> From: Phillip Atcliffe <P-ATCLIFFE@wpg.uwe.ac.uk>
(Thanks for the analysis Phillip -- food for thought)
[...]
> Then, suddenly, he hears _Kosh_ telling him to jump.
Ah Ha! That explains it - Somehow I didn't manage to connect the
voice with Kosh and just assumed that it was Sheridan steeling himself to jump
(embarassing slip eh?)
This would answer one of my other questions - Kosh might very well know
how deep the shaft was and what was at the bottom of it.
[...]
> Well, why not jump? He's not expecting to live, so why not do what the
It might make a difference, but he'd have to fall a good few *miles*.
> Except, of course, that we viewers have more than a sneaking suspicion
:-)
I'm not kidding about spoilers here. If you haven't seen the final episode of
season 3 (boy, do you have several zillion WHAMs waiting for you!), then you
_will_ be spoiled if you read past the spoo'er space which I now
present:
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Alun asked:
> Any ideas on why Sheridan jumped?
It seemed fairly straight-forward to me. He's hit a dead end and has
nowhere else to run. Here comes "Anna", whom he probably finds more repulsive
at that
moment than the Shadows themselves -- although they're right behind her,
too.
The White Star is on its way down to nuke the place and he _dare_ not
let the Shadows do to him what they did to his wife. He's really caught
between Scylla and Charybdis (for those who don't know the names, one was a
sea monster and the other a huge whirlpool. Both come from Greek mythology).
Then, suddenly, he hears _Kosh_ telling him to jump. It should be
remembered that, for all that the Vorlons and Minbari have kept him in the
dark, they have not ever directly lied to him. He may have his suspicions as
to the Vorlons' motives, which were probably reinforced by what he has learned
about the Shadows' motives, but the Vorlons have not (so far as he knows) done
anything as awful as the Shadows. He has, by his immediate actions, chosen to
side with them against the Shadows, and now he gets a message from the Vorlon
who said that "he" would teach Sheridan "to fight legends" and who has been
fair, albeit
mysterious, with him more-or-less from the start.
Well, why not jump? He's not expecting to live, so why not do what the voice
says? It allows him to achieve his current, immediate aims -- to keep
away from
the Shadows, and especially "Anna", until the White Star drops in -- and
it's hardly going to make a difference to his survival.
Except, of course, that we viewers have more than a sneaking suspicion that he
_will_ survive...
Phil, who now knows what JMS meant about season 3 ending on something "honking
big"..!