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selenakThe Kingdom of the Blind
You know, another reason why Byron isn't well liked in the fandom is that his plans are really badly thought out. Or half baked, or whatever you want to call lit. Not the part where he has his telepaths read every ambassador's mind in order to get blackmail material on the Alliance, but the part where he seems to have had absolutely no plan for the most likely outcome, which wasn't everyone agreeing that sure, (human) telepaths deserve a homeworld of their own, but everyone pissed off at the very least and considering the violent option instead. Byron, I don't know where you get your ideas about non violent resistance from, but both Gandhi and Martin Luther King were far better strategists than that.
Not that our heroes are covering themselves in glory, between them being SHOCKED that the telepaths whom they explicitly used to spy might get the idea of spying for their own purposes and having no idea how to handle the situation beyond "err, no?". At least Sheridan has something of an excuse for dumping the situation on Lochley (again) this time, since he's simultanously dealing with the mysterious raids, which are actually a big s5 plot point, but it's also telling that Delenn seems to have been the only one of the three bothering to read Byron's manifesto and pointing out that maybe there's some truth there and telepaths deserve better treatment from the Alliance than they've gotten.
Do they deserve a world of their own? A number of problems: while telepaths have indeed been instrumental in the Shadow War, these weren't only human telepaths (the s2 episode Shadows Dancing featured Minbari telepaths only other than Lyta, remember), and besides, Byron - who as far as anyone knows didn't participate in the Shadow War - appointing himself the speaker for all human telepaths, not just for the bunch who actually did choose to follow him, is not a little arrogant. If I were a Drazi/Brakiri/other species, I wouldn't understand why I should donate a planet to human telepaths, either. Incidentally, it's a shame G'Kar isn't present, because surely some kind of deal could have been worked out with the Narn, who are in the process of rebuilding their homeworld, would surely welcome help and have always been eager to get telepaths to donate genetic material to them and/or live and work with them?
Meanwhile on Centauri Prime: "We're far beyond pastels now", indeed. The actor playing the Regent in past seasons just had a bit part where he was comic relief, but in this and the subsequent episodes he's in he provides genuine pathos and makes Virini, saddled with a Keeper and all the horror it implies, a truly tragic character. Not just because of what he's foreshadowing. Speaking of which, this is also the episode where we first see the Drakh in their s5 incarnation. While I think JMS made the right call ditching the blurry effect from s4 when Delenn encountered those "shadows of shadows" en route from Z'ha'dum, it means the first time I watched this, I had no idea they were supposed to be the same species.
G'Kar in this episode enjoys shocking the Centauri with his presence at Londo's side, but it can't have been easy for him to return to the Royal Palace, either, something the next episode will lay bare. Still, "he's my bodyguard" is something ridiculously tropey, and there's more to come.
In conclusion: "You have so little time left, Londo."
A Tragedy of Telepaths
One could quibble about the logicstics here - how come the Centauri bother to get imprisoned Na'Toth Narn appropriate fresh spoo, for starters? G'Kar sure as hell didn't get that when he was a prisoner there. But who ares - Julie Caitlin Brown is back as Original Na'Toth as we wrap up her story at last! And also there is so much character goodness to be had on Centauri Prime. G'Kar's instant change, even before he finds out it's Na'Toth being imprisoned, when he realises there's another Narn in the Royal Palace, and what that means, the fact that Londo's first instinct is still to postpone the problem solving and he does need G'Kar's push to swing to immediate action, that otoh he's taking Na'Toth's threat to kill hilm matter of factly (and since he flashed back during her description of the mass driver attack on Narn, he knows she's earned it) instead of trying to insist that he's changed, the whole concept of the not countermanded order being forgotten and thus continuing to do damage which is indeed so very much what happens in that kind of social system, the way JMS is able to combine the very serious issues with black humor without denigrating them... I just enjoy every bit of screentime on Centauri Prime, okay? The scene with the female courtier who mentions Cartagia "also played this game with me" also is a last nod to the BBC version of I, Claudius (where John Hurt's Caligula does dress up in female costume at one point), but note the punchline in the lady's remark isn't the crossdressing but Londo not having the figure to go with it ("you're not my size"). And G'Kar's dry "animal magnestism, what can I say?" still cracks me up. Post enlightenment G'Kar isn't asexual: canon.
Meanwhile on Babylon 5: Byron still hasn't become a better planer, or rather, since he tells Lyta there will be a time when he'll ask her to leave, he's already planning for martyrdom, which is what Zack accused him off several episodes ago. Otoh, those of his followers who didn't want to stay in one trapped place turn to violence in a way that's weirdly at odds with their abilities and more in line of the 20th century idea of rebels/terrorists - I mean, why use physical force when you can do a deep scan which as I've seen repeatedly on this show is very painful to people? Showing people frightening things (the way the other telepaths do it Down below? Anyway: Lochley calling Bester is absolutely logical from her pov and by the experiences she's had so far, and it's one of the times I wonder how the original plan was, because Ivanova wouldn't have (based on her own experiences, and even leaving aside the intended relationship between her and Byron), and yet Bester needs to be there for the telepath plot line to get to the next point and for his own character development. BTW, another brief but revealing excellent character acting by Walter Koenig in Bester's response to the shootout near the end of the episode. Yes, he still quips about hemline, but he's also visibly shaken, and his line to Zack - "Your people. Not my people. My people are in there, and have just tried to kill me" - the way Koenig delivers it already shows that a) Bester's belief in the Corps being Mother and Father and telepaths being one family, with blips still belonging to it after one has shown them the error of their ways is genuine, but b) is increasingly difficult for him to maintain. In her superb Babylon 5 playlist, Andraste chose "Stars" from Les Miserables as Bester's song at this point of the story (i.e. Javert's song), and it's a very appropriate choice, I think.
