Contents: Overview - Backplot - Questions - Analysis - Notes - JMS

Overview

Zack makes a discovery in the search for Garibaldi. Delenn's plan to attack the Shadows runs into trouble. Ivanova and Marcus attempt to solicit aid from more First Ones. Wayne Alexander as Lorien. Wortham Krimmer as Emperor Cartagia. Eric Zivot as Verano. Jonathan Chapman as Ambassador Lethke.

P5 Rating: 8.66

Production number: 403
Original air week: November 18, 1996
DVD release date: January 6, 2004

Written by J. Michael Straczynski
Directed by John McPherson

Plot Points

• Lyta's telepathic abilities were enhanced by the Vorlons to enable her to more easily carry one of them.
• The Vorlons, apparently determined to wipe the Shadows out once and for all, have begun destroying worlds that have had contact with the Shadows, and to that end have amassed a fleet of thousands of ships.
• Sheridan has returned to Babylon 5, as has Garibaldi.
• Initially, when the Vorlons and Shadows took on the task of looking after the younger races, they were equally balanced, obeyed rules of engagement, and respected each other's perspectives. But at some point, one of them grew tired of the arrangement and the two started fighting in earnest, with the younger races caught in the middle.

Unanswered Questions

• Who, if anyone, was on the ship that carried Garibaldi's lifepod? Why were they transporting him, and why did they self-destruct?
• What was done to Garibaldi? Was he implanted with a new personality, like Talia Winters?
• What was the program that activated as Garibaldi's pod was ejected?
• Why did Lorien accompany Sheridan?
• How did they get to Babylon 5? Was that Lorien's ship?
• What exactly did Lyta learn when she scanned Kosh?
• What exactly does Sheridan have in mind to end the war once and for all?
• What happened to Marcus' family? His brother died in a Shadow attack ("Matters of Honor,") but what about his parents?

Analysis

• Delenn said, "Everyone I hold dear is gone." She didn't list Lennier among them. Why not?

• Lyta says she allowed the Vorlons to modify her because she believed. Believed in what? What did they tell her about their intentions? Does she know anything about the Shadows and Vorlons, and the nature of their conflict, that Sheridan would find useful?

• What made the Vorlons change their strategy? Most likely it has something to do with the "unexpected door" they feel Sheridan opened on Z'ha'dum ("The Hour of the Wolf.") By attempting to wipe out the Shadows, it's arguable they've lost the war on a philosophical level; attempting to wipe out a race to gain supremacy is exactly the method the Shadows advocate.

  On the other hand, if there's no way to get the Shadows to stop fighting and causing wars except by completely destroying them, the Vorlons may have reached the conclusion that the very existence of the Shadows means their philosophy can never take hold.

• Given that the old Kosh, at least according to Lyta, cared about the younger races, would he have approved of the Vorlons' change in strategy? If not, will the piece of him still alive in Sheridan try to stop the plan?

• Lyta referred to the old Kosh as "the real Kosh." What isn't real about the new Kosh? What is the new Kosh's actual name (or its human-pronounceable version?)

• Lorien's visit to B5 would seem to indicate that he, at least, still cares about the younger races. What can he do about it? Presumably he'll be able to provide valuable information, but does he have any capabilities beyond that? For example, does he have access to technology millions of years more advanced than even the Shadows and Vorlons?

  In "Whatever Happened to Mr. Garibaldi?" he appeared to have a significant presence on the "dream plane" (for lack of a better term) through which Kosh sent the dreams to Sheridan in "All Alone in the Night" and "Interludes and Examinations." It's plausible that that's where much of a Vorlon's consciousness lives; if so, Lorien may be capable of much more direct impact on the Vorlons than his physical presence implies. Whether the same is true in the Shadows' case is less clear, but the fact that the Eye at Z'ha'dum found Ivanova while she was in the Great Machine ("Voices of Authority") suggests that they too have some presence in that mode of existence.

