####Overview

G’Kar asks Sheridan to intervene militarily on behalf of the Narns; Ivanova tries to institute an ambassadorship with a visiting alien.
####Guest Stars

Paul Williams as Taq. Ian Abercrombie as Correlilmerzon.
####Lurk

http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/synops/034.html
####Backplot

The Narn pushed the Centauri off their world through a war of attrition, so it was no longer worth the Centauri’s effort to stay — open, direct warfare is new to them.
####Unanswered Questions

What was that gift?

Will the Lumati’s alliance with Earth be significant?
####Analysis

The situation between the Narn and the Centauri on Babylon 5 seems destined to explode sooner or later, even if things were quelled the first time. If one side begins to lose badly, revenge will be a natural reaction. Perhaps it will be just such an incident that pushes Earth into taking sides, assuming that’s going to happen.

It also seems like only a matter of time before the Minbari smuggling operation is discovered; eventually it’s plausible that the Centauri will get sick of the Minbari nosing around in the middle of war zones, though they may decide they don’t want to risk fighting them. How much trouble Sheridan will be in if his plan is discovered remains to be seen.

Given the Lumati’s feelings about natural selection, it’s unclear how desirable they’ll be as allies. If Earth needs help, they might well decide that that means humans are inferior, and withhold their aid.
####Notes

In keeping with his newfound importance, Londo’s outfit has changed slightly; it is crisper, darker, with a slightly more military look.

On a more editorial note, this episode is arguably the first to drive home how different the situation is now than it’s been in the past. The dark undercurrents that have always been present in the series begin to surface here, in the form of G’Kar’s desperation, Londo’s casual lack of concern over the killing and his calm assurance that the Centauri will defeat the Narn, Sheridan’s loss of composure with G’Kar, and the general sense of hostility around the station.

The Lumati’s arrogant attitude toward other species bears some resemblance to Star Trek’s Prime Directive.

####Overview

Sheridan is kidnapped and taken to an alien ship. The Grey Council decides Delenn’s fate. General Hague makes an unofficial visit to the station.
####Guest Stars

Robert Foxworth as General Hague. Marshall Teague as the Narn.
####Lurk

http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/synops/033.html
####Backplot

The Minbari have installed a new leader.

Sheridan’s appointment to Babylon 5 was more than a coincidence. He was picked by Santiago, who knew that his record made him look like a hard-nosed military man, just the sort Santiago suspected Clark would want to replace Sinclair with. But Santiago also knew that Sheridan was a patriot who would stand against the forces seeking to undermine the Earth government. In his first months on the station, Sheridan’s real assignment was to evaluate the crew, find out who could be trusted.

General Hague, and others, are working to expose the machinations behind Santiago’s death and other recent events. They suspect the Psi-Corps is behind the conspiracy, but so far have been unable to prove anything. Alit Neroon (head of the Star Riders clan, cf. [[Legacies]]) has replaced Delenn on the Grey Council.
####Unanswered Questions

Sheridan’s dream is a big unanswered question, lent weight by Kosh’s comment after Sheridan’s return. See Analysis.

Why was Neroon appointed to the Council?

What does Delenn think is about to happen? Why does she believe she is about to descend into darkness and fire?

Is the foray by the Streibs related to what the Shadows are doing, or is it just coincidental timing?

How did the Narn know so much about the Streibs and their ship?

What was done to Sheridan? He was left with three scars on his face, one of them on his forehead. Might he be carrying an implant of some sort now?
####Analysis

Neroon’s appointment to the council is troublesome. Presumably new members are approved by majority vote. The three warrior-caste members probably voted for him; that means one or two of the remaining five members must have voted for him as well, probably from the worker caste.

Valen’s wishes seem to be held in less than the highest regard by some Minbari.

With four members, the warrior caste now effectively controls the Grey Council. On any issue they need only win over one other member to have a majority. It is unclear how far the Council’s power extends now that a new leader has been installed, and that leader conceivably sides with the religious caste, but it looks like hard times have arrived for Delenn’s compatriots.

That being the case, how does this mesh with Sinclair’s gathering of rangers? (cf. [[The Coming of Shadows]]) Some of them, recall, are Minbari.

Are they primarily religious caste? Is there enough difference of opinion within the warrior caste about humans that he’s able to attract warriors?

We never actually hear Sheridan’s answer to Hague, though it is probably “yes.” If it isn’t, Sheridan’s meeting with the rest of the command staff may be a ruse to draw Hague’s people out into the open — on the assumption that Hague will try to work via one of the others — and expose the counterconspiracy. Sheridan’s possible link with Psi-Corps (see below and [[A Race Through Dark Places]]) makes this at least a plausible There’s more to the dream sequence than is apparent at first glance, and it’s chock full of ambiguities. A shot-by-shot rundown with analysisscenario, if an unlikely one.

Another, simpler, possible interpretation follows the rundown:

