Vorlon Planet Killer
NASA reports that it requires energy delivery on the order of a million megatons to cause a drastic change in a planet's atmosphere, which causes massive loss of crops, starvation and disease on a global scale. It requires the delivery of around 100 million megatons to cause massive extinction of a planet's population. If we assume that the planet killer causes massive extinction on a target world, it must deliver energy levels on the order of a hundred million megatons to each of these target worlds.
It is unknown how many pulses from the weapon of a planet killer are required to deliver this amount of energy. It could be one pulse or hundreds of pulses. But in any event, it is implied that each planet killer can attack a planet once every few days. Several planets were attacked before the Shadows responded. But since there were at least two active fleets, an accurate scaling of recharge time is difficult. If a full week is required for recharging before a planet killer can attack another planet, it would require power generation of at least 690,000 terawatts. Since the Vorlons were attacking planets very rapidly, the actual power generation capability may be several times higher.
After the first planet was attacked, the fleet split up. One planet killer went one way with support ships, and the other two went another way. One was eventually sent to Coriana 6, while another was sent to Centauri Prime.
| There is evidence that indicates two planet killers
were at Centauri Prime. One was in orbit, facing the planet.
The other was parallel to the surface of the planet, in the outer regions
of the atmosphere (seen in image below). This is known because Londo
and Vir could distantly hear the engines of the planet killer rumbling.
The planet killer in orbit would be unheard. Alternation of scenes
proves that these are not the same vessel.
Note that this vessel is preparing to fire, and it is nearly a minute before the ships are called to Coriana 6. Thus, the vessel either fired on Centauri Prime, leaving Londo and Vir standing and watching it, or the ship held its fire for unknown reasons. 
Londo and Vir can hear the approach of the planet killer. |
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Delenn has been gathering forces for an attack on Z'ha'Dum. She has been attempting to contact the Vorlon Ambassador, but has received no reply. She visits Lyta Alexander in hopes of finding out why. Lyta says that the Vorlons have different plans, but she doesn't know what they are. Delenn instructs her to find out. |
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Lyta confronts the Vorlon Ambassador. She tells him that she deserves some answers. The Vorlon brushes her off. She attempts to telepathically scan him, but is immediately thrown across the room by some kind of weapon. The Vorlon angrily asks "Would you know my thoughts? Would you?" He then violently punishes her. |
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When we are first exposed to the Vorlon Planet Killer, Marcus and Ivanova are looking for First Ones to join the conflict with the Shadows. After we discover that Marcus is a virgin, he picks up a hyperspace distortion field. He reports that the Whitestar can only detect this field at all because it contains some Vorlon technology. They enter this distortion field. Marcus reports that the "instruments are all over the place," but that he is attempting to correct this problem. Ivanova calls Marcus to the window, where he exclaims "bloody hell!" |
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Ivanova and Marcus return to Babylon 5. Upon exiting the jumpgate, Ivanova instructs C&C to find Lyta Alexander and monitor transmissions from a specific sector. When asked what to look for, she says she does not know. |
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Ivanova enters C&C and asks for a report. The officer has nothing yet to report, and has not yet found Lyta Alexander. An unknown ship exits the jumpgate, which turns out to be Captain Sheridan and Lorien. |
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Ivanova finds Lyta. She is in her quarters crying and refusing to answer communications. She says to Ivanova "You know, don't you? It's started." |
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In a meeting with Captain Sheridan, Ivanova gives him a big hug. She then reports the finding of the Vorlon fleet. Marcus states the fleet consisted of "not dozens, not hundreds, but thousands of ships." He states that "A couple of them were three, four miles across." He states that they attempted to track this fleet, but lost them around sector 70. Delenn tells us that a Shadow base is in that area. Ivanova confirms this and tells the others of her orders to monitor transmissions in that area. Ivanova tells us that the base was on Arkata 7, and that it is not there anymore. Lennier asks if she is referring to the base. Lyta corrects him "No, the planet. They destroyed -- they destroyed an entire planet." Dr. Franklin informs Lyta that Arkata 7 is the home to over four million inhabitants. Lyta informs the others that the Vorlons have decided to completely destroy the Shadows "and anyone touched by them." Both Lyta and Dr. Franklin relate this to a surgical procedure to remove infection. Sheridan reminds the group that the Shadows will strike back soon. Garibaldi notes the difficulty of defeating the Shadows and wonders how to win against both the Shadows and Vorlons. Lyta informs the group that unless a way to stop both sides can be found, "none of us" will survive the conflicts. She identifies the scope of the conflict as "seventy light-years in any direction." |
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| "Not dozens, not hundreds, but thousands of ships." | Scope of the Vorlon fleet. Marcus felt the need to point out
the fact that there were more than dozens or hundreds. Thus, a thousand
or more ships is clearly more than expected by a wide margin. This
is not surprising, as Sheridan was quite impressed by his fleet of "thousands
of ships" a couple episodes later, which was brought together by all available
forces from all available races. Earthforce felt later in the season
that 35 warships was quite a fleet in Endgame. In A Call
to Arms, ~240 warships were destroyed in a huge conflict between the
Interstellar Alliance and the Drakh. Earthforce warships have 1000-man
crews, but only ~250,000 were killed in the war with the Minbari.
