From: wrrlykam <wrrlykam@googlemail.com>

On Saturday, November 17, 2012 7:52:21 PM UTC, jack wrote:

Some fifteen years later am going through the series again, now on DVD.

Still such a great series. One question on the Z episode. Did Shadows prefer
telepaths to run their vessels, they were better at it than "normals"? Anna was never written as a telepath but she was written to have been hooked up to drive a Shadow ship. Did the Shadows use non-telepaths in other ways in their vessels or is there an error in the writing?

Just two more points to add that sprung to mind (just catching up on missed threads).

The Shadows wiped out those with Narns the telepath gene a thousand years before. So they weren't using them at that point. If they used telepaths in their ships then that would be a massive waste of 'components'. I vaguely remember Garibaldi's head and neck areas being checked over after he went missing?

Clearly Mundanes were the standard Shadow vessel components up to the developments revealed in Ship of Tears



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From: Jeffrey Kaplan <gordol@gordol.org>

Previously on rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated, wrrlykam said:

The Shadows wiped out those with Narns the telepath gene a thousand years

before. So they weren't using them at that point. If they used telepaths in their ships then that would be a massive waste of 'components'. I vaguely remember Garibaldi's head and neck areas being checked over after he went missing?

Yes.

Clearly Mundanes were the standard Shadow vessel components up to the

developments revealed in Ship of Tears

I think what probably happened was in the prior cycle, only the Narn
had telepaths of sufficient strength and numbers to be a threat, so it
was easier for the Shadows to wipe them out. Since that war, the
Vorlons tinkered with the other races (they may have tinkered with the
Narn first, way back then) as part of their weapons program, seeding
telepathy in the Humans, Minbari, and others.

We know from various places in the show and in the books that the
Vorlons did tinker with Humans, and there was evidence once in the 5th
season that they were still tinkering with other races at least through
the time in the second and third seasons (Lyta's memories while having
sex with Byron).

This time around, there were too many races with telepaths for the
Shadows to wipe them out, so instead they started to try to co-op them
instead.

--
Jeffrey Kaplan www.gordol.org
Double ROT13 encoded for your protection

"If I am ever the Hero top 100 list: #1. I will maintain no
association with sidekicks who employ prostitutes. While such
entertainment doubtlessly relieves my comrade of the wearying burden
of the Heroic Struggle, the women met in this fashion tend to filch
artifacts needed to defeat the Evil Overlord, act as his spies and/or assassins, carry unpleasant diseases, and (worst of all) get me in
trouble with my True Love.


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From: Andrew Swallow <am.swallow@btinternet.com>

On 24/02/2013 00:08, Jeffrey Kaplan wrote:

Previously on rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated, wrrlykam said:

The Shadows wiped out those with Narns the telepath gene a thousand years before. So they weren't using them at that point. If they used telepaths in their ships then that would be a massive waste of 'components'. I vaguely remember Garibaldi's head and neck areas being checked over after he went missing?

Yes.

Clearly Mundanes were the standard Shadow vessel components up to the developments revealed in Ship of Tears

I think what probably happened was in the prior cycle, only the Narn
had telepaths of sufficient strength and numbers to be a threat, so it
was easier for the Shadows to wipe them out. Since that war, the
Vorlons tinkered with the other races (they may have tinkered with the
Narn first, way back then) as part of their weapons program, seeding telepathy in the Humans, Minbari, and others.

We know from various places in the show and in the books that the
Vorlons did tinker with Humans, and there was evidence once in the 5th
season that they were still tinkering with other races at least through
the time in the second and third seasons (Lyta's memories while having
sex with Byron).

This time around, there were too many races with telepaths for the
Shadows to wipe them out, so instead they started to try to co-op them instead.

The other thing the Shadows did was invent the anti-telepath virus.
This would have infected all the human telepaths, remove the antidote
and they die. The Shadows would have been able to destroy the antidote factories within minutes using their ships. Bye bye human telepaths.