1. Sheridan is in his quarters, in uniform. The lights are out.
2. Ivanova is in the quarters with him, in uniform, hair draped over her left shoulder. The door is open. She raises her fingers to her lips and says, “Shh.” Analysis: Someone or something has entered Sheridan’s mind to give him a message, and is warning him to watch and listen, not try to participate. The “something” might also simply be part of Sheridan’s own subconscious. This probably relates to Kosh’s answer to Sheridan’s first question.
3. Sheridan looks confused.
4. Ivanova, now with a raven perched on her right shoulder, says, “Do you know who I am?” Analysis: The raven is typically symbolic of death; Ivanova may represent destruction, perhaps eventually siding with the forces of darkness. In older literature, the raven was often a thief, rather than a harbinger of death.
5. Sheridan looks to his right, and finds himself in a Babylon 5 corridor. He looks up.
6. On a catwalk, in harsh lighting, gripping the railing, is another Sheridan. He looks to his right. Analysis: It’s unclear what kind of uniform the Sheridan on the catwalk is wearing; possibly a Psi-Cop uniform. The angle of the shot is similar to Sinclair’s first view of Knight Two in “And the Sky Full of Stars.” This Sheridan perhaps represents another side of Sheridan’s personality (more on that below.)
7. Garibaldi, also apparently on the catwalk, is in uniform and has a dove(?) on his left shoulder. “The man in between is searching for you,” he says. Analysis: “The man in between” may refer to the Sheridan on the catwalk, a part of Sheridan that isn’t sure which side it should be on. Of course, it could be a reference to someone else entirely: someone between light and darkness, for instance. (Sinclair?) As for Garibaldi’s dove, the dove is traditionally a symbol of peace, perhaps implying that Garibaldi will work to stop the Great War. [[Babylon Squared]] strongly suggests that Garibaldi will ally himself with the side of light.
8. Ivanova, in a veil and black dress, is standing behind Sheridan, who is now wearing a turtleneck and a jacket. Analysis: This funereal garb lends some weight to the idea that Ivanova represents death. (It really is Ivanova, though some readers have disagreed; see jms speaks.)
9. As he turns, we get a brief glimpse of a metal pin on the left breast of his jacket: a Psi-Corps badge. And in fact, his jacket appears to be the uniform of a Psi-Cop, with the leather strap down the right side in front. Analysis: Sheridan’s change of clothes is perhaps the most ominous part of the entire sequence. Combined with Bester’s comment in [[A Race Through Dark Places]] that he was told to expect Sheridan to be sympathetic to the Psi-Corps, it suggests some yet-to-be-revealed connection between Sheridan and the Corps, something that may cause a conflict of interest as he works with Hague’s people.
10. Ivanova, still veiled, says, “You are the hand.” Analysis: Hands abound in Babylon 5, from Kosh’s hand in [[The Gathering]] to Londo’s dream hand in “The Coming of Shadows.” Presumably Ivanova isn’t referring to Kosh’s hand. If she is referring to the hand from Londo’s dream, it suggests that Sheridan will become a pawn in Londo’s machinations; recall Elric’s comment in [[The Geometry of Shadows]] — the hand reaching out across the stars is Londo’s. Alternately, if Sheridan’s Psi-Cop uniform is taken to mean that he’s symbolic of Psi-Corps as a whole, perhaps she means that Psi-Corps, not Sheridan, is the hand. Or, more sinister, that Sheridan is unknowingly acting on behalf of the Psi-Corps, perhaps as the result of some mental conditioning (which would explain Bester’s comment at the end of “A Race Through Dark Places.”)
11. Kosh is standing behind Sheridan in the corridor; Sheridan is back in his normal uniform. Sheridan starts to turn toward him.
12. In what seems like a simple switch of camera angles, Sheridan now appears to be sitting down in front of a backlit wall with an organic look not unlike that of the Streib ship’s interior. “Why are you here?” he asks. Analysis: The change of scenery suggests that “here” refers to a different place or time or context than the rest of the sequence. Perhaps the question means, “Why are the Vorlons involving themselves with the other races?” Of course, it could mean what it looks like: “Why are you in my dream?”
13. “We were never away,” Kosh answers from the corridor. “For the first time your mind is quiet enough to hear me.” Analysis: Depending on the meaning of Sheridan’s question, the answer says different things. If the former refers to the Vorlons in general, the answer can be taken to mean, “We’ve only just allowed you to notice us.” The second part of the answer suggests that Sheridan’s question refers to the dream, though. See below for a possible explanation of this question and the rest of the dream. Also note that Kosh uses both “we” and [[me]] — see jms speaks.
14. Sheridan is back in the corridor, standing. “Why am I here?” he asks, in a tone that makes the question sound unconnected to the previous one. Analysis: Again, it’s unclear what “here” means. Babylon 5? The dream? His circumstances?
15. “You have always been here,” answers Kosh. Analysis: Kosh’s repetition of this statement after Sheridan’s return may mean it is very important; or perhaps Kosh was indirectly telling Sheridan that the dream wasn’t a simple construct of his subconscious. (Of course, Kosh might have read Sheridan’s mind outside medlab and pulled the line from Sheridan’s memory of the dream.) As for the meaning of the line itself, only time will tell. “You” might refer to Sheridan himself, or to some group (e.g. the human race) of which Sheridan is a part.

Another way of looking at the dream sequence, more metaphysical, is that Sheridan entered a psychic continuum, an astral plane, for lack of a better term. That makes many of the comments less ambiguous:

• “We were never away. For the first time your mind is quiet enough to hear me.” This is the first time Sheridan has been in a mental state to consciously recognize the plane; Kosh and everyone else have always been there to some degree.
• “You have always been here.” Sheridan has always had some presence in this psychic world; he just hasn’t been able to consciously recognize it.
• “The man in between” refers to someone between the physical and spiritual worlds. Perhaps the Sheridan in the sequence is Sheridan’s spiritual side, and “the man in between” is Sheridan, searching for his higher soul.
• Ivanova and Garibaldi, as shown in the sequence, are either the projections into this other world of the real people, or are abstractions for something else (darkness and light?)
• Sheridan’s Psi-Cop uniform may mean that the Corps plays a part in bridging the physical and astral worlds.

####Notes

The Streibs are probably a reference to Whitley Strieber, whose popular book “Communion” dealt with alien abduction.

Effects glitch: When Ramirez’ damaged Starfury jumps back to normal space, the vortex is orange, not blue as it normally is when a ship is arriving.

Marshall Teague, the Narn, also played Nelson Drake, the assistant turned living weapon, in “Infection.”

Ravens and doves, from the King James Bible:

• And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made; and he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth. Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground; but the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth; and then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark. And he stayed yet another seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark; and the dove came in to him in the evening; and lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off; so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth. And he stayed yet another seven days, and sent forth the dove, which returned not again unto him any more. –Genesis 8:6-12
• And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word. And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.
• So he went and did according to the word of the Lord; for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook. –1 Kings 17:1-6

Some raven references in various other mythologies:

• Hugin and Munin: Odin’s two ravens (thought and memory)
• Kurkil: Mongol creator god who flew to create the Earth and mankind
• Mictla or Mictlantecuhtli: Aztec god who rules the underworld
• Moragga: Celtic. The incarnation of the Goddess as war.
• Raven: Amerindian creator and trickster god. Created all living creatures out of wood and clay. Similar to Coyote.
• Yangwu: Chinese. The sun-crow.
• Yetl: Amerindian. The thunder-raven who dragged the flooded earth above the water.
• In Japanese culture, the dove symbolizes war because doves were used as messengers during battles.

####Overview

Dr. Franklin’s father arrives, leading 25,000 ground pounding soldiers on the station. The troops’ arrival elicits fear from both humans and non-humans that the troops may be going on a secret mission that will involve the station becoming an armed camp.
####Guest Stars

Paul Winfield as Gen. Richard Franklin.
####Lurk

http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/synops/032.html
####Backplot

Dr. Franklin’s father is an Earth Alliance military hero, a veteran of the Dilgar war and several internal conflicts on Earth. He was rarely around for his children when they were growing up; when he was around, he tried to run the family like a boot camp.

With the advent of the Narn-Centauri war, the Earth Alliance is trying to solidify its hold on several strategic sectors near both, in anticipation of the day when Earth will have to choose sides.

Sheridan served a tour of duty on the planet Akdor, in a system bordering on both Narn and Centauri space.

Garibaldi’s father, Alfredo, served under General Franklin in the Dilgar war, and was a well-regarded soldier.
####Unanswered Questions

####Analysis

Babylon 5 is now heavily armed, ready to take on a warship. Which raises the question: why wasn’t it before? Mere shortsightedness on the part of the designers — a station like Babylon 5 seems a natural target — or something else? Even if there originally didn’t seem any need to heavily arm the station, the attacks on the station in [[Signs and Portents]] and “A Voice in the Wilderness, part 2” should have demonstrated that B5 will come under attack from time to time.

On the other hand, Franklin did say that the station was being upgraded with the latest from Earth Force R&D, so maybe its previous weapons were simply the best the previous generation of technology had to offer. Budget constraints may have also played a role.

The tail end of the news broadcast mentions that more divisions of Earth troops will join the 356th on Akdor. That implies some sort of permanent presence on the planet itself, as opposed to just “in the system” as General Franklin mentioned.

Delenn’s transformation doesn’t appear to be getting the widespread publicity one might expect; the troops didn’t seem to recognize her at all. Perhaps they simply don’t follow the news.
####Notes

[[GROPOS]] stands for “ground pounders” and refers to the Earth Alliance’s equivalent of the U.S. Marines. In fact, the term “Earth Force Marine Corps” was contained in the Gropos’ marching song.

####Overview

When the Centauri emperor visits the station, Sheridan tries to keep G’Kar from going after him. Londo and Refa plot to expand their power. A mysterious man seeks out Garibaldi.

