Changes after The Gathering

[QMCO5]

I was watching The Gathering and noticed a couple of things that appear to have been changed as the B5 story developed. One was Lyta's comment that if she broke Psi Corps rules she could be drummed out of the Psi Corps. Later, we learn that the only way to legally leave Psi Corps is in a coffin. Another incident is G'Kar's comment to Lyta that the lack of Narn telepaths must have been a genetic oversight. Later we learn from G'Kar that there were Narn telepaths but they were mostly wiped out by the Shadows. If there is a way to reconcile these apparent differences I would be interested. Can you cite any other elements in The Gathering that were changed in the later B5 scripts? (I don't mean the obvious makeup and uniform changes.)

QMCO5

 

[vacantlook]

Perhaps G'Kar's perspective on Narn telepaths changed as he became more increasingly spiritual as as the Shadow War began to heat up. While he might have ascribed to following G'Quan most of his life, maybe his going through dealing with war with the Centauri caused him to pay closer attention to the stuff contained in the in the Book of G'Quan that he didn't pay much attention to before.

 

[A_M_Swallow]

I was watching The Gathering and noticed a couple of things that appear to have been changed as the B5 story developed. One was Lyta's comment that if she broke Psi Corps rules she could be drummed out of the Psi Corps. Later, we learn that the only way to legally leave Psi Corps is in a coffin.

There is nothing inconsistent about those two statements. Bester killed the runaway telepaths in "A Race Through Dark Places".

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

Lyta's comment could refer to the fact that her legal status as a commercial teep would be withdrawn and she'd either be put on sleepers or restricted to a Psi Corps reeducation camp. Since a loyal member of the Corps would never advertise these as the true alternatives to a mundane, she lies while still conveying why she cannot do what is being asked of her.

Similarly G'Kar - all puffed up pride and bravado - would never admit a "weakness" such as the fact that the Narn once had telepaths who were wiped out - least of all to an alien like Lyta. He, too, could be lying and that really ends the question. Each comment can be explained in the context of the story without contradicting anything else.

Regards,

Joe

 

[RW7427]

There is nothing inconsistent about those two statements. Bester killed the runaway telepaths in "A Race Through Dark Places".

Remeber, he thought that he killed them because that's what they and Talia wanted him to see.

 

[QMCO5]

Joe's excellent explanation reminded me of something I later read in the JMS notes on The Gathering. He said that at some point almost everyone lied. The audience is easily suckered because we don't expect a "good guy" or a "neutral guy" to lie to us. (JMS is sneaky that way.) At this point in the B5 story Lyta probably has the same loyalty to Psi Corps as Talia and wouldn't tell the truth about Psi Corps to people she has just met. In G'Kar's case his comment about Narn telepaths may not have been so much an outright lie as simply not telling the whole truth. "Genetic oversight" is an interesting term to use because it implies an outside power capable of manipulating the Narn gene pool. Perhaps this was a subtle foreshadowing of what we learn later about Vorlon cupability in developing telepaths or perhaps I'm reading too much into it.

QMCO5

 

[AnlaShokGrey]

I also agree with what Joe said - it's completely consistent with G'Kar's character at that point for him to have lied, or just not to have revealed everything the Narn know about their own "telepath problem" to outsiders. As a race, they have a hard life, and they've also had plenty of time to develop a broad sense of mistrust of other races. Plus, as a member of the kha'ri, G'Kar is used to playing political games, and this struck me simply as a bit of political misdirection: e.g. why reveal the Narns' weakness in this regard to someone representing an agency who can easily exploit it? (Meaning, the Narns don't have _native_ telepaths and thus can't easily protect themselves from telepathic intrusion as the Minbari have shown themselves to be able to do - remember when the command staff used Minbari telepaths to keep Bester out of their heads?)

Aisling