Catherine Sakai

Lets see, so Sinclair and Delenn were supposed to end up together, but that changed when JMS decided to bring Sheridan into the story.

So, had Sinclair continued for the second season, what would have happened to Sakai?

my guess is she would have been killed by a Shadow ship while on an expedition, something similar to Anna Sheridan. has JMS posted something on this?

So far as I know JMS has always been disinclined to talk about "what might have happened". He says he always wrote in a trapdoor for everyone so that the story could carry on without them.

There were a number of character changes apart from Sheridan, including Ivanova in year 5, so if you want to guess about what might have happened your guess is as good as anyone's.

It's always hard to tell what would have happened. I'm not so sure they would have ended up together even then, though, because some of the hints that they were going to were red herrings. The "marriage ceremony," for example, was in fact a foreshadowing of Delenn's transformation.

All in all, I don't see much point in speculating on the non-Sheridan course of the universe. Sheridan, in my view, is such a powerful and symbolic character, it's kind of like saying, "what would the New Testament be like if Jesus had never existed?" A slight exaggeration, of course -- but only a slight one!

I like KoshFan's angle there.

Yea, JMS actually seems kind of 'touchy' when it comes to the what if speculation.

I think Sheridan would have been a busy boy, though.

But could he have "had it on" with someone who would end up being a descendant of his?

But could he have "had it on" with someone who would end up being a descendant of his?

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yeah. that would be a little... sick. didnt Dukhat say "you are a daughter of Valen" or something like that?

i know there´s not much point in this kind of speculation, but i think the Sakai-Sinclair relationship was going pretty well, so unless the Asian girl died or something i just cant see how he could have ended up with Delenn.

There may not be much point in it, Fas. But it's so much FUN!

No, I think JMS wouldn't have had Delen and Sinclair get together so to speak, not if he had this incredible surprise for us later on down the line.

I don't know if "getting together" with your great-great-etc. grandfather is as bad as doing so with a first cousin, but genetic complications usually arise eventually, I think.

Perhaps Delen's transition would have covered that. But I seriously suspect the threw in the "Delen romance angle" as a way to simply misdirect viewers.

He's a very sneaky guy, that JMS.

If Delenn and Sinclair were to "get together", so to speak, I think that she would have gone back in time with him. In "Babylon Squared" (before "War Without End" came about) Sinclair appeared to have become pretty old. Then again, there are a number of points that don't jive between the two stories (mainly in Zathras' explainings, but I'd have to watch them both again come up with a more thorough explanation). The figure who first appeared in the 2001 suit on B4 would likely have been Sinclair himself, and not Sheridan, leading to the kinetic discharge between the two like masses. And at the end, Delenn (not wearing a suit) tells him it's time to go. If she doesn't mean to the past, I don't think it would have been likely that he would have become Valen. But we already knew he would (now) because it was revealed in "The Gathering". We're not really sure about Delenn's genetic link with Sinclair until "Atonement", so that doesn't really matter. If Sinclair had remained on the show, that episode would not have occurred. And the sequel to "Babylon Squared" would probably have been the series' finale.

Catherine Sakai would probably have had a similar fate to that of Anna Sheridan, being captured by the Shadows and coming back to betray them.

Sakai could have been made into toast on one of her expeditions to a world such as Sigma 957.

I see Sakai's arc as being the exact pattern for Anna Sheridan's. A trip to the rim to explore Za'Ha'Dum leading to her capture etc. (Although I would personally have a tip-off come from someone on the station so it was more than a coincidence that she goes there).

I think this would have made for a very powerful story as we would have known the character and been really interested in her return; whereas we wanted Anna out of the way when Delenn was on the scene.

As for Delenn's fate I'm not so sure. I don't think that Sinclair would have ever been President of the ISA. I think this because as it turns out Delenn's arc ends as wife to Sheridan and sharing much of his arc. If her arc had been to become founding President of the ISA it would have been very neat and much more like G'Kar and Londo's arcs. It would also remove the odd circumstances in which Sheridan becomes President with no real election and when many people in the Universe hate him.
So I would find it difficult to believe that she then went back in time (and there was never - even in Season 1 - any mention of Valen and is wife) and bear in mind she was half-human. On the other hand Valen certainly always had children. In the real story he married Sakai and had children, in the original story who would it have been?

So I am of two minds. I think Delenn's arc would be better if she did not go back, but Valen's arc needs a wife. At the moment I can't satisfy myself to any conclusion.

