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<p class="syndicationauthor">Posted by Sarah</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/babylon-5-rewatch-secrets-of-the-soul/">https://reactormag.com/babylon-5-rewatch-secrets-of-the-soul/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=845416">https://reactormag.com/?p=845416</a></p><post-hero class="wp-block-post-hero js-post-hero post-hero post-hero-horizontal"> <div class="container container-desktop"> <div class="flex flex-col mx-auto post-hero-container"> <div class="post-hero-content"> <div class="post-hero-tags font-aktiv text-xs tracking-[0.5px] font-medium uppercase"> <span class="mr-3"> <i class="inline-block w-2 h-2 rounded-full mr-[5px] bg-blue"></i> <a href="https://reactormag.com/articles/column/" class="inline-block link-no-animation" aria-label="Link to term or tag Column 0"> Column </a> </span> <span class="mr-3"> <i class="inline-block w-2 h-2 rounded-full mr-[5px] bg-blue"></i> <a href="https://reactormag.com/tag/babylon-5-rewatch/" class="inline-block link-no-animation" aria-label="Link to term or tag Babylon 5 Rewatch 1"> Babylon 5 Rewatch </a> </span> </div> <h2 class="post-hero-title text-h1"><i>Babylon 5</i> Rewatch: “Secrets of the Soul”</h2> <div class="prose post-hero-description prose--post-hero">Tensions build as more telepaths arrive at the station&#8230;</div> <div class="post-hero-wrapper"> <div class="post-hero-inner"> <p class="post-hero-author text-xs font-aktiv uppercase font-medium [&amp;_a]:link-hover">By <a href="https://reactormag.com/author/keith-decandido/" title="Posts by Keith R.A. DeCandido" class="author url fn" rel="author">Keith R.A. DeCandido</a></p> <span class="post-hero-symbol relative top-[-2px] hidden tablet:block">|</span> <p class="text-xs uppercase post-hero-publish font-aktiv"> Published on April 13, 2026 </p> </div> </div> <div class="post-hero-caption post-hero-caption-vertical [&amp;_a]:link"><p>Credit: Warner Bros. Television</p> </div> <div class="quick-access post-hero-quick-access mt-[17px] tablet:hidden"> <div class="flex gap-[30px] tablet:gap-6"> <a href="https://reactormag.com/babylon-5-rewatch-secrets-of-the-soul/#comments" class="flex items-center text-sm font-aktiv tracking-[0.6px] font-semibold uppercase translate-x-[1px] translate-y-[1px]"> <svg class="w-[22px] h-[22px] mr-[7px] icon-hover" viewbox="0 0 18 18" aria-label="comment" role="img" aria-hidden="true" aria-labelledby="icon-comment-quick-access-"> <title id="icon-comment-quick-access-">Comment</title> <g fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd"> <path fill="#FFF" fill-rule="nonzero" d="M6.3 18a.9.9 0 0 1-.9-.9v-2.7H1.8A1.8 1.8 0 0 1 0 12.6V1.8A1.8 1.8 0 0 1 1.8 0h14.4A1.8 1.8 0 0 1 18 1.8v10.8a1.8 1.8 0 0 1-1.8 1.8h-5.49l-3.33 3.339a.917.917 0 0 1-.63.261H6.3Z" /> <path stroke="#000" d="M5.9 14.4v-.5H1.8a1.3 1.3 0 0 1-1.3-1.3V1.8A1.3 1.3 0 0 1 1.8.5h14.4a1.3 1.3 0 0 1 1.3 1.3v10.8a1.3 1.3 0 0 1-1.3 1.3h-5.698l-.146.147-3.324 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9.41431V6.41431C2.21205 6.41431 3.64538 6.70197 4.97871 7.27731C6.31205 7.85264 7.47471 8.63597 8.46671 9.62731C9.45805 10.6186 10.2414 11.781 10.8167 13.1143C11.392 14.4476 11.6794 15.881 11.6787 17.4143H8.67871Z" fill="currentColor" fill-opacity="0.2" /> </g> <defs> <clippath id="clip0_1051_121783"> <rect width="17" height="17" fill="white" transform="translate(0.678711 0.414307)" /> </clippath> </defs> </svg> </a> </li> </ul> </div> </details> </div> </div> </div> <div class="post-hero-media "> <figure class="w-full h-auto post-hero-image"> <img decoding="async" width="740" height="493" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/babylon-5-secrets-of-the-soul-01-740x493.jpg" class="w-full object-cover" alt="Babylon 5 “Secrets of the Soul”" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/babylon-5-secrets-of-the-soul-01-740x493.jpg 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/babylon-5-secrets-of-the-soul-01-1100x733.jpg 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/babylon-5-secrets-of-the-soul-01-768x512.jpg 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/babylon-5-secrets-of-the-soul-01.