A suspicion that I have is that the anti-telepath virus can change
species, in the same way that the Shadow virus used by the Drahk can.
If so within 5 years all the telepaths in the galaxy would have been
infected and killed. A repeat of what probably happened to the Narn telepaths.

Andrew Swallow


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From: Jeffrey Kaplan <gordol@gordol.org>

Previously on rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated, Andrew Swallow said:

This time around, there were too many races with telepaths for the
Shadows to wipe them out, so instead they started to try to co-op them instead.

The other thing the Shadows did was invent the anti-telepath virus.
This would have infected all the human telepaths, remove the antidote
and they die. The Shadows would have been able to destroy the antidote factories within minutes using their ships. Bye bye human telepaths.

Is that speculation, or is there evidence in the show that it was the
Shadows who "aided" in that? Because we never saw that at all until
after the Shadow War was over.

I have no doubt it's something the Shadows COULD have done, just
wondering if it's something that they DID do.

--
Jeffrey Kaplan www.gordol.org
Double ROT13 encoded for your protection

A critic is a man who knows the way, but can't drive the car.


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From: Andrew Swallow <am.swallow@btinternet.com>

On 24/02/2013 15:34, Jeffrey Kaplan wrote:

Previously on rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated, Andrew Swallow said:

This time around, there were too many races with telepaths for the
Shadows to wipe them out, so instead they started to try to co-op them
instead.

The other thing the Shadows did was invent the anti-telepath virus.
This would have infected all the human telepaths, remove the antidote
and they die. The Shadows would have been able to destroy the antidote
factories within minutes using their ships. Bye bye human telepaths.

Is that speculation, or is there evidence in the show that it was the
Shadows who "aided" in that? Because we never saw that at all until
after the Shadow War was over.

I have no doubt it's something the Shadows COULD have done, just
wondering if it's something that they DID do.

We were told aliens were involved but they did not say which aliens.

Andrew Swallow


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From: "David E. Powell" <David_Powell3006@msn.com>

On Sunday, February 24, 2013 12:03:35 AM UTC-5, Andrew Swallow wrote:

On 24/02/2013 00:08, Jeffrey Kaplan wrote:

Previously on rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated, wrrlykam said:

The Shadows wiped out those with Narns the telepath gene a thousand years

before. So they weren't using them at that point. If they used telepaths in their ships then that would be a massive waste of 'components'. I vaguely remember Garibaldi's head and neck areas being checked over after he went missing?

Yes.

Clearly Mundanes were the standard Shadow vessel components up to the

developments revealed in Ship of Tears

I think what probably happened was in the prior cycle, only the Narn

had telepaths of sufficient strength and numbers to be a threat, so it

was easier for the Shadows to wipe them out. Since that war, the

Vorlons tinkered with the other races (they may have tinkered with the

Narn first, way back then) as part of their weapons program, seeding

telepathy in the Humans, Minbari, and others.

We know from various places in the show and in the books that the

Vorlons did tinker with Humans, and there was evidence once in the 5th

season that they were still tinkering with other races at least through

the time in the second and third seasons (Lyta's memories while having

sex with Byron).

This time around, there were too many races with telepaths for the

Shadows to wipe them out, so instead they started to try to co-op them

instead.

The other thing the Shadows did was invent the anti-telepath virus.

This would have infected all the human telepaths, remove the antidote

and they die. The Shadows would have been able to destroy the antidote

factories within minutes using their ships. Bye bye human telepaths.

A suspicion that I have is that the anti-telepath virus can change

species, in the same way that the Shadow virus used by the Drahk can.

If so within 5 years all the telepaths in the galaxy would have been

infected and killed. A repeat of what probably happened to the Narn

telepaths.

Andrew Swallow

A combination of that and the Narn Telepaths taking higher than average casualties in the war against the Shadows back in the day. They were the front line fighters and as such would have taken a lot of the casualties, more so as the Shadows surely targeted them as priority targets.

The Vorlons got this which was why they played some with modifying Telepaths from different races.


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