Babylon 5: Questions Answered and Unanswered

1.In "The Gathering" the exiled Minbari sect is almost certainly the Windswords clan; "The most militant of all our Warrior Castes"-Lenier, episode 'Deathwalker'

2.Regardless of their real identity their motive for framing Commander Sinclair for the attempted assassination of Kosh would be identical to those of rouge elements in Earth Force:They would wish to distance Sinclair from the Grey Council believing him to be too close to them.

3.Presumably the Windswords would also believe the Minbari Government to be too close to the Vorlons and would wish to sever this link. It may seem unlikely that they would wish to ally themselves with former enemies, but the schism between the Minbari Warrior and Religious castes over the decision by the Religious Caste (specifically Delenn) to surrender at the Battle of the Line could be a reason to ally themselves with former enemies to enact revenge on Delenn and the Religious Caste.It is also possible that a Vorlon attack on Babylon 5 would result in Delenn's death.

4.The Windswords and Kosh's assassin both refer to Sinclair "having a hole in your mind".

5.A war between the Earth Alliance and the Vorlon Empire could result in a stalemate if the other races/federations do not side with the Vorlons as the Vorlons may be reluctant to destroy or occupy Earth and it would be impossible to destroy or embargo all Earth's colonies if the Earth Alliance has allies among the other federations. The Vorlons would also be short of ground troops without allies among e.g. the Narns or the Minbari and ultimately these would be needed even in an interstellar war to subjugate hostile populations.

6.Presumably if hostilities did break out the Earth Alliance would finally accept the Centauri Republic as an ally. Minbari society would be split; but the majority of the Warrior Caste may again side with their former enemies the Humans, again maybe simply to spite the Religious Caste or to expand the Minbari sphere of influence/overthrow the Grey Council.

7.Again, the supposed conspirators would want to alienate the Vorlons and a war may be the only opportunity for Earth to obtain Vorlon technology. Elements in the Earth Alliance are often quite prepared to endanger the lives of Humans and aliens in order to access 'new' technologies so this supposition is hardly far-fetched. If these elements were allied with the 'Knights' (see 20) and the Windswords they may believe a war with the Vorlons to be survivable if not winnable. Episode 'Deathwalker' also suggests an element of cooperation between clandestine EA and Minbari elements.

8.This may be a shot in the dark but there are enough suggestions that the Vorlons are really Human; there certainly is a distinct possibility that Kosh is Human. In fact I think it is very possible that 'he' is a version of John Sheridan (commander B5 2259 to 2261) who experiences time backwards from Sheridan's 'death' in 2281.Of all the B5 races there is no mention of any aspect of the Vorlon's culture,other than the name/title/rank Kosh and Vorlon. Instead we see Kosh at various times researching Earth culture and history. Is he preparing for his "future" or re-remembering his past?

9.Kosh was prepared to reveal his true nature to save Sheridan's life. Plus, Marcus 'jokes' that Kosh is Merlin then states that Merlin (as in The Magician) was able to predict the future by remembering it, as he 'aged backwards'.

10.The Ranger, one million years into the future seen in 'The Deconstruction of Falling Stars' (s4), is seen transforming into a ball of bright light before entering a Vorlon-style encounter suit. This doesn't necessarily mean that 'all the Humans became all the Vorlons' but the Vorlons themselves could be a kind of composite race of (perhaps only individuals) who were sufficiently evolved. This certainly happened to Jason Ironheart who states he will see 'you' (presumably referring to Humanity) in 'a million years'('Mindwar'). Of all the B5 races there is no mention of the Vorlon's culture, instead we see Kosh at various times researching Earth culture and history. Is he preparing for his "future" or re-remembering his past?

11.This process could have happened to Sheridan as his body was never recovered.

12.Who IS blowing up all the Suns? The Hand?

13.Why are Ivanova and Delenn often depicted wearing veils as if at a funeral,and why was Delenn a Human in Mollari's vision?

14.Was General Hague aware of and in contact with the Rangers, as his signal for Sheridan was once delivered by a Ranger? Would he arrange for Earth Force officers, unhappy with the police-state measure introduced by (then) Vice-President Clark in 2258 ('Eyes'), to defect to the Minbari? Hauge himself need not have direct knowledge of the Rangers for this to happen, but any officer doing so would almost certainly be directed to the Rangers. Ivanova herself even suggests she'd rather serve the Minbari than Earth Force because of her treatment. Perhaps this would have been a plot opening if Claudia Christian had left in the second series?

15.Similarly, why weren't (some of) the Rangers recruited or trained on Babylon 5?
Perhaps if Sinclair was still Commander this would have happened?

16.Presumably Sinclair was the first Human to join the Rangers but if this was the case how could he have been the first to have heard of them? I am referring to Marcus' brother and Marcus' own assertion that he had to live on Minbar for a year to learn the Minbari language in order to complete his Ranger training.

17.Marcus arrives at Babylon 5 just less than a year after Sinclair would have left B5 for Earth before going to Minbar.

18.However, Delenn describes Sinclair as being the first Human to live permanently on Minbar and that he is the first of many so other Humans could have lived on Minbar briefly. There were EA ambassadors to Minbar on a temporary basis before Sinclair was assigned there in the beginning of 2259 and Humans could have joined the Rangers without actually undergoing Ranger training. Plus the Rangers did have a training camp in Drazi space.

19.It is possible that (basic? full?) Ranger training takes six months while entry to the Rangers could be based on previous military experience or prior knowledge of Minbari, a qualification any veteran of the Earth-Minbari war or any ambassador or free trader dealing with the Minbari would have. The simplest answer anyway is that a number of Humans had heard of the Rangers in 2258 or earlier. I guess with hindsight the Rangers seem kind of tacked on. I don't know if they really add anything to the plot. Perhaps Humans and Minbari would have joined forces anyway as a result of both sides' civil wars if Sinclair continued to command B5 instead of leaving to lead the Rangers.

20.Who exactly were the two 'Knights' ('A sky full of stars') and would they be part of the same cabal of officials who plotted to assassinate Kosh/was Laurel Takashima part of the same cabal?

21.How much knowledge of these plots did the Psi Corps and Vice-President Clark have? Did they even initiate them?

22.Santiago would have been elected EA President in 2254. Around this time both the Psi Corps and the EA government, via Interplanetary Expeditions, would have some knowledge of the Shadows' existence from the discovery of a Shadow Vessel on Mars.
Clark could have kept the Shadows' existence a secret from Santiago while at the same time establishing an alliance between himself, IPX, the Psi Corps and the Shadows.

23.Who exactly IS Justin? Was he also part of the Icarus' crew or was he recruited by the Shadows much earlier?

24.I suppose if the Vorlons did manage to successfully exterminate Humanity (and if unchecked they would have destroyed Earth, Mars and possibly B5 to eliminate those influenced by the Shadows) Humanity would still be intact through: Justin and Morden (living on Z'ha'dum), Alisa Beldon (Minbar) and Sebastian (Vorlon). Plus possibly Anna Sheridan and other Human thralls of the Shadows and maybe Lyta Alexander if she was on Vorlon at the time. Plus Delenn and (millions of) other Minbari have Human ancestry as she is descended from Sinclair.