####Overview

Second season premiere. As a new commander assumes control of the station, a renegade Minbari warship arrives, threatening trouble.
####Guest Stars

Robert Foxworth as General Hague.
####Lurk

http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/synops/023.html
####Backplot

During the Earth-Minbari War, Captain John Sheridan managed to score Earth’s only real victory, destroying the Minbari flagship Black Star and several cruisers by mining the asteroid belt between Jupiter and Mars with fusion bombs. This earned him the name “Starkiller” among the Minbari warrior caste, as well as their continuing hatred.

The Minbari population has been slowly declining for two millenia.

The Grey Council ordered the end of the war after capturing Sinclair. He was the first human to have direct contact with the Council. Their original intent was to interrogate him and find out about Earth’s defenses, but upon scanning him, they found that Minbari souls were somehow being reborn in human bodies. Since Minbari religion teaches that all the souls of the Minbari form a greater whole, continuing the war would mean, in effect, killing part of themselves. Realizing that the knowledge that this was happening to Minbari souls would prove destabilizing to society — presumably some would blame humans for the shrinking population, not to mention how the humans would react to the news — they decided to keep their discovery a secret, and protect it with lethal force if necessary.

After the suicide of the warleader Sineval (cf. [[Legacies]]) at the end of the war, the crew of his ship, the Trigati, defied the surrender order and vanished into exile for nearly twelve years.

Before her service on Babylon 5, Ivanova served under Sheridan at the transfer point on Io.
####Unanswered Questions

How did a scan reveal that Minbari souls were being reborn in humans?

Will the crew of the Trigati be considered martyrs by the warrior caste in spite of their death at Minbari hands?

Why did President Clark already know why the war ended? (see jms speaks, and comic “In Darkness Find Me”)
####Analysis

The presence of the unnamed Grey Council member on Babylon 5 implies that the Council knew Delenn would disobey its order, and further, that they know the purpose of the chrysalis. In fact, there seems to be more division within the Council than they want to admit (cf. [[Babylon Squared]]) since one of the Councilmembers gave Delenn the triluminary even though the council had advised her to wait.

Councilmembers gave Delenn the triluminary even though the council had advised her to wait.

Sinclair was the first human to have contact with the Grey Council, but there’s still ample evidence that that’s not the only thing unique about him. Delenn has hinted that she believes he has a great destiny (cf. [[Grail]] and [[A Voice in the Wilderness part 2]]) and even in this episode, Lennier says, “A change is coming. Sinclair was the first. There will be others,” implying that something has happened to him that hasn’t yet happened to anyone else.

In fact, the Council may have identified a specific Minbari soul in Sinclair, perhaps the reincarnation of a great figure in their history; that would explain why they’re so interested in him in particular.

It’s possible that the information about Minbari souls isn’t even known to all of the Grey Council. When Delenn visited the Council (in [[Babylon Squared]]) she spoke of the prophecy as the reason for ending the war, and some of the other Councilmembers weren’t sure that humans were the ones the prophecy referred to. If they had seen whatever scan results convinced Delenn that humans had Minbari souls, they presumably would have argued with her about those results rather than a vague interpretation of the prophecy.

The only thing that looked remotely like a scan in Sinclair’s recollection of his capture on the Line was when one of the Minbari held a triluminary up to him. (cf. [[And the Sky Full of Stars]]) It’s at least plausible that the triluminary was instrumental in determining that Sinclair had a reincarnated Minbari soul. If its function is indeed on such a spiritual level, the fact that it was part of Delenn’s machine (cf. [[Chrysalis]]) suggests that her transformation may be as much mental as physical. This interpretation of the triluminary’s function is supported by the comic issue “In Darkness Find Me.”

Sheridan’s comment that he was the late president’s choice to replace Sinclair is odd; why would Santiago want someone who would be sure to anger the Minbari and increase tensions?
####Notes

The Agamemnon was also a ship in the British fleet, at one point commanded by Lord Nelson (best known for the Battle of Trafalgar.)

Possible factual error: Sheridan said the Dalai Lama ate dinner with him, implying an evening meal. But Buddhist monks, including the Dalai Lama, don’t eat after noon. It is, of course, possible that Buddhist practices have changed between the twentieth and twenty-third centuries, or that “dinner” wasn’t meant to imply an evening meal, but rather the last meal of the day.