Contents: Overview - Backplot - Questions - Analysis - Notes - JMS

Overview

As Sheridan and Ivanova try to gain recognition of the station's new status among the alien governments, a traveler arrives with an unbelievable story out of distant legend. Michael York.

P5 Rating: 7.79

Production number: 312
Original air week: April 22, 1996

Written by J. Michael Straczynski
Directed by Mike Vejar

An episodic soundtrack is available.

Backplot

• G'Kar has been using a human courier to get messages back and forth between the station's Narn and the homeworld.
• The first Earth vessel to encounter a Minbari warship was the Prometheus. As the Minbari ship approached with gun ports open, a sign of respect ("Legacies") the Prometheus' captain ordered its crew to open fire. The resulting battle destroyed two Minbari warships and killed the leader of the Grey Council, Dukhat.
• 20,000 people were sent to defend Earth in the Battle of the Line. Only 200 survived. (Presumably the bulk of the 20,000 were aboard large ships, not individual fighters.)

Unanswered Questions

• Given how badly outmatched humans were during the war, how did the Prometheus manage to inflict so much damage? Simply a matter of the element of surprise?
• How much truth is there in Marcus' joking speculation about the Vorlons? Or in his drawing of parallels between the B5 crew and Arthurian legend? (If there's a lot of truth there, then who is the Morgana Le Fay figure?)
• What is the "dawn of a new age" Marcus referred to when he told Franklin about the Ranger pin? Any relation to the Third Age of Mankind as mentioned in the opening monologues of seasons one and two?

Analysis

• Relying on a large number of races for the station's defense may turn out to be a logistical nightmare. Ivanova will have to deal with questions like the structure of the chain of command (does she have the authority to order a Vree ship to fire?) and what to do about races who've agreed to participate but whose enemies haven't, which could lead to a situation like the one in "The Fall of Night." Still, as a simple show of force and a deterrent, the arrangement may well end up being sufficient.
• How did Marcus know about the events in "Comes the Inquisitor?" He arrived on the station after that was all over. Perhaps Sheridan or Delenn told him. Is the fact that the Vorlons have visited Earth in the past now common knowledge?
• The Prometheus didn't destroy all the Minbari ships, since Delenn held Dukhat in her arms as he died ("Severed Dreams.")
• At what point did the Soul Hunter ("Soul Hunter") show up during the battle between the Prometheus and the Minbari ships? From Arthur's description, it sounded like the battle didn't last long; the Soul Hunter would almost have had to be onboard Dukhat's ship before the fighting began.
• The Drazi ambassador now speaks for the League of Non-Aligned Worlds, whose membership seems to have gotten much smaller than a year ago. Perhaps many of the races have been taken over by their neighbors already, with Shadow help ("Severed Dreams.")
• Arthur's line about returning "because I am most needed here and now" is analogous to Sebastian's description of Delenn and Sheridan as "the right people in the right place at the right time" ("Comes the Inquisitor.")

Notes

• For more information about Arthurian legend, see Arthurian Resources on the Internet.
• It should be noted that Arthurian legend is exactly that: legend. While there are historical figures who match bits and pieces of the legend, there almost certainly was never an actual King Arthur.
• The Minbari name for the Ranger pin is Isil'zha.
• Prometheus is a figure from Greek mythology, a Titan who gave fire to mankind. For more information see The Creation of Man by Prometheus.

jms speaks

• Michael York is currently shooting with us in "A Late Delivery From Avalon," and doing an amazing job. This may turn into one of our best episodes, from a performance and emotion perspective. I had a few doubts about the script -- it has a kind of writing style I don't use very often, and very stylized in appearance -- but it's coming out great.

• York finished with us quite some time ago. Great episode, and a nice man. Very friendly, very polite, nothing of the "I'm a STAR" attitude one often gets with...well, *stars*. He was even very nice when I gleepily asked him to sign my laserdisk of CABARET.

• York's a major film actor who's starred in many films, including one of my personal favorites, "Cabaret." Also in the "Logan's Run" movie.

• If you've got someone new to the show, who might not know the backstory very well, then probably the Michael York episode, "A Late Delivery From Avalon" would be a good one.

• I *really* like this episode a lot. The performance, the music, everything works; I tried to get a little artsy, try out some different kinds of stuff, stretch some muscles I haven't used enough, and it came out very nicely. It's just nifty.

• I like this one a lot. Not really an arc episode, except in going into some backstory elements, but just nicely done. I'm quite proud of this one.

• The Delenn/Arthur moment played out very well; no lines, not a word, just the images, and the emotions under the surface.

