JMS on CompuServe (Apr 05, 1996) *POSSIBLE SPOILERS* 1/2

Brent Barrett brent.barrett at 24stex.com
Fri Apr 5 14:41:38 EST 1996


 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WARNING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 The following posts may contain SPOILERS for
 upcoming Babylon 5 episodes.

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 #: 481203 S5/Babylon 5: General
    04-Apr-96  05:07:29
Sb: #481143-#L.A.,April 1, 1981
Fm: ANNE L. WARNER

Joe,

What aniversary did you forget?  Do we all help Kathryn (sp?) beat on you with
dead lemmings?

Anne


 #: 481315 S5/Babylon 5: General
    04-Apr-96  11:54:43
Sb: #481203-#L.A.,April 1, 1981
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI

       April 1st 1981 was the day I moved to LA to become a Big Shot.

                                                                       jms




 #: 481258 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
    04-Apr-96  08:55:54
Sb: #480642-#>>Severed Dreams<<
Fm: PHILIP HORNSEY

Just saw this one. Just brilliant.

A few particular point...

I loves the fact that Ivanova got shot down. The major characters *never* get
shot down in any other shows. If they do get nailed, they either manage to
pilot their ship in, or turn it into a flying bomb, ejecting at the last second
and taking out half the armada or some such.

I love the fact that you beat the hell out of Garabaldi as well. Give Jerry a
pat on the back for being such a good trooper.

Two questions. One of the council caught one of the other by the arm as he
left. Was this a member of the Warrior Caste defecting with Delenn? Who the
hell is running the Mimbari government now? Given that she has about 2/3 of the
council, it looks to me like Delenn is running Mimbar.

Incedently, if the warrior caste was *not* in on it, where did they get the
warships?

Phil^^^^
FREE MARS!


 #: 481316 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
    04-Apr-96  11:54:45
Sb: #481258-#>>Severed Dreams<<
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI

       At this point, with the Council broken, Delenn isn't currently running
Minbar...there's a vacuum of power.  The system can carry on for a while, the
balance between the castes is pretty efficient, but this is going to have to be
resolved, and some in the warrior caste may suspect Delenn of doing this so she
*can* rise to power.

       As part of Valen's covenant, to prevent one caste from taking over the
other, each caste has access to its own warships.  This was done to create
trust a thousand years ago, and since then, since there hasn't been any
conflict between Minbari, the three castes own their own warships still, but in
general are assigned to Warrior caste as a courtesy, which can be revoked.  As
Delenn noted, the worker and religious castes control 2/3rds of their forces.

                                                                       jms



 [ Summary: The poster is talking with another user about B5's technology.
   This poster takes issue with the statement that B5 is "The first science
   fiction series in which all of the technology incorporated in the story
   -- other than its unique 'jumpgates' -- are based on real science."  This
   poster feels that there are several other elements that are not based
   on today's science. ]

 #: 481321 S5/Babylon 5: General
    04-Apr-96  12:06:44
Sb: #481192-#B5 Press Release
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI

       "...telepathy, telekinesis, prophesy..."

       Basically, I wouldn't consider those technology in any form.  The
technology on which the *show* is based is pretty rigorous...starfuries
designed for zero gravity, a dyson-style sphere, rotational gravity, and so on.

                                                                       jms



 [ Summary: Caught JMS' reference above to a "Dyson" sphere and wants to
   know if he missed something. ]

 #: 481379 S5/Babylon 5: General
    04-Apr-96  13:49:44
Sb: #481349-#B5 Press Release
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI

       (sigh...some days I have the brains of a flea).   I typed Dyson sphere
when I meant to type O'Neill sphere or station.  Brain fart.

                                                                       jms




 #: 481357 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
    04-Apr-96  13:06:18
Sb: #481316-#>>Severed Dreams<<
Fm: PHILIP HORNSEY

>>and some in the warrior caste may suspect Delenn of doing this so she *can*
rise to power.

Given that they *tried* to make her leader a year and a half ago, that argument
is going to have trouble holding water.

