Telepath question

[Dipper]

I was just watching s3 for the XXth time, and came across some abnormalities I hadn't noticed before. In Walkabout when Lyta and Sheridan fight with the Shadows Lyta says she has to see the target which she is interfering. After they've destroyed the first ship and are running away from the other Shadow vessel Lyta again tries to jam it, but can't get "through". Unless they are flying backwards, how is Lyta able to see the vessel that is chasing them ?

Ok, to the real question. In Shadow Dancing it is clearly said that the Minbari telepaths are safe below decks. Is it so that they do not need the line of sight for their telepathy to work ?


Dip

[Kevin]

Actually, we never showed what the Minbari telepaths were looking at; for all you could tell, there could've been viewers or other ports above their beds.

The above is a jms quote lifted from the old archives of the Lurker's Guide in response to a question much like your own...

~Kevin

[Morden]

We may have a little inconsistency here (actually I don't believe that "a direct line of sight" and an image on a monitor are quiet the same in this case...).

But we could also assume that it might be enough to see the target just once to interfere, or even re-establish the telepathic contact. Or it is just that this "seeing the target - issue" is the way Lyta is most used to. Let's remember, her abilities are not as developed as in later seasons, or she's at least not yet aware of all her strengths.

As for the Minbari telepaths mentioned above, I've always thought they are lying under that kind of holographic "sky" the Minbari use on their command decks (similar to the one from where Sheridan and Delenn are commanding the fleet).

[Dipper]

That might be the case. Although that makes one wonder why wasn't Bester able to scan Sheridan when he had his ship in his instruments, but didn't have a clear line of sight.

And further more, in Lyta's case there was no connection to re-establish since the first ship was destroyed and thus there was nothing to re-establish.


-Dip

[Morden]

>Although that makes one wonder why wasn't Bester able to scan Sheridan when he had his ship in his instruments, but didn't have a clear line of sight.

Perhaps he didn't remember his face

Ok, perhaps he didn't have a direct view on Sheridan's Starfury as Sheridan circled behind Bester's fighter. Does the movement of Bester's eyes and head support this, I seem to remember him looking around, searching.

>And further more, in Lyta's case there was no connection to re-establish since the first ship was destroyed and thus there was nothing to re-establish.

Oops, of course you're right. So, either they were flying backwards (the CGI-sequence suggstes: no), or she was watching the Shadow Ships on the holo-screen.

[AmyG]

Has it not occurred to anyone that human telepaths and Minbari telepaths might have some differences in their abilities?

[rallytbk]

"Do you know what a telepath has to do in order to avoid picking up stray thoughts? We have to kick down our natural abilities, run rhymes and little songs through our heads 'round and 'round. All that to keep from picking up what you're broadcasting loud enough to be heard halfway down the hall. You're one of those people who rehearses everything, Mr. Garibaldi. You never enter a situation until you've gone over it and over it a hundred times, worked out what you will say and what the other person will say, how you'll respond. It's .. quite remarkable and extremely depressing. That little personality quirk must have cost you more than a few relationships. Mundanes want us to fill our heads with noise and babble so we won't hear what you're shouting at the top of your minds."
-- Byron to Garibaldi in Babylon 5:"The Paragon of Animals"



IMHO, I would go with the idea that telepaths hear random thoughts (noise) when they are near mundanesà While I could assume (like in the X-Men Movie) it is similar to what happens when Professor X uses his amplifier locate a mutant, per that example it took time for him to focus his thoughts and isolate the one mutant he was looking for. Which may explain why Bester needed time to recognize Sheridan. Note: Multiple Starfuries were with Sheridan.

Ok, perhaps he didn't have a direct view on Sheridan's Starfury as Sheridan circled behind Bester's fighter. Does the movement of Bester's eyes and head support this, I seem to remember him looking around, searching.

[Andrew_Swallow]

Ok, to the real question. In Shadow Dancing it is clearly said that the Minbari telepaths are safe below decks. Is it so that they do not need the line of sight for their telepathy to work ?

"Line of sight" and "in sight" are different words. Telepaths may be able to scan through a wall providing their head is pointing in the correct direction.

[AmyG]

That's a good point, and it was always my assumption, as well. Also, each of us has our different ways of interacting with the world: some people are more visual, and some are more kinesthetic. It could be that some teeps work better if they have an idea of what the thing they're meant to be focusing on looks like.

[vacantlook]

As for the Minbari telepaths, I always assumed that they were in some way working in concert with one another, and doing so helped to amp their abilities.

[WorkerCaste]

I recall a question in the series pertaining to sensing or reading people around corners and the answer being that it was limited for a P5. As far as Lyta goes, she may well have thought she needed a line of sight, but might not, in fact, have needed it due to her enhancement. She was still in the process of learning what the enhancements entailed. It was established in the story that she didn't really know all of what she could do, and since belief in your abilities is probably important to using them, she might have needed line of sight at first, but then figured "What the hell" and tried it without for the second vessel. As for Bester in the Starfury, Sheridan stayed a long ways away, and in "Ship of Tears" I seem to recall a discussion about using a teep to locate ships only being possible in hyperspace. Being "behind" Bester would just make it that much more psychologically advantageous.