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /> </figure> <div class="post-hero-caption post-hero-caption-horizontal [&amp;_a]:link"><p>Credit: Warner Bros. Television</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </post-hero> <div class="wp-block-more-from-category"> <div> </div> </div> <p><strong>“Secrets of the Soul”</strong><br>Written by J. Michael Straczynski<br>Directed by Tony Dow<br>Season 5, Episode 7<br>Production episode 508<br>Original air date: March 4, 1998</p> <p><strong>It was the dawn of the third age…</strong> Franklin records a log entry discussing his new role as assembler of medical data on all the members of the IA. We also see him talking with a pak’ma’ra, at one point giving him a Barium swallow to track how their digestion works. The pak’ma’ra drinks it very reluctantly and throws it up a few minutes later. (Having done a Barium swallow myself a while back, I sympathize with the pak’ma’ra.)</p> <p>Allan is summoned to customs to deal with a bunch of telepaths who have no ID, no money, no papers, no nothin’, but were told this was the place to join Byron. Byron then shows up with Alexander saying he will provide paperwork for all of them. Allan reluctantly lets them come on board and go off with Byron. One of them is a stuttering young man named Peter, who is apparently a telekinetic.</p> <p>Allan asks to speak to Alexander in private, and he expresses his very loud disapproval of Byron and of Alexander being with him. Alexander tartly points out that she’s helped the crew of B5 on several occasions and got bupkuss for her assistance, forcing her to get into bed with Psi Corps again. Nobody has any right to lecture her on the subject of her life choices at this point.</p> <p>In downbelow, Byron, Peter, and the gang are harassed by Carl and his goons. They, presumably, are trying to fill the vacuum left by <a href="https://reactormag.com/babylon-5-rewatch-learning-curve/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Trace’s ouster by the Rangers</a>. They also hate that the telepaths are getting a free ride. Byron then urges Carl to hit him several times, which Carl does, though it becomes less fun for him with each punch to the jaw. (We’ll leave aside that hitting someone in the face that often should have broken Carl’s hand. Skulls are <em>hard</em>. He should’ve punched him in the solar plexus.)</p> <figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-large"><img decoding="async" width="1100" height="825" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/babylon-5-secrets-of-the-soul-04-1100x825.jpg" alt="Babylon 5 “Secrets of the Soul”" class="wp-image-845581" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/babylon-5-secrets-of-the-soul-04-1100x825.jpg 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/babylon-5-secrets-of-the-soul-04-740x555.jpg 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/babylon-5-secrets-of-the-soul-04-140x105.jpg 140w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/babylon-5-secrets-of-the-soul-04-768x576.jpg 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/babylon-5-secrets-of-the-soul-04.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Credit: Warner Bros. Television</figcaption></figure> <p>Franklin meets with Ambassador Tal of the Hayach, who reports that the elders have agreed to supply Franklin with the Hayach’s medical data. Tal’s aide, Kirrin, is reluctant and asks some very direct questions regarding confidentiality. Franklin makes it clear that he will respect the Hayachs’ privacy absolutely. After Franklin leaves, Kirrin expresses worry that the doctor will find out things he shouldn’t, but Tal points out that the elders have already made their decision. And if Franklin violates their trust, then they’ll kill him.</p> <p>Alexander goes to see Byron, who looks like someone has used him for a punching bag. For some stupid reason, he has refused to get any kind of rudimentary first aid, never mind proper medical attention, and Alexander at least provides the former. Byron asks her to stay the night with the telepaths, which she has yet to do. She agrees, and is embraced by the whole group of them.</p> <p>Franklin is confused to see that the Hayach’s medical records only go back 800 years, even though the Hayach have been around for more than 7000 years. Kirrin is evasive on the subject of why, and Franklin also realizes that <em>all</em> records they have on the Hayach are no older than eight centuries old.