New Minbari Ambassador...?

[BabylonRebel]

As we know, by 2263, the command staff of B5 was Captain Lochley, Lieutenant Corwin, Security Chief Allen & Doctor Hobbs. We also know that there was Ambassadors Vir Cotto and Ta'Lon from the Centauri Republic and Narn Regime, respectively. But who suceeded Delenn as the Minbari's Ambassador? Is it mentioned in any of the novels, or perhaps it will be explored (briefly) in the Lost Tales?

[Jan]

You know...that's an excellent question.

Jan

[phazedout]

I gotta say Jan, that's one of the most vorlon-like answers I've seen you give in a while, Jeffrey would be proud of you
Phaze
on the "listening merrily to the B5 podcast" ID

[SmileOfTheShadow]

As we know, by 2263, the command staff of B5 was Captain Lochley, Lieutenant Corwin, Security Chief Allen & Doctor Hobbs. We also know that there was Ambassadors Vir Cotto and Ta'Lon from the Centauri Republic and Narn Regime, respectively. But who suceeded Delenn as the Minbari's Ambassador? Is it mentioned in any of the novels, or perhaps it will be explored (briefly) in the Lost Tales?

Oooh...that's an interesting premise for some new content in TLT for sure.

[rallytbk]

But who suceeded Delenn as the Minbari's Ambassador?

You know that was a good question... I guess I will go look at my DVD's again for a hint of who would have or did succed Delenn.

[AaronB]

As we know, by 2263, the command staff of B5 was Captain Lochley, Lieutenant Corwin, Security Chief Allen & Doctor Hobbs. We also know that there was Ambassadors Vir Cotto and Ta'Lon from the Centauri Republic and Narn Regime, respectively. But who suceeded Delenn as the Minbari's Ambassador? Is it mentioned in any of the novels, or perhaps it will be explored (briefly) in the Lost Tales?

Was it John Bolton?

[SmileOfTheShadow]

Was it John Bolton?

*dies*

No..just his mustache.

[prometheous]

Funny thing about the whole post series B5 thing. There are the constituent races and the alliance yeh? soooo, what purpose does B5 serve after the formation of the alliance - or rather once the alliance moves to Minbar - I mean each race must have its embassies of alien ambassadors on the home worlds right? and also must have an ambassador at the Alliance headquarters on Minbar (with the possible exception of the centauri) so why then does B5 need ambassadors in the first place? Surely any diplomatic dialogue would be carried out via the embassies on the home worlds or at the alliance.

[WorkerCaste]

Funny thing about the whole post series B5 thing. There are the constituent races and the alliance yeh? soooo, what purpose does B5 serve after the formation of the alliance - or rather once the alliance moves to Minbar - I mean each race must have its embassies of alien ambassadors on the home worlds right? and also must have an ambassador at the Alliance headquarters on Minbar (with the possible exception of the centauri) so why then does B5 need ambassadors in the first place? Surely any diplomatic dialogue would be carried out via the embassies on the home worlds or at the alliance.

It's a good point and I think that it's one of the major reasons B5 eventually became obsolete. During the transition though, B5 still may have been useful since it was located in neutral space. Earth Alliance owned the station, but still it wasn't like having to visit another race's home world if you were in the middle of difficulties with that race. Just a thought.

[Joseph DeMartino]

Maybe someone with a better memory than mine can tell us if the Centauri Trilogy says anything on the subject. It is the only one of the three that is concerned with B5 during the relevant period.

...so why then does B5 need ambassadors in the first place?

The Interstellar Alliance is a very different kettle of fish than the B5 Council. It is much closer to being an actual government in its own right - something like the United States under the Articles of Confederation, or a weaker European Union. The B5 Council was always viewed as a kind of U.N. Security Council, with five permanent members and the League Worlds having one collective vote. They are different entities doing different jobs. Even today the U.S. has ambassadors to individual countries, to the United Nations, to the NATO alliance, etc. Other countries, in turn, have their embassies to the U.N. in New York, their embassies to the United States in Washington and often Consulates in many other major cities (which makes it easier to render assistance to their nationals travelling in the U.S.)