• I'll say one thing about one of those eps, but I won't say which one; when people hear what it appears to be about, the immediate reaction is going to be "Oh, god, they're not doing THAT are they?" and there'll be a lot of sarcasm and head shaking...until the episode airs, and folks see that what it's about...is *not* what it's about...and I think it'll be a very popular episode thereafter.

• About the title
  I often labor a long time on these things, to try and give them many layers, or turn the title in on itself, or do a play on words. I can't start work on a script until I have a title, because the title sets the mood.

• Did Arthurian legends influence the heroic-epic style of B5's storyline?
  Well, if you're going to look at heroic epic, sure, the Arthurian story is a classic...but the earliest and best of these remain the Illiad and the Odyssey. Homer was definitely hitting all cylinders with that.

  If there's an aspect that informed B5's development, it's the arc of that heroic epic, which if you look at it dispassionately, is as much about the people *around* the hero as the hero himself. And all too often, the hero achieves the goal, but falls or falters or is changed by the end of it. Much of what passes for contemporary "heroic epic" assumes that it means the Good Guys Win. Heroic here as a term goes back to its much earlier origins, a "heroic effort" is something that takes everything you have, against terrible or impossible odds.

  Yes, you achieve the goal...but you fall in battle in the fields of Troy. Yes, you create Camelot, but in the end you are destroyed and Camelot falls. There's tragedy and mistakes side by side with the glory and the gains. The accounts of Arthur's meeting with Mordred at Camlan field, and how the final battle began is classic ironic drama, a tragedy of great proportions...and an aspect of that fed directly into the development of the B5 backstory, as you'll learn later this season.

  Histories are written about the soldiers who won their battles; but songs are sung about the soldiers who fell in battle struggling for a greater cause. What inspires us is the unfinished work, the dream of picking up the fallen standard and taking it ten more feet up the hill, knowing that even if you fall, the next man in line will take it another ten feet, until finally the hill is taken. Humans are constantly throwing their lives away on causes logic tells us are hopeless...but which in time become real for that reason.

  It's a dangerous romance with myth, heroism, and death. On the one hand, it inspires an Arthur...on another, it inspires a car bomber to blow himself and 27 bystanders to bits en route to an appointment with Allah.

  What makes the heroic epic work is that it taps into all the myths and archetypes that have been with us for all of recorded history, and much of its oral history. Where B5 gets into this area is in trying to look at the kinds of myths and epics that have gone before, and finding not the specifics, but the themes which are universal, the *sense* and the feel of it, which are intangible, and which is what makes doing an epic so hard. Either you feel the structure, or you don't; if you try to hammer it down into a formula, a step-by-step process, it turns to quicksilver in your hands and slips away. You have to take it all in, then listen to the inner voice and write accordingly.

  I remember a stanza from a poem I read a long time ago; "Love will die if held too tightly; love will fly if held too lightly; lightly, tightly, how do I know, whether I'm holding or letting love go?" This kind of fiction operates on the same basis. Substitute the word epic or story for love, and the logic holds.

  So the epic hero or story can't be a *model*, to use your phrase; it can only be an inspiration for what has gone before...an echo in the back of your mind that whispers and guides you through all the dark places.

• Was the "who is Morgana Le Fay?" scene a dig at people on the net who say B5 is just some other story with different trappings?
  The references given (he said vaguely, to avoid spoiling anybody) were first and foremost intentional to the story and to set up stuff...but as I wrote it, the way this stuff has been discussed online did come to mind, and on some level it was probably a slight *plink*, yes.

  Sort of a "yeah, well, TWO can play at that game, and most of you missed THIS particular analogy, so THERE."

  I am in serious need of a vacation, I think....

• Where did the 515 date for the Battle of Camlan come from?
  I dug through a number of recent Arthurian texts, and that date come out the most often; I've heard the other date, which was about 20 years later, but the one most often used is the 515 date, at least in what I researched.

• Virtually all food used is real, for health reasons. The liquid drunk by G'Kar and Arthur in "Avalon" is Yoo-Hoo; the mountain of stuff Garibaldi's eating in the Zocalo in first season is piled meatloaf; the spaghetti and bagna cauda was real; the only problem is that no matter what you do, it's going to get cold after 18 takes, even with reheating, and by the 17th take...well, it's an ugly sight.

• Was the Excalibur in the episode a real sword?
  Yes, it's a real sword...I'm trying to remember where we got it, it may have been a vendor in these things, one of many that frequent catalogs and Ren faires.

• What happened to it after Delenn took it?
  It went back to our prop department....

• You were being clear, I was just being puckish.

  Well, in theory.

