I have to say…techno-mages are VERY COOL. I hope we see them again.
So Londo’s getting involved in a conspiracy to take the emperor’s throne. Londo tells the other guy that he can trust Vir, which made me wonder…CAN he trust Vir? Vir seems so submissive and timid, it’s true, but he’s also in the perfect position to glean info and learn from Londo. Don’t tell me.
Yay for Ivanova’s promotion!
Ivanova (to the doctor): Great, NOW you can give me something for the pain. Where were you during puberty?
Glad to see Garibaldi on his feet. I also think it’s great to have his character have to decide whether or not he wants to stay on B5. If this was Star Trek, there would be no question. But it’s more realistic that Garibaldi would experience some self-doubt as well as needing an adjustment period to get used to the new captain.
It sounds like Sheridan already has a good idea of Garibaldi, both his good and bad points. I’m looking forward to seeing how their relationship develops.
The whole Green / Purple thing was pretty amusing.
Elric: There is a storm coming up, black and terrible storm.
Cool that Elric quotes from Lord of the Rings (”Do not try the patience of wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger.”)! And am I correct in assuming that the name Elric came from the Michael Moorock series?
I love how Elric talks. 
I’d love to follow this guy around in his day-to-day life and just hear him talk, wouldn’t you?
Interesting conversation between Elric and Londo near the end of the episode.
“You are touched by darkness, Ambassador,” Elric says to Londo. “I see it as a blemish that will grow with time.” And then what he says about billions of Londo’s victims calling his name.
*shudder*
Why do I get the feeling that things are going to get very bad for Londo Mollari somewhere down the line?
Next episode: A Distant Star.
[For those who comment below: As the title of my blog indicates, I'm watching B5 for the very first time so PLEASE refrain from posting plot/character spoilers/hints about upcoming episodes, or including links to pages with spoilers (unless you warn readers that they contain spoilers). More info about spoilers here. Thanks so much! - Debbie]
14 comments ↓
The Technomagi were quite awesome. This was actually my first episode of B5, and I was very impressed by it.
Just to repeat it because it’s such a great line…
Elric: As I look at you, Ambasador Mollari, I see a great hand reaching out of the stars. The hand is your hand. And I hear sound; the sounds of billions of people calling your name.
Londo: My followers?
Elric: Your victims.
Okay, now you can follow the link to read the lyrics to Tom Smith’s Purple and Green inspired by this episode.
If you think Techno-Mages are cool, then you have to watch the B5 spinoff mini-series “Crusade” which is featuring one as regular cast…
There were so many great scenes in this one — Vir screwing up his courage, Garibaldi wrestling with his self-doubts (The guy who shot him in the back showed up at several points in Season 1 — as he said, the traitor was under his nose the whole time and he never saw it.), and pretty much every appearance of Elric and/or Londo.
Technomages are indeed cool.
“We are dreamers, shapers, singers, and makers. We study the mysteries of laser and circuit, crystal and scanner, holographic demons and invocations of equations. These are the tools we employ, and we know many things. The answers to questions that people have asked since time began. Fourteen words to make someone fall in love with you forever, seven words to make them go without pain, how to say goodbye to a friend who is dying, how to be poor, how to be rich, how to rediscover dreams when the world has stolen them from you.”
The 14 words are, of course, “I just inherited a hundred million dollars and I have three weeks to live.”
With technology indistinguisable from magic in this episode, it is a con-incidence that we remeber that idea from Arthur C. Clarke today.
The actor who played Elric is Michael Ansara. Another memorable role was the voice of Mr. Freeze in “Heart of Ice,” the episode that showed just how good the animated “Batman” could be…
Per JMS:
“There were *substantial* differences made between the first draft and the final, based on the fact that a lot of the physical stuff I’d written for Claudia — getting herself out of the problem she was in with the Drazi — had to be dumped because the actress had a broken foot. So that aspect has to be remembered. We pushed her to the limits, and I didn’t want to push further. ”
and
“Nope, that really was Claudia walking on her broken foot in the council chambers. She’s a trooper…. ”
Meanwhile…
Besides the Batman stuff, Michael Ansara also played Kang on Star Trek (The Original Series “Day of the Dove”, Deep Space 9 “Blood Oath” and Voyager “Flashback”). He was one of only 6 actors to play the same role on 3 different ST series.
He also played Kane on Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, and long ago he played 3 roles (including The Blue Djinn) on “I Dream of Jeannie” (and was married to Barbara Eden, i.e. Jeannie).
He’s had LOTS of other roles, too.
http://imdb.com/name/nm0030516/
But a caution – if you go to that list you will find out whether he shows up again or not on B5. If you prefer not to know, let it pass for now.
As a result of this episode I ended up with a green baseball cap with the word Purple! embroidered on it and Annie (I think) a purple one with Green! on it. It crops up even now in fandom – I’ve partaken of LJ comment threads with exchanges of nothing more than green and purple
Michael Ansara is one of my favorite character actors. I recall him all the way back in the late 1950’s / early 1960’s (I’m not going to hop over to IMDB to verify the date) playing Cochise in the TV series “Broken Arrow”. He was on a memorable episode of the original Twilight Zone, too.
I just wish he got to play MORE sympathetic characters.
Prophetess Ohi, how did you see the Londo haircut scene, with nearly the same camera angle in your cartoon comic?
4 Volker on 03.19.08 at 1:35 pm
If you think Techno-Mages are cool, then you have to watch the B5 spinoff mini-series “Crusade” which is featuring one as regular cast…
But NOT until AFTER you finish Bab5. Trust me, on this.
Okay, I was at Bed, Bath & Beyond today to get a couple of bathroom rugs and seem how easy it would be redecorate the home like Londo Malari’s quarters (but I don’t have the credits to do so at this time). Have any of you pondered decorating your quarters like the quarters of a particular character on B5? Delenn seems austier(sp?), but definitly a style, while G’Kar also has a rather dark style. Londo and Delenn got windows this year, while I don’t recall seeing one in G’Kar’s room.