BABYLON 5 Rewatch: Season 2, Episodes 19-20

B19: Divided Loyalties

Airdates: 11 October 1995 (US), 25 July 1995 (UK)

Written by J. Michael Straczynski

Directed by Jésus Treviño

Cast: Lyta Alexander (Patricia Tallman), Security Aide Zack Allan (Jeff Conaway), Ambassador Kosh (Ardwight Chamberlain), First Man (Douglas Bennet), Running Man (Danny de la Paz), Medtech (Jani Neuman), Security Guard (George Simms), Lt. David Corwin (Joshua Cox)

Plot:    Sheridan is becoming concerned about the lack of progress his conspiracy group is making at exposing Psi Corps and President Clark’s involvement in Santiago’s murder. He and Garibaldi decide to bring Talia Winters into their group, given her growing dislike for Psi Corps and resolve to make the offer within the week. Meanwhile, Talia’s quarters have become uninhabitable for a while due to maintenance checks and Ivanova agrees to let her stay at her place.

A ship comes through the jump gate but doesn’t move to dock with the station. Puzzled, Sheridan has it brought on board. A single crewmember is found unconscious on board: Lyta Alexander, Babylon 5’s first resident telepath who was present when Ambassador Kosh came on board and was attacked (in episode PM). Lyta recovers in Medlab and tells the command crew that she is now a rogue telepath on the run from Psi Corps. After the Kosh incident she was recalled to Earth and quizzed, in depth, about what happened when she scanned the Vorlon. After a few months she fled to Mars and has been working there with the slowly growing Mars Resistance movement. She recently discovered something horrific and has come to Babylon 5 to warn the crew that there is a traitor among them. One of the station command crew has been implanted with a “secondary personality” called Control, which only awakens when the primary personality is asleep. They work for Psi Corps and don’t even know it. Lyta has the key to exposing the traitor, a control word that will activate the secondary personality...at the expense of destroying the primary. Sheridan agrees to submit to a scan, and he, Garibaldi and Franklin are cleared. Ivanova is desperate to avoid the scan, again referring to her hatred of telepaths (previously mentioned in episodes A1, A6, A16 and A17), but Sheridan insists. Ivanova then tells him something shocking, that she herself is a latent telepath. Her mental powers are extremely limited, probably not enough to make even a P1, but it is still enough for Psi Corps to come knocking on her door. Startled, Sheridan agrees that she should not be scanned until the last possible moment.

They arrange for most of the station crew to come through Sheridan’s office with Lyta transmitting the password at each one. None of them check out. Neither does Garibaldi’s security force or the fighter pilots. Sheridan is at a loss and Lyta begins pressing to test Ivanova. Ivanova herself relents, but it is confirmed that she is not the mole. Talia Winters walks in to see Sheridan and Lyta scans her as well. Talia cries out in pain as her secondary personality takes over. She tries to kill Lyta but Garibaldi stops her. Sheridan has her thrown off the station, whilst Ivanova is shocked and almost heartbroken at someone who has become her closest friend essentially “dying” in this way.

Sheridan and the crew discuss what to do in the wake of this revelation, namely that Psi Corps knows that, at the very least, Dr. Franklin was involved with the underground railroad of telepaths, that those telepaths escaped and were not killed (B7) and that the Babylon 5 crew harboured a rogue telepath (Lyta). Garibaldi points out that Psi Corps now knows that they know about the sleeper personality programme, which is illegal by Earth law. Hopefully, there will be a stalemate. In addition, Garibaldi recalls Talia telling him about what Ambassador Kosh put her through last year, including the data crystal recording he made of her (A9).

Lyta goes to see Ambassador Kosh before she departs. She is going on the run to avoid the Psi Corps, but wanted to see him before she went. Kosh reveals her true appearance to Lyta, who is filled with wonder at the sight...

MORE AFTER THE JUMP

The Arc: This is the first time a “Mars Resistance” has been referred to, implying a group fighting for freedom from a despotic overlord rather than as a terrorist group like Free Mars. The Resistance plays a large role in Season 4, particularly episodes D10, D11, D19 and D20.

A Ranger is working with the Mars Resistance, confirming that their influence is spreading (B9).

It turns out that Talia is the “Control” agent mentioned by Bureau 13 in episode B6, although in that episode a “he” was referred to instead of a she (perhaps to throw anyone listening off the scent, or maybe the people involved themselves didn’t know who Control was). That episode also sets up the idea of artificial personalities.