</p> <p>Peter is wandering off on his own, and gets lost. He’s found by Carl and his goons, who start to hassle him. Peter telekinetically throws a pipe at Carl. Carl and the gang retaliate by kicking the shit out of him.</p> <p>Peter is brought to medlab and treated. Byron and Alexander show up and the former is fairly certain he knows who’s responsible. Peter telekinetically throws stuff around the lab and Byron goes off to find the bad guys. Byron comes across some of his fellow telepaths tormenting one of Carl’s goons, making him think he’s on fire. Byron gets them to stop and checks on the goon to see if he’s okay. Allan shows up right at that moment and assumes that Byron assaulted the goon and arrests him.</p> <p>While Byron is stuck in detention, the other telepaths seek out Carl and his other goons and torment them. Byron can feel this happening telepathically, but his pleas to be let out to talk to his people fall on deaf ears.</p> <p>Franklin does more research, and comes across a communiqué from a Drazi captain who reported a rare sighting of a Hyach-do, who asked for a lift, but the Drazi refused. Franklin does further research into the Hyach-do, and then goes to confront Tal—only to be attacked and kidnapped by Kirrin.</p> <figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-large"><img decoding="async" width="1100" height="825" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/babylon-5-secrets-of-the-soul-03-1100x825.jpg" alt="Babylon 5 “Secrets of the Soul”" class="wp-image-845583" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/babylon-5-secrets-of-the-soul-03-1100x825.jpg 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/babylon-5-secrets-of-the-soul-03-740x555.jpg 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/babylon-5-secrets-of-the-soul-03-140x105.jpg 140w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/babylon-5-secrets-of-the-soul-03-768x576.jpg 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/babylon-5-secrets-of-the-soul-03.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Credit: Warner Bros. Television</figcaption></figure> <p>When he regains consciousness, Franklin confronts Kirrin: the Haych-do are another sapient species that evolved on their world, but they’re gone now. Tal admits that the Haych hunted the Hyach-do to extinction. But it turned out that the Hyach-do’s genetics were necessary to intermingle with the Hyach for them to survive. Their birthrate is plummeting, and has been for some time. Tal begs Franklin (a) for help, and (b) to keep their secret. But he can’t do A by himself, and B is only possible with the resources of many worlds working on it. Tal agrees to let the secret out. She asks for forgiveness, as no currently living Hyach was involved in this genocide that happened centuries ago. Franklin angrily says that only the Hyach-do can forgive them.</p> <p>Allan lets Byron go. The goon gives a statement that Byron tried to help him. The goon worked for Carl, whose body Allan just found. Byron testily points out that he could have stopped it if he wasn’t imprisoned.</p> <p>Returning to his bunk in downbelow, Byron rants to Alexander about how his people still haven’t embraced his teachings and let go of their anger. Alexander points out that the people they assaulted weren’t exactly innocent, but Byron thinks they need to be better than that.</p> <p>He and Alexander start smooching, and before it can get any hotter and heavier, Alexander warns him that the Vorlons did some shit to her, and it may have an effect on the intensity of the sex.</p> <p>Sure enough, as they’re making whoopee, Alexander’s eyes go black and Byron gets the full story of how she—and many other species—were altered by the Vorlons. This telepathic sex-bonding bleeds out into the rest of Byron’s gaggle, and now they all know about how Vorlons created telepaths. Byron is livid. He can’t ask the Vorlons for any kind of reparation, as they’re long gone, but now he wants telepaths to have their own homeworld, and he will demand it of the IA, or else.</p> <p><strong>The Corps is mother, the Corps is father.</strong> Don’t go stomping on a telepath when he has friends. It will end badly for you.</p> <p><strong>The Shadowy Vorlons.