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Vorlons)
The Vorlons are an advanced ancient race from the science fiction series Babylon 5.
Homeworld
Little is known of the Vorlon homeworld. Lyta Alexander is one of only two known humans to have visited the planet. She was sworn to secrecy about what she had seen. And she said if she told others what she had seen on Vorlon that they wouldn't believe her anyways.
The environment of the planet is assumed to be similar to the environment in Ambassador Kosh's quarters. But as the encounter suit was proven to be just for show, the exact environmental conditions are not known.
History
The Vorlons are meant to represent strict lawfulness and unquestioned obedience to authority. Their question -- Who are you? -- centers on one's identity. Though initially in the series they appear to provide beneficial guidance to the main characters (despite actually acting against the best interests of the characters on some occasions), they are eventually revealed to be using the younger races as pawns in their battle against the Shadows, who represent advancement through chaos and strife.
Year 1260
In 1260, the first Shadow War raged between the Shadows and the combined forces of the Vorlons and Minbari.
Years 2260-2261
The second Shadow War occurred one thousand year later in 2260, in which the Shadows battled the combined forces of Babylon 5, Minbari Federation, Narn Regime, the League of Non-Aligned Worlds , and the Rangers. The Vorlon Empire originally consented to aid this combined force. But following the death of the Vorlon Ambassador Kosh Naranek by the Shadows and Captain John Sheridan's trip to Z'ha'dum, the Vorlons became convinced that the only way to stop the war was to destroy all the planets that had been touched by the Shadows. The Shadows decided to pursue the same policy following the destruction of one of their major cities. As a result, billions of sentients died when the two forces began destroying the planets the other held influence over.
Sheridan brought the two forces into direct contact at Corianna VI. With a combined assault of allied ships and the remaining First Ones, he managed to stop the Vorlons from destroying the planet. Later he was finally able to force the Vorlons and Shadows to agree to leave the galaxy. In the end, the Vorlons, Shadows, and remaining First Ones soon departed from the galaxy. They left to join the others beyond the rim.
After the Departure
After the Vorlons left the galaxy, their homeworld was left abandoned, but they left their defense systems on the planet operational. As a result, several expeditions to the planet were destroyed. The Vorlons also left a message with Lyta Alexander that the planet was not for the younger races. The Vorlon Homeworld was not to be theirs until they were ready, at least another million years.
Lyta Alexander was also left with other information as well. She was left with a command to activate the self-destruct systems on Za'ha'dum. When she did after the Drakh looted the planet, the planet exploded. In the movie Thirdspace, she was able to give information on a new alien menace that was discovered in hyperspace, and to destroy that menace. When the Drakh used Shadow control pods to operate Centauri vessels during their war with the alliance, Alexander was able to identify the devices as such due to information left with her.
Finally in 2262, it was revealed that the Vorlons had modified her to be a living telepathic superweapon - a doomsday machine to be used against the Shadows if the Vorlons lost the war. They made her into the most powerful human telepath with the possible exception of Jason Ironheart who had already transformed into something similar to a First One.
One million years after the events of Babylon 5, the humans who had become First Ones in their own right left Earth for the last time after artificially causing the sun to explode, thus taking most of the solar system with it. The future humans then left for what was called "New Earth." J. Michael Straczynski indicated that New Earth was in fact the old Vorlon homeworld. These future humans had evolved beyond the need for physical bodies. These humans used encounter suits very similar to the Vorlon encounter suit, and also used organic ships.
Biology
When in the company of aliens, Vorlons wear complex and intimidating environment encounter suits that completely conceal their physical form. Vorlons maintained this was because their ambassadors needed a specific environment. However, it eventually became clear that they could function in other environments - such as oxygen / nitrogen - just as well as their native environments.
When a Vorlon appears outside its encounter suit in the presence of others it has the ability to take the appearance of an angelic being in the shape of the observer or observers. Broadly, they usually appear to be humanoid with extremely large wings that radiate white light with their racial appearance determined on the race of the observer. For example a human will see a human, a Narn will see a Narn, a Minbari will see a Minbari, etc. This seems to be because the Vorlons possess advanced telepathic powers which cause them to be perceived on a mental level as well as a physical one. The form perceived by each race can be related to angelic beings in their religion or mythology, betraying Vorlon involvement in the genetic and social development of many races. However this ability is especially taxing when the Vorlon is seen in the presence of many different beings; in the instance of Kosh, who was seen by the majority of Babylon 5 inhabitants, he had to recover for weeks in his quarters before emerging.
It should be noted that when Ambassador Londo Mollari of the Centauri Republic was witness to the aforementioned "mass sighting" of the Vorlon, he did not see anything at all. The explanation for this is never explored in the series or any of the following movies, nor is whether this was unique to Ambassador Mollari or a trait of all Centauri. However, in the Peter David book Out of Darkness David explained that all Mollari saw during this sighting was just a very bright ball of energy.
Later when John Sheridan decided to kill the second Vorlon ambassador, the Vorlon's suit is destroyed during the attempt. The second Kosh emerges from his suit and their true appearance is seen as an energy being with a number of tendrils.
A poisoning incident involving the first Vorlon ambassador to Babylon 5 suggests that Vorlons do possess a physical body of some sort or a physical component to their energy form. JMS confirms that the Vorlons are indeed physical beings, capable of physically striking objects with their bodies.
Technology
Space vessels
Virtually invincible, Vorlon vessels are not only based on organic technology, they register as life forms and can act on their own without pilots. The ships themselves are almost sentient to a degree and possibly even telepathic capable of singing to their masters and to others. A Vorlon ship is closely tied to its pilot, the death of whom will cause the ship to be so stricken with grief that it will commit suicide. Furthermore these organic ships are capable of regeneration such as in the case of the ship of Ulkesh Naranek which was able to grow back after being reduced to pieces. Among their immense fleet, "planet killers", several miles wide, have the ability to destroy an entire planet. The Vorlons also possess technology enabling them to "fold" portions of hyperspace in on themselves, creating areas in hyperspace where ships are undetectable to less advanced sensors.
Biotechnology
The Vorlons have the ability to alter alien species to breathe in their native atmosphere and serve as receptacles for their spiritual forms. For example, Lyta Alexander had been physically altered to allow gills to appear on both sides of her neck though it appears that even the Narns are capable of installing gills.
Later in the series, it is revealed that the Vorlons engineered the creation of telepaths in various alien species, as weapons in the next Shadow War.
Lyta Alexander and Sebastian
Only two non-Vorlons are known to have ever gone into Vorlon Space and return. One is Lyta Alexander, Babylon 5's second commercial telepath and assistant to Ambassador Kosh. After being touched by the Vorlons, she travelled to the borders of Vorlon Space to find them again; when she was almost dead, she was picked up by the first Ambassador Kosh and taken to the Vorlon homeworld, from which she returned alive as the assistant to both of the Vorlon Ambassadors called Kosh.
The second is Sebastian, formerly known as Jack the Ripper, whom the Vorlons took from 19th century Earth in order to employ him as an Inquisitor.
Last updated: 05-21-2005 04:52:41