Fact is, what you *are* saying is that she is the de facto leader of 2/3 of the
Mimbari. I mean, they broke the Grey Council to follow prophesy as related *by
her*. Wow. I simply *did not* expect that.

>>each caste has access to its own warships.  This was done to create trust a
thousand years ago, and since then, since there hasn't been any conflict
between Minbari, the three castes own their own warships still, but in general
are assigned to Warrior caste as a courtesy, which can be revoked.

Did some of the Military follow Delenn? Also perhaps I miscounted, but it
looked like 6 members of the Council followed her. If that is true then one
member of the Warrior Caste is on her side. Also, since the vote to allow her
to decline the post of leader was 5 to 4, at least one opponent (so to speak)
of hers defected to her side.

May we assume that Neroon did not follow Delenn?

Phil^^^^
FREE MARS!


 #: 481380 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
    04-Apr-96  13:49:46
Sb: #481357-#>>Severed Dreams<<
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI

       No, 5 left the council with her.  And one can wonder, Did she turn down
the position of leader of the Grey Council, which would be a balance for that
role, in order to eliminate the council and become primary ruler? (That is what
some of the warrior caste are bound to begin wondering after a while.)

                                                                       jms



 [ Summary: Wants to know who runs the Minbari warships. ]

 #: 481381 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
    04-Apr-96  13:49:48
Sb: #481374-#>>Severed Dreams<<
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI

       Each caste populates the ships in their jurisdiction with their own
people.  Which is why those on the Minbari warships that came in, which we'll
see shortly, are religious caste, no warriors among them...but even the
religious caste is well trained in combat, as part of their education in
temple.  We've seen some of this already in Lennier's abilities in a fight.

                                                                       jms




 #: 481444 S5/Babylon 5: General
    04-Apr-96  16:12:39
Sb: #480914-#stuff
Fm: PHIL KOLTKO

Joe,
  What about Gerrold writing a novel? He's an experienced, talented writer. He
knows the show. If he can do to a tie-in novel what "Believers" did to an
episode, you'd end up with a kick-a** book. Can this be done?

phil


 #: 481612 S5/Babylon 5: General
    04-Apr-96  22:25:24
Sb: #481444-stuff
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI

      It can be done, sure, but I think David is generally more interested in
writing his own novels than a farmed-out concept book, and rightly so.

                                                                       jms


 #: 481383 S5/Babylon 5: General
    04-Apr-96  13:54:40
Sb: #481315-#L.A.,April 1, 1981
Fm: ANNE L. WARNER

That sounds appropriate.

What are you doing on line in mid-day?  I'm used to seeing your postings at
early morning hours (in eastern time <G>)

Anne


 #: 481613 S5/Babylon 5: General
    04-Apr-96  22:25:26
Sb: #481383-L.A.,April 1, 1981
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI

      I dived on for a bit from my office at the stage.

                                                                        jms


 #: 481448 S5/Babylon 5: General
    04-Apr-96  16:23:03
Sb: #Gravity in core shuttle
Fm: PHIL KOLTKO

Joe,
  The apparent gravity in the skin sections of B5 comes from the spin. What
holds people to the seats and floor of the core shuttle?

phil


 #: 481614 S5/Babylon 5: General
    04-Apr-96  22:25:27
Sb: #481448-Gravity in core shuttle
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI

      There are mag-strips, also hand-holds, seat belts and foot-straps.  As
you enter you hear the voice warning that this is a reduced gravity area, and
to exercise proper precautions.

                                                                       jms


 #: 481510 S5/Babylon 5: General
    04-Apr-96  18:52:58
Sb: #Narn contribution
Fm: ROWAN KAISER

Did the Narn contribute to the making of B5?  I remember that they did from
somewhere, but no one else does.

Sin wreak-oar Mistie, Montie, PITAS, Emperor of SPAMM and Kidism Patroler
"Confused.  To shake it out of it's complacency.  I'm afraid I'm not personally
qualified to confuse cats, but I can recommend an extremely good service."
        -Monty Python


 #: 481615 S5/Babylon 5: General
    04-Apr-96  22:25:30
Sb: #481510-Narn contribution
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI

        No, the Narn didn't contribute to the making of B5.

