Central role in the story of Babylon 5 has the Vorlon-Shadow conflict (or Shadow War as I will call it for short). This is where the events of the first 2 and a half seasons led, and the aftermath of which that is seen now. And like almost everything in Babylon 5 the Shadow War is both event and metaphor, resonating with history, and paralleling human behaviour. Being the central element of the whole series, the Shadow War has more parallels than any other person or event in it. Let us begin:
One of the main cores of the Shadow war, and the place where it derives its name, is Jungian theory, as JMS himself admits. Jung called the greedy, selfish, evil desires all humans have as the 'shadow' part of the personality. It sounds familiar, doesn't it? In archetypical terms the 'shadow' looks dark skinned, devilish, inferior and uncivilised. And like Jung the shadows believe that everything comes about through opposition and conflict. Appropriately, something which is obvious from the question they ask: 'What do you want?', the Shadows use desire to achieve their purposes, or rather the negative byproducts of it, unsatisfaction, evil nostalgia, unthinking passion, envy and hatred. From Londo's wish to see his empire reborn and Adira's death avenged, to G'kar genocidal wish for revenge, to Lennier's love for Delenn, to Sheridan's longing for his wife, to Clarke's desire of presidency and Refa's desire of the throne and Cartagia's wish for immortality, again and again the Shadows use the unfulfilled dreams of others to try and manipulate them. But one's dreams is often contradictory with those of another's, so they have the desired conflict.
And they always put a beautiful face on. Like the Vorlons they hide their true forms but unlike the Vorlons they don't use mysterious encounter suits to inspire awe and fear; they use smiling and pleasant-looking agents. Morden is the perfect example of that, possibly the (seemingly) most pleasant face in the station; but in reality the most threatening one. In the episode of 'Z'ha'dum' this is further seen as Justin, like a kindly old man, invites Sheridan for a cup of tea and a friendly discussion, while Shadow-Anna uses her looks as an instrument of temptation and manipulation, much like Musante did in 'Voices of Authority'. Sheridan's refusing Anna's offer is ofcourse a lot more difficult and painful than refusing Musante's because Shadow-Anna carries the body and memories of the real Anna, but in both cases the very existence of Delenn, the knowledge of what's right and what's wrong, and the knowledge of the true horror beneath the beautiful surface, makes him make the right decision. And though perhaps JMS did not intend it as symbolic, for me there's no single scene more filled with symbolism, than the final moments on Z'ha'dum: Anna, her beautiful face on, tries to tempt Sheridan into coming on their side; but she's nothing but a robot, and Sheridan can see the approaching Shadows, the horror behind her; and what the real price would be. So, listening to the voice of Kosh, the voice of wisdom inside him, he decides to embrace death rather than betrayal.
The Vorlons on the other hand don't use desire, they use fear and rules and awe, great means so as to inspire order and promote obedience: to force someone to obey you. The rules they impose can be seen from their forbidding other races to enter their space, their orders to have Sinclair transported to them in 'Gathering'... The way they use fear is seen in many places: 'Walkabout' for starters, 'Hour of the Wolf'... Even in 'Passing Through Gethsmane' Lyta, the Vorlon attache, uses fear and threats against both Londo and the Centauri telepath. The most obvious example, however, is in 'Grail'; when hearing that people are afraid of the Vorlons even Kosh replies 'Good'.
And instead of a pleasant Morden, we have a Sebastian. No fulfillment of wishes, only the threat of death. No fairy godmothers, only destroyers of dreams. The Vorlons do not obey others, the Vorlons impose manacles: 'These manacles are made for you.' says Sebastian. And of course the Vorlons do not ask 'What do you want?' they ask 'Who are you?', and the answer Sebastian tried to get out of Delenn was that she was unimportant, a tiny piece of the machine, a nail whose only destiny was to be hammered down. 'No. Be a nice Minbari. Conform. Stay silent. Admit you are inadequate'. In retrospect, no episode tells us more of the Vorlons than 'Comes the inquisitor'.
As I hear, the opposite to Jung's 'shadow' is the 'superego', the sense of identity and purpose.
