The identity of the mysterious voices.

[BasiliskSoldier]

My first instinct was honestly Redcloak's Niece. These forums are rotting my brain, I swear.

My bets would be on these characters representing a new faction (Gate Guardians or Agents of the Gods, probably), somewhere on the Good-Neutral spectrum. I'd also bet on them being some sort of monstrous humanoid, based on the speech patterns.

[WolvesbaneIII]

My first instinct was honestly Redcloak's Niece. These forums are rotting my brain, I swear.

My bets would be on these characters representing a new faction (Gate Guardians or Agents of the Gods, probably), somewhere on the Good-Neutral spectrum. I'd also bet on them being some sort of monstrous humanoid, based on the speech patterns.

And in the event it is his niece, no one will guess due to fear of being called a fool or some other thing.

I say, if you have some piece of evidence, be it physical or circumstantial of something, throw it out there. Even if it is in jest, it will all right so long as its in a jesting context. Then if it is true, you can say "ah ha! I was right all along!"

Suppose the voices are color coded as a red herring? Roys dad used a color speech bubble before, as the spirit during the trial right? At least I think he did.

It could be elans dad and troops doing the all important "swoop" he alluded to before, using the paladins as bait.

Though I'd likely think its a new character and his or her attendant.

[Emanick]

My guess is that they're Serini's followers - probably some invisible magical beings with a mayfly-like lifespan (like higher-level, combat-capable unseen servants), or some other reason magical reason why they will soon pop out of existence - but it wouldn't surprise me if they were IFCC minions, given the recent foreshadowing about the "vessel." That said, I can't think why the IFCC's minions would expect to pop out of existence anytime soon.

Less likely, but still possible, is that they're an entirely new faction. I'm still not sure we've made it to nine sides - there's (1) the Order of the Stick/Sapphire Guard/Thor and the other pro-world-existing gods, (2) Xykon, (3) Redcloak, TDO and the goblinoids, (4) the IFCC, (5) Greg, Hel, and the other gods who want the world destroyed, (6) the Linear Guild, (7) the Vector Legion, and (8) the Order of the Scribble - well, what was left of them. You could plausibly make the case that some of these could be broken up - Girard could easily be on a different "side" than, say, Soon, maybe Redcloak will split from TDO and become his own "side," and maybe the gods who want the world destroyed but don't want Hel to triumph count as their own side. Perhaps the MitD counts as a "side" (though he doesn't seem very interested in the gates). Perhaps Loki has his own side, rather than being aligned with Thor. But then again, maybe none of this is the case, and we're still at eight (or even fewer, if you consider the Scribblers to be aligned with another "side," the Vector Legion to be uninvolved, or the Linear Guild to be on the "side" of the IFCC). In that case, we might need a new player at the table. I trust Rich not to make the story too cluttered.

It could also honestly be a group working with Redcloak's niece. It's a weird way for her to be introduced, but it could be workable - her family has history with paladins, after all. And she has a lot of potential to contribute to the story.

Guys, this is super easy.

Lorien.

The hint is when paladin chick asks Who are you? The question of the Vorlons, And then asks What do you want, the question of the Shadows.

The whole comic is one long Babylon 5 metaphor using D&D rule/world.

We know that the MitD is a vorlon, with the umbrella being his encounter suit. (we know it is a vorlon and not a shadow because everyone who seems him instantly knows him, a trait of vorlons, not shadows. Not to mention where he risks his own personal safety to save others key to the story, and of course, the fact that he follows the rules and speaks cryptically)


Snarl is of course, the shadow.

And the invisible thing is Lorien, who is immortal, and is going to end the story of taking ending the war and taking snarl and MitD away from this world.

I'm glad I'm (just barely) far enough in Babylon 5 that none of this is a spoiler (well, unless your last sentence is some sort of hint about how Lorien resolves the plot), but in future you might want to put this in spoiler tags.

