Definition of character

[Ranger 6 and 7/8]

ok, now here should be a good one.
What episode defined a character for you? You can list one or as many as you like.

[AmyG]

It's an interesting question, and one for which you'd need to list _several_ episodes for many characters, because so many characters in Babylon 5 go through very dramatic changes.

In fact, Jan and I will be on a panel at this year's Dragon Con (Sept. 3-6, Atlanta) discussing this very thing. The panel is called "Moments of Transition: Who Changes in the B5 Universe, and How...and Who Doesn't." I think that one's going to be at 1:00 PM on Saturday at the con. Is that right, Jan?

Anyway, I hope that if any of you are coming to Dragon Con, you'll attend our panel! As for this thread, I'll be eagerly reading what you all have to say, because I'm sure it'll be helpful in my pre-con preparation.

Aisling

[Jan]

Originally posted by AislingGrey
In fact, Jan and I will be on a panel at this year's Dragon Con (Sept. 3-6, Atlanta) discussing this very thing. The panel is called "Moments of Transition: Who Changes in the B5 Universe, and How...and Who Doesn't." I think that one's going to be at 1:00 PM on Saturday at the con. Is that right, Jan?

That's right, Ais. Saturday, 1:00 PM (subject to change depending on the vagaries of con scheduling). The other panel is "Babylon 5: Where it's been, where it's going and where you'd like it to go.

I think both have the potential of being *great* discussions!

Jan

[Jan]

Re: Definition of character

Originally posted by Ranger 6 and 7/8
ok, now here should be a good one.
What episode defined a character for you? You can list one or as many as you like.

Londo had two moments that really showed me the basis on which all of his choices were made. One was when he descibed himself as a 'washed up old Republican' to Adira and went on to talk about the masks he's forced to wear. The other is, of course, his telling Morden what he wants.

You're right, it is a good one!

Jan

[DougO]

Originally posted by AislingGrey
Anyway, I hope that if any of you are coming to Dragon Con, you'll attend our panel!

I'll be there and will plan on attending the talk! I wonder if JMS has ever been invited to DragonCon? I don't recall him ever attending.

It's too bad that he can't make the San Diego Comic-Con this year. I was planning on video taping his talk and making it available on the site. Maybe next year...

-DougO

[Jan]

Originally posted by DougO
I'll be there and will plan on attending the talk!

Yay! Looking forward to it even more now!

I wonder if JMS has ever been invited to DragonCon? I don't recall him ever attending.

I wish he would, but, as I recall, somebody mentioned last year that he refuses to do Atlanta cons due to a lawsuit (that was eventually deemed groundless) near the beginning of B5

It's too bad that he can't make the San Diego Comic-Con this year. I was planning on video taping his talk and making it available on the site. Maybe next year...
-DougO

Doug, if I ever manage to finish the transcript of JMS' Hawthorne Q&A, would you be able to post it?

Thanks,
Jan

[WorkerCaste]

Re: Definition of character

Originally posted by Ranger 6 and 7/8
ok, now here should be a good one.
What episode defined a character for you? You can list one or as many as you like.

For me, one of the most interesting definitions of character involved Sinclair. I had been watching the typical TV monster loose on the ship/station ep without being terribly impressed. Yes, that's right, "Infection." All of a sudden, at the end, Garibaldi confronts Sinclair asking whether Jeffrey was one of those people coming from the Earth-Minbari war looking for a way to go out in a blaze of glory. That this question was asked at all was, for me, the sole redeeming part of this episode. The fact that Sinclair was willing to give it earnest thought and respond by saying that he didn't have an answer, but he thought that he should, really helped define his character and began setting the show apart from other SF TV in my mind.

[DougO]

Originally posted by Jan
Doug, if I ever manage to finish the transcript of JMS' Hawthorne Q&A, would you be able to post it?

Sure, that would be great. Let me know when it is ready.

-DougO

[colonyearth]

A defining moment for me with Londo was from an otherwise poignant but not so big an episode (perhaps someone can help me with the title...it's escapes me)...when he tells the story of his father saying that his shoes were too tight and he had forgotten how to dance. That alone was not the moment...it's when he restates it later in the ep after making the arrangements for Vir's cousin that really gave me insight into him and where he was going.

For G'Kar, it's the mindrape of Londo...at least that's one of the biggest and most important moments for him in my book.

CE

[Merian]

That episode is The War Prayer

[Merian]

Delenn holding fast in her beliefs while being tortured by Sabastian in Comes the Inquistor.

[colonyearth]

Originally posted by Merian
That episode is The War Prayer

Ah...yes...remember now...thanks!

[Dr Maturin]

<<That episode is The War Prayer>>

Ah, yes, the episode with Danica McKellar. I used to be in love with her. Wow, just saw her recents pics on IMDB. I still am.

[AmyG]

For me, the verges of Londo's arc can be defined by _how_ he chooses to serve his people. In the early part of the series, it seems that his choices are all self-centered ones, designed to put him in place to get more power, more prestige for his house, more money, more rank. And then at the end of season 5, he chooses to serve his people instead through self-sacrifice, by accepting the Keeper.

Also, at the beginning of the series he'd trample over anyone of any other race in order to help the Centauri; but at the end of season 5, he consciously makes the effort to distance himself from the rest of his friends in the Alliance, and places Vir back on B5, away from the palace, solely to keep them all safe.

Regarding G'Kar, of course the incident in "Dust to Dust" is a great moment of transition - although even better than his weeping over the violence he's visited on Mollari, IMHO, is how cheerfully he accepts his sentence from the ombudsman at the end. But I think an even more pivotal moment for him is in "Walkabout," where, with Garibaldi's prompting, he talks Na'Kal (commanding the G'Tok) into aiding the White Star in its maiden attempt to engage a Shadow vessel with a teep on board.

Aisling

[circularREASON]

In INFECTION when EA bio-division arrive to confiscate the bio-technology from Franklin.

''I'll be over there getting drunk with the rest of the aliens''

I Think that sums up Ivanovas pessimistic attitude completely.