[And again, (something I saw only after I wrote the first version of this analysis) another tool of the Vorlons is the sense of purpose and unique identity. That's again seen by the question they ask 'Who are you?'. They are the ones to speak of destiny, of right people at the place in the right time (Comes the Inquisitor). Lyta, didn't follow the Vorlons because they would give her what she desired, she followed them because 'she believed' (The Summoning). Ulkesh says that Sheridan fulfilled his purpose after which he became unnecessary to them (Hour of the Wolf). Kosh tells G'Kar he has the opportunity to become something 'greater and nobler and more difficult' than what he was before. (Dust to Dust)
And there are many examples in the 100% canon book 'To Dream
in the City of Sorrows'. Some of Ulkesh's words (who at the time
was Vorlon ambassador on Minbar) concerning Sinclair:
'You are what we say.'
'It is wise for the arrow to remember it does not choose the
target.'
'You must forget what is personal. Concentrate on the cause.'
'The path is clear. Do not deviate.'
and most obviously of all:
'An electron follows its proper course. So does a galaxy. You
must follow yours.' ]
Too big a superego leads to excessive pride, and if there's something that the Vorlons have is pride. [One of the few nice things Thirdspace did is to confirm pride as being an integral part of the Vorlons] It's a bit surprising when you first think of it, but the Vorlons are more proud and self-righteous than the Shadows. The Shadows return to Z'ha'dum to show respect to Lorien; the Vorlons seem to have forgotten him. The Shadows are willing to take advice from Morden and have human councillors; when Ulkesh, however, asks questions to Lyta, he first grabs her from the throat so as not to diminish himself. And Kosh's pride is also seen in 'Interludes and Examinations', when he treats Sheridan as a rebellious teenager, and then refuses to flee from his death.
Having talked about the means and motives of the Shadows, let's talk about the specifics in their movements throughout the Shadow War. First, let's synopsize: The Shadows are the Agents of Chaos. Believing that evolution can come only with chaos and conflict, they make alliances that will ultimately instigate a galaxy-wide war. The two most important of these alliances were the one with the Centauri, through Londo and Refa, and the one with the Earth Alliance, through the Psi Corps and President Clarke.
The Alliance with the Centauri had fairly straightforward motives. By allying themselves to a decadent empire and an individual who wanted it to return to its former glory, they instigated a imperialistic war which first sent the Centauri against the Narn, and then to a wider war that included a dozen races, such as the Drazi and the Pak'ma'ra. The chaos resulting of this alliance was obvious.
With the Earth Alliance the case was somewhat different. So soon after the (catastrophic for Earth) Minbari War they couldn't possibly have Earth begin a war of aggression. So, since their first priority was not to have it against them, and not have a pacifist Earth goverment that would try to stop the Centauri from their rampage, they did the next best thing and removed the xenophile, pacifist Santiago, to place the xenophobe, introverted and paranoid Clarke on top. Not only would he leave the Centauri alone, but his ascencion to power, would also create a limited amount of chaos and conflict within Earthforce, since the Hague conspiracy would immediately start opposing him.
But were all of Clarke's plans to the Shadow's best interests? I don't think so. If he had complete control, and if he succeeded in building his dictatorship without strong opposition, there would be no chaos: Just a conformistic order that would further the Vorlons' plans, not the Shadows'. So isn't it quite possible that in 'Voices of Authority' the Shadows were the ones that led Ivanova to the evidence needed to overthrow Clarke? They used him for a little while, and then when he stopped being of interest, they stabbed him on the back, the same they did with Refa later on. The evidence led to the Civil war and even more chaos as humans fought humans. In fact everything seemed to work according to the Shadows' plan up to 'Interludes and Examinations' and 'Walkabout', when Sheridan manages to unite the other races with the Vorlons' help.
We can no more understand the true existence of the First Ones it seems, than an ant can understand us (as said in 'Mind War'). But we can still understand their deeds. In "Z'ha'dum" Morden and Justin compare the Shadows' deeds to stepping on an anthill. This may be the reason for the thousand-year-old slumber: One can't step on an anthill continuously without killing all of the ants, something the Shadows don't want. Therefore they choose to spread chaos every once in a while, letting the ants rest for a while, the races rebuild their organizations (and themselves gather strength), before they move in again. A trully cruel way of promoting evolution, but both Shadows and Vorlons with the exception of Kosh seem to have evolved (or better devolved) beyond compassion.
