Contents: Overview - Backplot - Questions - Analysis - Notes - JMS

Overview

Sheridan tricks the League of Non-Aligned Worlds into accepting his proposed defense pact. Delenn tries to work with an old rival to defuse a brewing Minbari civil war. John Vickery as Neroon.

P5 Rating: 8.33

Production number: 413
Original air week: May 12, 1997
DVD release date: January 6, 2004

Written by J. Michael Straczynski
Directed by Mike Vejar

Plot Points

• The League of Non-Aligned Worlds has agreed to give the White Star fleet authority to operate as a police force along its borders.
• Civil war has broken out in the Minbari capital city.
• Three quarters of Clark's cabinet resigned in protest of his martial law decree.

Unanswered Questions

• Is Neroon really betraying Delenn?
• The episode focused on the religious and warrior castes. What happened to the worker caste? Are they participating in the fighting, and if so, which side have they taken?

Analysis

• Will the Non-Aligned Worlds' pledge to help Sheridan with any larger missions extend to his conflict with President Clark? Even in its diminished state, the combined forces of the Non-Aligned Worlds' navies would likely be a great asset if the conflict came down to a direct, prolonged series of battles. On the other hand, intervening in internal Earth matters isn't what the ambassadors had in mind; they might balk at sending their ships to die for the cause of overthrowing Earth's government.

• By allowing the White Star fleet to patrol Centauri space in search of the Drakh (among others,) Londo has given Sheridan direct influence over the ability of the Shadows' allies to exact their revenge on Centauri Prime. Perhaps that's the source of Londo's comment in "War Without End" about Sheridan allowing the Shadows' dark servants to slip through to Centauri Prime; if Sheridan uses the White Star fleet for some larger mission as he hints he might, it'll presumably be at the cost of Centauri Prime's defense against the Drakh.

• During the conversation between Londo and the Drazi ambassador, Londo's duplicity is underscored by the staging of the scene. In most of the scene, two images of Londo can be seen: his reflection in the mirror or his portrait. The rest of the time his face is obscured by a curtain.

• In the past, Delenn has attempted to preserve Lennier's innocence (e.g. by trying to leave him behind in "Atonement.") But from Lennier's point of view, she has an innocence of her own, and he sees himself as its guardian.

• Neroon may not be betraying Delenn at all; he told Shakiri the he knew the religious caste's counterattack plans, but Delenn made no mention of a counterattack. It's possible his departure was, in fact, all part of Delenn's plan; Lennier wasn't privy to the conversation between Delenn and Neroon, so he wouldn't know the details and would be fooled by Neroon's departure.

• By revealing how much she relies on Lennier, Delenn may have given valuable information to an opponent. Neroon was honorable enough and helped Lennier, and seems uninterested in directly battling or hurting Delenn (if he'd been interested in that, he wasted several opportunities while on her ship.) But if Neroon passes the information along to Shakiri, Lennier may find himself in danger.

• Neroon said of the situation on Minbar, "We are a world gone mad." That's the same thing one of the council members told Delenn in "Atonement," before declaring, as Neroon did, that the fire would have to burn itself out and couldn't be stopped. Yet the Earth-Minbari War did stop abruptly; perhaps the same will happen in this case.

• Neroon's comment about loving a good mystery also echoed "Atonement," in which Delenn said to the Grey Council that mysteries are a gift from the universe and shouldn't be ignored.

• The religious caste member said he heard Delenn say, "The religious caste could not be allowed to win this war." But she actually said, "The warrior caste cannot be allowed to win this war. The religious caste cannot be allowed to win either." Was he simply embellishing a half-overheard comment (e.g. if he only heard the second sentence up to "win") or did he choose to ignore or lie about the context?

• The religious caste has been the butt of jokes about surrendering "ever since the war," according to the same religious caste member. Clearly that can't be referring to the Shadow War, since they didn't surrender. Does the comment indicate that most Minbari still consider the Earth-Minbari War to be the major war of recent memory? Since the warrior caste is the group making the jokes, the implication is that they didn't particularly participate in the Shadow War.

• The two storylines in the episode can be seen as point and counterpoint on the subject of deception and secrecy (the title is evidence that this isn't an accident.) Delenn kept her plans secret from her compatriots and nearly died with them as a result. Neroon was attacked for the same reason. Sheridan kept secrets as well, and asked Franklin and Londo to lie for him, and it helped his plans come to fruition.

  Lennier's deception played into the theme; he kept the true nature of the sabotage from Delenn, with no immediate ill effect. However, it's possible that by maintaining Delenn's excessive faith in her caste, Lennier in fact deprived her of vital information she'd do well to take into account in the future.

  Ivanova held fast to the ideal of truth, but every other major player in the story participated in some form of deception: the rebellious religious caste members hid their plot, the League ambassadors kept their "knowledge" of the new enemy from Sheridan, and Neroon lied to either Delenn or Shakiri about his intentions.

Notes

• Delenn mentioned this as the second time she'd seen Lennier near death. The first was in "Convictions," in which he risked his life to save Londo Mollari.
• Ivanova tells Sheridan that Marcus is waiting for him on channel 4. That's a reference to the network that shows B5 in the UK.
• Editing glitch: during the opening scene, a piece of food appears on Marcus' fork while the camera shifts to Sheridan; the scene shifts again and he hasn't picked the food up yet.

jms speaks

• The Sheridan stuff was fun, in that I got to play Sheridan as the one being manipulative for a change, smart for a change...not just Londo or the usual suspects. It made for a nifty change of pace.

  And yeah, Mira brought a lot of truth to this episode...and will bring even more in next week.

• Ivanova looked like she was reading from a teleprompter.
  Yeah, we had Claudia use a teleprompter there to add to the sense of having to read something...and enjoy the happy-go-lucky Sheridan...it's the last you'll see of him for a long time....

• Lennier seems to be doing more peacemaking than Delenn. Is he the real bridge between races? Why does the religious caste follow Delenn?
  No, I wouldn't say Lennier is a bridge in any sense along those lines.

  Delenn, you must understand, is a True Seeker, and among the religious caste there isn't much more admirable than that...combined with the fact that she *did* fulfill prophecy, she *was* the chosen of Dukhat, she *did* help end the Shadow War...yeah, she's had some problems here and there, but what important leader doesn't? Any one of those items would be a sufficient crown on a lifetime of achievement...the cumulative effect is quite daunting and impressive.

• Are Lennier's patience, humor, and devotion unique?
  No, many Minbari share in those traits.

• "Are tears a normal Minbari physical reaction, or is weeping (for Delenn) one of the changes mandated by her chrysalitic"

  We've seen Delenn cry before, when she and G'Kar were in her quarters and she was explining why she did not get involved in the Narn/Centauri war.

• How did Londo see an Earth sitcom if all broadcasts to B5 are being jammed?
  Easy. The incident Londo is mentioning happened prior to the blackout. He never said it *just* happened, he said the *last* time Rebo and Zooty did their routine, everybody was doing it.

• Were Rebo and Zooty references to real people?
  No, not intended as tributes to anyone, just a cool sounding pair of names (but also annoying sounding).

Last update: May 27, 2024