[B5JMS] B5:LotR TLaDiS - Some Observations, Questions, etc. (SPOILERS

[b5jms-admin at cs.columbia.edu]

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From: "Mac Breck" <macbreck at access995.com>
Date: Sun, 20 Jan 2002 23:36:36 -0500
Lines: 159

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The Enfali is in a firefight with some raider fighters. Since when have
raiders ever been able to do serious damage to a Minbari vessel, and why are
no Nials around?  Since when do raider fighters have aft guns?  Well, we
really don't know a lot about the context of the firefight that might
explain why no other ships were with the Enfali, or why we saw no Sharlins
in the entire movie, or why we only saw Nials and Whitestars at Minbar, and
possibly at B5.  This has me wondering what type of ship the Enfali is, and
when it was built.

Tannier?  The same Tannier from Learning Curve?  I'd have double checked the
actors name but every airing of TLaDiS had scrunched credits (ARGH!).

I think hyperspace looked better in Lightwave.  Also, the new jumppoints
seem to persist much longer than usual, before collapsing.

What happened to the bodies of the immediately previous crew of the Liandra?
Who attacked them, when were they attacked, and who betrayed them?

In Dulann's vision (when he was in the hallway of the Liandra, checking
systems before they took off), he saw Minister Kafka, the right side of his
face already beaten up.  This hadn't happened yet.  Kafka was on the Valen
at the time.  It appears Dulann is a prophet, in addition to being a teep.
This couldn't be a vision the ghosts were sending him, unless another of
Kafka's race had been similarly beaten up.  However, the ghost said he
didn't see the face of his betrayer.

Liandra is 20 years old in 2264, so it was built in 2244, before the
Earth-Minbari war.  It's a small vessel and yet it *has* jump engines.
Seems odd, since Sheridan thought it was a big deal when he found out that
the Whitestar, another small vessel, had jump engines (2260).

What's the deal with engine glow? The Valen's engines glow, and the
Liandra's do not. Sharlins and Nials engines don't glow, but Whitestars and
those of the Victory class do.  Is there any plan to this?  You'd think that
all Minbari gravitic propulsion systems would not glow, just like a
Sharlin's don't glow.

The Valen has weapons, so why were they never fired?  Maybe they were fired
but we never saw them fired.

Why enter the tail of the comet?  Why not just put the comet between you and
the enemy ship.  You don't have to be *in* the tail.

How is it possible to lose people for any amount of time at all on that
small of a ship?

The Valen was hit 13 times with the green energy bolts from the enemy ships.
At that point, status was "Engines hit, rear decks on fire."  Then it was
hit 4 more times with the green energy bolts.  Status was then "Weapons
gone. Engines, full burn."  Then it was hit 13 more times with the green
energy bolts. Then, the Ram occurred (Thank the Great Maker, "Ramming Speed"
was not uttered.).  Evidently the Valen was really good at taking damage,
and not so good at dishing it out.

The Liandra intercepted one green energy bolt meant for the Valen.  Why
didn't it *try* to intercept the large, white energy bolt that the enemy
fired at the planet?

The Liandra, a 20 year old ship, hit the enemy ships, several times with her
fireballs (why no traditional Minbari green slicer beams?) blowing pieces
off the enemy ships.  These were ships of the great enemy (admittedly toys,
given by "The Hand" to races who cooperated with them), a race that would
make the Shadows appear like insects.  I can't see the Liandra making any
headway against a Shadow Battlecrab.  "Seems" inconsistent.

The Liandra is hit by one green energy bolt, and suffers significant damage
(Dulann is very seriously injured.).  Then, it's hit by one pinkish-white
energy bolt (definitely never was green), two mines, and 2 or 3 more
pinkish-white energy bolts.  I've got to wonder what's the difference
between the green and the pinkish-white energy bolts.

Minister Kafka's race appears to be to The Hand, what the Drakh were to the
Shadows.



All in all, I *liked* the movie.  It just felt a bit like it was not the B5
universe, a bit foreign, because of the lack of familiar Minbari ships
(except in extreme distant shots, in background only), lack of traditional
Minbari ship weaponry (green slicer beam, which even Nials had as far back
as 2248), the weird look of hyperspace (mostly hyperspace itself, but also
the jumppoints), and the weird space backdrop at B5.  What's happened
between 2262 and 2264, that got back to normal for 2267?  Yes, I know.
"Maya."  *Please go back to Lightwave.*  B5 and Crusade looked better.