That said, I appreciate the references. I too noticed how Lien's questions happened to be the two main questions in Babylon 5. Since I know Rich is a huge fan of the show, maybe that's intentional.

[CriticalFailure]

I'll be honest, I don't see many ways Redcloak's niece could be introduced that would actually make sense, but I really hope she becomes part of the story.

[Mitth'raw'nuruo]

I would totally be behind this.

The most realistic (IMHO) hypothesis i've seen

I mean, Rich's Forum handle is "Giant in the playground". Which is how all the first ones are referenced as Giants in the playground.

I'm glad I'm (just barely) far enough in Babylon 5 that none of this is a spoiler (well, unless your last sentence is some sort of hint about how Lorien resolves the plot), but in future you might want to put this in spoiler tags.

That said, I appreciate the references. I too noticed how Lien's questions happened to be the two main questions in Babylon 5. Since I know Rich is a huge fan of the show, maybe that's intentional.

I.....

....

the show went off air in 1998. Most of the actors are dead. Andreas Katsulas, Stephen Furst, Jerry Doyle, Richard James Biggs II, Jeffrey Conaway, Robert Michael O'Hare Jr. never gave it a thought to put spoiler tags up for a 20 year old product.

Edit: A lot more then that have passed on. I didn't realize how many.


There are lots of B5 references in the comic, I've no doubt they are intentional. I believe the Giant is on record as saying if we saw MitD, we would all know it. Which is how we know it is a vorlon, and not a shadow.

Once you're done with B5, I would recommend you look by the B5 Mirror universe story. Totally not cannon, but if they were to do a reboot, they could follow this fan fiction all the way, it is written at least as well as the show, and follows it episode by episode. Amazing work really.

Spoiler

Show

What makes it different? The Minbari never realize who they share souls with. They don't stop at the line.

[factotum]

I.....

....

the show went off air in 1998.

Yeah, I agree...asking for a 20-year-old show to be spoilered is taking things a bit far.

[Emanick]

Yeah, I agree...asking for a 20-year-old show to be spoilered is taking things a bit far.

When I was a teenager, I would have agreed with this. As an adult, I realize that not everybody who will enjoy a given story finds out about it (and has time to read/watch it) in a timely manner, and so putting expiration dates on spoilers is a bit arbitrary. The plot twists of a book published in 1975 aren't any less important than they would be if the book was published in 2015, and most people read and watch plenty of things that came out more than, say, five years ago.

Now, obviously, there's also a cost to spoilering things. In situations where it takes significant effort to do so, or to open the spoilers, maybe it's not worthwhile to do so. But it's extremely easy to do both on this forum, so I personally feel like it's a reasonable norm to uphold - with some exceptions, like references that are so ubiquitous that most people here are already familiar with them (LOTR, Star Wars, Harry Potter, etc.).

[Baskineli]

I logged in after several years just to add my two cents.

I think they are related to the Thing In The Dark.

They are invisible (as he probably is).
They strike out as some sort of outsiders (as he probably is).
They care about O-chul (as he does/did).

And something about subtle sabotage of Xykon and Redcloak work (just like the Thing In The Dark did for a little bit a long while back).

[SlashDash]

Not an oathsworn specifically

I was talking about oathsworn specifically.

People assumed that because of the speech color seemed to look like Soon's.
But that isn't a scribble thing since none of the others looked similar.


And surely by the same logic, none of Soon's followers (the saphire guard) had similar colors.

[Theshipening]

They are invisible (as he probably is).

The Thing in the Dark isn’t invisible (or at least not all the time.) People have commented on his appearance (disgusting, fascinating, horrifying, ...) a bunch of times.

[Raimun]

Right now, I'm convinced, unless proven wrong, that the ones who kidnapped O-Chul and Lien belong to Serini's faction. One of the two mysterious voices might belong to Serini or not. The "green" voice*, ie. "Boss" could be Serini but that's still uncertain.

Why am I convinced?

