ShadowScout
Mongoose
Well, you'd have to take the Real goal of the Shadows into that equation, then things become a bit clearer.frobisher said:No they didn't. All they did was end it for another thousand years. The Shadows moved prematurely at that point and the Minbari led coallition barely held them after the Vorlons intervened, and B4 arrived on the scene. Before that, the Minbari were losing.hassanisabbah said:1000 years before the Minbari along with the Vorlons managed it...Baraendur said:The Shadow War - There was absolutely zero chance that they were going to be able to have a military victory against the shadows.
Did they want to win the ShadowWar, destroying or subjugating all other races? Noo, they saw themselves as teachers, shepherds or gardeners, furthering evolution through conflict, making "strong" races stronger and weeding out those races too "weak" to survive. It'd be a bit counter-productive if they used their hyper-technology to just bury them all, wouldn't it?
I think their plans for their "shadow wars" were to first set all races at each other's throats, thus hardening them through conflict against each other, weeding out those too weak to stand even against their own "class" or enemy, and building enough resentment to make sure the Vorlons wouldn't "lull them to orderly sleep" while they were hibernating...
...and then attack openly, "kicking over the anthill" and showing the younger races how far they still had to go, how nasty things the universe still had in store for them thus encouragning them to speed up their R&D even after they were "defeated" - a "victory" which they of course had to allow those younger races, for one because their plans wouldn't be furthered if they won thenselves, for another so that they could go to sleep for their next hibernation cycle.
Of course, if some race impressed them by fighting real hard, the Shadows would consider their job done "prematurely" and allow them that "victory" - till next time, where they would test their mettle again, to make sure they kept their edge.
That would seem a plausible set of rules for their "game" agaist the vorlon's ideology of order and growth through obidience...
(notice that the Shadows actually can't loose using those rules - as long as they manage to start ANY kind of war, their side wins at least a moral victory - not a thing to be taken lightly in a war of ideology. And that was probably the reason why the Vorlons got so frustrated ages ago that they started to cheat, genetically manipulating the younger races to make sure They had an edge in personal encounters with the "angelic" image while introducing telepathy to make sure the younger races had an weapon usable against the Shadows, making it harder for Them to do their moves - remember, teeps can't just jam shadowships, they can detect shadows! Not something to be taken lightly either, if a telepath suddenly can take a peek "behind the curtain" and for example see -what- really gives the orders to the Emperor's new advisor...)
So, concerning Valen's War... there the Shadows followed their usual lead - first set everyone at each other's throats, send races They favor (the "Centauri of Valen's time") on a course of conquest and spread chaos. Then strike themselves, at those who seem likely candidates for a Vorlon rally... such was the situation when B4 arrived. Valen didn't just set the minbari straight, he also formed an alliance against the Shadows with several other races (the Tak'cha for example, though he later kicked them out for being too agressive, attacking not only the enemy but also the Yolu because they wanted to stay neutral), and led them all against the Shadows and those fighting on their side, all with some helpful support by the Vorlons (who certainly didn't engage Shadows, as that would break their rules, but had no such restrictions when dealing with shady helpers - the "Drakh of Valen's time" - and just seeing them, "angels" endorsing Valen will have swayed a Lot of undecided races to his alliance, making them believe the cause is just, good, holy, ordained by their gods, whatever). In the end the Shadows were "driven back to Z'ha'dum", and the races fighting on their side defeated and/or destroyed by the victorious races. The Shadows were "defeated", but had also reached their "minimum objective" - many races felt the touch of chaos and strife, and in their eyes "would become better for it, no matter the Vorlon interferance".
Yeah, spent a lot of time thinking about it, as one of my adventures involves some "leftovers" from that time...