"The War Prayer" discussion [spoilers]

[ruuger]

This is the discussion post for the episode 1X07, "The War Prayer". Spoilers for the whole of the series, including the spin-offs and tie-ins, are allowed here so newbies beware.

Extra reading:

The article for "The War Prayer" at Lurker's Guide.

Comments

[4thofeleven.livejournal.com]

Rather a weak episode; it spends too long beating you over the head with the message that bigotry is bad. Well, sure, but a little subtlety is nice; everyone pretty much agrees the KKK aren’t nice people.

- One of the few times we see an ordinary Minbari. It’s nice to see a civilian Minbari – and to see Delenn does have friends. I wonder if Mayan knows Delenn is Satai – Lennier knew, but he was presumably briefed when he was assigned to Babylon 5. How well known are the Grey Council’s members to everyday Minbari?

- Is poet considered a specifically religious caste role? Or are the three castes separate enough that they have their own culture and entertainment? I’d assume they would – they have their own languages, after all.

- The ‘branding’ looks to me less like ‘a painful and permanent disfigurement’ and more like ‘a rubber stamp of some sort’. Kinda takes away from the scene…

- Hey, it’s our second unconvincing former lover in two weeks! This one’s actually less believable than Talia/Ironheart was. Susan’s sense of betrayal would probably come across stronger if a, they hadn’t already broken up eight years before, b, they had any chemistry whatsoever, and c, if he hadn’t come across as a slimy loser right from the start already…

- Vir claiming to be the ambassador seems a little out of character, particularly for season 1 Vir. I’m going to personally assume his relative merely misinterpreted his messages…

- Dear god, the ‘comedy’ music in this episode is irritating.

- Also one of the few times we see ordinary Centauri. I wonder, are Kiron and Aria – and Vir for that matter – more in line with mainstream Centauri society than Londo or the other major Centauri we see in the series? Is there a generational difference? The new generation, who never knew a time when the Centauri were the dominant power, not seeing the point in holding to the old traditions and power structures?

- The Kosh scene doesn’t do much for me. We get a reminder of one of the pilot’s biggest plot holes – which considering we never get an explanation, is arguably worse than never mentioning it – and an attempt to build the mystery of Kosh and the Vorlons by showing how he’s… studying the history of the people he’s living among. Not exactly the most cryptic thing Kosh has ever done.

- Sinclair infiltrating Home Guard has, I think, the same problems as him going into the club with Londo in “Born to the Purple” – when you think about it logically, it does make some sense – why would a club owner know the station commander on sight, and hate groups tend to assume they’re just saying what everyone’s thinking – but from a dramatic point of view, it feels too easy to accept on a first viewing.

- Sinclair’s ‘plan’ seems to me like it would cause more trouble that it would solve. He deliberately snubs an alien ambassador, mutters about how ‘the only good alien’s a dead one’ at a diplomatic function, then decides to give the B5 council the impression that he’s intentionally sheltering the perpetrators of the attacks – god knows why, I doubt Home Guard follows the meetings of the council closely. This is in an atmosphere where retaliatory attacks are already taking place, and crowds of aliens are apparently already convinced that security is unwilling to act against human criminals. Sure, they catch Home Guard in the end – but I doubt the arrest of four individuals is enough to defuse the toxic environment Sinclair helped to create. Hate groups *thrive* in environments where the authorities are perceived as being sympathetic to them – both because it emboldens their own people, and makes minority groups less likely to report attacks, since they think there’s no point. I somehow doubt a quick announcement that “It’s OK, I was just trying to fool the bad guys!” will do much to eliminate those perceptions.

- I also rather wonder what Delenn made of all this – she was already furious that Sinclair hadn’t done enough to prevent the attack on her friend.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

How well known are the Grey Council’s members to everyday Minbari?

Probably not so much, otherwise every single Minbari coming to the station would have greeted Delenn as Satai, and would have made her discretion about the subject superfluos. As to whether Mayan knows, they seem familiar enough that I'd go with a yes. Come to think of it, we see/hear from three Minbari friends Delenn has/had in the first season - Mayan, Draal and the late Brammer; and of course there was Dukhat as her mentor. Whereas in later seasons her only Minbari friend seems to be Lennier, with enemy-becoming-ally Neroon in a category of his own.

I wonder, are Kiron and Aria – and Vir for that matter – more in line with mainstream Centauri society than Londo or the other major Centauri we see in the series? Is there a generational difference? The new generation, who never knew a time when the Centauri were the dominant power, not seeing the point in holding to the old traditions and power structures?

Oh, good question! The problem is that the other young Centauri we meet aren't in any way typical - there's Cartagia (no explanation needed why he's not representative), Adira who is a slave (as opposed to Kiro and Aria who are free), and Mariel who is Londo's wife, and one of several, so probably counts as imprinted by the former generation. And Lindysti, who, see Cartagia.

I had no problem with Vir claiming he's the ambassador to his cousin, though. Vir isn't entirely without ambition - when he tells Londo what he wanted from life in season 4 during that heartbreaking drunk scene, he says "a title or two, nothing fancy" as well as the "wife I could love and who maybe could love someone like me". Plus as we hear in season 2, Vir's family thinks very little of him, especially his uncle, and thought his assignment as Londo's attaché one big joke. Vir describes the atmosphere as home as everyone ignoring him and an utter silence. So the idea he'd want to impress the cousin who's not actively ridiculing him by claiming to be the ambassador works for me.

Hm, good point about the downside of Sinclair's plan. Maybe this would make a good Watsonian explanation about something in the next episode, i.e. why Delenn is told to kill Sinclair if he finds out he's Valen prematurely. I can't think of a worse case scenario than someone whom you perceive as filled with hate towards your people discovering the enormous power he could wield by claiming to be their Messiah.