Talia’s fate is hinted at – but never confirmed – in episode C6. Comic DC8 hints that Talia received her artificial personality at the Psi Corps facility on Syria Planum and Shadow technology may have been involved.

Hints that Ivanova may have had slight telepathic powers previously appeared in episode A16 (in Ivanova’s dream where she imagines herself taking her mother’s place as a prisoner of the Psi Corps) and episode B11 (in Sheridan’s dream).

There are flashbacks to episode A9 in this episode. Garibaldi recalls that Kosh appears to have made a recording of some kind of Talia’s reaction of telepathic trauma. The inference is this may be helpful, either in restoring Talia’s personality or providing more information to keep Psi Corps in check.

There are hints and suggestions in this episode that Ivanova and Talia have become more than just friends, building on the evolution of their relationship in previous episodes (starting in A1 but significantly developing in episodes A6, A17 and B8). Events in C11 confirm that Ivanova was actually in love with Talia.

Lyta Alexander fled Psi Corps after they interrogated her about what she saw in Kosh’s mind (PM). Her fate is revealed in episode C4.

The Psi Corps base on Syria Planum on Mars is mentioned. This facility appeared in comics DC5-8 and was mentioned in episode A18-A19.

As a result of this episode, Psi Corps now knows about the underground railroad of telepaths, that Dr. Franklin was involved in it and Sheridan knew about it (B7). They also know that the B5 crew know about Psi Corps’ telekinetic experiments (B8). It’s less clear if they know about Jason Ironheart’s “gift” to Talia (A6, B7), since the “real” Talia was able to hide it from Bester, it may have also hidden itself from the artificial personality. Fortunately, given the wariness of the crew about Talia until recently, they don’t know much more than that. The intelligence the B5 crew has on Psi Corps, including the same info on the telekinetic experiments and the Control programme, cancels out their advantage.

Intriguingly, future episodes (particularly C5) confirm that President Clark and his team still have a high opinion of Sheridan and view him as a patriot to Earth, meaning that Psi Corps didn’t share the intelligence they gained from Talia with Clark. Given Psi Corps’ hoarding of information for their own benefit, even from their allies, this is unsurprising.

Background: Lyta Alexander interned with the Psi Cops during training. She hated it and quit to become a commercial telepath. She was a year behind Talia at the Psi Corps Academy, suggesting she might be a year younger (Lyta’s birth year was given as 2225 in PM, so Talia may have been born in 2224, making her six years older than Ivanova, who as per A13 was born in 2230).

Minbari writing is vertical, going from top to bottom.

The Minbari are pursuing a new trade agreement with the Lumati (from B14). Delenn says that “diplomatic” issues may have hindered this agreement, which may be an indication that the Minbari are also not in favour of the Lumati practice of mating to seal their agreements.

Universe Today is highly customisable, with readers able to specify what sections of the newspaper they want to read about in greater detail. And yes, apparently hardcopy newspapers will still be a thing in the mid-23^rd Century.

Universe Today has an optional “Eye on Minbari” section (and presumably one for each of the alien races) which focuses on events going on with that race.

References: The term “sleeper agent” is used several times, referring to spies operating in deep cover for many years such as Otto Kuehn (a German spy in Pearl Harbour who fed intelligence to the Japanese) and Kim Philby (a Russian spy in London).

Unanswered Questions: What was on Kosh’s data crystal and why did nothing come of it?

What happened to Talia Winters after returning to Earth? Do they know about Jason Ironheart’s “little gift”?

How was Talia/Control able to shut down the lighting and know when to attack Lyta?

Mistakes, Retcons and Lamentations: Contrary to popular belief, a kiss between Ivanova and Talia was not filmed for this episode, despite fan claims that it looked like such a kiss had been cut out of the episode. Straczynski and producer John Copeland confirmed there was a continuity error in the scene, where Talia goes from playing with Ivanova’s hair to having her hand at her side, making it look like intervening material had been removed.

Garibaldi and Sheridan discuss bringing Talia into their cell group in a public toilet. It’s unclear why.

Garibaldi dates the events of PM to 3 January 2257 in this episode. However, in Season 5 he dates the same events to “summer 2257”.

