Delenn
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| Babylon 5 character | |
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| Delenn of Mir | |
|---|---|
| Affiliated with | Babylon 5, Minbari Federation |
| Race | Minbari |
| Home planet | Minbar |
| First appearance | Atonement (chronological),
The Gathering (airdate) |
| Last appearance | The Deconstruction of Falling Stars (chronological),
Sleeping in Light (airdate) |
| Portrayed by | Mira Furlan |
Delenn, played by Mira Furlan, is a fictional character in the universe of the science fiction television series Babylon 5. She was a main character throughout the show's run and also appeared in various other Babylon 5 media. She acts as the ambassador from Minbar.
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[edit] Character
Delenn, an alien ambassador and leader from the planet Minbar, is one of the pivotal characters in Babylon 5.
A wise woman who still manages to find humor and whimsy in life, Delenn changes over time from a shy, respectful priestess to a decisive military and political leader. Her character is complex: she's passionate, articulate and strong-willed, but retains insecurity and ambivalence about her place in prophecy. She is morally upright, always attempting to act for the better good - yet forced to keep deadly secrets and tell lies of omission. Delenn normally does not like violence, but prefers to be a consensus builder. Her decisions have repeatedly been the catalyst for violent change and war. Delenn is also quite willing to fight - as shown in the episode "Severed Dreams", and during her encounter with the Drakh. She is both one of Babylon 5's key religious figures (assumed to be chaste, like most priestesses) and its key romantic heroine.
Delenn was originally conceived as being a male character played by a female actor, in order to give the character female mannerisms and so on and therefore make him more "alien". The Babylon 5 pilot "The Gathering" was filmed with this in mind, but the computer alteration to Mira Furlan's voice to make it sound masculine wasn't convincing, so the idea was dropped and Delenn changed to being a female. The Minbari makeup used from then on gave Delenn a much more feminine appearance.
[edit] History
[edit] The Earth-Minbari War
The Minbari are broken up into three castes - religious, warrior, and worker. Delenn is a leader of her race's religious caste and a member of the Grey Council, the mysterious and powerful group that governs Minbar.
Ten years prior to the opening scene of the series, an Earth military commander hastily attacks the Minbari flagship, killing their spiritual leader Dukhat. This single mistake leads to the bloody Earth-Minbari War, in which the human race is almost exterminated. Delenn, then a young acolyte, is Dukhat's protege, and her vengeance and grief upon his death have far-reaching consequences.
And yet, at the Battle of the Line, the human race's last attempt to save itself, it is Delenn who postpones the final annihilation, which enables the discovery of a stunning revelation about humanity that prompts the decision that the war must suddenly end. She had been working for some time in fact to try and find a way out of the war for both sides, having come out of her 'moment of madness' after Dukhat's death, with the revelation that Dukhat and the Vorlons had been working towards making contact with the humans...who would be absolutely critical to winning the coming Shadow War.
As the months of war rage on, Delenn becomes increasingly depressed by the war, realizing too late just what she had started and what price her soul would pay. When told by a fellow member of the Grey Council that "her Holy War" was almost over, she simply replied with the question 'but are we any longer holy?' Many years later, it is revealed that her years of Diplomatic work towards bringing Humans and Minbari together in peace was partially an attempt to try and makeup for that single, horrible, mistake made in 'a moment of madness'.
[edit] The First Year
Much of Babylon 5's drama and sweep comes from the intersections and conflicts of different races and ideologies. The most compelling dynamic is between the human and Minbari races, which become closely intertwined mere years after being mortal enemies. Delenn, along with Jeffrey Sinclair and John Sheridan, is the catalyst for this change.
When we first meet Delenn, she is the mysterious yet apparently benevolent Minbari ambassador to Babylon 5. Her aide Lennier calls her "Satai," when he first comes aboard, indicating that she is one of the leaders of the Grey Council, but Delenn chooses to keep this information quiet. When a renegade Soul Hunter comes aboard the station, willing to murder important historical figures and steal their souls, he focuses his attention on Delenn, indicating that she will have great importance in the future.
Delenn is one of the most respected and well-liked diplomats aboard the station, and the command staff trust her to help sooth tensions and conflict between different races.
She quickly forms a friendship with Jeffery Sinclair, the first commander of Babylon 5, who the Minbari had specifically requested as the station's leader. Sinclair considers her a friend and confidante, but nevertheless suspects that Delenn is withholding information from him.
At the end of the first year, as power transfers from Sinclair to Sheridan, Delenn transforms herself, undergoing a strange and painful hibernation. When she resurfaces, it is as a half-human, half-Minbari - initially treated with suspicion by her own people, as well as Earth's humans. (Incidentally, at the time when Delenn was intended to be a male character, the character would have also changed gender as well as species and become female.)
[edit] The Second Year
There are hints that this transformation, making Delenn a half-Minbari, half-human, includes her reproductive system. Delenn's mother, like a Catholic nun, had renounced her family to become a "Sister of Valeria" - so we may infer that Delenn was also married to her faith and would not have taken a lover. Her transformation is therefore not simply physical, but spiritual and emotional as well. She will not only be the first Minbari to take a mate from another race, but choose the controversial John Sheridan as her partner.
