The Drakh -- One race or many races?

[In Valen's Shadow]

This has been a bone of contention for me every time I watch "B5" or "Crusade," and I'm wondering if someone out there knows the definitive answer.

Are the Drakh a single race with a bunch of tag-along members of other races, or is "Drakh" a blanket term for ALL the races who followed the Shadows?

Here's a list of all the Drakh I can think of, the name I've given them, their apparent roles, and where we've seen them.

1. Councilors. These guys are the leaders, the ones with the craggy grey skin and the curled horns on the backs of their heads. They speak in whispers, they host keepers, they seem to be running the show. We saw one directing Londo toward the end of B5, and the Excalibur's crew captured one as a POW on Crusade.

2. Keepers. Pretty much an artificial life form, bred by Shadow tech to attach to hosts and be used as puppets.

3. Bio-scientists. Grey-skinned, bulbous-headed eggheads who just love "tinkering" with other races. We saw them in flashbacks, preparing the telepaths to interface with the Shadow vessels on B5. We also saw them performing some kind of procedure on Londo, maybe mapping his nervous system to give the keeper a better way to control him later.

4. Telekinetics. Now, it was dark in that room, but we saw a red-eyed, bald-headed something or other that deflected a dagger that was meant for Londo back to its user, Lord Vole.

5. Assassins. We only saw one of these things, but that was enough. It was on B5, in that episode where Dr. Franklin meets that woman explorer from the past, and Garibaldi meets that war vet who keeps freaking out and acting badly. They're invisible, but they seem to be about eight feet tall, and they have the charming habit of eating the internal organs of their prey without cutting them open first.

6. Soldiers. These guys were out in force in the "War Zone" episode of Crusade. Kinda hard to miss.

7. Pilots. We never got a real good look at these guys. There was only one that we saw, in the episode where Sheridan and Bester intercept that ship full of altered telepaths. Franklin said the pilot effectively self-destructed. It's possible that this thing was actually one of the other races I mentioned above.

Anyway, that's my list. Any thoughts?

Anyone? Anyone?

Bueller?

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[**DONOTDELETE**]

I'm not convinced that the Soldier of Darkness or the pilot of the captured freighter in Ship of Tears were Drakh. No reason why they couldn't be of course, but then there's no reason why they couldn't have been other dark servants too. I doubt that the Soldier of Darkness was an assassin. Too big and not a clean enough killer.

Other than the Councillors and the Warriors it's hard to be 100% certain, but some of your suggestions look like pretty reasonable bets to me, particularly the genetic scientists. The Drakh have certainly been genetically re-engineered, probably by the Shadows, not themselves.

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[**DONOTDELETE**]

Good question. The answer to which I've been wondering about, myself. We know that there are multiple races among the Drakh Hordes. The question is, are they ALL Drakh, or is just the 1 race (The one seen in A Call To Arms) Drakh and the others just serve them?

What I figure is that when the Shadows left, there was a power struggle amongst their servants and it was that race that gained ascendancy, while the rest served them. I think, though, that it may be that the primary race are the Drakh. The other races have their own names, but it doesn't matter as its the Drakh that are running the show.

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Lochley: You know what you are?

Gideon: Ruggedly handsome?

Lochley: A control freak!

Gideon: Can't I be both?

 

[drakh]

1 and 6 are the only ones who have been called Drakh on the show, and they are the same, just that 6 are wearing battle helmets.

5 is most likely a rushed CGI representation of (possibly an early design of) 1.

 

[kok]

The Drakh per se, is only one race(In my opnion), but there are other races helping the Drakh in the war against the ISA and Centauri Republic.
The Dark Servants also is the term that involve all the fmr allies of the Shadows and they are:
1 - Drakh => It seems that they are the leaders of the Dark Servants or whatever is the name of this new Alliance, they also appear to be the majority in numbers of the races allied.
2 - Soldiers of Darkness => Some specie of soldiers, who can be very efficient as Ground Troops, due to the natural cloaking ability.
3 - Zener => This entire race are master-minds in advanced cyber organic-technology. They communicate with eachother through telepathy. The Zener were very loyal and obediant to their former masters. They would rather commit suicide, than be captured alive. The Zener have achieved a high degree of technical proficiency in biological implantation. As a servitor race of the Shadows, the Zener utilize their expertise by preparing subjects to merge with Shadow Battlecruisers, they also were the responsible for creating the Bio-tech in the Drakh Ships
4 - Goblyn => It is presumed to be another Dark Servant, not much is known about this race, except the fact that can be a key part of the crew of the Drakh Destroyers, but no the pilots of the Drakh Raiders, since it is rumored throught the B5-Tech sites that the Raiders are controlled by Destroyers, and we never saw one roaming alone in the space, also in A Call to Arms, the 5 Raiders had a whole fleet of Destroyers just a few miles behind.

