####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.