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Babylon Five S 04 E 08 The Illusion Of Truth

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  • Alternative Character Interpretation: Is Dan Randall a complete flunky and mouthpiece for the Clark regime, or just a reporter trapped between delivering the story his superiors want and an underlying sympathy for Sheridan?
    • While his piece on Babylon 5 is a complete hatchet job, he does go out of his way to paint Sheridan not as a monster who must be stopped, but as a war veteran tragically suffering from mental illness and under alien influence. This could be an attempt to make Sheridan more sympathetic to the ISN audience. . . but, as we'll see later, it's also consistent with the narrative Clarke wants to inflict on Sheridan: if even the only victorious hero to come out of the Earth-Minbari war can be "corrupted by alien influences" and betray his people, anyone is susceptible, not one is safe. . . and thus, you need Clarke and his authoritarian regime to keep you safe.
    • He also seemingly slips a message to Sheridan in his final monologue, about the state of the Sheridan family farm and that his father is missing (not captured or detained). Again, this could be trying to slip Sheridan a bit of news, or could be an attempt to goad him into action that will make it easier to catch him, or paint him as the bad guy.

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