Season One: "Signs and portents" (Part two)
Maybe I'm just writing too much on each episode, but each time I think I'll fit up to "that" episode in the next post, I fall one short. Which is a pity, as the one after the last one here (if you follow me) is really great and now it'll have to wait for the next update. Still, I'd rather put in too much (although I don't think it's too much: the summaries are pretty basic really) and have to do more updates than skimp and just fly through the seasons. So bear with me, those of you reading who are interested in the story. We'll get there, like Commander Sinclair says at one point, maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but we'll get there...
1.5 "The parliament of dreams"
New Characters: Na'Toth, attache to Ambassador G'Kar; played by Julie Caitline Brown.
Lennier, of the Third Fane of Chu'Domo, attache to Ambassador Delenn; played by Bill Mumy
With the truly awful "Infection" now behind us, it's full steam ahead as we move towards the first proper "arc" episode, but this is more a gentler, standalone comedic episode really. The main plot concerns Babylon 5's first multi-cultural, multi-religious festival, during which all races who use or live on the station will be allowed to demonstrate their culture and their religion. It's an interesting idea, ending with a great comment on humanity's various religions. But though it's interesting it's also sort of boring, and the subplot is far more engaging.
Ambassador G'Kar receives word that his old enemy, D'Rog, is dying, but before he dies D'Rog has arranged for an assassin to visit Babylon 5, with the express instruction of killing him, in revenge for G'Kar's humiliating D'Rog before the Narn Council and ruining his family. He tells G'Kar he will not know the hour nor the means, and he should trust no-one. Just then his new aide Na'Toth arrives, to replace Ko'Dath, who had died in an airlock accident. G'Kar is suspicious, believing she could be the assassin, the moreso when he learns that it was indeed D'Rog who sponsored her for the post.
As G'Kar's suspicions mount, he demands Na'Toth find the courier who brought D'Rog's message to him. When the Narn, who is called Tu'Pari, is brought before G'Kar he seems to reinforce the ambassador's suspicions about his new aide, when he mentions that the message was actually given to him, after D'Rog's death, by Councillor Sha'Toth, father of his new attache. With this in mind he lets the courier go and contacts the homeworld to demand the reassignation of Na'Toth immediately. The Narn on the screen quickly agrees they will do this, and then apologises for the delay in getting the courier to him. There was an accident, he says, and they have not yet had time to find a replacement. G'Kar is mystified, until he turns and sees Tu'Pari pointing a gun at him!
He wakes to find himself shackled in electronic paingivers, which, if he comes too close to the assassin, send a shock through his system that results in crippling pain. As Tu'Pari carries out his commission, Na'Toth enters and advises him she is his backup, in case anything happens. Although skeptical about this, Tu'Pari does let his guard down enough to be attacked from behind by the furious G'Kar, and the assassin is knocked unconscious.
They must have also drugged him, because it is three days later when he awakes. G'Kar tells him that by way of recompense he has deposited a large sum of credits in Tu'Pari's personal account, which freeze the assassin's blood, as he knows the Guild he works for will see this as betrayal, and send assassins after him! He leaves in a fluster, hoping to stay ahead of whoever is now on his trail.
Important Plot Arc Points:
The Minbari Ceremony:
Arc Level: Green
During the display of Minbari religion, Sinclair and Delenn both eat a tiny red egg. Catherine Sakai tells the commander that this could possibly signify a marriage ceremony. The significance of this will be seen in later seasons.
Satai Delenn:
Arc Level: Orange
In a follow-on from "Soul hunter", Lennier on first meeting Delenn greets her as "Satai Delenn", but she quickly hushes him, saying that no-one on Babylon 5 must know she is of the Grey Council. This then confirms the snippet of information Sinclair retrieved at the end of that episode, and shows that Delenn is more than just an mere alien ambassador.
