplots, and Morden would be connected to the Raiders. Then the first near-encounter with Kosh happens, and it's more of a hint that there might be a Tolkien-esque influence going on, especially once, for the first time in this season, the Shadows are named, and very briefly near the end also seen; Middle Earth in space m ore than The Godfather. Going back, of course, it's evident that Morden is Mephisto(pheles), and by the episode's ends, he has found his Faust.
This is hardly the first time I've rewatched, but I'm still in awe of how well all this is built up. Morden's "What do you want?" question comes across as G'Kar perceives it at first, just irritating, though smiling men asking this are clearly up to no good. (Mind you,
andraste once pointed out G'Kar could also have assumed Morden was coming on to him. Given G'Kar is famously xeno in his erotic preferences. *g*) And then G'Kar does give a serious answer, but you can still take it as his usual bluster when the Centauri are mentioned, plus Morden doesn't stick around afterwards. Next, the Morden-Delenn meeting is on a very different emotional note, since she doesn't see him as irritating but is suspicious from the start, plus seems to have a guess whom he might represent, and it's not the raiders. (If you rewatch, you're wondering what Morden was thinking, approaching Delenn. Then again, Delenn never answers that question through the show; I wonder what her answer would have been at this point? Anyway, that Morden does try his luck with her despite having to be aware that unlike G'Kar and Londo, she probably can guess who sent him still asks for fannish speculation; fire away. While all this is going on, we have the seemingly unconnected parallel plot about Londo, Lord Kiro, Lady Ladira and the Eye, and I remember assuming that it was just happening so Lady Ladira can have her visions. I certainly didn't pay that much attention to Kiro's "Where did it all go wrong, Mollari?".And then. Peter Jurasik is so good. I think until this point, while Londo has had individual serious scenes, he's mostly used as a comic relief character by the overall narrative, and a first time watcher is bound to think that is more or less his purpose on the show. And the scene with Morden starts on a light note, too, Londo is irritated by Morden, like G'Kar was, mentally elsewhere, busy, and finally is pestered into giving a serious reply. At which point you don't need to notice Christopher Franke's background music changes to realize he's indeed entirely serious about what he says here, and this is no funny matter, this will have consequences. Because wanting an Empire back is not something that can ever happen in a good way. Further comments are spoilery for the rest of the show, so newbies beware and skip to the next episode down below.
What
Do
You
Want?
Now, I've not been following B5 fanfic in recent years, but did anyone ever write the AU where Londo doesn't reply and therefore, Morden has to go with G'Kar? (The problem with G'Kar's reply was that his wishes didn't extent beyond the destruction of the Centauri, and that's less good material to work with from the Shadows' pov, but it's a beginning, and much as Morden in the time line proper branched out beyond Londo to Lord Refa and Cartagia once he had a foothold within the Centauri, I'm assuming he could have found Narn who had more expansionist concrete goals.) I've always thought that one of several reasons why G'Kar eventually is able to make his peace with Londo is that he's aware that there but for the grace of a Centauri reply went he. I.e. if Morden had given him the destruction of the Centauri at this point, as requested, with a complete genocide, he'd have gone for it, and while his later actual choices were (mostly) all to his own credit, at this particular point he was lucky not to get tempted. (The other time G'Kar gets lucky is when Emperor Turhan has his heart attack, because if Turhan hadn't, the war would have been started by G'Kar, the Narn would not have gotten any sympathy from the humans and Minbari due to having been the aggressors, and the Centauri would stll have had the Shadow backup enabling them to win.) So in the universe where G'Kar doesn't get lucky the first time and Morden and the Shadows pick him, how does the rest of the story unfold?
Another spoilery question: I had forgotten Lady Ladira says at the end that the future is still in motion and there are several possible futures, of which the one from her vision where the station explodes is but one. A few weeks earlier we discussed whether the future is fixed in the B5 verse, and
andraste pointed out to me that we know of at least one successfully averted timeline, the one where Garibaldi dies defending the station which Sinclair catches a glimpse of, and which he (Sinclair) does manage to prevent. All other prophecies on the show come true, though, as Vir in Londo's head says in "The Very Long Night of Londo Mollari", "prophecy is just a guess that comes true; if it doesn't, it remains a dream". Anyway, my question, and ignore the Doylist aspect of cast changes etc: is what Ladira shows Sinclair the Garibaldi-lethal future he will manage to avert, or is it the actual future where the destruction of B5 will have a completely different reasons than what Sinclair and Ladira assume?Who
are
You?
Who
do you
Serve?
