Text 2480, 68 rader
Skriven 2006-06-13 19:46:00 av Robert E Starr JR (2926.babylon5)
Ärende: Re: Shadow Dancing: my re
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* * * This message was from Jeffrey Kaplan to rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.m * * *
         * * * and has been forwarded to you by Lord Time * * *         
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@REPLY: <1150171596.353904.117370@y43g2000cwc.googlegroups.com>
It is alleged that jphalt@aol.com claimed:

> I've said before (probably too many times) that one of the key
> differences I've seen between Sinclair and Sheridan is in their
> tactics. Sinclair was an intellectual chess master. In "Signs &
> Portents," he had laid out the entire battle plan long before the
> Raiders actually arrived; by the Raiders appeared to spring the trap,
> the fight was already over save for the shooting. Sinclair took his
> time, prepared his strategy, and knew every move that was going to be
> made by either side before the fight was even engaged.
> 
> ...which may be exactly why a battle like this called for a character
> like Sheridan. Sheridan is not a chess master, is not an intellectual.
> We've seen Sheridan trying to deal with long-term strategizing
> already, in the episodes leading up to "And the Rock Cried Out, No
> Hiding Place"; though he managed to pull it out (notably, in a snap
> instant, and not when he was studying the reports intently), even
> Delenn could only charitably describe his reaction to the puzzle as
> "cranky."
> 
> No, what Sheridan is a master of is the immediate. He relies on his
> instincts and makes fast, snap decisions in response to a crisis. And
> when he goes with his instincts, those instincts are proved right more
> often than not. In this battle, we see Sheridan shifting strategy in a
> heartbeat many times. The Shadows are boxing in the Drazi? A Minbari
> cruiser will hang back to protect the Drazi. The Shadows are moving to
> flank them? Alter the pattern of some of his ships to make that more
> difficult. In this way, the battle as it plays out is one that had to
> be led by a character like Sheridan; I just can't quite picture
> Sinclair making so many snap decisions, with no time to think them
> through, on the spot.

Speaking from outside the story, you do realize, of course, that if
Michael O'Hare had remained for the entirety of the series that the
battles he would have faced would have been scripted differently so as
to play towards Sinclair's strengths rather than Sheridan's.  This is,
imo, the prime fallacy when making these kinds of character
comparisons.  The plot in general and the individual encounters went
the way they did because they were scripted for the characters who were
there.

If you want to compare Sheridan vs Sinclair in that battle, then one of
two things would have happened if it were Sinclair instead:

1: Sinclair would have learned to make such snap decisions just as 
   Sheridan learned how to plan the attack rather than just react in it

2: Sinclair would have planned for contingencies, fallbacks, and 
   regroupings precisely because he knew he was going up against a
   superior force, both in terms of numbers and sheer firepower, and
   one whose tactics he cannot yet predict.

-- 
Jeffrey Kaplan                                         www.gordol.org
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Peter's Top 100 Things I'd Do If I Ever Became An Evil Overlord, #203.
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