Babylon 5

Teaser : Ivanova is explaining in a Voice Over how the situation has changed now that the shadows are attacking openly and, it seems, randomly, against worlds close to the Rim. More security is needed on the station but some of the new hires might not be what they seem, and the station does not have the resources for full background checks. As she explains this, we see a Security guard taking Mr. Morden out of the customs queue and smuggling him into the station in exchange for a bribe. Dr Franklin is taking more stims and losing control, Kosh is not showing himself and Mollari is preening himself in preparation for a much expected visit from Adira Tyree. Ivanova's voice explains how she is confident that everything is going to be alright while, in a back passage, Morden is recovering the bribe from the Security guard's dead body and then entering a rented room where we can clearly see for the first time the three Shadow companions that walk with him, invisible, wherever he goes.


Title Sequence


In Sheridan's office the Brakiri Ambassador is showing images of the Shadows' attack. Their technology is far more advanced than theirs and, with many of their ships lost in recent wars with their neighbours, they have no chance of defending themselves. The Shadow strategy is now clear: the Brakiri were once allies to the Shadows and listened to them when they encouraged them to go to war, and now that they have weakened themselves, they are betrayed in turn. The Gaim Ambassador She'lah is also in the room, listening. Sheridan asks the Gaim, who are the closest major civilisation near Brakiri space, for help, since if they commit themselves, four other worlds in the same sector would also do it. However, even after what is happening to the Brakiri, the Gaim think that if they keep their neutrality they might not be attacked by the Shadows. Sheridan needs to show that he possesses the power to defeat the Shadows to convince the Gaim as well as others to fight with him.


In Medlab Dr. Franklin and Dr. Hobbs are arguing about a treatment that Dr. Franklin is about to give to a patient. Dr. Franklin dismisses her objections in a rude way and gives his own instructions to the medical technicians. Garibaldi arrives with an injured Security guard and while he is there, the other patient gets worse, prompting Dr. Franklin to shout at the med techs that they were not following his instructions when, in fact, they did exactly that. His behaviour does not go unnoticed by Garibaldi. Mollari is in his quarters remembering the time that he and Adira had together, their love for each other and how he gave her a pin, a family heirloom, together with her freedom as a parting gift, in the hopes that one day she would come back to him on her own free will. He is going to examine Adira's suite when he meets Mr. Morden in the corridors. Morden wants to know why Mollari turned against his former allies and how he managed to subvert Lord Refa as well. The Shadows want to have someone in the Centauri Court who will promote their interests. Mollari knows now that the Shadows are only using the Centauri and everyone else for their own goals, and he is not impressed by Morden's arguments and veiled threats, neither is he intimidated by the eerie sounds uttered by invisible beings surrounding Morden, proving that his loyalty to his people is stronger than his personal ambition or fear for his safety. He tells Morden that there is nothing they can do to him that would make him change his mind. After he leaves, one of the Shadows talks to Morden, probably telling him to kill Mollari, but Morden thinks that they can still use him.


Garibaldi visits Dr. Franklin in his quarters to discuss about the incident in Medlab and his suspected overuse of stims. Dr. Franklin gets angry and refuses to listen to Garibaldi's offer to help him. Garibaldi leaves, telling Dr. Franklin that he will have to use official ways to stop him. Delenn and Sheridan are in the new war council facilities discussing the randomness of the Shadow attacks and how they seem more a terror strategy than a military one. It is keeping everybody out of balance and preventing them for forming a coherent alliance. There is no precedent for all the Non-Aligned worlds and minor powers to come together in any kind of coalition, and Sheridan fears that he might be lying when he tries to convince them to join him, since he is aware that they do not have the military force to fight the Shadow vessels. One victory against the Shadows might be enough to persuade them, though. Delenn suggests that he should find a way to win that single victory. Her words remind him of the kind of things that Kosh usually says, and that gives him an idea.


Garibaldi is meeting with Dr. Hobbs in the Zocalo to ask her to obtain for him the results of Dr. Franklin's periodical blood testing, something that all Medlab personnel have to do to test for alien infections. She refuses without an official warrant but tells him where the data is stored so that he can access it quickly when he gets the warrant, although he really wants that information to hack into the system. Dr. Franklin observes their conversation. Vir Cotto is also on the market ordering luxuries and sexy lingerie to be delivered to Adira's suite. He sees Morden coming and tries to leave without talking to him, but Morden corners him, forcing Vir to openly dismiss him. Morden then goes to the vendor with whom Vir was talking and pretends to work with Vir to find out what he was doing. Garibaldi goes to Medlab and tries to access the blood results but changes his mind halfway while Dr. Franklin, who was following him, watches. He asks Garibaldi why he did not finish the request and Garibaldi answers that if Dr. Franklin does not trust him enough to talk to him, there is no point for him to find it out anyway. Dr. Franklin then tells Garibaldi that he ran the tests himself before, so that he could prove he was not addicted, but the results were not what he expected. He has to admit to himself that he is indeed addicted to stims, and decide what to do about it.