This one, Star Trek legend's D.C. Fontana's second contribution to the season, was an episode I didn't appreciate until my first proper rewatch decades ago when the first dvds were released, which is also true for Neroon and the Delenn & Neroon relationship. In my defense, I had watched the show on German tv when it was originally broadcast, i.e. dubbed into German, and thus missed Jon Vickers' killer voice. :) More seriously, young me also back in the 1990s was instinctively distrustful against any aggressive military character and also saw Delenn as the heroine, meaning of course she had to be in the right. It escaped me that the episode is subtler than that, and also that the way Delenn pulls rank on Neroon here, and the very high-handed way she goes about it, not even trying to come to an understanding with him about Brammer (or anything else) is a clear set up for certain s2 developments.
This time around, it occurs to me that both of Fontana's episodes, The War Prayer and Legacies, have Delenn interacting with fellow Minbari who are not Lennier, and while she has a very different relationship with her friend the poet than she does with Neroon, in both cases these are intriguing looks on Delenn with fellow adults in her own cultural context, so to speak. (No offense, Lennier! You just come across as very young in s1.) The increasing rift between Religious and Warrior Caste gets introduced here (along with Neroon), and again, the first time around, I just paid attention to the "the Warrior Caste is angry they were ordered to surrender when they were winning, and now they're spoiling for a rematch" main text, and not to the with hindsight pretty important aside that the Warrior Caste were never told why they should surrender, either, so their increasing bad feelings about this are somewhat understandable. That Delenn doesn't see it and has this blind spot where Lennier's "Parliament of Dreams" sentence "understanding isn't required, only obedience" is the attitude she expects is, again, good set up for the future, as is Neroon, after spending the episode glaring at Sinclair, showing himself actually receptive to Sinclair's courtesy and respect in his final scene with him.
Continuity glitches: given how important to the outbreak of the Earth/Minbari war the Minbari habit of open gunports as a sign of respect was, you'd think ten years later all station personal would know about it, never mind Sinclair, but okay, exposition for the audience.
Delenn, excellent liar (if she wants to be): seriously, she's good, see her telling Sinclair how serious Brammer's body getting snatched is in the initial scene with Neroon. I was going to ask how that squares with "Minbari never lie", but of course Delenn doesn't say anything that isn't literally true - this is a serious situation which could have awful consequences - , she just omits that she created it.
Meanwhile in the telepath subplot: Ivanova and Talia have their first date at the end of the episode, we get a reminder that the Narn have no telepaths, which will become long term plot relevant, and I'm paying more attention to Delenn's description of how Minbari telepaths fare than the last time. It occurs to that what she says - that the telepaths who want to serve are honored for doing so, and that their clothing and needs etc. are provided for in recognition of their service - could also be printed on a Psi Corps propaganda leaf let as a self description, because that sure as hell is how the Corps sees itself. Note Delenn doesn't mention what, if any, the rules for Minbari telepaths are who don't want to serve. Given the Minbari are actually a very hierarchic society with rules and rituals for jut about everything, somehow I doubt it's "they can do whatever they want!" I hope Alisa doesn't get disillusioned.
Then again, my sympathy for Alisa is somewhat limilted by her "Narn minds, ugh" reaction to Na'Toth earlier. Which is irrational of me - Na'Toth certainly doesn't offer a home and money out of the goodness of her heart -, but it does feel like a bit of a plot device to explain why Alisa doesn't take the free cash in exchange for spending some genetic material.
The other episodes
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Like you, I missed alllllllll the subtleties of the whole Minbari culture and Delenn specifically that the episode sets up on first watch.
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I always find Morden's introduction so well done and fascinating, especially with regard to the way Delenn refuses to respond. Does she know? Does she suspect? Or is she just not interested in being goaded by lesser beings? But oh, I had never thought about what would have happened if it had been G'Kar instead of Londo--what an interesting, differently heartbreaking idea.
As for Legacies, I adore this as as Delenn character study, all the ways in which she insists she's right, absolutely refuses to see anyone else's perspective, and ends up creating a crisis that the then pulls rank to resolve. We are asked throughout the series to see her as our heroine (and oh, do I ever), but these are really consistent traits--she decides she's right, and then she does whatever the heck she wants. This obviously has negative consequences for her (if perhaps not in the long run), though I always wish those extended. But the through line of Neroon as opposing POV is always played with so much subtlety and nuance--I love their relationship, and I love everything this episode sets up, even if it is not as central conflict as Signs and Portents.
