Babylon 5

Delenn reminisces some of the events that have already come to pass, concerning Sheridan's supposedly dead wife. She was part of a scientific mission in the Icarus, that was sent to Z'Ha'Dum, the Shadow homeworld, to explore the ruins of their civilization. While at first Sheridan was certain his wife had perished in the mission, later on he meets Mr Morden, who was also part of the Icarus crew, and starts to have doubts about the truth. Delenn explains the tradition of the female watching the male while he sleeps, to observe his true face. "What is past, is also sometimes future", she says, as she remembers the scene of Sheridan's wife, Anna, entering his quarters in the middle of the night.

The narration switches back to present time. Sheridan wakes up, awestruck and completely shocked to see the wife he considered dead facing him. Delenn leaves his quarters, distressed. Anna tells Sheridan that Delenn knew she was alive but concealed the information from him, and then tries to alleviate his suspicions that she might be a Shadow creature posing as his wife. She promises to reveal everything to him, if he agrees to escort her to Z'Ha'Dum.

G'Kar delivers to Ivanova a load of advanced weapons, bombs that will cause a thermonuclear reaction of up to 600 megatons. They are completely undetectable unless the enemy knows exactly what they are looking for. The bombs can be used for mining the area where a battle with the Shadows might take place. Ivanova thanks G'Kar, while he wonders where Sheridan is.

Franklin runs some tests on Anna, which are conclusive about her identity. She seems to be the real Anna Sheridan. John asks Franklin if there is anything else he discovered during the exams. Franklin tells him she has some epidermal scarring on the back of her neck, and John asks him to run more tests to make sure it's really his wife. He is unsure of what to do, and worried about hurting Delenn's feelings.

Later on he has an intense confrontation with Delenn, asking her why she and Kosh withheld from him the possibility of Anna being alive. Delenn tells him they assumed Anna would not collaborate with the Shadows,and that those who would not serve them were killed. "Anna would never work for those things", John retorts, and as Delenn is unable to provide him with another explanation, he feels betrayed and deceived.

Sheridan: God damn it, Delenn, I have always felt that you were holding out on me on a couple of things, I figured you had your reasons, but this? I mean, if you weren't sure, if there was even a chance of her being alive, why the hell wouldn't you tell me?
Delenn: Because you would have gone to Z'Ha'Dum after her. We couldn't allow that.
Sheridan: You and Kosh, you couldn't allow it?
[Sheridan sits down, looking extremely disappointed]
Sheridan: I trusted you, Delenn. I cared for you, I let myself start to love you. Do you know what that means? Do you know how hard that was for me? All along a little part of me was still in love with Anna, even though she was gone. I had to fight that part off! Every time I thought about you, about... about holding you, about... building a life for the two of us...
Delenn: John, you must believe me. I didn't know she was alive. We assumed that she had died with the rest of the crew of the Icarus. That only Morden had survived.
Sheridan: And had you known, would you have told me?
Delenn: It would depend. It would depend on what she had become. Z'Ha'Dum is the homeworld of the Shadows. No one leaves there the same as they arrived.
Sheridan: You would've denied me the right to make that choice? How can you say that, and expect me to ever trust you again?
[Sheridan gets up and starts leaving the room]
Delenn: John... I do love you. If you believe nothing else I ever say, please... Please believe that.

Sheridan walks away without replying. In the Zocalo, Londo is having a drink with Vir, complaining to him about the promotion he just got. He has been appointed to the Royal Court, and will be required to divide his time between Babylon 5 and Centauri Prime from now on. The real reason for his appointment is that Cartagia and his environment feel insecure with regard to the power he has gained through Mr Morden. Cartagia is afraid that Londo might engage in some effort to dethrone him, and wishes to have him in the palace where he can watch him more closely. Londo's life will be in danger if he shows any signs of displeasure with the Emperor. At that moment an associate of Mr Morden's arrives, telling Londo that he must leave the station immediately. If he chooses not to do so, the Shadows will bear no responsibility for what happens. It seems an attack is imminent.