The other episodes
no subject
Date: 2022-10-02 05:40 am (UTC)I didn't get Byron at all here. You threaten everyone with blackmail material and... when people are like "yeah, we're not going to give you what you want," you don't... do anything with it? It seems like releasing a bit of verifiable blackmail material would have satisfied the need to be nonviolent but would have convinced people he meant business (and he might have been able to do interesting political things with it, depending on the secret). Or, like, if you don't want to be the bad guy, that is fine, but then... don't threaten people with blackmail in the first place??
but it's also telling that Delenn seems to have been the only one of the three bothering to read Byron's manifesto and pointing out that maybe there's some truth there and telepaths deserve better treatment from the Alliance than they've gotten.
I understood this is what was meant to come across, but because I like to rag on Delenn (sorry Delenn, it's because you're fascinating <3 ), this was my immediate reaction:
Byron: We know everything!
Camera: *pans to Delenn*
Delenn: ...
Me: AHAHAHAHAHA
Delenn: Well, maybe we should give them what they want!
Me: Or what, Delenn? Or maybe they'll... tell Sheridan your secret? HMM. HMM.
Because, well, Delenn is also the only one of the three potentially personally vulnerable to telepath blackmail in that she is holding a secret that will blow up her life if other people learn about it!
Incidentally, it's a shame G'Kar isn't present, because surely some kind of deal could have been worked out with the Narn, who are in the process of rebuilding their homeworld, would surely welcome help and have always been eager to get telepaths to donate genetic material to them and/or live and work with them?
Oh wow, that's a good point!
it means the first time I watched this, I had no idea they were supposed to be the same species.
Oh, they were?!
(and since he flashed back during her description of the mass driver attack on Narn, he knows she's earned it)
This was one of my favorite parts. Londo :(
I just enjoy every bit of screentime on Centauri Prime, okay?
YES.
The scene with the female courtier who mentions Cartagia "also played this game with me"
That was hilarious!
Post enlightenment G'Kar isn't asexual: canon.
I mean. I don't think he was spying on Sheridan and Delenn having sex because of purely intellectual curiosity!
no subject
Date: 2022-10-02 06:32 am (UTC)No kidding. Londo, coming from a court culture which thrives on blackmail and secrets, would snort disdainfully if he ever heard of it. Seriously, someone should write the AU where Londo and G'Kar are on the station when Byron pulls his stunt. G'Kar could broker a Narn deal, and thus be ethical and efficient at once (which he wasn't always but would be now). Londo, upon hearing a telepath has accessed all his secrets, would invite Byron over for drinks, be all sympathetic to the human telepath cause, point out Centauri telepaths work directly for the Great Houses and isn't that better, and then casually inform Byron that he now has the Refa type of half poison in him that can be completed at any point, and where's your leverage now? And/Or: he might offer Byron a deal, some outpost vs everyone else's secrets. But a lecture on how to properly use political blackmail would be involved at some point.
Byron: We know everything!
Camera: *pans to Delenn*
Delenn: ...
Me: AHAHAHAHAHA
LOL. Well, I hadn't thought of it, but you're absolutely right, Delenn is the one person in the room who is sitting on an explosive secret. Come to think of it, I want the AU scene where Byron tries to blackmail Delenn as well. Because whether or not her sympathy is genuine, I can't see this ending well for Byron, either.
Oh, they were?!
Yep. Same guys Delenn met in s4 who after leaving Z'ha'dum told her they were looking for a new home. Called the Drakh. In the business of handing out Keepers.
I mean. I don't think he was spying on Sheridan and Delenn having sex because of purely intellectual curiosity!
After those years spent in selfless study of interspecies mating habits :) (One of my friends followed the VERY BAD ADVICE of someone to start B5 with season 2, then went back to s1 after finishing the show and objected to the s1 portrayal of G'Kar as conniving and horny. Which, well: he is! (He's also shown to be sincerely religious and brave in s1.)
no subject
Date: 2022-10-02 01:07 pm (UTC)Yes! Or a three-part fic where Byron gets to have a one-to-one conversation with, in turn, Londo, Delenn and G'Kar about it.
