I like Delenn in Satai mode. She's arrogant and ruthless. So many lovely pointers to Minbari society and unanswered questions. I wondered at Neroon declaring Branmer to be 'the best of us'. The best of the Warrior caste, or is he challenging the usual 'Dukhat was the best of us' belief? How well did Delenn know Branmer, and for how long? Is a request like Branmer's for a quiet funeral some sort of cultural imperative? Was Delenn's action personal or political?
Delenn's putting Neroon in his place is a lovely counterpoint to his later elevation to the Council after her ejection. This is part of the tug of war between the two (eventually three) castes, and it shows even more that things are out of balance. Neroon has every right to feel she is overbearing, and later that she is a zealot and possibly power mad. He doesn't get the full measure of her until much, much later. They are wonderful whenever they are together.
Alisa made the right choice I think, because at least with the Minbari, she could always change her mind. And a life of service is not a bad thing. PsiCorps doesn't offer many options, Susan was right there, and escape would be uncertain at best.
Interesting too that being in a Minbari mind, unlike the Narn, was no problem for Alisa. "It would seem we have more in common..."
It's revealing that Talia didn't just report the child to the Corps. She would be within her rights, and probably expected to. Is there no Child Welfare in the Earth Alliance? Alisa seemed very young (14?) to be given that much leeway to make her own life choices.
I got a chill watching Delenn build the thing, unremarked and unexplained, in Sinclair's presence, and then hearing Alisa tell Sinclair about the one word--'chrysalis'.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2009-05-18 05:31 pm (UTC)I like Delenn in Satai mode. She's arrogant and ruthless. So many lovely pointers to Minbari society and unanswered questions. I wondered at Neroon declaring Branmer to be 'the best of us'. The best of the Warrior caste, or is he challenging the usual 'Dukhat was the best of us' belief? How well did Delenn know Branmer, and for how long? Is a request like Branmer's for a quiet funeral some sort of cultural imperative? Was Delenn's action personal or political?
Delenn's putting Neroon in his place is a lovely counterpoint to his later elevation to the Council after her ejection. This is part of the tug of war between the two (eventually three) castes, and it shows even more that things are out of balance. Neroon has every right to feel she is overbearing, and later that she is a zealot and possibly power mad. He doesn't get the full measure of her until much, much later. They are wonderful whenever they are together.
Alisa made the right choice I think, because at least with the Minbari, she could always change her mind. And a life of service is not a bad thing. PsiCorps doesn't offer many options, Susan was right there, and escape would be uncertain at best.
Interesting too that being in a Minbari mind, unlike the Narn, was no problem for Alisa. "It would seem we have more in common..."
It's revealing that Talia didn't just report the child to the Corps. She would be within her rights, and probably expected to. Is there no Child Welfare in the Earth Alliance? Alisa seemed very young (14?) to be given that much leeway to make her own life choices.
I got a chill watching Delenn build the thing, unremarked and unexplained, in Sinclair's presence, and then hearing Alisa tell Sinclair about the one word--'chrysalis'.