Early Morden

Vortex

Mongoose
I'm thinking of setting a game at the time of the construction of Babylon 2. I was checking out wich characters I could use and I thought: What about Morden?

Have any of you used him before the Icarus? Is there information on who he was except for the fact that he is a scientist? There is some obscure reference to his family being in an "hyperspace hell" or whatnot. Do you know what that is?
 
Vortex said:
I'm thinking of setting a game at the time of the construction of Babylon 2. I was checking out wich characters I could use and I thought: What about Morden?

Have any of you used him before the Icarus? Is there information on who he was except for the fact that he is a scientist? There is some obscure reference to his family being in an "hyperspace hell" or whatnot. Do you know what that is?

Probably the best reference (such that it is) for you to look at is the novel 'The Shadow Within'. Morden features in this, and should give you an idea of how to play him before he threw in his lot with the Shadows.


Chobbly
 
Thanks!

Though I probably won't have time to find and read a novel before this game, it could still be useful later.
 
Morden is born in Summit, New Jersey on 25 May 2223, so presumably attends university from ~2241 to ~2245

Morden marries in Jun 2248

The Babylon Station Project is born in 2249

Morden's daughter Sarah is born in October 2250

B4 goes online and vanishes in 2254

Morden's wife and daughter are killed in May 2256

B5 goes online in 2257


From the TIME LINE of the Babylon 5/Crusade Universe, but BEWARNED that spoilers have not been removed.

Kizarvexis
 
Morden was working for Earth Force New Technologies Devision prior to the Icarus expedition. Besides The Shadow Within as already mentioned (the most important resource as regards his early life), there is a brief mention of him in the second book of the PsiCops trilogy, Deadly Relations.

Rainer
 
The actor who played Morden played a member of the bridge crew in the pilot episode. As far as I know Stacynzki has never stated whether that was because Morden was active that early in the series or because they just liked the actor. They had a lot of actors play multiple unrelated roles, so its possible that his presence on the bridge means nothing, but it's definitely a usable hook for someone wanting to start their campaign back then.
 
Ed Waser has stated that he "came onto the show" as Morden in Signs and Portents (it's in the old season 1 guide). In the script book that contains Signs and Portents, JMS clearly states that Morden was cast for that episode, and that Ed Wasser had been on board since the beginning in different capacities.

There is a note in the Lurker's Guide (on "The Gathering") that says this:

Ed Wasser played C&C technician Guerra, and later went on to play Mr. Morden (first appearing in "Signs and Portents.") There's no evidence that the two characters are related, however.

Apart from that, Morden mentions in In the Shadow of Z'ha'dum that Earth still considers him dead. Would be hard if he he'd entered Earthforce in between... even if you assume a cover identity (hence the different name).

Rainer
 
I've read that Guerra and Morden are in no way related.

I remember reading somewhere that Ed Wasser helped out around the set with read throughs and such.

LBH
 
I guess that shows the limits of my knowledge. :)

I still like the idea of a Morden hanging around unnoticed, watching and learning. The Influence of the Shadows can easily be used to explain why most of Earthforce would still think he was dead while he operated under a cover.
 
Hellhawk said:
Apart from that, Morden mentions in In the Shadow of Z'ha'dum that Earth still considers him dead.

Which is quite a trick, considering that he _met with Vice-President Clark before that_. While Morden was legally dead, I'm fairly sure EarthForce Intelligence knew who he was when he made contact with EarthGov on behalf of the Shadows. Of course, by that point, there wasn't a lot they could do.
 
I'm sure they just "forgot" to pass this meeting on to the proper authorities. It's pretty obvious that Clarke was in league with the Shadows long before the election.

Rainer
 
In the commentary on the DVD of The Gathering, JMS states that the CNC tech is NOT Morden. It's just that when they needed someone who could be very anoying to play Morden, they thought of him ;)
 
Ah, I guess he broke down and answered the question. I can remember reading some posts of his from back when the show was on the air along the lines of "I'm not saying either way." Maybe at that point he hadn't decided if he wasnted to use it as a tie-in or not.
 
Back
Top