</strong> We get a flashback to Alexander’s time on the Vorlon homeworld being altered, and we also see infants from different species, all in big tanks. Byron and his people learn that telepaths only exist because the Vorlons created them to help fight the Shadows.</p> <p><strong>No sex, please, we’re EarthForce.</strong> As first established in “<a href="https://reactormag.com/babylon-5-rewatch-mind-war/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mind War</a>,” telepathic sex is <em>very</em> intense, as the minds intermingle even more than the bodies do. We see that for the first time here, as Byron gets deep inside Alexander, mind <em>and</em> body, and learns all about what the Vorlons did to her.</p> <figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-large"><img decoding="async" width="1100" height="825" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/babylon-5-secrets-of-the-soul-05-1100x825.jpg" alt="Babylon 5 “Secrets of the Soul”" class="wp-image-845585" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/babylon-5-secrets-of-the-soul-05-1100x825.jpg 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/babylon-5-secrets-of-the-soul-05-740x555.jpg 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/babylon-5-secrets-of-the-soul-05-140x105.jpg 140w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/babylon-5-secrets-of-the-soul-05-768x576.jpg 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/babylon-5-secrets-of-the-soul-05.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Credit: Warner Bros. Television</figcaption></figure> <p><strong>Looking ahead.</strong> Byron’s inability to entirely influence the various telepaths toward peace will come to a head in “A Tragedy of Telepaths” and “Phoenix Rising.”</p> <p><strong>Welcome aboard.</strong> Jack Hannibal makes the first of two appearances as Peter; he’ll be back in “Phoenix Rising.” Stuart McLean plays Carl, Jana Robbins plays Tal, and Fiona Dwyer plays Kirrin. And back from “<a href="https://reactormag.com/babylon-5-rewatch-strange-relations/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Strange Relations</a>” is Robin Atkin Downes as Byron, who will be back in “In the Kingdom of the Blind.”</p> <p><strong>Trivial matters. </strong>While this isn’t the episode with the fewest opening-credits regulars appearing—“<a href="https://reactormag.com/babylon-5-rewatch-intersections-in-real-time/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Intersections in Real Time</a>” has that honor—this is the only episode in which none of the “main” stars (the ones either billed as “Starring” at the top of the credits or “with” or “and” at the end of them) appear. Only Richard Biggs, Patricia Tallman, and Jeff Conaway among the billed stars are in this one.</p> <p>Franklin agreed to compile medical data on all IA species in “<a href="https://reactormag.com/babylon-5-rewatch-strange-relations/">Strange Relations</a>.” It was established that the Vorlons engineered several species to develop telepaths in “<a href="https://reactormag.com/babylon-5-rewatch-zhadum/">Z’ha’dum</a>.” Alexander was altered by the Vorlons some time between “<a href="https://reactormag.com/babylon-5-rewatch-divided-loyalties/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Divided Loyalties</a>” and “<a href="https://reactormag.com/babylon-5-rewatch-passing-through-gethsemane/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Passing Through Gethsemane</a>.” She helped our heroes on numerous occasions; she was forced to accept smaller quarters and get back into bed with the Psi Corps in “<a href="https://reactormag.com/babylon-5-rewatch-moments-of-transition/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Moments of Transition</a>.”</p> <p>Apparently, pak’ma’ra won’t eat fish of any kind.</p> <p><strong>The echoes of all of our conversations.</strong></p> <p>“Byron, the Vorlons changed me—more than you could possibly know. I don&#8217;t know what it&#8217;ll do once you get past my barriers and I get past yours. It could burn you.”</p> <p>“Then let it burn.”</p> <p>—Alexander giving a pre-coital warning, and Byron saying, “Wah-HEY!”