Winner of the 1996 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation.
####Guest Stars

Turhan Bey as the Centauri Emperor. Malachi Throne as the Centauri Prime Minister. William Forward as Refa.
####Lurk

http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/synops/031.html
####Backplot

Sheridan joined the Earth military a few years before the Earth-Minbari War. A planetary draft was established during the war.

The Centauri have sent many ships into Vorlon space; none have returned, but strange stories about the Vorlons have found their way back to the Centauri homeworld.

Sinclair’s duties on the Minbari homeworld extend far beyond normal ambassadorial functions. He is taking part in the preparation for the fight against the great darkness that many of the Minbari believe is approaching. To that end, he is in command of a small army of “rangers” — individuals, Minbari and human, who roam the frontier, gathering information too sensitive to report back via normal channels.

The Centauri Emperor employs four telepaths, linked since birth; when he leaves the royal court, two accompany him and two stay behind, so he and his representatives at the court are constantly aware of each other’s circumstances.
####Unanswered Questions

What is the meaning of Londo’s dream? (see Analysis)

Why is Sinclair in charge of the rangers? Is he the only one in control, or is he a piece of a much larger chain of command?

How did the rangers get started? How are they expanding? What or who is drawing them to Minbar, and how?

Why does Sinclair think Garibaldi should stay close to the Vorlon? How much does he know, and how long has he known it? (Recall that in [[The Gathering]] Delenn gave Sinclair information about the Vorlons, though it’s not clear how complete or accurate it was.)

Will Londo become emperor some day?

What will the Narn’s first move against the Centauri be?

What did the Emperor know about Vorlons that caused him to want to ask Kosh his question? What does the question mean? (see Analysis)
####Analysis

When the two telepaths on Centauri Prime entered the throne room, a human and two Minbari were talking to the prime minister. Most likely they were there on unrelated business, but it’s possible they were rangers, there to gather information. (See jms speaks)

As soon as Londo lied about what the Emperor told him, the two veiled telepaths exchanged a look and left the room hastily. It may be that they knew he was lying; whether they’ll tell anyone, and if so what impact that will have, remains to be seen.

Kosh seems to have a perception that extends into the future; or perhaps he is simply basing his comment on the results of the last great war against the Shadows.

Londo’s dream, which has been foreshadowed from day one ([[Midnight on the Firing Line]]) contains a lot of information, if it’s to be taken literally.

The hand seems a clear reference to the “great hand, reaching out across the stars” as seen by Elric in “The Geometry of Shadows.” If so, the hand is Londo’s. Presumably it is a metaphor for his expanding power and influence.

Londo stands in the middle of fine sand, a desert (or perhaps decimated ruins; witness the dead vegitation and patterns in the sand) and watches several Shadow ships fly overhead. This appears to be on Centauri Prime. He is dressed in his ambassadorial uniform and appears to be roughly the same age as in the present. One implication is that the Shadows will either attack Centauri Prime or (more likely) come to its defense. It should also be noted that Londo has never seen a Shadow ship in the present. One reader suggests that Londo’s expression can be interpreted as Londo looking on, helpless, as a great evil is done; for the first time realizing who’s really the pawn in his relationship with the Shadows.

When Londo receives the crown, he is again not much older than in the present, possibly slightly older than when he’s observing the Shadow ships. Perhaps he is crowned after calling in the Shadows to help defend Centauri Prime. (Of course, the new Emperor would have to be dead first.) The person crowning him appears to be fairly old.

Much later — twenty years, give or take — Londo, in white Imperial attire, sits in the throne and looks around, face filled with regret or resignation. Nobody else is visible, and the throne room seems bare compared to the scene at the beginning of the episode. It’s as if everything has been lost; he is Emperor, but Emperor of nothing, perhaps of a dead world.

Then he sees G’Kar, also aged 20 years, face half-covered by a strip of black cloth. The two try to strangle each other. Londo appears to go limp as the dream ends; presumably he is dying. The cloth across G’Kar’s face appears to cover an injury; he may be missing his left eye.

Londo’s old age in the last scene suggests that it takes place around the same time as the attempt to snatch Babylon 4 through time (cf. “Babylon Squared.”) Sinclair seemed to have aged about the same amount, though of course humans and Centauri may age at different rates, and something may have caused Sinclair to age prematurely. But barring those two factors, it suggests that the war is still raging at the time of Londo’s strangulation, and that it will last at least twenty years.

It’s also worth noting that the dream contained only one spoken line, from “Chrysalis:” “Keep this up, G’Kar, and soon you won’t have a planet to protect.” (It was spoken over a scene from “Midnight on the Firing Line.”)

Londo may well be serious when he tells Vir he has no wish to become emperor; his premonition may have convinced him that it’d be bad to seek the position. But the vision remains; he may find himself taking the throne in spite of himself down the road.

The state of G’Kar’s left eye may be a reference to Norse mythology, in which the god Odin gives up his left eye for wisdom.

“It’s a small price to pay for immortality,” says Refa. A reference to everlasting fame? The Centauri propensity for elevating emperors to godhood? (cf. [[Chrysalis]])

The emperor’s question implies that he was in on something that isn’t general knowledge, possibly something about the Vorlons. One explanation may lie in dreams; perhaps the emperor’s death dream (according to Londo in “Midnight on the Firing Line,” such dreams are commonplace among the Centauri) told him that a war would begin after his death. Why he thought Kosh would know how the war would end — assuming the war is what the question referred to — is still an open question, though. (See jms speaks)

Along similar lines, why did the emperor speak his dying words to Londo, rather than Refa? Did he know what Londo was really up to, or was he simply guessing that Londo was likely the catalyst who would bring his empire into war, based on Londo’s handling of Quadrant 37 in [[Chrysalis]]?

The Narn government apparently approved of G’Kar’s would-be assassination attempt, even though he lied about it in his will; presumably he wanted to protect his people from revenge attacks by the Centauri.

####Notes

The script for this episode is printed in its entirety in JMS’ “The Complete Book of Scriptwriting,” ISBN 0-89879-512-5, published by Writer’s Digest Books.

The votes for the Hugo Award were as follows. The two numbers listed are number of nominations received and final number of votes cast.

####Overview

Bester asks Talia to investigate an “underground railroad” of unregistered telepaths.
####Guest Stars

Walter Koenig as Bester.
####Lurk

http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/synops/030.html
####Backplot

Michael Garibaldi says, “The Corps got started because of our own fears.” The sudden appearance of real psi abilities in otherwise unremarkable people caused so much concern among the general population that those showing such talents were gathered together into a group that could be more easily controlled — and Psi-Corps was born. Its members are deeply conditioned to prevent any psi from using his or her talents to dominate normal people or disrupt society. But this conditioning isn’t absolute, and attitudes molded early in life can still evolve over a persons lifetime.

Given that psis were forced into this essentially closed society, shunned by the rest of humanity, it isn’t surprising that the loyalties of the telepaths turned to the Corps itself. Soon Psi-Corps gained control of itself, and eventually the organization began pursuing its own goals. The leadership began to exert ever greater control over the lives of the members, in an effort to enhance the abilities of their people.

The level of control exerted by the Corps over its members grew as they began seeking to enhance the abilities of their people, extending even to marriage and reproduction. Eventually the onus became too great and too pervasive for newly awakened psis to tolerate, and they began seeking ways to escape. The Psi-Cops exist to counter this, to search for and either capture or eliminate psi talented people who escaped early detection or who fled Psi-Corps.

