25 thoughts on “Babylonia!

  1. There’s one thing I’ve felt about the Minbari for a while and that’s “these guys beat Humans at war? They couldn’t beat us at StarCraft.” Sure, maybe they had better tech (and better tech can make up for a lot) but, seriously, they never really radiated “existential threat”.

    I mean, even the Vulcans came across as “we could destroy you if we were bloodthirsty, but we are not… and we will drag you, kicking and screaming, to enlightenment” with their attitudes. The Minbari are just… well. I didn’t see them winning a whole lot of wars. Art contests, maybe.

    When I mentioned this to Dman, he told me that I’d only spent time up to this point with the religious caste and none at all with the warriors.

    Which is fair enough, I suppose.

    But I’m still not seeing it.Report

    1. Technology counts for an awful lot. Let me put it this way, Hannibal was a really good general, and Field Marshall Haig was a really bad general, but there’s no way 2nd Punic War Carthage could win a war against WWI England because no amount of generalship compensates for your enemy having machine guns.

      Also bear in mind that Neroon’s a bit of a hot-head at the best of times and he’s grieving a fiend and mentor.Report

      1. The difference in technology between Minbari and Humanity is bigger than that. The human wave tactics when charging a trench (and then getting to chopping) is at least something that Carthage could emulate if they were plopped down in WWI France, and land transportation in WWI wasn’t that much better than what existed back a couple of millenia.

        Minbari have a huge edge in every aspect of warfare. Especially so in the Babylon 5 setting where there are no such things as ‘shields’. In the Beginning, the prequel movie, does a pretty good job of showing this. It also spoils the everliving crap out of the first four seasons of the show.Report

  2. Guvf frrzf qvssrerag sebz jung jr yngre yrnea: gung gur Zvaonev nyjnlf nccebnpu jvgu gurve thacbegf bcra, naq gung vg jnf guvf phfgbz juvpu frg bss gur Rnegu-Zvaonev Jne jura na Rnegusbepr pncgnva vagrecergrq gur npgvba nf ntterffvba naq sverq hcba n Zvaonev fuvc. Tvira gung vg jnf guvf irel phfgbz gung fgnegrq gur jne, lbh’q guvax gung Rnegu bssvpvnyf jbhyq unir orra gbyq nobhg vg orsber abj, ohg nccneragyl abg.

    Gurer’f n zbivr “Va gur Ortvaavat” jurer gurl fubj gur svefg pbagnpg. Vg’f nccneragyl phfgbznel sbe gur jneevbe pnfgr gb qb guvf jvgu rnpu bgure, ohg vg’f abg phfgbznel sbe svefg pbagnpgf naq gur yvxr. Gur Zvaonev yrnqre gevrq gb fgbc gurz jura ur ernyvmrq jung jnf unccravat, ohg ur jnf gbb yngr. Gung, pbzovarq jvgu gur Zvaonev fuvcf nppvqragnyyl ceriragvat gur Rnegu fuvcf sebz whzcvat gb ulcrefcnpr, pnhfrq gur Rnegu pncgnva gb sver ba gur fuvc, xvyyvat gur yrnqre naq fcnexvat gur jne. Vg jnf n tvnag pyhfgreshpx nyy nebhaq.Report

  3. The Starrider clan has come up before, if you recall. They habored that dilgar alien bioreseacher who killed millions in a previous episode. So you’ve got a warrior clan harboring an intergalatic bioterrorist. Pretty radical.

    RE the missing body, the plot whole about how the humans couldn’t be responsible is so glaring it still annoys me. You’d think it could get some cursory coverage to explain it away rather than just ignoring it for an hour.

    RE the technology. Later on it will become apparant how inferior the human weapons systems are when they encourter mimbari warriers again. 🙂Report

  4. To me there are two big takeaways from this episode.

    First, that there is more strife between the religious and warrior cast than we thought. It has been mentioned before about the two sides not agreeing on anything, but that could just be in the form of debate. In this episode, we find out that they are fine with using actions instead of words.

    Second, that Ivanova can back up that scariness she seems to invoke while on the bridge. Oh, and she will do almost anything to get back at Psi-Core.Report

    1. Qvqa’g Qryraa erpragyl fnl gung vg jnf n qnatrebhf guvat jura nyy guerr pnfgrf nterr ba fbzrguvat, va ersrerapr gb gur jne ntnvag gur uhznaf? Lrg fur frrzf njshyyl cregheorq ol gur vafbyrapr bs gur jneevbe pnfgr, nf vs gurl fubhyqa’g or nyybjrq gb unir gurve bja zbgvirf. V fhccbfr gung’f n abezny guvat, gb yvxr qvffragvba va gur nofgenpg zber guna va gur pbapergr, V’z-abg-trggvat-zl-bja-jnl fbeg bs guvat. Fgvyy, vg’f n ovg ulcbpevgvpny.

