TV Guide article deepens RANGERS timeline mystery

There have been a number of people recently suggesting that To Live and Die in Starlight might actually be set before the Telepath War. Someone claimed that JMS said so at the Vancouver Gathering (although that was disputed by at least one atendee), and Antony suggested that it would take place before the Teep War as well (although I don't think he said what his source was). Now there's a new article in TV Guide that adds more confusion: http://www.tvguide.com/newsgossip/insider/010621c.asp
JMS says "It's set in the year 2265, which is about two years after B5 ended." That sentence only makes sense if TLaDiS takes place in early 2265 (just over two years after late 2262, the end of B5), which could only be during of just after the Teep War, not before.


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Well, JMS originally said: "It's set in the B5 universe just under 3 years after the events of "Objects at Rest." Under 3 years, not 3 years after. So if you add that "about 2 years" to this equation, it all points to about mid-2265.

From late December 2262 to early January 2265, that's 2 years. It probably happens between January 2265 and December 2265. And JMS has said the telepath war takes place 2264-2265, but without going into details about the months.

So with all these hints, I'd put my money on it taking place somewhere mid-2265. But without JMS telling us the exact months or actually saying it happens during the teep war (which some say he has), we really can't tell.

But who cares, we'll know when it comes out.

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vakie

Usually time-lines are fairly easy to sort out. I'd think JMS would just go to the moderated group and answer it. But the moderated group had some tech problems. Maybe the question never got through to him.

Or he's laughing at us all,thinking "let them keep wondering for awhile, it will wet their appetites!"

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"Why not? Only 1 Human captain has ever survived battle with the Minbari fleet. He is behind me, you are in front of me. If you value your lives, be somewhere else."

We were discussing all of this on the newsgroup back in March. In the middle of the thread, JMS posted the following. The quoted section (in italics) is from one of my messages:

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Of course, we don't know the exact dates of the Teep War (hell, it could start on December 31st 2264 and end on January 1st 2265), nor do we know exactly when the Rangers (I refuse to abbreviate it as LotR ) pilot takes place. Probably somewhere in 2265. So, depending on exactly what JMS does, the new project could start just after the Teep War or it could overlap it just for the pilot, or it may be going on all or part of the way through season one.

See, you know what's the most fun for me in all this?

That people can actually have enough information to be able to discuss a sequence of events two hundred years in the future, to within a few weeks one way or another in a fictional universe.

That's just boss...

jms

(all message content (c) 2001 by synthetic worlds, ltd., permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine and don't send me story ideas)<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Or he's laughing at us all,thinking "let them keep wondering for awhile, it will wet their appetites!"<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Since I asked him point-blank about the Vancouver report on the newsgroup, and he hasn't replied, I'd say this is a pretty good bet. BTW, it is "whet" as in sharpen, not "wet" as in moisten.

Regards,

Joe

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Joseph DeMartino
Sigh Corps
Pat Tallman Division
joseph-demartino@att.net

Thanks, Joe. I never claimed to be an English major, just a Mathematics one. And I did not know it was "whet" as in to sharpen. I never knew "whet" was a word.

If JMS has been having fun with this since MARCH then I'd say our odds of figuring it out in June/July are 0%.


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"Why not? Only 1 Human captain has ever survived battle with the Minbari fleet. He is behind me, you are in front of me. If you value your lives, be somewhere else."

Joe it was something to the effect of some guy (JMS) laughing his a** off at fans while he was the one who set them up to debate this.



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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Chris Springob:
There have been a number of people recently suggesting that To Live and Die in Starlight might actually be set before the Telepath War. Someone claimed that JMS said so at the Vancouver Gathering (although that was disputed by at least one atendee), and Antony suggested that it would take place before the Teep War as well (although I don't think he said what his source was). Now there's a new article in TV Guide that adds more confusion: http://www.tvguide.com/newsgossip/insider/010621c.asp
JMS says "It's set in the year 2265, which is about two years after B5 ended." That sentence only makes sense if TLaDiS takes place in early 2265 (just over two years after late 2262, the end of B5), which could only be during of just after the Teep War, not before.


<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Do you know if this article will be reprinted in the paper-TV Guide? Or was it an online article only?


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"Why not? Only 1 Human captain has ever survived battle with the Minbari fleet. He is behind me, you are in front of me. If you value your lives, be somewhere else."

hypatia--I have no idea.


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OK, thanks for the info. I didn't see it in the paper editions, and wondered if it would be in next week's or not.

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"Why not? Only 1 Human captain has ever survived battle with the Minbari fleet. He is behind me, you are in front of me. If you value your lives, be somewhere else."

