- In response to a
CompuServe message
That was really excellent. Let me explain to you how excellent
it was: I was taking a break on CIS because I was trying to work
through the heart of a scene between Delenn and Sheridan in script 403.
It was a little fuzzy there in places, and I usually log off and putter
around rather than trying to write it when it isn't all there yet in my
head. Your analysis helped me clarify something in my own mind which
was there in the first place but hadn't yet racked into focus yet. It
would've done so eventually, it always does, but you may have saved me
an hour or two of going back over their relationship in my head and
pulling out the emotional and thematic undercurrents of what's been
established over the last couple of seasons.
Good stuff.
- One is falling toward something which is rising, therefore
promising imminent conflict.
- Which storyline does the title refer to?
Interpretation is everything...I prefer to leave it that way.
- Does it end in a cliffhanger?
No, it doesn't exactly end with a cliffhanger.
It does, however, end on a cliff.
- So earlier this week we did the audio mix on almost all
of 404, "Falling Toward Apotheosis," which airs this coming week. We
did all but 7 minutes, because they were seven...big...minutes.
Last night, after working at the stage from early morning on, John
Copeland, George Johnsen and I left about 7 p.m. to go and mix the
audio for those seven minutes.
We finished at 2:30 a.m. (And I had to get up at 7:30 a.m. for a
meeting, no less.)
Point being...if you've got a friend with a good TV and a spiffy audio
or surround sound system, you may want to watch this next one over at
their place.
Just a thought.
- Which seven minutes?
From Lyta's entrance to Kosh's place, to Lorien's hand.
- About the shadow cabinet
Yes, that's Andreas' head, which I personally moved over to
where it would be beside Peter...who complained (in jest) that Andreas
was again stealing the scene from him.
- Why is everyone acting strangely toward
Garibaldi?
The main reason for the non-big reaction to Garibaldi is that
none of them really know of anything that went on. He says he just got
caught in the hyperspace backwash, and his ship got swiped. And it's a
fairly thin story, so there's some questioning of what's not being
said, or is this the whole story? So people are bound to be a bit more
tentative...and, again, there's a big huge war on, and pilots returning
from missions at the height of WW2 were given a handshake and told to
get back into the plane for the next mission.
- Have we seen a Vorlon's true appearance?
That's pretty much what they look like.
- Actually, we kinda decided to cut back a bit on lens
flare...because that particular one is now used in so many places, it's
become a cliche. We tried out a new kind of flare in the Kosh2 scene,
when he nails Sheridan, you can just sorta see it...once everyone else
does what we've been doing, we tend to move on to newer areas.
- Why didn't Kosh project an illusion?
Because it takes concentration to pull it off, and Kosh2 was
kinda distracted....
- The encounter suit was mainly to mask them.
- The idea was to short out and "crack" the suit, getting
the vorlon out, so the last of Kosh and Lorien and Sheridan could deal
with him in a weakened and more vulnerable state.
- The Vorlons looked a bit like Shadows.
I didn't think they looked that much alike. But then, no two
people ever see Vorlons in quite the same way, I guess.
- If Vorlons are amorphous energy beings, how was Kosh
poisoned in
"The Gathering?"
Remember, they do have a certain physicality about them, even in that
form, and the nature of the poison was such that it would affect that
kind of life form using a crystalline base (note in the pilot the screen
reads analyzing crystalline structure, and you filter light or refract
or distort it using a crystalline structure).
- Silicon or crystalline based lifeforms are still lifeforms,
just not the same as carbon-based lifeforms (like us).
- Yes, that's a Vorlon...and there was a physicality to them,
shown by the fact that it could strike out and hit things. It's not a
ghost or anything of that nature, it can be hurt and killed.
- What was Delenn doing at the fight?
Well, I think it's pretty obvious she would've known about it,
given her proximity to Sheridan...and if I knew something this big was
going on, sure as heck *I'd* want to be there to see it.
- What was Kosh's ship
doing?
It was responding to Kosh2's commands to get out of there so
he/it could enter it and escape.
- Wouldn't the original Kosh have stopped it from
tearing the station apart?
There wasn't enough left for that...it was just a hint of him,
that later needed to be bolstered by both Lorien and Sheridan to hit
even a part of its original ability.
- Kosh went with the new vorlon into the ship, and that final
blast was what did the job ultimately.
- Didn't Lyta already tell the new Kosh that
Sheridan had a piece of the old Kosh?
Actually, she said, "I think, it's possible, someone else does."
But she didn't specify Sheridan, and likely wouldn't have until she
knew absolutely for certain...and until she knew a little more about
the vorlon she was dealing with.
- Was Kosh aware of what was being planned?
I'd say it was aware of this, yes...and you can hear just a
trace of its voice just before it emerges.