Now the Corps has become a power in its own right. Though the organization was intended to keep psis under control, it has itself come under the control of those very people. As a group, they must feel seperate and different if not outright superior to the rest of society, and who have long been held in a position of subservience. They are organized, ruthless, and determined to pursue their own agenda.

“We created our own monster.” — John Sheridan
####Unanswered Questions

Where have all the unregistered psis been going?

How long has this “underground railroad” been running?

We see Ivanova giving Sheridan his morning briefing, and in it she says that B5 has been running in the red for a while because, “there’s been a lot of Earth Force military transports coming through.” Where were they going?

Has Talia turned completely against the Corps?

Why, and by whom, was Bester told that Sheridan would be sympathetic to the Psi-Corps?

How much did Talia tell Ivanova about the situation, and about what’s happened to her?

“What am I?” “The future.” What does that mean? The future of telepaths? Of humans in general? Does it refer to Talia’s new powers, to the fact that she’s now likely to work against Psi-Corps from within, or something else? Is there even more to Ironheart’s gift?

Will Bester notice that his gun was never actually fired?
####Analysis

The core of Psi-Corps indoctrination was summed up by Bester.

You were raised by the Corps,
Clothed by the Corps.
We are your father,
And your mother.

What Psi-Corps has become was also demonstrated by Bester. Standing with another Psi-Cop, he looks down at a captured rogue telepath who he has just forcibly mind-scanned. “He’s dead,” the other Psi-Cop says. “It doesn’t matter,” Bester replies, apparently assuming she was concerned he wouldn’t be able to read the man any more. Talia doesn’t see this, since it happened on Mars Colony, but she does meet a stream of rogues who are on B5, in transit through the “underground railroad.” From them she learns, first hand and with undeniable truth, that the experience she has had with the Corps is far from unique. Indeed, her experiences were mild compared to the stories she hears. Abductions. Experiments. Breeding programs that don’t rely on volunteers for subjects. And as a telepath speaking to telepaths, she can’t avoid the full truth and force of the events she hears.

How can a Psi-Corps operative turn against the Corps? The impossibility of it is clear: The highest rated, strongest telepaths are “turned into” Psi-Cops. When the guardians are stronger than everyone else, how do you turn against them? Unless you are truly exceptional like Matthew Stoner in [[Soul Mates]] you can only flee, immediately, before someone else scans you and reads your intention. Matthew Stoner may or may not have eluded the clutches of Psi-Corps for a time, but in the end he was firmly returned to them. Talia Winters’ whole life experience tells her that she cannot turn against the Corps, no matter what her opinions may be about the integrity or intentions of the organization.

But several events changed her mind about this — and it was not the tales of woe told by the folks in the underground railroad, though they undoubtedly inclined her toward rebellion. What allowed her to rebel was the realization that her shields were much stronger than she thought they were. A year ago Jason Ironheart, a victim of Psi-Corps experimentation, visited the station (cf. [[Mind War]].) He became something vastly powerful, and departed. But before he left, he gave his onetime love Talia Winters a gift, the very thing that Psi-Corps was trying to induce in him: telekinesis. And the strength to keep that gift secret.

Talia’s telekinetic powers are at least somewhat stronger than suggested at the end of [[Mind War]]. She can not only move her penny with her thoughts — she can cause it to fly across the room with enough force to embed itself in the wall.

Telepaths can combine their powers through physical contact. What are the limits to such unions? Would a hundred linked telepaths begin to approach some of Ironheart’s power, or perhaps become greater than just a collection of individuals? Does this perhaps have something to do with the Minbari prophecy suggesting that humans are destined to walk among the stars? (cf. [[Babylon Squared]])

Or it could simply be that by touching, the telepaths were able to help each other focus their individual energies; that’s supported by the railroad leader’s comment that what they did shouldn’t have worked.

The “Underground Railroad.” The timeline of the underground railroad stretches back to before B5. There is a group of people that have actively been working to keep people with psi ability out of Psi-Corps. Dr. Franklin implied that it was mostly doctors, and it makes sense that their ability to alter or manipulate medical and genetic records would make them logical and necessary members. But there is no reason to assume that the organization is comprised solely of doctors.

Dr. Franklin was a member before he came to Babylon 5. When Jason Ironheart came to B5 he brought with him another rogue, who disappeared into downbelow while Jason went through his spectacular confrontation with Bester and his subsequent transformation. This unnamed telepath (who we’ve met before, in [[Chrysalis]]) apparently contacted Dr. Franklin. Between them, they extended the underground railroad through B5 — though where the rogues were going after B5 is unclear. Nor is it clear that Dr. Franklin will actually put a stop to the railroad. Dr. Franklin’s answers to Captain Sheridan’s demand that he put a stop to it were quite evasive. The telepaths actually at the station agreed to leave, which they intended to do anyway. Dr. Franklin admitted that his part in it was over, and that others would have to take over — but he never actually said it would stop.

Ironically, the person Garibaldi first suspected was aiding the railroad was Ivanova. He was wrong. She wasn’t connected to it. But neither was Talia at the time. Now Talia is talking to Ivanova. What did they discuss, alone and late at night in Ivanova’s quarters?

Did Ironheart’s unnamed friend have ulterior motives when he put Garibaldi onto Devereaux’ trail in [[Chrysalis]]? There’s evidence the Corps was involved in Santiago’s death (cf. [[Revelations]]) so it’s plausible the man knew something of the plot, and wanted to foil it without revealing himself.

Along similar lines, Bester’s request to Talia that she keep an eye on Sheridan and the others for their reactions to President Santiago’s death implies that he knows something other than an accident occurred, even that he (or someone he’s associated with) was involved. His offhand comment that he’d been told Sheridan would be sympathetic to the Psi-Corps also implies that there may be more to Sheridan’s appointment as head of Babylon 5 than meets the eye.

“Who’d have thought?” John Sheridan asks Ambassador Delenn. He was speaking at the time about the common trait of laughter, shared by humans and Minbari, but he could equally have been speaking of the whole scene. A human ship captain, commanding a giant station on the fringe of human controlled space, having a quiet dinner with the Minbari ambassador — who also happens to be a member of their ruling body and who is also, to some degree “half-human.” Moreover, she has apparently chosen him to teach her about humanity on a personal level. How personal this can get… who can say?

Finally, there is a telepath who can operate on the side of the “good guys.” True, there are all the telepaths who have passed through the “underground railroad,” but they are untrained or at best, trained but fleeing. Talia is fully trained and Psi-Corps doesn’t know that she has turned–and she is strong enough to maintain her independence. It’s likely she will be a very important player now, and her personality may develop in new directions now that she isn’t under the heavy hand of Psi-Corps.
####Notes

This episode takes place in March, 2259, three months into Sheridan’s tour of duty with B5.

There is a subthread in this episode about lack of sleep. Bester gets Talia out of bed, Talia gets Ivanova out of bed, and Ivanova and Sheridan spend a night sacked out in his office (he in his chair, she on the couch). Coincidence?

“Knock Knock” (who’s there) “Kosh” (Kosh who?) “Gesundheit!” — Sheridan

Judy Levitt, who plays the Psi Cop opposite Bester in the scene on Mars, is Walter Koenig’s wife.

Production gaffe: In the scene outside Earhart’s, when Delenn is asking Sheridan to dinner, a boom microphone is visible for an instant at the top of the screen.