Since the date on the article is today's date, it would probably show up in next week's issue, if it shows up in the print version at all.


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Joe took me awhile but:

jms said:
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>> See, you know what's the most fun for me in all this?
>
> That people can actually have enough information to be able to discuss a
> sequence of events two hundred years in the future, *to within a few weeks one
> way or another* in a fictional universe.
>
> That's just boss....
>
> jms
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Joe responded:

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>
Well, I'm glad *one* of us is having fun you sick, sadistic, b*stard. <g>

"That people can actually have enough information..."

"That people can actually have..." I *love* that. Like the information
just *showed up* one day. Like a certain writer-producer who shall remain
nameless didn't make *sure* that just enough information got out in various
forms that we *would* endlessly speculate about all this - but not enough
that we'd be able to definitively work out the answers. <g><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

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[This message has been edited by curt (edited June 21, 2001).]

Too bad they completly ignored Crusade

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by curt:
Joe took me awhile but:

jms said:
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Sorry, the JMS quote didn't seem to come through, curt.

But now I really AM confused. The quote you give makes it seem that JMS has no intention of letting on as to the time line (in terms of the Teep war and B5LR). Yet won't the tv-movie give some of the timeline away?

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"Why not? Only 1 Human captain has ever survived battle with the Minbari fleet. He is behind me, you are in front of me. If you value your lives, be somewhere else."

But Joe, your response to JMS's response was just as good

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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>But Joe, your response to JMS's response was just as good<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I'm glad you liked it, whatever it was, but I have no recollection of it. (And unfortunately JMS News only archives his side of the conversation. Like that was the important part or something. )

Regards,

Joe

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Joseph DeMartino
Sigh Corps
Pat Tallman Division
joseph-demartino@att.net

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by hypatia:

But now I really AM confused. The quote you give makes it seem that JMS has no intention of letting on as to the time line (in terms of the Teep war and B5LR). Yet won't the tv-movie give some of the timeline away?

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well I think we will know once the show is aired. I think he is just having a kick out of setting up this elaborate universe--one where he says he knows exactly when and why Delenn dies--and then watching fandom speculate as to where certain things fit.


As Joe says, he is one sick b*st*rd.


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[This message has been edited by curt (edited June 22, 2001).]

[This message has been edited by curt (edited June 22, 2001).]

---

sorry double post.



[This message has been edited by curt (edited June 22, 2001).]

In my opinion, there will be no date and no relation to Teep War in LoTR and so discussion is just academical . It gives JMS more space for manoeuvring for possible series.

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As Lorien said, There is always hope.

JMS seems to have said different things to different people and while he hasn't exactly contradicted himself, he has definitely blurred the edges a bit.

IF Rangers goes to a series and IF it is shown on a network where I can see it
I hope over the five (or seven) year arc that it will include not only the Telepath War but also the Drakh plague and the search for a cure. That would still leave Crusade free to pursue their destiny in whatever way JMS wishes.

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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>In my opinion, there will be no date and no relation to Teep War in LoTR and so discussion is just academic<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Here I have to disagree. If the Teep War has concluded just before the movie, or is still going on during it, it would be unnatural if nobody mentioned it. We know the IA (meaning the Rangers) intervened late in the war. We know that G'Kar, who is featured prominently in the film, spent two years travelling with the person most directly repsonsible for the war. Two years during which he tried to persuade her to follow the peaceful path he himself finally came to embrace after years of seeking to destroy the Centauri.

It would seem very odd if G'Kar never says a word about Lyta or the tragedy that she percipitated. Even A Call to Arms teased us with a mention of the war. Finally there seems no question about two things: The Teep War started in 2264 and ended in 2265, and the Rangers pilot is set in 2265. So it is impossible for the movie to take place before the start of the war.

(JMS is often careless about dates and frequently rounds things off, even in dialogue within the series. If "Objects at Rest" take place very late in 2262 it seems impossible for Delenn to be far enough along in her pregnancy to bear David before the end of that year. But we're repeatedly told that David is 16 in 2278. The dates for the Earth-Minbar war shift around, and Gideon can never seem to decide if he met Galen 9 years ago or 10, even though all of the Crusade episodes take place in the same year. At one point he discussed the "possible side story" series - which may have been either Crusade or Rangers - as taking place during season five, or just after it. The events could be shifted around depending on when TNT wanted to launch the series.)

Regards,

Joe

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Joseph DeMartino
Sigh Corps
Pat Tallman Division
joseph-demartino@att.net