The Grey Council goes break! Ships go boom! And Babylon 5 and the Earth Alliance go their separate ways.
(Originally aired on April 1, 1996)
| A Little Ditty About Delenn and Sheridan |
| DELENN: Only one human captain has ever survived battle with the Minbari fleet. He is behind me. You are in front of me. If you values your lives, be somewhere else. |
SHERIDAN: I don't know how much this cost you personally, and I suspect I never will, but I want you to know that seeing your face at that moment was probably the single finest moment of my life. |
DELENN: It seems that this is the only home we have left. How could I abandon, as you say, my partner? |
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Written by J. Michael Straczynski
Directed by David Eagle
GUEST STARS
Kim Miyori -- Captain Sandra Hiroshi
Rance Howard -- David Sheridan
Bruce McGill -- Major Ed Ryan
This episode won the 1997 Hugo for Best Dramatic Presentation.
WATCH OUT FOR
* Numbers in the break. While the Grey Council began with three members each of the three castes, Delenn -- a member of the Religious caste -- was
recently replaced by a member of the Warrior caste. Five Council members left with her, leaving the Warriors alone.
* An initially unexplained "both." When Major Ryan remembers the now-dead captain of the Clarkestown, he mentions that he must contact "both their wives." Later, we learn that General Hague is also dead, the result of a glitch in actor Robert Foxworth’s schedule.
ANALYSIS
If President Clark hadn't forced the issue by sending destroyers out to squelch opposition, Sheridan’s decision about Babylon 5’s independence might have been a more difficult one.
However, by bombing of civilian targets on the Mars Colony, Clark pushed a step too far. He’s acting in extreme ways, making extreme responses acceptable.
From Sheridan’s standpoint, the fact that Babylon 5 isn't the first of Earth’s colonies to break away from the Earth Alliance also makes things easier. Orion 7 and Proxima 3 have already declared independence.
A little help from our friends
Where G’Kar pledged ground support in the form of Narn security officers
last episode, Delenn here offers air support. Minbari cruisers loyal to Delenn now patrol the space around Babylon 5, and in the months to come, these ships will be joined by ships from the Nonaligned Worlds.
But Delenn’s pledge is also equal parts spiritual belief and personal investment, and so runs deeper than a strategic alliance.
Just as her own transformation was prophesied, so too is the breaking of the Grey Council. Valen wrote that this would happen, and since Jeffrey Sinclair is presently on Minbar to witness history in the making, he would know.
Delenn acts out of faith to her religion. She does what she must.
Still, she also does what she wants. Her growing closeness to Sheridan stems from her own volition, not the dictates of prophecy. Delenn wants to support John Sheridan the man as well as Captain Sheridan the commanding officer.
He confirms that he feels a similar bond to her as he describes the emotions he felt seeing her face.
Babylon 5 may be independent, but it is by no means alone.
COMING UP NEXT
"Ceremonies of Light and Dark"
Confess a secret,
Get a brand-new uniform.
Nightwatch fights dirty.
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