An addictive drug with telepathic effects is found on the station, prompting a visit by Bester. G’Kar reaches a turning point.
####Overview

####Guest Stars

Walter Koenig as Bester.
####Lurk

http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/synops/050.html
####Backplot

Londo’s original assignment to Babylon 5 was at the direct request of Emperor Turhan, who chose him after everyone else turned the position down.

Dust, an addictive drug, allows non-telepaths of several races to probe the minds of others, experiencing all the victim’s memories and thoughts in the space of a few minutes. Unfortunately, this leaves the victims unconscious, and telepathic victims never recover. The more often Dust is taken, the more is required to achieve the effect the next time. Dust was originally developed, and is apparently still being produced, by Psi Corps in an attempt to induce permanent telepathy in normal humans; the experiment has been a failure so far.

The Narn used to have telepaths, long ago, but they and their families were exterminated. The genes for telepathy were too weak in the survivors to allow the Narn to breed natural telepaths, but their abilities can still be unlocked, briefly, by Dust.
####Unanswered Questions

How much does G’Kar know about Londo’s association with the Shadows? Did Kosh stop him before he was able to discover everything?

Why did Kosh stop G’Kar? (See Analysis)

How did Kosh know what was happening?

Was Bester telling the truth about the Psi Corps combatting secret threats to the human race, things ordinary people never hear about? If so, what are those threats?

What happened to the Narn telepaths? (See Analysis)

Will the Dust have a permanent effect on G’Kar, such as giving him some measure of telepathic ability?

What did the Corps learn from Talia? Was she actually dissected, or was Bester just baiting Garibaldi? Did they find out about Ironheart’s gift ([[Mind War]]?)
####Analysis

What is the rest of the Psi Corps’ business on Babylon 5? Perhaps it involves Lyta Alexander; her presence is probably common knowledge by now.

The extermination of Narn telepaths may be connected to the Shadow occupation of the Narn homeworld in the last war. See [[Voices of Authority]]. Or perhaps the Centauri were responsible, during their previous occupation. It’s also possible, though perhaps less likely, that the Narn killed all their own telepaths.

G’Kar asks Londo if being helpless helps him understand the plight of the Narn. But the reverse effect may have taken place as well; G’Kar has experienced at least some of the past several years from Londo’s point of view now, and thus presumably understands why Londo did what he did. Whether that understanding can lead to forgiveness, though, is another question.

Kosh’s intrusion into G’Kar’s probe of Londo can certainly be viewed as manipulation, especially given the use of the image of G’Lan. What Kosh is trying to achieve by appearing to G’Kar, and why he’s willing to interfere with the Narn and Centauri now when he expressed no interest in them before ([[Midnight On the Firing Line]]) isn’t clear.

In addition to the mention of the Narn and Centauri being alone and dying, reminiscent of “Midnight On the Firing Line,” Kosh also tells G’Kar, “I have always been here.” This echoes Kosh’s statement in Sheridan’s dream in [[All Alone In the Night]]. It’s still not entirely clear what he means, however. Could it have something to do with the “path” revealed to Ivanova in [[Voices of Authority]]?

Kosh may have stopped G’Kar to prevent him from learning too much about the Shadows, on the assumption that G’Kar would likely speak out about them in public. Since the forces of light are still gathering, that’d be something Kosh would want to prevent. It’s also likely that Kosh was maneuvering G’Kar to be of greater use in the future, perhaps testing his ability to influence G’Kar’s behavior through the use of religious visions.

Probably just a coincidence: Kosh ends G’Kar’s quest for Shadow information in Londo’s mind by saying, “It is enough.” That’s exactly what Londo said to Endawi ([[Matters of Honor]]) after recalling his dream of the Shadow ships flying overhead on Centauri Prime.

Did G’Kar overdose on Dust? It is possible that he was about to die, given the intensity of all the images he was seeing – the drug hasn’t been tested on Narn. And that would be consistant with Kosh’s previous appearances, when Sheridan was in danger of dying ([[All Alone in the Night]] and [[The Fall of Night]].) Is Kosh’s direct manipulation restricted only to near-death appearances?

Who are the characters in G’Kar’s vision? The man on the tree is his father (which G’Kar mentions, and which fits with his recounting in [[And Now For a Word]].) It’s not clear who the second person is, the old man. G’Quon, perhaps? The third person we know as G’Lan, from G’Kar’s exclamation in [[The Fall of Night]].

Kosh dodged the Vorlon question when G’Kar put it to him; in response to being asked, “Who are you?” the vision replied, “I am who I have always been,” a self-referential answer that conveys reflection rather than information.

Kosh’s statement about sacrifice can be interpreted to cover the entire Narn race; he may be saying that the Narn (and perhaps the Centauri, given his earlier statement about the two races) must die so that the rest can live. If that interpretation is correct, Kosh is preparing G’Kar to accept the death of his people as inevitable. Will G’Kar continue to fight for the Narn?

Vir’s position on Minbar was a joke to Londo (strictly a means of getting him out of his hair) just as Londo’s position was originally viewed.

Could Vir parallel Londo’s ascension to power, potentially rising to great importance in the coming war? Given his newfound affinity for the Minbari, and his distaste for Londo’s politics (and especially Morden,) he could be a great ally of the Army of Light. On the other hand, Londo did get Vir the position in the first place, and at the time he told Delenn that it was to get Vir out of danger.

Franklin continues to be on edge; could this be a consequence of his stim habit? ([[A Day in the Strife]])
####Notes

Dust has been mentioned before; for example, in [[Hunter, Prey]], Max, the kidnapper, asks Dr. Jacobs if he’s a dust smuggler.

A possible inconsistency: Bester said the Corps had been working on Dust for five years. But in [[Survivors]], Garibaldi recalled a Dust problem on Mars 17 years ago. Perhaps the Corps took over production of an existing drug, or perhaps the Corps worked on Dust for five years sometime in the past.

The Dust vendor’s two aliases, Lindstrom and Morgenstern, are the surnames of two characters from the comedy series “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.”

Morgenstern means “morning star,” one of the names used to refer to Lucifer in Judeo-Christian texts.