100 Things: Delenn (Babylon 5)
This post is part of the 100 Things: A Blogging Challenge; please click here to learn more about the challenge and the full list of topics I've discussed.
DELENN (BABYLON 5)
And my second favourite female character on Babylon 5 goes to Delenn, the Minbari ambassador stationed. If Ivanova is emotionally guarded, warrior strong and a little shouty, Delenn is the opposite with her calmness, her spirituality and compassion. She compliments John Sheridan's strengths as a military tactician in their fight against the Shadows through her own philosophy and direction but she's not afraid to stand her ground in the face of military action and danger.
As an aside before I continue about the character, you may recognise Mira Furlan, the actress who plays Delenn, from her role as Danielle Rousseau on ABC's Lost a few years ago. To be honest she and Dominic Monaghan were the few reasons that prompted me to check out the series when it first aired =P
Anyways, like before, if you're planning on watching this show at any point there's potential spoilers ahead! as I will be talking about her character development from the first time she appeared in the show right up to her last appearance.
I love how multi-faceted Delenn is as a character from the get-go. She is obviously in tune with her spiritual and religious side, coming from a religious caste in Minbar and rising in the ranks until she became a member of the Grey Council. You see how important her spirituality and religiousness (though in Minbar these two aspects are one and the same) through the way she sees the world around her, the way she comforts people in times of tribulation and the reasoning behind her decisions. She has been the rock in the cast of characters throughout the years, the one to turn to when things get crazy or weird and you need some kind of explanation, some solace.
Yet despite of her calm contemplative state, she can also be tough and fearless when the situation calls for it (see the last two clips below from episode 3.11). She is not afraid to face the Grey Council or Earthforce destroyers, the Shadows or the Inquisitor. When she is resolved to right a wrong or protect those she cares about, she will stand her ground and fight back if necessary. She is someone you do not want to mess with when she's in this mode and I love it (then again I love that all the female characters on Babylon 5 have their own strengths).
As an aside, I was always intrigued by the season 4 episode "Atonement" because of her role in the beginning of the Earth-Minbari war. It's one of those moments where she gives in to her rage and you just see her lash out in anger against those who hurt someone close to her. Mira Furlan gives such an amazing performance there and it does show that even someone like Delenn has her moments of anger.
I also love how inquisitive she is of other cultures, of human culture after she underwent the chrysalis. I loved those lighter moments where she's trying to grasp the English language (episode 3.20 comes to mind when she was looking up the word "grouchy" and got re-directed to a whole bunch of other words in the dictionary, lol) or trying to figure out how to handle her hair (see video below). It's not always laugh-out-loud funny like Londo but she can be pretty sly with her humour too.
Her relationship with every single character on the show was interesting, especially with core characters like Sheridan, Ivanova, Lennier (such a core friendship, the end was so ;_;), Marcus, Londo and G'Kar. We never got a whole lot of scenes with her and Garibaldi as I recall (outside season 1) but it was interesting to see her interactions with everyone. In a way she's like the heart of the show; she's very much in touch with her emotions (going back to that moment in season 4 where she does tap into her anger) and in a way she's the audience's emotional connection to the show. I remember that scene in season 5 when Londo had to remain in Centauri Prime and despite of the characters' history with Londo, she said that she would miss him if he left them. And it really showed--and she really showed how affected she was by that.
Delenn's character journey is a fascinating one. It's like John Sheridan's in a sense that the audience is introduced to this amazing character already set with her own strengths and characteristics but then we watch her grow over the seasons, watch her as her beliefs and her endurance is tested. I don't know what else to say about this character except that we have an awesome, strong and multi-faceted female character in this show =D
Anyways, some of my favourite moments from Delenn throughout the show:
Delenn's wisdom from season 2 <3
A lighter moment from Delenn in season 2--Delenn is having some difficulty with her human characteristics xP
Delenn in 3.11
Delenn as a bad-ass in episode 3.11, enough said <3
This entry was originally posted at http://caffeinatedlife.dreamwidth.org/397665.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
DELENN (BABYLON 5)
And my second favourite female character on Babylon 5 goes to Delenn, the Minbari ambassador stationed. If Ivanova is emotionally guarded, warrior strong and a little shouty, Delenn is the opposite with her calmness, her spirituality and compassion. She compliments John Sheridan's strengths as a military tactician in their fight against the Shadows through her own philosophy and direction but she's not afraid to stand her ground in the face of military action and danger.