1) It's the location. Who else would be there? This is the fifth Gate and Serini built its defenses. It's reasonable to assume that she's committed to she spend the rest of her days as the guardian of the Gate, just like her four remaining party members:

- Lirian guarded her forest Gate. Check.
- Dorukan guarded his mountain Gate. Check.
- Soon guarded his sky Gate. Check.
- Girard guarded his desert Gate. Check.

All of them (except Girard) were around until the time of Team Evil and/or OotS:
Xykon personally fought Lirian, a long lived elf and Dorukan, who was an old man and both were 100% alive.
Soon died but left paladins and could fight as an oathspirit.
Girard died of old age but still left relatives to guard the desert Gate until Vaarsuvius cast Familicide.
All had working and active defenses until Team Evil and/or The Order demolished them.
All of them had a host of underlings as well, except Dorukan, who had only Celia, her two elemental co-workers and... maybe some other guys?

Serini must be as committed as the rest of her party, if not more. She was the one who suggested that each of the remaining five members would guard one of the five Gates. It would only make sense to have invisible stealth masters overseeing the dungeons full of strong monsters. Especially since the dungeons are in plain sight and anyone who got around would be curious of the countless doors.

2) The two paladins were beaten by a combination of stealth and poison. Serini is a rogue. Do the math.

3) Halflings live longer than humans do and since Dorukan was alive about six months before The Order fought Xykon at Dorukan's Gate, Serini could be alive. Even if she isn't, her faction of Gate guardians can be alive. Personally, I'd wager a guess that she's alive and guarding her Gate because of story telling related reasons.

Now, why did they target the paladins and not Team Evil? The following is my speculation::

Spoiler

Show

Since all Gate guardians had this device that told them which Gates were intact or broken, Serini would know that the Gates are falling rabidly and someone is obviously behind this.
She may or may not know what Team Evil is capable of but she might still wager that if someone could defeat all the other Gate guardians, she is outmatched. If something can defeat the Epic Level spell casters Dorukan and Lirian, Soon and his fortress city of paladins (Serini must have heard of Azure City) and outsmart Girard, what could she, a halfling Rogue, do about it?
The answer is: play time, collect information and find help. I guess Serini wants to interrogate the paladins, find out who they are working for and why and maybe ally with them if she likes what she hears. What triggered the capture of the paladins was the Vaarsuvius' Sending spell and the following conversation. Serini wants to know who will be coming in there in two days.

Of course, I could be completely wrong about all of this but at this point of time, Serini and/or Co. seems like the most probable option. My second guess is merely that it's someone who wants to evade the notice of both Team Evil and Serini and/or Co. This could be almost anyone, even a new character.

[Petrocorus]

the show went off air in 1998. Most of the actors are dead. Andreas Katsulas, Stephen Furst, Jerry Doyle, Richard James Biggs II, Jeffrey Conaway, Robert Michael O'Hare Jr. never gave it a thought to put spoiler tags up for a 20 year old product.

I really didn't know there was such an hecatomb. I knew for Katsulas, and maybe Doyle. But the others! They were not even that old.

[Emanick]

Right now, I'm convinced, unless proven wrong, that the ones who kidnapped O-Chul and Lien belong to Serini's faction. One of the two mysterious voices might belong to Serini or not. The "green" voice*, ie. "Boss" could be Serini but that's still uncertain.

Why am I convinced?

1) It's the location. Who else would be there? This is the fifth Gate and Serini built its defenses. It's reasonable to assume that she's committed to she spend the rest of her days as the guardian of the Gate, just like her four remaining party members:

- Lirian guarded her forest Gate. Check.
- Dorukan guarded his mountain Gate. Check.
- Soon guarded his sky Gate. Check.
- Girard guarded his desert Gate. Check.