Since B5 remains a handy cross-roads in neutral territory, it makes sense that the B5 Council would continue to operate in some fashion, so that issues dealing with the station as a whole could be addressed by the governments that support the place. They may not all have formal ambassadors, but they may have informally designated representatives, or they may have such tasks handled by the ambassadors of other governments. (Real world example: Countries which do not have diplomatic relations with one another will often deal through neutral third parties. The Swiss did a lot of this sort of thing during and in between the World Wars.)

Minbar may have sent a successor to Delenn, or they may be content to let the Humans represent their interest insofar as B5 and the Grid Epsilon are concerned, while leaving assistance to Minbari travellers in the hands of whichever Minbari merchants or trade representatives are in permanent residence on the station.

With the IA on Minbar handling the big issues, the League dissolved and the Vorlons gone from the galaxy, the B5 Council could probably run just fine with only a couple of members.

Regards,

Joe

[rallytbk]

It was the dawn of the third age of mankind, ten years after the Earth/Minbari war. The Babylon Project was a dream given form. Its goal, to prevent another war by creating a place where humans and aliens could work out their differences peacefully. It's a port of call - home away from home for diplomats, hustlers, entrepreneurs, and wanderers. Humans and aliens wrapped in two million, five hundred thousand tons of spinning metal, all alone in the night. It can be a dangerous place, but it's our last best hope for peace. This is the story of the last of the Babylon stations. The year is 2258. The name of the place is Babylon 5. - Commander Sinclair

"I was there, at the dawn of the Third Age of Mankind. It began in the Earth year 2257 with the founding of the last of the Babylon stations, located deep in neutral space. It was a port of call for refugees, smugglers, businessmen, diplomats and travelers from a hundred worlds. It could be a dangerous place, but we accepted the risk because Babylon 5 was our last, best hope for peace. Under the leadership of its final commander, Babylon 5 was a dream given form, a dream of a galaxy without war, where species from different worlds could live side-by-side in mutual respect, a dream that was endangered as never before by the arrival of one man on a mission of destruction. Babylon 5 was the last of the Babylon stations. This is its story."

-- Ambassador Londo Mollari's opening in Babylon 5:"The Gathering"

Maybe it returned to being a port of call for trading and business negotiations. It still was in neutral territory.

[WorkerCaste]

Maybe it returned to being a port of call for trading and business negotiations. It still was in neutral territory.

Yup. But if that was all it was, Vir and T'Lon wouldn't be needed as replacements for Londo and G'Kar.

[Garibaldi's Hair]

Hmm ... except even using a modern day parallel, the EU has its headquarters in Brussels and Strasbourg, and all the EU nations have their own ambassadors to the UN ... and those also in NATO have representatives at NATO ... and so on.

[prometheous]

Hmm ... except even using a modern day parallel, the EU has its headquarters in Brussels and Strasbourg, and all the EU nations have their own ambassadors to the UN ... and those also in NATO have representatives at NATO ... and so on.

Yeh but the EU/NATO has ambassadors because it is an organisation in its own right with its own issues. At the start of B5 the station is built to provide a meeting place for the major races to discuss issues since their is no higher organisation that can arbitrate between them, in fact the political map at the start of the series is similar to late 19th century europe with half a dozen major powers all trying to get one other the other.

At the end of the series the alliance is set up to do what B5 did and is, as I understand it, the only authority higher than the races own government that is recognised by all. So what organisation does the post alliance B5 belong to that needs it to have its own diplomatic core?

[BabylonRebel]

Did Babylon 5 ever return to Earth Alliance control? or did it stay the property of the Interstellar Alliance? I think it would have been much better if they had kept the Alliance HQ on Babylon 5.

PS - Didn't the Alliance at one point have plans to build Babylon 6? I've seen some fan made images put round the net. Looks like a mix between B4 & B5 but with a purple colour scheme.