Obviously, fleets of dozens are significant and fleets of hundreds are
only produced by alliances between several major powers, making this fleet
of thousands a true spectacle.
Also note that the entire fleet of thousands were used to attack this first target. The fleet split up into at least two groups after this attack - one group eventually ended up at Centauri Prime and another at Coriana 6. |
| "A couple of them were three, four miles across." | As the largest warships seen to that point were perhaps a mile or so in the largest dimension (like Excalibur), a 3-4 mile wide ship is a true spectacle to behold. This ship dwarfs huge battleships and destroyers like Babylon 5 does (see the Centauri fleet next to Babylon 5 in The Coming of Shadows). Marcus has been around a lot of military equipment, mostly of Minbari origin, and the sight of the Planet Killer produced the exclamation "bloody hell!" |
| "They destroyed -- they destroyed an entire planet." | Unfortunately, this is event is open to debate. We never see
this event, and no more mention is made of it. Was the planet's
The statement that the planet is "not there anymore" does point toward the assumption that the planet's mass was completely scattered. However, it is also implied that this information was obtained by monitoring transmissions from the surrounding area, and not by direct investigation. It was made clear that Lyta Alexander didn't know what was going on, and when she tried to find out, the Vorlon punished her. There are other instances where planets were said to have been destroyed in this conflict, with survivors left on the ground, or people attempting to return to the system. Garibaldi said that the Dilgar destroyed entire planets in Deathwalker. But the Dilgar were defeated by Earth and a few League worlds - obviously they didn't have the power to scatter a planet's mass. Planets that were attacked later were not destroyed in that way. But a distinct difference does exist - the entire Vorlon fleet (thousands of ships, including at least 2 Planet Killers) attacked Arkata 7. The fleet then split up. |
| "...none of us - not a single world in 70 light-years in any direction will live to see it." | Apparently, all of the major governments and League Worlds are spaced within 70 light-years ("none of us"). This is also apparently the scope of Shadow influence, as the Vorlons are attempting to exterminate them. |
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Ivanova gives a special report on Babcom. She reports that two
more colonies have been eliminated by the Vorlons. She shows a previously
recorded video of the Planet killer beginning to fire its main weapon.
She offers a list of nearby colonies and planets who are accepting refugees
from Ventari 3, attacked in the video. She requests residents of
that planet do not return until authorized, as the local jumpgate has been
destroyed. She instructs residents to contact their ambassador to
inquire about family members who may have escaped before the colony was
destroyed. She states Babylon 5 is "taking in refugees and escaping
ships as fast as we can." She requests everyone remain calm, because
"our greatest enemy is fear."
After this report, a pretty young lady gets trampled by the crowd. Sheridan helps her to safety. He and Lorien walk by a monitor just as Ivanova is finishing the report. Immediately after this, we see the Planet Killer and escorting battleships flying through an asteroid field. 
