What if the first episode ended with President Santiago getting assassinated instead of the season finale? Would that have improve the first season or would it put a wrench into things?
To Babylon 5 Fans, here's something for you to ponder upon.
- Thread starter Joe Washington
- Start date
Yeah, I think you need to establish what the status quo is, before you go and change it all up. Otherwise no-one will care that it's a bad thing.
Unfortunately, while the "who" was established, the "why" never was.
Do you mean in The Gathering or Midnight on the Firing Line?
Midnight on the Firing Line.
I think RandyS is referring to why Clark would want to kill Santiago so badly, as we hadn't really seen much of Clark's personality or Clark at all beforehand. We also didn't know why Clark wanted to turn Earth into an Orwellian State to begin with or why he thought it was a good idea.
There's the theory going around that he was possessed by a Keeper the whole time, and this was why he did the "Ascension of the Ordinary Man" thing o let others know about the orbital defense grid.
There's the theory going around that he was possessed by a Keeper the whole time, and this was why he did the "Ascension of the Ordinary Man" thing o let others know about the orbital defense grid.
He was distrustful of aliens and alien influence on Earth in the aftermath of the Minbari War. Everytime they had a Clarkee minion spouting their crazy ideas that's what Clark was about. The nuts in "War Prayer", the Knights in "Sky Full of Stars", the Mini Pax people, etc. They were convinced the Minbari were trying to infiltrate and take over Earth from within using people like Sinclair. Santiago was pro-alien and pro-cooperation with the Minbari. Bitch had ta die. After all, who knows??? Maybe the Minbari brainwashed him too!!!
I think that if he'd had a Keeper he wouldn't have been allowed to commit suicide. I think he was very much under Shadow influence, though, but that it was probably via the Psi Corps.
As for the original question, I think that the first season would have been harmed by the assassination happening so early. While we never got to know Santiago, having followed the election and heard his policies for the season it was much more of a shock when EarthForce One exploded.
Babylon 5 was a show about the process of how things happen. How Earth ended up controlled by Clark. How Sheridan ended up forming and leading the Army of Light. How the other worlds wer influenced by the Shadows and ended up fighting each other. How Lyta ended up being a Resistance Leader. It's not just about what happened, it's about how and why things happened.
Jan
We got an admission and a motive from the mouth of Clark talking to Morden when Ivanova was spirit walking in the great machine of epsilon half way through season 3.
Clark killed himself for the same reason anyone else would,
The trial would have been humiliating.
and ended in execution.
Which was death of personality.
Like his body wouldn't have been hunted by his victims no matter where they hid it.
Hitler Killed himself because he didn't want to be gang raped by Russians and then have his mummified remains left on display in the Kremlin for the next thousand years.
Although look how much fun Saddam had with his trial.
A pity Bush never had one.
Clark killed himself for the same reason anyone else would,
The trial would have been humiliating.
and ended in execution.
Which was death of personality.
Like his body wouldn't have been hunted by his victims no matter where they hid it.
Hitler Killed himself because he didn't want to be gang raped by Russians and then have his mummified remains left on display in the Kremlin for the next thousand years.
Although look how much fun Saddam had with his trial.
A pity Bush never had one.
Because Clark was a power-hungry xenophobic fascist? It's not like that such people are unprecedented. He was driven by personal ambition and his politicial beliefs. Just like any other politician. His ambition and his beliefs were just more radical than those of other people. There's no big mystery involved here.
The whole President Clark arc was merely JMS's way of saying "it can happen here" (or "it still can happen in the 23rd century"
).
The whole President Clark arc was merely JMS's way of saying "it can happen here" (or "it still can happen in the 23rd century"
).
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A
Archangel
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Stop it now, both of you.
There's no need to contaminate this thread or forum with political sniping.
One regret I always had about B5 was that they never really let Santiago into the series, he was pretty much faceless like Clarke. I'd have prefered to have him a bit like Palmer from 24, or appearing on the monitor every so often or in that episode where he visits Babylon 5.
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