Franklin's tests lead him to a significant discovery: Anna's brain scan is an exact match with that of Carolyn Sanderson, a telepath used by the Shadows as a core for one of their vessels. The scarring on the back of Anna's neck was apparently the place where she received their implant. She has been used in one of their vessels as well. In the meantime, Anna is in in John's quarters, looking at their wedding pictures. John enters, and looks at Franklin's new evidence in his portable. He makes a deal with Anna, to follow her to Z'Ha'Dum if she tells him everything about what happened to the crew of the Icarus and herself when they landed there. She begins with the story of the Shadow vessel discovered by the archaeologists on Mars, that Dr Kirkish had revealed some time ago. Before the second Shadow vessel arrived to dig out the first one and take it away, a homing device was planted in the dormant vessel by Earth Force. When the two ships left Mars, Earth Force tracked them to Z'Ha'Dum. The Icarus was assigned to investigate further. When they got there, they established contact with the Shadows who, according to Anna, were friendly and approachable. "Tell that to the rest of the crew", John retorts. Anna claims the crew was killed as a result of an accident. The Shadows kept those who survived in Z'Ha'Dum, in order for their presence to remain a secret. Having just emerged from hibernation, they needed time to reinforce themselves. In exchange for the humans' silence, they would be allowed to study Shadow technology. The things they learned could advance Earth tremendously. Anna claims she didn't contact her husband because time doesn't work the same way in Z'Ha'Dum as on Earth, and because she made a personal sacrifice in order to serve Earth. John complies and agrees to follow her to Z'Ha'Dum.

A little later he meets with Garibaldi in his office. He asks him to bring in the crew of the White Star stationed to Babylon 5, to include all their data in the security records. The White Star will be orbiting the station in autopilot during that time. Sheridan gives his portable to Garibaldi, in which are contained instructions it is unsafe to repeat loudly. Garibaldi is thoroughly surprised, as well as worried, but agrees to take care of everything as asked. To maintain secrecy, next time they meet if everything is alright they will mention the weather.

In his quarters, Sheridan arms both his PPGs in preparation for the trip to Z'Ha'Dum. A vision of Kosh appears in the mirror, with the phrase: "If you go to Z'Ha'Dum, you will die". A few seconds later Kosh's image is gone. In the docking bay, Anna and John meet up with Garibaldi, who shows them off to the shuttle which will bring them to the White Star. He mentions the weather and Sheridan knows his instructions have been carried off. The two shake hands and say goodbye. As soon as Anna and John are in the White Star, Anna starts to feel uncomfortable due to the ship's Vorlon technology. John promises to use the shuttle to go down to Z'Ha'Dum.

Back in the station, Franklin and Ivanova are discussing the Captain's decision to follow Anna to the Shadow homeworld. Franklin tells Ivanova about his report, which he already sent to Sheridan. Meanwhile, the White Star lands in Z'Ha'Dum. John and Anna walk the surface in their protective masks, which they take off as soon as they enter the compound. It is a humanized facility, in tones of dark brown, simple and somewhat gloomy. Anna asks John to give her his PPG. He does so but keeps the second one, which he has hidden in his leg. Sheridan tries to open a door, but Anna directs him to the one beside it. They enter a room where Mr Morden and an old man, who seems to be the leader of the group, are waiting for them. The old man introduces himself as Justin. "Think of me as a sort of middle man", he tells John. He is part of the forces who make the decisions behind everyday life, and move the currents that shape society. John sits down for a cup of tea with him. In the station, Delenn receives Sheridan's time-delayed message. He tells her that he knows Anna is leading him into a trap, but must go with her in spite of it, to prevent the future he saw when he was in the time rift on Babylon 4 from taking place. Centauri Prime was destroyed and the allies of the Shadows wreaked havoc when the Shadows were defeated. Perhaps that future happened because Sheridan listened to Delenn's warning from the future, not to go to Z'Ha'Dum. If he ignores the warning now and goes there, perhaps he can create an alternate, better future.

