Holy cow. So many surprises in this episode that I don’t know where to start!! Guess I should just start at the beginning…
Vir blows up at Londo in an uncharacteristic display of impatience. Can’t blame Vir, really; he’s been taking his mission so seriously and refuses to be just a puppet of the Centauri government (or of Londo’s). Yay, Vir!
Chaos breaks out on Earth, and General Hague flees.
YAY! ZACH WAS LOYAL AFTER ALL!!!!!! I was *so* relieved!!!! I was convinced that he was going to turn in Garibaldi, what with all the conflict between them in recent episodes.
Garibaldi: You did the right thing, Zack.
Zack: Y’know, everybody always say that. I don’t know who means it anymore. This time, yeah, I think I did.
Heh, I love the fact that G’Kar was singing in his cell when Garibaldi came to let him out. 
Woohoo, Majel Barrett’s in this episode! I remember her first as Christine Chapel in the original Star Trek, then as Deanna Troi’s mother in Star Trek: Next Generation.
Nightwatch is given responsibility for security of B5, much to the frustration of the senior officers. Wow…and the seed for this plot thread was planted WAY back, wasn’t it? I remember how harmless that Ministry of Peace seemed in the beginning.
Impressive to see the depths of Ta’Lon’s loyalty to G’Kar, waiting outside G’Kar’s quarters.
Loved Garibaldi’s speech after he interrupted the Nightwatch meeting. He’s hurt, he’s angry, and he’s not submitting. You go, Garibaldi! Just don’t get killed.
Wow, G’Kar has certainly come about face in his attitude, hasn’t he? The visions given to him by Kosh have certain had a huge effect. But WHY did Kosh give him these visions? I’m still hugely curious about the Vorlons. We haven’t seen much of Kosh or the Vorlons in recent episodes. What’s Kosh been up to lately?? Don’t tell me.
Sheridan: It’s funny, I… I wish Delenn were here.
Quite the fight scene as Sheridan is making his public announcement about martial law. Very cool when he figures out what General Smits was trying to tell him, how to use the whole chain of command rule to Sheridan’s advantage.
It was HUGELY satisfying to see the Nightwatch trapped. They’ve been really getting annoying! And again, I was SO HAPPY that Zach made the right choice.
I cheered and clapped when G’Kar and the Narn (Narns?) came marching in to replace the Nightwatch. YAY G’KAR!!!
And G’Kar wants to become part of the new alliance.
Sheridan: Always plant a lie inside the truth. Makes it easier to swallow.
Lady Morella’s advice to Londo is intriguing…
Lady Morella: You have a chance few others will have, Mollari. You still have three opportunities to avoid the fire that awaits you at the end of your journey. You’ve already wasted two others. You must save the eye that does not see. You must not kill the one who is already dead. And at the last, you must surrender yourself to your greater fear, knowing that it will destroy you.
And then she gives her blockbuster of a prediction, that BOTH Londo and Vir will be emperor, and that one will become emperor after the other is dead.
!!!!!!!!!
I can’t blame Vir for thinking it was a joke at first. VIR AS EMPEROR?!????!!
Dear lord. And of course this raises so many questions. Who will become emperor first? Does one of them kill the other? How on earth will the Centauri accept Vir as their emperor? Will Londo’s entire vision still come true? e.g. will a one-eyed G’Kar strangle him in the end? If so, what prompts G’Kar to change his mellow-tude? Don’t tell me.
It’s going to be SO interesting to see how the relationship between Londo and Vir changes…
Next episode: Severed Dreams (3).
[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]
8 comments ↓
I just love the little wary look that Vir and Londo give each other after Lady Morella’s prophecy sinks in.
And if you think this episode was intense, just wait till the next one, which is my favourite episode of Season 3, and has probably my favourite Delenn moment in it.
Yeah, the title of this one is really appropriate, isn’t it?
How on earth will the Centauri accept Vir as their emperor?
Earth shouldn’t matter. It’s “How on Centauri Prime will the Centauri accept Vir as their emperor?”
Majel Barrett-Roddenberry coming on the show was a huge deal back in the day, given the rivalry between B5 and Star Trek at the time.
And though I don’t think this is ever confirmed on the show, I’m pretty sure the two chances at redemption that Londo already wasted were in “The Coming of Shadows” and “The Long, Twilight Struggle.”
I don’t know how much they might teach you in Canada about the problems the USA had back in the 50’s with Senator Joe McCarthy and some activities he took with regard to the “Communist Menace”. HUAC hearings, blacklists, his “list of known communists in the State Department” and so on. (Who knows, maybe you know more than American students - who get taught damn little about it these days.)
Any time Americans might wish to think “We’d never fall for something like Nightwatch” and try to tell ourselves that it would only be some other nation that would…. well, we’d just be trying to fool ourselves. This stuff has worked time after time, in nation after nation. We had it in the 50s - and we need to keep alert. After all, B5 was produced BEFORE the attacks on the Trade Towers on 9/11/2001. And after that attack came the Patriot Act and various other ways in which rights were suspended and people were encouraged to watch out for suspicious activity….
Again, up in Canada this may not be quite as potent a message - but if an American was doing a “B5 Virgin” report here in “Post 9/11″ times, there would definitely be things that would resonate very strongly. But it’s not that JMS had his own Lady Morella to predict this - it’s just that it happens over and over and over again.
I remember when the episode first came out that there were “VIR FOR EMPEROR!” slogans everywhere, they cropped up in taglines on emails and Usenet posts, there were buttons made and worn. Lots of fans liked Vir.
Nightwatch: JMS was once again drawing on history, both the McCarthy era as mentioned and Germany in the 1930s. And yes, it is all too easy for societies to fall into.
I already commented on how the scene in the Senator’s office (Morden, Psicop) echoes today.
As eager as I am to rewatch the series, now that Debbie has reawakened it for me, I suspect that some things that were simply thrilling before will be downright difficult to watch now.
“Wow…and the seed for this plot thread was planted WAY back, wasn’t it?”
Oh, yes. The seeds for this plot and many others were planted way back when.
Messages from Earth
Point of No Return
Severed Dreams
Are three amazing episodes and should be watched back to back.
Leave a Comment