Puer natus est Part Deux
May. 25th, 2007 12:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sunnyskywalkerThe chant turned up in a second episode of B5, and this time I didn't have to go looking for Christ metaphors. The show said, "We got your Christ metaphors right here. Monks? Yep. Gethsemane references up the wazoo? Yep. Themes of sacrifice and redemption? Yep. In fact, how about a crucifixion?
The chant started up when Brother Edward was holding his vigil in front of the crucifix, waiting for the victims' relatives to come for him. Earlier in the show, he'd said the Gethsemane moment was the defining moment of Christianity for him - the moment when there was a choice between escaping and staying to be sacrificed for everyone else's salvation.
Brother Edward obviously isn't the only character in the show who's thinking about such a situation. So far, pretty much the whole of Season 3 has been about the characters deciding to stand against the coming darkness, no matter the cost. Just a few episodes after this one, Delenn and G'Kar discuss sacrificing the few for the sake of all. In another episode, the Vorlon Inquisitor tests Delenn's willingness to sacrifice herself to save other life... and we get yet another show with a "Chosen One" label. Chosen One, as in Anointed One, as in Christ. And a minor character in another episode mocked the Minbari for thinking of Delenn as "the Second Coming or something." (But at least the other characters get to play too - there seems to be room for lots of Chosen Ones in this show with their own roles to play, which is a nice change.) So I'm thinking we have some Christ metaphors. It's interesting to note that the same Christmas chant signals both the "one moment of beauty" and the Brother Edward's defining moment of Christianity.
But getting back to the Inquisitor... um. So the Vorlons have sentenced Jack the Ripper to serve society by... using his old torture skills? It's a similar concept as Earth mindwiping criminals and making them serve society, but nastier. Earth's version is presented as pretty dodgy despite its potential, and none of those subjects have to remember their old selves and use their old criminal skills as part of the service. That's just cruel. Have I mentioned I don't trust the Vorlons one bit? Planting legends in every culture so everyone will trust the "angels" might be a smart strategy, but potential for abuse like whoa. And hmm, Valen the Minbari-who-wasn't-a-Minbari set up the Gray Council a thousand years ago, supposedly to help guard against the shadows and all, but just about everything else that happened a thousand years ago was bad, so why trust this? Did Valen create the caste system too, or just entrench it? Because "caste" is not exactly a neutral term. It makes you wonder what it's like being part of the workers' caste.
Anyway, I am getting more and more hooked on the show. They have Michael York as a guest star! Playing King Arthur (sort of)! How awesome is that?
ETA: Okay, more informed about Valen now - but those sure looked like Vorlons flying above him, and I still don't trust them.
ETA 2: Wait, wait. Old Emperor Londo has an invisible "keeper" sharing his body, and the Vorlons can put parts of their glowy-light selves into other people? I think I see a connection. Shiftier and shiftier...
In other news, still dead from pollen, but slightly less so. Also, freaking out about graduation and job-hunting.
The chant started up when Brother Edward was holding his vigil in front of the crucifix, waiting for the victims' relatives to come for him. Earlier in the show, he'd said the Gethsemane moment was the defining moment of Christianity for him - the moment when there was a choice between escaping and staying to be sacrificed for everyone else's salvation.
Brother Edward obviously isn't the only character in the show who's thinking about such a situation. So far, pretty much the whole of Season 3 has been about the characters deciding to stand against the coming darkness, no matter the cost. Just a few episodes after this one, Delenn and G'Kar discuss sacrificing the few for the sake of all. In another episode, the Vorlon Inquisitor tests Delenn's willingness to sacrifice herself to save other life... and we get yet another show with a "Chosen One" label. Chosen One, as in Anointed One, as in Christ. And a minor character in another episode mocked the Minbari for thinking of Delenn as "the Second Coming or something." (But at least the other characters get to play too - there seems to be room for lots of Chosen Ones in this show with their own roles to play, which is a nice change.) So I'm thinking we have some Christ metaphors. It's interesting to note that the same Christmas chant signals both the "one moment of beauty" and the Brother Edward's defining moment of Christianity.
But getting back to the Inquisitor... um. So the Vorlons have sentenced Jack the Ripper to serve society by... using his old torture skills? It's a similar concept as Earth mindwiping criminals and making them serve society, but nastier. Earth's version is presented as pretty dodgy despite its potential, and none of those subjects have to remember their old selves and use their old criminal skills as part of the service. That's just cruel. Have I mentioned I don't trust the Vorlons one bit? Planting legends in every culture so everyone will trust the "angels" might be a smart strategy, but potential for abuse like whoa. And hmm, Valen the Minbari-who-wasn't-a-Minbari set up the Gray Council a thousand years ago, supposedly to help guard against the shadows and all, but just about everything else that happened a thousand years ago was bad, so why trust this? Did Valen create the caste system too, or just entrench it? Because "caste" is not exactly a neutral term. It makes you wonder what it's like being part of the workers' caste.
Anyway, I am getting more and more hooked on the show. They have Michael York as a guest star! Playing King Arthur (sort of)! How awesome is that?
ETA: Okay, more informed about Valen now - but those sure looked like Vorlons flying above him, and I still don't trust them.
ETA 2: Wait, wait. Old Emperor Londo has an invisible "keeper" sharing his body, and the Vorlons can put parts of their glowy-light selves into other people? I think I see a connection. Shiftier and shiftier...
In other news, still dead from pollen, but slightly less so. Also, freaking out about graduation and job-hunting.
