" comes back to him from an unexpected source. And why is he always in a hurry when he sees Delenn approaching?
* Who is protesting the use of mass drivers. When the Vorlons get involved, you know it’s serious – though they’re not exactly on the moral high ground when it comes to weapons of mass destruction.
* Londo’s version of what started the Narn-Centauri War.
DRAMA OR POETRY?
No dictator, no invader can hold an imprisoned population by force of arms forever.
The Centauri learned this lesson once; we will teach it to them again.
Though it take a thousand years, we will be free.
-- G’Kar
ANALYSIS
Check out the lines above. This episode sings.
"The Long, Twilight Struggle" is a pay-off show, where the characters step forward and become a little larger than life. The lines get longer, more rhythmic, with an echo of blank verse from of a Shakespeare historical.
It’s just a little bit bombastic, and Straczynski does bombast very well.
However, Sheridan isn’t quite comfortable yet booming out the dramatic lines. Draal’s sentences roll over him and G’Kar makes an exit that should make any right-thinking Centauri’s knees tremble, but Sheridan is almost at a loss for words. His final speech is hasty, an awkward borrowing of phrases he has heard recently.
JMS never quite threatens Sheridan’s status as The Hero, but the captain's not quite ready for prime time when he takes command of the Rangers. (His great bombastic moments come later, starting with B5’s break from Earth.) It’s a subtle touch that would be unnoticeable except for all the great speeches flying around the rest of the show.
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
While Sheridan gains valuable new allies, G’Kar is beginning an even more important transformation.
His expulsion from the council finally kills off the scheming ambassador of the early episodes. Now that the worst has happened, the Cassandra who tried to warn everyone of the coming menace dies with the ambassador.
In their place, a visionary is born, combining the best aspects of both previous incarnations of the character. The Ambassador had nothing to say, and nobody listened to the Cassandra -- but thanks to the Book of G’Kar and the Constitution of the Interstellar Alliance, everybody listens to the Spiritual G’Kar.
That birth will take months, but the process starts here with -- of all people -- that big heroic galoot Sheridan. As he offers G’Kar his support, he praises the Narn’s rhetoric and insight. Those qualities will become G’Kar’s claim on history.
COMING UP NEXT
"Comes the Inquisitor"
Straight righteous fire
Outraged judgment circles faith
Tap tap on the floor.
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