But the Vorlon's way is different and maybe that's the reason they don't go into such a slumber. To promote order and obedience, they have to continuously manipulate the less advanced races. Their desire for order can be seen from the way they kill Deathwalker in the first season, destroying the immortality serum that would lead all the races to a frenzied galaxy-wide war. In fact the whole Army of Light in the beginning was nothing more but a Vorlon-led Alliance that tried to unite the galaxy's race when the Shadows tried to divide them, with no understanding that Vorlons and Shadows were the two sides of the same coin. The Vorlon Kosh was who instructed and ordered Delenn, who later made Sheridan ally himself to her, then stopped G'kar from attacking Mollari and led him again to ally himself to Sheridan, and finally gave the final push in 'Interludes' for the creation of the alliance. [That desire for order could even be seen in such a small thing as Kosh desiring to follow protocol: 'Ritual, formality. You should be informed.' (Passing Through Gethsmane), and his forcing Talia to obey the contract (Deathwalker)]
But their manipulations are also obvious in the way they appear. Appearing as angelic beings of light they must have influenced many of the galaxy's religions, and even religious people have to admit that there's no better way to control a people than to place a 'divine' aura around your command - than to be a religious figure. [This part of the analysis was later confirmed by 'Thirdspace'] Thus they must have formed conformistic systems throughout the Milky Way, starting from the Minbari, who after at least 1000 years of strong Vorlon influence they have become the most conformistic people of them all (Another interpretation is that they were naturally conformistic, and that was what endeared them to the Vorlons). However with space-going people that have stopped being superstitious, this would no longer work: Though people believed that what they saw in the Zen garden (Fall of Night) was indeed an angel, would they have the same worshipful reaction had they known that it was really Kosh? I don't believe so: Their reaction would be like Sheridan's who (even though grateful that Kosh saved his life) understood that this meant the Vorlons manipulated them.
So the Vorlons hide the appearance which they created thousands of years ago, but through their encounter suits get the same results: They gain the awe of others and project fear, which is the best way to force someone to obey you. It's the Vorlons who demand fear from the younger races as seen in 'Grail' and 'Walkabout'. On the other hand, the instinctive terror and disgust derived from the shriek of a Shadow, or Shadow Vessel, or even its very sight (Distant Star, Long Dark, Fall of Night, Messages from Earth, others) is quite probably implanted to the younger races by the Vorlons as an effort to prohibit them from forming an alliance to them. This becomes even more possible when we see that the Vorlon-created telepaths have an even stronger instinstive response against them (In the Shadow of Z'ha'dum).
As I have also read in the 'John and Delenn's forum', colonialism applies to the Shadows' and Vorlons' attitudes perfectly. As a B5er once said in a forum: 'Who the hell are these older races, who confuse technological superiority with moral superiority, and believe they have the right to manipulate the younger races, interfering with their evolution?'. It was the 'White Man's syndrom', the belief that all other (less technologically advanced) people were uncivilised and incapable of choosing their own path and destiny.
As in the real world, it was in the end (and even in the beginning) obvious that the Vorlons and Shadows cared next to nothing for the younger races, the same way the European countries didn't really care for the African and Asian nations that they controlled. It was just a battle among themselves: who would control the most, who would have the most influence. The younger races had to fight to get rid of their tyranny, the same way as in the real world. Another parallel could be a Cold War in which however both powers are equally corrupt and dictatorical, and choose to play with the smaller nations because they don't want to fight each other directly.
But parental abuse is another parallel, as JMS has also said. The Vorlons and the Shadows, older races, seem to believe they have the right to decide on the paths that the younger races will follow. They still consider them mindless children who need not be informed on the decisions taken on their behalf. If we take the parallel to its end, the first age of 'mankind' is the infancy years, when people are too unorganised and undeveloped, too unprotected to choose their destiny; the second age could be the childhood/teen years when people understand well that there is a path that they will have to take, but they are still led and guided by those who know (or believe they do) what's best for them. The third age is adulthood. The Vorlons and Shadows are both like uncaring parents (they speak in the voice of fathers as seen in 'Hour of the Wolf', 'Interludes and Examinations' and 'Dust to Dust'), with different means to oppress their 'children': The former orders them unceasingly about, the other has them fight each other. The war stops only when the growing teenagers (younger races led by Sheridan) can stand up by themselves and tell their 'parents' to stop, aided by their 'grandparent' Lorien. So the younger races mature, leaving (or trying to leave) behind them both destructive passions and restraining rules; both Shadows and Vorlons.
