I'm just finishing watching The Gathering again, it's been a while. Like all pilots, it's clunky, but interesting. The road not taken is always an interesting subject, especially in the B5 universe.
But the assassination plot is also interesting. The assassin is an unnamed member of the Wind Swords, one of the five clans of the Minbari Warrior Caste. He sneaks onto the station from a Narn transport, and tries to kill Ambassador Kosh. Leaving out how a physical poison could affect an <spoiler alert!> energy being, just what was the plan here?
The Minbari are supposed to hold the Vorlons in, what, high regard? Sacred status? No Minbari has killed another Minbari in a thousand years, on orders from Valen. Do they not have a similar law regarding killing Vorlons? And if they do, what would it take to break such a commandment? The only other thing we know about the Wind Swords is that they gave sanctuary to Deathwalker, the notorious Dilgar war criminal. She gave them "terrible" weapons, which they later offered to the Grey Council for use in the Earth-Minbari War. It is not known if the Grey Council accepted. But it does seem very unlikely that the Grey Council approved of the plan to assassinate Ambassador Kosh. The Wind Swords were acting on their own. It is assumed from the clunky pilot movie that they simply wanted the Vorlons to blame Commander Sinclair, and maneuver them into retaliating against Earth itself. As revenge for the death of Dukhat, that seems reasonable, although rather dishonorable for a Minbari mission. Has something changed?
Did Deathwalker's mere presence corrupt the Wind Swords, or their leadership? Was it her words, her ideology, her technology? There is something serious going on here, something that would cause a fanatical clan of Minbari warriors to defy the authority of the Grey Council, and even attempt to kill a Vorlon ambassador, one of the Minbari Federation's key allies.
Were there any consequences for this fiasco? The Vorlons are rather protective of each other, and would obviously want to discourage attacks on their representatives in the future. Making examples would help with that. If the Vorlons were ready to open fire on Babylon 5 over this fiasco, what sort of collective punishment would they have in mind for the Wind Swords trying to kill Kosh? The Grey Council should be ready to accommodate any demands from the Vorlon Empire.
But what is it about the corruption aspect of the Wind Swords' contact with Deathwalker? The Dilgar invasion of the League of Non-Aligned Worlds (which may or may not be aligned with Earth?...) was devastating for the races of the League. Their rapid and total military success in that campaign, combined with the corruption element, makes me think of the Shadows. And it is entirely possible that the Shadows just fell in love with Earth after Earthforce smashed the powerful and terrifying Dilgar, demonstrating their prowess in the true great game of the galaxy, the survival of the fittest. But before that, were they supporting the Dilgar in any way?
The point being, what else would cause such a powerful Minbari warrior clan to split from the Grey Council's rule, and attempt to kill one of the Minbari Federation's most important allies? They sheltered Deathwalker, but did she affect changes in their thinking and decision-making? Did she peel them away from the traditional Minbari-Vorlon alliance in some way? This is all unexplained.
Unfortunately, there is very little information on the Wind Swords or the Dilgar in the new B5 encyclopedia. But perhaps that will change.
Raw Shark
"We'll bomb those bastards like bastards have never been bombed!"
Richard Milhouse Nixon
But the assassination plot is also interesting. The assassin is an unnamed member of the Wind Swords, one of the five clans of the Minbari Warrior Caste. He sneaks onto the station from a Narn transport, and tries to kill Ambassador Kosh. Leaving out how a physical poison could affect an <spoiler alert!> energy being, just what was the plan here?
The Minbari are supposed to hold the Vorlons in, what, high regard? Sacred status? No Minbari has killed another Minbari in a thousand years, on orders from Valen. Do they not have a similar law regarding killing Vorlons? And if they do, what would it take to break such a commandment? The only other thing we know about the Wind Swords is that they gave sanctuary to Deathwalker, the notorious Dilgar war criminal. She gave them "terrible" weapons, which they later offered to the Grey Council for use in the Earth-Minbari War. It is not known if the Grey Council accepted. But it does seem very unlikely that the Grey Council approved of the plan to assassinate Ambassador Kosh. The Wind Swords were acting on their own. It is assumed from the clunky pilot movie that they simply wanted the Vorlons to blame Commander Sinclair, and maneuver them into retaliating against Earth itself. As revenge for the death of Dukhat, that seems reasonable, although rather dishonorable for a Minbari mission. Has something changed?
Did Deathwalker's mere presence corrupt the Wind Swords, or their leadership? Was it her words, her ideology, her technology? There is something serious going on here, something that would cause a fanatical clan of Minbari warriors to defy the authority of the Grey Council, and even attempt to kill a Vorlon ambassador, one of the Minbari Federation's key allies.
Were there any consequences for this fiasco? The Vorlons are rather protective of each other, and would obviously want to discourage attacks on their representatives in the future. Making examples would help with that. If the Vorlons were ready to open fire on Babylon 5 over this fiasco, what sort of collective punishment would they have in mind for the Wind Swords trying to kill Kosh? The Grey Council should be ready to accommodate any demands from the Vorlon Empire.
But what is it about the corruption aspect of the Wind Swords' contact with Deathwalker? The Dilgar invasion of the League of Non-Aligned Worlds (which may or may not be aligned with Earth?...) was devastating for the races of the League. Their rapid and total military success in that campaign, combined with the corruption element, makes me think of the Shadows. And it is entirely possible that the Shadows just fell in love with Earth after Earthforce smashed the powerful and terrifying Dilgar, demonstrating their prowess in the true great game of the galaxy, the survival of the fittest. But before that, were they supporting the Dilgar in any way?
The point being, what else would cause such a powerful Minbari warrior clan to split from the Grey Council's rule, and attempt to kill one of the Minbari Federation's most important allies? They sheltered Deathwalker, but did she affect changes in their thinking and decision-making? Did she peel them away from the traditional Minbari-Vorlon alliance in some way? This is all unexplained.
Unfortunately, there is very little information on the Wind Swords or the Dilgar in the new B5 encyclopedia. But perhaps that will change.
Raw Shark
"We'll bomb those bastards like bastards have never been bombed!"
Richard Milhouse Nixon
:guffaw: 
