Conversations with Dragons

As the title says.

It's been a while since I posted - see the pandemic and resulting existential angst that seems to have hit almost everyone I know. And I was thinking about the days back when I used to be productive, and one of the things I was doing back then is blogging. That mostly fell off when LiveJournal died, and I still miss the community that was lost.

So I'm dusting this off. I locked it down a while back so there's not much to see at the moment but hopefully that will change.

You never know, I might even pick up the Babylon 5 watch-through that I dropped because of the pandemic.

It's coming up on a year in lockdown now. At some point along the way I stopped waiting for things to go "back to normal" and just accepted that this is the new normal, and I've been happier since. Don't get me wrong, I don't expect to remain in lockdown forever (although we might, if the Tories keep bloody opening things early and causing cases to spike), but I don't think things will ever go back to the way they were before. At the very least I think masks will be around for a while, and possibly social distancing in public places since I suspect many people are going to discover an intense dislike of crowds going forward.

For me, accepting this as the new normal has meant some lifestyle changes. I learned to cut my own hair, and it's good enough to get me by since I hate having really long hair, although I haven't been brave enough to attempt my blue-purple dye job at home. I've bought a breadmaker since I'm sick of running out of bread at the weekends, and a step machine so I can get some exercise in. Overall we've got better about home cooking. Since our groceries arrive once a week and we can't just pop to the shop for when we run out of something or fancy dinner out, we're roasting up our leftover vegetables once a week and using them as a base for the next few days' meals. We're not being particularly adventurous, since cooking at the end of a working day is still a chore and not a pleasure, but we are eating better overall.

Working from home has turned out to have unexpected benefits. Early last year my employer asked everyone for their opinions on home working, and I said I didn't think I'd particularly like it, but it turns out I love it. I was worried about losing the routine of working in the office, but I'm perfectly capable of keeping that going at home - the getting ready for work routine is exactly the same except for an extra hour in bed and no commute. It helps that we each have a dedicated space to work in, and I always make sure to be dressed, even if I'm dressed down. That's not to say I haven't worked in my dressing gown a few times, if I'm feeling low or it's been particularly cold, but I'm in clothes underneath and not my PJs.

The thing that's really helped is not having the commute, and that's something I'm hearing from a lot of colleagues. It wasn't until that was removed that people really realised just how much stress it was causing them - whether with traffic and finding somewhere to park, or rushing to catch crowded public transport.

That's not to say everything's come up peaches. Mental health has been a big concern and both of us have struggled at times. It helped that we set ground rules early about asking for and giving each other space, and letting the other person know if we're having a bad day or are likely to be particularly snappy. It's helped to keep things from escalating into arguments, where before we might have taken the other person's bad mood personally.

I'm going on social media less often now, since Facebook and Twitter are mostly relentless firehoses of negativity, although I'm keeping up with other online connections like forums since it's easier to control what I'm exposed to and have actual conversations. Something I wasn't expecting is to be less interested in watching TV and movies. There are a few things I'm keen to keep up with or rewatch, but mostly I find it a bit dull and am reading or playing computer games instead - things I'd been doing less off. (Although we are planning a full rewatch of Supernatural before we get to season 15 on DVD).

I'm writing more, having tailed off to pretty much nothing by the end of last year. Part of that is the annual reset (I take December off and then hit January running) but hopefully it's also a sign that things have settled enough that I can plough on. My novel was abandoned early last year, and I wrote little apart from a handful of pretty dark poems and some fanfiction. I want to keep doing that, but also pick up with longer works and turn around some projects that have been languishing on my harddrive for far too long.

Of course I said I was going to take on new things last year, too...

I haven't updated for a while because, as I mentioned in April, time is pudding at the moment.

Work laptops arrived in May so we've been working from home for a couple of months now. While the routine is helpful - we'd both be nocturnal otherwise - it's also very difficult to not feel like the routine is all there is. We're somewhat lucky because we can at least separate off our workspace from regular life, but work itself is harder than ever because circumstances seem to be bringing out the worst in people.