All of them (except Girard) were around until the time of Team Evil and/or OotS:
Xykon personally fought Lirian, a long lived elf and Dorukan, who was an old man and both were 100% alive.
Soon died but left paladins and could fight as an oathspirit.
Girard died of old age but still left relatives to guard the desert Gate until Vaarsuvius cast Familicide.
All had working and active defenses until Team Evil and/or The Order demolished them.
All of them had a host of underlings as well, except Dorukan, who had only Celia, her two elemental co-workers and... maybe some other guys?

Serini must be as committed as the rest of her party, if not more. She was the one who suggested that each of the remaining five members would guard one of the five Gates. It would only make sense to have invisible stealth masters overseeing the dungeons full of strong monsters. Especially since the dungeons are in plain sight and anyone who got around would be curious of the countless doors.

2) The two paladins were beaten by a combination of stealth and poison. Serini is a rogue. Do the math.

3) Halflings live longer than humans do and since Dorukan was alive about six months before The Order fought Xykon at Dorukan's Gate, Serini could be alive. Even if she isn't, her faction of Gate guardians can be alive. Personally, I'd wager a guess that she's alive and guarding her Gate because of story telling related reasons.

Now, why did they target the paladins and not Team Evil? The following is my speculation::

Spoiler

Show

Since all Gate guardians had this device that told them which Gates were intact or broken, Serini would know that the Gates are falling rabidly and someone is obviously behind this.
She may or may not know what Team Evil is capable of but she might still wager that if someone could defeat all the other Gate guardians, she is outmatched. If something can defeat the Epic Level spell casters Dorukan and Lirian, Soon and his fortress city of paladins (Serini must have heard of Azure City) and outsmart Girard, what could she, a halfling Rogue, do about it?
The answer is: play time, collect information and find help. I guess Serini wants to interrogate the paladins, find out who they are working for and why and maybe ally with them if she likes what she hears. What triggered the capture of the paladins was the Vaarsuvius' Sending spell and the following conversation. Serini wants to know who will be coming in there in two days.

Of course, I could be completely wrong about all of this but at this point of time, Serini and/or Co. seems like the most probable option. My second guess is merely that it's someone who wants to evade the notice of both Team Evil and Serini and/or Co. This could be almost anyone, even a new character.

This is the best argument I've seen so far. The spoilered part (which, perhaps ironically given my last post in this thread, doesn't actually need to be in spoiler tags IMO) is the best argument I've heard for why the paladins are being captured alive. The method of capture does seem a little rough for her - since Serini wanted to be a paladin at one point, she's likely Good - but that can be explained by assuming that her orders were fairly general and her minions were relying on their own judgment. It's no worse than what the Chaotic Good Shojo did to the Order, after all.

[KorvinStarmast]

Could be the paladins are being removed now because Lien just confirmed the Order are on their way. Though why their arrival would equate to the end of existence is unclear.

The Order has destroyed two gates already.
Dorukan's Gate. (Elan by being a nitwit).
Girard's Gate. (Roy acting to keep the gate out of Xykon's hands)

The case of Soon's gate: the Order were accessories to that, even though Miko landed the killing blow

From the point of view of the party removing Lien and O'Chul, it may be that the Order being near to the gate is too big of a risk, given the fate of three gates that the Order got close to previously.

[LuPuWei]

I'm gonna throw in:

1. Creatures related to the plot-threads (you know, which make up the Snarl, the World etc) somehow...

2. Remnant souls from one of the previous worlds

3. And... hmmm... how 'bout Nale and Thog on behalf of the IFCC?

[Aidan]

This is the best argument I've seen so far. The spoilered part (which, perhaps ironically given my last post in this thread, doesn't actually need to be in spoiler tags IMO) is the best argument I've heard for why the paladins are being captured alive. The method of capture does seem a little rough for her - since Serini wanted to be a paladin at one point, she's likely Good - but that can be explained by assuming that her orders were fairly general and her minions were relying on their own judgment. It's no worse than what the Chaotic Good Shojo did to the Order, after all.

