Re: EpDis: Chrysalis
 

That's not quite true. JMS admitted that he came up with Sheridan becuase he realised that he couldn't lay everything on Sinclair, which means Sinclair originally was supposed to defeat the Shadows in the "present" and also go back in time and become Valen.

The Shadows being awake is a very small point. If, for the sake of argument, Sakai would have had the Anna Sheridan plot line if Sinclair stayed, then the Shadows could have been "awake" by someone else. No problem.

Also, I thnk some people take this "waking up the Shadows" bit too literally, as if the Shadows were all completely inactive until the Icarus visited. The Icarus landed on Z'ha D'um after the Earth-Minbari War, yet before the war the Vorlons were already starting to forge alliances and make plans (as shown in In the Beginning).

Re: EpDis: Chrysalis
 

Also, the Icarus was sent to Z'ha'dum only after Earth had snuck a tracking device onto the Shadow ship found buried on Mars and tracked the ship back to Z'ha'dum. And that ship on Mars was cut out and revitalized by another Shadow ship, so Shadows had to be moving to some degree well prior to the Icarus landing on Z'ha'dum.

Re: EpDis: Chrysalis
 

The fact that both of Sinclair's girlfriends, Carolyn Sykes and Catherine Sakai, were set up as interplanetary prospectors is too great a coincidence to ignore. We had already seen (in Parliament of Dreams?) that Sakai could be reckless and not heed G'Kar's warning. If things had not changed, G'Kar probably would've ended up commenting on that. Also, Sinclair was set to get married at the end of Season 1, then *poof* no Sakai ever again (on TV anyway), but on the second episode of Season 2, JMS quickly plots out the "death" of Sheridan's wife. If Sinclair had stayed, Sakai could have disappeared in early Season 2 on a mission, one that IPX would deny any knowledge of, and returned a year later. I think it would have been a much better payoff than the ultimate usage of Sheridan's wife (just like Takashima shooting Garibaldi in the back after a full season on the show would've blown our friggin' minds).

Re: EpDis: Chrysalis
 

Yes, I was going to make that point. The "return" of Anna Sheridan is a nice moment but imagine if it had been a return of Shadow-robot Sakai!

Re: EpDis: Chrysalis
 

someone may have to explain this to me (i haven't read the books so may not be privvy to some vital bit of information) when sinclair is watching clark get sworn in, kosh "glides" up behind him and says "so it begins" suggesting he knows exactly what sort of man clark is and the trouble he will cause... How does he know this?

Re: EpDis: Chrysalis
 

My quick answer is that Kosh had been inside Valen's mind and therefore had shared the memories of Sinclair in his personal past. This also explains how he knew he was going to die... and why it was necessary for hm to do so.

Re: EpDis: Chrysalis
 

obviously i missed that (from one of the books right? the only B5 literature i have read so far is a copy of space, time and the incurable romantic.).

Re: EpDis: Chrysalis
 

Well I was going more on the idea that Kosh said he had touched one person's mind before, in the same way he had touched Sheridan's... and that would have been Valen. I think this is hinted at in the extended version of the Gathering where Kosh greets Sinclair with an "Ent'hil Zha Valen", though I haven't seen it.

Re: EpDis: Chrysalis
 

Gave this one an A, excellent episode. I was going to mention what Kosh had said "And so it begins" until ranger1 mentioned it a few posts up. However I never thought about the timing of kosh's statement just after Clark's sworn in. The quote below has helped clear a question i always pondered about...how could Kosh know that Sheridan was so important? It was obvious why he respected Sinclair but until now, Sheridan.

PS. When i was first started to watch B5 around 3 years ago now, i was umming and arring about B5, season 1 did not grip me until this very episode. It was the Shadow vessels in battle (well slaughter really) and at the very end, seeing the Shadow's themselves. After that...I bought season after season, i was hooked. I'm still trying to get missus to watch it (she loves Stargate) and she's watched a few but she's having none of it.

Got to keep trying.

Re: EpDis: Chrysalis