Catherine Sakai

Sure. I forgot to mention that this parallelism definitely manifested itself *after* Sinclair left, after the Sheridan character was introduced. When JMS said that the story of Babylon 5 was very much Sinclair's story, it was still very early on in the series and he may still have been in the early stages of toying with the idea of a Sheridan-character. But we don't know that.

But the parallelism definitely only comes if you deal with Sheridan after Sinclair. Which makes your point equally as valid.

one question, i understand Chrysalis was the 10th episode to be produced and aired last. was the decision to change the Sinclair arc made before or after then? i say it cause in the season final commentary JMS talks about how he and O´Hare talked and agreed to pick up the character later on. just curious.

The decision to drop Sinclair was made in the later part of Season 1. What I do not understand is why no mention was made in the last 3 episodes produced - "A Voice in the Wilderness - Part 1", "- Part 2" or "Eyes". Such a warning would have fitted the story line of all 3.

Didn't JMS do a major rewrite? He had already wrote the story and then changed it. If I had a dollar for all of the theories I would be a millionaire.

I thought B5 was the story of Londo.

Well the story of the story of the Centauri (at this stage) is certainly the story of Londo and it is a very good story. The story of G'Kar (which is also very good) is not so much the story of the Narn. Actually they have very little story which is basicially because they never have or will amount to much.

Delenn's story is very closely linked to the story of the Minbari but her personal story trails off a little (I think). I think this is a result of Sinclair leaving (he is tied to the Minbari too) and of the timming of some events changing. If Delenn had gone on to form and lead the ISA on her own I think her arc would have been tied off better.

Then there is Sinclair/Sheridan which I don't want to think about in this post. Once we consider Kosh that covers all the major characters in Galactic politics who have real arcs.

The rest of the characters tell smaller stories (Psi-Corp & telepathy, Earth Politics, return of the Shadows) and finally some personal stories such as Lennie's love for Delenn and Ivonova's tragic family.

As for B5. That's a place to bring together Galactic Politics and character and it's the centre of a war effort.

Yes, I believe that Joe D has said before, more than once, this is what JMS said. But, though I don't remember exactly what was said, I suspect it was more like: "more than anyone else, it is Londo's story".

It's pretty obvious it's also a story about some other, quite significant, characters.

I think it is the story of Babylon 5 the space station and the characters lives who live in it.

Good answer! and I think the best one, because every character was essential to tell the story.

JMS said on several occasions, early and later, that he had the final episode "Sleeping in Light" in his mind before he began to write. That included the destruction of Babylon 5.
If WWE had been the final episode it would have made no sense because half the story still had to be told -- that is, the whole war with Earth which began with Santiago's death at the end of Season 1. I don't believe Sinclair was the type to lead a revolution against Earth.

JMS said on several occasions that a Sheridan-type character was always to be introduced about midway in Season 2 to take up a major part of the story.

There are a group of fans who still want to unite Sinclair and Delenn, and I can never see why. There's no indication of it in Season 1, nor in the book To Dream..........

Sleeping in Light doesn't actually have that much of a plot. Sheridan is about to die; everyone gets together (unless I've forgotten something).

Now WWE could easily incorporate the points about the characterswhich make up the majority of SiL. Bumping it up to a Feature Length like the Gathering would allow time. Remember that Sinclair looks 20 years older in Babylon Squared which is not terribly relevant to the plot in WWE (it's rather explained away).

I know that the whole show involves misleading points and stuff but some just seem so much like they have been changed.

Which leads me on to Sinclair and Delenn. Rule out "To Dream..." because it was written much later. In Season 1 Delenn and Sinclair are very close, they spend time one-on-one in the Garden. He runs to her aid when she is taken by the Soul Hunter "I knew you would come". She is deeply involved with him (even if it is a red herring) during the marriage ceremony.
As the stroy turns out Lennier mentions the whole Minbari-Human souls thing to Sheridan and Ivonova, but in Season 1 Delenn had wanted to tell Sinclair and had stood waiting for his arrival. On Babylon Squared she puts her hand on his arm and comforts him.

Oh and she doesn't kill him when he remembers the Line even although she has been ordered to.

All this suggests a certain closeness I think.

Yep - the kind of closeness that can exist between two good friends -

- and the kind of closeness that can develop into something, ahem, more.

I don't know about you guys, but I liked the story as it is. Sheridan wasn't my favourite character, but he did ok.