Garibaldi says that both Lyta Alexander and Dr. Kyle returned to Earth in February 2257, six weeks after the events of PM. However, in episode A2, which took place in January or February 2258, Dr. Franklin mentions running into Dr. Kyle on Io with the inference that Franklin was directly replacing Kyle.

Given they are trying to fly under the radar, the entire “conspiracy” group arranging for the entire command staff – including people who’d presumably have recognised Lyta – to cycle past them seems a bit of a security risk.

Behind the Scenes: This episode came about after actress Andrea Thompson requested a change to her contract. This was sparked by the fact that after having three busy episodes early in the season (B6-B8) she’d not appeared again until episode B17, barring a single day of filming for episode B14. The rest of the time – over two months – she’d taken off and sat at home. Having clarified with the producers that her screentime wasn’t going to improve significantly in Season 3, she asked to become a recurring guest star rather than a regular castmember, since she could then take other work in the meantime.

However, switching her contract would have meant it would have been more expensive to get her back, with the risk she might have another job when she was needed for important arc-related episodes. After some discussion, the producers decided to let her go altogether. Thompson was unhappy with this decision, but accepted it. Shortly after leaving Babylon 5 she got a regular role on the first season of JAG, before quitting acting altogether to become a newsreader. Thompson offered to return for a one-off episode to clarify her character’s ultimate fate, but Straczynski turned her down.

Straczynski’s original plan had been to confirm that Ivanova and Talia were involved in a romantic relationship early in Season 3, but Talia’s impending departure meant he had to pull the trigger on that story “about nine episodes” earlier than he’d planned.

Straczynski had been planning to catch up on the Lyta Alexander storyline. Thompson’s departure gave him the excuse needed to ask Patricia Tallman to return in a recurring role (ironically, the very status Thompson had requested) for Season 3 before promoting her to regular in Seasons 4 and 5.

This episode and B20 were shot in the reverse order and flipped, due to the greater production requirements for B20.

The last four episodes of Season 2 aired in the United Kingdom almost three months before US transmission. This was because Warner Brothers decided to delay transmission to run the last four episodes of Season 2 with the first few of Season 3, to Straczynski’s irritation.

According to Straczynski, if Tamlyn Tomita had remained on Babylon 5 as Lt. Commander Takashima, she would have been the one to shoot Garibaldi and it would have been confirmed that she was the Psi Corps plant.

Familiar Faces: Patricia Tallman returns from episode PM. A dispute between her agent and the production team had resulted in her not returning for the series itself, but a change in representation meant her return to the show had no problems with it. In the meantime, Tallman had been working in Hollywood as a stuntwoman, most notably on various Star Trek projects and in the film Jurassic Park. She’d given birth to her son about six weeks before filming this episode.

Review: There’s some good stuff in this episode, most notably Claudia Christian giving one of her very best performances and the rising tide of paranoia as the crew have to confront paranoia and how far they are willing to push their own morals. However, the Talia revelation is undercut by it clearly not being the original plan for the character and it leaves a lot of unresolved storylines and messy writing issues in its wake. Still, for shock value and the performances, it’s a very solid episode with a dramatic, dark ending.  ***½

Talia: “The programme is complete. The Talia you knew no longer exists. There’s just me.”

Ivanova: “You’re right. The Talia I knew is dead.”

B20: The Long, Twilight Struggle

Airdates: 18 October 1995 (US), 1 August 1995 (UK)

Written by J. Michael Straczynski

Directed by John C. Flinn III

Cast: Draal (John Schuck), Lord Refa (William Forward), Warleader G’Sten (W. Morgan Sheppard), Kha’Mak (Neil Bradley), ISN Reporter (Rif Hutton), Narn Officer (Jonathan Chapman), Lt. David Corwin (Joshua Cox), Station Two (Elisa Beth Garver)

Date: October 2259.

Plot:    Londo is recalled to Centauri Prime for consultations with Lord Refa over the war effort. Refa informs him that something has happened which may end the war soon, and in the Centauri’s favour.

Babylon 5’s C&C crew detect an unusual energy emission from Epsilon III. Sheridan is alerted, but suddenly a holographic image of Draal (A19) appears in his quarters. Draal invites Sheridan to come down to Epsilon III and visit him in person and he agrees. Delenn is also invited and they travel down together. Draal informs them that the Great Machine’s power is extensive and he has been monitoring events throughout this region of the Galaxy. He is now prepared to offer Sheridan an alliance, the use of the Great Machine in defending Babylon 5 from attack and also in furthering the cause against the Shadows. Sheridan agrees to the alliance and Draal tells Delenn the time has come to introduce him to “the others”. After watching Sheridan and Delenn depart, Draal goes to find one of his helpers who has wandered off, Zathras...

