####Overview

The station becomes a hotbed of galactic controversy when Sinclair is forced to protect a notorious war criminal — a scientist who’s invented an immortality serum. Ambassador Kosh hires telepath Talia Winters to oversee a very unusual negotiation.
####Guest Stars

Sarah Douglas as Deathwalker/Jha’Dur. Robin Curtis as Ambassador Kalika. Cosie Costa as Abbut. Aki Aleong as Senator Hidoshi.
####Lurk

http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/synops/009.html
####Backplot

The League of Non-Aligned Worlds and the Earth Alliance are allies, thanks in large part to Earth’s intervention while the League was being devastated by the Dilgar thirty years earlier. JMS says, “The Dilgar War was one of the first conflicts that the EA got into, soon after establishing a presence in space. We mainly entered it to try and make a ‘rep’ for ourselves, then got more morally involved when we saw what was going on. That and the Minbari War are the only real major conflicts Earth has been involved with, and Earth was not directly at risk in the Dilgar war, though if they hadn’t been stopped, that might have changed eventually.”

The Vorlons have a strong distrust of telepaths.

The Minbari warrior castes know about the hole in Sinclair’s mind.
####Unanswered Questions

What do the Vorlons know about immortality?

Why don’t they like (non-Vorlon) telepaths?

Is this the last we’ll hear about the immortality serum, or did Dr. Franklin keep the sample he was testing? (JMS has hinted that it’s not a simple plot device which’ll never be mentioned again.)

Why do the Wind Swords speak often of Sinclair? What do they know about what happened to him?
####Analysis

Na’Toth’s grandfather had the misfortune to be on a planet that Jha’dur took, and her misuse of him is the source of Na’Toth’s feud, yet the Narn seem to give the incident no particular weight. What world this was is not disclosed, but either it wasn’t a Narn colony, and Na’Toth’s grandfather was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, or it was a Narn colony and the incident was smoothed over at the time. Evidence seems to point to the former, but it’s unclear.

Jha’dur is a specialist in, “biochemical, biogenetic, and cyber-organic weaponry.” During the Dilgar invasion of the “non-aligned sectors” she decimated whole planets to further her own research. Presumably the other Dilgar were equally vicious and callous. She seems to be especially notorious though, known by name 30 years after the event, perhaps because her biological experiments seem especially horrible.

At the time of the Dilgar war humanity was fresh on the interstellar political scene, having been discovered and given jumpgate/hyperspace technology by the Centauri. The non-aligned worlds seem to be relatively low-tech, and they were being overrun by the Dilgar in a particularly ruthless bid for an empire. Earth’s entry into the conflict turned the tide against the Dilgar, leading to the race’s confinement to their own system and their ultimate destruction when their sun went nova.

Jha’dur was shielded and hidden by the Minbari Wind Swords, members of their warrior caste, at the close of the Dilgar war 30 years ago. The Minbari didn’t encounter humans until about 20 years later, at which time the first contact went bad and initiated the Earth-Minbari war. Up until now it seemed that neither side knew of the other, but how could the Minbari have aided and supported Jha-dur for 20 years without learning of Earth? Moreover, when the Minbari are debating their response to the loss of their leader the Wind Swords arrive on the scene with new, very powerful weapons. Presumably much of the Minbari arsenal of weapons and ships derives from designs given them by Jha’dur. The circumstances of the first contact problem between the Minbari and the Humans may also indicate that it was the result of a plot by Jha’dur for revenge on those who (at least indirectly) destroyed her race.

The serum designed by Jha’dur is insidious, requiring something critical from living beings to make. It’s unclear whether this same process would be applicable to every species, or whether the same serum could be used across species. But in any case it was designed, perhaps intentionally, to cause a great deal of harm when used.

Just what benefit the Wind Swords derived from her research is unstated. Note, however, that she has (a) been permitted by the Wind Swords to use up enough living entities to pursue her research, and (b) used at least one dose on herself with some amount left over. She has also been permitted to leave to negotiate with the Narn, her first entry into public view since the war.

Senator Hidoshi calls Sinclair while Jha’dur is still in medlab. He insists that Jha’dur cannot be Deathwalker, but also insists that she be sent to Earth immediately. Still, he clearly knows all about the situation, which implies that he has sources of information both on B5 and perhaps among the Minbari or the Narn.

Talia Winters has an interesting time with Kosh during this episode. Here we see the first of a known class of people called “vicars,” short for “VCRs.” These people are human recorders, capable of recording sensory and environmental information for later playback through devices directly implanted in their brains. This demonstrates a very high degree of possible integration between people and computers at the time of B5. How common this is and how sophisticated it can be has yet to be seen.

Is Kosh a telepath? During the interviews between Kosh and Abbut (the vicar) Talia is occasionally goaded with an image dredged up from her mind. Clearly these are not her own thoughts, and clearly Abbut cannot be the source since human telepaths are regulated. That only leaves Kosh him(it?)self. Yet Talia doesn’t seem to have any hint that Kosh is doing this to her. If Kosh is a telepath, what other abilities does he have? And if he is a telepath, and the cause of Talia’s distress, what did he need the vicar for? It seems clear that the byplay between Kosh and Abbut was intended as misdirection, to divert, bore and confuse her leaving her open for Kosh to penetrate her shields and stimulate the images he collected.

Kosh collects from Talia, in his words, “Reflection. Surprise. Terror. For the future.” He may intend the data as a lever or weapon against her.