  I actually haven't worked out what she did with the sword, or who has it now. I have several options on this, all of them interesting, and never made the final decision. Maybe they used it to make the new emblem. Lemme dwell on this.

• Was that the real Excalibur?
  Since that wasn't really Arthur, the odds of that really being Excalibur are substantially reduced.

• Will we hear more about "Arthur's" exploits with the Narn?
  It's one of those stories I doubt we'll hear much about.

• Was some of the music by Clannad?
  No, we can't use any outside music; it all has to be done via our composer (unless we purchase the rights, obviously). Here, though, it's all Chris. We had a long conversation about the kind of music I wanted, I encouraged him to think in terms of Celtic music, natural instruments primarily instead of synth or electronic instruments, that sort of thing. But no, no Claanad was used.

• I think Chris did a great job on this one (he's done some spectacular work overall this season, on Severed, Interludes, Ship and others later this season). What I'd told him in this case I wanted was as much as possible in the way of natural instruments as opposed to synth, so that it fit more with the feel of the episode.

• How is the station supporting itself now that it's seceded?
  We'll establish in coming episodes that they have to become more self sufficient; the Minbari will help some, others will also have a reason to help support the station for the advantages it gives them, the services it provides, and eventually docking fees will have to rise if they can make a go of it.

• Marcus and Franklin make a good team, it's a nice balance. And Marcus did fit in well with the whole Arthur storyline (it's kind of an obvious but well-fitting match).

  As for Marcus' line...sometimes offhand remarks are only offhand remarks...and sometimes they aint....

• Because we've played back and forth with this stuff before, a la the Inquisitor, it *could've* been him, which made it all the more interesting. Certainly Marcus *wanted* it to be him....

• What was Delenn told before she went to Medlab?
  She was told the whole background...including who David really was. She was in a way taking the pain from someone who had attacked the very ship she and the other Grey council members had been aboard.

• Is there anyone among the humans from whom Delenn could receive absolution?
  You're right, that's a good question.

• The ability to forgive is certainly one of the foremost principles of sentient life, even Draal would agree with that.

• The Earth/Minbari war ended in 2247, and there were several ships in the initial contact convoy, the Amundsen and the Prometheus.

• You basically had two large convoys meeting one another. Two Minbari ships were hit and destroyed, a third damaged badly; this was the one carrying Dukhat and the Grey Council, including Delenn.

  Just for the record, what happened after that...the Minbari ships opened fire, and a number of the Earth ships were fragged. The rest fled as the Minbari ships hesitated, waiting to see what happened to Dukhat. When it was learned that he was killed, they took off and pursued the ships back to an Earth base. Initially, one of the Earth captains explained that they had encountered hostiles (trying to cover his ass), and when the Minbari ships appeared, all hell broke loose.

  It was shortly after this "cowardly attack" on their ships, and the assassination of their leader, that the Minbari declared what is in essence a jihad, a holy war, against Earth. The worker class went along with it, even though the religious caste was unsure...but divided, they couldn't raise sufficient objections to the war to stop it initially.

• The contact was made late in the year, and while that was the first blow, it takes a while for any war to really get going; you aren't at war instantly. The Minbari had to pull their forces together, make the open declaration of war, establish supply lines and all the other elements needed for warfare.

• Open gun ports as a sign of respect?
  It goes back a long time...if you look at certain members of the animal kingdom, they will often flash their teeth or growl to establish their identity, to show equality with someone else. You have to step outside a human perspective and ask how an alien would show respect, which may not be how we would logically do so. (Heck, in many cultures here on earth, a perfectly normal habit -- crossing your legs and the bottom of your foot showing -- is taken as a grave insult in some cultures. Certain customs are deeply rooted in cultural backgrounds or incidents that are often incomprehensible to us.)

• "Different (alien) doesn't mean illogical in my book."

  I can think of a number of Zen schools of thought that you would consider vastly illogical...but quite human. There are many things we would consider illogical to a western mind that are perfectly reasonable elsewhere.

• "However, neither is it appropriate to view all alien behavior as acceptable just because it is different....."

  Never implied it was. In general, on the B5 station, though, if an alien acts toward one of its own kind in a cultural oddity (to us), we tend not to interfere unless so requested; if, however, an alien turns that cultural oddity toward one not of its own species, then the B5 staff would definitely intervene.

• There's a small clue about the third age in the discussion between Marcus and Franklin about the ranger pin. I mean, it's really pretty blatant.

• The name of the Ranger pin is spelled Isil'zha.

  The Minbari term for Ranger One, btw, is Entil'zha.

  Z'ha'dum is where the shadows live. Odd, that reversal....

Last update: December 12, 1998