So you're a Babylon 5 fan? You should cover that series. What do you think about the third season cliffhanger? It is my favorite moment of the seriesI have all five seasons of Babylon 5, but it is too much like Deep Space Nine for me to start up with anytime soon. I did like the series a lot, but I am not enthusiastic about watching it again.
As for the ending of “Z’Ha’Dum“--worth a thousand words:I was not as jaded when I first saw this back in 1996 as I am today, so I was shocked. You cannot tell from the YouTube clip, but John Sheridan, the hero of the story, sneaked a nuclear warhead into the capital city of the Shadows in a decapitation strike. It was essentially a terrorist act, even though it was clear the summit the Shadows invited him there for obviously had no peaceful intentions.
J. Michael Straczynski caused a stir when he told fans that in Sheridan’s position, he would have done the same thing. That is, kill a million innocent people along with the guilty leadership in order to stop a war that will kill billions.
I was one of those taken aback by both Sheridan’s act, because my naïve view of heroes would not allow such a thing, and JMS’ comment, because I still felt shades of gray morality was still black.
These days, it does not affect me emotionally at all. I am not certain if it is because I know more these days or because I have now done more than just take notes I a classroom, but Sheridan’s act seems a lot more reasonable now than then.
It could just be my attitude that pacifists are the enablers of evil. The actual quote from George Orwell replaces ’evil” with “fascists,” but I do not think he went far enough by saying that. Sometimes, you have to have the nerve to do nasty things for the greater good.
