"Into the Fire" discussion

[ruuger]

This is the discussion post for the episode 4X06 "Into the Fire". Spoilers for the whole of the series, including the spin-offs and tie-ins, are allowed here so newbies beware.

Summary:
The Army of Light mount their final assault against both the Shadows and the Vorlons.

Extra reading:
The article for "Into the Fire" at The Lurker's Guide.

Comments

[beatrice_otter]

Okay, something I would not have noticed without the benefit of a theological education that emphasized traditional cosmologies (so we could learn to look at traditional theology and disentangle how they are connected with worldviews that may or may not still be current: in most traditional cosmologies, things started out good and then degenerate. In classical Greek mythology you have an age of gold, followed by the age of silver, followed by the age of bronze. Or in Judeo-Christian thought, you have Eden followed by the Fall, and things degenerate from there. Lorien's description of how his race didn't age and die, but future generations did? Perfect fit.

I really, really like the intelligence guy. And I wonder if his timing here is on purpose: he tells this to Londo right as they are trying to destroy the Shadow influence, and this is giving Londo more incentive to wipe out every single Shadow thing. Not that he really needed it, but this has wiped out any lingering affinity he might have.

Morden's reaction makes me wonder what kind of connection he has to the Shadows. Also, yeah, sure, the Shadows' allies can make Centauri Prime pay, but it's still better than the Vorlons wiping out the entire planet.

The battle scenes ... meh. Though I do like Lyta's performance here. I think Lorien would be much less annoying if Sheridan had given some of his exposition during the final confrontation.

Vir in the garden with Morden's head--awesome as always. And then the scene with him and Londo, and Londo begging him to kill him ... eee.

Again, effective use of light and shadow for dramatic effect that lets you cheap out on special effects and sets.

After having waited four seasons to finally hear a Shadow speak for itself and not through an intermediary, it would have been nice to have something a little more impressive than a three year old asking Daddy to hold its hand while walking in the dark.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

I really, really like the intelligence guy. And I wonder if his timing here is on purpose:

Ohhhh, that's an intriguing thought, and I can see that. After all, Intelligence Guy is not suicidal and presumably wants both the planet and himself to survive once the Vorlons show up, so yes, giving Londo additional motivation is in his best interest.

Morden's reaction: given that the Shadows were able to heal him from the effects of a nuclear blast, I always wondered whether this involved some kind of life source sharing, a variation of what Lorien does with Sheridan, though it would be more like the Shadows to simply use up a few unfortunate minions instead of themselves. Still, if the Shadows transfered healing energy into Morden's body, it might have left a physical sense of connection. However, that's really not necessary to explain his reaction, imo. Until this point, Morden's self assurance, even when Sheridan had him interrogated and locked up, was always bolstered by the fact these superbeings more powerful than anyone else were right next to him. The moment Londo has the Shadows with Morden killed and presses the button, Morden is alone and without back-up for the first time since the Icarus came to Z'ha'dum.