I barely wrote anything in July other than fanfic, although I did get a new piece of flash done. It's hard to focus, and my go-to activity at the moment is playing my way through the whole of Zeus: Master of Olympus, one Ancient Greek city at a time. I'm trying to keep at least one book on the go, because between writing, reading, and play by post roleplaying, it's all that's getting my head out of the house at the moment.

"Do you really want to know what's going on?... Boom. Boom, boom, boom. Boom, boom. Boom! Have a nice day." - Susan Ivanova

The episode opens with a recap of what happened in part 1 - namely the reawakening of Epsilon 3 and a large ship coming through the jump gate. The ship turns out to be Starship Hyperion, a heavy cruiser sent by Earth to take control of the situation and ownership of the technology on the planet below. Since Babylon 5 is neutral territory, Earth feels that all of the other races will want a part of what was found. Captain Pierce is there to make sure it doesn't happen with a show of force.

Sinclair's authority being questioned or usurped is a recurring theme in the show, happening at least four times already in this season with the most recent example being Eyes only three episodes before (two if you count the two-parter as a single episode). As usual, he pushes back. He speaks to Senator Hidoshi to demand clarification of the situation - he was promised he had the final authority over the sector, and threatens to resign in protest. Given the number of people trying to wrest control from him, and the awkward political situations he's caused, this doesn't seem like the best plan.

Pierce sends fighters down from the Hyperion, which are stopped by the planet's defence systems which are escalating in response to the threat. Sinclair buys time by telling Pierce that his own shuttle only got to the surface by using a jamming device. It delays Pierce, but now they have a bigger problem: the approach of the fighters triggered further earthquakes. In 48 hours they'll cause the planet's advanced fusion reactors to blow and the explosion will take Babylon 5 with it. Evacuating the station will take at least five days.

Pierce, being a typical Earthforce knucklehead, decides to send further fighters down. Sinclair responds by announcing a planetary blockade - any ships trying to land will be shot down by Babylon 5's own fighters. It solves the immediate problem, but then a strange ship comes through the jump gate. The captain announces himself as Takarn, whose people have been searching for the planet for 500 years and claim it belongs to them. All others must move aside within ten hours or be destroyed.

Pierce's response is to give Takarn nine hours to withdraw.

Things are just as explosive on Mars. President Santiago has sent shock troops to subdue the rebellion. Watching the news in a bar, Garibaldi overhears a customer calling for Mars to be nuked and assaults him. Sinclair later finds him to give a gentle reprimand, and Garibaldi admits that uncertainty over the fate of old girlfriend Lise caused him to snap. Sinclair makes him a deal: he'll call in some favours to get Garibaldi a clear channel to Mars, if Garibaldi promises to make sure that if the station is evacuated Ivanova is on the last ship out.

Draal hears Varn, the Epsilon 3 alien, calling to him just as Sinclair and Londo did before. He visits medlab where the ever sceptical Doctor Franklin tells him the patient is comatose and couldn't possibly have been sending him messages. However Varn wakes and confirms what Sinclair has already guessed - the defences on Epsilon 3 are escalating because the machine no longer has a "heart".

Varn reveals Takarn's people were cast out centuries ago by the race that built the machines. He has been one with the machine for 500 years, but now he's dying. Sinclair, Draal, and Londo all saw him call to them. He can't ask directly, but one of them must replace him. Delenn wonders why he chose these three, and Draal suggests that is was "Perhaps because we are familiar with the third principle of sentient life", the capacity for self-sacrifice. Draal and Sinclair seem obvious choices, Londo less so. It's only later we'll see the lengths he'll go to for his people, and perhaps that the machine chooses him now is an indication that - despite what's to come - he's not yet at the point where he'll make terrible choices.

Delenn, Draal, and Londo take Varn back to the planet, leaving Sinclair behind. Their shuttle sparks a battle, with Takarn firing on the Hyperion and Babylon 5 wading in to support the Earth Force ship. Garibaldi grabs another shuttle and goes after them thinking Varn has been kidnapped. What he finds when he gets there is Draal preparing to go into the machine. Draal plugs in and announces to the warring factions that the machine belongs to none of them. He trusts the Babylon 5 Advisory Council to ensure Epsilon 3 is left alone until the time is right, but that if this can't be managed the planet will defend itself against all comers. Of course Takarn doesn't listen and is destroyed.

