Garibaldi in "Divided loyaltites" --- a clue?

[JoeD80]

I know JMS is supposed to have conceived the entire story of Babylon 5 in one moment of epiphany, but whether that is meant to mean that he was able to plan out each little detail from the beginning or not I don't know.

The epiphany was combining two shows, one large about war and one small about a space station, into a single show that could be done without going over budget. The broad strokes were written down at the time, and you can read the original "epiphany" notes here:

http://www.cafepress.com/B5books/6587738

The details were worked out and iterated over and over again even as the show was being produced.

Did he know, beforehand, at that point, that Garibaldi was going to be captured by Psi Corps and altered, used by Bester, or was it something that occurred to him later?

My guess is he knew something of the betrayal plot early on; in an early post when Joe listed what the audience could expect to see over the five years one of the points was "Someone [Sinclair] considers a friend will betray him."

[BabylonRebel]

Wasn't there a theory floating around that Garibaldi might have actually been a sleeper agent. Think about it - Lyta's scan could have actually brought out the secret personality and the whole spasm thing he does could have been a bluff to cover up it up and throw suspicion off him as playing a joke on them is something Garibaldi would do. Of course we know this not to be true, but it would have been an interesting development if it had turned out that Garibaldi had been an Earthforce/Psi Corps mole during seasons 2 and 3.

[Jonas]

I know JMS is supposed to have conceived the entire story of Babylon 5 in one moment of epiphany, but whether that is meant to mean that he was able to plan out each little detail from the beginning or not I don't know.

That leads me to this question: near the end of DL, when Lyta is scanning for the "mole", Garibaldi pretends it's him. But then of course later in season 4 this is exactly what happens to him: Psi Corps takes control of his personality, and he doesn't even know it.

Is JMS offering us a little foreshadowing of what is to come, or is this just coincidence? Did he know, beforehand, at that point, that Garibaldi was going to be captured by Psi Corps and altered, used by Bester, or was it something that occurred to him later?

Just curious....

Definite foreshadowing.

Also - "The things that live inside us, Mr. Garibaldi... terrible things." Double foreshadowing from The Quality of Mercy.

[Marsden]

Plus, it's absolutely in Mike's smart ass character to be the one to do such a thing.

Bester even said they really didn't change his personality much, so he was a good candidate.

[WorkerCaste]

I know JMS is supposed to have conceived the entire story of Babylon 5 in one moment of epiphany, but whether that is meant to mean that he was able to plan out each little detail from the beginning or not I don't know.

JMS has said that his ephiphany didn't include all the little details, and that circumstances, his development as a writer, and the characters talking in his head changed a number of things over the course of the series.

That being said, I think he probably was using a little bit of foreshadowing there. He may not have had it all planned out, but my guess is that he was planning to have Garibaldi used by Bester and the Corp in some way.

[Trollheart]

It's touches like that which make JMS's writing so much better than so many other writers.
Like the little dig in "A view from the gallery" in season 5, where Bo and Mac talk about Ivanova, saying they heard different reasons for her departure, one of which was she wanted promotion/more money, which of course alludes to the oft-discussed reasons why Claudia left after season 4.

[babylonlurker]

I know JMS is supposed to have conceived the entire story of Babylon 5 in one moment of epiphany...

Is JMS offering us a little foreshadowing of what is to come, or is this just coincidence? Did he know, beforehand, at that point, that Garibaldi was going to be captured by Psi Corps and altered, used by Bester, or was it something that occurred to him later?

Just curious....

I think it quite likely that JMS knew early on what Garibaldi would get to do later, so your thought is plausible.

[Trollheart]

I know JMS is supposed to have conceived the entire story of Babylon 5 in one moment of epiphany, but whether that is meant to mean that he was able to plan out each little detail from the beginning or not I don't know.

That leads me to this question: near the end of DL, when Lyta is scanning for the "mole", Garibaldi pretends it's him. But then of course later in season 4 this is exactly what happens to him: Psi Corps takes control of his personality, and he doesn't even know it.

Is JMS offering us a little foreshadowing of what is to come, or is this just coincidence? Did he know, beforehand, at that point, that Garibaldi was going to be captured by Psi Corps and altered, used by Bester, or was it something that occurred to him later?

Just curious....