Minbari Mondays, And The Sky Full of Stars, and Remembering…

This is the continuation of our fictional letter (reviewing each film and episode of Babylon 5) that I receive each week from Ranger Mayann.

Here is her 10th report:

—

Nih sakh sh’lekk, sleem wa, Greetings from Tuzanor:

In this report, in your Earth year 2258, it is the second year of operation of the station. This  incident revolved around the guilt of surviving when others did not, and why it is important to remember. 

It is important to remember, even when one has acted shamefully, as our Gray Council did that day in torturing Sinclair.

Delenn gladly gave the knowledge of our biology, while confirming the sacrifice made by your Doctor Franklin, for us when we were your enemies. She was also the first to know that the Commander was missing, and the one, after Sinclair saw her in his memories, to welcome him back home.

And to protect his lie of not remembering…

From the city of  Tuzanor, on Minbar

Earth year 2278,

Anla’Shok Mayann

–

  Addendum to Ranger Mayann’s report, by Shira:  This episode has one of the most telling Ivanova quotes:

 “Mr. Garibaldi, there are days I’m very glad I don’t have to think the way you do.”

And through Sinclair’s eyes, we see the absolute despair of volunteering to fight an unwinnable battle, and fighting anyway, in the hope that your death can buy just enough time to save a few civilian lives.

 

That was part ten of Ranger Mayann’s letter on the history of the Babylon Project.  It can be seen from another point of view by watching the Babylon 5: Season 1, Episode 8, which I mildly recommend.  It’s an important episode, and those who like epic space battles will be happy with some scenes in this episode, but for me, as a survivor of long-lasting childhood trauma, it was hard, and is always hard, to watch this episode. 

I can feel the Commander’s grief at having lived when all of his friends died on The Line, and he alone of his squad, not to mention the vast majority of pilots who volunteered to “hold The Line” died.  I know that pain of wondering why I got out of it safely, when so many around me did not.  Events from the past can impact our current lives, and must be understood in context.

Also, do not borrow from knee-cappers!

Sorry, I did not shed any tears at the death of this idiot Ensign Red Shirt (does it seem like the gray guys from security always seem to get killed off in each episode, kind of like back in…).

On the other hand, this does remind me that we do need to do something about those predatory Pay Day lenders…

 

See Ranger Mayann’s 9th report, from last week on hate crimes.

and then

her 11th report: Minbari Mondays, Deathwalker, and Context for Understanding,

To see all of her reports, see the B5 Reviews page

    : https://shiradest.wordpress.com/b5-reviews/

 

-Shira

Action Items:

1.)  Share your thoughts on guilt, and surviving trauma, if you will.

2.) Share your thoughts on how we Human Beings might start to build a more fully inclusive society for all of us, and how this episode of Babylon 5 could help that process.

3.) Write a story, post or tweet that uses these thoughts.

 

Nih sakh sh’lekk, sleem wa.

***************** 

Click here to read, if you like:

Hakan: Muhafiz/The Protector, Lupin, or  La Casa de Papel/Money Heist Reviews

Holistic High School Lessons,

           or Long Term Nonfiction & Historical Fiction

 

 

Shira

Shira Destinie Jones’ work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.