Delenn spoilers
I think her behavior makes it look like she's 99% certain Morden is connected with the Shadows, and the bit of uncertainty she has is only about the degree of his connection. (I.e. is he a direct representative who knows for whom he speaks, or someone hired through a third party?) I've always imagined she and Kosh afterwards researched like mad where this Morden fellow came from and hence found out about the Icarus. What I find surprising is that she barely bothers to pretend she doesn't notice - and Delenn can lie very well, if she wants to. Given how important it is to her later on that the Shadows are kept in the dark, no pun intended, about just how much her side knows and is prepared for, this is somewhat surprising - I mean, she could have played nice and fed Morden some cryptic non-answers.
My own explanation for this is that while Delenn has prepared for years to be ready, and has now started the mechanism allowing her to fulfill one particular prophecy (i.e. started to build the glass pyramid), it's still not the same thing as being confronted with a living beathing proof that beings which all her life she's only heard about but has never "met", so to speak, and who have been dormant for as long as she can think, really are active again. Knowing it in theory and finding out in practice are two different things.
A bit like Gandalf reading the inscription of the One Ring after throwing it into the fire. Before, he was nearly sure it was the One Ring, but that's still not the same as getting the definite proof, and so there is still a shock. And Delenn doesn't like being shocked, especially not with such a dangerous opponent, so she needs to get rid of Morden as quickly as possible while collecting her thoughts.
We are asked throughout the series to see her as our heroine (and oh, do I ever), but these are really consistent traits--she decides she's right, and then she does whatever the heck she wants.
*nods* It's both true - Delenn is heroic, and a good thing, too, but she's also co-responsible for some of the problems she has to resolve. The flipside of her "my way or no way" attitude is that she's also ready to shoulder complete personal responsibility, such as when she insists on being the one to tell G'Kar that they've known about the Shadows and held back that knowledge while his people were being slaughtered instead of letting Sheridan do this for her, and tells G'Kar the reason without prettifying it.
I don't think Morden seriously tried, but can you imagine what an asset someone of Delenn's certainty and force of personality would have been for the Shadow side? Definitely Galadriel-who-has-taken-the-Ring!
Re: Delenn spoilers
The flipside of her "my way or no way" attitude is that she's also ready to shoulder complete personal responsibility
Yes. I think that's always what makes her work for me--and in fact is the core of what makes the show work for me--is that the whole thing is about what the characters do in the face of having made bad choices, or choices with unintended consequences. And of course that looks differently for Delenn, Londo, and G'Kar, but I absolutely appreciate that Delenn always confronts this stuff head on when called to do so. Arguably her whole approach to prophecy is rooted in guilt and responsibility. But that's spoilers, so.
I don't think Morden seriously tried, but can you imagine what an asset someone of Delenn's certainty and force of personality would have been for the Shadow side?
The Vorlons never would have stood a chance! :D
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SECOND. SIGNS AND PORTENTS. Or: I was vaguely invested before, but this was the one where I was like OMG WHAT EVEN IS THIS SHOW I NEED MORE.
I don't even really understand what was going on here! Morden is a big question mark for me. What even was he doing, who is he working for, I Don't Know and I Don't Get It. I don't understand why he's asking everyone "What do you want?" and I don't understand why he gave Londo back the Eye at the end. I also am totally confused by Kosh. Who is Kosh? What is going on with Kosh? I have NO IDEA.
But like... aside from the Raiders plot, which is a nice juicy space battle and triumph for Our Heroes, of course, what is going ON with the Minbari, why did they want Sinclair and how does this relate to him losing an hour or whatever during the battle, what is going on with Ladira's vision, I NEED TO KEEP WATCHING SO I CAN FIND OUT
For first time watchers, they might even work as a red herring as to what that Lady Ladira sees.
It didn't for the most part (I did have one moment of wondering whether -- ) because, well, I had the meta-knowledge that it's a 5-year show and people kept harping on how it was really a 5-year arc :P
I can't remember anymore what exactly I thought when Morden first showed up, but it was along the lines of "is he from the Mafia?
I assumed he was from some Earth governmental organization -- I thought he even said that he'd gotten permission from higher-ups to -- oh wait, hmm, I think that was a bit more vague than I assumed it was. The Kosh thing just SUPER CONFUSED ME. As I said.
it's more of a hint that there might be a Tolkien-esque influence going on
ahahahaha so D came up a couple of episodes ago while the opening sequence was running, "It was the dawn of the Third Age..." and he was all "...ripping off Tolkien, huh??" :) I will have to tell him he was right! (I told him at the time that it was very plausible, as I did know JMS was not above dropping references, what with all his Besters and Asimovs and so on.)