Plus, as some have pointed out, we don't know whether the poison would have actually killed the paladins, given that after Lien goes down, the antidote is not mentioned, so my guess is that these creatures are likely employed by Serini and were ordered to subdue the paladins in a nonlethal manner for a chat, making the claim about the poison killing O-Chul a lie.

[rferries]

My theory:

They are two rebellious outsiders (one Lawful, one Chaotic).

1) Characters with coloured speech are generally outsiders, undead, or other supernatural creatures.

2) The voices don't seem to be "evil-coloured" enough to be fiends or undead (red & black or white & black), nor particularly "good-coloured". The slaad in 1147 also had a pale reddish bubble, though not quite the same.

3) In comic 1147 it's noted that outsiders who learn that the world is being remade "go a bit nuts", and the voices seem to acknowledge their imminent destruction.

I think they represent yet another interested party in the Gate conflict. I don't think they're "nuts", they've just rebelled against their deities (and possibly even believe they're acting for the greater good of mortals).

[brian 333]

In 3x rules, attacking breaks Invisibility. Even Greater Invisibility is reduced in effect after an attack.

If Kermit and Scooter are using Invisibility they are augmenting it somehow.

The skill Hide doesn't have that limitation. The hider must succeed versus the spotter's Spot Check, of course.

Lots of classes and creatures have access to Hide Skill, and everything has cross-class access, so that's not necessarily a useful data point. But whatever they are using is not a simple potion or Level 2 spell.

[MossyMeow]

I would just like to point out that Rich Burlew has cited Babylon 5 as not only an inspiration, but also a guide, to how he plots OOTS, so comparisons aren’t too far-fetched. That being said, I’m not familiar with it. At all.

[skim172]

I would just like to point out that Rich Burlew has cited Babylon 5 as not only an inspiration, but also a guide, to how he plots OOTS, so comparisons aren’t too far-fetched. That being said, I’m not familiar with it. At all.

Well, Babylon was a notable city-state in Mesopotamia which rose to power in ancient times, and the time period after it was conquered by the Persian Empire in 6th Century BC could be considered the "fifth" Babylonian era (following the Old Babylon, Middle Babylon, Neo-Assyrian, and Neo-Babylonian periods) - or as many of its fans refer to it, "Babylon 5."

It's not as well-known or popular as some other empires of the genre, and unfortunately it was cancelled after only a couple centuries, by Alexander the Great - but it has since developed quite a cult following. Babylon 5 fan groups are all over the internet, celebrating the great achievements of Babylon as it became the new center of the Persian Empire, and bickering over plot details and minutiae from texts in Herodotus and the Cyrus Cylinder. You'll even see their fans cosplaying at conventions as their favorite Babylon 5 characters, like Cyrus the Great, Darius II, and Nebuchadnezzar IV.

Just don't confuse them with other, more popular ancient empires. Babylon 5 fans are very sensitive about being overshadowed by the more visible franchises of the genre. I mean, sure, "Egyptian 19th Dynasty" is the one that gets the mainstream attention, and the catchphrases, and the gaudy reboots featuring Chris Pine, but once you get past the pyramids and the mummies, it just lacks substance.

Babylon 5 had complexity.

[CriticalFailure]

pfft the new stuff is trash I prefer Sumer

[KorvinStarmast]

pfft the new stuff is trash I prefer Sumer

And lo, as I raised my eyes up toward the top of the hill, I beheld an old, old, old school grognard.

Gilgamesh: they don't make heroes like that anymore.
When you get drunk with Gilgamesh, you don't just get high you get Uruk high.

(Uruk Hai pun attempt, sorry JRRT)

[Petrocorus]

The Babylon Project was our last best hope for puns.

It worked.

[skim172]

pfft the new stuff is trash I prefer Sumer

TOS (The Original Sumer) is very overrated. Oh gee, another flood myth - real original writing, guys.

TNA (The Neo-Assyria) was much better. Assur was the superior deity - intelligent, refined, cultured. Gilgamesh just went around having sex with scorpion women.

