The War Prayer (B5)

[Arkle]

One concession I will make; I don't think it should've been aliens beating up the racist asshole guy. It should've been other humans. Smarter people than me have pointed out in the case of that Richard Spencer getting punched video, it was actually very important that the guy who socked the Nazi was another white guy. It's similar logic to why Steve Rogers looked like he did in the early Captain America comics.

I don't think that scene is intended as a good thing. Its not suppose to be a bad guy getting his comeuppance, but just another sign that this situation is getting out of hand and needs to be resolved soon to prevent further escalation.

Yeah, that's true.

[CrypticMirror]

You don't change the world with violence. Well, not with only violence. You have to have to have one group pleading earnestly for peace and another group getting violent so that the first group can have someone to point to as the alternative if you don't start making concessions PDQ. Carrot and stick approach. Earnest pleading on its own can easily be ignored, especially if there is no penalty for doing so. The only trouble is that everyone wants to be the "cool" stick and nobody wants to be the one doing the tough and thankless work of being the carrot who has to make it all work in the long term. Be the carrot. The world has enough sticks.

[TheNewTeddy]

I had a mini-rant on twitter about this episode; I've posted it below


Over the past 90 days this debate has come up again and again in my life; about if humanity, at it's core, is good or evil
and while I deeply respect @sfdebris and his opinions, I disagree with them.
I know that @sfdebris also brought up the issue of nazi punching; that's one where I've not expressed much of an opinion.
my comments mostly refer to the ending of @sfdebris 's latest video, and the deep implication that it makes about humanity.
the longer I live the more I see how deeply malicious, naive, and deranged the average person is; and have lost all hope for the species.
The only up side is that there are a small number of good, honest, and just people who fight to keep things fair
in the end I'll always fight for fairness, even if it costs me my life at the end of the day.
those who say fairness is a childlike concept, can, in the words of today's youth, "heck off"

[DanteC]

One thing that strikes me is just how utterly short-sighted and stupid Homeguard's plan is (in killing the B5 and earth-based ambassadors. Presumably when they say the four main ones, he's meaning G'Kar, Londo, Delenn, and Kosh). Don't they remember that by killing Minbari, in an accident, lead to the near destruction of their entire species?

At best, they'll be shunned by every space-based race in the galaxy, so goodbye to trade deals and such. At worse? Genocide!

As an aside, is B5 really not a big deal in the US? A friend used to go to conventions over here in the UK and he got the chance to meet a lot of the cast (as well as drinking with Marcus's actor), and he said their turnouts were huge. I'm just a bit surprised that there's not more call for reviews of it.

[Rocketboy1313]

As an aside, is B5 really not a big deal in the US? A friend used to go to conventions over here in the UK and he got the chance to meet a lot of the cast (as well as drinking with Marcus's actor), and he said their turnouts were huge. I'm just a bit surprised that there's not more call for reviews of it.

It was much bigger over seas. For whatever reason the US did not get as into it as elsewhere.

[MadAmosMalone]

As an aside, is B5 really not a big deal in the US?

It's just not as widely known here in the US. During its initial run back in the 90s, it saw the benefit of benign neglect on the part of studio suits at Warner Brothers. It allowed JMS to make the story he set out to tell and completed it but there was a down side. The show was popular in the 90s but, since then, that same neglect is not so benign. I have only seen maybe one run of syndication after its first run. Apparently Warner doesn't see the value of syndication for the show.

[CrypticMirror]

One thing that strikes me is just how utterly short-sighted and stupid Homeguard's plan is (in killing the B5 and earth-based ambassadors. Presumably when they say the four main ones, he's meaning G'Kar, Londo, Delenn, and Kosh). Don't they remember that by killing Minbari, in an accident, lead to the near destruction of their entire species?

At best, they'll be shunned by every space-based race in the galaxy, so goodbye to trade deals and such. At worse? Genocide!

Yeah, well. Eaexit means Eaexit and all that. Every extremist has always had a reason why the mistake they are making will succeed this time when it resulted in crippling failure the last time. There are always some sort of special circumstances that mean they'll be different. I'm sure they think that their military is strong enough now, or that such a show of determined intent will cow those inferior foreigners into early surrender, or that they are entitled to special trade deals anyway. Some of them might even think glorious isolation where Earth ships can rule the space waves untroubled by those aliens who were so obviously holding them back, is a good thing. I can very easily buy that those backwards idiots doing that and thinking there would be no consequences. Far too easily.

[Rocketboy1313]

A few episodes later (maybe next season) they talk about how there are senators who think that humanity has built back its military and no longer needs the Babylon project to project peace when they can compel peace via their military. Captain Sheridan thinks that is arm chair quarter backing and that a war with any of the other powers ("or god forbid, the Vorlons") would be devastating for Earth.

[ScreamingDoom]

A few episodes later (maybe next season) they talk about how there are senators who think that humanity has built back its military and no longer needs the Babylon project to project peace when they can compel peace via their military. Captain Sheridan thinks that is arm chair quarter backing and that a war with any of the other powers ("or god forbid, the Vorlons") would be devastating for Earth.

I think it's "And Now For a Word...", the first of the ISN episodes.

As the reporter notes to Sheridan, Earth won the last war. The Minbari surrendered. How could anyone possibly think Earth would lose when that was the case?

Sheridan just smiles sardonically and says, "Of course." He knows it's pointless to argue.

[Rocketboy1313]

That's the one. I have watched 40 episodes in the last 3 weeks so keeping them clear is hard.