{original post had no questions}

Yes, the Grey Council stucture, visually, is designed to bring
the Starfire wheel to mind. Valen, being something of a smart cookie,
figured it would be wise to tie in whatever he was doing to the
traditions that preceded him. So they're arranged in a circle, with a
series of lights above them, and the one central light (for Dukhat, for
instance) reserved for the one who had endured and grown to leadership,
but through a somewhat less violent means.

"Finally, the diversity of cultures on Babylon 5 must be a
satisfaction for you as a writer to have so many different voices to
express. "MoT" for me was almost like seguing between playwrights --
Damon Runyan (Garibaldi) to Oscar Wilde (Bester) to Aeschylus (Minbar).
One of the things I have found most appealing about Babylon 5 as a
whole is that the language is similar to the language of the stage.
That seems rare in a television milieu defined for the most part by
diseases-of-the-week, talk-show spew and courtroom maneuverings."

Yeah, I like that part a lot, being able to write in lots of
different voices, lots of different styles. You have to remember that
I cut my teeth writing dialogue back when I was writing plays and
getting them produced. I love theater, love plays, and love really
well done or rich dialogue. So it echoes that now...which as you say
isn't necessarily the style of dialogue seen on most television (which
is why a few react weirdly to it), but I like it, and it's my show....

jms