True seeker (SPOILERS) ideas
Brian Bevirt
Brad Jones' post tripped a trigger in my head regarding Sinclair's
true seeker status. My first question after learning that Delenn
considered Sinclair to be a true seeker was "What is he seeking?"
WRONG QUESTION! It doesn't matter *what* he seeks (as Delenn said
it doesn't matter if it even exists or not), what matters is that
he is a *true seeker.*
So how does this tie in with the story arc? Well, there is the
connection that Brad Jones posted:
> Article: 17807 of rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5
> From: rjo...@us.oracle.com (Roger B. Jones, Jr.)
> Subject: Grail/Infection parallel? (SPOILERS)
> I was thinking about the ending of Infection, with Sinclair "talking down"
> Nelson, and my brain tripped over a parallel to Aldus "talking down" the
> feeder in Grail. Perhaps Infection wasn't just an example of the "Jim Kirk
> School of Bioweapon Repair" that we'd thought it was, but instead an example
> of the powers of True Seekers. Aldus, being more practiced with it, is
> better at it, and can do it without needing to make it mad, but Sinclair is
> learning.
And now some additional connections along these lines. Why did the
Minbari suddenly surrender after their interrogation of Sinclair at the
battle of the line? Well, we see some of this interrogation in Sky.
Sinclair repeatedly asks "What do you want?" Perhaps the Minbari Grey
Council interrogators felt themselves compelled to answer (just like
the ambassadors were compelled to answer Morden in S&P) and suddenly
realized that Sinclair has this true-seeker power and doesn't even know
it. Any race capable of producing true seekers cannot be destroyed by an
honorable race, so the Grey Council suddenly surrendered.
I'm not saying that Morden is a true seeker--he probably has some
similar kind of power provided by the Shadowmen--but this "What do you
want?" line is our clue to what's going on in the story arc--obscure at
first, but much more obvious when rewatching after the end of the season.
Near the end of Eyes, we see Sinclair's questions to Ben Zehn cause Ben
to just lose it right there while all the cameras and recorders were
rolling. Maybe Sinclair's true-seeker powers had some influence here too.
So if this line of reasoning is on target, the new question becomes:
Why does Delenn have to kill Sinclair if he finds out what the hole in
his mind is about?
Perhaps to cover the Minbari's dishonor? If so, then Delenn would have
to kill a true seeker, which is also pretty dishonorable.
Ideas, anyone?
Brian Bevirt
Anton Smirnov
: SPOILERS below for Infection, Sky, Signs & Portents, Grail, Eyes:
<SNIP>
: Why does Delenn have to kill Sinclair if he finds out what the hole in
: his mind is about?
: Perhaps to cover the Minbari's dishonor? If so, then Delenn would have
: to kill a true seeker, which is also pretty dishonorable.
Honor of the many outweighs the honor of the one?