“"You would destroy the purity of our race! I could not let it happen again!"
- – Callenn to Delenn, 2261
Callenn was a high ranking Minbari of the Religious Caste, the Tenth Fane of Elleya.
In 2261 Callenn brought Delenn back to Minbar to enter the Dreaming and answer to her clan why she has altered her DNA to be compatible with humans and taken one as a prospective mate without the consultation or approval of the members of her own clan. After reliving her experiences with Dukhat, Delenn took Callenn back into the dreaming with her and showed him Dukhat's last words: "you are a child of Valen." After Lennier returns with records kept by the former Grey Council, Delenn presents them as proof that Valen's family, who Callenn knew were themselves partly human had returned to Minbar and had families of their own. Delenn tells Callenn that this will be her defense; that she and many others like her were born already with some vestige of human DNA passed down the generation and any children she might have are were never going to be pure Minbari, so it makes no difference if she marries Sheridan.
Callenn begs Delenn not to reveal the secret to their people and suggests a solution; to rekindle and old tradition from that days before Valen, when the clans warred amongst themselves. The victorious side would by tradition offer a female of its own clan to the one that lost as a symbol of life and hope. Callenn suggests that he could use this to explain to the others that Delenn's marriage be a similar offering to the Humans, who lost the most lives during the War.[1]
Notes[]
- It's never stated exactly how Callenn knew of the non Minbari DNA within their gene pool from Sinclair/Valen and Catherine's offspring down the centuries, though the fact that the evidence to prove it could only be found in the Grey Council archives indicates that Callenn had been a Satai, possibly one of the Religious caste members who left when Delenn broke the Council.