It's a definite deus-ex-machina ending, but one that's earned by what goes before.

Varn assures Delenn that he'll spend his remaining days watching over Draal, who will see wonders in the heart of the machine - "He will see all the tomorrows. Hear all the songs. Touch the edge of the universe with his thoughts". Sad to lose a friend, but glad he's found a purpose, Delenn quotes the third principle of sentient life back to Draal and says goodbye.

With Epsilon 3 now off limits, the Hyperion leaves and Pierce apologises to Sinclair for overstepping. Sinclair goes to tell Garibaldi contact has been made with Lise. She informs Garibaldi she's married now, and expecting a child. It seems like a damp squib of a plotline, except that Lise will be important later.

Most of the ways the episode ties into the wider plot aren't obvious - both Lise and Epsilon 3 are guns being put into drawers for later. However the episode doesn't feel completely disconnected as it links back to the mystery surrounding Sinclair. Garibaldi asks Delenn why they took Varn in secret, without telling the commander. She replies that if she had Sinclair would now be in the machine, but his destiny lies elsewhere. She also now owes Londo a favour for piloting the shuttle to the surface, and is sure he will collect. He does, but not until season three. While it's not an obvious lynchpin at first, viewed in hindsight this episode is essential in building future arcs.

Apparently I forgot to update (and it's late now as Christmas has come and gone), but "A Night of Many Months" went up at Pseudopod on Christmas Day. I need to write some more dark Christmas stories, as I enjoy them, but there are only so many ways you can torture Santa. I have a couple more things forthcoming, but no idea on when they'll be published so I'm not announcing them for the time being.

Tentative plans made for this year, and none of them involve wordcount.

The first is to be more proactive about keeping track of deadlines, to which end I have a wall calendar on which I write them as I find them, and a running list in my bullet journal of the ones for the current and following month. The plan is to pick a deadline to write for each month, which should net me 12 new or completed pieces of work by the end of the year (January's deadline being to finish editing a poem I drafted last year).

I'm currently taking part in a writing contest over at my online writing group, the aim of which is to produce a new piece of flash every week for five weeks, and another side project with a similar goal. So far this year I've written three stories, one of which is fine as flash and another that needs to be worked into something longer. The third, this week's entry, is awaiting judgement.

The trick will be not to lose momentum when the flash challenge finishes next month, and I think the key will be having so many pieces on the go, in various stages of development, that I'm never stuck with nothing to work on.

I also plan to restart with the Babylon 5 blog posts (without letting them take the place of actual writing), because I did enjoy doing them before I got overwhelmed with stuff. And I need to figure out what I'm doing with my novella, because I'd like to finish it, but clearly working from an outline wasn't working as it killed any love I had for it. I suspect writing the first draft at speed over a short period of time is the way to go, but it's a long time until NaNoWriMo.

Taking a hiatus on the Babylon 5 posts due to a family emergency, but hope to be back with them in a week or two once the routine and energy levels even out again. At the moment I'm not up to much beyond going to work, and watching repeats of The Great British Bake Off on Netflix.

There has been some writing news. My story "Armistice War", which was published in the Flame Tree Press newsletter in June is now available on their website for non-subscribers. "In Search of Camanac" has been reprinted in the anthology Pioneers and Pathfinders, and the overall table of contents looks fantastic. I've sold another reprint, to a market I'm excited to break into, but I'm waiting for the contract before I make it public.

This year is turning out to be a lean year in terms of writing output. I've written some poems, some for publication and some just for fun, but not much new fiction. It's frustrating, and I'm wondering how I've got to October already without doing any of the things I planned. Sometimes it just turns out that way so I'm trying not to beat myself up about it. I should be reclaiming a handful of hours to write each week, due to a shift in my working hours, so hopefully that will help. If not, at least it's nearly the new year already and I can start again.

