EpDis: The Gathering

[Sindatur]

Oh, BTW, KoshFan and KoshN, my apologies for the bad phrasing, I should have said, "One of the Vorlon", not "One of the Kosh". My apologies for implying Generics to you

 

[Jade Jaguar]

My apologies for implying Generics to you

Ooh! I think you've inadvertently stumbled on a good curse! I think that in the future, instead of saying Up yours, buddy! I'll say Generics to you!

 

[vacantlook]

The polls got seriously messed up somehow, none of them match their threads. The internet does strange things sometimes...

The polls got all wonky back when the board was transitioned from the old software the board used to be run on to the vBulletin that it's now run on. Polls that were created in threads under the old software ended up messed up a bit as a result of that transition. I think -- think being operative word -- that the polls are still the same, just that the "poll question" part of the poll is mislabeled, so voting should still be valid for each thread's respective episode.

 

[KoshN]

Sorry, KoshN generally posts an explicit response to such requests,

Yes, probably a half-dozen or more times in various threads around here. If I had a big ego, I'd probably be requesting a KoshN Order (just to indicate that it's my order, and not anything "official.") FAQ sticky thread. ...but then lots of other people would probably want their own "_____ Order FAQ sticky threads" so this is a Pandora's Box that you probably don't want to open.

that must be a thread he didn't get a chance to reply to.

I didn't read the whole thread.

 

[crazyhorse]

I'm wondering if the surrender of control was just a matter of switching engines off and letting docking tractor beams controlled by B5's computer take over

I can't imagine any race giving Earthforce access to their ships computer.

The only time we did see a ship try to dock on its own it crashed and I'm sure it fired its engines up then instead of just gliding in under B5's control.

 

[crazyhorse]

Oh and welcome Alexa :beer:

 

[crazyhorse]

The polls got all wonky back when the board was transitioned from the old software the board used to be run on to the vBulletin that it's now run on. Polls that were created in threads under the old software ended up messed up a bit as a result of that transition. I think -- think being operative word -- that the polls are still the same, just that the "poll question" part of the poll is mislabeled, so voting should still be valid for each thread's respective episode.

Well Markas should stop being so lazy and use his mod powers for good for a change and bloody edit them to the correct episode :devil:

Too busy talking cock with Cilli more than likely :evil:

 

[KoshN]

Well Markas should stop being so lazy and use his mod powers for good for a change and bloody edit them to the correct episode :devil:

Or maybe just delete the:

View Poll Results: nonsensical words

....from the top border of every Poll bar chart? That's the part that's always getting screwed up every time they change software.

 

[Alexa]

I agree completely that JMS was playing with our prejudices. But, I don't think G'Kar was exactly a villain. He was made out to be an angry, accusatory, hot-head, which is not exactly a sympathetic character to most people. But, he and the Narns had every right to feel that way, given their history with the Centauri. So, I liked G'Kar from the start, because I sympathized with his feelings right away. He grew to be by far my favorite character.

G`Kar was and is my favorite from the show also. I said "villain" , but I should have qualified that, he was more like "villain light" in the series proper. Not truly evil, but nowhere near the enlightened G`Kar we see in the later eps. This G`Kar is angry,and his anger is ruling him. I sympathized with his anger, but he wasn`t a like-able character, not to me, anyway. After I saw his machinations in "The Gathering" ie: him bringing the assassin on board with the changeling net, the implication being that G`Kar had tried to have Kosh assassinated and the blame placed on the Minbari (which puzzles me, you would think he would have tried to place the blame on the Centauri) he does, imo, fit the definition of villain. For at least a little while, anyway.

Wow...that was a long convoluted sentence I have there. Sorry `bout that!

 

[Alexa]

I'm wondering if the surrender of control was just a matter of switching engines off and letting docking tractor beams controlled by B5's computer take over

I can't imagine any race giving Earthforce access to their ships computer.

The only time we did see a ship try to dock on its own it crashed and I'm sure it fired its engines up then instead of just gliding in under B5's control.

Very good point crazyhorse, about giving them access to their computer.I am likely just over thinking the whole thing. It is, science fiction, after all!

