When President Clark tries to seize control of Babylon 5 by force, Sheridan is faced with the prospect of severing the station’s ties with Earth. Delenn receives disturbing news from a Ranger.
####Overview

####Guest Stars

Bruce McGill as Major Ryan. Kim Miyori as Captain Hiroshi. James Parks as Drakhen.
####Lurk

http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/synops/054.html
####Backplot

The former Minbari leader, Dukhat, died in Delenn’s arms. Before he died, he named her as his chosen successor.

Clark has been filling command positions with his people since taking office, thus enabling him to retain control of most of Earth Force; many officers who oppose his policies feel forced to go along, since their superiors will accuse them of treason otherwise.

The Shadows have formed alliances with many of the non-aligned worlds, allegedly to protect them from Centauri aggression; later, they’ve prompted those races to attack their neighbors with the belief that association with the Shadows is a guarantee of victory.
####Unanswered Questions

Was Londo finally able to leave the station? Where was he going? (Or, if he was coming aboard, where was he coming from?)

Is there more to the prophecy of the return of the Shadows, or has it now played itself out, leaving the future uncertain?

What does Sheridan’s mother do with her time?

What has ISN known for a year but been unable to talk about? Did they find out about Santiago’s death, or perhaps about Earth’s involvement with the Shadows?
####Analysis

Sheridan said he wanted to keep Draal a secret, and thus didn’t ask for help defending the station. But anyone with two eyes now knows he has some interesting non-human technology at his disposal; he used the Great Machine to broadcast his holographic image all over the station. While Earth has free-floating holography (such as the Knights’ image of Sinclair at the beginning of [[And the Sky Full of Stars]]) it’s a far cry from what Sheridan did.

Five hooded Councilors followed Delenn from the council chamber; presumably the remaining four were all warrior caste, as established in [[All Alone in the Night]]. (Only three are visible onscreen, but the whole Council wasn’t visible at the start of the scene, either.)

Where did the religious and worker castes get three Minbari warships and the crews to pilot them? Are there more on Delenn’s side, or just those? In [[Matters of Honor]], Lennier implied that the religious-caste crew of the White Star was rare, if not unheard-of. Did some of the warrior caste side with Delenn? (See jms speaks)

Delenn’s confrontation with the Grey Council is counter to her own stated goal of laying low so the Shadows aren’t forced to attack immediately. She accused them of standing by and doing nothing in the face of Shadow encroachment — but doing nothing was exactly what she insisted on in “In the Shadow of Z’ha’dum”, among other places. If the warrior caste had moved to prevent some of the non-aligned worlds from warring, as she seemed to be suggesting, it surely would have alerted the Shadows to the fact that their return has been discovered.

On the other hand, it may be that she was accusing them of not even preparing for eventual open conflict with the Shadows; perhaps she believed their current indifference would continue even after the army of light was fully assembled.

Finally, she may have wanted them to simply take a stand in the local conflicts without addressing the Shadows’ presence directly.

Sheridan’s secession from the Earth Alliance plays directly into Clark’s hands in some respects. Clark can use the secession, and the Minbari involvement, to paint a picture of an alien-supported military coup against an elected civilian government, further proof of the need for martial law, the Nightwatch, and other draconian measures. No doubt he’ll be able to make that version of the story believable to a large number of people back home, thus solidifying his power base.

Why did only four destroyers jump into Babylon 5 space for the initial attack? Perhaps the fleet commander didn’t want to increase the chance of casualties from friendly fire, but that seems dubious at best; or perhaps he didn’t know there were more ships on the way.

Which side of the war does the Agamemnon and its crew support? Will Sheridan be forced into conflict with his old ship, something he definitely doesn’t want? ([[Messages From Earth]])

Given the reason for the Minbari surrender during the war ([[Points of Departure]]) would Delenn have made good on her threat to fire on the Earth ships? Minbari religious beliefs would forbid her from doing so, though she might well consider it a necessary evil.

During the initial attack on the Alexander, Major Ryan claims that they can’t jump to hyperspace without losing their fighters. But fighters have been shown jumping alongside a larger ship before — some emerged with the destroyers to attack Babylon 5 later in the same episode — so what would have kept the fighters from jumping with the Alexander? (See jms speaks)

The Shadows are apparently perfectly willing to double-cross the Centauri, at least in words. By offering to protect the League worlds from Centauri aggression, when the Centauri are using the Shadows to act out that aggression, they’ve effectively taken control of both sides of any potential Centauri border conflicts. What they’ll do with that control, and why they want it, remains to be seen.
####Notes

The new Starfury in this episode is called a “Thunderbolt”.

Many of the Nightwatch members in this episode are production staff members, including the production secretary and an assistant director.

Minor effects mismatch: A group of Starfuries attacks a friendly destroyer. Its name is clearly visible as the Churchill. But the scene immediately cuts to Major Ryan reacting to the hit — even though he’s on the Alexander, not the Churchill. (See jms speaks)

Just after Major Ryan says, “Right down their throats,” a Starfury shoots another one with B5 in the background. For one frame, the exploding Starfury is replaced with a bright yellow square; then the explosion replaces it.

Four ships emerge from the jumpgate at the end of act three, two Omega-class destroyers and two older Hyperion-style heavy cruisers (“A Voice In the Wilderness, part 2”.) But we only see and hear about two, the Agrippa and the Roanoke. One possible explanation is that the destroyer rammed by the Churchill isn’t supposed to be the Roanoke; since Sheridan offers assistance to the Roanoke at the end of the battle, that’s plausible. However, the rammed ship’s name is (barely) visible as “Roanoke” during the collision.

One of the two destroyers in the second wave was called the Nimrod; the second was the Olympic.

The Roanoke is named after an early English colony in North Carolina. After a hard winter, a ship came to check on the colony and found it totally deserted, no sign of the inhabitants or of a struggle, just the word CROATAN carved into a tree. The fate of the colonists was never discovered.

The Agrippa was probably named for the famed Roman general/admiral, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa. He served for Octavian (Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus), the nephew of Julius Caesar. He was the inventor of the harpax, or harpago, which was a pole with a hook on the end which was attached to a rope. Fired toward another ship, it allowed the two ships to be pulled together, allowing the Romans to board. It was first used in 36 BC at the battle of Naulochos (Mylae), and later at the battle of Actium, where it helped to defeat Mark Anthony’s fleet, leading to the eventual crowning of Octavian as Augustus, the first Roman emperor in 27 BC.

In the UK video release, three seconds were cut from the episode, presumably from one of the boarding-party fight scenes.