The Wheel of Fire is a quote from King Lear: "But I am bound upon a wheel of fire, that mine own tears do scald like molten lead," and comes from Greek myth where a man was punished for offending the gods by being bound to a wheel of fire. It refers to the consequences arising from one's actions, which is pretty on-point for this episode and the season as a whole.

@Chetverikov

3 күн бұрын

There's also the eastern tradition, where the wheel of fire is a metaphor for the ever-changing yet also circular flow of life.

@lionofhighpark

3 күн бұрын

Which is of course why "The Wheel of Fire" is the overall title for Season 5. It's totally been the theme of the season, despite it's rough patches.

The thing is, Lyta goes pretty dark, definitely, but she’s not really *evil* . Not in the nasty, selfish way Bester is, and she’s far more sympathetic than, say, Londo when he falls to the temptation of the Shadows. She’s been backed into corners far too many times, been used too much and given too much, and she’s finally just had it. Did she go too far with that scene in the Zocalo, yes. Do I blame her for being royally cheesed off, no.

@Tilion462

2 күн бұрын

Agreed, she's had to deal with A LOT and just isn't gonna take any more, doesn't mean she's evil per se (especially compared to the poor poor put-upon souls of the Psi Corps)! It was a bit much perhaps, but I always thought she was rather restrained in her response. When you consider Lyta was just a P5 but she's somewhere around P30 now - if the scale is linear, she's just super-powerful, if it's exponential? Literally any stronger and she'd be 'Jason Ironheart-ing' all over the place! There's no doubt she could have had an effect on the command crew, but maybe she was worried about letting go and maybe lobotomizing somebody? And as you say, she's gone pretty dark, but not truly 'evil'.

@this.is.a.username

Күн бұрын

Lyta has to watch other societies accept and even celebrate their telepaths while her people are treated like refuse. It's understandable.

I thought it was always cool how Sheridan is the ONLY one "immune" to Lyta's "influence". (And I can accept the rational behind it) An angry Redhead with the power of a telepathic NUKE?!? Yeah, forget the Shadows. . .THAT is SCARY!

@hornorsilk2901

3 күн бұрын

in my mind, Sheridan is also another tactical nuke, but of a different kind than a telepath kind, so he is on her level.... which is why, though she knows she can't be held, she knows she can't challenge Sheridan the same way

I always love Sheridan's surprise for Lyta.

I had a supervisor who used the "I'm disappointed in you" routine like Sheridan. That hurt more than having her screaming and shouting at me.

Lyta did not deserve the treatment she got. But this episode shows clearly why Sheridan kept her at arms length for so long. He identified her as a powerful loose cannon early, and her trigering the Za'ha'dum self destruct did not help her case. So he was ready for her to go bad. I still think he could have handled it better but unlike many other fans I did not think this was uncalled for or came out of nowhere.

@lennyvalentin6485

Күн бұрын

It's the old "absolute power corrupts absolutely" thing. Generally speaking, humans handle having loads of power over people really really badly. I don't know if I'd call this Lyta going bad; she's been treated pretty crap ever since the end of the shadow war, she has plenty of reasons to be pissed. If that justifies remote controlling dozens of people without asking permission just to make a point to Lockley and her goonsquad retinue - well, no. Probably not. But we're emotional creatures, and she boiled over at that instance. It's understandable, even if it isn't necessarily condonable.

1:57 One thing I always wondered: Why didn't Sheridan put it together, about the 'Keepers' he saw in War Without End, and the Centauri war. Here's the answer: When he tried to follow up the possibility that the Centauri were set up... His intelligence man was drunk.

In the final chapter of JMS's biography he takes a moment to speak of those who we have lost. He had quite a bit to say about Jerry Doyle, Jeff Conaway, and Michael O'Hare's struggles, particularly about how JMS would indirectly speak to the actors via his scripts, both in good ways and in critical ways. Though in Season 5, JMS had quite a few critical things to say to the first two.

I think what makes Evil Lyta so awesome is we've seen her growth from being someone who can't afford housing to a major weapon to someone, like G'kar, who has been called to more. Only the crew, and we, still remember soft, gentle Lyta - we don't feel what she's felt and where she is now. I think we end up with people we know like that, who go darker and darker and often we just think they can snap out of it but they're too far gone.

A really dense episode so you're forgiven for missing out the best scene.

Wheel of Fire was the name of the fifth season. JMS said he would have preferred the previous episode "The Fall of Centauri Prime" as the name of the season, but that would be a case for Admiral OWA Giveaway.