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Diego Warlock
kok_temp@ig.com.br
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[RW7427]

I would think that the Drakh are just one race and that they are the Shadows' top henchmen, dirty deeds doers, tec. and that all the other races called Dark Servants are like under them. The Drakh seem to be the Shadows' right-hand men, so to speak, and the rest are just lackeys and servants for the Drakh to use in furthering first the Shadows' plans, and then theirs after the Shadows left.

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[**DONOTDELETE**]

Besides, the Drakh might have several castes - which may create some confusion.

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Canned flarn is a sacrilege.

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by RW7427:
I would think that the Drakh are just one race and that they are the Shadows' top henchmen, dirty deeds doers, tec. and that all the other races called Dark Servants are like under them. The Drakh seem to be the Shadows' right-hand men, so to speak, and the rest are just lackeys and servants for the Drakh to use in furthering first the Shadows' plans, and then theirs after the Shadows left.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I agree. I equated the Drakh to the Vorta in DS9... They are simply second in the food chain... the liason between the Shadows and their allies.
I am willing to bet that the Shadows had just as many allies in the war as the Vorlons did.

Terann



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Teeps rule; Mundanes get spaced


Revere the Founders
Obey the Vorta
And don't poke the Jem'Hadar

 

[Deviot]

moved to general discussion

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Deviot
Lincbot@yahoo.com.au

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

How about the blurred/out-of-focus one that Delenn encounters while searching for the Raiders that were attacking anything and everything. I think he was an ambassador of some kind for the Drakh, but this confused the hell out of me when I saw the Drakh in ACtA. They look similar, but moved differently, acted differently, appeared slightly diffferent, and spoke differently. Has anyone got any thoughts on this?

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[G Kar of the Kha Ri]

I believe that the Drakh is a singular race, but it is divided into two groups, and works like a hierarchy. The upper class are those with the ridged heads that manipulate, such as the one behind the trouble on Centauri Prime. The lower, servant, class is comprised of the blurry ones. They follow the orders of the upper class and are used as ambassadors of a sort, warriors, and other such positions. Of course, the Drakh COULD be a mix of various races who followed the Shadows, but I'm going with my idea.

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--Garibaldi-- "Maybe they should've labeled the future 'Some Assembly Required'."

 

[RW7427]

Thanks Alyt Terann for agreeing with me

As I have said, I think the Drakh were just one race, the one that was the highest up in the order of the Shadows' hierarchy of allies and servants. And to reply to the one that refered to that blurred figure on the Whitestar with Delenn and Lennier when they were negotiating with the Drakh, I remember him saying he was an emissary of the Drakh. I don't think he was a Drakh, but was another of the underlings of the Shadows that served first them, then the Drakh.

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[drakh]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Raptor:
How about the blurred/out-of-focus one<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Same as the soldiers. The bluring effect was just added in post production to hide the fact that the makeup looked like crap.

 

[Cern]

Where did the name Zenar come from?

I read a lot of UFO literiture, and I've noticed a corrolation. supposedly the Aliens who are doing the Abductions have a hierarchy of sorts. The guys at the top look like big Preying Mantises. Under them are Reptillians, then the tall Greys, then the Little Grey guys. Supposedly, their are big Blonde Fabio looking guys fighting them.

Anyway, this kind of seems to be the same way the Shadows are structured: Shadows, Drakh (reptillian) Zenar (Greys) with the Angelic Vorlons fighting them. And just like in real life, you cant trust any of them.

ps I dont totally believe in all the UFO stuff thats been published, but i Do belive something weird is going on. Nootch

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Marcus, "Well They said I was carrying around a lot of repressed anger.
Lennier, "and?"
Marcus, "I'm not repressed anymore."

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

I have a vague recollection that the leader of the Drakh was referred to as Drakh, in the sense that this was his proper name.

If that is correct, then the lines betwen individual and group amongst the Drakh might be blurry. What you may have is not a social caste system, but something more like a hive organism with the Queen Drakh being the source of overall identity.

