Random questions about B5

[b5historyman]

Not so much a question as an observation.

When Rathenn delivers Valen's letter to Sinclair near the beginning of "War Without End" Part One, he wonders aloud "How did he know your name?"

I think Rathenn is missing the forest for the trees. His question should have been "How did [Valen] know Modern English?" given that Middle English was still being spoken on Earth, circa 1360.

I think an argument could be made for Valen being the earliest author of Modern English in the B5 universe.

Middle English may have been spoken on Earth c.1360 but
a) why would the Minbari actually know anything about it when they learned the modern English vernacular
and
b) They'd never heard of Earth until 2245.

But getting back on topic, yes Valen was the first person in the B5 universe to use modern English. He should have copyrighted it

[JasonDavis]

Closest would be the opposite, when we saw Delenn dictating a memo and the text showing up on her computer screen. Can't recall which episode that was, though.

"Divided Loyalties," per our telecon.

[Jan]

That said, I don't think we ever saw evidence of written language being translated for the audience's convenience.

Closest would be the opposite, when we saw Delenn dictating a memo and the text showing up on her computer screen. Can't recall which episode that was, though. ETA: Divided Loyalties - she was dictating a memo about trade relations with the Lumati.

[JasonDavis]

It's always been unclear to me when the english in B5 is only there "for the audience" or when it's really there.

I mean, surely they don't really speak english at the centauri royal court.
So it could be another of those translated for audience thing.

JMS has stated that two Centauri alone in a room (or gathered in the emperor's presence) are understood to be speaking their native tongue. From 4 November 1993:

"...yes, they will speak in their own languages when amongst their own kind...but just as with a WW II movie, when you show the germans talking to one another, it'll be English. On those occasions when someone speaks Narn around humans, then of course it's another language, and will sound that way."

That said, I don't think we ever saw evidence of written language being translated for the audience's convenience. The Books of G'Quan and G'Kar were both in Narnish, as was G'Kar's dictation in--I think--"The Coming of Shadows."

Presumably, given that Valen was writing a confidential note to Sinclair, he would have used English since it would have afforded guaranteed confidentiality from the letter being written until Minbari linguists decoded English during the war.

[flobo]

It's always been unclear to me when the english in B5 is only there "for the audience" or when it's really there.

I mean, surely they don't really speak english at the centauri royal court.
So it could be another of those translated for audience thing.

[JasonDavis]

Not so much a question as an observation.

When Rathenn delivers Valen's letter to Sinclair near the beginning of "War Without End" Part One, he wonders aloud "How did he know your name?"

I think Rathenn is missing the forest for the trees. His question should have been "How did [Valen] know Modern English?" given that Middle English was still being spoken on Earth, circa 1360.

I think an argument could be made for Valen being the earliest author of Modern English in the B5 universe.

[Melanie]

Something I've been wondering about since I first watched And the rock cried out no hiding place... How did G'Kar find out that Vir smuggled 2000 Narns to safety? The first reference to it after Sic Transit Vir is when Londo uses it to blackmail him and then it's not mentioned again aside from somewhere in the Centauri trilogy.

[b5historyman]

I've always figured Valen was in suspended animation on the Vorlon homeworld.

We know he left Minbar. The Minbari believed he would one day return. The Vorlons abducted other "chosen ones" over the years. It would make sense that the Vorlons would preserve him for some future manipulation of the Minbari.

Depending on how much Valen confided in Kosh about his origins, Kosh itself might have seen to the preservation of Valen, not knowing that he originated in the 23rd century as Sinclair. I'm sure Kosh figured it all out pretty quickly upon meeting Sinclair in 2257, but its hesitancy to act openly against the Shadows may have been tied to uncertainty regarding the logistics of getting Sinclair to the past. I've always thought it was very telling that Kosh finally acted openly (and suicidally) just as the rift in Sector 14 was expanded and Sinclair received the letter from Valen.

Valen being kept on the Vorlon homeworld is something I speculated on way back when I was compiling the Historical Database! As for whether Kosh and Ulkesh knew Sinclair in the past, I think that's pretty much been confirmed by the reedited version of the Gathering. I made quite a detailed posting on one of the Facebook groups about the whole thing.

[b5historyman]

Yep. Copied the wrong one.

I always assumed that former Senator Hidoshi was booted out by Clark when he started removing anyone who served under Santiago and putting his cronies in place.

[Jan]

I think you meant this post, Jan: http://jmsnews.com/msg.aspx?id=1-16755&query=hidoshi

Yep. Copied the wrong one.

[JasonDavis]

That one JMS answered. He's just out of office.
http://jmsnews.com/msg.aspx?id=1-13369

I think you meant this post, Jan: http://jmsnews.com/msg.aspx?id=1-16755&query=hidoshi

[Jan]

Good question. I have wondered the same thing regarding senator Hidosi.

That one JMS answered. He's just out of office.

http://jmsnews.com/msg.aspx?id=1-13369

[Satai with Punsch]

I wonder whatever happened to Marie Crane.

In January 2258, she lost the presidential election, then nothing. Did she retire? Did Clark have her killed when he took office and dissolved the Senate? These things keep me up at night.

Good question. I have wondered the same thing regarding senator Hidosi.

[JasonDavis]

I wonder whatever happened to Marie Crane.

In January 2258, she lost the presidential election, then nothing. Did she retire? Did Clark have her killed when he took office and dissolved the Senate? These things keep me up at night.

[Jan]

For the Gut Reactions script, some of the season five notecards in the artifiacts book were used for this script, e.g. the Centuari who comes in to replace Londo. I always wonder why that script wasn't in the Other Voices books; it was an official script even if it didn't get produced.

I know that both Peter and Bill refuse to sell copies. Dunno if there's a connection or not.