While I thought all of the actors did a great job, it looks like Alex Zahara
has been playing Dulann all his life.  Man, this guy is just incredible!
The chemistry between David and Dulann is right there, from the very
beginning.  I'm reminded of G'Kar and Londo, and Londo and Garibaldi.  There
was only one time a line made me wince, and that was when Sarah said "And
another wise man said, It ain't over 'till it's over."  It wasn't the line,
but rather the delivery.  Then there was Sarah's expressions and long
utterance when she was going nuts destroying the mines.  That was a bit
much.  Seemed over the top.  Not her motions when destroying the mines, but
rather the expressions and the utterance.  It was a strange thing.  I was
smiling broadly at what she accomplished, but at the same time thinking
"That was over the top."  Ahh, maybe it's just me.  When things start to get
that hot & heavy, I tend to go the other way and get icy and silent.


JMS, regarding G'Kar's mention of Lyta (not by name), G'Kar's "conversation"
with Sheridan (not shown), and G'Kar asking David if he was going to visit
the station, YOU ARE SUCH A TEASE!

Mac Breck
------------------------

http://www.scifi.com/b5rangers/   http://www.b5lr.com/






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From: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
Date: 21 Jan 2002 07:14:23 GMT
Lines: 116


























>The Enfali is in a firefight with some raider fighters. Since when have
>raiders ever been able to do serious damage to a Minbari vessel, and why are
>no Nials around?

Even a lion can be brought down by a pack of smaller predators.  The Enfalli
was alone and the pursuit was a long one, and they just kept taking hit after
hit.

> Since when do raider fighters have aft guns?

Raider fighter craft come in as many variations as human fighter craft.  The
error is in thinking monolithically.

>or why we only saw Nials and Whitestars at Minbar, and
>possibly at B5. 

Bear in mind that there were only ever about a hundred, maybe a hundred and
fifty whitestars built during the Shadow War.  A LOT of those got wiped out
during said war, so now you've got maybe 80 or so.  You conserve your best
ships for big jobs, you don't have them doing this kind of grunt work.

>Tannier?  The same Tannier from Learning Curve?  I'd have double checked the
>actors name but every airing of TLaDiS had scrunched credits

Meant to be the same character, but it's not the same actor.

>I think hyperspace looked better in Lightwave.  Also, the new jumppoints
>seem to persist much longer than usual, before collapsing.

Hyperspace is now *much* more complex than it was using lightwave, with more
levels.  It was always meant to look pretty hellish, but we could never quite
pull it off with lightwave, it always looked 2d.  This is more what I
originally had in mind.

>In Dulann's vision (when he was in the hallway of the Liandra, checking
>systems before they took off), he saw Minister Kafka, the right side of his
>face already beaten up.  This hadn't happened yet.

Recheck your tape...that shot ain't there.

>Liandra is 20 years old in 2264, so it was built in 2244, before the
>Earth-Minbari war.  It's a small vessel and yet it *has* jump engines.
>Seems odd, since Sheridan thought it was a big deal when he found out that
>the Whitestar, another small vessel, had jump engines (2260).

He also didn't know everything about Minbari ships and classes.

>The Valen has weapons, so why were they never fired?  Maybe they were fired
>but we never saw them fired.

The Valen never had time to fire; they were hit within a second of the hand
ships coming out of hyperspace (actually *as* they were coming out)...the hits
disabled most of the systems on the new ship (you can see eruptions all over
the bridge).  The weapons systems were intact elsewhere, but the control
mechanisms were down.  That's why they kept hammering the Valen, to make sure
it wouldn't be able to fire.

>Why enter the tail of the comet?  Why not just put the comet between you and
>the enemy ship.  You don't have to be *in* the tail.

Two-dimensional thinking.  Only works if the comet is directly between you and
the enemy.  If it moves at any other angle, you're revealed.

>How is it possible to lose people for any amount of time at all on that
>small of a ship?

Given the small ins and outs and access hatches and panels and sub-halls and
the like...real possible.

>The Liandra, a 20 year old ship, hit the enemy ships, several times with her
>fireballs (why no traditional Minbari green slicer beams?)

Not a big enough ship with a big enough power source.

>I can't see the Liandra making any
>headway against a Shadow Battlecrab.  "Seems" inconsistent.

It wasn't a shadow battlecrab.  It was tough, but it wasn't one of those.  The
hand wouldn't give out that kind of power to flunkies.


 jms

(jmsatb5 at aol.com)
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