Yes, it's the Borg idea all over again, but it makes some sense. In a culture where the lines where one living organism begins and ends are blurred (Keepers infesting the high caste of Drakh) identity would be defined by a kind of hierarchy.

It makes sense to have been a Shadow idea, because they were insectoid in appearance and had a fondness for hybrid servants (the organic Shadow vessels with humanoid pilots as brains.) Shadows clearly liked the idea of hybrid servants with unclear identities. Perhaps that allowed the Shadows to control them better. If you don't know who you are or what you are, you have a hard time thinking independantly. In any case, the Drakh may be like this too.

 

[Thrawn]

I have to agree with RW, the Drakh are the new masters after the Shadows left for the rim. So they would take on all the client races that the Shadows had, like the Strieb and others. Wouldn't the Shadows have many allies just as the Vorlons did? like the idea of a hirearchey among the Drakh, that sounds about right. The Councilors firsy, then th pilots and warriors, with the rest of the races following thier directives.


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THRAWN
Ardent follower of B5 and SW.

"Kill 'em all, Let Valen sort them out."
-Random B5 bumper sticker

"If you can't beat them, arrange to have them beaten."
-George Carlin

 

[drakh]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Thrawn:
So they would take on all the client races that the Shadows had, like the Strieb and others.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>The Streib?

They were the aliens that abducted Sheridan in
All Alone in the Night. I can't remember any conection ever being made between them and the Shadows.

 

[bakana]

The Centauri Trilogy makes it reasonably clear that the Drakh posses a partialy Hive Mind, partialy independent thought organization. They _Are_ telepathic, this much is clear. They communicated with Londo and with his Keeper telepathicly, as well as with one another. Londo's keeper was also able to "hear" londo's thoughts when it concentrated.

The Hive mind was referred to as the Drakh Entire, if I remember correctly. The Drakh who was giving Londo his marching orders was operating independently and reporting back to the collective mind periodically.

The "Blurred" effect around the Drakh emmisary to Delenn was explained at the time as a distortion field designed to protect the emmisary from being shot with a PPG or other weapon. The Drakh leaders don't like to risk their own lives.

The evidence that this WAS a fairly important Drakh was the Instant recognition of Delenn's name. It's doubtful the Drakh leaders spent a lot of time explaining to the rank & file just _Who_ it was that sent the Shadows packing.


As far as the Drakh being top dogs, we have no real evidence of that. They are just the one race that has chosen, so far, to take revenge. The Drakh relationship to the Shadows appears to have been Worshiper>Gods in nature. That's why they are so Angry. They've lost their Gods and been left on their own.

I see no reason to assume that there aren't other, more advanced races out there who were more pragmatic in their relationship to the Shadows. And, smart enough to Wait and get all their ducks in a row before making any move against the Alliance.

The Drakh have been throwing Temper Tantrums. A smarter race would be more likely to use the Shadow tactic of Burrowing and Corrupting from within. I'd expect an attempt to take control of the alliance for their own purposes rather than destroying it.

The Soldier of Darkness appeared to be the same species as Mr. Morden's bodyguards. They bore No resemblence to the Drakh, but showed a definite kinship with the Shadows.

Speculation: They might have been a younger "cousin" race to the Shadows. The Soldiers appeared to operate on a level of semi equality with Morden, deferring to his judgement on several occasions. They were Powerful, in that 4 or 5 of them were able to Kill a Vorlon, something that even Lorien had trouble doing, but not so powerful that they could survive a PPG attack. I think it was also some of the Soldiers that Sheridan was shooting at on Z'Ha'Dum just before he nuked the city and jumped into the Abyss.

It will be interesting to see where the Soldiers of Darkness fit in the heirarchy of the Shadow servant races. They'd be my first bet to be further up the food chain than the Drakh.



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Yes, I like cats too.
Shall we exchange Recipes?

 

[Cern]

there was a connection between the Shadoes and the Streib implied in the first Technomage book.. I dont have it with me, but the gist of it was that several of the Shadows allies had begun gathering, and the Drakh and Streib were mentioned as two of them.

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Marcus, "Well They said I was carrying around a lot of repressed anger.
Lennier, "and?"
Marcus, "I'm not repressed anymore."

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

In my opinion the Drakh are one race. The gray, craggy, horn guys. The bulbous headed guys and the rest are just dark servants. If Drakh was a blanket name for all servants, than Morden could be called a Drakh. Delenn simply refered to him as a dark servant.

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