Text 7046, 132 rader
Skriven 2006-08-27 14:34:00 av Robert E Starr JR (7543.babylon5)
Ärende: In Valen's Name, Part Two
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The past and present stories continue in this effective middle
installment in the final comics arc.


THE PLOT

As Babylon 4 continues its steady descent to an inevitable burn-up in
the atmosphere, Sheridan and Garibaldi devise a plan to escape. If they
can only get four of the ancient Minbari fighters in the station's
docking bay working, then they will be able to fly out under their own
power and return to Babylon 5.

As they work while Ivanova monitors their progress from Babylon 4's C &
C, Delenn continues to study the records of Valen's battle against the
Shadows. The recordings she watches are from two Minbari: Rashok of the
Warrior Caste, who is stirred by the effectiveness of Valen's battles
against the Shadows; and Nukenn of the Religious Caste, whose son
joined the Anla'shok and was killed in one of those battles - leaving
Nukenn embittered and angry at the Minbari's new savior.

Unknown to any of the people on Babylon 4, however, a new threat is
approaching. The aliens who died while attempting to ambush Sheridan's
party inside the ancient station? Other members of their race are
approaching, and are utterly determined to take revenge for their
fallen comrades...


THE GOOD

With Peter David taking over the actual scripting duties for the second
installment, the writing and pacing both take on a sharper edge than
was present in the introductory segment. There is much more forward
momentum in Part 2. There is also more sense of irony in the dialogue,
along with more emotion.

I really enjoyed the "precredit sequence," so to speak, showing the
aliens abandoning a rescue mission to leave for Babylon 4. This 3-page
sequence acts as an effective hook, introducing a threat to our heroes
that they have yet to become aware of, and thus further raising the
stakes. It also begins to develop the "faceless aliens" from Part 1
into a culture in their own right. They have a hierarchy, led by a
"Ramde." They have a moral code; they are in the process of a rescue
operation. They believe themselves to be compassionate, and look down
on other species as being barbaric.

They are also shown to be quite alien in their moral code, and in their
way of expressing compassion. As the Ramde orders all forces to depart
for Babylon 4 at once, his subordinate notes that doing so will leave
the people they are rescuing helpless, destined to die. The Ramde
agrees that "to leave them in such a helpless state would be tragic and
barbaric." His solution? "Mercy killing (because) compassion is the
greatest gift that one can give." This last line displayed over the
image of the helpless ship exploding. An act that most of us would find
barbaric - to the Ramde and his people, with their very different moral
outlook, this act is the only "civilized" thing to do. It's a very
nicely-written segement, that hooked me in instantly.

The emotional moments are also much stronger in this installment than
in the previous one. A moment that really stood out for me was a bit
from Rashok's narrative. As Rashok tries to approach Valen to report
that the castes have now agreed to follow him, he is blocked by
Zathras. After a brief confrontation, Zathras explains why this is not
a good time to bother Valen. Valen is sitting in what is an eerily
close equivalent of Babylon 5's rock garden (one of Sinclair's favorite
parts of the station), mourning for the dead. "Valen honors all dead,"
Zathras tells Rashok. "Minbari dead, Vorlon dead, Tak'cha dead, even
Shadow dead." As Zathras speaks, the next frame shows a tear streaking
down Valen's cheek.

The moment is effective, and also consistent with Sinclair's
characterization. The end of "Signs & Portents" showed how heavily a
single pilot's death weighed on Sinclair, even after a combat that was
a tremendous victory for the station. Kathryn Drennan's novel, "To
Dream in the City of Sorrows," had Sinclair announcing that if he took
the position as Ranger One, it would be on the condition that he would
only fight a war "with the purpose of saving life. All life, Minbari
and Human, Centauri and Narn, Vorlon and even Shadow. Frankly (he)
couldn't think of a higher purpose." It is good to see the
characterization of Sinclair/Valen remain consistent across all these
different ranges - particularly when consistent characterization has
occasionally been a problem in the spinoff media.

This moment also starts to connect the Valen plot with the larger plot,
as the mention of "Tak'cha dead" catches Delenn by surprise. This is a
race she has no knowledge of. As she remarks to Sheridan, it is "as
if... they were wiped from Minbari history for some reason." The
mystery is enhanced by the discovery of ancient Minbari writing inside
the station, writing Delenn translates as meaning "Z'ondar."

The scene with the writing is strong for another reason, too. David (or
Stracyznski, whose outline Peter David is presumably following)
remembers a fact that science fiction series frequently forget. He
remembers that language evolves. When Sheridan says to Delenn that the
writing doesn't really look like Minbari writing to him, Delenn reminds
him that writing is a living thing, explaining that this is an archaic
form, "like Olde English." It is the little details like this that have
kept me interested in this show, and that have led me to re-watching
the series and to writing these reviews. It is very good to see
something like this here, particularly when the spinoff media often
have not been as strong in terms of including these kinds of details as
the series itself has been.


THE BAD

Artwork again. Though I think this installment is also a bit
better-drawn than the first installment, there remain frames where the
characters seem to be posing. A strong comics frame, at least outside
of superhero fiction, should portray the characters more
naturalistically. And there just isn't much detail in the art,
particularly in the backgrounds. There's nothing in the art that
distracts the reader, certainly nothing that takes away from the story.
But there's nothing that adds to the story, nothing that makes it
richer. If you're going to tell a story in graphic form, then ideally
your art should elevate it and enhance the texture. Here, the art is
functional at best; this might as well have been written as a short
story or filmed as a television episode (I would have loved to have
seen this done as a TV episode, by the way). All the ambition seems to
have gone into the writing; the artwork is largely "just there."


My Final Rating: 8/10. Looking very forward to the finale. Here's
hoping it doesn't disappoint...
                                                                               
                                
--- SBBSecho 2.11-Win32
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