[grandpheonix]

How are we not calling green and orange Kermit and FOZZY is all I wanna know.

[Grey Watcher]

How are we not calling green and orange Kermit and FOZZY is all I wanna know.

Because Fozzie was always on more equal footing with Kermit. Scooter was, explicitly, the intern/assistant, so the more deferential attitude (eg "Boss") made more sense for Scooter.

Plus needs more cheesey jokes for Fozzie.

[Petrocorus]

Because Fozzie was always on more equal footing with Kermit. Scooter was, explicitly, the intern/assistant, so the more deferential attitude (eg "Boss") made more sense for Scooter.

Plus needs more cheesey jokes for Fozzie.

And here i am not knowing who all of those guys beside Kermit are.

[Grey Watcher]

When I was a teenager, I would have agreed with this. As an adult, I realize that not everybody who will enjoy a given story finds out about it (and has time to read/watch it) in a timely manner, and so putting expiration dates on spoilers is a bit arbitrary. The plot twists of a book published in 1975 aren't any less important than they would be if the book was published in 2015, and most people read and watch plenty of things that came out more than, say, five years ago.

Now, obviously, there's also a cost to spoilering things. In situations where it takes significant effort to do so, or to open the spoilers, maybe it's not worthwhile to do so. But it's extremely easy to do both on this forum, so I personally feel like it's a reasonable norm to uphold - with some exceptions, like references that are so ubiquitous that most people here are already familiar with them (LOTR, Star Wars, Harry Potter, etc.).

I guess the tricky part is figuring out which ones are so ubiquitous that you can safely avoid spoiler tags. For example, I would have assumed that, on a forum like this (population of people knowledgeable about sci-fi in a community built around the work of an author who specifically cites Babylon 5 as a major influence), Babylon 5 would be a reasonable "well-known enough to not bother with spoilers" material, while talking to my in-laws over Thanksgiving dinner, I respected the spoiler thing a lot more.

(Of course, I'm also enough of a curmudgeon that I kinda think the "no spoilers" thing is a bit overblown. Most things I've had "spoiled" for me haven't really spoiled it: yeah, a big twist had less impact than it might have, but a good story beat is still a good story beat. (And a bad one is still bad.))

And here i am not knowing who all of those guys beside Kermit are.

Fozzie: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fozzie_Bear

Scooter: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scooter_(Muppet)

If I had more time, I'd find some YouTube clips that I deemed emblematic of each character, but they're both from The Muppet Show. Kermit was the only character to routinely appear on both The Muppet Show and Sesame Street, explaining his better name recognition.

[Petrocorus]

Babylon 5 would be a reasonable "well-known enough to not bother with spoilers" material, while talking to my in-laws over Thanksgiving dinner, I respected the spoiler thing a lot more.

One of those days, i need to adapt the B5 plot to a totally non-scifi RPG, like Vampire or L5R, maybe D&D in a proper setting (Eberron?).

If I had more time, I'd find some YouTube clips that I deemed emblematic of each character, but they're both from The Muppet Show. Kermit was the only character to routinely appear on both The Muppet Show and Sesame Street, explaining his better name recognition.

Let's say the Muppet Show is really not that known here in France. I barely remember them from a Muppet Show cartoon of the 80s.

TOS (The Original Sumer) is very overrated. Oh gee, another flood myth - real original writing, guys.

TNA (The Neo-Assyria) was much better. Assur was the superior deity - intelligent, refined, cultured. Gilgamesh just went around having sex with scorpion women.

I much prefer the 9th generation of the Dynasty of the Seleucids.
The plot is more complex and rich, and the historical figures more interesting to me.
The war is also more action packed.

[Xyril]

The first line doesn't make a lot of sense if it's referring to their encounter with the paladins. That seems to have gone incredibly well, probably as well as it could. They captured both paladins, without alerting the bugbears or Xykon, and without any casualties on their side.

