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Morden and G'Kar

posted 8 years ago by reddkryten
12 replies | jump to latest

I was just wondering if any could answer this question for me. Why did Morden not make a deal with G'Kar in season one?

My understand is, in Signs and Portents he was going around the station trying to make a Faustian pact with one of the ambassadors. Delenn turned him down while Londo accepted.

However G'Kar was perfectly willing to answer his question. His answer would have involved the exact same kind of military action from the shadows. Am I missing something, what was the difference that made G'Kar's answer unsatisfactory?

I know he was only really interested in protecting his home world. However with Londo, he had no problem doing a small thing, then asking for an unrelated favour.

[–] alpha128 8 years ago

My understand is, in Signs and Portents (Morden) was going around the station trying to make a Faustian pact with one of the ambassadors. Delenn turned him down while Londo accepted.

However G'Kar was perfectly willing to answer his question. His answer would have involved the exact same kind of military action from the shadows. Am I missing something, what was the difference that made G'Kar's answer unsatisfactory? - reddkryten

Creator/Executive Producer/Writer J. Michael Straczynski (JMS) explains why Londo was chosen and G'Kar was not (emphasis mine):

Why Londo? Because he was the one who answered Morden's question correctly. Things happen for a *reason* that is suited to who the person is. G'Kar's ambitions aren't nearly big enough; Delenn knows better than to get near these guys; Kosh is against them; the EA are being kept at arm's length for now, the non-aligned worlds aren't big enough...so here we are. - JMS

http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/guide/013.html#JS

[–] reddkryten 8 years ago

Perfect, thank you.

[–] alpha128 8 years ago

Perfect, thank you. - reddkryten

You're welcome.

[–] action_on_deck 8 years ago

I've always felt that Morden approached Delenn solely for the audiences benefit. Morden had to know what a religious caste Minbari's reaction to him would be. They more or less worshipped the Vorlons at that point, no need to even try her.

[–] kerryedavis 8 years ago

Maybe, but he was apparently looking for just one "agent of chaos" he/they could use. Perhaps they thought it was possible that a "fallen out of favor" Minbari would have been sent to B5 as was the case with Londo. And Delenn was a "child of Valen" which most Minbari at that time probably still weren't. That seems to be what gave her the power to sense Morden's "soul" and it was also somewhat unique to her. If the Shadows didn't know about Delenn's unique background, they might have had no reason to worry about approaching her.

They also knew there was a Vorlon ON THE STATION that could - and in fact did - detect his presence. Yet they sent him anyway.

[–] coolman13355 7 years ago

Morden also arrived while Kosh was off the station. Now the show is ambiguous on whether he arrived at the right time or they waited for an opening.

[–] purple_dave 7 years ago

Not all religious caste members behave as Delenn does. Lennier is religious caste, but he had a moment of weakness there when he was willing to let Sheridan die over his unrequited love for Delenn. He's exactly the sort of person that Morden was looking for in that moment, but he didn't have the position or ambition necessary for Morden's purposes.

Londo only worked because he was so shortsighted that they were able to suck him in long before he realized what it all meant. If their intentions had been spelled out for him in the beginning, I don't know that he would have provided the same answer.

You know what noone tells you about cooking with the Dark Side? The food is really good!

[–] kerryedavis 7 years ago

Not all religious caste members behave as Delenn does. Lennier is religious caste, but he had a moment of weakness there when he was willing to let Sheridan die over his unrequited love for Delenn. He's exactly the sort of person that Morden was looking for in that moment, but he didn't have the position or ambition necessary for Morden's purposes.

That early on, I don't think they could have appealed to Lennier that way. He wasn't quite so wrapped up with his feelings for Delenn yet.

[–] purple_dave 7 years ago

Well, no, not at the time. And he came to his senses mere minutes later (but still too late to get credit for it). But the point is, you can't just assume that "oh, Religious Caste means they're all 100% sensible". Heck, Delenn during ItB would have been _exactly_ what Morden was looking for. You know, except for the fact that she probably would have torn his own head off right then, on account of him being a Human and all...

You know what noone tells you about cooking with the Dark Side? The food is really good!

[–] kerryedavis 7 years ago

Actually I meant that early in the series. Season 1, when Morden was looking for their "agent of chaos." If he had approached Lennier at that time, I doubt Lennier's infatuation/whatever with Delenn had yet advanced to the point where he would have made that deal.

[–] purple_dave 7 years ago

If Londo had provided a less favorable answer, perhaps G'Kar would have been selected instead. But that, however, presents the possibility that G'Kar may have realized exactly what was going on due to his familiarity with the drawings in the Book of G'Quan. Doesn't mean it would have been in time to stop it (after all, Londo tried to stop things and they simply told him they'd find someone else to get all the glory).

You know what noone tells you about cooking with the Dark Side? The food is really good!

[–] Darren (1134) a year ago

J. Michael Straczynski explained it: at the time Morden asked that question of him, G'Kar's ambitions weren't big enough. The Shadows weren't evil for evil's sake. They didn't take sadistic pleasure in violence and the sufferings of others. What they had was a philosophy that held that conflict was a crucible that burned away imperfections and left the best and strongest behind to carry on to a better future. So, they promoted conflict, because they sincerely believed that was the way forward to perfection.

All G'Kar wanted when Morden approached him was revenge on the Centauri (he later grew beyond that). That wasn't useful to the Shadows. At that time, G'Kar and the Narn were merely wreckers. Destroyers. Revenge seekers.

But Mollari presented them with a desire for his people to reclaim their lost glory as conquerors, a vision of a great race, seizing its destiny by strength, and that was 100% in line with the Shadows' philosophy that what makes a people great is their willingness to fight their way to the top of the power structure.

The Shadows weren't merely looking to hire thugs who would destroy, they were trying to shepherd a younger race toward what they saw as greatness (however warped their view of greatness was) and thereby prove their philosophy's correctness. G'Kar's desire stopped at sinking his teeth into the throat of a hated enemy -- and the Shadow's reaction was: "BORING!" Londo's desire was to see his people as galaxy-striding conquerors -- and the Shadow's reaction was: "that's mah boy!"