With regards to Vir's motivation to keep silent: hmm, hard one.
Just to be clear: I'm not saying that I'm excusing him, I do think his decision was wrong... It's just that for some reason, probably because of his inherent goodness combined with the fact he did stand up to Londo, if to no one else, I never asked myself that question - how guilty is he, and why didn't he do anything? - before.
Feeling overwhelmed must surely have had something to do with it, I agree. However, at that point Vir is no longer the silent, helpless aide he was before, and in a lot of ways (think of his encounter with the Techno-Mages) he's braver than many give him credit for. So I don't think that fear to speak out was his most important reason - not fear for himself, in any case.
I still think his relationship with Londo was his main reason for staying silent. Partly out of an "I'm the aide, you're the ambassador, so I'm supposed to do as I'm told" reflex (yep, the "just following orders" - which I am not excusing here, I'm just saying it could be a reason). But also because Londo is the single person Vir is close to at the time, and to betray that person - well, I think that, for Vir, would be a very hard line to cross. Also, isn't it usually true that people find it much easier to care about one person getting hurt than about a major disaster occurring miles away - hence it's easier to ignore said major disaster? Like many people care about famines, without doing much about it; however, when someone they know dies of cancer, that's a different story. So, for Vir, I think the immediate concern of Londo might well have prevailed over the much more serious, but also more distant concern of war... It's not an excuse, but it is very human. (and Centauri, too, I assume *g*)
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Just to be clear: I'm not saying that I'm excusing him, I do think his decision was wrong... It's just that for some reason, probably because of his inherent goodness combined with the fact he did stand up to Londo, if to no one else, I never asked myself that question - how guilty is he, and why didn't he do anything? - before.
Feeling overwhelmed must surely have had something to do with it, I agree. However, at that point Vir is no longer the silent, helpless aide he was before, and in a lot of ways (think of his encounter with the Techno-Mages) he's braver than many give him credit for. So I don't think that fear to speak out was his most important reason - not fear for himself, in any case.
I still think his relationship with Londo was his main reason for staying silent. Partly out of an "I'm the aide, you're the ambassador, so I'm supposed to do as I'm told" reflex (yep, the "just following orders" - which I am not excusing here, I'm just saying it could be a reason). But also because Londo is the single person Vir is close to at the time, and to betray that person - well, I think that, for Vir, would be a very hard line to cross. Also, isn't it usually true that people find it much easier to care about one person getting hurt than about a major disaster occurring miles away - hence it's easier to ignore said major disaster? Like many people care about famines, without doing much about it; however, when someone they know dies of cancer, that's a different story. So, for Vir, I think the immediate concern of Londo might well have prevailed over the much more serious, but also more distant concern of war... It's not an excuse, but it is very human. (and Centauri, too, I assume *g*)