SFdebris

Gurren #6 on the Chuck & Anime show.

(captain commonsense? he's so OP)

edited 23rd May '16 8:50:32 AM by NateWinchester

I have to say, I agree with everything Chuck said at his rant in the end.

Anime fandom is weird.

I'm surprised the "Every episode but one" but, wasn't referring to (Was it 16? something lie that.) The one that was nothing but clip show/recap episdoe, of some narrator retelling the story of the first half of the series, not even a framing device for it, just, random narrator recapping everything before now.

I totally get what he meant about anime fans being kooky, but am I the only one who noticed the Hydrox cookie before the chips ahoy?

In The Beginning

You know with how much elitism goes into Minbari "Honor" you'd almost think they were a big take that at The elves from LOTR

I really don't see it.

The LOTR elves are not giant hypocrites for the most part, and their failures are treated as such by book, and even by other elves. The only elves who show anything similar to the Minbari mentality are the elves of Faenor's line and their obsessions with the Silmarils, and said obsessions is depicted as a catastrophe upon themselves and those they encounter, which ultimately leads them to their doom. The elves have otherwise no real analogue to Minbari honor (or anything close to it). Even their hostility towards Dwarves is seen as deplorable.

You'd have an easier case saying it's a Time Traveling take that to Eragon's Elves (Who are unable to lie and depicted as inherently superior in an annoyingly snooty way)

It's not to say that there's no parallel, it's known JMS was a giant Tolkien fans (What with the Shadow's homeworld and Lorien's name) and the Elves and the Minbari do have some similarity (Long Lived, Spiritually Inclined, oldest of the non-godly races, took part in a big war against evil in ages past, most technologically advanced, Traditionalists), there's a reason they are on Space Elves, but I don't see the Take That! material.

edited 25th May '16 8:43:06 PM by Ghilz

Its less a 1 to 1 comparison since its effectively All the negative Elf traits most people hate are stuck on the Warrior Caste and the stuff you mentioned is placed on the "Religious" Caste -Cause Delenn.

Its kinda a have my cake and eat it too Space elf scenario... I mean JMS does let up on the warrior caste... eventually

one thing that always bugged me is Delenn's Vote is never made know to the other characters

We the audience know it... You'd figure if the Vorlons or Shadows' really wanted to **** the other races over... just let Delenn's little dark secret out. That would have put Sheridan to the test.

To be fair, the Religious caste does get shat on either. Delenn almost gets killed twice by her own caste in the same season. When they bring her to the Obviously Evil Drakk, and when they try to blow her ship up coz they think she'll surrender to Neroon.

If anything JMS' thesis is less about the Elves and more about the whole caste system.

edited 25th May '16 8:51:58 PM by Ghilz

So maybe it's not a "take that" against elves exactly, but the popular conception - the usual misinterpretation - of elves.

I now kind of want to watch B5 for a Lot R reference drinking game considering all the double takes I was doing during just Chuck's review.

You're gonna die of alcohol poisoning.

Just off the top of my head:

• The Rangers in general
  • The Ranger's Motto: "We stand on the bridge, and no one may pass" (Remember Gandalf's death scene?)
  • The Rangers are led by a half human hybrid
• The Most powerful human nation is ruled by someone who is not the rightful ruler, who keeps them out of the war for the most part, and eventually commits suicide
• Lorien, an immortal, god-like being.
• Z'ha'dum
• The whole Space Elves thing.
• Both stories feature the older Immortal races leaving this realm and passing on.
• Like Frodo, John Sheridan is invited to pass on with the immortals instead of dying. Also like Frodo, John suffers a debilitating injury that follows him the rest of his life and can't be fully healed, even by the more advanced race (In Sheridan's case, the injury is death).
  • Like Gandalf, Sheridan dies falling in a pit in (Ka) Z'ha'dum, and returns empowered (Though in his case it's with a new certitude about his actions rather than a literal magic boost). Gandalf, like Sheridan, knows he's going to die if he goes to (Ka)Z'ha'dum.
• B5 is at the Dawn of the Third Age of Mankind. LOTR is at the End of the Third Age.
• One of the Techno-Mages quotes Gandalf: "Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger."
• Sheriden and Delenn's story parallels Berenn and Luthien. Berenn dies, returns to life but with a limited life expectancy, marries an elf who becomes mortal to be with him. In both cases the union leads to a lasting legacy.
• Babylon 5: The Lost Tales itself references "The book of lost tales"
• Eye of Z'ha'dum has obvious Eye of Sauron implications.
• The White Stars are the ships built to fight the Shadows. White Stars (And their opposition to darkness) form a recurring motif in LOTR: Gondor's Flag has 7 of them (in a V formation, much like how the White Stars attack). Galadriel gives Frodo a phial containing the light of a silmaril ("Our most precious star") so that it "May it be a light to you in dark places, when all other lights go out."

edited 26th May '16 7:54:57 AM by CobraPrime

Well... alright guess I don't have to watch it now!

You also missed:

A name of Moria is "Khazad-dûm."

edited 26th May '16 9:00:59 AM by NateWinchester

I didn't.

What did you think I was referencing by prefacing it with Ka :-P

edited 26th May '16 9:28:48 AM by CobraPrime

That's what I get for skimming!

But I'm partially blaming you for not grouping your topics together better.

Okay, that final bit was hilarious, best excuse to do something ever.

Guys you're 20 years late: of course Babylon Five is LOTR IN SPAAACE!, like on USENET we Fivers knew and even compared Londo to Frodo.

~*Takes Old Lady Pills and shoos kids off her lawn*~

Because JMS planned it that way. It's still awesome tho....

Hey, I was around during the heyday of B5. I just didn't get to watch it because it was on cable! *shakes his cane at old lady*

B5 was on channel 2 in New Mexico, so if the atmo was just right you'd get to watch it with out interference (remember that?) or on the relay -channel 44- if you had your pie plates on your antenna. We got cable and I got to see TNT present season 5 and screw over Crusade.

I still hate the music on Crusade: it's not jazz it's noise.

We were in a valley so no amount of pie plates helped out until we finally got a hundred foot antenna tower. Just the big 3 (even NBC was iffy), SOMETIMES fox late on semi-cloudy nights.

Mudd's Passion

War Stories

June Schedule:

• 1 Jun: B5 Midnight on the Firing Line
• 4 Jun: TNG: Arsenal of Freedom
• 6 Jun: Atlantis: Before I Sleep
• 8 Jun: B5: Babylon Squared
• 11 Jun: TOS: For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky
• 13 Jun: SG-1: Nemesis
• 15 Jun: SG-1: Small Victories
• 18 Jun: TAS: The Practical Joker
• 20 Jun: Kannazuki no Miko 8 (God help you Chuck)
• 22 Jun: Titan A.E.
• 25 Jun: TOS: A Private Little War
• 27 Jun: Mahoromatic 1-4
• 29 Jun: Dr. Who: War Games
• 2 Jul: VOY: Think Tank

edited 30th May '16 7:39:07 PM by lrrose

Oh man! He's doing Titan AE??? I'll be interested to see what his thought on it are. Love that movie!

I always found the movie such a mixed bag. On one hand, it has an awesome premise, earth has been destroyed by a race of aliens who really want to finish the job. And it has amazing ideas (Love the Space Hulk human refuge colonies).

But on the other hand? The movie's plot itself is so... pedestrian. It has all this potential, and it feels like it doesn't use it.

It will be interesting to see what he thinks of Arsenal of Freedom, it's one of the few S1 episodes I actually like.

Hooray, more TOS!