"I fought on the Line against Branmer. I saw his valor and leadership firsthand. Because his body disappeared here I feel some responsibility toward the Minbari people. There is no higher testimony to a warrior's courage and skill than praise from his enemy. I'd like to send that message to your world in a personal message, a testimony to the Shai Alyt." - Jeffrey Sinclair

This episode is aptly named because it not only deals with the legacy left by the Earth-Minbari war, but also that left by Psi Corp in the life of Susan Ivanova.

It opens with a Minbari war cruiser arriving at Babylon 5, as part of a tour to bring the body of the military leader Shai Alyt Branmer to be viewed by all Minbari - which includes rites to be conducted on the station. To the human crew of the station, mostly veterans of the war who fought against Branmer's forces, it seems like posturing so they're a little twitchy when the ship approaches with gun ports open. Commander Sinclair asks the captain of the ship to explain and is bluntly told no. At this point Delenn arrives at a run, to apologise for the misunderstanding. It is, she explains, merely a show of respect for the body they carry, and no different to Earth traditions for military funerals. Sinclair is barely mollified by this, and Delenn's assurance that the gun ports will be closed which the ship is parked alongside. It's not until the TV movie In the Beginning, which aired between seasons 4 and 5, it will become apparent that this is the exact misunderstanding which sparked the war.

Branmer's executive officer Neroon is in charge of the cortege, and feels much the same way about the human crew as they do about him. He refuses to let station security guard the body as it lays in state, and hands Sinclair a list of requirements. It takes Delenn's intervention again - "It's been my experience that discussions of old battles only interest historians" - to talk them down from their posturing, and it's interesting that she chooses Sinclair to ask what he thinks. It not only avoids the appearance of siding with her own people, it also puts Neroon in his place. And of course it's been seen throughout that Sinclair is a diplomat at his core. He takes the olive branch.

Neroon's lack of faith in the human security crew makes it all the more galling for him when during the ceremony the following day it's revealed Bramner's body has gone missing.

Garibaldi investigates, searching the public areas and even pumping the stomachs of the resident Pak'ma'ra, a race of carrion eaters, before starting to look in the hidden places such as between the hulls. None of it is good enough for Neroon, who threatens to take the station apart with his warship. He even searches Sinclair's quarters without permission, leading to a fight before they're separated and Neroon is informed that the quarters have already been searched with Delenn as a witness.

The answer as to where Branmer's body is, is answered by an unexpected source: the B plot.

At the beginning of the episode, as Neroon's ship arrives, a teenaged girl collapses while trying to steal food. Resident telepath Talia Winters recognises the signs of a mind burst, where a latent telepath's talents suddenly manifest at puberty. The girl, Alisa, is living homeless on the station after the death of her father. Station records reveal he died in an accident the previous year, which raises some questions about the quality of their civil infrastructure if no one went looking for his orphaned daughter at the time.

Talia wants to ship Alisa to Earth to be with Psi Corps, but Ivanova will do whatever she can to stop it happening. She tells Alisa the story of her mother - the bits that Alisa doesn't inadvertently read - and how as a telepath she was given the choice to join Psi Corp and abandon her family, go to prison, or take injections to suppress the ability. She chose the latter, and the injections slowly killed her. Ivanova wants Alisa to understand what Psi Corps is before she joins them.

She's not the only one with an interest in finding another place for Alisa. Talia and Ivanova interrupt Na'Toth trying to negotiate for her to come to the Narn Homeworld where she'll be paid handsomely for "a small sample of blood and tissue twice a month" so the Narn can create their own telepaths. During the discussion Alisa accidentally peeks into Na'Toth's thoughts and doesn't like what she finds there. This gives Ivanova another idea, and she takes Alisa to see Delenn to discuss becoming a telepath among the Minbari. Alisa is unimpressed by what they offer - instead of the riches promised by Na'Toth, Minbari telepaths aren't rewarded except by the work. They're deeply respected, and as such clothed and fed by wider society, and otherwise left to get on with their calling. It's not this that scares Alisa off though, it's the accidental peek she has that Delenn knows something about a missing dead body.