####Overview

Londo summons his three wives to Babylon 5. A mysterious man from Talia’s past reappears.
####Guest Stars

Jane Carr as Timov. Lois Nettleton as Daggair. Blair Valk as Mariel. Keith Szarabajka as Matthew Stoner. (Originally titled “Pestilence, Famine and Death.”)
####Lurk

http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/synops/029.html
####Backplot

Centauri culture is built largely on family stature, and virtually all of an individual’s position and influence derive from the relative standing of the family. Links between families can be very important, and marriages are the primary way of forging these links. Marriages are almost always arranged by the families for the benefit of the families, regardless of the wishes (if any) of the Centauri being married. Londo’s marriages are notoriously bad. Indeed, he calls his three wives Pestilence, Famine and Death, and it’s been hinted that he took a post to Babylon 5, a post where he knew he’d be forced to concede defeat after defeat to the hated Narn, simply to escape the three of them.

The control Psi-Corps maintains over its members is quite pervasive, extending to all levels of their personal lives. In one respect they are similar to the Centauri — they arrange marriages between their members. This, coupled with the fact that all persons showing any psi talent at all are pressed into the Corps or nullified, makes them a budding closed society. Most importantly, once in Psi-Corps you are theirs forever, and they can do anything with you they want.
####Unanswered Questions

Why do G’Kar and Mariel know each other? What’s been going on in the past with the two of them?

Why did Psi-Corps dissolve the marriage between Stoner and Talia?
####Analysis

Stoner is a puzzle. Did he really ever leave Psi-Corps? He is a strong projective empath. He may be a receptive empath as well–but since he treats people rather poorly this doesn’t seem very likely…at best it’s unproven. Given his talent he could have manipulated the people around him from the very beginning, up to and including letting him leave. His claim that he lost his talent altogether is disproven rather quickly by a group of amateurs. Psi-Corps scientists working on modifying psi talents would have been very difficult to fool. On the whole, it’s most likely that Sheridan is right, and Stoner was actively working for Psi-Corps all along.

At first glance, one might wonder why on Earth Stoner would be in on a plot to kill Londo. G’Kar notes to Mariel that Stoner just happened to bring the artifact onboard on the eve of Londo’s ascension anniversary, which would be too staggering a coincidence, if it had been booby-trapped from the start. However:

G’Kar may have been behind the plot to kill Londo. In the scene where Mariel notices his boots, just before he walks off, G’Kar tosses something small to her. Perhaps it’s just a grape, since he was picking them from the table. Or it could be a set of poison darts to load into the statue. If so, Stoner is even more innocent than he claims to Sheridan and Garibaldi; the statue really was completely harmless when he brought it aboard. However:

G’Kar later says to Mariel, “Mysteries give me a pain.” And the only way that he can ease the pain is to decipher the mystery. He then goes on to describe the situation with Mariel and Londo as the mystery that he had to solve. If so, then he was uninvolved in the attempt on Londo — which again raises the question: What did G’Kar toss to Mariel?

If G’Kar was involved, perhaps G’Kar knows what Londo is up to with the Shadows and wants to assassinate him for that reason, or perhaps it’s just the general enmity between the two. Or maybe the whole thing was Mariel’s idea and G’Kar merely gave her the means.

Whatever the answer to “who knew what, and when?” the relationships remain. G’Kar knows Mariel well enough to have a private and informal discussion with her, and he may have been involved in the plot to kill Londo. Stoner (and by extension Psi-Corps) may know Mariel, and may also have been involved in the plot to kill Londo — at least insofar as Stoner delivered the instrument of his (near) death.

Talia’s relationship to Psi-Corps is called into question here on both ends. First, it’s clear that she is completely disillusioned with the corps. She confesses to Garibaldi that Psi-Corps frightens her. She is presumably deeply conditioned, but her loyalties are wavering despite this. On the other side of the equation, if Stoner is still Corps then his offer to her is also on the behest of Psi-Corps. Did her actions during [[A Spider in the Web]] bring her to the attention of Bureau 13? And if so, are they trying to unofficially take her out of the picture?

Though it at first glance might appear to be a comedic throwaway line, Delenn’s final complaint may actually be the most important revelation of the entire episode. It implies that her transformation has given her a human reproductive system. Possibly that was even the point of the transformation; if indeed the change was made to bring humans and Minbari closer together, a child born of a human father and a Minbari mother might be considered a powerful link by some.

Which, of course, begs the question: who does she intend the father to be, if this is what she has in mind? Sinclair seems an obvious choice, given the evidence that she believes him to be the reincarnation of a great Minbari soul (cf. “Soul Hunter,” among others.)

Psi Corps seems to be big on assigning companions. In addition to Stoner, Talia was assigned a support officer, Abby, during her first year at the Psi Corps center when she was a girl (“A Spider in the Web.”)
####Notes

The name of Timov’s father, “Alghul,” means “The Demon” in Arabic. It may also be connected to the comic book character Ras Al-Ghul (“Head of the Demon”) from the Batman series, debatably the Batman’s most dangerous foe. Ras’ daughter, Talia, has been the Batman’s lover, and is the mother of his child. In any case, Londo has remained married to the daughter of “The Demon,” appropriate given his recent acquaintances.

####Overview

Talia is caught in a treacherous web of intrigue after she witnesses a murder. (Originally titled “A Trick of the Mind”)
####Guest Stars

Adrienne Barbeau as Amanda Carter. Michael Beck as Abel Horn. Jessica Walter as Senator Voudreau.
####Lurk

http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/synops/028.html
####Backplot

Talia’s first assignment was on Mars Colony, where she scanned several members of the radical group Free Mars (cf. “A Voice in the Wilderness.”)

Sheridan is a conspiracy buff; he collects information about all sorts of black projects and secret organizations.

After the last rebellion, the Mars Conglomerate, a powerful group of business interests, nearly pulled out of Mars.

In the 2230s, the Earth Alliance began experimenting with electronic brain implants. The experiments were unsuccessful because the machines couldn’t operate in conjunction with conscious thought. Later, after the project was officially closed down, a group within the Earth Alliance began trying a different approach. They took people who were nearly dead and, with telepathic deep scans by one or more members of Psi Corps, fixated the subjects’ minds on the moments of their deaths, blocking out all other conscious thought. That allowed the implants to operate as long as the subjects remained fixated.

A secret group within the Earth government called Bureau 13 is deeply involved in, if not responsible for, the continuation of the experiments. Bureau 13 has at least one officially deceased PsiCop in its employ, possibly even its head.
####Unanswered Questions

Who is the Bureau 13 “Control” Officer on B5?

If the cyber-experiments failed, what is Abbut, the “vicker” from “Deathwalker?”

Is “Abbey,” Talia’s mentor from her first year in Psi Corps, the Bureau 13 PsiCop?

The station’s computer system has a secret override built in which Bureau 13 has access to. What, if any, other subversions are in place on Babylon 5?

What role, if any, will the T’Kar play in the future, assuming they decide to come to Babylon 5? What’s so special about them?

What did Sheridan learn when he was on the T’Kar ship?
####Analysis

Since Talia scanned Free Mars members, it’s reasonable to assume that Psi-Corps is still doing so. Why, then, were they apparently caught unawares by the rebellion in “A Voice in the Wilderness?” In that episode, the Psi-Corps representative expressed surprise at the size and well-equipped nature of Free Mars, something that presumably would have been discovered during the course of scans. Either some within Psi-Corps are actively hiding such information from the rest of the Corps (and from Earth) or Free Mars is run very tightly and almost no members know enough to compromise the organization as a whole.

