Draal Race: Minbari Age: Unknown Title: Custodian of the Great Machine [played by Louis Turenne] Season 1 [played by John Shuck] Season 2 onwards |
| Delenn's old mentor, came to Babylon 5 in 2258 to say farewell
to her as he had reached the conclusion that his life no longer had any meaning and therefore it
was time to "go to the sea" [A Voice in the Wilderness]. However while on Babylon 5 he found a new purpose in life when he was called to replace Varn as the Custodian of the Great Machine on Epsilon 3. For one year no one was allowed to approach the planet but during the following year Draal placed the resources of the Great Machine at the disposal of Captain Sheridan and his Conspiracy of Light, and helped with their efforts to make contact with some of the First Ones. He also was responsible for opening the rift in time that allowed Sinclair to travel back 1000 years to become Valen [War Without End]. |
Lorien Race: Unknown Age: about as old as the galaxy. Title: The First One [played by Wayne Alexander] |
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Lorien is the oldest living being in the galaxy, the First of the First Ones. He tells Sheridan "I was old when the molecules of your world joined and called themselves land and sea and fish and man" Lorien appears as a humanoid figure when first encountered by Sheridan following his descent into the great pit moments before the White Star crashed into the city with its cargo of thermal fusion mines. Yet he also appears to be a glowing sphere of light (probably his true form). At first his people were immortal barring accidents, balanced by a low birthrate, but later generations grew old and died, the rest passing beyond the rim. Only Lorien remained behind on Z'ha'dum. He has lived through the whole history of the galaxy, seen thousands of races evolve and grow to maturity. "We've lived too long, seen too much," he says. "to live on as we have, is to leave behind joy and love and companionship, because we know they are of the moment. We know they will turn to ash." Yet Lorien, for all his unimaginable age has not stopped caring, nor lost his sense of humour. He plays with the sound of "tick" and "tock" as he leads Sheridan to the realization that he is "caught between the moments." He poses Sheridan a riddle about the thought and the word and later chuckles at Garibaldi's complaint about his age. He is a gentle and compassionate teacher as he asks Ivanova to listen to her heart, and embrace the brevity of life. He asks Delenn to accept that Sheridan will only live twenty years. And he asks the Shadows and Vorlons to step aside and let the younger races go, as he once stepped aside for them. But Lorien himself, remains a mystery. We do not know why he chose to live deep in Z'ha'dum for a million years or more, or how much influence he may have had on Kosh. And how can we begin to understand the nature of a being that can apparently shift between normal space, hyperspace and the afterlife Beyond the Rim, as easily as we go from one room to another. At the end Lorien remains as he began - a mystery and a wonder. "There's so much I still don't understand."
Sheridan and Lorien, [Sleeping in Light] |
Byron Race: Human - Telepath Age: unknown [played by Robin Atkin Downes] |
| First appearance in Season five as the leader of a group of rogue telepaths looking
for a home (year 2262). Their dream is to eventually find a world of their own - away from Psi Corps and all
those who would use them. Byron is a powerful telepath with the unusual ability to block a person's audio inputs to all outside noise except for the sound of his own voice a technique he uses on Captain Lochley [No Compromises]. Byron's request to start a telepath colony on B5 was refused by Captain Lochley, but was overturned by President Sheridan - perhaps one of the worst decisions he ever made. By nature, Byron was a pacifist, even to the extent that he was prepared to surrender to a Bloodhound Unit led by Psi Cop Bester, rather than face further violence. Even though it would probably mean that he would be executed by Psi Corps. It was only through a technicality that he managed to escape that fate - through the assistance of Capt. Lochley. Byron's pacifism began to show cracks in the aftermath of an assault on a newly arrived telekinetic. But the other side of his nature begins to assert itself during his lovemaking with Lyta Alexander, when all telepathic barriers were removed. He discovered the truth about the evolution of telepaths and the extent of Vorlon involvement. This lead him to demand a homeworld from the Interstellar Alliance for all telepaths. The real problem was that he went about it the wrong way - instead of putting a case, he took an approach that was nothing short of blackmailing all the ambassadors of the Alliance. This, and the involvement of Psi Corps led to the final tragedy of Byron and his telepaths, leaving a profoundly affected Lyta Alexander. |
Neroon Race: Minbari Age: unknown Title: Alyt [played by John Vickery] |
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A former Minbari Alyt and leader of the Star Riders clan, and a renowned user of the fighting pike, having been taught its use by Durhan. He was responsible for the deaths of thousands of humans during the Earth-Minbari War when he was the loyal aide and executive officer to Branmer from 2243 until his death in 2258. When Branmer died Neroon ignored his wishes for a quiet cremation in the tradition of the religious caste and set about displaying his body in front of all Minbari so that they might honor him in the tradition of the warrior caste until the body was stolen and cremated by Delenn who used her authority to order him to support her story that his disappearance was a religious mystery. He was promoted to a place on the Grey Council, following the expulsion of Delenn, creating an unprecedented imbalance in the representation of the three castes. Neroon was later to oppose Delenn's acceptance of the command of the Rangers, describing her as "a religious zealot propelled by prophecy into a position of military and political power" and threatening to kill her rather than allow her to proceed, despite the Minbari taboo against this imposed by Valen, unless she turned control of the Rangers over the warrior caste. His determination was stymied however by Marcus Cole who challenged him to a duel, invoking both Denn'sha and then Valen's name, demonstrating to Neroon that humans were prepared to die for a Minbari while he was contemplating killing one of his own kind, a realization that finally made him accept Delenn as Entil'Zha. Neroon's revelation served Delenn well at the end of the Minbari civil war, meeting with her in secret to bring the war to a climax as both agreed that Minbar would not be best served should either the religious or warrior castes dominate the other, conspiring to bring Shakiri, Shai Alyt of the warrior caste, to The Temple of Varenni where Delenn could invoke the pre-Valen tradition of the Starfire Wheel to settle the dispute. As they had planned Shakiri conceded defeat rather than endure the pain of the Starfire Wheel, although when it became apparent that Delenn intended on remaining within the Starfire Wheel until it killed her to prove her point, Neroon physically removed her, taking her place at the epicenter, renouncing the warrior caste for the Religious calling of his heart moments before being vaporized. |