My favorite Lyta episode. She goes full on Phoenix in this 😊

@brentallenlive

Күн бұрын

Phoenix Lyta is the best Lyta

* Delenn: *faints* * Brent: Haha! * Me: He knows! * Brent: I know! * Me: Yep. He knows. LOL

two more proper episodes of Season 5, then Series Finale! I'm going to miss these "For the First Time" segments, provided you guys don't include all of the movies and Crusade. I do have a question though. At what point will we be able to address any lingering questions? Are you guys planning on reading through the books at all? (The three book trilogies are based off of JMS outlines and thus 100% canon, with at least Books 9 and 10 of the original single volumes being canon). Book 9 is "The Shadow Within" and Book 10 is "To Dream in the City of Sorrows". I won't really get into what each book or trilogies are about because they would still contain spoilers.... even for the remaining three episodes, movies, and Crusade, but they are worth the read, IMO.

@brentallenlive

Күн бұрын

So once we hit the series finale, we’ll do a season 5 wrap up. Then, in some order, we’ll hit the movies, we’ll hit crusade, and we’ll hit JMS’s autobiography. Then we start with B5FT2T where we go back through the series looking for all the stuff we missed, all the connections, all the brilliant writing. The no-spoilers rule will obviously be lifted and that’s when we want it all, everything you got. We have no plans to do the books, so if there’s info there, tell us then.

One of my favorite Lyta moments comes during her talk with Garibaldi. He asks her for help, and she obviously scans his thoughts, and for a moment she misinterprets him and her angry expression drops, and she sadly says "I can't remove an addiction, Michael." For all her resentment, she still has some feeling of friendship with him and feels remorse for his problem.

Re what Sheridan knew from WWE, I think his memories may have been a bit garbled after being unstuck in time. Sam Beckett swiss cheese, if you will. Hence why Delenn "never really believed" what he told her until she lived it.

"What do you want?" . A simple question, that lead Londo to a HORRIBLE fate. After everything we went through with Londo, all we can do is pity him now, what a fate for a complex character.

@Klaital1

2 күн бұрын

The best part is, everyone who Morden asked that question from, got exactly what they wanted, but the only one who was actually happy with it, was Vir.

It's scary we're already at the end.

It's so sad to see Garibaldi here getting help and finding new meaning in his life after so much pain and suffering, and in real life he (Jerry Doyle) succumbed due to alcoholism-related reasons... :( Jeff Conaway too, by the way. Drugs and alcohol has been a terrible bane for so many people.

Franklin got Krishna. Please take this flower.......

I love Patricia Tallman in this episode :) 💘💗🥰🥰🥰🥰😁

" wheel of fire may refer to the chain of tortuous or dire consequences that result from a single action."

Lyta is so cool

8:40 Sheridan has been touched by Vorlons. Lyta really miscalculated.

@hornorsilk2901

Күн бұрын

I actually say Sheridan, though not a telepathic "nuke," was another Vorlon nuke ---and she would not be able to touch him the same way because of it. I think she knows it more than he does, however.

@brentallenlive

Күн бұрын

Sheridan had been touched. Lyta was a whole lot more than just touched.

@hornorsilk2901

Күн бұрын

@@brentallenlive so has Sheridan -- remember, he was being trained by Kosh, and that allowed him to hold Kosh's consciousness inside himself, among other things; that training made him more than merely touched, but he was himself another one of those weapons (imo)

I wonder if Gkar's middle name is Brian?

You've been complaining fora season and ou cut the part where G'Kar just "walks by an office with no door", 2x this season!

Damn this is going by fast...

Lyta is not evil - she's just a woman who's taken too much crap and why is it only Franklin can see what she's gone through and understand her pain? Answer - because he's actually one of the most human characters in the series and has been out there himself on the edge. I totally stand behind her and completely understand her motivations especially after all the times she's been used.

Bester rules!

Brent you're really good at predicting this show. Are you a pre-cog?

@lennyvalentin6485

Күн бұрын

Tbh, he's made some stinker predictions too over these past seasons... :)

@brentallenlive

Күн бұрын

@@lennyvalentin6485were they stinkers? Or were they on purpose simply to throw you off the pre-cog track?

@brentallenlive

Күн бұрын

I’m a time traveler

@lennyvalentin6485

Күн бұрын

@@brentallenlive That's an interesting thought that bears investigation... :)