Sheridan’s interest in secret organizations and conspiracies may explain why he was so ready to believe in an assassination plot against the President (cf. “Revelations.”) Most other people seem to believe the accident cover story (cf. comic “In Darkness Find Me.”)

What about Abbut, the “Vicker” or “VCR” from “Deathwalker?” He was quite clearly human, and also clearly carrying a brain implant. (Indeed, his brain was exposed, surrounded and penetrated by what looked like quite extensive implants. The exact quote by Garibaldi was, “Most of the cyber experiments were a bust.” Abbut could have been one of those few that worked. In principle implants recording and monitoring what Abbut experiences are fundimentally different from an implanted AI that controls your actions.

In a related but more tenuous vein, what about the Technomages? Some aspects of their abilities (all based on technology, remember) seem to imply non-vocal, non-manipulatory control over their gear. The production of an orange blossom while walking, talking and gesturing. Sleight of hand is one explanation, (sidestepping the issue of how the orange blossom was produced,) but an alternative one is that they have some kind of control device implanted someplace — not necessarily their brains. This would also explain their preternatural knowledge. Elric always seemed to know more than anyone else, and some of that could have come from a built in data system or an implanted link to one. Add to this Elric’s ability to pull up holograms literally in the palm of his hand, and the arguement seems strong for such an implant. But again, it could be nothing but an IO path, not an AI, and so again different from the cyber experiments’ failures.

Sheridan said Earth’s cyborg research took place in the 2230s. That places it just after the Dilgar war (“Deathwalker.”) In “Deathwalker,” Na’Toth recalled that the Dilgar were experimenting with brain implants. Was Earth continuing the Dilgar research? Did they receive research data after the war, the same way the allies obtained Nazi advances in rocket technology after World War II?

B5’s computer system is compromised. At the very least, communications are insecure and under the control of the Bureau 13 AI, including both local and interstellar channels. This is supported by the way the public computer console is quickly taken over by the AI, and the quickness with which it handled the exchange between the Bureau 13 Psicop in San Diego and the control officer on site at B5. The extent of the problem isn’t known, but the AI isn’t omnipresent. It doesn’t prevent Captain Sheridan from modifying the environmental sensors, for instance.

Is Bureau 13 set up in a cell structure, like an organized underground or revolutionary movement? We know of two Bureau 13 members, and we saw them interacting via the Bureau 13 computer. They never saw each other, and never refered to one another by name. This hints that Bureau 13 is indeed set up this way, which points to an an explanation for the episode title. The cell structure of an underground, with its singular links between cells, is indeed a web. And at the center of such a web would be a central directing authority — A Spider in the Web.
####Notes

The title shown onscreen is “Spider in the Web,” but all previous references to the episode by JMS and others have called it “A Spider in the Web,” so that’s the title listed here. The longer title was also listed on the title page before the original satellite uplink.

The name “Bureau 13” may be a role-playing game reference; it is the name of the US paranormal investigations branch in the game “Stalking the Night Fantastic.” (Of course, that could just be a coincidence; another theory is that it refers to P13-level telepaths.)

The ship that fired on Abel Horn was the Earth Forces Cruiser Pournelle, according to the computer readout on his history.

Sheridan orders a Jovian Sunspot; the only other time that drink has been referenced is in “Deathwalker,” which also involved Talia and a cyborg of sorts. Probably just a coincidence.

According to Isogi, Ms. Carter’s great-grandfather John piloted the first colony ship to Mars. “John Carter of Mars” is a classic SF story by Edgar Rice Burroughs; the character also appears in other Burroughs stories such as “Princess of Mars.” See the Project Gutenberg home page.

The animation of the destruction of Abel Horn’s ship by an EarthForce cruiser over Phobos is quite detailed. When his ship is hit, the window Abel Horn was looking through shatters, and the air rushes out carrying odd bits and debris with it.

####Overview

When a cryonic sleeper is awakened, a deadly, evil force is unleashed on the station.
####Guest Stars

Anne-Marie Johnson as Mariah Cirrus. Dwight Schultz as Amis.
####Lurk

http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/synops/027.html
####Backplot

Earth got jumpgate technology from the Centauri in the mid-22nd century. Before then, humans were mostly confined to their own solar system.

Sometime between the 20th century and the arrival of the Centauri, signals of possible extraterrestrial and intelligent origin were detected.

A small number of explorers volunteered for long-term interstellar missions, so long-term that they had to be cryogenically frozen for the duration. These missions were launched until the Centauri made contact with Earth, eliminating the need for sleeper ships. At least some of these ships were set to home in on any signals they might encounter.

During the war, Garibaldi was a “gropo” (“ground pounder”), stationed on an outpost or base rather than a ship. He and some of his companions barely escaped death in a surprise attack by the Minbari.

Another outpost was attacked by a vicious creature of some kind, an insidious beast that affected the minds of the soldiers stationed there, then killed them one by one, ripping their internal organs completely out of their bodies.

The Markab, like the Narn, believe there was a great darkness in the past, something that was defeated only after a painful struggle. At least some among them suspect that the darkness is rising again.
####Unanswered Questions

What was the creature? Was it really one of the Shadows?

How did it detect and board the Copernicus, which was travelling at a significant fraction of lightspeed?

What did it want with people’s internal organs?

Is it really dead? (We suspect so, but without a body….)

What was the substance hanging off Amis when he was suspended in midair? Garibaldi makes a face as he tears it off Amis.

What happened to Amis afterward?

Garibaldi says to Amis, “You were just about to accuse the Centauri ambassador of being in league with the devil… which might not be too far from the truth.” Just a meaningless offhand remark, or does Garibaldi somehow know what Londo is up to?
####Analysis

The fact that the Copernicus was headed for Z’ha’dum indicates that the Shadows have been gathering their forces for some time, at least 10 years, leading to the possibility that they’ve been meddling in the affairs of the major races before their recent involvement with Londo.

Contempt for the Lurkers seems to be pervasive, if not almost universal. Even Dr. Franklin, normally a level-headed person, was ready to dismiss a claim made by a Lurker out of hand, and one of the security officers said, “Damn lurkers, we should space ’em all.”

No mention was made of any attempt to retrieve the sleeper ships after first contact with the Centauri. Presumably such a task would have been easily accomplished. One explanation might be that the first contact threw Earth into such turmoil that retrieving frozen astronauts became an insignificant priority. Perhaps an attempt was made but was unsuccessful; if the Copernicus had locked onto any signals along the way and changed course, it might be nearly impossible to track down in the vastness of space.

The Copernicus timeline seems to be:

Before the Centauri contact: Signals of extraterrestrial origin were detected.

100+ years ago: Sleeper ships were launched on long voyages, Copernicus among them.

12+ years ago: Copernicus detects signals from the Minbari CP in an obscure system and homes in on them. (Presumably the signals stop, and Copernicus doesn’t revive the crew.)

About 12 years ago: Amis has his encounter with the creature. The EarthForce listening post is essentially destroyed by it. Amis is kept alive. For some reason the creature does not interfere when he is rescued.

Less than 12 years ago: Copernicus passes through the system. The creature boards, changes course, and kills Mariah’s husband before settling into the “life tube” with her.

