Who Ivanova met (spoiler: Voices of Authority)

[sleepy_shadow]

My rewatching of Season 3 (which I greatly appreciate) finally reached the episode "Voices of Authority". To my surprise, I noticed additional details -- ones which on television and VHS, I never saw before.

When by invitation from Draal, Ivanova is using the Great Machine to search for trails left by First One activity... the brightest trail (presumably most recent, regular or open) leads her to Sigma 957.

Studying the patterns of the Sigma Walkers' travels, she concludes that they will soon return. But suddenly, she is accompanied by someone else -- someone whose curiosity is intrusive, and whose skill in mind games extends beyond chatting. Draal advises Ivanova to quickly draw back, which proves difficult.

Since then, many discussions have occurred, debating what exactly Ivanova met. It was quickly noticed that the presence which approached her... projected the image of a Shadow face.

Some argued it was an individual Shadow, others suspected it was one of their weapons -- later introduced as the "Eye". As visual depiction should best indicate what the scene tried to convey... here is what I saw. Higher resoltion does make a difference.

Moment A

Moment B

Moment C

It appears that originally, she perceives only one being. However, as moments pass, the number os Shadow-like presences quickly increases. So her exploration attracted neither the "Eye" nor a single Shadow... whatever noise her turning of stones broadcast... quickly drew the attention of many.

For those who like spotting silly little details, rewatching an old series on DVD is really fascinating.

 

[Recoil]

Well its a Shadow something. The pattern of eyes sort of tell you that. Maybe its a few Shadows watching her through The Eye...

 

[sleepy_shadow]

Could be something like that -- since I don't believe a large quantity of Shadows would accidentally wander to Sigma 957 (unless the system is a neighbour of theirs).

Or perhaps, only one Shadow noticed first -- and quickly told others something like: "Hey, we have this really interesting creature rummaging around here. Come look."

Quite a crowd, it seemed quickly becoming.
On VHS tape, I only noticed one.
Tells something about VHS.

 

[vacantlook]

I wonder if the Shadows would have picked up on someone peeking around if that someone hadn't been telepathic (even though slightly) like Ivanova was.

 

[Elizar]

I had never saw the second one back behind before.

 

[vacantlook]

I had never saw the second one back behind before.

Actually, there are four sets of eyes that appear in that scene.

 

[Jade Jaguar]

I only see three sets of eyes, one large set, and two smaller sets. Each set consists of four groups with 3-4 eyes per group.

I do recall being aware that there was more than one individual confronting Ivanova, and being aware that they were Shadows, by the arrangement of the eyes. I also recall that much later, when Ivanova leads the expedition to Z'Ha'Dum looking for Sheridan, and she is confronted by the Shadow Eye/Planet protector, I believed I recognized it as the thing she had seen earlier, in Draal's machine. I won't deny that other interpretations are possible. I think of the other two sets of eyes as other Shadows, possibly watching through the Eye, as Recoil suggests. It also seems to me that when Ivanova meets the Eye at Z'Ha'Dum, she makes some sign of recognition, as if she recognizes it as what she'd seen before. I may be wrong, though.

Ivanova's latent telepathic abilities may well have had something to do with the Shadows confronting her when she was 'traveling' with Draal's machine. What I thought when I first saw the EP, and think now is that the Shadows travel all over the galaxy, and do so as much, or more, than any other firstones, except possibly for the Vorlons. So, it was very likely that she would encounter a Shadow trail to follow, back to Z' and as the Shadows are vigilant, and defensive, they detected her approach to Z'Ha'Dum, even in the non-corporeal form she was traveling in. And then, they did what Shadows do...

 

[vacantlook]

I actually popped the episode in and checked last night before I posted. Four sets (the main one and then three additional that appear behind it as the scene progresses) appear in space during the scene.

 

[Jade Jaguar]

Okay, I'll take your word... I was just going on the pics posted here, which I thought you were refering to. Sorry for my confusion.

 

[vacantlook]

Ah. Yeah, in the pics above, only three are shown. If my memory of rewatching the scene last night, the fourth appears in the lower right quadrant of the screen after the closest set of eyes has gotten pretty close to the "camera."