Quotes:
Probably the best part of the episode is the second opening scene, where we see Ambassador G'Kar making his dinner, and as he cooks, he SINGS! The song goes like this: "I'm thinking of thinking of calling her right after my afternoon nap. I'm thinking of thinking of sending her flowers right after Bonnie gets back. So many fishies left in the sea, so many fishies, but no-one for me... I'm thinking of thinking of hooking a love soon after supper is done." Classic!
Also in the same scene, when Tu'Pari enters and asks if he is Ambassador G'Kar, an annoyed G'Kar, who is just beginning his meal, snaps "This is Ambassador G'Kar's quarters. This is Ambassador G'Kar's table. This is Ambassador G'Kar's dinner! Which part of this progression escapes you?"
When Tu'Pari reveals himself as the assassin sent by D'Rog, he tells G'Kar that his instructions are: "You are to know pain. You are to know fear. And then, you are to die." When he wakes and finds he has been outfoxed by G'Kar, and that the Assassins' Guild will now be after him for dishonouring his commission, as they see it, G'Kar and Na'Toth cheerfully tell him he probably won't be caught, but if he is "You will know pain. You will know fear. And then you will die. Have a pleasant flight."
G'Kar, holding a death blossom, the calling card of the Assassins' Guild, which he has just found on his pillow: "And I suppose you have no idea how
this got into my bed?"
Na'Toth: "Ambassador, it is not my place to speculate upon how
anything gets into your bed!"
Londo (pissed): "You too! You're cute! Everybody's cute! Everybody's cute! Especially me! But in purple, I am
stunning!" (Passes out)
Delenn to her new aide, Lennier, who believes it is not his place to look at her directly: "You can look up. I cannot have an aide who will not look up: you will be forever walking into things!"
G'Kar to Na'Toth: "The Earthers have a phrase: "Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer." Perhaps they stole it from us."
Garibaldi to G'Kar, upon finding, while searching his quarters, a pair of pink knickers: "Let me just say, from the bottom of my heart, Ambassador: hot pink is definitely your colour!"
Last point: this is the first time we see the station's resident fixer, spiv, hawker, an alien who can get it for you if you can pay the price. N'Grath is a six-foot tall insect who lives and carries on his business in the lower levels. He's totally alien, speaking in a sort of rasping whisper in broken English, and we only meet him once or twice during the entire show, which is a pity as I always thought he was a character who could have been very much more developed.
1.6 "Mind war"
Borrowing rather a little, to be fair, from Star Trek: the Next Generation's season three episode "Transfigurations", this more or less standalone episode features the arrival of one Jason Ironheart, a high-level telepath on the run. The Psi Corps send two of their own to track him down and bring him back, and one of these is a character who will be a recurring one, and a constant thorn in the side of Babylon 5 command. He is called Alfred Bester (yes, after the sci-fi novelist) but usually just goes by his second name, and he is played by Star Trek's Chekov, Walter Koenig.
Sinclair does not hide his disdain for and distrust of the Psi Corps when the two "Psi Cops" ask for a meeting (well, demand it really) with all the staff, so that they can telepathically scan them to see if they are telling the truth when they ask if anyone has seen Ironheart. Sinclair is reluctant, but Psi Corps have jurdisdiction as this is one of their own they are pursuing, and Earthgov tends to give them a wide latitude in its dealings with them. They are a powerful force on Earth, as we will learn later, holding or at least influencing from the sidelines many positions of power.
Ironheart knows Talia Winters --- he used to be her instructor at Psi Corp HQ, and her lover --- and he trusts her, so only meets with her after the Psi Cops have conducted their scans. They are particularly brutal, mentally, with Talia, as they assume, since she has history with Ironheart, that they will have met. But her mind tells the truth, and they must accept she has not encountered the rogue telepath. Later, of course, it's too late for them to know he has made contact with her. Although Bester and his aide have advised Sinclair and the staff that Ironheart is carrying important government secrets in his head and intends to sell them to the highest bidder, thus compromising Earth's security, he tells her that he was part of a top-level, black-op mission, that he volunteered to have his psi ability --- the rating of his telepathic mind power --- increased to such a level that he was, in the end, able to do just about anything with his mind. Then he learned the dark secret behind the experiment.
