Arguably (and JMS alluded to this in his online comments at the time), this episode is “Chrysalis Part Three,” as a new status quo is fully established for Babylon 5. Talk about it, and where it all goes, here!
Arguably (and JMS alluded to this in his online comments at the time), this episode is “Chrysalis Part Three,” as a new status quo is fully established for Babylon 5. Talk about it, and where it all goes, here!
Do you have any plans to do a Ranger-Watch in the Jumpgate section?
I swear I saw a Minbari Ranger walk through the background when Sheridan is saying goodbye to his sister.
None of us noticed it to mention in the recording, but that’s a good idea. Given that Sinclair’s only been gone a few weeks in this episode, I’d be tempted to put it down to coincidental costuming. I’ll take another look when I have the chance.
I remember there was a website during the first airing of the show that listed the first appearances of rangers in scenes. I have a print-out of it somewhere ….
You can barely see it, but the broach is definitely front and center in the costume!
What about a “to hell” watch? Garibaldi saying that he’s been out for a while and everything has gone to hell reminded me how often that phrase gets used on the show. Sheridan used it in Departures (he sent the Mimbari warship “straight to hell”) and it comes up a LOT in seasons two and three.
If you also do a “when the time is right” watch you might have enough for a drinking game!
And what happened inside that cocoon? Delenn’s skin looks like Morden’s in “Hour of the Wolf.” At the very least they both use the same kind of skin cream afterwards!
At one point, online somewhere there was a list of Ranger appearances in s2. Couldn’t find it however. But they’re there, and at the time of course we never knew what they signified…
Human rangers are the interesting ones. I think there’s enough wiggle room in what’s said about the Rangers for Minbari rangers to be a longstanding institution, and at any rate there are plenty of qualified Minbari who can join, effectively fully-trained. You only need time for a quick brooch redesign for the show’s chronology to add up.
But, at least as I understand what the show says, human rangers start when Sinclair goes to Minbar. So they have to be recruited (in secret, which makes advertising tricky) and extensively trained in a matter of months. Marcus’ story is particularly hard to fit into the time available.
I assume there’s a whole batch of people in the early Human-Minbari alliance we learn of but never see. Sinclair has got to have learned about it before Clark. Tough seven days!
I think other elements of the show’s direction, such as a definite focus on negative Minbari stories do obscure, and make it a bit more challenging for viewers to invent or read into what we didn’t see in Season 1, but could have.
Per the podcast discussion about whether Sheridan was placed on B5 because the Shadows knew they had Anna: if I remember correctly, the old man working with the Shadows on Z’ha’dum says that they didn’t realize who they had at first. That suggests that they indeed figured it out after Sheridan confronted Morden
In my mind, this has always been the first episode of season 2. I don’t really remember my reaction to the episode as a whole but I do remember the scene were Delenn’s appearance is revealed and I just remember how beautiful I thought she was. It’s funny, but I until about five years ago, I had never noticed Sheridan’s reaction to seeing Delenn for the first time. I always remembered my own so I don’t see why his reaction went over my head.
My love of Sheridan is still as pure and strong as it ever has been. Also, I shipped Delenn and Sheridan before I even understood what it really was (they weren’t my first ship, that was the Vision/Scarlet Witch from Marvel).
This is the beginning of my B5. At some point in my teens when they were reairing the show (I think it was after the series finale) I started skipping any episode from season one. I basically equated episodes of the series with Sinclair to episodes of TNG without collars on the uniforms (i.e. not really worth the effort). This and other rewatches have proved that isn’t really true (I don’t know if it is because I am older but I have really grown to appreciate season one.
I also shipped those two long before it was obvious in the story! (I actually dressed up as their fictional daughter for Halloween when I was about 9). It’s fun to hear I wasn’t the only young viewer who had that thought 🙂 I also agree that this rewatch has made me appreciate season 1.
On a different note: Did anyone else yell at the TV when Sheridan volunteered his life energy to help Garibaldi?
Apropos of nothing but a little synchronicity, maybe … I just got the S4 BluRay of ST:TNG. I paused to watch “Revelations” and the next episode up was “Legacy”, the one about Tasha Yar’s sister, who is played by … Beth Toussaint. She’s much better in this. 🙂
Since the episode referred to The Shadow Within – although the book definitely has its virtues, I’m personally quite glad that these details aren’t shown on screen.
Mostly because I think Morden is much more effective as a blank, backgroundless presence than he is as somebody with a backstory. I don’t really object to the particular backstory that Cavelos gives him. It nicely counterpoints Anna-and-John in the novel (even if it’s a little clichéd in itself).
But I think that any backstory at all damages the effect of the character. And, to nitpick, a published academic might be easier to trace than Morden is in In the Shadow of Z’Ha’Dum – although here I may be failing to cast my mind back to the more information-poor world of the mid-90s.
I love the show. I found it a couple weeks ago and I am almost caught up. A thought occurred to me while listening to your discussion. What if the triluminary is picking up the telepathic DNA introduced by the Vorlons to evolve telepaths in the various races. Based on what we saw in season 5 the process is likely the same regardless of the race (the vats were all in the same room). But if the triluminary is picking up the commonality of that process and it has nothing to do with “souls”? And the DNA for telepathy I imagine is in most humans because two mundanes can breed a telepaths so even none telepaths (say pilots in the battle of the line) would trigger the device. We never saw the triluminary tried on other races. Maybe it would have the same reaction to all races manipulated by the vorlons. Just a thought. Love the show.
Hi Everyone,
I’ve been thinking a lot about the way Delenn enters the room with the long white hood covering her face. Someone on the podcast mentioned it was kind of contrived or hokey. And another said it might have to do with the ceremonious nature of the Minbari. I think it might have been a very deliberate choice by JMS for another reason. Remember back in season one in Parliament of Dreams when someone mentions that Delenn and Sinclair might have just (unbeknownst to him) been part of a marriage ceremony? Well, I now I think we are seeing an echo of that to begin the Sheridan/Delenn relationship. When my wife and I were married, we had a Hindu ceremony. One of the most powerful aspects of the ceremony is that the groom enters first and then has to wait for the bride to enter. But just before she steps into the room, other family members hold a sheet up in front of the groom so he cannot see his beautiful bride as she approaches him. Only when the bride and groom are just a foot apart, each on opposite sides of the sheet, is it lowered. The idea is that they are now face to face for the first time and are meant to fall in love in that moment. Of course it’s more symbolic now than it used to be. But when arranged marriages to strangers were more common, sometimes this was in fact the first time the couple would meet.
Anyway, when Delenn enters the room with the cloak over her, then removes it to reveal her beautiful face, and Sheridan sees her for the first time and is very visibly affected, it reminded me a lot of how I felt when I saw my beautiful bride on our wedding day.
What do you think? Coincidence? JMS has said many times that he enjoys the power of ceremony. Perhaps he was familiar with this marriage custom, and wanted to use it as foreshadowing.
Or more simply, from a western perspective, the cloak could have been the equivalent of a bride’s veil, although you can pretty much see through those. Either way, there is a ceremonial aspect of marriage here.
I love this idea! Even if it’s not what’s intended (though I hope it was), it’s now my headcanon. Thanks for this!
Also, Londo, who seems to alternate between being a patsy for the Shadows and being a happy-go-lucky party boy, had one of my favorite lines in the show when referring to Delenn: “…the other one takes the most breathtakingly inconvenient moment possible to explore new career options…Like becoming a butterfly!”
I LOLed.