Back on Z'Ha'Dum, Justin begins his explanation:

Justin: Back, a million years ago, there were forces prowling around the galaxy, beyond anything that we could understand. And, like anything else, most of them outgrew this little corner of the universe and headed off toward greener pastures. Now two of them stayed behind. Shepherds, you might call them. They wanted to look after the younger races. Bring them around, help them evolve into something better.
Morden: One of these was the Vorlons, the other was what you call the Shadows.
Justin: The Vorlons are like your parents I suppose. They want you to play nice, be in your room, do it by the rules. I guess you could call them Lords Of Order.
Anna: The others, the ones who live here, believe that strength only comes from conflict. They want to release our potential, not bottle it up.
Justin: It's really simple. You bring two sides together, they fight. A lot of them die. But those who survive are stronger, smarter and better.
Morden: It's like knocking over an anthill. Every new generation gets stronger, the anthill gets redesigned, made better.
Sheridan: So, that's what the Shadows do. Come out every few thousand years and kick over all the anthills. Start wars, destroy entire races.
Justin: A few get lost along the way, yes, and that's unfortunate. I don't think it was ever easy. But you can't let that get in the way of the dream.

And so the seemingly chaotic strategical pattern of the Shadows, as well as their ulterior motive, is specified.

In C&C, Ivanova and Corwin receive the signal of approaching ships. It is a group of Shadow vessels, which surround the station yet hold position instead of attacking. Ivanova gives the order for all fighter squadrons to take off, but not to initiate combat. In the meantime, back in Z'Ha'Dum, Morden, Anna and Justin explain their motives further. The evolution of the human race according to them is a result of constant warfare and antagonism, as opposed to the order the Vorlons suggest. None of the achievements the humans have reached would have taken place if it weren't for the conflict that acted as a catalyst for development. The supervision of the younger races was supposed to be equally divided between the two, but the Vorlons decided to impose their way, that they thought to be the most correct. They interfered with the course of the younger races by manipulating them to respond favorably to Vorlons, as well as by abducting some of them to modify them. The result of such modifications was the appearance of telepaths, which the Vorlons intended to use in the next war against the Shadows. However the Shadows cooperated with the Psi Corps and most telepaths ended up acting in their favor. Everything is prepared for the final stage, the destruction of the present universal order and the creation of a new one. The only thing standing in the way of the Shadows is Sheridan, who has a choice to make: either work with them or watch Babylon 5 be destroyed. The plan is inoperable unless the younger races continue to fight each other, and Sheridan is preventing that by uniting them against their common enemy. Killing him is not an option however, as such an act would only make him a martyr, and someone else would take his place. The Shadows want him to agree and cooperate with them.

Sheridan confronts them by telling them he knows what they did to Anna. They admit that when she refused to cooperate with them, they used her for one of their ships' CPUs. She was released when her identity was made known to them, to use as leverage for getting Sheridan to side with them. Her personality is gone forever though, and Sheridan doesn't recognize in her the woman that he loved and married. Justin threatens Sheridan, while at the same time two Shadows enter from the adjacent door. Sheridan pulls out his backup PPG and shoots at them. Back at the station, G'Kar storms into the war room, and Ivanova asks him if the bombs can be used outside the station to fight the Shadow vessels. G'Kar's response is negative, but he has noticed that two of the bombs are missing. Sheridan, bloodied and beaten up, manages to get to a high balcony, from whence he witnesses the Shadow homeworld capital, a vast, impressive city, with a large crater in its middle, reaching deep below the surface. A glass dome is built directly above the crater. Sheridan programs the coordinates from his ComLink, and the White Star begins its course downwards. It is carrying the thermal fusion bombs, armed for detonation.

Anna comes near Sheridan, two Shadow creatures following close behind her. She admits she isn't the same Anna he knew, but they can be together anyway. Delenn watches the last part of Sheridan's pre-recorded message. He tells her that he loves her, and says goodbye. As the Shadows are coming nearer, and the White Star can be discerned above the glass dome, Sheridan hears Kosh's voice in his head: "Jump now!", the Ambassador tells him, and as he does he falls right into the crater beneath. The White Star shatters the glass dome and dives down into the Shadow capital, detonating the bombs. The blast covers the entire city. The Shadow vessels stationed outside Babylon 5 return hastily to their homeworld. Garibaldi, who has been sent out with one of the Star Furies, witnesses something peculiar. As everyone in C&C wonders why the Shadow vessels left, Ivanova knows the Captain is gone. In Delenn's quarters, she and Lennier hold vigil for Sheridan. In C&C, Corwin informs Ivanova that one of the squadron fighters did not return: it was the one Garibaldi was piloting.