While all this is going on, we have the seemingly unconnected parallel plot about Londo, Lord Kiro, Lady Ladira and the Eye, and I remember assuming that it was just happening so Lady Ladira can have her visions. I certainly didn't pay that much attention to Kiro's "Where did it all go wrong, Mollari?".
Well, this describes me perfectly! Even after you've said that, I still don't know where this is going :P
Legacies: Huh, that's interesting that you reacted to Delenn as the good guy, because I was predisposed to be suspicious of her given that she randomly is showing up in Sinclair's memories?? which doesn't seem like it could be a good thing?? so I'm always a little suspicious when she shows up. Like, did she actually clear all this with the Grey Council?? (For some reason, her making it all up that she has the Grey Council behind her strikes me as exactly the sort of thing Delenn would do, even though I have no proof.)
But
and not to the with hindsight pretty important aside that the Warrior Caste were never told why they should surrender, either, so their increasing bad feelings about this are somewhat understandable.
Wait, what?? I... missed that entirely!
Then again, my sympathy for Alisa is somewhat limilted by her "Narn minds, ugh" reaction to Na'Toth earlier.
Huh, I just assumed that this was a sort of "alien minds trigger a visceral response" sort of thing and it didn't make me like her any less, though I then wondered why the Minbari didn't also trigger that response -- so yeah, I don't disagree that it did seem like a bit of a plot device.
Btw, I'm also really loving Na'Toth in all her scenes :D She is so competent!
Finally, I am dying not being able to read all the spoilers, I am going to have to go back after it's all done and read them :P
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Or: I was vaguely invested before, but this was the one where I was like OMG WHAT EVEN IS THIS SHOW I NEED MORE.
LOL, mission accomplished. More seriously, I remember that I really began to believe at this point JMS did mean it when saying it would be a five years arc and a story like a novel. Remember, no one had done that on tv before. And I was ever so curious and hooked. The great thing is that even now when having all the answers, the episode doesn't lose its power, as sometimes happens in other cases when there is good build up and not so good pay off.
I also am totally confused by Kosh. Who is Kosh?
On a Doylist level, Kosh is proof that you can create a character whom the audience is intrigued by and has emotions about with a stuntguy in a shower curtain suite (and a voice actor), so really later shows who have way more budget at their disposal really have no excuse if it doesn't work for GCI characters. On a Watsonian level, well, Gandalf would probably recognize him...
"It was the dawn of the Third Age..." and he was all "...ripping off Tolkien, huh??" :) I will have to tell him he was right!
Oh, absolutely. And remember, this was before the movies, so the Tolkien influence was strictly book-based. JMS is a huge fan. Hence:
Morden is a big question mark for me.
Maybe he comes from the land of Mordor, where the Shadows lie?
Huh, that's interesting that you reacted to Delenn as the good guy, because I was predisposed to be suspicious of her given that she randomly is showing up in Sinclair's memories?? which doesn't seem like it could be a good thing??
I think that while obviously she knew more than she was telling, I thought the show was setting up her and Sinclair in the long term, ergo, she was the heroine, ergo, she was in the right. Like I said: I was a much, much younger viewer. :)
Legacies is actually an excellent Delenn character episode precisely because she's the pure good guy to Neroon's bad guy as young me initially thought.
Na'Toth is wonderful, isn't she? Since unlike a great many other characters, she never gets to meet Morden (nothing sinister about this, it's a huge ensemble, and some character combinations never happen), I rectified this and wrote a missing scene for "Signs and Portents" for the B5 drabble community in which Morden asks her what she wants as well: here. No spoilers, though foreshadowing, but in a monkeypawed way.
...let's just say that no B5 watcher will ever take the question "What do you want?" in an unsuspicious way. :)
Wait, what?? I... missed that entirely!
Yes, Neroon - and for that matter the rest of the Warrior Caste - don't know why they were ordered to surrender when they were about to win the war anymore than Sinclair does. Less so, actually, since they're not aware Sinclair got captured and released with some missing time in between. Let's just say the Minbari Warrior Caste might not be the most accessible Minbari and they have a gigantic chip on their shoulders, but if you were a soldier about to win a war and then ordered to surrender without any further explanation, wouldn't you? (There's also a reason for the lack of explanation, of course, which will be revealed in time.)
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And, did you ever notice that the ship Jinxo departed on was called 'Marie Celeste'? What was JMS trying to suggest there...
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Yeah, it was a bit of *really* perverse humor...Jinxo survives all
five Babylon stations, and leaves thinking all is well...on a ship named
the Marie Celeste?
We're a sick bunch, but we're fun.
jms
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Peter Jurassic was simply amazing in Signs and Portents.