• Destroying planets may seem excessive, but perhaps the Vorlons are doing so, rather than simply wiping out all surface life, because of the Shadows' habit of burying their ships underground ("Messages From Earth") and building cities underground ("Z'ha'dum.") They may feel that completely destroying a planet that's been visited by the Shadows is the only way to ensure that there are no surprises left behind.

• Is the current Vorlon rampage due in part to the death of the original Kosh at the hands of the Shadows? If so, there's a parallel to the Earth-Minbari War, in which, according to Delenn ("Ceremonies of Light and Dark") the Minbari went collectively mad after the death of their leader Dukhat at human hands.

• By wiping out younger races as they battle the Shadows, the Vorlons can no longer really claim to be looking after their juniors. What will the other First Ones think of that? They don't seem to be on particularly good terms with the Vorlons to begin with ("Voices of Authority") and this change in attitude may further irritate their peers. Lorien will likely be able to provide greater insight into the feelings of the other First Ones toward the Vorlons.

• If the Vorlons are truly intent on wiping out any worlds the Shadows have touched, that means they'll be targeting Mars, Centauri Prime, Earth, and B5. Depending on how recently a planet has to have had contact to be considered tainted, they may also destroy Narn. Only the Minbari seem, so far, to have never been under Shadow influence, so their homeworld may be spared.

  The only evidence so far of Shadow influence is the assassination attempt against Kosh in "The Gathering," but given that the Shadows didn't try to touch Kosh until the Vorlon offensive in "Interludes and Examinations," the hallway meeting in "Signs and Portents" notwithstanding (Kosh initiated that confrontation too) it's more likely the Minbari warriors were acting of their own volition.

• The Vorlons' new tack is somewhat ironic, given that they filed an official protest when the Centauri used mass drivers to bombard Narn from space ("The Long, Twilight Struggle.") Clearly the Vorlons don't have any qualms about attacking planets from space if they're the ones doing it.

• Since the Shadows have already come to Centauri Prime, could the blasted landscape of "War Without End, Part Two" be due to a Vorlon attack, not the doing of the Shadows? If the Vorlons attack because of the Shadow presence, that would explain Londo's bitterness toward Sheridan, who he might consider to be on the side of the Vorlons.

• Does Sheridan share the Vorlons' goal of wiping the Shadows out completely, or does he have some other plan in mind? The fact that Lorien accompanied him suggests the latter, since Lorien commented that he didn't approve of warfare among his juniors ("Whatever Happened to Mr. Garibaldi?") On the other hand, his speech to the crowd did imply that he had genocide against the Shadows in mind.

• The original Kosh tried to train Sheridan "to fight legends" ("Hunter, Prey.") But in his speech, Sheridan appeared to be setting himself up as a legend of sorts: "the only man to come back from Z'ha'dum alive." (A claim, incidentally, which isn't true; Morden and Anna were on Z'ha'dum and left alive, if changed.) His bravado seems to indicate he now sees himself as having a larger role to play than before, and validates the Shadows' view of him as a nexus ("Z'ha'dum.")

  Oddly, in "Interludes and Examinations," Sheridan pointed out to Kosh that the Vorlons were legends, or wanted to be perceived as such. Did Kosh know that eventually Sheridan might have to combat the Vorlons?

• Sheridan returned from Z'ha'dum under unknown circumstances, accompanied by an alien he won't tell anyone about. Garibaldi's whereabouts were unknown for two weeks, and he turned up in a ship that self-destructed to avoid being closely investigated. Why, then, do Delenn, Ivanova, and the others accept both of them back seemingly without question? Given the threat of implanted personalities and other modifications ("Divided Loyalties," "Z'ha'dum") the crew should at least be skeptical that both returnees are what they appear.

• Sheridan's speech from the catwalk echoes his appearance on the catwalk in the dream in "All Alone in the Night." If Garibaldi symbolized "the man in between," a description that fits Lorien at least as well as anyone else, then was the Sheridan on the catwalk "the man on the other side," presumably the other side of death? If so, Sheridan has now become that man.

