"Death of Personality"

[CGman]

Out of curiosity, Mark, have you ever seen the episode of Babylon 5 called "Passing through the Gethsemane"? It deals with the same issues and concept as Enshadu's story arc. Was wondering if you'd come across it and whether it served as any sort of inspiration. If not, you'd probably enjoy watching it.

[Mark Pay]

Yes I have, and it was a pretty direct inspiration! I watched it again last year on the season 3 boxset and it was as good as I remember, aside from some hammy acting from the main thug.

I can't remember what age I was when I originally saw it, but it left a distinct impression on me, as did a lot of B5, TNG and DS9 from that era. ( They just don't make intelligent scifi like they used to )

The episode deals with the concept really well, brings it full circle on itself and has a poignant ending.
I regret that I couldn't really justify the time required to go any deeper into the themes. Fitting a more direct translation of the end of theB5 story into a game of this sort would be a challenge ( not least because of the protagonist's fate. )
In the context of an RPG though, where mental weakness is usually overcome with the power of love/friendship/determination, I'm not unhappy with the potentially anticlimatic way that Enshadu's story is concluded.

Anyway, "Passing through the Gethsemane" is fantastic, and I'd recommend it even to people who haven't watched the show before. It's pretty self-contained episode.