Psi Corps were trying to develop something that has eluded them for years, a stable telekinetic, someone who could move objects by the mere power of their mind. He tells Talia he was being made into a weapon, so that assassinations could be carried out without weapons: mental murder with never a trace of evidence to tie it back to the killer. When he realised what was happening he ran, but of course they sent people after him. Now, the unbridled, untapped power of his brain is tearing him apart: he can hardly control it, and he tells her that if he does not get off the station he will end up destroying it. He simply can't stop what is happening to him.
As Ironheart's trauma translates itself into the shaking of whole sections of Babylon 5, Kelsey, the other Psi Cop calls it a "mind quake", and Sinclair demands to know what has been kept from him and his staff by the Psi Cops. Bester explains that they want to capture Ironheart alive because of the massive potential of what he is, and to prevent that power falling into alien hands. They possess a "failsafe code" which was written into Ironheart's brain, which they can use to shut him down, but they need to be on a line of sight for it to work. The commander is less than happy that his station has been put at risk and he kept ignorant of the danger this man poses, but again he has no choice but to help Bester and Kelsey. Whatever the morals of the situation, whatever his personal dislike for and mistrust of Psi Corps, Ironheart represents an incalculable danger to Babylon 5, and he must be removed from it as quickly as possible.
When they pinpoint his location and find Ironheart however, things do not go as planned. After warning them, pleading with them not to use the code, the rogue telepath simply waves his hand and Kelsey disintegrates. Bester retreats, to formulate a new plan. Meanwhile, Talia admits to Sinclair that she knows where Ironheart is and that he should talk to the man. The commander agrees, and when he hears what the telepath has to say about the growing power of Psi Corps, what has been done to him personally and that such power should never be allowed fall into the hands of humans, who are not ready yet, he agrees to help Jason escape.
When Ironheart gets outside his ship begins to glow, pulse, then in a rush of light it doesn't quite explode but vanishes, and standing there is a galactic superbeing, basically made of light. Jason Ironheart is gone, and what speaks to Sinclair now is a totally new lifeform; Ironheart has made the transition from human telepath to .... who knows? God? Alien? Higher consciousness? Forever out of reach now of Bester and the Corps, he slowly turns and vanishes.
There's a subplot in the story too, which concerns Catherine Sakai exploring a planet called Sigma-957. It seems at the time it might be part of the plot --- and in a way, it is --- but is essentially unimportant, as are most of the scenes with her. I'm not sure why JMS put her in the story: as a love interest for Sinclair, she does very little and as a character quite a lot less. But the one thing that's good about the "Sigma-957" subplot is that it does give us a chance to see the great, late and lamented Andreas Katsulas in his role as G'Kar, betraying a more philosophical image, which will come to dominate his personality over the next few seasons. It also hints at big revelations yet to come.
Important Plot Arc Points:
Bester/Psi Corps
Arc Level: Red
As already alluded to, Psi Corps have a huge role to play in the drama that will unfold over the next four seasons (not so much in the fifth) and their lodestone will always be Bester. Although he is a cold, dark, calculating man, played to a "t" by a villianous Walter Koenig, even his motives get a little confused as the seasons wind on. What does not change though is that Psi Corps is marshalling its forces, preparing to make a powerplay, much of which will begin to come to fruition in season two and three. Because of the importance of Psi Corps to the story arc, I have included below a selection of quotes, mostly from Ironheart, that lay the groundwork for what is to come.
Sigma-957
Arc Level: Green
This enigmatic planet will be mentioned again, but just the once I think and only then in back-reference to this subplot. It will not, in the end, really feature very much in the overall plot, which is a pity really, as it was foreshadowed as being quite integral.
Talia and her association with the Psi Corps
Arc Level: Orange
Nobody really trusts telepaths. I mean, not really. Not ever. Would you trust someone who could just look into your mind to see if you were telling the truth? So Talia is never that trusted on the station, although Garibaldi does fall for her. There's never any relationship though, and that's kind of a pity because it would have been a pretty big blow considering what's due to happen later. Talia is clearly afraid of Bester, and with good reason: his reputation precedes him. And yet she is fiercely loyal to her organisation, believing the mantra they hammer into their cadets: "The Corps is mother, the Corps is father".
