S2, Episode 16: In the Shadow of Z'ha'dum
Whoah, lots of reveals, and lots of questions here.
1. I really enjoy watching Vir talking smack to the Eldritch Abomination.
2. Why has Sheridan not realized until now that the Icarus was headed to Z'ha'dum? I would have expected their flight plan was one of the first things he learned about it - even if he didn't have the exact coordinates, surely he noticed their bearing was right towards the exact place G'Kar has been talking about.
3. The Ministry of Peace sounds like an unholy combination of the Scientologists and the SA. I'm curious where this is going, because there's no way they're a one-off subplot.
4. I had to snicker when Garibaldi said that he "plays it by the book". I can totally see him thinking that's what he does, though. And he's right about holding Mordin here, though I wonder if they can charge him with not paying his space taxes all this time. He's actually got a rather good cover story, though I would have expected him to have more to back it up. Eldritch Abominations are not typically good with human bureaucracy, though, so it's perfectly believable.
5. Once again, I have to wonder who the Centauri think Mordin is.
6. Sheridan deserved a knee to the balls for what he did to Talia. That was all kinds of wrong.
7. Just how long have the Minbari been a spacefaring civilization to have fought in the last war against the Shadows? Does the rest of the Grey Council know about the Shadows, including the warrior caste?
8. Do the Minbari know that the Shadows are backing the Centauri? Given the warnings from G'Kar, I have to assume that both Kosh and Delenn have suspicions of it, if not outright confirmation. The destruction of the cruiser at Z'ha'dum early in the season would have to be rather alarming to them.
9. Secrecy on the part of the Shadows makes sense, but I can't help but wonder if secrecy is undermining the Minbari/Vorlon alliance. Mordin has already confronted Kosh - the Shadows have to know that the Vorlons know they're active. I'm not sure what they're getting out of working behind the scenes like this.
10. Until we have indications otherwise, I have to assume Psi-Corp is working with the Shadows. We already saw the nativist brownshirts equipped with personal cloaking tech back in S1. I feel like they are related - they sew chaos to hide Psi-Corps operations, and the Psi-Corps get hidden backing from the Shadows.
My (mostly) unspoiled watch of Babylon 5
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Independent George
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Re: My (mostly) unspoiled watch of Babylon 5
3) Ministry of Peace are the bad guys.Independent George wrote: ↑Sun Aug 18, 2019 4:35 pm S2, Episode 16: In the Shadow of Z'ha'dum
Whoah, lots of reveals, and lots of questions here.
1. I really enjoy watching Vir talking smack to the Eldritch Abomination.
2. Why has Sheridan not realized until now that the Icarus was headed to Z'ha'dum? I would have expected their flight plan was one of the first things he learned about it - even if he didn't have the exact coordinates, surely he noticed their bearing was right towards the exact place G'Kar has been talking about.
3. The Ministry of Peace sounds like an unholy combination of the Scientologists and the SA. I'm curious where this is going, because there's no way they're a one-off subplot.
4. I had to snicker when Garibaldi said that he "plays it by the book". I can totally see him thinking that's what he does, though. And he's right about holding Mordin here, though I wonder if they can charge him with not paying his space taxes all this time. He's actually got a rather good cover story, though I would have expected him to have more to back it up. Eldritch Abominations are not typically good with human bureaucracy, though, so it's perfectly believable.
5. Once again, I have to wonder who the Centauri think Mordin is.
6. Sheridan deserved a knee to the balls for what he did to Talia. That was all kinds of wrong.
7. Just how long have the Minbari been a spacefaring civilization to have fought in the last war against the Shadows? Does the rest of the Grey Council know about the Shadows, including the warrior caste?
8. Do the Minbari know that the Shadows are backing the Centauri? Given the warnings from G'Kar, I have to assume that both Kosh and Delenn have suspicions of it, if not outright confirmation. The destruction of the cruiser at Z'ha'dum early in the season would have to be rather alarming to them.
9. Secrecy on the part of the Shadows makes sense, but I can't help but wonder if secrecy is undermining the Minbari/Vorlon alliance. Mordin has already confronted Kosh - the Shadows have to know that the Vorlons know they're active. I'm not sure what they're getting out of working behind the scenes like this.
10. Until we have indications otherwise, I have to assume Psi-Corp is working with the Shadows. We already saw the nativist brownshirts equipped with personal cloaking tech back in S1. I feel like they are related - they sew chaos to hide Psi-Corps operations, and the Psi-Corps get hidden backing from the Shadows.
4) Garibaldi often breaks rules, but only SO far. Suppose the Law states you can imprison a person for 3 hours before making formal charges, then Garibaldi might take 4 hours, but draw the line at 5 hours.
SHERIDAN: Look how smug he is. He's got to be guilty of something.
That is tyranny, that is exactly what President Clarke would do.
Sure, we the Audience know that Morden is guilty, but DUE process demands more evidence than he is smug.
5) Centauri POV, Morden is the gift that keeps giving.
7) Mimbari were active Spacers AD 1300 during the previous Shadow War. Maybe longer.
