All Alone in the Night
Meet the new JS, not the same as the old JS. “Who are you?” Jeffrey Sinclair must have given an acceptable answer - off to Minbar with him! Who is John Sheridan?
Penny thinks he’s fat, with beady eyes. What do I think?
In the first episode of Season 2 we are introduced to the myth of Sheridan - Starkiller - but he is not his myth, nor does he wish to be thought of in that way, though he is aware that people do. He is grieving for his wife, but that doesn’t define him either. He gives small, stirring speeches, but he tends to quote others, trying out their words, seeing how they fit with him[1]. What we see him hear, he repeats aloud to himself, to see how it sounds. He has strict boundaries and faces any confrontation head-on; he changes only on his own terms. Yet he obeys his orders and treats them as his own will[2]. He loves solving problems. Loves haunted houses[3]. He seeks out conspiracies to fight or foster. For most of the season he is playing at trying to be station commander - but how much, we never know[4].
[1] “My father taught me to live each second as though it were the last moment of my life.” (The Coming of Shadows) He doesn’t.
[2] “I wonder if coming here was irresponsible.” (Points of Departure) He was just obeying orders.
[3] Knives.
[4] “I command starships, Susan, not cities in space!” (A Distant Star) “I’ve been waiting here for six months! Started feeling like I’d been abandoned!” (All Alone in the Night)
I think I like him: his multi-faceted personality and the way his relationship with everything is still under construction. Here’s a man who will never be ready to fight legends - because he will never recognise them as such.
PS
Who are you? What do you want? Initiation never ends.