</p> <figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-large"><img decoding="async" width="1100" height="825" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/babylon-5-secrets-of-the-soul-07-1100x825.jpg" alt="Babylon 5 “Secrets of the Soul”" class="wp-image-845584" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/babylon-5-secrets-of-the-soul-07-1100x825.jpg 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/babylon-5-secrets-of-the-soul-07-740x555.jpg 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/babylon-5-secrets-of-the-soul-07-140x105.jpg 140w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/babylon-5-secrets-of-the-soul-07-768x576.jpg 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/babylon-5-secrets-of-the-soul-07.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Credit: Warner Bros. Television</figcaption></figure> <p><strong>The name of the place is Babylon 5.</strong> “We’ll make sure they have no other choice.” This is a perfectly good script, and it says something good about the show that an entire episode can be supported by only three of the opening-credits regulars, two of whom are among the least interesting of those so billed (Franklin and Allan).</p> <p>However, the episode doesn’t work as well as it should, though not because it focuses only on those three. For starters, it has a big role for the ever-bland Robin Atkin Downes. I will give him credit: he’s better in this episode than he has been in any other, specifically his frustrated ranting at Alexander that his people haven’t let go of their anger, which is only the second time his facial expression has changed since he was introduced (the other being the pouty face he had in Bester’s presence in “<a href="https://reactormag.com/babylon-5-rewatch-strange-relations/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Strange Relations</a>”). That scene is also scary as hell, because the telepaths are simply <em>brutal</em> here, and it becomes painfully clear that they’d be even more brutal without his influence.</p> <p>My favorite scene in the whole thing is the discussion Allan and Alexander have on the subject of her growing affection for Byron and his gaggle. Allan’s protective big brother act is sweet, but also horrendously misplaced and tone-deaf, something Alexander points out to him in a lengthy, beautifully delivered rant by Patricia Tallman on the subject of the shit Alexander has gone through. You feel for Allan, as he’s pretty much the only one on the station who has treated Alexander like a person instead of a commodity, and he doesn’t deserve her opprobrium. But her rant is 100% justified as well.</p> <p>As for Franklin’s plot with the Hyach, the biggest problem with it is that, well, it’s the Hyach, and who the heck are they? Why couldn’t this plotline have been given to the Brakiri or the Drazi or the Gaim or the Abbai? We’ve had so many species that we’ve seen bits and pieces of, but not given any depth to. Of those I listed, the Drazi are the only ones who’ve had <em>any</em> details provided about their history and culture, but that’s not incompatible with this storyline. Creating a new IA member out of the blue makes it harder to invest in the Hyach when there are so many others floating around we’d love to learn about. Having said that, Jana Robbins and Fiona Dwyer are both quite good, the former as the calm politician navigating difficult waters, the latter as the pain-in-the-ass aide asking the more nasty questions .</p> <p><strong>Next week:</strong> “Day of the Dead.”[end-mark]</p> <p>The post <a href="https://reactormag.com/babylon-5-rewatch-secrets-of-the-soul/">&lt;i&gt;Babylon 5&lt;/i&gt; Rewatch: “Secrets of the Soul”</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reactormag.com">Reactor</a>.</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/babylon-5-rewatch-secrets-of-the-soul/">https://reactormag.com/babylon-5-rewatch-secrets-of-the-soul/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=845416">https://reactormag.com/?p=845416</a></p>