Self sealing stem bolts don't just seal themselves, you know.
Re: My (mostly) unspoiled watch of Babylon 5
I don't think the other Centauri know about Morden or the shadows. I think they only know that Londo has friends who take care of business for him. I'd imagine they're making inquiries into who they are, but just asking directly just isn't their style. Can't be a decadent colonel empire without courtly intrigue, after all.
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Independent George
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Re: My (mostly) unspoiled watch of Babylon 5
First, a confession: due to my work schedule, I didn't take notes on the last few episodes of S2, and have instead been using episode recaps to refresh my memory. I'll be writing "in character" as to my thoughts when I first viewed the episode, but I did in fact finish out S2 over a week ago.
S2 Episode 17: Knives
1. Of the two plots this week, Londo's story was much stronger. I expected the Sheridan plot to be a cosmic horror story tied in to the Shadows, but instead it was a Star Trek re-hash. This is only to be expected for the era - all the more noticeable because of the strong serialization we've been getting throughout B5 thus far - but I can't help but be a bit disappointed.
2. I did like the callback to B4 and the Spinal Tap Drummer's Curse, but it seems like this should have been a much bigger story - especially since several hundred crew from B4 evacuated the station and went back to Earth. In fact, they stopped at B5 on the way, and interacted with literally thousands of people on their return. How did Sheridan not know about this? There's no way Earthforce could have kept something like that under wraps.
3. I will also credit the writers for consistency - Sheridan was well established as a collector of conspiracy theories and lore. It's completely in character for him to explore the haunted decks of the station by himself, though I remain irritated that the CO is able to just hop into a space fighter and fly off on his own.
4. I think Londo's arc in S2 can be best described as, "Londo finds himself in a hole, and decides to keep digging.". There is no way out for him.
5. Do the Centauri have mythology about the Shadows the way the Narn do? Does Londo realize he's aligned himself with Old Gods, and not just some clandestine branch of Earthforce?
6. I have to admit, the fight choreography in the duel was a little painful to watch. I get that they had a limited budget and fight scenes take a lot of time and resources to film, but I can't help but think they could have gone for something fast, brutal, and visceral (which would have also been thematically appropriate), rather than... whatever this was supposed to be. "Let me hold this sword over my head, then wave it at you painfully slowly while you do the same" just kills my suspension of disbelief.
7. I did like that glimpse into the Centauri duels having a formalized set of obligations on the part of the winner and loser, and isn't just some free-for-all. The whole point to a duel is that it's a ritualized fight meant to minimize disruption to wider society. It's implied here that while this sort of duel still exists, it's also rare and archaic - otherwise, you'd end up with something utterly ridiculous like leadership constantly being challenged and turned over in the middle of a war, or grand strategy ultimately being determined by whomever happens to be the best duelist. But that's just silly; I can't even imagine something so ludicrous being set as canon for an entire spacefaring race.
S2 Episode 17: Knives
1. Of the two plots this week, Londo's story was much stronger. I expected the Sheridan plot to be a cosmic horror story tied in to the Shadows, but instead it was a Star Trek re-hash. This is only to be expected for the era - all the more noticeable because of the strong serialization we've been getting throughout B5 thus far - but I can't help but be a bit disappointed.
2. I did like the callback to B4 and the Spinal Tap Drummer's Curse, but it seems like this should have been a much bigger story - especially since several hundred crew from B4 evacuated the station and went back to Earth. In fact, they stopped at B5 on the way, and interacted with literally thousands of people on their return. How did Sheridan not know about this? There's no way Earthforce could have kept something like that under wraps.
3. I will also credit the writers for consistency - Sheridan was well established as a collector of conspiracy theories and lore. It's completely in character for him to explore the haunted decks of the station by himself, though I remain irritated that the CO is able to just hop into a space fighter and fly off on his own.
4. I think Londo's arc in S2 can be best described as, "Londo finds himself in a hole, and decides to keep digging.". There is no way out for him.
5. Do the Centauri have mythology about the Shadows the way the Narn do? Does Londo realize he's aligned himself with Old Gods, and not just some clandestine branch of Earthforce?
6. I have to admit, the fight choreography in the duel was a little painful to watch. I get that they had a limited budget and fight scenes take a lot of time and resources to film, but I can't help but think they could have gone for something fast, brutal, and visceral (which would have also been thematically appropriate), rather than... whatever this was supposed to be. "Let me hold this sword over my head, then wave it at you painfully slowly while you do the same" just kills my suspension of disbelief.
7. I did like that glimpse into the Centauri duels having a formalized set of obligations on the part of the winner and loser, and isn't just some free-for-all. The whole point to a duel is that it's a ritualized fight meant to minimize disruption to wider society. It's implied here that while this sort of duel still exists, it's also rare and archaic - otherwise, you'd end up with something utterly ridiculous like leadership constantly being challenged and turned over in the middle of a war, or grand strategy ultimately being determined by whomever happens to be the best duelist. But that's just silly; I can't even imagine something so ludicrous being set as canon for an entire spacefaring race.