- All trace of Kosh is gone. He/it will never be seen again,
in any form, exempting flashbacks, of which none are currently planned.
- Was it necessary to kill the new Kosh?
Had Kosh2 left when asked, it wouldn't have had to be done, no.
It was vaguely possible, but they had to plan as if he would not do so,
which in fact was what happened.
- The idea was to force Kosh2 out of the station, to where it
could be destroyed outside with a minimum of damage to the station.
Delenn wasn't happy about it, but also recognizes that war means
sometimes having to kill somebody.
- With two of their ambassadors dead, won't the Vorlons
take revenge against B5?
Of course, at the moment, the vorlons are a little busy...but
given time, yes, they would do exactly that.
- Did the original storyline call for the first Kosh
to be killed in this episode?
Best to leave what might've been out...what is, is better.
- There's a lot more to be said of the story of Kosh, and
the Vorlons in general...and part of me says explain it later...and
another part says that if you explain mysteries too much, it destroys
them.
- Morden is living in denial...he's afraid, and hoping he's
right. Centauri Prime has more civilians than any other planet or
colony hit so far: three billion people. The shadows are hoping a
figure that high will daunt even the Vorlons.
The wings are just how we perceived them, to some extent, though
we did see a hint of wings as the last of Kosh emerged from Sheridan.
(We also heard the wing flap sound, and the sound of Kosh's voice for
the last time right after Lorien's "Now.")
Dr. Kyle saw the angelic form...even in its reduced state, it
held itself together enough to maintain that form.
- Was Sheridan almost dead in
"War Without End, Part Two?"
Yep, at the time of that flash-forward, Sheridan has at most
2-3 years left to live.
- Had he followed Delenn's advice, would he be in
the same situation anyway?
Had he not gone to Z'ha'dum, he would've avoided that fate,
but caused another.
- Minbari can easily live to about 140 or so.
- Was it fair of Sheridan to propose to Delenn after
Lorien's bad news?
Well, I think it's better for someone to know that first, then
find out about it later. "Oh, good, we're going to spend the rest of
our lives together...oh, by the way, now that you've committed, you
should know...."
Uh, uh.
- Delenn is spending a lot of time fawning over
Sheridan.
"Considering her past role in Minbari society, though, I expect her to
snap out of it pretty soon. She was *trained* to take charge, and even
the things she's endured lately won't supress that conditioning
forever."
Oh, most definitely...count on it. She's done more than enough "oh
john" stuff for my tastes...that will start to change, and soon.
- Too much depression and guilt lately, and she's
been for the most part a passive character lately, while others acted
around her. Now it's about time for her to start becoming active again.
There's fire and steel in *use*, and fire and steel waiting to be
called upon...time to shift from the latter to the former.
- How does the Minbari sleep-watching ritual compare in
seriousness to Sheridan's marriage proposal?
Well, I think it fair to say that with Delenn starting the
ritual, there had already been kind of an implicit understanding that
this was going to be more than just a fling...and there's still a long
road ahead of them before this can be finalized.
- Why doesn't Cartagia have the telepaths seen in
"The Coming of Shadows?"
They weren't prophetesses, they were communications-telepaths,
and the emperor can use them if he perceives the need to keep in
contact with events in the royal court. Cartagia could give a fig for
what goes at home, which will be ash soon anyway....
- Cartagia wouldn't go to Narn just because Londo
asked.
Except, of course, this trip with G'Kar was in his best
interest, and Cartagia is always responsive to what's best for
Cartagia.
- For my money, the truly frightening thing about Cartagia
is that he is motivated entirely by whim, by caprice...he can give you
something wonderful one moment, then turn around and have you killed
the next. You *never* know which way he'll flip from moment to moment.
- Why didn't Londo try to save G'Kar's eye?
Yeah...would've been nice if Londo had at least tried to do
something about the eye that did not see Cartagia's splendor....
- The Londo stuff is nice, and you do get a sense of the
kind of person he was before the empire began to slip, and his fortunes
with it. He can definitely pull it out when he wants to.
- Only 3 billion people on Centauri Prime?
Basically, I figured with a culture in decline, often the birth rate
goes down; it's also a fairly small world, all things considered...and a
LOT of them live on other colonies, they've been spreading out a lot
longer than we have...and of course they have always been sensible about
birth control and population growth, one of their few wisdoms, and one
we could learn from.
- Was Kosh's comment about Sheridan opening an unexpected
door in
"The Hour of the Wolf"
related to the change in Vorlon strategy?
They couldn't break the rules of engagement, but he
did...and started things moving.
- Wasn't the planet-killer a break in the rules?
That *followed* his trip to Z'ha'dum...so yes, the rules
began to slip after that.