As an aside before I continue about the character, you may recognise Mira Furlan, the actress who plays Delenn, from her role as Danielle Rousseau on ABC's Lost a few years ago. To be honest she and Dominic Monaghan were the few reasons that prompted me to check out the series when it first aired =P
Anyways, like before, if you're planning on watching this show at any point there's potential spoilers ahead! as I will be talking about her character development from the first time she appeared in the show right up to her last appearance.
I love how multi-faceted Delenn is as a character from the get-go. She is obviously in tune with her spiritual and religious side, coming from a religious caste in Minbar and rising in the ranks until she became a member of the Grey Council. You see how important her spirituality and religiousness (though in Minbar these two aspects are one and the same) through the way she sees the world around her, the way she comforts people in times of tribulation and the reasoning behind her decisions. She has been the rock in the cast of characters throughout the years, the one to turn to when things get crazy or weird and you need some kind of explanation, some solace.
Yet despite of her calm contemplative state, she can also be tough and fearless when the situation calls for it (see the last two clips below from episode 3.11). She is not afraid to face the Grey Council or Earthforce destroyers, the Shadows or the Inquisitor. When she is resolved to right a wrong or protect those she cares about, she will stand her ground and fight back if necessary. She is someone you do not want to mess with when she's in this mode and I love it (then again I love that all the female characters on Babylon 5 have their own strengths).
As an aside, I was always intrigued by the season 4 episode "Atonement" because of her role in the beginning of the Earth-Minbari war. It's one of those moments where she gives in to her rage and you just see her lash out in anger against those who hurt someone close to her. Mira Furlan gives such an amazing performance there and it does show that even someone like Delenn has her moments of anger.
I also love how inquisitive she is of other cultures, of human culture after she underwent the chrysalis. I loved those lighter moments where she's trying to grasp the English language (episode 3.20 comes to mind when she was looking up the word "grouchy" and got re-directed to a whole bunch of other words in the dictionary, lol) or trying to figure out how to handle her hair (see video below). It's not always laugh-out-loud funny like Londo but she can be pretty sly with her humour too.
Her relationship with every single character on the show was interesting, especially with core characters like Sheridan, Ivanova, Lennier (such a core friendship, the end was so ;_;), Marcus, Londo and G'Kar. We never got a whole lot of scenes with her and Garibaldi as I recall (outside season 1) but it was interesting to see her interactions with everyone. In a way she's like the heart of the show; she's very much in touch with her emotions (going back to that moment in season 4 where she does tap into her anger) and in a way she's the audience's emotional connection to the show. I remember that scene in season 5 when Londo had to remain in Centauri Prime and despite of the characters' history with Londo, she said that she would miss him if he left them. And it really showed--and she really showed how affected she was by that.
Delenn's character journey is a fascinating one. It's like John Sheridan's in a sense that the audience is introduced to this amazing character already set with her own strengths and characteristics but then we watch her grow over the seasons, watch her as her beliefs and her endurance is tested. I don't know what else to say about this character except that we have an awesome, strong and multi-faceted female character in this show =D
Anyways, some of my favourite moments from Delenn throughout the show:
Click to viewDelenn's wisdom from season 2 <3
A lighter moment from Delenn in season 2--Delenn is having some difficulty with her human characteristics xP
Delenn in 3.11
Delenn as a bad-ass in episode 3.11, enough said <3
This entry was originally posted at http://caffeinatedlife.dreamwidth.org/397665.html. Please comment there using OpenID.