The Army of Light mounts its final assault. Londo learns some surprising information about Morden.
####Overview

####Guest Stars

Ed Wasser as Morden.
####Lurk

http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/synops/072.html
####Plot Points

The first of Lorien’s people were effectively immortal, but later generations grew old and died.

The Shadows and Vorlons never attacked one another directly because their goal wasn’t to defeat the opposition in a military sense, but to convince their charges, the younger races, to forsake the opposing philosophy. Along the way, both races lost track of who they were and what they wanted.

All the First Ones, including the Shadows and Vorlons, are gone, ushering in the third age of mankind (which seems to refer to the younger races as a group, not just humanity.) In the first age, man was too primitive to be considered part of the larger picture. In the second age, man was intelligent and aware of the greater world, but his fate was manipulated by outside forces. Now, with all the older races gone, man has entered an age of self-determination.
####Unanswered Questions

What lies beyond the galactic rim? Why do all the elder races want to go there?

How far did Lorien’s broadcast of the conversations with the Vorlons and Shadows extend? Just to the crews of the ships at Coriana 6, or more broadly than that?

Does Londo sending Vir back to Babylon 5 mean that Vir is now the Centauri Ambassador?
####Analysis

The First Ones were of surprisingly little help, considering the trouble to which Ivanova and Lorien went to secure their assistance. They amounted to little more than strange-looking guns, just there to pop in, destroy the Vorlon planetkiller, and do little else (though one of them can be seen destroying a few Shadow and Vorlon ships.) Why were the Shadows and Vorlons seemingly undisturbed by the intervention of their peers, preferring instead to continue fighting as before? Why didn’t the First Ones do anything about the Shadow planetkiller?

It could be argued that they had to be present because Lorien needed them to see that it was time to depart. But given how reclusive most of the remaining First Ones were, they could likely have remained right where they were without ever significantly affecting mankind’s reign of the galaxy. Only the Shadows and Vorlons were actively interfering with the younger races. For all intents and purposes the remaining First Ones were already gone anyway.

Sheridan’s plan — luring the Shadows to Coriana 6 with false information, then planting bombs in nearby asteroids — is the same strategy he employed to good effect against the Black Star during the Earth-Minbari War ([[There All the Honor Lies]].)

The representation of the Shadows and Vorlons while Sheridan and Delenn were talking to them was symbolic of their nature. The Shadows moved around, shifted form, and spoke with many voices, representative of chaos. The Vorlons were frozen in ice, cold and aloof and unchanging.

The episode’s title can be read as a reference to a crucible, which certainly fits the theme of the storyline. Sheridan brought together the concentrated forces of the Shadows, Vorlons, the First Ones, and the younger races; as they were all forced to interact, they were transformed.

How did Londo know Morden was accompanied by Shadows? Perhaps he simply put two and two together after noticing the strange sounds near Morden in [[Interludes and Examinations]], but this is the first evidence that Londo has been doing research on Morden’s associates.

What happened to the Shadow hit by the guard’s weapon? Was its body recovered? In [[The Long Dark]], when the Shadow warrior was killed, it didn’t leave a body behind, so perhaps it’s some kind of standard protection mechanism used by the Shadows and their servants.

By killing Morden and destroying the Shadow base, Londo has probably sealed the fate of Centauri Prime as seen in [[War Without End part 2]] As Morden said, the Shadows may be gone, but they have allies, and Londo told Sheridan in that episode that the Shadows’ allies were the ones laying waste to Centauri Prime.

Whether those allies will also be responsible for putting the keeper on Londo isn’t clear. If so, they would appear to be after more than simple revenge, since they were trying to extract information from Delenn.

Ironically, if Londo had left the base and Morden alone, the Vorlons would have turned back anyway, since their planet-killer was summoned to Coriana 6 before it fired a shot at Centauri Prime. Of course, he had no way of knowing that.

When he first appeared in [[Signs and Portents]], Morden asked G’Kar, Delenn, and Londo what they wanted. Later, in “In the Shadow of Z’ha’dum”, he asked the same of Vir. The irony is, only Vir actually ended up getting exactly what he asked for.

As the Vorlon ship passed overhead, Londo and everything around him fell under its shadow, underscoring the point about Londo’s Shadow involvement.

After Selini was destroyed, Morden clutched almost desperately at his pendant. Just a reflex, or was it perhaps some form of link to the Shadows?

Given his fate when Sheridan destroyed the White Star on Z’ha’dum, and the fact that only extreme intervention restored any semblance of his physical body ([[The Hour of the Wolf]]) Morden may qualify as “the one who is already dead” from Lady Morella’s prophecy ([[Point of No Return]].) By killing Morden and thus condemning Centauri Prime to the dismal future seen 17 years hence, Londo has plausibly given up a chance to redeem himself.

The Shadows themselves may have departed, but what have they left behind? Many of their ships were manned by other races. Did the pilots leave for the Rim as well, or are there still Shadow ships flying around the galaxy? What about their cities on Z’ha’dum, and the ships they buried on worlds all over the galaxy? Did all their representatives on Earth and elsewhere leave too?

Similarly, is the Vorlon homeworld now accessible to anyone who cares to visit? What did the Vorlons leave behind?

Lorien also may have left something behind, namely the ship he and Sheridan took to Babylon 5 in [[The Summoning]].

Who will force mankind to step down when our time has passed? The Vorlons and Shadows likely wouldn’t have left were it not for Lorien’s intervention. With both of them, and their peers, gone, there’ll be no father figure to coax mankind out of the way millions of years hence, when we’re the mysterious elder race meddling in the affairs of the newcomers.

Perhaps that role will be filled by Jason Ironheart ([[Mind War]].) He indicated he’d be back in a million years.
####Notes

In the initial US broadcast, the end credits were accompanied by the theme music from season three, not season four.

Reflecting his increased status, Vir’s hair appears to be somewhat longer in this episode than previously.

The space background in the opening sequence, when the White Star awaits the arrival of more First Ones, is from a Hubble Space Telescope photo, part of the Eagle Nebula.

The island of Selini, shown being destroyed by Londo, bears strong similarity to the island of Sicily, Italy, as seen from space.

The scene in which Lorien tells Ivanova about his people and about his immortality was originally written for the previous episode, [[The Long Night]]. That’s why it takes place aboard Babylon 5 rather than the White Star, forcing a rather strange detour to the station when Ivanova would have wanted to head directly to the scene of the battle. When Lorien says, “I was told you were ready to leave,” he’s referring to Ivanova’s departure on Sheridan’s mission to find more First Ones. To cover for this inconsistency, an extra line of voiceover dialogue was added to the first scene in the episode, Ivanova telling Lorien that they need to get back to Babylon 5 and rejoin the fleet.

Lorien said there were six First Ones, but only five can be seen leaving the scene of the battle. Of course, the sixth might have left separately, or Lorien could have been referring to himself.

When Londo arrives in the throne room, he gathers his WITS about him: he orders the unnamed Minister to gather the ministers of War, Information, Transportation, and Security.