Kosh's creepy dream sequence

[Joseph DeMartino]

Re: Kosh\'s creepy dream sequence

Maybe Kosh knew that Sheridan would be key to the coming Shadow war and he wanted to "condition" him so to speak.

Yes, I think that's very much the case. For one thing, Valen would have told Kosh that Sheridan would replace Sinclair as B5 commander, ally himself with Delenn and be instrumental in stealing B4. So whereas Kosh had avoided council meetings and other contact with Sinclair, for fear of interfering with the time line, he made a point of attending the meetings after Sheridan took command and obviously regarded Sheridan as important. (Enough for Kosh to leave his encounter suit to rescue him at the end of S2.)

Regards,

Joe

 

[RW7427]

Re: Kosh\'s creepy dream sequence

Wow, the great Joe DeM and I agree! Very cool.

 

[KoshFan]

Re: Kosh\'s creepy dream sequence

Excellently thought out, Joe, I never connected Kosh's reclusiveness prior to Sheridan's arrival with concern for keeping the timestreams stable....

Makes me feel all the more sorry for Kosh, though. If he and Valen were good buds back in 1260, it must have been a little painful to see the guy who's going to be your friend walk through life, and you're unable to say a thing to him.

 

[Mloren]

Digging this up 20 years later because there are a lot of different interpretations of Sheridan's dream but I recently got my hands on the Script Book Volume 3 which contains notes about this episode and in it JMS spells out what the dream actually means so I'm sharing it here.
The full text is too long to type out (it's 4 pages) so I'm paraphrasing:

Ivanova with a raven or crow perched on her shoulder: A reference to Norse mythology where ravens or crows where the bringers of news and the eyes and ears of Odin. Used as a metaphor for her becoming the voice of the resistance. When she asks "do you know who I am?" it's a reference to her being a latent telepath.

Sheridan on the bridge looking down at himself, while the self below looks up at him: Foreshadowing a scene in Sleeping in Light where Sheridan walks into this corridor and remembers himself standing up on the bridge, recreating this moment.

Sheridan wearing a Psi Corps badge: Foreshadowing Sheridan using telepaths as a weapon in the Shadow War. JMS asks "is Sheridan no better than Psi Corps for using people this way?"

Ivanova wearing a black dress and veil: Mourning for Sheridan dying in Sleeping in Light.
"You are the hand" refers to Sheridan being the cause of great change in the future.

Garabaldi stating "The man in-between is looking for you": Not a reference to Justin, JMS specifically mentions this fan theory and dismisses it. It refers to future Sheridan, when he dies at Z'ha'dum, Lorien describes him as being in-between tick and tock. Sheridan's death and temporary resurrection leaves him frozen in-between. This future Sheridan is waiting for present Sheridan to make the decisions that will lead him to become the in-between man, hence the "looking for him" part.

Garibaldi with a dove on his shoulder: No meaning. JMS just thought it was funny to make Jerry Doyle have to stand around with a dove on his shoulder.

 

[LateArrival]

Interesting as to the man-in-between, since in Shadow Dancing Ivanova says something like:
"Well, if that's what it is then the man in between knows who you are now that we've kicked him hard and where it hurts". Although she does say "IF that's what it is".