<p class="syndicationauthor">Posted by Sarah</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/white-cat-at-the-gates-of-death-garth-nixs-sabriel/">https://reactormag.com/white-cat-at-the-gates-of-death-garth-nixs-sabriel/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=845564">https://reactormag.com/?p=845564</a></p><post-hero class="wp-block-post-hero js-post-hero post-hero post-hero-vertical"> <div class="container container-desktop"> <div class="flex flex-col mx-auto post-hero-container"> <div class="post-hero-content"> <div class="post-hero-tags font-aktiv text-xs tracking-[0.5px] font-medium uppercase"> <span class="mr-3"> <i class="inline-block w-2 h-2 rounded-full mr-[5px] bg-blue"></i> <a href="https://reactormag.com/articles/books/" class="inline-block link-no-animation" aria-label="Link to term or tag Books 0"> Books </a> </span> <span class="mr-3"> <i class="inline-block w-2 h-2 rounded-full mr-[5px] bg-blue"></i> <a href="https://reactormag.com/tag/sff-bestiary/" class="inline-block link-no-animation" aria-label="Link to term or tag SFF Bestiary 1"> SFF Bestiary </a> </span> </div> <h2 class="post-hero-title text-h1">White Cat at the Gates of Death: Garth Nix’s <i>Sabriel</i></h2> <div class="prose post-hero-description prose--post-hero">There is a great deal more to this cat than appears on the surface&#8230;</div> <div class="post-hero-wrapper"> <div class="post-hero-inner"> <p class="post-hero-author text-xs font-aktiv uppercase font-medium [&amp;_a]:link-hover">By <a href="https://reactormag.com/author/judith-tarr/" title="Posts by Judith Tarr" class="author url fn" rel="author">Judith Tarr</a></p> <span class="post-hero-symbol relative top-[-2px] hidden tablet:block">|</span> <p class="text-xs uppercase post-hero-publish font-aktiv"> Published on April 13, 2026 </p> </div> </div> <div class="quick-access post-hero-quick-access mt-[17px] tablet:hidden"> <div class="flex gap-[30px] 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9.41431V6.41431C2.21205 6.41431 3.64538 6.70197 4.97871 7.27731C6.31205 7.85264 7.47471 8.63597 8.46671 9.62731C9.45805 10.6186 10.2414 11.781 10.8167 13.1143C11.392 14.4476 11.6794 15.881 11.6787 17.4143H8.67871Z" fill="currentColor" fill-opacity="0.2" /> </g> <defs> <clippath id="clip0_1051_121783"> <rect width="17" height="17" fill="white" transform="translate(0.678711 0.414307)" /> </clippath> </defs> </svg> </a> </li> </ul> </div> </details> </div> </div> </div> <div class="post-hero-media "> <figure class="w-full h-auto post-hero-image"> <img decoding="async" width="740" height="407" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Sabriel-header-740x407.png" class="w-full object-cover" alt="cover of Sabriel by Garth Nix" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Sabriel-header-740x407.png 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Sabriel-header-1100x605.png 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Sabriel-header-768x422.png 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Sabriel-header.png 1400w" sizes="(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /> </figure> </div> </div> </div> </post-hero> <div class="wp-block-more-from-category"> <div> </div> </div> <p>I blush to admit how long it took me to get to <em>Sabriel</em> in the TBR pile, aka Mount TBRest. But it worked out, because we are talking about cats in genre, and <em>Sabriel</em> has a rather epic representative of the species.</p> <p>It takes a while to get to him, but the wait is worth it. After many alarums and highly fraught excursions, the titular protagonist finds him sitting at the gate of her father’s magical stronghold. He manifests to her as a small, green-eyed white cat. He talks, of course, and he has clearly expressed and frequent Opinions.</p> <p>The name he tells Sabriel to call him is Mogget. I am guessing that Nix is being a little bit wicked here, because the British term “moggy” refers to what in the US we would call an alley cat: a cat of questionable parentage.</p> <p>There is a great deal more to Mogget than appears on the surface. He is a magical being, a creature of the Free Magic, and he is ancient. One of her ancestors bound him at least a thousand years ago. The binding appears to her as a red leather collar with a tiny bell.</p> <p>Bells are significant in this magic system. Sabriel is the heir to the Abhorsen, one of the most powerful magical practitioners in the world. He is, in superficial terms, a necromancer, but what he does is different. Instead of raising the dead and trying to control them, he maintains the border between life and death. He undertakes to keep the dead on their own side of the line, and protect the living from the ravening dead.</p> <p>He, or rather they because it’s a long line of both genders, works magic in part through a series of seven bells carried on a bandolier across the chest. It’s sound magic, music magic. It can be wielded other ways, such as by whistling or by playing on pan pipes, but the bells are strongest and surest.