Delenn as a Machiavellian Woman
An essay from Lord Vetinari



DDB recieved this email early one Sunday morning, and found it simply too fascinating to not put up. This is directly quoted, so any errors, spelling or otherwise, are the direct work of the writer.

From vetinari@fuse.net Sun Dec  7 21:34:16 1997
Date: Sat, 06 Dec 1997 21:52:12 -0500
From: Lord Vetinari 
Subject: Someones seems to have their page mixed up

You say _Delenn_ deserves better? John deserves MUCH better than her! 
C'mon, we are talking about a girl who won't even tell John if his own 
WIFE is alive! She hides too much important stuff! She knew about the 
shadow's strategy (just see that look on her face in "Interludes") which 
became key in understanding the Vorlon conflict. Oh yes, nice little 
excuse there getting around Franklin's questioning about what she did, 
you mass murderer. Don't even make me go into what we learned in 
"Atonement". It would have been nice to tell someone in "MoT" that she 
was planning suicide, or at least confide in an aide or lover.  Even if 
she is brilliant and charismatic, does that mean she, a religous caste 
girl remember,  should be leading a strategic attack force against 
Drakh, instead of oh say.. John (war hero), Marcus (a ranger), or a 
warrior caste? Nooo.. she had to go by herself, and what happened? They 
lost a White Star, a fleet of innocent client-races, and she nearly got 
herself, the White Stars and all of Minbar destroyed. Just because one 
shouldn't "forget who i was"? You mean the tempermental little girl that 
commited genocide (or tried to) because her father figure was killed?

The whole time, she has used everybody around her as pawns, and now you 
get pissed off when she wants to take a little vacation for a couple 
months from responsibilities of Atlas proportions? She never did tell 
Sinclair the WHOLE truth remember, it took a stupid letter from himself 
for him to get around her explanations. She was planning probably the 
greatest genetic experiment ever, and she only told Lennier and the Grey 
Council, not all the people who had grown to trust her? She has had no 
problem being as Machivellian, cold and, untrustworthy as Londo when 
trying to achieve her own ends does she? But just because we she acts 
compassionate at times, we forgive the manipulations of John, Jeff, 
G'kar, EA, Rathenn (Mr. "she points the way, and i only follow in 
WWE1"), Bester, Lennier- the list goes on.

Delenn has a rather simple psychological problem really, which you have 
slightly pointed out. She sees everyone as either extreme subordinates 
or extreme superiors (Vorlons, Dukhat, John-part 2 maybe). She will lie, 
cajole, manipulate her inferiors into doing what she wants, and is 
totally infatuated with those she looks up to to the point of losing 
competence. The only thing she ever sees as an equal are enemies, such 
as Anna Sheridan, the Shadows, Neroon, and from time to time, Londo or 
Morden. This is the actions of a very disturbed and immature/pretentious 
individual who i would never trust, let alone say is worthy of our hero, 
Sheridan. I think the suprising thing in Sleeping in Light will be that 
we find that Delenn, Londo (and maybe Loried) are the same people.

John is our real martyr here, he never knows well who to love. If you 
have seen the "ItB" script yet, you know he was very uncertain about 
Anna, and that he only loved her at a time when they feared the end of 
humanity. Here is Delenn who we really see them having little in common, 
yet he feels such loyalty from her, it is her memory that brings him 
back from Z'ha'dum. I fear the marriage is a sad yet eternal thing :(