The future that Sheridan saw...

[Atlantis]

Ok, here's something that came up in conversation on Mongoose Publishing's forum.

When Sheridan's suit broke when they took Babylon 4 into the past, he jumped forward into the future. He saw Centauri Prime on fire, devastated. In this future, Delenn told him not to go to Z'ha'dum...

He thought that the devastation on Centauri Prime was caused because he listened to Delenn's advice, and therefore went to Z'ha'dum with Anna a few months later. And a couple of years later, the Drazi and Narns attacked the Centauri world...

So my question is this... was Sheridan right?

Centuari Prime was still attacked, but it was much sooner. The future that Sheridan saw was 20 years into the future, but the attack that happened was only 2 years later. It's unlikely that the world would still be burning 18 years after the attack...

It's possible that the burning and attack we saw would be the end of the Drakh war... which is a legacy of the Shadow war.

So... is the future Sheridan saw the one which did happen? What do you think would have happened if he hadn't gone to Z'ha'dum?

 

[Cylon]

wasnt dellen only telling sheriden not to go to Z'ha'dum because he would lose a large part of his life there.

 

[Hellkite]

it was at the end of the Drakh war

When the Drakh kidnapped David Sheridan - the son of John and Delenn - the couple came to Centauri Prime to free their son. Both Sheridan and Delenn were captured by the Centauri. Mollari tried to force the Drakh to leave, who responded by exploding fusion bombs they had planted on the surface of the planet. Mollari was told to execute Sheridan, and he was able to convince his Keeper that he was soon going to kill both Sheridan and Delenn. Mollari then ingested enough alcohol to put the Keeper to sleep and freed Sheridan, Delenn, and their son in exchange for their help in freeing the Centauri from the Drakh.

Mollari knew that his Keeper would soon wake up, and alert the other Drakh that he had set his friends free. He knew the Drakh would kill them, and would then kill him for his betrayal. G'Kar entered the throne room, and Mollari explained the situation. He begged G'Kar to kill him before the Keeper woke up. G'Kar began to crush Mollari's throat, but did not finish before the Keeper awoke. The Keeper then seized control of Mollari and retaliated. Mollari and G'Kar finally died at each other's hands, just as Londo had predicted for many years.

 

[Muad'Dib]

I think Delenn was telling Sheridan not to go to Zha'Ha'Dum so he wouldn't "die" there. The fall of Centauri Prime was inevitable either way, Londo did tell time travelling Sheridan that the destruction of his world was the result of his war with the Shadows. This was at least partly true, if not totally, the Dra'kh after all seized the Centauri following that war and used them to create unrest against former League members. The Narn and Drazi responded with their attack and obliterated Centauri Prime.

This is just going by the series, I'm not using any references mentioned in the subsequent Centauri Trilogy books which expand on the events prior and after the Dra'kh war.

I suppose the books explain the Dra'kh fusion bombs, personally I always figured the devastation caused in 'The Fall of Centauri Prime' just continued for decades over. The scenes that were used to show the devastation of the aftermath of the attack and the scenes of the future devastation (Sheridan's time travels, Londo in the palace in ITB) all look identical to me, not like two different attacks by two different weapons. But again, the Centauri Trilogy probably stated otherwise and the official explanation for the future devastation are the bombs as Hellkite pointed out.

As to the original question, I suppose I see it as Centauri Prime would fall no matter what Sheridan did. Like Terminator 3 did with Judgment Day, it was inevitable in spite of what they did, it might have happened a different way but it still happened; I think the same applies to the Centauri.