Just as Sinclair and Neroon are being dragged apart, Alisa's taken to see Garibaldi and Sinclair to explain what she knows. They find Delenn in the act of handing over Branmer's cremated remains to be quietly taken home to Minbar and scattered in space. This was his last wish, which Neroon and his clan the Star Riders ignored. Branmer was originally Religious Caste, and was called to the Warrior Caste during the war but was always a priest at heart. Delenn agrees to tell Neroon the truth to diffuse the difficult situation her subterfuge has left the station in, but she will do it her way to avoid furthering the rift between the Religious and Warrior Castes that was cause by the Religious Caste's order to surrender in the Earth-Minbari War.

Delenn's way involves castigating Neroon for his clan's action and, when he refuses to back down, bringing down the weight of the Grey Council. He will do as he's told or the dishonor of ignoring Branmer's wishes will cause the Star Riders to be destroyed. Given the rift she spoke of earlier, it's unlikely she does actually speak for the whole of the Grey Council, but Neroon is in no position to argue. He agrees to support her story of the body being transformed in a religious mystery, and to her demand to apologise to Commander Sinclair.

The apology is as awkward as you'd expect between two men who dislike each other a great deal, but Sinclair is at least gracious. He offers to send a message to Minbar in testimony of the Shai Alyt's prowess as a warrior. Neroon is both surprised and grateful, and tells Sinclair "you talk like a Minbari" and quips "perhaps there was some small wisdom in letting your species survive." Sinclair replies "we like to think so", sharing the joke and surprising Neroon again. In the end they part with mutual respect and a desire to move beyond the war.

Also looking to the future is Alisa. Although it's not shown on screen, Delenn has apparently spoken to her again as she's scheduled to head to Minbar on Neroon's cruiser. Sinclair takes the opportunity to ask if she saw anything else strange in Delenn's mind, presumably hoping to find something to explain his abduction during the war. All Alisa can tell him is a word, chrysalis. Talia and Ivanova arrive to see her off, and agree to have coffee to make up for how heated their discussions got.

We never hear from Alisa again, although Minbari being Minbari it can be assumed they keep her busy with training. This episode leaves its own legacy, however, in the threads involving Neroon, Talia's and Ivanova's relationship, and the "chrysalis", which will all be picked up in later episodes.

"He is a holy man. A true seeker. Among my people, a true seeker is treated with utmost reverence. It doesn't matter if his Grail exists. What matters is, he strives for the perfection of his soul and the salvation of his race. That he has never wavered or lost faith." - Delenn

This is one of those weird episodes that doesn't seem to do a lot on the surface, being a monster of the week, but does actually fill in some of the backstory. It also tops up the mysticism.

The episode opens with Commander Sinclair at dinner, being interrupted by Delenn who wants to know why he isn't also on his way to greet a visiting dignitary. Sinclair is flustered by the lack of warning, as he wasn't told anyone was visiting, but he and Garibaldi put on their dress uniforms and join her. The visitor turns out to be Aldous Gajic, the last surviving member of an order dedicated to seeking the Holy Grail. He's run out of places to look on Earth, so is asking the ambassadors of the various alien worlds for assistance.

Garibaldi is not impressed with dressing up for this, and Sinclair takes it in his stride although is less than enthusiastic. The encounter works wonderfully to highlight the differences between human and Minbari thinking. Where Aldous would be ridiculed on Earth, the Minbari honour him. The Minbari revere what they call True Seekers for their dedication, even if the cause of it is only a myth.

The other plotline deals with someone else dedicated to a cause, although a very different one. Former construction worker Jinxo is being threatened by Deuce, an underworld thug he owes money, who wants repayment in credits or information. Since he can't afford the former and refuses the latter Deuce shows him what appears to be Ambassador Kosh sucking out someone's mind.

The safest thing to do would be to run, but he can't. As soon as Jinxo leaves Babylon 5 it will be destroyed.

