- Earth Minbari War Fanfiction
- Babylon 5 Delenn
- Why Did The Minbari Surrender Lyrics
- Why Did The Minbari Surrender
- Why Did The Minbari Surrender Mean
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Babylon 5: The Battle of the Line. 'We continue to broadcast our surrender and a plea for mercy. They have not responded. Many in the Psi Corps saw themselves as superior to the rest of humanity. I knew better and so did the Minbari. That's why I volunteered to fight them every chance I got. I trained as a military teep.
A large Minbari fleet jumping out of hyperspace during the Battleof the Line at the end of the Earth-MinbariWar
In the Babylon5fictional universe, the Battle ofthe Line was the final battle of the Earth-Minbari war. The Battle of the Linewas a desperate attempt by the Earth Alliance to stop a Minbari combat fleet fromattacking earth. Over 20,000 Human defenders fought in the battle;including most of the remaining warships of the Earth fleet.Despite this armada, the Minbari fleet easily destroyed most of thedefending human warships, and fewer than 200 humans survived thebattle. Incredibly, however, the Minbari suddenly surrendered tothe almost-defeated humans with no explanation.
The first commander of the Babylon 5 outpost, EarthforceCommander Jeffrey Sinclair, was captured by theMinbari during the battle. One major plot element of the firstseason of the television show involve his attempts to regain hismemory of those events.
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Earth Minbari War Fanfiction
Background
Approximately two years before the Battle of the Line, the firstcontact between Humans and Minbari had ended in disaster; thecaptain of the lead Earth ship, thinking that the Minbari wereabout to attack, panicked and opened fire. This resulted in thedeath of Dukhat, whereupon theremaining members of the Grey Council declared war against thehumans.[1]:192
The resulting war was largely a one-sided affair, as the Minbariwere far more advanced in weapons and technology than the humans.Since the humans fought the Minbari advance tenaciously, it wasslow and brutal. Commander John Sheridan succeeded indestroying the Black Star, the Minbariflagship—it was the only Minbari capital ship lost during theentire war, and it was ultimately a fruitless victory.[2]:174
Battle
After two years of bloody warfare, the Minbari came withinstriking distance of Earth's solar system. The President of theEarth Alliance requested that 'every ship capable of fighting' takepart in a 'last stand to defend our homeworld', a complement ofover 20,000 human defenders.[3]Confident they could quickly destroy any human resistance, theMinbari fleet bypassed Mars and Io to strike at Earth directly. Thehumans fought valiantly, but the technologically superior Minbaridestroyed the human ships with little difficulty. Lt. Commander JeffreySinclair's entire squadron was destroyed in under 60 seconds.After his Starfury fightersuffered serious damage, he attempted to ram the nearest Minbaricruiser.[1]:192
As the battle drew to an end, the Earth fleet was virtuallyannihilated, and the Minbari fleet virtually unscratched. Thedevastation of Earth and extermination of the human race seemedinevitable,[4] but theMinbari suddenly ceased fire and broadcast their surrender. Therewas much speculation as to why the Minbari chose to surrender whentheir victory was all but assured, but the Minbari’s governing Grey Council neverexplained its decision, even to its own warrior caste. Earth losseswere more than 20,000 deaths, with less than 200 survivors.[5]
Minbarisurrender
Sinclair had attempted to ram the Grey Council's flagship; theyinstead chose to capture and interrogate him. He was brought beforethe Grey Council, and scanned with a triluminary, which indicated that hepossessed a Minbari soul. Because of the Minbari belief in reincarnation, theybelieved that Sinclair was the current host of Valen's soul. They thought that other Minbarisouls were also in human bodies, and that they were harming theirown souls. They ordered Sinclair's memories of the examinationpurged, followed by his release. Delenn volunteered to stay closeto Sinclair to observe him. The Grey Council ordered the Minbari toimmediately cease hostilities, but refused to explain thisunexpected move; due to the xenophobic views of the warrior caste,they believed that explaining the reason would have only resultedin the warriors refusing the order.[1]:192
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Aftermath
When Sinclair had tried to ram the Minbari warship, he hadpassed out. When he awoke, he found himself drifting in his damagedfighter, 24 hours later, after the war was over. As the firstseason of the television show begins, Sinclair has struggled withsurvivor'sguilt and been bothered by his amnesia.
Babylon 5 Delenn
The near-annihilation prompted the Earth Alliance to expand itsdiplomatic and technology efforts, prompting the BabylonProject. Post-war Earth-Minbari relations were somewhat tense,but the Minbari helped fund Babylon 5.[5]
Plotsignificance
![Why Did The Minbari Surrender Why Did The Minbari Surrender](/uploads/1/2/4/8/124892853/107203276.jpg)
Series creator J. Michael Straczynski cites themystery surrounding the Battle of the Line as a key aspect ofintroducing Babylon 5 to the audience: 'The Battle of the Line andthe hole in Sinclair's mind was always intended as the entry pointor trigger to the story. It's like Frodo being given the Ring inLoTR. The story isn't about that, that's how we get INTO it.'[6]Straczynski further explained that actor MichaelO'Hare's departure at the end of season one did not impair theresolution of the storyline: 'The only difference in the resolutionof that aspect is this: we had originally intended to resolve themissing 24 hours, and the Battle of the Line, by episode four,season two. We've simply moved it up 3 eps to the firstepisode.'[6]The Babylon File author Andy Lane calls Sinclair's memoryloss 'one of the most important plot threads to run through theseries'.[2]:76
Straczynski claims to have always intended the Battle of theLine storyline to be resolved in early season two: 'I said, fromthe very beginning, that once the series got rolling, no singleprimary question could be allowed to go more than about one seasonbefore answering it, otherwise you get into a frustrating TwinPeaks situation where *nothing* is resolved'.[7]
Reception
In American Science-Fiction TV: Star Trek, Stargate, andBeyond, author Jan Johnson-Smith notes 'the Battle of the Linereminds us of the flotilla of little ships at Dunkirk or perhapsthe Spitfires and Hurricanes of the Battle of Britain.'[8] JamesIaccino, writing in the Journal ofPopular Culture, notes of Sinclair that 'The mysterieswhich surround this hero's past are in keeping with thoseencircling the Jungian prototype'.[9]
Episodes
The Battle of the Line is referenced as a major plot element inthe following Babylon 5 episodes:
Why Did The Minbari Surrender Lyrics
- TheGathering, series pilot, in which the backstory of theEarth-Minbari war and Sinclair's blackout during the Battle of theLine are revealed. During the pilot, Sinclair is told by a Minbari,'You have a hole in your mind.'[2]:75-76, whichbecomes a recurring theme throughout season 1.