</p> <p>The bell on Mogget’s collar is a miniature version of Saraneth, the Binder. The collar can be removed, and he tries to trick Sabriel into doing it when they first meet. Sabriel may be young and not as well educated as she might be, but she knows better than to fall for that.</p> <p>It’s good she doesn’t, because later, when she needs the powers that Mogget can raise through the Free Magic, she discovers his dark side. Mogget unbound is a humanoid figure of white light, tremendously powerful and determined to kill her in revenge for his centuries of binding. It’s all she can do to get him back under control, with the help of an enchanted ring.</p> <p>Mogget under binding is a highly valuable guide and mentor. He teaches Sabriel what she needs to know in order to find her father the Abhorsen and finish what he began. Some things, important things, he can’t say; he’s prevented by the magic that constrains him. But he gets a great deal of it across and assists her in every way a small and supernaturally intelligent cat can.</p> <p>He is, in this form, very catlike. He has the body language, the sound effects, the cattitude. He’s highly portable: he can ride around on a human’s shoulders, he can perch pretty much anywhere, he can get into spaces a larger creature can’t manage.</p> <p>He has not always appeared to the Abhorsens as a cat. Sabriel’s father knew him as a “a sort of albino dwarf-boy” who stayed close to home. That’s quite unlike the cat who follows Sabriel all over the world.</p> <p>Sabriel at one point wonders why he chooses to be a cat. The question is never answered in the first volume. If you’ve read the rest of the series and there’s been an answer, do let me know. I haven’t got that far yet.</p> <p>In the meantime, I am guessing that the reason is portability, but also certain other aspects of feline existence. Keen senses, rapid reflexes, sharp claws and teeth.</p> <p>Cats are magical creatures anyway. They’re beings of the borders, the liminal times between dark and light. They’re most active at dawn and dusk. They hunt the things that haunt the twilight.</p> <p>That’s very much in tune with the Abhorsen. They stand between life and death, and can pass the borders in both directions. Like cats, they’re powerful and deadly hunters. They hold the dead at bay and defend the living.</p> <p>Also like cats, they’re prey as well as predator. Great powers of the dead hunt Sabriel and her father before her. She needs all the skills and knowledge and powers she can muster. A good part of that knowledge comes from Mogget.</p> <p>There’s another thing about cats, that fits who Mogget is. Cats are never far from their wild selves. Humans can bind them, whether with bell and collar or by keeping them indoors, but they can go feral with remarkable speed. Some in fact, if born in the wild, can never be domesticated at all (as many a cat rescue knows; a feral mamacat can be so dangerous she has to be handled with Kevlar).</p> <p>Mogget in his collar is a valuable and loyal ally. Mogget freed is a deadly enemy, but still, in his way, valuable—like what we call “working cats,” ferals who can’t be tamed but do good service as rodent control in barns and warehouses and ranches.</p> <p>It makes sense to me that he chooses to be a cat for Sabriel. That’s what she needs, on multiple levels.</p> <p>It’s notable that he gets to choose. He may be bound, but he’s not completely without freedom. He gets a say in what he is and does, and how he does it.</p> <p>That’s a cat. Technically they’re domesticated, but it’s on their terms. There’s always a part of a cat that belongs to the wild, no matter how many generations it’s been bound to humans.[end-mark]</p> <p>The post <a href="https://reactormag.com/white-cat-at-the-gates-of-death-garth-nixs-sabriel/">White Cat at the Gates of Death: Garth Nix’s &lt;i&gt;Sabriel&lt;/i&gt;</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reactormag.com">Reactor</a>.</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/white-cat-at-the-gates-of-death-garth-nixs-sabriel/">https://reactormag.com/white-cat-at-the-gates-of-death-garth-nixs-sabriel/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=845564">https://reactormag.com/?p=845564</a></p>