In fairness to Byron as a character, I can read him legitimately as someone who's got the broad idea of what a principled, romantic, heartfelt, resistance for the greater cause should look like, but has not put a lot of thought into the actual implementation. But then, it doesn't seem like there is a history of different ways for Earth to handle telepaths that he could borrow from. He isn't falling in with a position and an existing movement that's already been debated and fought over and hammered out over the years, so much as he's going "we should have... our own planet! which we will achieve by... blackmail!" and assuming this will work itself out because the underlying principle of "we are morally in the right" holds up.
Lochley calling Bester is absolutely logical from her pov and by the experiences she's had so far, and it's one of the times I wonder how the original plan was, because Ivanova wouldn't have
I think there's a chance Sheridan would done it eventually, if the plot leading up to that point had gone slightly differently (I'm assuming that Ivanova getting Lyta's storyline would have meant that she also got some of Sheridan's canon decisions in letting Byron & co stay on the station). But the consequences of that would have been fairly awful.
'Stars' for Bester is brilliant!
no subject
Date: 2022-10-02 03:43 pm (UTC)Damn, I wish B5 was still Yuletide compatible.
In fairness to Byron as a character, I can read him legitimately as someone who's got the broad idea of what a principled, romantic, heartfelt, resistance for the greater cause should look like, but has not put a lot of thought into the actual implementation.
In fairness, Sheridan doesn't seem to have put any more thought into the practicalities of being a President and also just has a general idea of what a principled, romantic, heartfelt presidency should look like. :) But yeah. And Byron has a slightly better excuse in that his life before becoming a Blip was, shall we say, not exactly educational in terms of how to organize a movement.
I think there's a chance Sheridan would done it eventually, if the plot leading up to that point had gone slightly differently (I'm assuming that Ivanova getting Lyta's storyline would have meant that she also got some of Sheridan's canon decisions in letting Byron & co stay on the station)
Oh, right you are. I always assumed that since s4 would have ended with Sheridan's capture, Ivanova would have been the one to permit Byron & Co. to reside on the station, and since this would still have been during the Civil War, there wouldn't have been any of the problems that came with Sheridan making the decision while overriding Lochley.
'Stars' for Bester is brilliant!
*beams* I always thought so, too.
no subject
Date: 2022-10-07 04:00 pm (UTC)In fairness to Byron as a character, I can read him legitimately as someone who's got the broad idea of what a principled, romantic, heartfelt, resistance for the greater cause should look like, but has not put a lot of thought into the actual implementation.
Yeah, this makes sense to me, especially having watched to the end of his arc. He has the big picture! And he's actually reasonably consistent on how he wants it to work! (Which I wasn't clear on last week.) Just... really... not so good at implementation. And it makes sense both that he's sort of making it up on the fly and also that the kinds of reasons he had for becoming Telepath Cult Leader in the first place aren't necessarily ones that translate into being good at the sort of political manipulation you'd need to, well, succeed at it.
(I think Sheridan is a slightly different case, because even though "President of Interstellar Alliance" is a new position, the kinds of skills you might need to do well in it are pretty similar to general president-of-large-political-organization/upper-management/political skills, and someone should have realized that Sheridan, as military, is not necessarily going to have those skills. Though one could argue that they were just concerned with getting someone that everyone else would trust instead of the person with the best skill set. But I think what we are all annoyed with here is not so much that Sheridan is bad at the job -- which again, relatable! -- but that the narrative seems to side with him anyway. If he'd been Doylistically-intentionally bad at it, I think that could have been really interesting.)
no subject
Date: 2022-10-02 08:45 am (UTC)Sheridan just immediately shouting over Byron to say it's absolutely impossible as kneejerk reaction is also weird. But there's also a lot of practical problems. Sure they could designate an unused world for the telepaths but you can't just drop 50-150 people on a previously uninhabited world and let them have it. They'd need a lot of ongoing support and material to make a going concern of it which feels like it could be addressed. Diving more into the views of the other races about Telepaths would be interesting, as I've mentioned in previous weeks none of the other race's have Earth's fascist approach to them. (though it's not clear how many minor species even have them)
Your Narn idea is an interesting solution I hadn't thought of. Was it Lyta or Talia who was originally propositioned by G'Kar for that way back when?
As to the Centaurai plot it's good to see G'Kar's enlightenment has limits, it's very real for him to lose it when something personal comes up to him. And Londo's solution cover up the escape by ordering the prisoner to be treated worse and then count on a centauri aversion to scandal to get Na'Toth out is great.
I am surprised his reaction to trouble at the palace is just to run back to b5 though, rather than try to sort it out but I guess the powers of the Emperor are difficult to sort out. G'Kar's not a great bodyguard though, Londo would have been dead at the first attempt if not for the Drahk.
Speaking of the Drahk and the keepers and the shipping attacks: I was thinking there's not much sign of resentment of the centauri other than shots from G'Kar at the start of s5 which seems a missed opportunity. It seems a little hollow that they're only going to get comeuppance because the drahk forced them to go on a rampage again but I'll have to wait and see how it plays out.
no subject
Date: 2022-10-02 03:46 pm (UTC)It was Lyta (in the original pilot for the show), and this will become a plot point later in s5.
General resentment against the Centauri: wait and see.