"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

Part 2

[4thofeleven.livejournal.com]

Damn, hit the character limit. Um, am I ranting too much?

- What happened to the Abbai, anyway? They’ve got a big role here, a big role in “Deathwalker”, then they vanish from season 2 onwards, rarely appearing even in crowd scenes. One is tempted to speculate that after their experience in this episode, they pulled out of the Babylon project as soon as possible…

- I’m always amused by Sinclair’s overly enthusiastic “I’d like that!” followed by Ivanova’s almost monotone “Yes.”, in response to Malcom’s proposal they meet his ‘friends’. Sinclair seems to be going too far in his acting, while Ivanova’s unwilling to make any effort to agree…

- I feel Home Guard would have more depth, and come across as little bit more sympathetic, if the group was portrayed as primarily a reaction to the Minbari war, not just generic bigots… hell, G’kar says no Narn have been attacked; would have been fun if Home Guard remembers the Narn assistance during the war and see the Narn regime as a model for how the Earth Alliance should be behaving and as potential allies…

- On that note, what was Mayan doing during the war? Give that story a little depth, maybe she supported the war, wrote poems in anticipation of the destruction of Earth, and Home Guard targeted her specifically. No need to make her a villain – maybe she’s visiting Earth as a sort of repentance gesture – but I think the episode is weakened by never doing much with the idea that it’s been only ten years since a major alien empire was united in their desire to annihilate the human species. Sinclair talks about the Line, but it’s not emphasised that that wasn’t just a battle, but the last stand of humanity against invaders.

- Last scene; whenever a character in science fiction refers to an alien as ‘human’, I’m always reminded of Spock’s bit in Star Trek VI, about how “There’s no need to be insulting!”

Re: Part 2

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Agreed on both Home Guard and Mayan; it would have added much emotional depth and more of a dilemma to our heroes if things had been more shade of grey. As mentioned in my own comment, I think the Malcolm character instead of an unconvincing ex should have been an old comrade from the war whose trauma had driven him to xenophobia and then to violence; someone tragic, rather than an obvious slime bag the audience could only despise. And I like your idea about Mayan.

Re: Part 2

[ruuger]

What happened to the Abbai, anyway?

They resigned from the League of Non-Alligned Worlds as a protest for... something or other, the events of "Deathwalker", I think?

Re: Part 2

[kathrid.livejournal.com]

I don't think so, although I think they were one of the races involved. I always thought they were just mostly a fairly insular and peaceful race, and therefore likely to avoid the increasingly violent universe over the next few years.