Confusion

Why does everyone assume that LOR will be an epic tale of war with 'The Hand'? Isn't it possible for the whole 'Hand'issue to be dealt with completly in the pilot? Why would JMS bother with a new show, with the same premise? It's called Ledgend Of The Rangers. There's many directions JMS could take it. Besides, there's no mention of this new war in the various relevent novels.

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* "That hardly seems likely, does it?" >>>^<<<

It's certainly true that JMS likes to throw the curve ball. Let's hope we get to see a series, so we can learn what he has in mind...


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"What's up, Drakh?"

Michael Garibaldi

I've tried not to torture myself with speculation on what the series would be like until they actually committ to a series, BUT...

my impression is the Hand would be a Recurring Villian, not the Focus of the Series. There would be plenty of non Hand stories, and as time and the story devloped, something about the Hand would turn out to be not what it first appeared. JMS did hint that this series would be more action oriented than was B5, so plot access to an enemy wide ranging and powerful enough to not easily be destroyed helps that aspect.

As for not being mentioned in the source materials etc we've currently got access to, that's easily solved. How many times have you mentioned or read about the Arab-Isreali Wars or the Gulf War while discussing the Cold War? The struggle against the Hand (on whatever level it occurs) is not limited by the other materials b/c the other materials weren't about "the formative years of the ISA and the Ranger operations in the aftermath of the Shadow War".

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-Devin Barber

My calling is confusion. In accordance with the ancient traditions of the Shadow Nitpicking Team, I will gladly speculate about any and all possibilities, including the confusing ones.

However, while all options are possible (and often good material for speculation) some options are more probable than others.

Revealing the main plotline in a pilot movie is possible. But if I know anything about JMS, he is not likely to do so.

Hence the Hand is not likely to be a major player in the series itself. Our speculation about them is meant as speculation, nothing else. They are not likely to be significant.

If we would try to guess the arc of Babylon 5 basing on "The Gathering", we would never guess that this is the story of the last Shadow war. We are equally unlikely to guess the main plotline of "Rangers" basing on "To Live and Die in Starlight".

The only straightforward comment people have got from JMS is this: this is about rebuilding a galaxy after the Shadow war. Therefore it is unlikely to involve conflicts of similar proportions.

[This message has been edited by Lennier (edited January 03, 2002).]

I think there are also strong indications that we won't see a "Rangers" series putting the cast in the center of the big news stuff. JMS I thought said that they will work more on the fringe or (dare I say?) in the shadows, so to speak.

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"The Bible is a book: it is a good book, but is is not the only book" - Inherit the Wind

"I do not believe that the same God who
has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use."—Galileo

hypatia@b5fan.b5lr.com