- And the Sky Full of Stars,Season 1, episode 8, in which Sinclair is captured and interrogatedby two humans convinced that he knows more than he is saying aboutthe Battle of the Line.[2]:115-118[10]
- Legacies, Season 1, episode 17, inwhich a diplomatic incident results after the disappearance of thecorpse of the Minbari war leader who oversaw the Battle of theLine.[2]:148-150[11]
- Points of Departure,Season 2, episode 1, where the full story of Sinclair's questioningby the Gray Council is revealed.[2]:173-178[7][12]
Additionally, the event is mentioned or referenced in theepisodes Soul Hunter, A Late Delivery fromAvalon, and the Crusade episode Patterns of the Soul.[13]The television movie Babylon 5: In the Beginning,developed between seasons 4 and 5 of the television series,provides a complete look at the events of the Battle of the Line;while the movie is set chronologically earlier than the events ofseason 1, it aired after season 4 to an audience who had alreadyseen the mystery evolve throughout seasons 1 and 2.[1]:191-199 Aseparate book adaptation of the film was published in 1995.[14]
Why Did The Minbari Surrender
Externallinks
- The Earth-Minbari War and theBattle of the Line at The Lurker's Guide toBabylon 5
References
Why Did The Minbari Surrender Mean
- ^ abcdLane, Andy (1999). The Babylon FileVolume 2: The Definitive Unauthorized Guide to J. MichaelStraczynski's Babylon 5. Virgin Books. ISBN075350233X.
- ^ abcdefLane, Andy (1997). The BabylonFile: The Definitive, Unauthorized Guide to J. MichaelStraczynski's Babylon 5. Virgin Books. ISBN0753500493.
- ^'A Late Delivery FromAvalon'. The Lurker's Guide toBabylon 5. 2004-07-13. http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/guide/057.html. Retrieved2009-07-18.
- ^Yates, Steven (2003-03-29). 'The First Casualty ofWar'. LewRockwell.com
. http://www.lewrockwell.com/yates/yates73.html . Retrieved2009-07-18. - ^ abSprange, Matthew (2006). Babylon 5: the RolePlaying Game. Mongoose Publishing. p. 2. ISBN 1905471203
. http://books.google.com/books?id=6TvW4b6ckVcC&pg=PA2&dq=%22battle+of+the+line%22+babylon . Retrieved2009-07-18. - ^ ab'About Michael O'Hare'sDeparture'. GEnie, via The Lurker's Guide toBabylon 5. 1994-05-20. http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/misc/sinclair-leave.html. Retrieved2009-07-18.
- ^ ab'Points of Departure'. The Lurker's Guide toBabylon 5. 2004-07-13. http://midwinter.com/lurk/guide/023.html. Retrieved2009-07-18.
- ^Johnson-Smith, Jan (2005). American Science-FictionTV: Star Trek, Stargate, and Beyond. I.B. Tauris. ISBN 1860648827
. http://books.google.com/books?id=xDYW6W3PNzwC&pg=RA1-PA204&dq=%22Battle+of+the+Line%22+babylon . Retrieved2009-07-18. - ^Iaccino, James F. (2001). 'Babylon 5's Blueprint forthe Archetypal Heroes of Commander Jeffrey Sinclair and CaptainJohn Sheridan with Ambassador Delenn'. Journal ofPopular Culture34 (4): 109ff. ISSN00223840. http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=105517982&sid=2&Fmt=3&clientId=20886&RQT=309&VName=PQD. Retrieved2009-07-23. (Registrationrequired)
- ^'And the Sky Full ofStars'. The Lurker's Guide toBabylon 5. 2004-07-13. http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/guide/008.html. Retrieved2009-07-18.
- ^'Legacies'. The Lurker's Guide toBabylon 5. 2004-07-13. http://midwinter.com/lurk/guide/017.html. Retrieved2009-07-18.
- ^Janulewicz, Tom (2000-10-25). 'Babylon 5 - 'Points ofDeparture'. Space.com. http://www.space.com/sciencefiction/tv/babylon_5_201_001030.html. Retrieved2009-07-18.
- ^
'Patterns of the Soul'.TV.com . http://www.tv.com/crusade/patterns-of-the-soul/episode/23644/summary.html. Retrieved2009-07-18.`` - ^David, Peter (1995). Babylon 5: In theBeginning. Random House. ISBN 0345483634
. http://books.google.com/books?id=TpWHAAAACAAJ&dq=%22Battle+of+the+Line%22+babylon . Retrieved2009-07-18.
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