So, let's go into deeper B5:TMoS speculation

[colonyearth]

Nothing has officially been announced. We are all...waiting.

"Caught between tick and tock."

[jcbatz]

Wasn't there an announcement yesterday?

Does anyone know what the heck is going on yet? I'm hopelessly out of the loop.

[Joseph DeMartino]

Well, just a thought here, but if it's titled "The Memory of Shadows," doesn't that at least infer the Shadows might be part of the story. Maybe even make it about the mimbari war 1000 years back. Or maybe the next great war.

1) If you were correct it would imply that the Shadows were part of the story, not "infer" that.

2) But no, the title would not imply that the Shadows would have to be part of the story, or the Drakh, for that matter. The Crusade arc and some of the short-stories dealt with EarthForce's continued efforts to adapt left-over Shadow technology. The Technomages are also tied to this. For that matter the Telepaths were created by the Vorlons precisely as a weapon to use against the Shadows, so any of these plot threads could conceivably be covered by that title.

3) The point of doing a theatrical movie is to capitalize on the success of the DVDs - which means using as much of the original cast as possible. So no, there is never going to be a movie about the Minbari war of 1,000 years ago. You want to talk about something esoteric? Even a lot of fans would not be terribly interested in that story. Also there would be no humans in it, and that tends not to work in mass-market SF. Movies about previous Shadow wars or the fate of the first ones or other such things are not in the cards.

4) There is no next "cycle" involving the Shadows or any of the other First Ones. That was the whole point of Sheridan's life and mission. The cycles are broken, period. (True, Earth managed to fry itself in aother civil war, but the rest of the human settled worlds stayed out of that, as did the IA.)

And on that note, a Tepe War could be cool, but remember that this has to be made for the general public, and all the story that'd need to be told might be a little esoteric for someone who hasn't seen the series.

"Doing something with Picard and the Borg in the next Trekmovie might be cool, but remember that this has to be made for the general public, and the story that'd need to be told might be a little esoteric for someone who hasn't seen the series."

Oh, wait a second. They did that movie. They needed all of 10 minutes of screen time to lay in the back story (one dream sequence, a flashback or two, a few lines of dialogue) necessary for non-fans to follow what was otherwise a stand-alone story. SF fans tend to think that in order to really "tell" a story you have to start with the Big Bang and bring it right up to this afternoon. In drama that is rarely effective or desirable. The Teep War is the most self-contained major story still left untold in the B5 universe, could most easily involve more of the main cast than almost any other and is one that JMS has deliberately avoided telling for the past five years. Seems to me that he's been saving up for something big. I could be wrong, but I certainly think the Teep War has to be in the top two or three possible stories for the movie, and certainly shouldn't be dismissed because it is the opposite of "too esoteric" for a non-fan audience. Anyone who enjoyed the X-Men films (without having read 30 years of the comic books) should be able to understand an "opressed mutants vs. government controllers" story - which is essentially what the Teep War is.


Regards,

Joe

[fgalkin]

If the thing is called the memory of Shadows, then its probably about the Drakh.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

[figarojonez]

Well, just a thought here, but if it's titled "The Memory of Shadows," doesn't that at least infer the Shadows might be part of the story. Maybe even make it about the mimbari war 1000 years back. Or maybe the next great war.

And on that note, a Tepe War could be cool, but remember that this has to be made for the general public, and all the story that'd need to be told might be a little esoteric for someone who hasn't seen the series.

Just my two cents,
Figaro Jonez

[grumbler]

Originally posted by Stunaep
Sure, but after roughly 1000 generations, I'm not so sure if S&D ascendancy even matters. There'd be a whoppin' lot of S&D grand-grand-grand....-grandchildren runnin' around.

Even in the future on 100-1 million years, i suspect generations come along closer than an average of 1,000 years apart, but your point is quite valid.

[Kevin]

Originally posted by SciFiRanger

At that point in time the Great Machine on Epsilon 3 is at the Rangers comand, so who knows what will happen that far in the future.

You're going to have to tell me your source for that, because I don't believe it's been said at any point in time that the Great Machine ever comes under Ranger control

[Stunaep]

Sure, but after roughly 1000 generations, I'm not so sure if S&D ascendancy even matters. There'd be a whoppin' lot of S&D grand-grand-grand....-grandchildren runnin' around.

[SciFiRanger]

<For some reason, I don't think a million years after J&D, descendancy really matters.>

The Triluminary was capable of discovering similar DNA traits in Delenn and Sinclair after 1000 years , why not after a million as well?

At that point in time the Great Machine on Epsilon 3 is at the Rangers comand, so who knows what will happen that far in the future.

[AaronB]

Originally posted by Kevin
From: [email protected] (jms at b5)
Subject: jms update v1.0
To: rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated
Date: 2/26/2004 9:26:13 AM

"I still can't tell you what it *is* because that has to come from the proper
people through the proper channels at the proper time...but I can tell you a
few cases of what it *isn't*...it isn't a novel, or a short story, a comic, an
animated series, a radio drama or a stage play. Beyond that, deponent sayeth
not."

It's not an animated series.

You are correct, TMoS will not be an animated series. However I think that the point was that one of the other projects JMS mentioned in a recent post could be an animated series.

[Kevin]

From: [email protected] (jms at b5)
Subject: jms update v1.0
To: rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated
Date: 2/26/2004 9:26:13 AM

"I still can't tell you what it *is* because that has to come from the proper
people through the proper channels at the proper time...but I can tell you a
few cases of what it *isn't*...it isn't a novel, or a short story, a comic, an
animated series, a radio drama or a stage play. Beyond that, deponent sayeth
not."

It's not an animated series.

[Vir]

Originally posted by circularREASON
RE: ''IN SPADES''

More B5 on tv?
B5 Computer Game reborn?
New Movie?
More Books and Comics?
Audio Books?


Are we greedy?

You bet your arse!

The thing no-one has mentioned yet is perhaps an animated series a bit like what George Lucas has recently done with Star Wars to bridge the gap to the next film. Or maybe an animated Crusade to finish it off. (we know it wont be connected to the new project directly)

Animated series are becoming popular again, another one on the horizon being Blake's 7 here in the uk (one of JMS's favourite shows)

Also hearing some of you comment on the old sets, didn't I read somewhere that they won awards for the set designs ?

[Stunaep]

For some reason, I don't think a million years after J&D, descendancy really matters.

[SciFiRanger]

I agree with the Grumbler on this one but it's also possible that he is a descendant of J&D. That would give him even more reason to review the old records.

Just my 2 cents on this one.

[grumbler]

The Vorlonish human is a Ranger. Of course he will want to view the records of the founding of his order, even if he isn't David Sheridan (which we have not the slightest scrap of evidence to believe he is, especially given that he is referred to in the past tense by the historians at +100 years).

Kinda like you leaf through your favorite books before you pack them up when moving, so the +1 million Ranger leafs through the records of J&D.