<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>But seriously, I'm assuming that they didn't need an encounter suit on their home world, or in their ships. Thus I don't think that the look of the suit is too important.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Given that they only
wear encounter suits when dealing with other races, I think they are very
much concerned with what they look like, and what image they project. The Vorlons know perfectly well that their native, neon-squid, form will not go down well with most of the bipedal, mammalian or reptilian younger races. That's why when confronting a few individuals from a single race they project an image that is either drawn from that race's existing iconagraphy of heavenly beings or an idealized (and winged) form of the race itself, which can easily be incorporated into that iconography.
(It isn't clear which they are doing. I lean towards the latter version because I think that - at least in the
B5 universe - angels ended up being depicted with wings because the Vorlons had to do
something with the membranes they seem to use for locomotion. It seems that they do not have the ability to simply make parts of themselves invisible, or to create illusions out of whole cloth.)
The encounter suits keep them from having to project such images to large numbers of individuals, and especially from having to project multiple images to members of different species at the same time. Kosh says that this is a great strain, and proves it by retiring to his ship for a week to recover after "The Fall of Night."
I suspect that the suits also serve the normal function of a spacesuit and that that are, in fact, native methane breathers, though with some ability to survive for an unknown period in an oxygen atmosphere. Therefore they necessarily conform, at least to a degree, with actual Vorlon anatomy, hence the "wing cases" on the shoulder. The Human Ranger's encounter suit in "Deconstruction" similarly seems to conform to Human anatomy, while still suggesting the Vorlon influence.
(BTW, I think that encounter suit has been analyzed beyond all reason. The simple fact is that there was no other visually arresting and dramatic way to tell the audience that Humans had acheived First One status than to show that Ranger change into a ball of light and enter an encounter suit. It was almost like the punchline of a joke, or the final punctuation of a story.
As a practical matter, within the story itself, that Ranger probably didn't need to don an encounter suit to enter a ship with an oxygen atmosphere and head off to New Earth. The suit is only there because dramatically it needs to be, just like we often hear sound in outerspace shots because the human animal is wired to
expect sound.
In our experience gun fire explosions and large, heavy objects passing by make
noise and omitting the sound leaves a scene
feeling emotionally dead, even if your brain tells you it is more accurate.)
Finally their encounter suits help the Vorlons retain the mystery that they cultivate, and project an image of their own - powerful, inscrutable, and very hard to attack.
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Someone else mentioned earlier that the Vorlons were telepathically linked to each other. I'd think having a "revolutionary" linked to everyone's mind might be a bit upsetting to a group as dedicated to organization as the Vorlons.
***
Ulkesh and Kosh had Naranek as a last name, or whatever. Maybe Naranek means telepathically capable? Or just a higher form of telepathy. Remember not all Vorlons are Psi capable, as the living record in Lyta said in Thirdspace ( in an amazed tone), "...They are telepathic, all of them..."<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Actually, I'm less and less convince that the Vorlons
are telepaths in any conventional sense, much less that they are linked into any kind of "hive mind." If they were Kosh Vader wouldn't have been worried about the last of Kosh being lost, they would have known what Kosh did with Sheridan and why, and the Humans would not have been able to keep their plot against Kosh II a secret.
Whatever ability the Vorlons have to touch other minds - beyond projecting false images of themselves - seems to manifest itself only under conditions of extreme stress. It may simply be that Vorlon minds themselves are so
unlike other minds that communication is nearly impossible under normal conditions. There is also a strong suggestion in one of the published short stories that naturally occuring telepathy and higher intelligence are incompatible. If evolution produces telepaths they tend not to develop language or certain other skills, because needs, wants and desires require no such medium of communication. Creatures who don't develop language also don't develop certain areas of the brain needed for long-range planning, etc.
Similarly, telekinesis would almost certainly rule-out tool making, which seems to have driven brain development on Earth in a kind of feedback loop.
(There is a wonderful short story I read years ago - I've forgotten the title and the authors name - in which it is postulated that there is a natural form of anti-gravity that most races stumble across by accident quite early in their development. As a result they never invent the wheel, complex machines or much of anything else. Many of these species discover that their "gravity drive" also enables them to travel between planets and, eventually, stars. So a bunch of them show up on Earth in their floating, wooden ship and attempt to conquer the planet using bows and arrows - the most advanced weapons they have ever developed or needed. The stupid humans, having missed the basic equation for anti-gravity, have, of course, developed a technology of metal weapons, fast jets and high explosives that the invaders are simply unable to cope with. And once we figure out their anti-gravity technology - look out galaxy!)
But I digress.
The Vorlons have a
very hard time producing Human telepaths as weapons to use against the Shadows, and leave behind and entire planet populated by their "failures" This suggests to me that the Vorlons are
not themselves telepaths, though they may have developed some similar abilities
late in their development, or through the use of organic technology.
Their surprise at the Thirdspace aliens may come from their belief that no intelligent species could naturally posses Psi powers.
But if Lyta - who admittedly is a highly advanced Vorlon weapon - can prevent Kosh II from learning that she's about to lead him into a death trap, I say he's no telepath.
RE: "Naranek" JMS has said that this is a title, not a proper name. It may relate to their appointment as ambassadors, to both Minbar and B5. Or it may be a title of rank indicating their place in Vorlon society. Like his creations, JMS is often cryptic.
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>And it's easy to miss some things in B5, Crusader ...<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
"You've misspelled this. There is no 'R' in
Crusade."
Sorry, couldn't resist.
Regards,
Joe
------------------
Joseph DeMartino
Sigh Corps
Pat Tallman Division
joseph-demartino@att.net
[This message has been edited by Joseph DeMartino (edited May 27, 2001).]