Exactly, i thought the same thing about Sakai comming back in a similar way that Anna dud. And i dont think it would have made much sense to have Sinclair lead the war against Earth. I mean, he was just a fighter pilot and had no charisma. Sheridan on the other hand was an expert strategist, which made everything far more believable.

im glad JMS realized in season two how a different Sinclair arc would have never worked.

and i too think the story about Sakai going back in time was quite stupid (see City of Sorrows).

I found it interesting that Catherine went back in time in the book City of Sorrows. (I was about to write Path of Sorrows )

If Sinclair had stayed I believe that in the third year a second human military leader was due to arrive on Babylon 5 to fight Earth. That would have been General Hague/Sheridan. The General would probably have married Delenn and Sinclair would have rescued Catherine Sakai.

If you look at it, there was really no *need* for the Sakai character as she exists in the B5 mythos. What does she really do for the main plot? In B5, you can trace the reoccurring characters' PURPOSE very easily - why, everyone's got one. Not Sakai. She was around to, what, kiss the commander? Totally superfluous.

I definitely think that Sakai would have been the one to go to Z'ha'dum. The set-up is there - why, the whole first season is a great setup.

And it would have made a great arc. Anna coming back was bad enough - but, imagine if we watched Sinclair and Sakai fall back in love, get married, then we watch her go off to Z'ha'dum and diiiiiiie, watch Sinclair go through mourning, Sakai comes back, etc., oh, it would have been poisitively poifect...

Now that is the story line I wish had occured with Delenn getting married to Sinclair instead of Sheridan .

If Sinclair had stayed I believe the finale would have been War Without End.

If Sinclair had remained on the show, that episode would not have occurred. And the sequel to "Babylon Squared" would probably have been the series' finale.

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I've read many times where JMS said Sinclair would have left in the third season anyway. He always intended for a Sheridanlike character to takeover then. JMS once said he had these two different stories to tell, but then one day he realized he could put them together into one story, that ONE story became the multi-arc'd Babylon 5. If you compare the characters before and after season three you might think they were different characters if you didn't know it was Babylon 5.

Correct me if i'm wrong (and do it nicely please) but after going through a few old posts of JMS I think prior to making the series he had Sinclair doing everything with a minor charactor helping him through the earth war. He then realized this was too much for one man and decided to change it. He was going to bring someone new in i think either during season 2 or 3 (i'm guessing here). So the episodes in season one reflect this difference (Babylon Squared). Since Sinclair had other things to do (acting wise) he let him go early and brought in Bruce a little early. This changed things a bit making Babylon Squared seem a little awkward with WWE I-II. What do you guys think?

Look at Sleeping in Light; Sheridan 'disappears' without explaination 20 years after the fifth season.

Look at WWE; Sinclair 'disappers' without explaination while we see stories from 20 years after the fifth season.

This suggests to me that originally WWE was to have been the final episode. Though perhaps Sinclair would have gone to Minbar to become Ranger One four a couple of seasons while Sheridan took over. He then became Ranger One rather than Ivonova on Sinclair's departure.

"This get's worse all the time" Slight paraphrase of Baron-Adminsitrator Lando Calrissian.

That's parallelism, kaycee - it's a trope many writers use in their stories.

In many episodes, you hear that Valen led the Minbari to victory over the Shadows, instituted a new way of thinking about things, and then dissappeared in a religious-type experience. JMS wants to you draw parallels to Valen when you see Sheridan: he led his forces to victory over the Shadows, instituted a new way of thinking about things (the IA) and then dissappeared in a religions-type experience. Knowing it was Lorien who instituted Sheridan's dissappearance, and that Valen was actually you-know-who, you're supposed to think that maybe something similar happened to Valen at the end of his life...

...leaving you with many questions.

OK I can see that as a possibility (personally I hate the idea of this parrallelism, but that's why I'm not a writer).

It leaves a lot of of big questions though. If B4 was meant to go back in Season 3 then the Great Machine would still look a little washed out. The Sakai story implies that it was Sinclair who was to go to Za'Ha'Dum and would therefore meet Lorien.

All in all I accept the suggestion that just because two things look similar doesn't mean they were the same story. However I - personally - think that's things fit SO well in many areas that Sinclair must have retained a lot of what Sheridan actually gets. Remember that JMS said that the story of Babylon 5 was very much Sinclair's story.

But I respect your opinion too. (And I am mindful that the actual story is as we saw it).