Another one of the themes of the Shadow War seems to be the
question of moment vs eternity. This is seen as far back as
'Deathwalker' when Kosh says 'You are not ready for immortality
yet.' In the second season once again Kosh gives Sheridan: 'One
moment of perfect beauty'. Can perfect beauty never be eternal?
Is JMS siding on the part of the moments? Possibly on the former,
certainly on the latter. In the third season this is seen more
clearly. In War Without End II the future Delenn tells Sheridan
to live every moment because they never return.
In 'Shadow Dancing' Franklin says it plainly: 'And now I can
enjoy the moments. The moments are all we got.' On the final
monologue of season 3 G'Kar again says: 'All of life can be
broken down to moments of transition and moments of revelation.'
But how does this connect to the Shadow War? Through Lorien's
words I think. Lorien said that to be immortal is to leave behind
everything: 'Only those whose life is brief can ever imagine that
love is eternal'... The Vorlons and Shadows (with the exception
of Kosh) also seem to have left behind compassion. Just like
Cartagia, they see only the 'big picture'. Ulkesh doesn't care of
what happens to Sheridan, a simple pawn: His purpose has been
fulfilled, he says. Ulkesh and the rest of the Vorlons and
Shadows see people as only 'ants' whose brief lives are
meaningless and expendable if a future 'dream' is to be
fulfilled, a dream that may never come to pass. That's why Ulkesh
doesn't care of what happens to Sheridan; for him it's
'irrelevant'.
To end the circle of history, the younger races have to embrace
the moment; just like Sheridan did with Lorien to be willing to
risk all and only thus gain all.
Then again immortality isn't certain to bring about corruption. Both the first Kosh and Lorien showed signs of deep compassion for others. The energy-being/human ranger a million years from now, again shows respect to his mortal ancestors; and it seems that if they are parenting the younger races, they are doing so in a correct manner.
Now I don't mean the kind of obvious foreshadowing: Zathras speaking of a terrible war; black spidery ships appearing out of nowhere and blowing their enemies to smithereens. I mean the kind of subtle foreshadowing that may not be noticed even after watching the episodes in question two and three times. Some of the following however may again be simply my 'reading too much into things'.
a) All Alone in the Night: The whole 'abduction by the Streib' plot (a somewhat weak story by itself IMHO) seems to be a microcosm of the Shadow War. Sheridan and others are manipulated by a superior power to fight one another; Sheridan in order to escape (from the ship, from the circle of war) has to cooperate with a former enemy (Ta'Lon, the Minbari). The attacks themselves are chaotic and confusing in nature and in the middle of them all we have Kosh's mysterious messages. There we also first have Sheridan's 'The first obligation of a prisoner is to escape'
b) Acts of Sacrifice: We first get the idea that an alien race could consider the 'weaker' species as expendable; and that they might need to die out for the so-called 'superior' species to achieve their destiny. Unlike the Shadows however, the Lumati consider themselves neutral, not wishing to get involved in the process of evolution.
c) Convictions: After the once again confusing attacks of a bomber who follows no reasonable pattern, Sheridan thinks 'What if chaos is itself his goal?'.
d) Day in the Strife: Here Sheridan comes the closest to understanding Shadow Philosophy, when he momentarily believes that the race sending the probe may consider themselves 'interstellar gardeners' who remove the weeds, to let the flowers to flourish.
A simple question: Weren't the Shadows and the Vorlons successful?
After all the Alliance which is the dream of Sheridan and Delenn, isn't an organization that will promote order, very close to the Vorlon-led alliance that first opposed the Shadows? Wasn't order needed for the younger races to succeed in stopping the First Ones? But at the same time, wasn't all this achievement created because of the chaos that the Shadows brought, and so weren't the Shadows successful in producing evolution through conflict?
And if one hundred years into the future we looked back at those events, wouldn't we possibly say: 'It's good that the Shadow War happened since we now have 100 years of peace?'. And if so weren't the Shadows correct in what they did? (An opinion I don't share, but I can't find a logical reason not to)
Revision: Sep 1 1998
Email me at: katsaris@gmail.com
Last updated: 09 Apr 2002