I remember the ship crashing. That was the ep about the docking guild, was it not?

 

[vacantlook]

It's interesting to think of the events of "The Gathering" in light of the information we gained from jms in the bonus 15th scriptbook.

Spoiler for :

From the information gained in the narrative write-up that jms did about where the show was going with Sinclair as the main character, written back before Michael O'Hare left the show, the assassination attempt on Kosh stands in a different light.

The original planned finale for Babylon 5 was that the station was going to be destroyed by the Minbari. The Minbari warrior caste had overthrown the Grey Council and were in control of the Minbari government, and they were going to attack and destroy the station.

In The Gathering, Delenn says that the assassin belonged to a certain group from within the warrior caste; my guess is that he was a part of the same group that was going to spearhead the overthrow the Grey Council and lead the Minbari to destroy the station. I imagine that group was the Windswords, which Lennier identifies as the group that supported Deathwalker.

 

[Alexa]

Oh and welcome Alexa :beer:

Thank-you! :beer:

Well Markas should stop being so lazy and use his mod powers for good for a change and bloody edit them to the correct episode :devil:

Too busy talking cock with Cilli more than likely :evil:

 

[Alexa]

"It's interesting to think of the events of "The Gathering" in light of the information we gained from jms in the bonus 15th scriptbook.'


(I deleted the spoiler as it was showing in it`s entirety in the quote)

Thanks vacantlook. this does explain where they were going with that. I immediately thought Windswords when the 'group from within the Warrior Caste' was mentioned. I expected further dialogue going in that direction, but it didn`t happen.

 

[A_M_Swallow]

I am watching The Gathering now, and I have a question...or really more of a puzzled observation. When Kosh`s ship is docking at the station, control of his ship is turned over to C&C. Yet later in the series much is made of how big a mystery his 'living ship' is. So, how did they control and dock it?
{snip}

I just assume that the B5 computer sent the spaceship Golden Shot type commands - up a bit, left a bit, forward, faster and stop. The spaceship's own computer would work out how the instruction was obeyed and may be able to veto it. The instructions may even be in a standardised protocol, there are plenty of other spacestations around.

 

[Estelyn]

One detail that I hadn't previously noticed and that actually caused a double-take was the presence of Ed Wasser (aka Mr. Morden) near the end of the pilot. He's one of the crew (I'm not sure whether military or civilian tech) that helps to stabilize the station after it has been put out of whack by the bomb!

 

[KoshFan]

Yup! Two totally distinct characters, and the similarity is never explained. After that they usually just went with putting the same actor in different alien masks.

If you listen closely, you can hear very familiar voices at times: Ombuds Wellington from Season 1 is G'Kar's uncle in Season 2, and Wayne Alexander (Sebastian) turns up in two other very different roles... finally there were the "B5 Rep Company" actors, who played literally dozens of different aliens. Part of the reason all the Drazi sound the same is that Kim Strauss played most of them.

 

[Jan]

Oddly enough for a character with so few lines, Ed Wasser's character had a name in 'The Gathering', Guerra. When I had him sign some scripts for me a while back, he was careful to note "Guerra" on the Gathering script and "Morden" on the others. I thought that was cool.

Jan

 

[Estelyn]

Two totally distinct characters, and the similarity is never explained.

I'm reminded of the actress who plays the doctor on Crusade and had a very different role in - was it CtA? JMS' commmentary explained that they were perhaps twin sisters. So perhaps Morden is the evil twin?

 

[KoshFan]

Oddly enough for a character with so few lines, Ed Wasser's character had a name in 'The Gathering', Guerra. When I had him sign some scripts for me a while back, he was careful to note "Guerra" on the Gathering script and "Morden" on the others. I thought that was cool.

Jan

So few lines? Doesn't he say, "On it!" and that's the last we hear from him? That's not a line, that's not even three syllables!

Very cool about Guerra, though.

The best Ed Wasser story I ever heard was when he walked into a store, and the man behind the counter said, "What do you want?" Wasser gave him his order -- and the man said, "But what do you want?"

 

[Jade Jaguar]

That's a good one, alright!