In "Lord of the Rings", Moria was called, in the language of the dwarves, Khazad-Dum. In the mines of Moria, the greatest battle of the first book (and movie) takes place. In it, the fellowship faces the Balrog, a great demon of the ancient world. Deep in those mountains they also lose Gandalf, their leader and guide, who falls into a great abyss and supposedly dies. In the second book Gandalf reappears, and tells the group he was in a place where each day was an era, et cetera.
In "Babylon 5", the homeworld of the Shadows was called Z'ha'dum (pronounced "Za-Ha-Dum"). The Shadows were one of the two Older Races left behind when the other races left the universe, a million years before. There is no major battle in Z'ha'dum, as far as I remember; there is, however, great destruction, when a White Star ship filled with bombs is flown into the planet's core and detonated - later it is said the whole planet was destroyed, in fact. Sheridan, captain of Babylon 5 and leader of the forming Army of Light, jumps into the pit with the White Star (not inside it, mind you) and supposedly dies - that is the season's finale. The following season, Sheridan is alive, and is told he is trapped "between the 'tic' and the 'tac'".
The Lurker's Guide to Babylon 5, the ultimate source of information about the series on the web, has only this to say regarding this coincidence: A parallel to Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" is possible: Gandalf fell into the pit at Khazad-dum with the Balrog, died (as Sheridan will, according to Kosh) and was reborn as Gandalf the White, an even more powerful figure.
Straczynski was certainly not afraid of being accused of plagiarism - but I truly would not do that, absolutely. These are all obviosly not coincidences, but I see them as good references - much as most RPGs in the world have dwarves and elves.
The reason for this post? I am tired of pondering about the meaning of vesper the evening star in accordance to the view of the essay authors who consider the poetical art divided in two poles of conception and construction consecrated through tradition. In other words, I hate Antonio Candido with ultimate passion (and his parallel Bosi, too). Thus I needed a moment of break to ponder on truly important things - and my background music gave me just that.
Posted by Etienne at October 11, 2003 10:14 PM