Ulkesh
From The Great Machine
- For other instances of the name "Ambassador Kosh", see Ambassador Kosh (disambiguation)
Ulkesh is the second Vorlon ambassador to Babylon 5.
Contents |
Biography
Ulkesh was present with Kosh Naranek onboard the Grey Council’s Minbari cruiser before the death of Dukhat in 2245, and remained onboard until at least the Battle of the Line in 2248 (Babylon 5: In the Beginning). Ulkesh was the Vorlon ambassador to Minbar at the time Jeffrey Sinclair was assigned as the Earth Alliance ambassador to that planet in 2259 (novel 09, To Dream in the City of Sorrows).
Ulkesh spoke to Rathenn following Sinclair’s departure for Babylon 5 in 2260 after he received a letter from Valen. Ulkesh told Rathenn, “He [Sinclair] is the closed circle. He is returning to the beginning” (S3E16, War Without End, Part 1).
After the death of Vorlon Ambassador Kosh in 2260, the Vorlon Empire sent Ulkesh to replace him as ambassador to Babylon 5. The Vorlons intended Ulkesh, for all intents and purposes, to impersonate Kosh, going so far as to insist that the new ambassador be addressed as Kosh in public. Ulkesh even refused to tell Captain Sheridan his name, cryptically remarking that “We are all Kosh.” Ulkesh saw the silhouetted image of two Shadows and Morden on the wall of Kosh’s cabin, presumably “burned” there by Kosh’s death. Ulkesh questioned Lyta Alexander as to whether a piece of Kosh might still be alive, but she informed him that she was not present at his death and did not carry such a piece. Ulkesh later attended Sheridan’s strategy session in the War Room on using telepaths as weapons against the Shadows (S3E18, Walkabout).
Lyta subsequently carried pieces of Ulkesh within her, although the experience was more painful than when she carried Kosh. After Sheridan’s attack on Z’ha'dum, Lyta began to suspect that Ulkesh was hiding things from her. In early 2261, Ulkesh stopped attending meetings and failed to return Delenn’s repeated calls. When Delenn approached the Vorlon for his help in mounting a rescue mission to search for Sheridan at Z’ha’dum, Ulkesh refused. He cared nothing about Delenn’s resulting lack of respect for him (S4E01, The Hour of the Wolf).
Ulkesh responded condescendingly to Lyta’s demands for answers about the Vorlons’ plans when she grew weary of Ulkesh’s abusive use of her. When Lyta attempted to telepathically scan Ulkesh, he telekinetically slammed her against a wall and apparently caused her great pain telepathically (S4E03, The Summoning)
The Vorlon ambassador refused Security Chief Michael Garibaldi’s demand that he leave the station because of the Vorlon Empire’s destruction of planets influenced by the Shadows. He used a forcefield to deflect the security team’s PPG fire and a hypersonic pulse to shatter their oxygen masks, forcing them to exit his quarters. When Lyta later informed Ulkesh that a piece of Kosh was indeed still alive--inside a human--the Vorlon demanded that she show him who imprisoned Kosh. Garibaldi’s and Lyta’s actions were actually part of Sheridan’s plan to kill the ambassador so that he could no longer feed the Vorlons information about the plans of the younger races. However, Ulkesh became suspicious, almost evading the trap--an electrical field that caused the head of the Vorlon’s encounter suit to explode. The enraged Ulkesh exited the suit and attacked Sheridan. However, the piece of Kosh inside Sheridan revealed itself and engaged Ulkesh in a fierce battle. The two combatants exited the station and entered Ulkesh’s Vorlon Transport, causing it to explode and apparently killing both Vorlons (S4E04, Falling Toward Apotheosis).
Physical Appearance
Ulkesh’s encounter suit featured high, pointed shoulders; a swept-back, dual-pointed head; and a darker, red-purple color. His eyepiece exhibited a single red point that flared when the Vorlon angered or exerted his telepathic or telekinetic abilities.
When Ulkesh emerged from his encounter suit, he appeared as a non-humanoid diaphanous creature with tapering tendrils running the length of his elongated body, which had a slightly purplish coloration.
Background
Ulkesh’s name and his presence onboard the Minbari cruiser[1] and on Minbar[2] were confirmed by J. Michael Straczynski in his newsgroup postings. He also provided further insight into Ulkesh's character and his relationship with Kosh.
- "I wouldn't call them friends. They had a certain respect for one another, but Ulkesh always thought Kosh was soft, and Kosh always worried that Ulkesh was dangerous. In their own ways, both were right."[3]
- It wasn't so much a case of Ulkesh turning against the effort, but finally hitting the end of his patience with the humans, and his predecessor's decision to let the 'natives' get out of control."[4]
- "...Ulkesh was the more military of the two, very isolationist, while Kosh was the curious one, interested in the younger races, and more willing to extend himself (with sometimes unfortunate results). Kosh always worried what Ulkesh would do without his moderating presence...and ultimately had to be the one to take him down to allow the younger races to step forward."[5]
- "The design [of Ulkesh’s encounter suit] is a matter of form following function.”[6]
- "[Kosh and Ulkesh] are not that far apart in age, but yes, Kosh would be a bit older…."[7]
- In To Dream in the City of Sorrows, Ulkesh shared the title Naranek used by Kosh.[8]
It is possible that the two Vorlons who greet Valen at the end of "War Without End, Part 2," are Kosh and Ulkesh; the encounter suits are the same.
Quotes
Babylon 5: In the Beginning
Delenn: "Are you a Vorlon?"
Kosh: "Yes."
