Could the Thirdspace Aliens project telepathy through a closed gate?

Question

Something I didn't understand from the movie "Babylon 5: Thirdspace". We find out that the Thirdspace Aliens are able to telepathically control people in normal space by projecting their telepathic abilities through the jumpgate into thirdspace. However, people start to show signs of being controlled by the aliens even before they open the gate. In fact, this is a large part of the driving force towards towards them actually opening the gate. Does this indicate that the Thirdspace Aliens can project their powers through the gate even while it's closed? Or is there some sort of echo which is left over from the aliens' last visit to normal space (more than one million years prior)? Babylon Wikia uses the term "telepathic resonances" but I'm not sure if this is from the film or just a fan term.

I'd be interested in any explanations either from the film itself or from the associated novelization.

Answer 1

Perhaps, but more likely to be residual traces of amplified telepathy from the Thirdspace aliens, or telepathic commands programmed into the gate by their Vorlon slaves.

It is mentioned in the film that Vorlon slaves of the Thirdspace aliens had modified the gate so that it could

"...amplify the aliens' influence."

Lyta explained that, on the verge of the slaves' defeat, they plunged the gate into hyperspace,

"...hoping that it would one day be reactivated."

It seems there are two possibilities:

• there were residual traces of the aliens' psionic commands still being amplified and emanated by the modified gate (the "telepathic resonances" mentioned in the B5 Wikia), which affected Deuce and others aboard B5; or

• there were telepathic commands from the Vorlon slaves themselves embedded into the device, causing anyone near it to eventually activate it; this is not far-fetched considering their own telepathic abilities and their desire to see the device reactivated

Whether the device was broadcasting residual traces of the aliens' telepathy or issuing telepathic commands inserted by their Vorlon followers a million years ago, it is reasonably clear that modifications made to the device by those followers are responsible for transmitting this negative psionic energy prior to the jumpgate opening.

Unfortunately, the Lurker's Guide (aka "Midwinter") doesn't have much further to add on this issue.