• G'Kar's refusal to scream was foreshadowed in "The Parliament of Dreams." In that episode, when he was put into paingivers by the Narn assassin and tortured, he said he would rather die than cry out.

Notes

• Marcus has never been romantically involved with anyone. This was hinted at in "A Late Delivery From Avalon," in which he jokingly compared himself to Sir Galahad, the chaste knight from Arthurian legend. In "Ceremonies of Light and Dark," he told Delenn he'd lost a woman he cared a great deal for, but that's not necessarily a contradiction; he didn't say she felt the same way.

• The scene in which Ivanova asks Delenn for one of the White Star ships was originally written and filmed for "Whatever Happened to Mr. Garibaldi?" but was cut from that episode for time.

• This is the first regular episode to feature all the cast members listed in the opening credits; aside from "The Gathering," all the earlier episodes were missing at least one.

• G'Kar was whipped 39 times, because 40 would kill a Narn. That's probably a reference to the Old Testament. Deuteronomy 25:1-3 warns against whipping a man more than 40 times; more than that will cause one to lose the respect of one's brothers.

  Some renditions of the New Testament also show Jesus being whipped 39 times by Pilate, though that number doesn't appear in the Bible itself. The Apostle Paul was whipped 39 times, which was the maximum number under Jewish law, to ensure that miscounting wouldn't cause one to give more than 40 lashes.

• This is the second time Garibaldi has awakened from a traumatic event and found his commanding officer missing; Sinclair left the station while he was in a coma ("Revelations.")

jms speaks

• About Londo and Vir deferring to each other before the G'Kar torture scene
  It's the roller coaster theory: if you move someone to horror or fear or shock from a neutral place, the emotional jump is less than if they're laughing...then suddenly you whipsaw them into the absolute emotional opposite.

• A planet-busting weapon is so improbable as to be more magic than technology.
  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.

• If the Shadows and Vorlons are so far advanced, why haven't the Shadows wiped everyone out already, including B5?
  Because up until now, they haven't been out to destroy everyone, that's not the point...you can't sow chaos if there's no one around in which to sow that chaos. And they may have some ideas on how B5 could be turned to their advantage....

• 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.

• I don't see it really as a change of heart...they've always been very ruthless in their way. Remember, it was the Vorlons who simply decided to off Deathwalker in first season.

  There's some amount of escalation going on, obviously, which will be explained a bit more in upcoming episodes, but they've always been this way, it's your perception of them that's at odds. You fell for what they wanted you to see them to be.

• Who's the worse enemy, the Shadows or the Vorlons?
  Who is the greater foe?

  It is always the one closest to where you live.

• About the original Kosh
  Certainly he came to care about us more than the vorlons intended.

• Kosh can keep secrets from Lyta when she's carrying him. Can she do the same?
  She can keep secrets a little...but not if he pushes.

• Was Sheridan's uniform different?
  No, that's the funny thing...I've seen a number of posts about how his uniform was changed, but it *wasn't*. It was exactly the same outfit right out of the wardrobe closet...not sewn, not cleaned, just dusted off a bit, by hand, the way he might've upon coming in. You can clearly see that the sleeve is still torn as he's up there.

  All I can figure is that the red Z'ha'dum lighting made it look a lot worse than it was.

• Is Ivanova's hug a sign she's attracted to Sheridan?
  No, it was just relief, letting her guard down, allowing herself to feel, which she hadn't done much before this. There's no romantic interest there. You can have situations where men and women work together, and can care about one another, without it turning into more than that.

  Men seem to understand this less often than women.

• Sheridan seemed a lot more belligerent, and seemed to be suggesting genocide against the Shadows.
  Yup, I'd say it's very likely that some people close to Sheridan are going to be wondering about his attitude...and maybe even acting on it.

• Someone should get outraged...and will. It's simply a matter of picking the right time and place to *do* something with it.

• Certainly there will be some people who will wonder exactly the same thing you do, within the context of the show...and wonder if Sheridan's gone too far, gotten too messianic in his approach....

  Ah, the fun never stops....

Last update: May 27, 2024