During a bodged attempt to steal credits, Jinxo is arrested and remitted to the custody of his victim - Aldous Gajic - who was intrigued by Jinxo's courtroom plea not to be evicted from the station. It turns out he worked on the construction of all of the Babylon stations. The first two were sabotaged and destroyed while he was on leave. The third exploded sometime after he left, earning him the nickname Jinxo, and as he was leaving Babylon 4 "the station sort of wrinkled. Twisted like putty, then just disappeared." Jinxo thinks he's cursed; Aldous thinks he's lucky for getting out each time, and brave for risking his life to stop Babylon 5 suffering the same fate.

In the meantime, Doctor Franklin's been analysing the lurker who had their mind wiped. He works out the creature Deuce is keeping in a fake Vorlon encounter suit is a Na'ka'leen Feeder, which comes from a quarantined planet under Centauri jurisdiction. Deuce has smuggled one on board, and is using it to dispose of his enemies. Sinclair approaches Ambassador Mollari for information which he's happy to give - from the safety of his quarters.

Aldous takes Jinxo with him on his appointments to meet the ambassadors. Delenn is sorry to give Aldous the news that the Minbari have no record of the Grail, but promises that any news of it will be relayed to him. She doesn't specify how he'll be found, or why the Minbari have such a wide reach, and it's the first hint we get of the Rangers who will appear in Season 2. Jinxo is surprised at her helpfulness, given the relatively recent war between Human and Minbari. She tells him that the two castes of Minbari, Warrior and Religious, rarely agree and so they simply won't tell the Warrior caste to avoid confusing them. It later becomes apparent there are actually three castes, and it's not clear why the Worker caste was left out here.

The Centauri response is very different. Ambassador Mollari is irritated at being interrupted in shouting some harried administrator into reinstating the quarantine around the Na'ka'leen Feeder's home planet, and even more irritated when he alludes to fees for the time and difficulty in searching the records only to find his aide Vir has already done it. It's a sharp contrast to his response to Sinclair's request for information, and a reminder of Mollari's self-interest. Next stop in the Vorlon ambassador, and when Jinxo sees Kosh in his encounter suit, he flees. Aldous follows him, only to be kidnapped by Deuce's thugs in an effort to blackmail Jinxo into giving Deuce the construction information he wants.

Instead Jinxo goes to Commander Sinclair. They arrive with a security team just in time to see Aldous sacrifice himself to save Deuce's other victim, Ombuds Wellington, the judge who was due to try Deuce. His dying lament is that he's failed in his quest, but Jinxo promises to carry on. With Sinclair as witness, Aldous names Jinxo his heir before he dies.

The episode comes full circle as Sinclair and Delenn meet at the docking bay to see Aldous depart. The coffin is escorted by Garibaldi's security team, and we see his change of opinion towards Aldous in his attitude towards the coffin - "Treat it gently, boys." His opinion of Jinxo hasn't changed, though, and when Sinclair wonders at Jinxo's absence he replies "Jinxo's not the type to keep promises". However Jinxo arrives dressed in the robes of his order, having decided to keep seeking the Grail. He reclaims his true name, Thomas, and Delenn hands him a crystal with the instruction to crush it on the ground where Aldous is buried: "It will glow each night for 100 years. It is our way with all true seekers."

There isn't much in the way of main plot arc here, only breadcrumbs, and the only new information is Jinxo's potted history of the first four Babylon stations. As with many of the monster of the week episodes, this one could be taken out without leaving much of a hole. However it does at least tie in with some of the show's main themes in how it looks at the nature of faith, and how the different races perceive things, which is more than some of the other standalone episodes do. It also ties together its two plots, with Jinxo as the lynchpin, in a way that makes sense. In that respect it's a successful episode, even if it's not one that's essential to watch.

"Into the Sands of Blood comes Walker Smith of Earth, the bravest of his race. And now comes the Sho-Rin. Master of the Mutai. Bravest of the brave." - The Muta-Do.

This episode, in terms of the writing, is just plain weird. It has two very different plot strands, neither of which interact in any way or move along the main story. Despite being thematically linked (both are about not letting go) they're a chalk and cheese pairing (or as Eddie Izzard puts it, they go together like a toboggan and broccoli). It's like two B plots got together and failed to have a baby.