Warleader G’Sten, a senior general in the Narn military, arrives on Babylon 5 for talks with his nephew, Ambassador G’Kar. He tells him that the war is going very badly for the Narn Regime. Three major Narn colonies have fallen to the Centauri advance in the last few weeks alone and the Kha’Ri feels that the Centauri have to be stopped in their tracks now. If the Narn can just prolong the war for a few more months the Centauri will be forced to back down and negotiate. Already some of the noble houses in the Centaurum are questioning the need for the conflict. He informs G’Kar that he is leading a major Narn fleet comprised of elements from several battle groups to attack Gorash VII, site of the major Centauri supply base for their assault fleet. With Gorash VII captured or destroyed, the Centauri will be forced to pull back and regroup. G’Kar agrees that such a bold plan may win the Narn victory, but is worried that the assembly of such a large fleet will leave the Narn homeworld vulnerable to attack.

On Centauri Prime Refa tells Londo that they have intercepted Narn plans for an attack on Gorash VII. Londo assumes that Refa will have a Centauri fleet waiting for them, but instead Refa tells him that there won’t be a single Centauri cruiser in the entire Gorash system. He is assembling a huge fleet to strike at Narn itself whilst it is undefended. Londo is shocked: a Centauri army invading Narn would take horrific casualties to secure the entire planet. Refa agrees, which is why the fleet will use mass-drivers to destroy the major cities from orbit before sending in ground troops. Londo’s objections that mass-drivers are illegal by interstellar treaty are again disregarded. Refa tells Londo that Gorash VII will need to be defended from attack and so he wants Londo’s associates to intercept the Narns. Londo reluctantly agrees, despite his worries over reports he has received from his sources indicating his new allies’ power far exceeds what he had initially suspected, and he is worried that they are using the Centauri for their own purposes. Refa assures him this is the last time they will need to use Londo’s allies.

A Narn refugee ship arrives from Dross, one of the Narn colonies recently destroyed by the Centauri. Dr. Franklin tells G’Kar that one of the deceased patients said something odd before he died. The patient in question was captured by the invading Centauri forces and interrogated about Narn’s planetary defence network. However, the Centauri fleet blockading the planet withdrew without securing the target. G’Kar is mystified, since the Centauri are very efficient at conquest. Franklin tells G’Kar that during the final days of the Earth-Minbari War the Minbari bypassed Io and Mars because they were ready to attack Earth itself. A troubled G’Kar alerts G’Sten to the possibility that the Centauri are planning a surprise attack on homeworld, but G’Sten’s forces are already committed. It is too late to stop the plan from going ahead.

Londo and Refa leave Centauri Prime on the Centauri flagship battlecruiser Valerius. They rendezvous with the main Centauri battle fleet and proceed to the Narn system.

The Narn fleet emerges from hyperspace near Gorash VII and advances on the supply base. Four Shadow warships appear. The Narns’ long-range energy mines fail to damage them and they launch fighters in response. A pitched battle follows and the Narn succeed in crippling in one of the Shadow vessels. However, they are outclassed and the entire fleet is destroyed. When G’Sten’s flagship and another vessel try to open jump points, the Shadows collapse them on top of the warships, destroying them. Simultaneously with this attack, the Centauri fleet reaches Narn and begins bombarding the planet with asteroids fired from their mass-drivers.

Four days pass and the Narn homeworld is devastated, all of the major cities reduced to rubble and the entire planetary infrastructure is destroyed. So much dust has been thrown into the atmosphere that it blocks out the sun. The final transmission from Narn orders G’Kar to go and request sanctuary from Sheridan for himself and all the Narns on Babylon 5. Sheridan agrees. Then the Narn government officially surrenders to the Centauri, ending the war.

Londo arrives on Babylon 5 and addresses the Advisory Council, announcing the end of the Narn-Centauri War. The Narn homeworld is now a colony of the greater Centauri Republic. The Narn government, the Kha’Ri, has been arrested on charges of war crimes. Londo denies Sheridan’s request to send observers from Earth to these trials. G’Kar is to also be arrested and returned to Narn for interrogation and execution, but Sheridan tells Londo that G’Kar has been granted sanctuary on Babylon 5. Londo nevertheless strips G’Kar of his rank, privileges and official status.

