Logic Contradiction From Delenn - How To Resolve?

[ariekazy]

Was thinking about Babylon 5 the other day, and wanted to come back to the site after a long time gone to ask about a contradiction in Delenn's logic:

In Episode 2x21 - Comes the Inquisitor - As Sheridan and Delenn is being tortured by Sebastian, she states "This is my cause - life! One life or a billion it's all the same"

Later in Episode 3x14 Ship of Tears - She admits to G'Kar that she knew about the shadows role in the destruction of Narn - "We had to choose between choose between the death of millions and the death of billions" G'Kar responds that "Some must be sacrificed if others are to be saved" (a common phrase in the series).

This is a logical contradiction in my eyes, but would love some other thoughts.

 

[Kraig]

Was thinking about Babylon 5 the other day, and wanted to come back to the site after a long time gone to ask about a contradiction in Delenn's logic:

In Episode 2x21 - Comes the Inquisitor - As Sheridan and Delenn is being tortured by Sebastian, she states "This is my cause - life! One life or a billion it's all the same"

Later in Episode 3x14 Ship of Tears - She admits to G'Kar that she knew about the shadows role in the destruction of Narn - "We had to choose between choose between the death of millions and the death of billions" G'Kar responds that "Some must be sacrificed if others are to be saved" (a common phrase in the series).

This is a logical contradiction in my eyes, but would love some other thoughts.

In Ship of Tears Delenn also said:

G'Kar, if we had spoken out if we had gone public with what we knew most of the other worlds would never have believed us. It would have changed nothing. Your world would still have fallen. With one critical difference. There are billions of Narns still surviving on your world. If we had exposed the Shadows, they would have struck openly before we had time to prepare and none of your people would have survived. G'Kar, under the Centauri, there is at least the hope of survival. With the Shadows, there is no hope at all.

The logic being she saved Narn from being totally destroyed by the Shadows and only partially being destroyed by the Centauri by keeping quiet.

 

[Looney]

I don't see it as a contradiction. Her cause is life. That fact that she says, "one life or a billion" in Comes The Inquisitor doesn't mean she puts the survival of one life over a billion. It just means she her goal would be to fight as equally hard for one life and as a billion lives.


And GREAT first post ariekazy! :thumbsup: Definitely something to question.

 

[hypatia]

That is a good question. I agree with Kraig. Saying "I serve life, one or a million doesn't matter" is like a mission statement.

Saying "we had to choose between losing millions or billions" is more like a status report. It's not your ideal, just your unfortunate reality.