"In the Kingdom from the Blind" discussion

[ruuger]

This is the discussion post for the episode 5x09, "In the Kingdom from the Blind". Spoilers for the whole of the series, including the spin-offs and tie-ins, are allowed here so newbies beware.

Summary:
Byron's telepaths give the Alliance an ultimatum. Londo and G'Kar visit Centauri Prime.

Extra reading:
The article for "In the Kingdom from the Blind" at The Lurker's Guide.

Comments

[4thofeleven.livejournal.com]

I think the main mistake was having the Drakh in "Lines of Communication" so prominently - I'm wondering if that wouldn't have happened if JMS had known he'd get a fifth season. As it is, it's utterly baffling that the ISA can't put the pieces together when they know the Drakh have been raiding civilian shipping - but if we assume the Drakh only appeared in that episode because JMS thought "Hey, probably won't ever get a chance to do the Drakh plot properly...", well, it's still hard to accept, but it's at least plausable.

Re: Order vs. Chaos - the funny thing is, I don't think this is an example of sledgehammer storytelling. The whole point of the Shadow War, after all, was that neither side was in the right, I don't think we're meant to see the ISA as the new Vorlons. (Even if Deconstruction of Falling Stars actually has humanity evolving into encounter-suit wearing energy beings...)

It does work as an interpretation, and work almost perfectly, but I think that's just a sign of JMS's weakness with political storylines - which we've discussed previously. He's very bad at writing democratic or pluralistic societies, he tends to lapse towards wriing Great Men of History who everyone else obeys... but I think we are meant to accept the ISA's rhetoric about many equal voices, even if the Alliance we see is effectively Sheridan and Delenn's family empire. (Hell, the Centauri seem to have more internal dissent...)

Re: Delenn - heh, never thought of that. But you're right, she's the one character we know has deep dark secrets that she doesn't want exposed.