Anna Sheridan
From The Great Machine
- For other instances of the name "Sheridan", see Sheridan (disambiguation)
Anna Sheridan (played memorably by Melissa Gilbert and briefly by Beth Toussaint) is the deceased second wife of Babylon 5 station commander Captain John Sheridan. She worked as an anthropological Xeno-Biologist for Interplanetary Expeditions.
Anna was declared dead, along with 138 others, when it was reported that the IPX exploration vessel Icarus, on which she'd signed aboard as Science Officer, had accidentally exploded in space on the way to explore an ancient civilization out on the Rim. (S2E02 Revelations, S2E17, In the Shadow of Z'ha'dum)
In fact, the Icarus had landed on Z'ha'dum and disturbed the Shadows. Once awakened, the Shadows could not allow them to leave, in case they might warn others. Those who would not serve were killed. -- Delenn (S2E17, In the Shadow of Z'ha'dum)
However, it was clear there was at least one survivor when Garibaldi and Sheridan discovered Mr. Morden, a former crew-member of the Icarus, visiting the station.
- I want to know...why he's alive when my wife and everyone who was on board the Icarus with him is dead! -- Sheridan (S2E17, In the Shadow of Z'ha'dum)
In 2260, Anna herself appeared on Babylon 5 with an invitation for John to join her on Z'ha'dum. Since she had in fact refused to serve the Shadows, Anna's personality had been wiped and she had been installed as the central processor for a Shadow Vessel. (The Passing of the Techno-Mages)
- ...we pulled her out as soon as we found out who she was and who you are! But once you've been inside of one of those ships for a while, you're never...quite whole...again. -- Justin (S3E22, Z'ha'dum)
Anna was finally deceased when John destroyed the Shadows' prime city on Z'ha'dum by detonating a nuclear bomb-laden White Star inside its primary dome.
[edit] See Also
The Passing of the Techno-Mages book trilogy contains more depth and detail of Anna Sheridan's time among the Shadows.
[edit] Trivia
- Some sites claim Anna's maiden name was "Keller" [2], however, it is unclear whether this name is mentioned on screen or in print (perhaps in the novel The Shadow Within?).
- The actor playing Anna, Melissa Gilbert, was in fact the real life (second) wife of the actor playing John Sheridan, (Bruce Boxleitner).
- Were the wedding photos in the episode actually photos from Bruce and Melissa's wedding?
- Yes, we used their actual wedding photos. JMS
- Melissa was President of the Screen Actors' Guild of America (SAG) from 2001-2005.