Sheridan is talking to ambassador Kosh in a corridor, trying to convince him to use Vorlon forces to score a victory against the Shadows and to prove to the other ambassadors that there is hope if they join with Babylon 5. The Vorlons are an ancient and extremely powerful race, respected by all the newer races, and their participation in the fight against the Shadows would tip the scale significantly. Kosh refuses, saying that it is Sheridan's time for war and that the Vorlon time has not arrived yet. This enrages Sheridan, who accuses Kosh and the Vorlons of using other races to fight their battles without providing them with any practical help. Kosh turns to Sheridan and at the same time in C&C, Ivanova and one of the staff detect a non-localised energy surge. Sheridan sees that he is finally getting to Kosh and continues the verbal attack until Kosh calls him "impudent" and "disobedient" and hits him with an invisible energy wave to the point of injuring his cheek. Sheridan is not afraid and tells him that he has nothing to lose. If they want him to fight this war, they have to listen to him and do as he says. Kosh almost kills Sheridan while he still defies him, but then he seems to calm down and with a sad tone of voice tells Sheridan that he will do as he has asked, but that the price will be that he will not be there to help Sheridan when he goes to Z'ha'dum. Sheridan accepts the trade off.


Later, Sheridan is in C&C waiting for the arrival of the other ambassadors escorted by Delenn. The Shadow vessels are still attacking the Brakiri when Vorlon ships arrive and engage them, winning the battle. The Gaim nod to Sheridan in acknowledgement. At customs, Mollari waits for Adira with flowers in his hands and talking excitedly to Vir. He stops one of the incoming passengers to ask if there are more people behind him, but the passenger signals that there are not. Mollari and Vir cross towards the ship and meet with Dr. Hobbs, who is escorting a gurney with a dead passenger, Adira. The cause of her death is still unknown. Mollari remembers his last conversation with Lord Refa when he persuaded him, using poison, to stop helping the Shadows, and asks Dr. Hobbs to check for poisons during the autopsy. Mollari cries while Vir tries to comfort him.


Morden is in some back passage paying the passenger that came last out of Adira's ship, obviously Adira's murderer, when he receives an upsetting report. News of the Vorlon attack on the Shadows is spreading and all the ambassadors on the station are now willing to sign on with Sheridan. Sheridan wants to thank Kosh, but it is too late and he is tired, so he decides to sleep first. Kosh waits in his quarters when Morden breaks in with his companions, attacking Kosh. At the same time, Sheridan is having a dream in which his father is calling to him, telling him that he was right, apologises for what he did to him and for not explaining himself better, and tells him that he should not blame himself for what happens to him. He also tells him that as long as he, Sheridan, is here, he will always be here. Sheridan wakes up shouting the name of Kosh and, in Kosh's quarters, the unequal fight is over. The remnants of Kosh's encounter suit smoulder on the floor.


Next day in Sheridan's office, Garibaldi makes his report to Sheridan and Delenn about Kosh's disappearance. He didn't find any traces of the attackers or of Kosh's body, but both Sheridan and Delenn are convinced that he is dead. The Vorlons know it as well, even from a distance, and have requested to keep the assassination quiet to avoid the other races' withdrawal from the new alliance. The Vorlons will send a replacement and nobody will know the truth. Sheridan realises that Kosh's warnings about not being able to be with him in Z'ha'dum referred not to Kosh's unwillingness to help him when the moment came, but to his future inability to do so. Mollari has received the report on Adira's autopsy, confirming poison as the cause of death. Morden is in Mollari's quarters offering him his false sympathy while increasing Mollari's suspicion that it was Lord Refa who ordered the poisoning, in revenge for Mollari's poisoning him. Blinded by grief, Mollari does not realise that he is being played and accepts to help the Shadows to gain access to the Centauri Court again if they promise him that his people will be safe and that he will be able to take revenge on Lord Refa with impunity. Dr. Franklin meets with Sheridan and gives him his resignation, on the grounds that he cannot control his stim addiction any longer and needs to go away from the pressure of the job to figure out what to do.


The Vorlons also asked that all of Kosh's belongings should be loaded into his ship and that the ship should be allowed to leave without a pilot. The ship was made for Kosh, it is part of him, and cannot survive without him. It will grieve and then perform its last duty as funeral vessel by destroying itself in the sun, in memory of Kosh.