Ulkesh: "Yes."
Delenn: "What is your name?"
Kosh: "Kosh."
Delenn: "What do you want? What are you doing here?"
Kosh: "Creating the future."
“War Without End, Part 1”
Rathenn: "I have the strangest feeling. I will never see him again."
Ulkesh: "He is the closed circle. He is returning to the beginning."
Rathenn: "The beginning of what?"
“Walkabout”
Sheridan: “So now I understand, for all intents and purposes, you are to take Kosh's place. You will occupy his quarters, and we are to refer to you by his name when we are in public. … Your government neglected to tell me your name. How should I refer to you when we're alone?”
Ulkesh: “Kosh.”
Sheridan: “Ah, yes, I - I understand that's how we're to refer to you publicly, but, uh, privately?”
Ulkesh: “Kosh.”
Ivanova: “Ambassador Kosh is--dead.”
Ulkesh: “We are all Kosh.”
Lyta: “I'd heard you arrived. I was just coming to see you.” Lyta reaches for her throat.
Ulkesh: “Where?”
Lyta: “I'm sorry! I wasn't here! I was doing what he told me to do! He wasn't with me when I left--not even a piece of him! I swear!” Ulkesh releases her.
Ulkesh: “Failed! Gone!”
Lyta: “I know. I'm sorry! It's my fault.”
Ulkesh: “There was no other?”
Lyta: “No. Not that I knew of. I'm sorry! He's gone!”
Ulkesh: “Follow!”
“The Hour of the Wolf”
Delenn: “The League is breaking up again, returning to their own worlds! The alliance is fracturing! One word from you, from the Vorlon Empire, could help keep it all together! But you haven't come to our council meetings, haven't returned my calls! Why? The stories we have heard about what happened at Z’ha’dum—are they true?”
Ulkesh: “Yes.”
Delenn: “What do you intend to do about them?”
Ulkesh: “Nothing.”
Delenn: “But if Sheridan is still alive, if there's even a chance...”
Ulkesh: “Irrelevant!”
Delenn: “Irrelevant? How can you say that? You know how much depends on him!”
Ulkesh: “He has opened an unexpected door. We do now what must be done. His purpose has been fulfilled.”
Delenn: “You have the power to send a force to investigate! If he's alive, he can be rescued!”
Ulkesh: “No one returns from Z’ha'dum.”
Delenn: That's what we thought about Anna Sheridan! You were wrong then! You could be wrong now! Are you afraid to admit that you are capable of another mistake? He's bled for you, worked for you, for me, for everyone here! If you turn away now, if you abandon him to die on Z'ha'dum, I will have no more respect left for you! Do you understand me?”
Ulkesh: “Respect is Irrelevant.”
Lyta: “Was there anywhere else you needed me to carry you?”
Ulkesh: “No. Go.”
Lyta: “It doesn't feel the same as when I carried Kosh with me! It's darker somehow! Is everything all right?”
Ulkesh: “Yes.”
Lyta: “You're planning something, aren't you? Something that you're not telling me.”
Ulkesh: “You are free for a time. Do not interfere.”
“The Summoning”
Lyta: “You didn't have to pull out of me so fast. You hurt me! While --- I was carrying you, you felt-cold, hard! What are you hiding from me?”
Ulkesh: “Your work, for now, is done here. Go. Sleep.”
Lyta: “I have a right to know! I have done everything you asked! I let your people modify me! Enhance my telepathic ability so I'd be more suited to carry a Vorlon around in my head! Because I believed! Kosh—the real Kosh--wasn't like this. I think on some level he cared about us! About me. But with you, it's as if I'm being used, and then thrown away when I'm not needed anymore! Damn it, I have earned some respect! And I have earned some answers!”
Ulkesh: “Respect. From whom?” Lyta attempts to scan Ulkesh.
Ulkesh: “Would you know my thoughts? Would you?”
“Falling Toward Apotheosis”
Garibaldi: “I got a message from the Captain: Because of your government's recent attacks on the League of Non-Aligned Worlds, we're asking you to leave at once! All right. That request just became an order! You'll come with us. We'll escort you to your ship.”
Ulkesh: “No!”
Lyta: “I heard what happened. I came to warn you. Sheridan and the others are going to move against you.”
Ulkesh: “t is done. They are irrelevant.”
Lyta: “I know, I know they can't harm you, but I was thinking it can't hurt to have all the information you can about what's going on. To protect yourself and the cause.”
Ulkesh: “How?”
Lyta: “I told you I wasn't here when Ambassador Kosh died. I didn't have any of his essence with me, I thought he was gone. But for a while I suspected that someone else here had a piece of him. I think I know who it is, but I can't draw Kosh out of him, he won't let me.”
Ulkesh: “A human?”
Lyta: “Yes.”
Ulkesh: “Imprisons one of us?”
Lyta: “Yes.”
Ulkesh: “Intolerable.”
Lyta: “If there is still a piece of him there, you can draw it out of him. Use what it knows and take it back to Vorlon when this is all over. I cared about Kosh. I'd like to know he finally made it home.”
Ulkesh: “Show me.”
Lyta: “But the guards...”
Ulkesh: “They will not bother us again. Show me.”
Ulkesh: “Your thoughts are troubled.”
Lyta: “I'm worried about Kosh, that's all. After everything we've been through, I'd hate to lose the last of him now and….”
Ulkesh: “What are you hiding?”
Lyta: “Nothing.”
Ulkesh: “Open your thoughts to me.”
Lyta: “We don't have time for this.”
Ulkesh: “Open!”
