That's an good way of looking at the progression of Lennier's character this season - he does seem to have been increasingly trapped, even as he tried more and more ways to get out of the situation. In some ways, I found his admission at the beginning of the season (fumbling though it was, and I can't recall the exact words) to be more surprising than admitting his love. Loving someone is one thing, but his earlier statement was a clear indication that he wanted, and even in some way expected, something more in return than what he was getting. That's the big step, to my mind - not telling the person you love them, but telling him that you have intentions of actually pursuing that love. Everything else he did in this season was colored by that, in my mind.

Symbolically, though, saying "I love you," really is the last straw, so you're probably right on that interpretation. I can't help thinking things might have worked out differently if Delenn had left it in the open between them, rather than pulling her little 'it never happened' thing... but she did the best she could, and it makes sense from a Minbari perspective.

It is very dynastic, isn't it? Sheridan had already chosen his own successor for the station, Garibaldi and Franklin pick the next intelligence officer, Franklin picks his successor in Medbay... some of them make sense, but the overall pattern leaves us wondering if that's how politics and the military work in this world. The thing that disturbed me the most is that... of course Susan will do wonderfully, but she's not even a Ranger! Of course, neither was Sinclair when he disappeared and became Entil'zha, and neither was Delenn, so maybe that's not a requirement. It seems odd, though, with how devoted they are to such strict training. To have leaders who haven't had that training strikes me as a strange proposition.