I finally got the chance to sit down and watch this last night. Londo's parts are wonderful here; I particularly liked the hokey-pokey sequence. Though I wonder if we all will still be singing it in 2258...
Little things that caught my eye/ear-- Delenn telling Sinclair 'Evolution is overrated.' The Shadows are proponents of evolution through conflict. Some Minbari go walkabout at the end of their lives. JMS says that is what happened to Delenn; that she left to 'find Valen' at the end of her life and was never seen again. As noted above, the fact that Varn didn't reach out to Delenn. She's not ready to face self-sacrifice yet. The parallel between Delenn not telling Sinclair they were going down to E3 with Varn and her not telling Sheridan about Anna. She chooses for Sinclair, protecting him from making a decision that will interfere with his 'true destiny'. At this point she only knows he has part of Valen's soul--how does she know what his destiny is meant to be? Part of her arrogance in S1. Also her caution. She's there to watch, not act, although that's about to change. And she always ends up watching people she cares for make the sacrifice; watching them walk away--Draal, Sinclair, and finally Sheridan (twice). Hard to always be the one left behind.
What was the time the Great Machine was waiting for; when it would be right for others to use it? I don't think it got involved in the Shadow War except as a back-up. Varn mentioning that he'd been watching them is echoed later by Draal when he meets Sheridan. I thought that Varn managed a lot of expression through what had to be a lot of latex, especially in the end scene. I wonder if PsiCorp has marked Garibaldi from this moment, as someone with investigatory capabilities that might come in useful later.
I could go on, but I have to leave for work! I still very much like the interior of E3; nicely done with the minimal CGI available at the time. The weapon is Shadow-like but I thought it seemed more Vorlonish with the crystals on the landing pad, and the colored lights. The purple webbing on the walls (circuitry) reminded me a bit of Shadow-tech (the implants on the telepaths) and of course the whole idea of a living being needed to be the 'heart' of the Machine is very Shadow-y. Also Vorlonish too though, considering their ships sing. Someone asked about the Zathri; maybe they were in all the elevators, rushing up and down fixing things!
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Little things that caught my eye/ear--
Delenn telling Sinclair 'Evolution is overrated.' The Shadows are proponents of evolution through conflict.
Some Minbari go walkabout at the end of their lives. JMS says that is what happened to Delenn; that she left to 'find Valen' at the end of her life and was never seen again.
As noted above, the fact that Varn didn't reach out to Delenn. She's not ready to face self-sacrifice yet.
The parallel between Delenn not telling Sinclair they were going down to E3 with Varn and her not telling Sheridan about Anna. She chooses for Sinclair, protecting him from making a decision that will interfere with his 'true destiny'. At this point she only knows he has part of Valen's soul--how does she know what his destiny is meant to be? Part of her arrogance in S1. Also her caution. She's there to watch, not act, although that's about to change.
And she always ends up watching people she cares for make the sacrifice; watching them walk away--Draal, Sinclair, and finally Sheridan (twice). Hard to always be the one left behind.
What was the time the Great Machine was waiting for; when it would be right for others to use it? I don't think it got involved in the Shadow War except as a back-up. Varn mentioning that he'd been watching them is echoed later by Draal when he meets Sheridan. I thought that Varn managed a lot of expression through what had to be a lot of latex, especially in the end scene. I wonder if PsiCorp has marked Garibaldi from this moment, as someone with investigatory capabilities that might come in useful later.
I could go on, but I have to leave for work! I still very much like the interior of E3; nicely done with the minimal CGI available at the time. The weapon is Shadow-like but I thought it seemed more Vorlonish with the crystals on the landing pad, and the colored lights. The purple webbing on the walls (circuitry) reminded me a bit of Shadow-tech (the implants on the telepaths) and of course the whole idea of a living being needed to be the 'heart' of the Machine is very Shadow-y. Also Vorlonish too though, considering their ships sing.
Someone asked about the Zathri; maybe they were in all the elevators, rushing up and down fixing things!