####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.”

####Overview

G’Kar brings news of a terrible new enemy. The arrival of Sheridan’s sister opens up old wounds for the new commander. Dr. Franklin employs an unorthodox procedure to try to bring Garibaldi out of his coma. Delenn’s mysterious change is completed.
####Guest Stars

Beverly Leech as Elizabeth Sheridan. Macaulay Bruton as Garibaldi’s aide.
####Lurk

http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/synops/024.html
####Backplot

Sheridan’s wife Anna was killed two years ago when her ship exploded on its way to explore the recently discovered ruins of an ancient civilization on the Rim.

The Book of G’Quan, the holy book of G’Kar’s religion (cf. [[By Any Means Necessary]]) mentions an ancient enemy that rose to power a thousand years in the past, a power so great it nearly overwhelmed the stars themselves. And the book contains drawings suspiciously siimilar to the Shadows’ ships.
####Unanswered Questions

Is Delenn’s new appearance an outward transformation, a complete physical rebirth, or something even more fundamental?

What exactly has she become?

Was the result what she thought it would be? She didn’t seem to know what had happened to her when she first emerged from the chrysalis; clearly she didn’t go into the process with detailed knowledge of the outcome.

How much does G’Kar suspect about Londo’s involvement with the Shadows?

Why did President Clark order Garibaldi’s aide returned to Earth? Was he aware that the clandestine transfer would take place, or did someone else arrange that to stop the prisoner from being interrogated by Clark’s people?
####Analysis

The Book of G’Quan, assuming G’Kar was describing the text itself rather than his interpretation, says that the ancient enemy came from the rim of known space, the planet Z’ha’dum. That implies that the Narns, or some among them, were technologically advanced at least a thousand years ago; otherwise they would presumably have had no way of knowing the origin of the enemy, certainly not well enough to locate its home planet. Given that they are not particularly advanced compared to the other major races, one of three things must have happened:

Some event, possibly the last great war, reduced their capabilities enough that they had to start nearly from scratch.

They advanced technologically at a very slow pace, or not at all, over the past millenium.

Another race used the Narn (or their world) in the war, departing when it was over and leaving the Narn with only legends of the great enemy.

If the second is true, it’s possible that some of the other races acquired their technology from the Narns, an interesting twist on the established idea that the Narns are obsessed with obtaining technology from others (cf. “The Gathering.”)

When G’Kar’s wingman crashed into the Shadow fighter, the Shadow ship appeared to writhe in pain. It appears that employing living technology is a common trait of the very advanced civilizations (cf. “Infection.”) The question naturally arises: are the Shadow ships ships in the traditional sense, with crews or pilots aboard, or are they autonomous entities?

The fact that a one-man Narn fighter was able to destroy a Shadow ship implies that the Shadows can be overcome by force, assuming they aren’t so numerous as to overwhelm all their opponents.

Delenn flat-out lied when she said her government approved her transformation (cf. “Points of Departure.”) Yet they have made no move to replace her as ambassador. Perhaps they fear the consequences of working against the prophecy more than they fear what she’s doing.

Dr. Franklin hasn’t tried the healing machine on anyone, not even experimentally. Perhaps he hasn’t been studying it — which seems strange, given its potential to utterly revolutionize the practice of medicine. Now that he knows it works, he may be more inclined to use it in the future, possibly in place of hazardous conventional treatments.

Anna Sheridan’s research vessel was destroyed in an apparent accident on the Rim, on its way to explore an ancient civilization. The similarities to the destruction of the Narn ship sent by G’Kar are too great to ignore. She very possibly was killed by the Shadows, something which won’t endear them to Sheridan if he learns about it. If that’s true, the question of how the ruins of the civilization were discovered in the first place remains unanswered.
####Notes

The poem G’Kar read to Na’Toth is from “The Second Coming” by W. B. Yeats (quoted sections emphasized):

Garibaldi’s aide is named Jack, though it’s easy to miss; Garibaldi mentions the name once after Talia leaves medlab and he speaks to Franklin and Ivanova.

The closed captioning spells G’Quan “Sh’Quon,” but JMS has used the shorter spelling on several occasions, so it’s the one used here.

Continuity gaffe: In the scene with Sheridan and his sister in his quarters, he drains his drink, walks toward the bar, and before he gets there, the glass refills and he drains it again.