With the Narn-Centauri War resolved, Delenn, Kosh and Garibaldi introduce Sheridan to the Rangers, many of whom are now based on Babylon 5. Delenn grants Sheridan joint authority over the Rangers on Babylon 5 and he vows that they will draw a line against the darkness no matter the cost. Londo, watching ISN in his quarters, is stunned when the news reports that the Centauri have annexed several smaller worlds near their border in an attempt to forge a buffer zone between themselves and other races...

Dating the Episode: The Narn-Centauri War which began in episode B9 (dated to April 2259) began “six months ago”.

The Arc: The Narn-Centauri War which officially began in episode B9 is now concluded with the Centauri conquest of the Narn homeworld. The ramifications will continue through episodes B21, B22, C3, C6, C18, C20 and D2-D5.

The Centauri, having now conquered the Narn, begin expanding their sphere of influence even further to include other worlds. We see the results of this in episodes B22 and C1.

Three of the Narn G’Quan-class heavy cruisers combine their main beam cannons to inflict serious damage on one Shadow cruiser, enough so it can’t jump to hyperspace afterwards and has to be “helped” off the battlefield by another ship. This is the first hint in the series that Shadow technology can be defeated by conventional weapons, if used in overwhelming force.

Londo mentions the death of a close friend (B16). This seems to have made him realise that the Shadows are an unreliable ally at best, a theme which continues in episode C1.

Londo disparagingly gives G’Kar the nickname of “Citizen G’Kar”. G’Kar and the Narn adopt this name for their own ends and it remains G’Kar’s designation until the end of the series.

Sheridan is introduced to the Rangers, who we last saw in episode B9. Delenn gives Sheridan joint authority over the Rangers under her command.

Draal is now allied to Sheridan and Babylon 5. We see the fruits of this alliance in episodes C5 and C16-C17. Draal mentions Zathras as being one of his aides. Zathras was the strange alien encountered on Babylon 4 in episode A20.

The Great Machine allows Draal to peer into events on distant worlds. This sets up a plot point in episode C5.

Background: Shi, Dross and Zok are Narn colony worlds recently captured by the Centauri. Gorash VII is a Centauri colony acting as a supply base and staging ground for the Centauri military offensive, presumably the same place where Urza Jaddo (B16) fought a major battle in his youth. This suggests that the Centauri seized Gorash from another species.

This is the first time in the series we see the Narn homeworld.

The Shadow warships launch their fighters by “firing” them in spiky clusters which then break apart into individual fighters. The Shadow fighters are powerful in themselves, several times blasting large chunks out of the larger Narn cruisers with their weapons.

The Shadows have a vortex disruption weapon which can collapse jump points, destroying the ship trying to generate them.

The Narns use energy mines as weapons in long-range combat. They are ineffective against the Shadows.

The Valerius is the flagship of the Centauri navy, a Primus-class battlecruiser. These ships have artificial gravity without the need for rotating sections, a technological advance the Centauri and Minbari have developed but not chosen to share with other races.

Mass drivers in Babylon 5 are presented as electromagnetic weapons which can propel small asteroids at high speed into a planetary surface. According to Ron Thornton, the Centauri kept a ready supply of such asteroids at a nearby location and jumped them directly into the Centauri warships’ holds, ready for firing.

During the Earth-Minbari War, the Minbari fleet bypassed (and spared) the colonies on Io and Mars to attack Earth itself.

The Vorlons issue a formal protest against the Centauri bombardment of Narn, the only time in the series they do so.

References: The title is from a John F. Kennedy quote: “Now the trumpet summons us again. Not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need. Not as a call to battle, though in battle we are. But as a call to bear the burdens of a long, twilight struggle, year in and year out, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease and war itself.”

Mass drivers were first featured as weapons of mass destruction in E.E. “Doc” Smith’s Lensman space opera series (1937-48), a work Straczynski was familiar with. NASA has ideas to build real mass drivers, but they would just be small engines which would land on an asteroid and propel them away from a planet-intercepting trajectory.

Being “bombed back to the Stone Age” was a common piece of American jingoism from the Vietnam War.