Sheridan is the singular Earth war hero of the Earth-Minbar War, derisively known as "Starkiller" by members of the Minbar warrior caste. The warrior caste continues to resent his unorthodox tactics, which killed many of their clansmen, and is infuriated when Sheridan is given command of the Babylon station.
Like Sinclair, Sheridan is drawn almost immediately to Delenn's wisdom and charm. Likewise, Delenn begins to explore her "human" side by befriending Sheridan, soon spending more and more private time with him.
When the Markab plague reaches the station, Delenn makes the difficult decision to enter the area where the aliens have barricaded themselves. Even at the risk of her own life, she will give aid and comfort to the sick and dying. Lennier, her devoted aide, joins her. Sheridan begs her not to go into quarantine, but Delenn promises that if she dies, they will see each other again "in the place where no shadows fall." When a plague antidote is found, the quarantined area is opened up - yet only Delenn and Lennier still live, having witnessed the death of hundreds of Markab. Delenn reaches out for Sheridan - showing tears for the first time in the series - and a turning point has been reached in their relationship.
[edit] The Shadow War
| “ | The universe puts us in places where we can learn. They may not be easy places, but always they are right. Wherever we are, whatever we do. It is the right place, and the right time. | ” |
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—Delenn, "A Distant Star" |
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The choices made in the second year of "Babylon 5" force terrible change, for the station, Earth, and Minbar. Interestingly, the most risky choice is for Delenn and John Sheridan to fall in love.
When Delenn chooses Sheridan, it drives a further wedge between the Minbari religious and warrior castes, who soon break a thousand years of cooperation and begin a civil war against one another. Similarly, by choosing Delenn as his mate, Sheridan is reviled and rejected by many Earthers at home, who believe him to be brainwashed by Delenn's 'alien influence'.
Like Sheridan, Delenn forges a friendship and alliance with Kosh, the Vorlon ambassador to Babylon 5, becoming the first leader of an "Army of Light". She also becomes Entil'zha, the leader of the Rangers, a dedicated group working for the Army of Light. Most of the Rangers are human or Minbari, coming together as one force to fight the Shadows, an ancient and deadly race.
After becoming Entil'zha, a rivalry heats up between Delenn and Neroon, the leader of Minbar's warrior caste, who finds Delenn's fascination for humans intolerable. Neroon attempts to kill Delenn, but is surprised when Marcus, a human ranger, offers to give his life for hers. Marcus barely survives a battle with Neroon, who agrees to leave Delenn in peace. Neroon and Delenn are still rivals, but a mutual respect between the two has been established.
After Sheridan and Babylon 5 break away from Earth, it is Delenn who rescues the station with a fleet of Minbari ships, but at a high cost. Because the Grey Council has refused to participate in the Shadow war, and that the Warrior caste dominated the council (they four members in the council instead of three thus tipping the balance of power into their favor), Delenn is left with no choice but to destroy the symbolic circle of the Grey Council. The religious and workers castes (and two-thirds of the Minbari fleet which they control) side with Babylon 5 and the Army of Light.
Unfortunately, without the Grey Council keeping order, the divisions in Minbari society become so strong that civil war will break out.
In the Minbari spiritual tradition, there are prophecies about "the One" - a triad of leaders - "The one who was, the one who is, the one who will be." "The One who was" is Valen, the Minbari's greatest leader - tantamount to Buddha, Jesus or Moses. Valen is a human man who has undergone the same transformation as Delenn - apparently becoming part human, part Minbari. In the distant past, hundreds of years before Babylon 5 is built, he becomes a great leader of the Minbari people. Working with the Vorlons, Valen will create a powerful coalition, defeating the Shadows. It is later learned that Delenn herself is descended from Valen.
A thousand years later, John Sheridan is the "One who will be", who will transform the human race and the planet Earth much as Valen did.
Delenn is the "One who is," representing both halves of the Minbari and human race merged together, more literally merging together in the marriage of Delenn and Sheridan. Together they become war leaders, with Delenn managing to bind together diverse planets and races into a great alliance. Sheridan was the "warrior", while she was the "spirit". This alliance ends the great war between the Shadow and Vorlon races, and ushers in the Third age for Mankind - a great time of growth and change.
[edit] Aftermath of the Shadow War
But after the Shadow War ended, both Delenn and Sheridan found their homeworlds embroiled in civil wars. Although her work had saved countless lives and ended the great war, she returned home to a world wraught with chaos and death. Minbari are forbidden from killing one another - but through the destruction of cities, lives were lost.
Delenn and the religious caste surrendered to the warrior clans. She then forced a showdown between herself and the new leader of the warrior caste. This would be a purification in which Delenn could sacrifice herself for her caste and for the Minbari people. With her sacrifice, the leadership of Minbar would continue to be held by the religious caste - not the warriors. Her old rival Neroon saved her life, however. And in his death cries he joined the religious caste, which returned to Delenn the balance of power. Delenn then gave control of the Grey Council to the worker caste, who had for many years stayed in the middle, as the religious and warrior castes simmered with disagreement.
Delenn's exact age is never revealed, although she does survive until at least 3 January 2362 (at the age of 140) when she appeared at a seminar to defend John Sheridan from academics who were critical of him.
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