Expert: Byron Pennyworth - 2/12/2007

Question
Beyond the rim?

Both Sheridan and Valen (Sinclair) disappears without a trace... What really happends to those two? What i am most eager to know the answer to, is where did Lorien take sheridan? Was Lorien god, cause in the last episode of season 4(destruction of falling stars), the monk just before the end says: The blessed sheridan who lived and died and was taken bodily into heaven... If Lorien isnt god, then he must be close if he can accompany sheridan across death..? To try and make a conclusion about Lorien and what happend to MR Sheridan, i think of Kosh who says; Return to the end of the beginning... What does this mean, that Sheridan is taken to the end 1 million years into the future, to see the future humans at their "new" earth (vorlons old homeworld) ?

If you cant give me the answer on this reflection, atleast tell me what you think of it all :D

Thx.

Axa  

Answer
There is no correct answer to this question, but I can tell you what I think.  I think that in the B5 Universe there is no GOD, per se, so much as there is The Universe.  The overall religious philosophy of the show is that we are The Universe made manifest, trying to figure itself out.  Presumably there are people who hold a greater piece of The Universe within themselves, people who ARE a greater piece of The Universe.  The three The Ones (Sinclair, Dellen, Sheridan) are perhaps the best examples of this.  They are perhaps even re-occurring "souls" throughout a Universal Cycle.  For all we know G'Quan was one of these, etc.

When The Ones disappear (I only assume Dellen disappeared, but it makes sense) I see it as that greater piece of The Universe rejoining the whole, expanding throughout the whole of The Universe and filling it with its experiences and knowledge, and learning from the rest of The Universe, waiting to be reborn again to continue the learning process.

The post-burn ranger-monk is speaking within the construct and dialect of the religion based on our heroes' actions.  This is how those future-dark-age humans understand the mysteries of The Universe, through a God and a Heaven.  This is their truth, and it is true in its own way.

Lorien is a harder one.  If he was actually factually present at Sheridan's passing and not just part of Sheridan's mental construct of his own death, perhaps Lorien (despite being just a normal, living, breathing, near-immortal being) has assumed the role of a god, watching over all lifeforms, watching carefully over the greater pieces of The Universe, and using his advanced evolved "powers" to help and guide, much as he helped Sheridan "back from the dead" at Z'ha'dum.  Evidence points to both Sincalir and Sheridan (or their Universal pieces or "souls") perhaps being reborn to help in the early history of New Earth (presumably the Vorlon homeworld) and if they are both being reborn, why not Dellen?

As for Kosh, I wouldn't to listen to a word he says.  He's shady.



No honestly, that Koshism was probably left over for Sinclair.  It's a confusing but pretty well accepted fact that originally Sinclair was to be the main character through all five seasons, time-travelling in the very last episode to become Valen and win ANOTHER shadow war.  "Return to the end of the beginning" is much better advice for Sinclair than Sheridan.