Do You Like Byron?

[Truth_Seeker]

I know that Byron is one of the most controversial characters in B5.

That's why I decided that it would be interesting to create this poll.My personal opinion is that Byron had good intentions but was a bad leader and he was partly responsible for the death of his followers so I vote "No".In spite of that he had some very good lines like:
"How many angels can dance on the head of a pin".It's one of my favourite B5 phrases.

So let the party begins.

 

[Garovorkin]

When bester and Omega squadran which Byron was apparently part of, destroyed that freighter that was hiding rogue telepaths, though was involved in the action, Byron did try to protest it to Bester, Filed a report and resigned, he did go on with his forget it least tried to do something, though obviously what could he have done given his circumstances. In leading the fight to get a home world for the telepaths, his intentions were good, but his methods for achieving them were not.

 

[Cell]

Lord no, easily one of the worst characters in any realm of fiction. RAD is actually a good actor, so I can't help but feel that it was a combination of a bad storyline, bad acting, and paltry writing all coming together to create an abysmal mess. It's not just the fact that Byron is so pretentious, but that's he's a complete dolt that doesn't even know what he is fighting for or how to do it. Brilliant idea, every nation not named the Earth Alliance have treated their teeps very well, so I will go and give a speech damning all of those nations for their negative treatment of teeps. Man, that was just bad writing and storytelling right there.

 

[vacantlook]

...and he was partly responsible for the death of his followers....

Especially when he pulled the trigger of the ppg to ignite the fire.

 

[Truth_Seeker]

Especially when he pulled the trigger of the ppg.

Yes he was fully responsible for that one and partly responsible for the extreme measures towards the group of rogue telepaths in B5.

 

[Garovorkin]

He al least had a conscience , he did come clean with his actions involving Omega squadrin to Leeta, at least un like Bester he did have conscience, he tried to do the right thing.

 

[Cell]

In Bester's mind he was doing the right thing, and at least Bester was willing to take action for what he believed in, unlike Byron who waited until a lot of people were already hurt or dying before finally taking one last pathetic stand.

 

[Lousy_Dodgers]

Byron had some of the worst pickup lines of all time. JMS handled some of the other romances in the show so well but when it came to Byron, it was like George Lucas was writing the dialogue...

 

[hypatia]

I did. I felt the character had a less-than-likeable personality, but you could see how he was perfect for putting Lyta where she needed to be for the rest of the story (and for her story after B5). I thought he was quite effective at showing how dedicated, sincere, and arrogant many from the Psi Corps could be. And quite frankly, I can see how Lyta would find him to be just who she needed at that time to get out of her slave mentality.

 

[Garovorkin]

Are we talking about the same Bester who made the comments that Telepaths were rare and that Mundanes bread like rabbbits? The very same Bester who brainwashed Garabaldi, the outcome of which nearly got Him and Sheridan nearly killed, that Bester oh yeah, real saintly fellow. manipulative backstabbbing lying through his teeth Bester? Bryon was no saint, but he resigned from the core filed a report of the incident tried to do something, yeah he caused people to die but he did not go on as if none of it happened like Bester did.

 

[vacantlook]

One of the best statements that I read of jms's about Bester's villainy was that the monster never sees a monster in the mirror. As Cell says, in Bester's own opinion, everything he did was right. That's what makes Bester such an effective villain.

 

[Garovorkin]

Yes Bryron is guilty of of certain actions and inactions/ sins of omissions but at the same time it makes him tragic as well as culpable.

 

[Jade Jaguar]

Lord no, easily one of the worst characters in any realm of fiction. RAD is actually a good actor, so I can't help but feel that it was a combination of a bad storyline, bad acting, and paltry writing all coming together to create an abysmal mess. It's not just the fact that Byron is so pretentious, but that's he's a complete dolt that doesn't even know what he is fighting for or how to do it. Brilliant idea, every nation not named the Earth Alliance have treated their teeps very well, so I will go and give a speech damning all of those nations for their negative treatment of teeps. Man, that was just bad writing and storytelling right there.

I disagree with pretty much every word of this.

Byron was written to be a martyr, and I realize most find him unlikeable, but that doesn't make him a "bad" character, either in the sense of his character being a bad person, or poorly formed as a character. I actually liked him from the beginning, just as I did G'Kar. That is because I saw them both as being dedicated to helping their brutally oppressed peoples. But, he didn't go on to become my favorite character, as G'Kar did.