Quotes:
As I said, Jason Ironheart warns us of the danger Psi Corps presents to the current order. He knows more than he will say, but he alludes to much. Here are some of his warnings from this episode.
(Note: these quotes may not be exact. No scripts for Babylon 5 episodes exist online, so I'm mostly taking these from my memory. If I have to, I'll watch episodes back to confirm, but I will not always have the time for that. So if anyone knows these quotes and realises they're inaccurate, don't bother contacting me. I know. But they're close enough to give a general sense of what was said.)
"I thought they wanted big, but they weren't interested in big. Small, that's what they wanted. Control of smaller objects - the smaller the better. If precise control over small objects were perfected, telekinetics could become the ideal assassins: Murder without a trace. No fingerprints, no poisons. Imagine, you could just reach inside someone's heart, and pinch the valve shut, cutting off the flow of blood and therby making it seem like a heart attack. No-one would ever know."
"The Psi-Corps is dedicated to one thing, Commander: control. But there is something even more powerful - something they didn't even know existed until I crossed the line. Not mind over matter, mind over energy.... I look at you, Commander, and I see not a man, but a galaxy of subatomic particles which I can ... rearrange with a casual thought."
"People believe that the government controls the Corps, the reverse is coming to be true. The Psi-Corps is more powerful than you can begin to imagine. Telepaths make the ultimate blackmailers, Talia. I've seen it all."
There are other references to the Corps, some good, some bad, some funny. When Garibaldi confronts Bester and "thinks" something at him as he leaves, the Psi Cop replies "Anatomically impossible, Mr. Garibaldi. But you're welcome to try."
Garibaldi says he feels there's something "creepy" about Psi Cops --- "The way they look at you as if you're some sort of bug", and even Sinclair snaps at Bester that he doesn't like people "rummaging about in his mind". Ivanova, of course, has good reason to hate the Corps already, and none to trust Bester or any of its representatives.
With the escape of Jason Ironheart --- although there will be a coverup to prevent Bester being reported for putting the station in danger --- the battle lines are drawn, and Babylon 5 becomes a target for Bester and Psi Corps, the two mutual enemies, even if they will be forced to work together on occasion. The uneasy alliance will break without much effort, and the two will diverge to stand on opposing factions of the coming darkness.
On a lighter note, as mentioned, G'Kar gets to shine in his spiritual discussion of the planet Sigma-957. To quickly summarise a pretty aimless subplot, Catherine Sakai heads to the planet to check if it is uninhabited and to lay claim to it on behalf of a business consortium for which she is surveying it and to whom she intends to sell the mining rights. In orbit, she is suddenly approached by a massive alien craft --- or alien being --- which although it does not attack her (in fact, goes right past her seemingly unaware or uncaring of her presence) her computer is knocked out and she has no power to return to Babylon 5. Left drifting in space, she is rescued by Narn ships sent by G'Kar, who had tried to dissuade her from going to that sector, and who arranged her rescue because of the relationship (he says) he has with Sinclair.
When she returns home she asks him what was it that she saw, and G'Kar illustrates the point beautifully and poetically by picking up on his forefinger an ant which had been crawling on a nearby plant. He holds it for a moment then returns it to the leaf. "Now", he asks Sakai, "if that ant should now ask another ant
What was that?, how should it reply? There are things in this universe, Ms. Sakai, billions of years older than either of our races. They are vast, timeless ... They are a mystery, and I am both terrified and reassured to know that there are still wonders in the universe ; that we have not yet explained everything. Whatever they are, Ms. Sakai, they walk near Sigma-957. They must walk there alone."
The episode ends with a closeup shot of the ant, back on the leaf, busily scurrying about its business, and the message is clear: to some intelligences out there we are of no more importance, threat or interest than ants are to us. We are not the masters of the universe, and we would do well to remember that.