4 thoughts on “Zocalo: Spoiler-free Discussion of “The Summoning””
A quick question, not related to this episode:
When will the next podcast be available? We are now 2 weeks away from Christmas and his show is bi-weekly. I suspect that our hosts will want to take Christmas off.
Well, the plan *was* to have it ready & scheduled ahead of time so we wouldn’t have to think about it. Then we goofed because one thought the other was going to do that step and vice versa. But it is up and ready!
(I think this is a spoiler-free topic, since it’s never answered AFAIK in the entire show.)
Beyond *where* Lorien got his possibly-cool ship, rewatching this episode made me ask *why* do First Ones even use spaceships in the first place?
Vorlons are energy beings. Shadows can make themselves insubstantial. Lorien’s true form is a glowing ball of energy. If they want to go somewhere else, why do they need a spaceship to do so?
In the case of the Shadows, we have no evidence that becoming insubstantial involves the ability to fly. That may be why we always see them walking around on their spindly legs instead of floating behind Morden.
In the case of the Vorlons, I’d remind you that Kosh told us that being seen by people is draining somehow (maybe the Vorlon’s divine image projector is involuntary, and they have a finite amount of mental energy, much like we see in Roy Baumeister’s research on human cognitive self-regulatory capacities), so imagine how draining it would be to fly around in space where everyone can see them. (“Ladies and gentlemen, this is your Captain speaking. If you’ll look out of right portals of our starliner, you can see a lovely view of the horsehead nebula. Out the left portals you can see an angel of the Lord.”)
In the case of Lorien, he might be able to fly through space as a ball of light, but what about the poor fragile human?
In the case of both the Vorlons and Lorien, they may be able to fly, but can they fly fast enough to make a space journey practicable, or transition themselves into hyperspace without their tech?
A quick question, not related to this episode:
When will the next podcast be available? We are now 2 weeks away from Christmas and his show is bi-weekly. I suspect that our hosts will want to take Christmas off.
Well, the plan *was* to have it ready & scheduled ahead of time so we wouldn’t have to think about it. Then we goofed because one thought the other was going to do that step and vice versa. But it is up and ready!
(I think this is a spoiler-free topic, since it’s never answered AFAIK in the entire show.)
Beyond *where* Lorien got his possibly-cool ship, rewatching this episode made me ask *why* do First Ones even use spaceships in the first place?
Vorlons are energy beings. Shadows can make themselves insubstantial. Lorien’s true form is a glowing ball of energy. If they want to go somewhere else, why do they need a spaceship to do so?
Now where have I seen this discussion before?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYW_lPlekiQ
In the case of the Shadows, we have no evidence that becoming insubstantial involves the ability to fly. That may be why we always see them walking around on their spindly legs instead of floating behind Morden.
In the case of the Vorlons, I’d remind you that Kosh told us that being seen by people is draining somehow (maybe the Vorlon’s divine image projector is involuntary, and they have a finite amount of mental energy, much like we see in Roy Baumeister’s research on human cognitive self-regulatory capacities), so imagine how draining it would be to fly around in space where everyone can see them. (“Ladies and gentlemen, this is your Captain speaking. If you’ll look out of right portals of our starliner, you can see a lovely view of the horsehead nebula. Out the left portals you can see an angel of the Lord.”)
In the case of Lorien, he might be able to fly through space as a ball of light, but what about the poor fragile human?
In the case of both the Vorlons and Lorien, they may be able to fly, but can they fly fast enough to make a space journey practicable, or transition themselves into hyperspace without their tech?