Rumours, Bargains and Lies


The "Sheridan tricks the League of Non-Alligned Worlds representatives into demanding White Star patrols" subplot is a bit less comic relief to me now because I can't help but remember that using fear of unspecified threats is something a lot of rl leaders do for a lot less virtuous goals than Sheridan. Also, I guess not a single envoy is familiar with the concept of reverse psychology, but hey. Otoh, the subplot also provides the chance for two Londo scenes, so that's nice. :)

Meanwhile, the true meat and the main plot of the episode are of course the Minbari goings-on. One detriment of s4 having to race through everything because JMS didn't yet know whether he'd get a fifth season is that we get only two episodes of Neroon and Delenn conspiring together for the greater good; in a better tv world, we'd have gotten five or six, as with Londo and G'Kar in the first six eps of the season. Still, I'm grateful for what we got, because Neroon's development from s1 onwards as a character, and of his adversarial relationship with Delenn, has been most captivating to watch even for Centauri-and-Narn-centric folk like me. It's also a relationship where both characters have learned something; this rewatch reminded me again how incredibly high-handed and arrogant Delenn acted towards Neroon in their first episode together. (The Warrior/Religious divide is definitely not just the fault of one side and their attitudes.) Delenn simply ordering Neroon to do her bidding as a very far cry from Delenn approaching Neroon for help, appealing to his patriotism and explaining her plan to him (and no one else, more about this in a moment). Yes, one of the reasons is that Neroon has changed - last timem she saw him, he gave up fighting her to the death for leadership of the Rangers out of his own volition -, but I think another is that she has changed as well.

That's aside of Mira Furlan and Jon Vickers having excellent chemistry in their scenes together. Their "is that a compliment?" "after a fashion" exchange reminded me, not for the first time, that if I ship Delenn with anyone, it's with Neroon, who doesn't hero-worship her, and who isn't part of any prophecy or atonment effort. If someone has written the AU where Sheridan remains dead on Z'ha'dum, Ivanova gets his plot line re the Earth Civil War and Delenn ends the Minbari Civil War in an arranged marriage with Neroon, link me, please.

Lastly: this is an episode where we see both how important Lennier is to Delenn emotionally, and how he's picked up her habit of selected truth telling for The Other Party's Own Good. The irony here is that for all of Lennier's speech of how Delenn lives in a better world and always sees the best of everyone and he therefore cannot possibly tell her her fellow Reigious Caste members were plotting Harakiri... she's busy plotting behind everyone's, including Lennier's back with Neroon because she has a pretty good idea that they won't get either caste to listen any other way. And that's leaving aside that Delenn has had her share of bad experiences with fellow Religious Caste members (like the time she got kicked out of the Grey Council, say, or the various times she was adressed as "freak" in s2), so "Delenn believes we're better than we are" is either Lennier at his most deludedly idolizing, or he himself is consciously employing shaming psychology to ensure there will be no more mass suicide attempts.


Moments of Transition

Which is a great ensemble episode offering a variety of different plot lines and guest stars that manage to make a surprisingly together whole: the Minbari Civil War, Lyta, Garibaldi, Bester, and in the tag scene, the Earth Civil War now getting hot as Sheridan decides to go on the (military) attack. Back in the original broadcast day, I was hoping Neroon was faking it with Shakiri, but I didn't know until he picked the territory for the surrender and mentioned it would be broadcast all over Minbar. Rewatching, his questions directed at Shakiri all seem designed to give Shakiri the opportunity to prove himself the better man - and Shakiri consistently fails, down to planning for Delenn's murder.

I think Delenn didn't tell Lennier the actual plan because she knew he would protest at her risking her life this way, and she had planned for him to succeed her in the long term anyway, but I do wonder whether her staying in the Starfire Wheel after Shakiri left was a spur of the moment or something she had at least considered doing before. I mean: fasting after Sheridan's "death" aside, Delenn usually doesn't strike me as suicidal, but: she did consider the Minbari Civil War partially her responsibility for breaking the Grey Council, and she is one for radical atonement gestures. She definitely had not expected for Neroon to replace her in the Starfire Wheel. (I don't have a long Neroon and Delenn story in me, I don't think, but I once did write a brief vignette about them.)

Neroon changing Castes while dying: I always took this to be so Shakiri won't be able to declare everything a win for the Warrior Caste after all, but I can also see the interpretation by some of the Minbari centric B5 watchers I've heard of who point out this is reversing the course of Branmer's life (Branmer: the religious caste member turned warrior caste in the Earth/Minbari war whose body Delenn and Neroon are arguing about in Neroon's debut episode in s1) and thus restoring balance of the Castes. I do like that the restored Grey Council really is not a repeat of the old one but structurally new, with the Worker Caste now dominating, but I have to day, Delenn's "you have forgotten the Workers, did you?" speech would have been even better if she had said "We have forgotten the Workers", because the series never showed us Delenn attempting to converse with a Worker Caste Minbari or learn their opinion or do anything like this before.

Meanwhile on B5, Lyta finds out that, to quote Bester in this episode's most quotable line, that: "Being a freedom fighter, a force for good - it's wonderful thing: you get to make your own hours, looks good on the resume - but the pay sucks." On the one hand, there's been enough emphasis on the tight B5 budget even in better times that her moving into smaller quarters seems reasonable. Otoh, someone really should have considered paying her a salary and making her a part of the regular station staff instead of leaving it to her how to earn her income and ignoring the obvious difficulties. Incidentally, that the B5 visiting humans don't think Psi Corps regulations are stupid and they don't care as long as Lyta does the job underlines it's not just Psi Corps or Earth under Clark that's the problem in the telepath situation, that it's far more long term and baked into human society than that. As does still no one other than Zack bothering to interact with Lyta (and thus finding out she's in difficulties) other than when she's needed to risk her life and sanity (again). Which evidently Bester with his cynical view of "mundanes" counted on.

This is the episode that reveals Bester is "Mysterious Forces" manipulating Garibaldi, and not just when deliberately provoking him. (BTW, that Lyta doesn't realize he did this intentionally is a bit surprising, but otoh, maybe she does and just assumes he did it on her account, which isn't completely wrong, but only half of the truth.) A first time viewer doesn't yet know why or how it's connected with the ongoing Edgars plot, but between Edgars on the one hand claiming that he is developing a serum to "help telepaths" and on the other hand not wanting any telepath either near himself or near anyone who works for him, there's a pretty big hint that there is a connection. It's also ironic that if Lyta had given in to Zack's request and scanned Garibaldi against his will, she might have uncovered the entire plot. (Zack does have excellent policeman instincts in his repeated insistence that something isn't completely mentally right with Garibaldi from the moment Garibaldi quit his job onwards.)

Lastly: Lyta putting the badge and the gloves back on makes for a harrowing final image of her in this episode. It's also something no one could overlook from this point onwards. Now, the season provides a good excuse for the B5 command staff in that Sheridan, Ivanova & Co. are in an active war against Earth from this episode onwards, so they are literally to busy to think of Lyta on their own. But you'd think Susan at least the first time she sees Lyta back with the badge and gloves after this is shocked into asking why, given how she feels about the Corps (and how she knows Lyta feels). Maybe if the show had been guaranteed a fifth season at this point of writing, there'd have been time for a such scene, but as it is, we're left with the impression none of them really cares. Lyta's increasing bitterness is certainly well founded.

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