Plot 1 is about Ivanova. Her rabbi turns up on her doorstep, bearing the family samovar and wondering why she missed her father's funeral. She blames work: she was too busy to travel to Earth and too busy to sit shiva. Rabbi Koslov responds by going to see Commander Sinclair, to ask for time off on her behalf. Remember how Ivanova didn't ask permission to use the gold communications channel to speak to her dying father? She didn't mention his death to Sinclair, either. It becomes clear, through Sinclair's conversations with Koslov and Ivanova, that if she had he'd have packed her off home for the funeral - and that's the last thing Ivanova wants.

Plot 2, nominally the A plot, is about Garibaldi's friend Walker Smith, a boxer from Earth, arriving on the station to fight in the Mutai, an alien fighting arena. Robbed of his chance to compete on Earth by a conspiracy to frame him for doping, he wants to use a win here to boost his profile back home. The problem is, humans don't fight in the Mutai.

It's fair to say I don't like this plotline at all, and the reason is that it's all too easy. Smith turns up full of pride and swagger, expecting to just be let in. He turns up at the Mutai training gym, calls the first alien he sees ET, and when rebuffed grabs the alien's shoulder demanding to see the Muta-Do. "ET", predictably, turns out to be the Muta-Do himself and knocks him on his ass. Later, Smith is approached by the oddly-named Caliban who tells him there's another way into the Mutai, one that must be done in the proper way, that requires respect and courage.

It really doesn't. Smith gets tickets to that evening's Mutai. When the reigning champion wins his bout and the Muta-Do asks if there are any challengers, Smith steps up. Literally the only thing he has to do is position himself as "the bravest of his race" to have his challenge accepted. The problem is, he doesn't work for his shot - it's handed to him by Caliban. It would have been more narratively satisfying to see Smith work it out for himself: turn up at the Mutai and realise he can challenge, challenge and be rejected because he gets the form wrong, work out what he needs to do and challenge again at the risk of humiliation.

The Mutai itself is also disappointing. Garibaldi describes it as a meatgrinder, "no rounds, rules, or gloves", and the name itself means Trial by Blood. In reality it turns out to be little more than bareknuckle fighting in a ropeless neon boxing ring. Smith and his opponent thump each other until they fall over and the Muta-Do declares it a draw. There's never any real sense Smith can lose anything but his pride. The most danger he faces is from a spectator with a weapon, upset a human's in the ring, who's taken out by Garibaldi.

While there aren't any try-fail cycles in the Walker Smith plotline, there are several in Ivanova's. Koslov tries and fails to convince her to sit shiva, tries again at dinner which fails spectacularly when she finds out he's spoken to Sinclair, who speaks to Ivanova himself and also fails to talk her round. Koslov tries one more time before he leaves. She rebuffs every attempt until finally, as Koslov's leaving, she changes her mind.

There isn't an articulated moment of change in either plotline, although change has clearly happened. This is another failing in the Mutai story. I think we're supposed to accept Smith's changed because he accepts a draw rather than a win at any cost, and because at the end he respects and has earned the respect of the aliens in the Mutai. But he doesn't earn it so it feels flat. The switch in Ivanova's attitude is handled better and shown in how she interacts with Koslov. When he first arrives she greets him formally as Rabbi Koslov, and he asks what happened to the informal nickname, Uncle Yossel, she called him as a child. As he prepares to leave, she remembers her father's final wish for her to forgive him, calls out "Uncle Yossel" in a slightly panicky little girl voice. and asks him to stay and sit shiva with her.

Overall this episode is a disappointment, both in the plot and the writing. It doesn't offer anything to move the main story forward, or offer much insight into character. We hear about Garibaldi's drinking from Smith, but already know about it from earlier in the series. While it throws a little more insight into Ivanova's background, that she's a Russian Jew and estranged from her father isn't new information. At the end of the episode, very little has changed. It could be removed entirely and not leave a hole, and in that respect it's a failure.