4+ years ago: Copernicus detects signals from the region of space where the Babylon stations are under construction. In keeping with its underlying directive to seek out such signals, the vessel changes course.

A year or less ago: Copernicus begins decelerating, and apparently uses up all its remaining fuel to do so. At some point it begins transmitting a greeting signal.

Now: Copernicus arrives, unpowered and without even any thruster fuel remaining (it’s tumbling when first spotted).

10% of the air supply aboard Copernicus was lost when the creature boarded, presumably vented into space. This implies that for some reason the creature came in through the door (there was no airlock) or penetrated the hull physically to gain entry. This is only odd because Amis insists that it could pass through walls.

Why wasn’t Copernicus detected earlier? There could be a few reasons. First, the ship apparently used up all of its hydrogen fuel and all of its thruster fuel on approach to B5. This leaves unanswered the question of what it was doing for power afterward, but apparently it had enough to keep transmitting its greeting message and keep internal systems going. But tumbling, it may have been unable to keep a high gain antenna pointed in-system. Add to this the fact that nobody was listening for it (Ivanova says it’s on an unusual frequency) and it becomes fairly reasonable that it came all the way insystem without being detected.

How fast and far did Copernicus travel? This one is more difficult. The minimum answer is 25 LY and .25C. The distance between the Sol System and B5 seems to be about 25 light years, and this is the minimum distance Copernicus had to cover. To cover 25 LY in 100+ years, Copernicus had to travel at 1/4 C (on average). Typical predictions for nuclear engines driving ships to low-reletivistic speeds say that it takes between 10 and 40 tons of reaction mass/fuel per ton of dry weight to accelerate a ship to low-C (1/10C to 1/4C more or less) and decelerate it again. So either the ship we saw was the core of a much larger ship and all the empty tanks were ejected, or it’s made of very lightweight materials, or both.

100 years seems like a reasonable time for a slower-than-light interstellar journey, yet Mariah was surprised to learn that much time had passed. Her reaction could just be due to the disorientation she was probably experiencing, or perhaps the mission was planned to be less than 100 years long due to limitations of the cryogenic units or some other shipboard system.

The name Amis seems to be a pun, as in something is amiss with Amis. The name Amis is pronounced the same as “Amos,” the name of an Old Testament prophet. Prophets like Amos spent lots of time warning folks about dire and immediate events, much like what Amis did in the Zoccalo.
####Notes

Writer Scott Frost was also on the writing staff of Twin Peaks, a show whose atmosphere was often similar to that of this episode.

When Garibaldi is in the Zocalo, the Drazi sitting next to him is not wearing a colored sash. Since the ritual combat in [[The Geometry of Shadows]] was supposed to last 1.2 earth years, shouldn’t he have been wearing a purple sash, per Ivanova’s solution to the problem? A possible explanation is that once she did what she did, the combat was over on Babylon 5 and sashes were no longer required.

A possible reference to Douglas Adams’ “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” takes place as Amis leaves his cell. With a towel around his neck, he claims, “I’ve got everything a man needs.”

Franklin administers a drug to a catatonic patient called DeValera. Eammon DeValera was an Irish politician and poet, with a real gift for rabble-rousing.

####Overview

Disaster strikes an old friend of Captain Sheridan. Dr. Franklin offers nutritional advice to some reluctant patients.
####Guest Stars

Russ Tamblyn as Capt. Maynard. Miguel A. Nuñez, Jr. as Orwell.
####Lurk

http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/synops/026.html
####Backplot

Sheridan’s first commander, on Earth-Mars patrol duty, was Jack Maynard, who Sheridan admired greatly. “I thought he knew everything,” Sheridan says. “He did, too.”

The Earth Alliance has a small fleet of huge Explorer-class ships that travel out on the rim of known space, mapping new systems and installing new jump gates. More specialized scout ships follow later to perform detailed or specific surveys of these newly opened systems.

The Explorer ships, which are considered choice commands, can also repair jumpgates.

Navigation in hyperspace involves locking onto jumpgate signals. There seem to be no natural reference points in hyperspace, so a ship must keep its own internal navigation references or lock onto the signals of nearby gates or it will become lost. Until this episode, no ship lost in hyperspace had ever been rescued.

Minbari society is built upon a strict caste structure and obedience to superiors within that caste structure. Delenn has challanged that organization, and the Minbari are beginning to react.
####Unanswered Questions

Is something living in hyperspace? (This isn’t a new question; it was the subject of a front-page Universe Today story in “And the Sky Full of Stars.”)

Why does Delenn feel she is more “one of us” now than she’s ever been? Is it because she views humans and Minbari as joined, and she feels she’s a part of both halves?

How does hyperspace work in the B5 universe?
####Analysis

The appearance of his friend and mentor Jack Maynard suddenly throws Sheridan’s new duties aboard Babylon 5 into contrast with his training and experience, kindling a strong sense of dissatisfaction with the job. “I’ve been beached,” he says. This is sure to crop up again in the future. Despite his newfound energy at the end of the episode, what Captain Maynard said is still true; being a governor and a diplomat isn’t what Sheridan trained or even wished for. If he’s itching for action when a crisis comes up, that might cause him to look less thoroughly for peaceful solutions than someone like Sinclair might.

Delenn’s transformation is something that’s clearly a mystery to the general Minbari population, suggesting that it is either unprecedented or so rare as to be unheard-of. Yet she seemed to know what she was doing, as did at least some of the Grey Council. The Council is likely harboring many secrets that aren’t simple matters of religion and spirituality; what other technologies do they possess that the Minbari public knows nothing about?

Jumpgates act as locator beacons in hyperspace, providing a three dimensional homing signal detectable for a thousand kilometers or so there. To be useful in the featureless and chaotic void of hyperspace it would have to provide both a relative and an absolute reference much like a VOR does for aircraft. If the beacon can respond to ship data requests, then range data and traffic information could also be transmitted to the approaching (or departing) ship. Just how this works is not explained.

Hyperspace is a featureless place, yet it has currents and eddies that corrospond to gravity in normal space. Sheridan says, “We know there is a drift in hyperspace that can pull a ship down the gravitational incline.” Gravity works in hyperspace, though apparently not in quite the same way that it works in real space. Electromagnetic waves also propogate in hyperspace, but become distorted rapidly over distance in a random and variable way. Jumpgate beacons are, therefore, very short range — more like lighthouses in hyperspace — and communications with ships in hyperspace is possible only when the vessel is near a jumpgate.

