John and Delenn

[Anne]

Hey Jan, thanks for the comments. I know a little about the mental illness part. I guess I meant that I didn't mind that his character left. We all have our own preferences. I have to admit I was a huge Bruce fan as a child when Frank Buck was on ... (yes, I'm that old) and I still believe that as a character, Sheridan is a better fit for the character of Delenn. On top of that, I like the idea of Sinclair becoming what he became. That role fit the character very well in my humble opinion. It all worked out in the end

[Jan]

I agree that Sinclair was probably the original choice for Delenn, although I haven't been able to think of how the whole Valen thing would have come about in that case.

Chances are, it never would have. In the B5 script books published a while back, JMS let us see an outline of the entire series that he wrote between the pilot and the first season. No mention of Valen at all.

I for one am glad the actor chose a different path.

Very sorry to be the one to break this to you but he didn't. The reason Michael O'Hare left was due to mental illness. If you do a search for JMS' "Promise Panel' from the Phoenix Comic-Con in 2013 you can find links to the video. He (JMS) paid tribute to Andreas, Rick and Jeff, as well.

He was way too 'soft' for my taste, if you know what I mean. It's so funny how all the Minbari rituals annoy / bore Sheridan. Sinclair would have loved all of it and I enjoy the contrast between Sheridan and Delenn.
And they wrote a very good backstory for the Star killer when they introduced him!

I grew to appreciate Sheridan but always really preferred Sinclair. Thing is, in a cast of scenery-chewers like Ivanova, Londo and G'Kar, his subtlety tended to fade to the background. But I loved the way he thought through things.

Good to see you here!

Jan

[Anne]

Hello Ubik and thank you for taking the time to respond.
I agree that Sinclair was probably the original choice for Delenn, although I haven't been able to think of how the whole Valen thing would have come about in that case.
I for one am glad the actor chose a different path. He was way too 'soft' for my taste, if you know what I mean. It's so funny how all the Minbari rituals annoy / bore Sheridan. Sinclair would have loved all of it and I enjoy the contrast between Sheridan and Delenn.
And they wrote a very good backstory for the Star killer when they introduced him!

[Ubik]

I am going to diverge here slightly, but it's still broadly relevant. I always loved the way the seeds that were sown in S1 with Sinclair, especially the Minbari Rebirth/Marriage Ceremony shown in Parliament of Dreams, which I always took to be heavy with meaning and portents. As I understand it, in the alternate 'Sinclair stays on' timeline, they were to become romantically involved, and I would have loved to have seen this too. I would have been a very different union I think.

I do think Sheridan provides a better foil to Delenn.

Oh, nice to see some new discussion here. It's been very dead round these parts for a while, but a few of us still remain!

[Anne]

Hi all, I'm new to this forum but not to Babylon 5. I watched the 5 seasons when they aired in the nineties and I'm now rewatching everything including the movies on DVD.

I had expected there to be more threads in the Babylon 5 section here, but I guess since the show aired in a time when the internet wasn't a household commodity yet, only the diehard fans are still here.

Aside from loving the completely new world to immerse myself in, my favorite part of the show was - surprise surprise - the John / Delenn romance. We see it developing in a setting of galactic proportions and they each have a very specific role to play. Despite their huge responsibilities (or maybe because of their shared responsibility?) they make it work.

If anyone would like to share something about this romance, I invite you to post it here

In my opinion it actually started (although very subtly and just for John I think) the very first time Delenn revealed her new looks to the Advisory Council and the new Captain in "Revelations" (S2, episode 2). Agreed?