                                                                       jms


 #: 481516 S5/Babylon 5: General
    04-Apr-96  18:53:12
Sb: #Jinxo
Fm: ROWAN KAISER

Are there plans for seeing Jinxo on the series again?  I caught a spoiler, and
did some figuring, and thought that maybe he might be back. . .

Sin wreak-oar Mistie, Montie, PITAS, Emperor of SPAMM and Kidism Patroler
"Confused.  To shake it out of it's complacency.  I'm afraid I'm not personally
qualified to confuse cats, but I can recommend an extremely good service."
        -Monty Python


 #: 481616 S5/Babylon 5: General
    04-Apr-96  22:25:32
Sb: #481516-Jinxo
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI

      No, no plans for Jinxo for now.

                                                                     jms


 #: 481603 S5/Babylon 5: General
    04-Apr-96  21:38:25
Sb: #Dust to Dust Problem
Fm: JAMES R. KAPESIS

In "Dust to Dust" why did you have G'Kar refer to his father in the third
person when he said "I must honor my father's name" to his father?

Also why wasn't G'Kar happy and embracing his father when he appeared to him
right after G'Kar watched his father die hanging from the tree?  This would
seem to be the natural happy reaction.


 #: 481617 S5/Babylon 5: General
    04-Apr-96  22:25:34
Sb: #481603-Dust to Dust Problem
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI

      Both questions have the same answer: logically, G'Kar knows that his
father is dead.  He saw him die.  So whoever this was, wasn't his father, even
though he was appearing that way.  Or was a spirit, and either way, he would've
been sufficiently apprehensive about it not to go blithely around embracing
something he didn't understand.  I sure as hell wouldn't.

                                                                      jms

 [ Summary: Loved "Severed Dreams" and wants to know if the CGI people have
   gotten better hardware/software since the last episode, as he feels the
   effects have gotten much better. ]

 #: 481618 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
    04-Apr-96  22:25:37
Sb: #481557-<Severed Dreams, WOW>
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI

      No, I just think they're getting better at using what they have.

                                                                   jms


 #: 481517 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
    04-Apr-96  19:04:20
Sb: #481316-#>>Severed Dreams<<
Fm: CELIA J. PENHAM

I just finished watching Severed Dreams, and my legs are shaking.  Wow! That
was incredible! Wow!

Much humbled,
Celia


 #: 481619 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
    04-Apr-96  22:25:39
Sb: #481517->>Severed Dreams<<
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI

      Thanks....

                                                                         jms


 #: 481553 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
    04-Apr-96  20:06:23
Sb: #<SD- Special Scene>
Fm: SYSOP LEE WHITESIDE

I haven't actually read all the comments on Severed Dreams yet, but there's one
scene that impresses me each time I see it.  When Sheridan is talking with the
other two commanders when they get word about the other ships coming to B5, the
camera adjusts and moves in on Sheridan a bit, seemingly concentrating on his
perspective and while this is happening the audio seems to shift a bit to where
you really get a taste of what Sheridan is feeling at that moment, starting to
zone out a bit as the situation starts to sink in.

That's the kind of extra stuff that grabs my attention, not just the special
effects that everyone notices.


 #: 481620 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
    04-Apr-96  22:25:40
Sb: #481553-<SD- Special Scene>
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI

      Yup.  We designed that scene very carefully to have that impact.  No
cutaways, just *hold* on him.


                                                               jms


 [ Summary: Has a theory that the Holy Grail from King Arthur's Legend was
   important in the last Shadow War, one thousand years ago. ]

 #: 481631 S5/Babylon 5: General
    04-Apr-96  22:38:54
Sb: #481515-<Last Shadow War>
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI

      Nope, sorry, that theory couldn't possibly be more incorrect....

                                                                   jms


 [ Continued in next section -- BB ]


/*********************************************
 * Brent Barrett    brent.barrett at 24stex.com *
 * Senior Software Engineer   Automedia, Inc *
 *           http://www.ailink.com           *
 *********************************************/

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