I agree that they get an A+ for results, but even assuming that their original goals were precisely what they accomplished, the way they got there was messy, risky, and probably took a bit longer than they hoped. They probably weren't hoping that O-Chul would take so long to feel the effects of the poison, or that both paladins would spend so much time in a defensive posture vocally (though quietly) challenging them. From the dialogue, we can infer that the unknown entities don't want Xykon to detect them or the paladins, and that they know that the paladins have the same concern. However, I don't think they wanted to have the protracted exchange that happened because introducing a new unknown changes things: Given an unexpected new threat, it's certainly plausible that Lien and O-Chul might decide that it was worth being a little less stealthy in order to avoid handicapping themselves as they searched for/fought off their new assailants. Or worse, they could decide that presented with two potentially unbeatable threats--and without the option of continuing to support the Order by staying alive and quietly providing recon--the paladins might decide that the best course of action is to pit Xykon against the unknown threat in hopes that one destroys the other, leaving only one weakened opponent when the Order arrives.

At least, that's just my opinion. In my experience at least, I've definitely commented on things going "poorly" because the plan fell apart and it was only through dumb luck that we achieved our goal.

It's also plausible that they had a more subtle goal than poisoning the paladins and bringing them back to base. The dialogue is slightly contradictory (first expressing uncertainty that the poison could even cut through O-Chul's "paladin mojo," but then expressing surprise that it took so long to do so), but it's possible that they were trying quietly incapacitate the paladins without revealing themselves. Maybe they were hoping that O-Chul would go down and Lien could also be darted in the time it took for him to say, "Hey, is this a dart?"--at which point they could quietly administer enough antidote to force a retreat. My best guess at this point that their top-level goal was to stop the paladins from starting their own search, or taking some other precipitous action now that backup has a definite ETA. Murdering the paladins clearly isn't an option, but revealing their (the invisible entities') existence or base of operations could in fact be the last resort because all attempts to be discrete have failed.

So, instead of talking about the paladin encounter, they must be talking about the whole situation surrounding the area, namely the fact that someone is sistematically looking for the Gate, with nefarious purposes in mind. The Gate defenses could defintiely have "gone better" than they did so far against Team Evil.

That's plausible, but I have my doubts. As far as we know, the Gate's defenses are working precisely as intended--stalling the hell out of invaders through sheer number of choices. Maybe they weren't expected Xykon to clear nearly a half dozen in a single day, or maybe they expected most threats would have died or given up by this point, but I doubt that someone associated with the Gate designers would be surprised that somebody would tackle the gate by slowly and systematically clearing out every dungeon. Also keep in mind, the voices are probably well aware that the MitD has been sabotaging the search--something that doesn't seem to be part of Serini's original plan. This means that the situation is even better than expected: Per Serini's plan, an invader would have to search up to X dungeons before finding the gate. Due to MitD's sabotage, there's a decent chance Xykon will think he's searched all the dungeons without success. At this point, he'll either think the gate was a trick, and either give up or try searching elsewhere, or he'll think that he was tricked or that his team made a mistake, and start search all X gates from scratch.

As others have said, this was designed to be a massive shell game. I just don't think that seeing someone continuing to play the shell game for so long would be enough to trigger the sort of surprise and dismay I read in the dialogue.

Yeah, I agree...asking for a 20-year-old show to be spoilered is taking things a bit far.

Even if it weren't that old, would any of the quoted text have warranted a spoiler warning? B5 had no source material, so the mere mention that a character named Lorien would be introduced later really convey a ton of implied information that you might if, for example, you told everyone that Werewolf by Night was coming to the MCU. Vorlons being beings in a suit, and not the suit itself, was a pretty early reveal, as was the fact that Shadows as a species existed. Maybe the association of "What do you want?" with the Shadows and their agents was revealed a little after Mr. Morden first started asking people the question, but IIRC it was pretty apparent that Morden was acting on behalf of some mysterious party right from the start.