      V qba’g guvax Qryraa pbzrf bhg bs gur frevrf fzryyvat dhvgr nf tbbq nf gur jevgref vagraqrq.Report

      1. I think Delenn comes out pretty bad in this episode. She is willing to jeopardize B5 over a dead man. She was short sighted to think the warrior caste would just let this ride and not make a political stink over this. And then she pulls out a political sledge hammer and involves the Grey Counsel. I guess we see why she is on it though.Report

      2. I think it indicates that, whatever her official responsibilities are, she thinks of herself as a priest first and foremost, but that narrowness of focus leads he to do some very foolish things yvxr enaqbzyl gheavat urefrys vagb n Zvaonev-uhzna uloevq.Report

  5. Ivanova tells her mother’s story, and this is effective in convincing Alisa that joining Psi Corps isn’t ideal.

    I am not sure if the best way to convince someone not to join an organization is to inform them of the horrible things they do to people who do not join.

    I did not see that as telling her not to trust them, but pointing out that if she was a telepath for Narns, that would be the type of mind she would have to read. If it made her uncomfortable, she might not want to do it all the time.

    Watching this episode, I thought the missing body was a ploy by Neroon to start a war, since he insisted on having Minbari security. On the other hand, considering Minbari were responsible for security, it did not seem reasonable to blame B5 for the body’s disappearance (not that Neroon was being reasonable).

    My mind changes Shai’alit to Shai-hulud, and it amuses me to picture Minbari sandworms.Report

    1. I did not see that as telling her not to trust them, but pointing out that if she was a telepath for Narns, that would be the type of mind she would have to read. If it made her uncomfortable, she might not want to do it all the time.

      The Narn don’t want her to act as a telepath for them. They want blood samples so that they can look at her DNA and figure out how to give their own people telepathy.Report

      1. This always was a plot hole in B5.

        Like, the Narn aren’t ruthless enough to have acquired a couple of telepaths already? Blood samples or other DNA are easy. Packing someone in ice and shipping them off in a diplomatic pouch would be regarded as a small price to pay to ensure Narn continuity…Report

      2. Anything involving genetics tends to be a plot hole in most shows and movies. You don’t need a whole person. You need one good DNA sample (and then a few DNA samples from non-telepaths to compare it to). Then you’ve got the genes and you can create as many copies of the DNA as you like and work with those on whatever you’re doing.

        But that just doesn’t create enough drama, so writers ignore the science.Report

      3. Univat uhzna gryrcnguf’ QAN jbhyq uryc gurz gb erirefr-ratvarre gurve bja gryrcnguf…ubj, rknpgyl? Gurer’f ab jnl V pna vzntvar, hayrff obgu fcrpvrf unir pbzzbanyvgvrf, be gur trargvp frdhrapr sbe gryrcngul vf fbzr xvaq bs negvsvpvny zbqhyr vafregrq vagb rnpu fcrpvrf ol gur Funqbjf.Report

      4. I’ve watched it; I don’t think that what I wrote was ever stated. Gurer’f n Funqbj pbaarpgvba, ohg V qba’g erzrzore vg orvat fnvq gung gur Funqbjf vzcynagrq n havirefny gryrcngu frdhrapr vagb fcrpvrf.Report

      5. They want blood samples so that they can look at her DNA and figure out how to give their own people telepathy.

        Npghnyyl – V ungr gb ebg13 nyy guvf fghss ohg V qba’g erzrzore jung’f orra fubja be qvfphffrq nyernql – qvqa’g T’xne vzcyl gb Ylgn gung ur jnagrq gb perngrq n yvar bs Anea gryrcnguf ol zngvat? Guvf tvirf uvf vagrerfg va guvf lbhat tvey, naq ure ernpgvba gb An’Gbgu’f gubhtugf, n perrcvre fvqr.Report

      6. Abg gur Funqbjf, Cvaxl. Gur Ibeybaf perngrq gryrcnguf gb svtug gur Funqbjf. Gurl vaqhprq gryrcnguvp novyvgvrf nzbat zrzoref bs nyy gur lbhatre enprf. Gur irel ernfba gur Anea qba’g unir gryrcnguf vf gung gurvef jrer nyy xvyyrq va gur ynfg Funqbj Jne, praghevrf ntb.Report

      7. Anything involving genetics tends to be a plot hole in most shows and movies. You don’t need a whole person. You need one good DNA sample (and then a few DNA samples from non-telepaths to compare it to). Then you’ve got the genes and you can create as many copies of the DNA as you like and work with those on whatever you’re doing.

        Bear in mind that in the B5 universe races keep their medical information secret from each other, for fear of exposing themselves to tailored bioweapons. Consequently, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Narn knew next-to-nothing about human biology or genetics. And who knows how different our DNA is from theirs, it may have totally different bases in it, or be opposite chirality or something. They may need a lot of tissue before they figure out how to amplify or clone it, let alone develop some kind of gene therapy to graft the genes into a Narn and make them work.Report

  6. Like, the Narn aren’t ruthless enough to have acquired a couple of telepaths already?

    I don’t think they’re particularly organized or scientifically advanced at this point in their history. Gurer znl or fbzr jub xabj nobhg gur gryrcngu/Funqbj pbaarpgvba naq qba’g jnag gb vagebqhpr gurz vagb gurve fcrpvrf.Report

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