Text 17803, 86 rader
Skriven 2007-08-28 01:56:37 av Mac Breck (4280.babylon5)
     Kommentar till en text av rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated
Ärende: Re: ATTN JMS: TLT comments/questions. SPOILERS
======================================================
SPOILERS for The Passing of the Technomages.....


"Thunder Magnificent!" <deceptar@shaw.ca> wrote in message
news:pFKAi.98562$rX4.41865@pd7urf2no...
> The only problem I have with the Technomage Trilogy is that it makes
> Sheridan out to be a total idiot with Galen there in the shadows
> whispering in his ear, guiding him constantly on his path.

Total idiot?  Guiding him constantly?  Overstating things a helluva lot,
aren't you?  Yes, you are.


> I prefer to
> believe Sheridan is the strong character we see depicted in the TV
> series because he is that person.

So, Galen helped him a bit and we didn't see that on camera.  So what.
No big deal.  Kosh helped Sheridan,. too.  Did that make Sheridan an
idiot?  No.



> Also, the Mage trilogy made Galen
> ridiculously powerful

Again with the overstating.



> as well--something that works against him as a
> character in a TV show (in the sense that nothing could possibly harm
> him.

As a character in Crusade, it *does* work against Galen because it
results in *inconsistencies* between the novels and Crusade (e.g. in
"The Memory of War" his staff was hardly the *only* thing Galen could
have used against the other mage's machine.), but maybe there's a story
reason for this (See next paragraph.).   Also, I like Jeanne Cavelos'
organic description of the tech and the appearance of it on/in a mage
(e.g. Kell, Galen, Blaylock, etc.) compared to the discrete electronics
(lego-like) appearance on Galen in "The Memory of War".  The former
seems more elegant and the latter clumsy.

Up until JMS's unfilmed scripts, it seems that Galen was careful to not
reveal some of the more powerful things that he could do.  When he does,
Gideon begins to catch on, albiet IMHO, a bit too slow on the uptake.
From the unfilmed scripts it appears that Gideon just didn't want to
believe it.

BTW, in "Voices in the Dark - Over There", I really missed Galen's
appearance/disappearance effects that we saw in "War Zone" and "The
Memory of War".  In "Voices in the Dark - Over There" blink, he's there
and blink he's gone.  Was he ever really physically there or was some of
it an electron incantation? <shrug>


> Characters need some sort of weakness(es) to be interesting.

Even in the novels, Galen does have weaknesses, yes, even after he
becomes one with the tech.  He's still susceptible to interference and
control by telepaths.  Remember Bunny?  As for his Spell of Destruction,
it has a limited diameter.  He couldn't encompass a whole Battlecrab.
Also, mage spells have a limited range.  Remember as he was leaving the
planet with Alwyn and destroying parts of the underground tunnels and
the buildings with his Spell of Destruction, stuff got out of range for
him?  Remember what Elric told him about ths shadow hybrid being able to
destroy Galen before he'd get close enough to use his spells?

Sure Galen is the most powerful mage alive in 2262, but he is hardly
without weaknesses or limitations.


-- 
Mac Breck (KoshN)
-------------------------------
"Babylon 5: Crusade" (1999)
Galen: "There is always hope, only because it's the one thing that no
one has figured out how to kill yet."

"Brimstone" (1998)
Angel: Oh, there's one more thing you should know. Your fate was never
determined until you killed Gilbert Jax. All in all, you've led a good
life, Ezekiel. Have faith. Your work's appreciated.
--- SBBSecho 2.12-Win32
 * Origin: Time Warp of the Future BBS - Home of League 10 (1:14/400)