Planet Killer flying through asteroid field. |
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Londo speaks with Emperor Cartagia and Morden. Morden tells Londo that the Vorlons have gone mad, and are attacking everywhere the Shadows have influence. Morden feels the Vorlons don't want the Shadows to hide their ships on distant worlds. Londo tells Morden that there are over 100 Shadow vessels on Centauri Prime, and he requests that they leave. Morden refuses, and states that the Vorlons would not attack Centauri Prime, because they "don't have the will" to "destroy a world as big as this." Morden requests that the Centauri set up a blockade against the Vorlons and he feels the Vorlons "don't want lots of civilian casualties." Emperor Cartagia agrees. Cartagia shows Londo his collection of heads. Cartagia informs Londo that he will allow the Shadows to stay, and there will be no blockade. Londo reminds the Emperor that the Vorlons have been "destroying whole planets to get at these Shadows." Cartagia says he will allow Centauri Prime to be his "inauguration pyre" with his ascension to godhood. He says "the fire of our world will light my way." He encourages Londo to "let it all end in fire." |
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Ivanova with another report. She states that a haven for refugees on Tizino Prime is no longer responding and she fears it has fallen to the Vorlons, but she can't be sure for another 10-12 hours. She states the Vorlons disrupt communications before attacks. Reports changes to refugee stations, because "we've lost three of them." Everyone in sector 57 has "declared a state of interplanetary emergency." |
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More reporting from Ivanova. "Reports coming in from survivors indicate mass destruction on a planetary scale. We continue to need medical ships, transports, anything that can fly. We're in special need of atmosphere-capable shuttles to evacuate survivors from the ground." |
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Meeting in the war room. Ivanova reports "we're up to our ears in ships." She reports "every refugee transport from 10 light-years in any direction" are coming to Babylon 5. |
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Ivanova with another report. She states the Dura 7 outpost has fallen. "All medical ships in the area are being asked to help with the evacuation." |
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Londo gives Sheridan a call. Londo tells Sheridan that he heard the Vorlons are attacking "every colony, every planet involved with the Shadows." Sheridan confirms this, and tells Londo that they have been tracking the Vorlons "for the past two days." The Vorlons are only about a week away from Centauri Prime. Sheridan is working on a solution. |
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| "If you are from the Ventari system, you are asked not to return until authorized." | A planet has just been attacked by the Planet Killer, and Ivanova is
asking inhabitants not to return, because the jumpgate has been destroyed.
This planet's mass has not been scattered about the cosmos. This
planet has not been rendered uninhabitable. People want to go back
home, but hyperspace traffic is creating a hazard.
This is the planet that was attacked when we see the Planet Killer firing the main weapon in the video Ivanova shows on the Babcom broadcast (animation above, audio clip here). This report is shown immediately before we see the Planet Killer flying through an asteroid field. These asteroids are not the remains of the planet - people are trying to return home. |
| "We're taking in refugees and escaping ships as fast as we can." | A large number of ships not only left before the attack (refugees), but also a large number of ships escaped while the attack was taking place. |
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Planet Killer flying through asteroid field. |
This does not represent the remains of a planet destroyed by the Planet
Killer. Fragments of a destroyed planet would be traveling at a minimum
of escape velocity, thousands of kilometers per second, and would be scattered
about. These fragments are very close together, don't appear to be
changing relative position to each other significantly, and don't appear
to be moving very fast relative to the Vorlon ships. These are not
the remains of a local planet, but are normal asteroids in a normal asteroid
field.
To illustrate this point, only old asteroids would have microimpact craters from thousands or millions of years drifting in space, like these:  |
| Londo reports the Vorlons have been "destroying whole planets to get at these Shadows." | Again, the statement about "destroying whole planets." Ventari 3 was also "destroyed" according to Ivanova's report, and the inhabitants are trying to go home. |
| "We believe they may have fallen to the Vorlon advance, but we can't be sure for another...I guess...ten, twelve hours. Before they attack, the Vorlons blanket all frequencies so no reports can get out." | Ivanova won't know if Tizino Prime has been attacked for 10-12 hours, because the Vorlons disrupt communications during their bombardment. This indicates that the bombardment typically lasts on the order of 10-12 hours. After that time, they move on and communications in that area return to normal. |
| "Reports coming in from survivors indicate mass destruction on a planetary scale. We continue to need medical ships, transports, anything that can fly. We're in special need of atmosphere-capable shuttles to evacuate survivors from the ground." | The existence of "survivors." We've already heard from the "refugees."
We've already heard from the "escaping ships." Now, we are hearing
from the "survivors."
