XPost: rec.arts.sf.tv   
   From: a@b.com   
      
   On Sat, 16 Sep 2006 12:40:16 -0400, Jeffrey Kaplan    
   wrote:   
      
   >It is alleged that Michael Johnson claimed:   
   >   
   >> >Sinclair is and always was to become Valen.   
   >> Btw.. one other question.. you do understand it makes much more sense   
   >> given the character requirements of Valen for it to be Sheridan rather   
   >> than Sinclair right?   
   >   
   >No.  It makes more sense given the character requirements for it to be   
   >Sinclair rather than Sheridan.   
   >   
   >> Lets see.. a Minbari not born of Minbar that shows up 1000 years in   
   >> the past as the Shadows are openly kicking Minbari and everyone elses   
   >> ass, including the destruction of their biggest space station. Using   
   >> Babylon 4 he leads a come-from-behind effort to fight off the Shadows   
   >> MILITARILY and cause them to go back into hibernation. Afterwards he   
   >> brings the Minbari together and ends up forming the Grey Council and   
   >> bringing the various castes to an internal peace that lasts for 1000   
   >> years.   
   >>   
   >> Exactly where in the show was it shown that Sinclair was some great   
   >> military mind capable of doing the first part? He sure didn't learn it   
   >   
   >Where is it shown that Sheridan is, either?   
      
   Uh.. like watch the show? Starkiller? The only human captain ever to   
   win in a battle with the Minbari? He consistantly showed that when the   
   odds were stacked against him he found a way to win. Including   
   trapping a shadow vessel within the gravity well of Jupiter in order   
   to destroy it.   
      
   >We saw Sinclair making strategic and tactical plans several times during   
   >season one   
      
   Defense of the station? You seriously equate that to a captains   
   knowledge.. a general's? To be able to lead men in battle and come up   
   with a plan against overwhelming odds? Sorry that isn't Sinclair no   
   matter how hard you try to shoehorn him. I can believe it would take   
   interference by Lorien to open Sinclair's eyes to the way to victory.   
      
   >Which one is better for fighting a large scale war against a vastly superior   
   force?   
      
   Sinclair is a fighter pilot who got sent to command a station.   
   Sheridan is a battle tested captain who found ways to destroy Minbari   
   ships when nobody else in the fleet could. Which would you like on   
   your side when in a shooting war against a vastly superior force?   
      
   Clue: It aint Sinclair.   
      
   >We see Sinclair doing this from the very first episode of the regular   
   >series, "Midnight On The Firing Line".   
   >   
   >And as for leading the Minbari, that is at least as much political   
   >and/or religious as it is militarily.  Valen had to +unite+ the   
   >Minbari, not just tell them where to point their weapons.   
      
   Sure.. but the entire point of going back in the first place is that   
   with Valen the Shadows are fought back into hibernation, without they   
   end up far more powerful than they should. That takes a military   
   commander with experience dealing with the deck stacked against him..   
   not a diplomatic one. I'm quite sure the Minbari religious folk would   
   have taught him all he needed to know about making nice and bringing   
   Minbari together and singing Kumbayah or whatever.   
      
   >> from the religious nutjobs during his year and a half on Minbar. They   
   >> can teach the religious part.. not the warrior part. And the best   
   >   
   >Sinclair wasn't contemplating his navel during that time.  He was   
   >learning all aspects of Minbari culture, history, and yes, military   
   >tactics.   
      
   The only things the warrior caste would have taught him at the time   
   were jack and shit.   
      
   >He was "Ranger One", the leader of a military force, not a   
   >religious guru.   
      
   >How that would have played out had O'Hare stayed, I don't know.   
      
   Simple.. watch the show.. when you see Sheridan in the second season   
   on say SINCLAIR! It makes it real easy to follow. The characters for   
   the most part are extremely interchangable. JMS doesn't want you to   
   think that now that Sinclair = Valen but then its shiek to try to make   
   you think he was meant to be Valen all along.   
      
   >> Sinclair ever did when facing impossible odds in a military situation   
   >> was go kamikaze. Hmm.. can't think of anything like that he'd do if he   
   >   
   >Well, he thought he was going to die anyway.   
      
   >> stayed.. like maybe divebombing a white star into Z'ha'dum while   
   >> jumping in a big ass hole?   
   >   
   >That still could have been Sheridan.   
      
   The point is it could be either. Sheridan or Sinclair.. names don't   
   really matter. The commander finds out his significant other was taken   
   by the shadows and heads to Z'ha'dum to die by dive bombing their   
   biggest city while jumping in a big hole.   
      
   >> Sheridan on the other hand does have that history of pulling victory   
   >> from certain defeat. Of finding a way, any way, to be able to come out   
   >> the victor. His character is someone I believe could fight back the   
   >> shadows to a standstill.. not Sinclair.   
   >   
   >You also actually +saw+ Sheridan do that so you don't know how Sinclair   
   >would have handled it.  I think Sinclair would have done so with more   
   >planning and less gut-reaction.   
      
   Why get complicated? Same story and dialogue works either way, making   
   sure to transplant Catherine Sakei for Anna Sheridan of course.   
      
   -MJ   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)