Straczynski noted that the rejuvenated Draal was a bit like Tom Bombadil from Lord of the Rings, a person with some levity and joviality but not someone you want to trifle with.

The “balloon is going up” is a reference to the American Civil War and World War I, when spotter balloons would go up to direct artillery fire. Seeing an enemy balloon going up suggested that combat was imminent.

Unanswered Questions: Are Zathras’s people native to Epsilon III? If not, where did they come from?

Mistakes, Retcons and Lamentations: Draal says that the Great Machine is located three miles below the surface of Epsilon III, but it was five miles in episodes A18-A19.

Garibaldi says it’s eight or nine months since he was introduced to the Rangers, but this was in episode B9 which this same episode says, twice, was six months ago.

For reasons never adequately explained, both this episode and B22 feature annoying “squeaks” rather than proper explosion sound effects during the space battles.

Behind the Scenes: Director John C. Flinn had a ten-foot-tall platform erected with a piece of plexiglass on it and told Peter Jurasik to stand on it and think about what Londo was going through. When he realised he had to get the CG from Foundation Imaging reflecting off the window, Flinn started panicking and worrying it couldn’t be done, but actually it was done pretty easily.

During the council scene, Flinn wanted to show Londo the statesman, sweeping in with righteous anger and lots of demands and Jurasik played that well, before pulling in very tight on G’Kar and having him quietly upstage Londo with his dignified, measured defiance. Katsulas and Jurasik both enjoyed the scene and felt it was one of the very best between them.

This episode was debuted at the Chicago Comic-Con on 1 July 1995.

This episode had more CGI than any previous one. Two separate teams at Foundation Imaging had to work on it, with “Mojo” directing the Gorash VII battle and John Teska handling the bombardment of Narn. Episode B22 broke the record established by this episode almost immediately.

This episode, along with B9 and B22, was longlisted for the 1996 Hugo Award. Straczynski withdrew this episode and B22 from contention to focus the momentum on one episode, which duly won.

Familiar Faces: John Schuck auditioned for the role of G’Sten, but it was decided to give the role to W. Morgan Sheppard. The production team enjoyed Schuck’s audition and started thinking about another role they could give him. However, Louis Turenne, who played Draal in episodes A18-A19, had a stroke shortly before he was due to film this episode, so the producers were able to ask Shuck to step in for Turenne instead. A replacement role was written for Turenne in episodes C2, C4 and C20 when he was healthy enough to return to the series.

Schuck is a familiar American character actor, best-known for playing recurring roles on McMillan and Wife in the 1970s and The Munsters Today in the 1980s. He also appeared in Robert Altman’s 1970 movie M*A*S*H*, where he had the distinction of being the first American actor to use the word “f***ing” in a theatrical movie. He played Klingon Ambassador Kamarag in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, as well as Legate Parn in Deep Space Nine and Antaak on Star Trek: Enterprise. He also played the Kilrathi defector Hobbes in Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger.

W. Morgan Sheppard previously played the Soul Hunter in episode A2, of course. Neil Bradley reprises his role as Kha’Mak from episode B9, which is appropriate.

Review: An outstanding episode, a grand tragedy which is notable because of its horrible inevitability. No-one is able to stop the horror from unfolding, and hundreds of millions of people die as a result of it. It’s arguably the biggest, game-changing moment in the entire series, effectively removing the Narn as a major power for much of the duration of the rest of the series, and putting down markers that Babylon 5 is playing for keeps. Absolutely stellar performances by Peter Jurasik and Andreas Katsulas and a killer score from Christopher Franke frame one of the best episodes of the entire series. *****

Refa: “We have no intention of invading Narn. Flattening it? Yes. But invading it? We will be using mass drivers. By the time we are done, their cities will be in ruins. We can move in at our leisure.”

Londo: “Mass drivers? They have been outlawed by every civilised planet!”

Refa: “These are uncivilised times.”

Londo: “We have treaties!”

Refa: “Ink on a page!”

Draal: “In the long, twilight struggle which lies ahead of us, there is the possibility of hope.”

G’Kar: “No dictator, no invader can hold an imprisoned population by force of arms forever. There is no greater power in the universe than the need for freedom. Against that power, governments and tyrants and armies cannot stand. The Centauri learned this lesson once. We will teach it to them again. Though it takes a thousand years, we will be FREE.”

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