Spoiler space.....



















"1) Assuming the present is the time period during which we watch Babylon
5 and the period we saw at the beginning of the WWE episode, does the
possible fall of B5 (if the mission fails) take place in the past or the
future? We see Ivanova screaming in the mysterious transmission that
"they're killing us" and that the Captain is dead, so I assume this
indicates that the possible fall of B5 takes place in the future since
Sheridan is the only Captain (Sinclair was a Commander, non?). But we
also see Sinclair reliving his flashback with Gerabaldi from Season one in
which B5 falls, and he then seems to indicate that his mission is to
prevent such a catastrophe. Since Sinclair is there, with Gerabaldi, this
would seem to suggest that the fall of B5, if the mission fails, takes
place in the past in relation to the present with which we are all
familiar.(Breath) So, if the mission fails, when will B5 fall; past of
future??? Or perhaps put another way: Will B5 possibly fall under
Sheridan's command or Sinclair's? <-- God, that's complicated."

Nope. The scenes are all in the future. Garibaldi specifically
identifies the distress call as coming from 8 days in the future.
Sinclair's vision wasn't a flashback, but a flash forward; even the
blowing of B5 was identified by Lady Ladira as in the future. It's
*always* been placed in the future, though most of this was in the first
season, which hasn't been reshown. Also, in the first act, Garibaldi
again *specifically states* that when they went to B4, there was a glimpse
of the future and the fall of B5.

"2) Faced with the end, why would the bloodied Ivanova feel compelled to
deliver a play-by-play to a non-existant audience? Or even to one that is
there? I found that strange."

First she was trying to get help. Second, there should be some record of
what happened for those who would investigate. They would need to know,
just the way a signal operator sends out a distress call for as long as
possible as the ship sinks. SOP.

"4) About Delenn's slide show: It looks as though Minbari ships have
remained basically the same for the past 1000 years. I could not see one
change. Why is that?"

Because you weren't looking closely enough. The older Minbari ships are
much longer and tubular in design; you'll see them better in the second
half, but there's definitely a difference.

"5) The preview showed Gerabaldi giving 'em hell with a big gun. Why
wasn't that in the episode (I know, some scenes in previews don't show up
in the actual ep, but it seemed important)?"

Because we were seeing the sequence from Sinclair's point of view; he was
gone by the time Garibaldi began firing, so he wouldn't have seen it.
Story logic.

"7) Londo spoils us all by telling us Sheridan wins the war--suspense exit
stage left--unless the time line is somehow further altered, which would
go against the inevatability theme JMS seems to be playing."

Okay, everybody who thought I was going to have our heroes fight a war for
two whole years or so, and then *lose it*...a major dramatic
disappointment to say the least...raise your hands.

In any event...quite frankly, several of your "serious nitpicks" are
actually incorrect, and come from making assumptions or simply not paying
attention when someone says something clearly in dialogue, as Garibaldi
does, that the flash was of future events, and then IDs the signal as from
8 days ahead.






jms