What looks like a great deal of hand-waving over the Cortez accident can be explained upon close examination of the circumstances. The timeline of the accident seems to be:

1. Cortez enters the jumpgate.
2. Cortez exits the jumppoint in hyperspace and attempts a restart of her primary power system. The fusion reactor restart fails, and the power system spikes, producing a powerful electro-magnetic pulse (and presumably a sizable radiation pulse) which takes out some systems aboard Cortez, including main propulsion, navigation, and some computer systems. Cortez is now adrift.
3. Many hours later Cortez gets some main power back and systems running. Captain Maynard, after getting a damage report that tells him that nav won’t be back up for 48 hours, puts up a distress call, which is received (barely) by B5. At this point Cortez is under power, but without reference points the best they can do is hold station against the pull of a nearby gravity well.
4. B5 receives the distress signal, and Captain Sheridan decides to make a rescue attempt. Cortez is effectively just “offshore” in hyperspace, and despite Ivonova’s misgivings he feels they stand a chance of recovering her. Five fighters are launched into hyperspace by B5, and they form up on a line facing down the local gravity well at 1000km intervals.
5. The fighters set up the search pattern, with Cdr. Galus (fighter group commander) and Lt. Keffer together at the far end. This puts them about 4000km away from B5.
6. A shadow ship enters hyperspace almost on top of Galus, colliding with and destroying his fighter. It also rams Keffer’s Star Fury, but only knocks out some systems (comms, nav, and propulsion). Keffer begins firing (presumably on internal references) in the direction of Galus’s last position. Cortez figures it out, and at about the same time Keffer’s fighter gets communications back online. Rather than risk losing a good bearing back to the jumpgate, Keffer tells Captain Maynard to take Cortez directly back to the gate, leaving him behind in his unmaneuverable Star Fury. He is unable to keep station and will drift, eventually losing any reference back to B5.
7. About 24 hours later (more or less — it seems like the next night, end of shift in C&C, about midnight) Keffer is running out of oxygen–but his Star Fury has succeeded in getting his thruster systems back online. Shortly after that he spots another shadow ship, and using that as a reference point he navigates back to the jumpgate and returns to B5.

This may not have been as much of a crisis as it seemed to be. Cortez, given its stated function of running about on the rim, must carry its own jumppoint generator. The problem was the lack of main power. Since it has already been stated that opening a jumppoint takes a great deal of energy, the size of the Cortez fusion plant would therefore be determined by the power requirements for creating the jumppoint. With only partial main power, she was unable to do so. But given the size of the ship and its presumed independence, it is possible that Cortez could have repaired her main power plant herself, and then opened a jumpgate of her own. This possibility explains why Captain Maynard didn’t broadcast a mayday immediately following the accident — he assumed they could get Cortez out of trouble themselves. It was only after he received the damage report detailing the slow recovery of main power and the long repair time for navigation that he decided to call for assistance.

This episode further delineates the technological capabilities of the Shadows, though not explicitly. They use the same hyperspace the major races do. (As opposed to, for example, the Sigma 957 aliens from “Mind War,” who appeared to use something different.)

Though the Shadows presumably noticed the Starfuries and the Cortez and realized they could be seen as well, they took no action against the human ships. This is somewhat in contrast to their apparent desire to remain undetected. Several explanations are possible. Perhaps the Shadow ship was in a hurry; perhaps its weapons aren’t functional in hyperspace; or, most intriguing, perhaps it realized that the ships were from Earth and chose to leave them alone for that reason.
####Notes

Captain Maynard has seen a shadow ship in the past, though he didn’t recognize it as such, and now Lt. Keffer has seen one as well.

Garibaldi’s special dinner:

The Egyptian blessing: “God be between you and harm, in all the empty places where you must walk.” This blessing was quoted by creative consultant Harlan Ellison in his short story, “Paladin of the Lost Hour.”

Delenn’s speech about “starstuff” is very similar to a section of Carl Sagan’s Cosmos, as well as a section of the play The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds.

(unverified) As the Cortez exits the jumpgate, its hull numbers can be read, “14286.” Later, when Sheridan grants clearance for it to leave, its number is stated as “C199.”

####Overview

Ivanova is promoted and given a diplomatic assignment. Londo seeks affirmation from an unusual source.
####Guest Stars

Michael Ansara as Elric. William Forward as Refa.
####Lurk

http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/synops/025.html
####Backplot

Every five years, the Drazi people divide by random selection into two equal groups, green and purple, and fight for supremacy in a contest that lasts a full year. The group that wins is the dominant one until the next battle. Group membership isn’t permanent and has no deeper meaning than the color of cloth one happens to select randomly from a container.

The only son of the Centauri Emperor recently died, leaving no clear successor to the throne. This has served to increase the scheming among the Centauri nobility. At least one group, disgusted with the decay of the Republic, intends to grab for the throne when the Emperor dies; Londo has all but pledged to support that group.
####Unanswered Questions

Where were the techno-mages going?

Will they return or otherwise make their influence felt?

How do they know about the upcoming conflict?

What do they know about it? Are they aware of the Shadows, for instance?

What part do Londo’s new partners want him to play in their machinations?

What repercussions will Ivanova’s solution to the Drazi problem have?

Were the winged creatures on Londo’s back significant, or just a meaningless practical joke?
####Analysis

Londo seems to have made up his mind about following his ambition. He appeared to be seeking the techno-mages’ endorsement for his own political gain, rather than for the good of the Republic. It remains to be seen whether he’ll have the willpower to follow through with his newfound assertiveness when lives are at stake, though Elric’s statement about the future indicates he will.

Londo is willing to trust Vir with other people’s secrets (“He can be trusted!”) but not with his own (e.g., his reluctance to discuss Morden in “Chrysalis.”) Vir is gradually becoming more assertive, more willing to stand up to Londo. Whether this will cause Londo to respect or trust him more remains to be seen.

The two Drazi leaders were clearly only in charge of the groups on Babylon 5, as evidenced by the fact that the decision to up the stakes of the contest came from the Drazi homeworld. What happens if one group wins in one place and the other wins back home is open to debate.

Londo’s reference to the techno-mages’ presence at the founding of the Republic, and his recognition of the human mages, suggests that the brotherhood of techno-mages is very old, and crosses species boundaries. Perhaps they have been around long enough to have taken part in the great war recorded in the Book of G’Quan (cf. [[Revelations]]) and can see signs of the same thing starting again.

The techno-mages seem to have found some technological way to emulate the prophetic abilities of some of the Centauri, among others (cf. “Signs and Portents.”) Such abilities are arguably related to time travel; perhaps it is the techno-mages who supply the technology to bring Babylon 4 forward in time (cf. “Babylon Squared.”)

When Garibaldi was playing with his weapon, it’s plausible that he was contemplating suicide. He has hit rock bottom. He has been betrayed by a trusted member of his own staff and shot in the back. The only person he really trusted (Commander Sinclair) is gone. And, he is probably feeling that he was somehow responsible for the failure to prevent the assassination of the EA President. He is a recovering alcoholic, and he has lost the woman he had fantasized about marrying. If true, this lends a different meaning to Sheridan’s comment, “The universe doesn’t give us points for doing the easy things.”
####Notes

Ivanova’s broken foot in this episode wasn’t originally planned; Claudia Christian broke her foot, and it had to be explained in the context of the show somehow.

The end credits list Edward Conery as Devereaux (cf. [[Chrysalis]]) but he doesn’t seem to actually appear in the episode anywhere. Since he did appear in the previous episode, “Revelations,” and wasn’t listed in its credits, he may have been listed here to make up for the omission.

Elric’s warning to Vir is almost verbatim from Tolkien’s Lord Of the Rings, in which Gildor, an elf, tells Frodo (speaking about Gandalf,) “But it is said: Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger.”

Elric’s name is from Michael Moorcock’s series of fantasy novels.

When Garibaldi turns up to rescue Ivanova, there is a visual gaffe. The Drazi who starts to get up to answer the door is the one in a red-accented suit with epaulettes. When Garibaldi is admitted, it is by the other Drazi, while the one who had started to get up is guarding Ivanova.

Michael Ansara, who plays Elric, also played Kang, a Klingon, in the original Star Trek episode “Day of the Dove” and the Deep Space Nine episode “Blood Oath.”