Clearly to me, the major character with the worst character was Bester, a fundamentally evil Nazi type, who was the point man for oppressing Byron and his people. Byron had every reason to hate Bester, and hate mundanes, including other species, because they has sorely used and abused his (human-teep)kind. If there was any failure in the writing, it was that Sheridan, and his crew, were not much more sympathetic to Byron and his people, knowing what they had been through.

Byron was a pacifist, and although I applaud that, I think many couldn't stand that, as it made him, literally, holier-that-thou. His miscalculations all stemmed from not knowing enough about what the galaxy, and its non-humans, and especially those on B5, were really like. Partly this was because of how he had been propagandized, as a member of Psycorps, leading him to be suspicious of all. He probably didn't know that other races treated their teeps well. Undoubtedly, he didn't realize that if he had gone to Delenn on the QT, he might well have negotiated a home world for his people. He did know he was getting nowhere by trying to do it peaceably, and was in fact much at risk of being turned over to Psycorps. Out of desperation, he adopted a nonviolent, but despicable tactic often used by his opponents - spying and blackmail. That brought his downfall. But, I still blame Sheridan for turning his people over to Bester. That was every bit as wrong as turning over Jews to the Nazis.

 

[Garovorkin]

Your are quite correct, Sherrridan and company were not all that sympathetic to telepaths. Remember when Sherridan gave then sanctuary on Babylon 5 he did so not out of compassion so much as them being a potential strategic asset. Look at how he and veryone treated Lyta Alexander, they used and abused her throughout the series, she put her life on the line and that still counted for nothing. it was Byron who woke Lyta up to this little reality that she was living in. In Bester case what did his concern for goue telepaths amount to? hauling them, Jailing them, mind wiping them and put in new personalities in them. The Rogues telepaths were in a no win situation and Byron saw this from the beginning, he knew what both Bester and Sherridan were about. It was no win for him either way.

 

[Cell]

Are we talking about the same Bester who made the comments that Telepaths were rare and that Mundanes bread like rabbbits?

This is a fact, personal feelings on Bester don't change the fact that he was right in saying this.

The very same Bester who brainwashed Garabaldi, the outcome of which nearly got Him and Sheridan nearly killed, that Bester oh yeah, real saintly fellow. manipulative backstabbbing lying through his teeth Bester?

No one is saying that Bester was a saint, I certainly didn't. However, he thought he was right in committing his actions, and really how is the hero of the story in Sheridan any better than Bester when you think about some of the actions he undertook to accomplish his goals?

Bryon was no saint, but he resigned from the core filed a report of the incident tried to do something, yeah he caused people to die but he did not go on as if none of it happened like Bester did.

Bester caused the death of many through his own actions, while Byron caused the death of many through his own in-actions that then were compounded by his finally taking action that led to even more deaths. Both men are culpable for the deaths of many.

 

[Jade Jaguar]

Byron caused the death of many through his own in-actions that then were compounded by his finally taking action that led to even more deaths.

Byron tried many "actions" to help his people, but they were non violent actions. He was constantly taking actions to try and help his people. The only thing I can think of that he could have done, and gotten the results he wanted, namely a haven for his rogue teeps, was to quietly approach Delenn, and ask if there was a place they might go in Minbari space. What actions do you think Byron should/could have taken, that might have been effective?

 

[RMcD]

I liked Byron, both the actor and the dialogue.

What bothered me more about those early S5 episodes was that many of the regular cast started acting like they'd been lobotomised. Byron was a welcome diversion.

 

[mattikake]

Who's Byron? Oh yeah, some character out of that B4 rip-off series called Babylon 5 series 5. I don't watch it.

 

[Truth_Seeker]

I think the whole idea of asking for a homeworld for the human telepaths was rediculous.

A ship-doable.A small space station-difficult bot doable.But an entire planet-that's just impossible.If a planet has the right conditions for human life it's probably already inhabited.Even if there's no intelligent life on it the colonization would interfere with the natural evolution of this planet which is at least immoral.

 

[maneth]

Possibly, but definitely something humans have attempted and would attempt in the future.

Quite frankly, Sheridan trusted telepaths as little as Ivanova did, and with good reason. Namely that they were a threat to mundanes. The telepaths of other species, what little we have seen of them, don't seem to have this desire to mistreat the non-telepaths of their species, as human ones seem to. So they're not a threat in the same way, and thus get better treatment. At least the Minbari ones do, because they have a system that's as close to communism (community more important and stronger than a single individual, no matter how important) as one can get while still functioning. Let's not forget that the Narns exterminated their telepaths and spent many generations trying to recreate them.