A survivor, when distinguished from refugees and people who escaped, is someone who was on the planet when the Vorlons attacked, and lived through the event. These are not people who have fled to another place and need rescuing again - those are the "refugees." We are talking about the "survivors." Help is needed to "evacuate" these inhabitants "from the ground." Again, these are people who were on the ground when the Planet Killer attacked, lived through it, are still on the ground, and need to be evacuated. Note the need for "atmosphere-capable shuttles." These are not people on nearby moons, but the planet itself, and the planet's atmosphere is still intact. These survivors report "mass destruction on a planetary scale." This means that the destruction was not limited to a city, country, or continent; the destruction was spread across the entire planetary surface. Also note that these survivors were actual witnesses to the event. |
| Dura 7 has fallen. "All medical ships in the area are being asked to help with the evacuation." | Again, survivors that need to be evacuated. This makes at least three planets so far that can still support life in some capacity. |
| "We've been tracking their attacks for the past two days." | At least four planets have been attacked in two days, but probably more (refugee havens that were destroyed). |
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Ivanova reports to Sheridan. There has been an attack "on the edge of Vorlon space." She states that the Vorlons have been "attacking Shadow bases all over the place and wiping out whole colonies where the Shadows have influence." She shows Sheridan the Shadow cloud, and reports that there used to be "two million sentients living on that planet." She then reports "they're all dead now." She tells Sheridan that this is more frightening to her than the Vorlon Planet Killer. She also notes that "we couldn't get a reading on it." |
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Londo has called together his associates to conspire to kill Cartagia. He states "Homeworld will stand or fall, depending on what we do here..." He says "By the end of this day, either Cartagia is dead, or Centauri Prime will be destroyed." |
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Cartagia tells Londo that he will be the high priest in the coming godhood. He tells Londo that the Shadows will "rise from the ashes of Centauri Prime and reward my loyalty with godhood." He states that they will watch the attack from a distance. He hasn't decided yet where to build his new temple. |
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Londo is attempting to kill Cartagia. Cartagia tells Londo that he can "burn with Centauri Prime. You can burn with the rest, burn with the cities, burn with the temples, burn with all of them." |
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War Council meeting about the Planet killer attacks. Garibaldi notes "They come in with just enough firepower to protect their planet killers, then blow everything to hell, then jump out again." He wonders why neither side has attacked the other's homeworld. Sheridan says that there are rules of engagement between the two, but he doesn't know what they are. Lennier tries to confirm that the Vorlons are building their forces to attack Coriana 6, but gets interrupted repeatedly. Whitestar 14 reports in. |
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Ericsson's description of the Shadow Planet Killer. After this, Lennier reports that the bulk of the Vorlon fleet will strike Coriana 6. Sheridan tells Ericsson to stay in contact. He orders to convene the League Worlds and show them the video. Garibaldi says "It will scare the hell out of them." |
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| Ivanova is surprised that all of the inhabitants of the planet attacked by the Shadow Planet Killer are dead. She notes that this is more frightening than the Vorlon Planet Killer. | This implies that the Shadow Planet Killer may be more destructive than the Vorlon Planet Killer. |
| "By the end of this day, either Cartagia is dead, or Centauri Prime will be destroyed." | Londo fears his homeworld will be "destroyed." Note that at least three planets have now been "destroyed" (Ventari 3, Tizino Prime, and Dura 7), two of which have survivors on the ground and the other has inhabitants that want to return home. |
| Cartagia hasn't decided yet where to build his new temple. | Does Cartagia plan to build a new temple on Centauri Prime after the Vorlon attack? |
| Cartagia feels that the Shadows will "rise from the ashes of Centauri Prime." He told Londo that he can "burn with Centauri Prime." | Cartagia feels that there will be ashes remaining after the planet burns. Yet another indication that the Vorlons are leveling planets instead of scattering their masses about the cosmos, like with Ventari 3, Tizino Prime, and Dura 7. Note that he feels the Shadow will survive the attack. |
| Ericsson estimates that the Shadow Planet Killer will destroy all sentient life on the planet under attack in 10-12 hours. | This timeframe is comparable to the duration of Vorlon bombardments. This indicates that the bombardment from the two races are comparable in intensity. |
| "It will scare the hell out of them." | Garibaldi implies that the Shadow Planet Killer may be more frightening than the Vorlon Planet Killer. This may be because the Shadow Planet Killer destroys all life on a planet, whereas the Vorlon Planet Killer often leaves survivors on the ground, which can be evacuated. |
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Londo is now Prime Minister. He is attempting to get some things done, but a subordinate has "been in mourning." Londo tells him that he will be "mourning the entire planet" if these things don't get done. |
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Londo confronts Morden. He says that the Vorlons are on their way, and that they have been "wiping out any colony, world or outpost" where the Shadows have influence. Morden refuses to leave. After this, Mollari destroys Celini with three thermonuclear devices. |
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Sheridan tells the Vorlons "You can't destroy an entire planet of six billion people just for that." |
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Sheridan wants to call in the other First Ones because the Vorlons
are refusing to answer communication attempts. He says "I can't just
sit here and let six billion people be murdered because they were in the
wrong place at the wrong time."
