No One Visits Me Anymore

Now that I’ve reached the end of viewing the B5 episodes again, I’m pausing for a moment of silence for poor old Draal. He didn’t personally appear in B5 after the third season episode “Voices of Authority and he isn't mentioned again after the fourth season episode “Conflicts of Interest.” Draal is not even called upon to help defend B5 in “A View From the Gallery.” Delenn leaves for Minbar in a permanent address change away from her former mentor and not even a backward glance at Epsilon 3. Who visits him now? Poor guy is left alone to run the Great Machine with only the bug-eating Zathras clan to talk to. How exasperating that must be! What’s a lonely computer brain to do? Do you think a tourist bureau might help? Oh well. (big sigh)

QMCO5

Yeah. I remember him telling Sheridan that their alliance that was started near the end of season 2 would be the first of many and then you never see the guy again.

Well he's a pretty busy guy, having a planet to run and a great machine to tend to and all. Give him a break. Sheesh!

Yeah. I remember him telling Sheridan that their alliance that was started near the end of season 2 would be the first of many and then you never see the guy again.

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I have seen that episode lots of times, and I have always got the impression that Draal was referring to this being the first of many alliances that Sheridan would have to make before the situation was resolved. And Sheridan did indeed make many alliances with other races in order to fight the Shadows - leading to the formation of the Interstellar Alliance.

I never ever felt that Draal was saying that this was the first of many times that they would work together.

Besides, the problem with Draal was actor (not story) related. After Louis Turenne played the part in A Voice in the Wilderness, he suffered a stroke and was unable to take up the role again in The Long Twilight Struggle, so John Schuck was cast as the younger, re-invigorated Draal, appearing again in Voices of Authority.

However, when the time came to film War Without End, John Schuck had been cast in a long running production of (I think) Hello Dolly on Broadway and couldn't get away, so rather than re-cast again JMS just referred to him in the script rather than go down to the planet as originally planned.

IIRC, Draal didn't appear any more after that.

JMS has always had an aversion to characters running around his stories with too much power (hence the Excalibur's power drain when firing its main weapons), so I would imagine Draal was always intended to disappear from sight once the Shadow War was over anyway.

They intended to put a trip to Draal in War WIthout End? Man, those two episodes are already so crammed with action and exposition I can't imagine how they would fit in anything else.

The trip to Epsilon 3 would have replaced the scenes on the White Star when Delenn gives one of her "A 1000 years ago..' speeches. It would have been the same kind of exposition, just a different setting, and I guess that would have been where Draal introduces them to Zathras.

Also, I think that originally (back before the Sheridan character hads been conceived of) the WWE / time rift / take B4 back episode was going to be at the end of S5, or very nearly so. In that case he would still be a presence right up until the end of the series. HMS probably would have reminded the audiance of his existance a couple more times in between.