After this, the remaining First Ones jump in and destroy several Vorlon and Shadow vessels, then destroy the Vorlon Planet Killer, which is about to fire on Coriana 6. No attempt is made to attack the Shadow Planet Killer.
First Ones destroy the Vorlon Planet Killer. |
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Planet Killers arrive at Centauri Prime. One is over the Royal Palace inside the atmosphere, and the other is in orbit preparing to fire (as shown in animation near the top of this page). Nearly a full minute of screen time passes before the Vorlons are called away to Coriana 6. |
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Sheridan confronts the Vorlons, who appear as a lady in a block of ice. He says "You're destroying whole worlds." He asks the Vorlons why they haven't attacked the Shadows directly. He says "You've had the technology to destroy Z'ha'Dum all along! So why haven't you used it?" |
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Delenn confronts the Shadows, who appear as her friends. She says "If you destroy the Vorlons, they'll never know you won. They'll never see that you were right and they were wrong." |
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Delenn tells both the Vorlons and Shadows that they could kill "every race, every planet, until there is no one left to kill." |
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| "mourning the entire planet"
"wiping out any colony, world or outpost" "You can't destroy an entire planet of six billion people just for that." "I can't just sit here and let six billion people be murdered because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time." "You're destroying whole worlds." "every race, every planet, until there is no one left to kill." |
Many statements that imply the Vorlons are at least leveling planets if not scattering the entire mass. |
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Why does it take two Planet Killers to "destroy" a planet? The
fact that one is inside the atmosphere (Londo and Vir can hear the
approach) places even more doubt on the idea that the Vorlons are scattering
the mass of planets. If that happened, the Planet Killer in the atmosphere
would be destroyed too.
The Planet Killer in orbit begins to fire in the first part of this clip, and some 48 seconds later, the one in the atmosphere begins to leave for Coriana 6. Thus, either this vessel fired on Centauri Prime, leaving Londo and Vir standing and watching, or the ship held this buildup of firepower for nearly a minute without firing for unknown reasons. |
| "You've had the technology to destroy Z'ha'Dum all along! So why haven't you used it?" | In Sheridan's estimation, the Vorlons have the capability to "destroy" Z'ha'Dum. Thus, the Shadows are probably not orders of magnitude stronger than the Vorlons. |
| "If you destroy the Vorlons, they'll never know you won. They'll never see that you were right and they were wrong." | In Delenn's estimation, the Shadows have the capability to "destroy" the Vorlons. Thus, the Vorlons are probably not orders of magnitude stronger than the Shadows. |
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| "Re: "magictech"...I believe it was Arthur C. Clarke who pointed out,
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
You wanna go argue with Clarke, feel free. Lemme just make one point here. In the handful of decades between the discovery of the atom, and its use at Hiroshima, we learned how to blow up substantial portions of the planet and render it uninhabitable. But it would've taken a lot of them, hundreds, to do the job. In the 50 years since then, with the development of thermonuclear weaponry, the job is even easier. It's been reckoned that you'd only need about 75 really decent sized thermonuclear detonations to render the entire continental United States dead and uninhabitable. The shadows and the vorlons are *millions* of years ahead of us. We're talking differences in technology that are orders of magnitude beyond what we can hope to comprehend. I think a planet killer eminently achievable." |
Mr Straczynski compares the Vorlon Planet Killer to thermonuclear war, but orders of magnitude greater. No mention of scattering a planet's mass. Only comments about making continents uninhabitable. |
| "Bear in mind that the White Stars are partially based on Vorlon technology, which is similar in strength to the Shadows. That helps a lot. Also, other ships can have an influence in sufficient numbers. Even a lion can be brought down by a sufficient number of hyenas. The idea that higher technology always equals victory didn't help Custer." | Confirmation that Vorlon and Shadow technologies are comparable.
The Shadow Planet Killer is many orders of magnitude larger and more massive than the Vorlon Planet killer, yet the gravitational binding energy of an Earth-like planet is many orders of magnitude greater than the total destructive potential of the Shadow Planet Killer. Thus, for the Vorlon Planet Killer to completely scatter a planet's mass, they must have technology many orders of magnitude greater than that of the Shadows. This quote contradicts that. |
| "They weren't prophetesses, they were communications-telepaths, and the emperor can use them if he perceives the need to keep in contact with events in the royal court. Cartagia could give a fig for what goes at home, which will be ash soon anyway...." | Confirmation of Cartagia's statements that temples and buildings would soon burn and become ashes. No comments about scattering a planet's mass. Only that things "will be ash..." |