The only thing it does offer is that Walker Smith, the only friend Garibaldi appears to have apart from Sinclair, feels the need to tell him to watch his back not once but twice. Not heeding the warning is something Garibaldi will come to regret later.

"You really want to know what I want? You really want to know the truth? I want my people to reclaim their rightful place in the galaxy. I want to see the Centauri stretch their hand and command the stars. I want a rebirth of glory, a renaissance of power. I want to stop running like a man late for an appointment afraid to look back, or to look forward. I want us to be what we used to be. I want I want it all back the way that it was." - Londo Mollari

And now, thirteen episodes in, the main plot gets rolling. Commander Sinclair tells Garibaldi about the things he remembered during And the Sky Full of Stars, about being abducted by the Minbari, and asks him to look into it.

On the surface, the A plot is the recovery of the Eye, the oldest symbol of Centauri nobility that's been lost for 100 years. Ambassador Mollari collects it from the shady Mr Reno and the Centauri government, having paid "enough to buy a small planet", send Lord Kiro and his aunt Lady Ladira to collect it.

Of course things are never that simple. On arriving at Babylon 5 Ladira, a seer, has a vision of the station being destroyed. Kiro shrugs off her concern - she once declared he'd be killed by "shadows" and he's still around, after all. He visits Mollari to view the Eye, aggrieved at being the messenger when the Eye rightfully belongs to his family. Things are changing at home, the emperor hasn't been seen in public for a while and the people are restless. He could take the Eye for himself and claim the throne. Mollari points out that doing so would invariably be fatal without support: "these are no longer the good old days".

The B plot involves an increase in attacks by raiders on ships visiting the station. Sinclair is doing his best to combat them, but they disappear too fast. Small ships rely on jump gates to travel long distances, but the raiders disappear faster than Babylon 5's fighters can get to them making it hard to track them down. When Babylon 5 receives a mayday from the nearby transport Achilles, they send out Starfuries to deal with it. It's only on reviewing the transport's cargo manifest that Sinclair realises it's a trap, to divert fighters away from the station.

The C plot is not so much a plot as a cryptic diversion at this point, in much the same way as the one with Talia, Kosh, and Abbut in Deathwalker. A man called Morden arrives on the station. The officer who checks him in comments his ID hasn't been updated in a while, and Morden tells him he's been exploring. His mission is to visit each of the ambassadors in turn and ask them one very specific question: "What do you want?" It will turn out to be an important one.

Ambassador G'Kar is irritated by Morden's vagueness and tells him he wants to be left alone in peace and quiet, but as Morden makes to leave he amends it to the destruction of the Centauri: "To tear down their cities blacken their sky, sow their ground with salt. To completely, utterly erase them." Beyond that he has no ambition, as long as his people are safe. Ambassador Mollari's reaction is initially much the same: irritation, followed by the desire to be left alone. Like G'Kar he amends his wish as Morden leaves. He wants the good old days back and the Centauri to have an empire again. Ambassador Delenn asks Morden what the point of the question is, and if he's asking each of the ambassadors. Then she's overcome by a momentary pain. She sees him surrounded by shadows, a triangle appears on her forehead which she covers, and she tells Morden to leave. When he's gone she comments to herself "They're here" in horror.

Morden is not, in fact, visiting all of the ambassadors. When he sees Kosh coming, he hides.

The plot threads link together when the raiders take Mollari, Kiro, and Ladira hostage as they attempt to quietly get the Eye off the station. When Sinclair intercepts them, having figured out Kiro's ship could be a target, they take Kiro and the Eye onto the ship and leave the station. Sinclair locks them out of the jump gate, but a larger ship appears through its own gate - the reason the raiders always managed to escape. The diverted Starfuries make it back in time to defend against the raider fighters, but Kiro's ship is swallowed by the larger ship and disappears into a new jump point. During the battle, Mr Morden encounters Kosh again and this time doesn't back down. Afterwards we hear the Vorlon's encounter suit was damaged.

Back on the raider ship, Kiro congratulates the raiders on a successful heist, only to find they've betrayed him. Instead of returning him as head of the Centauri government, they're returning both him and the Eye in return for a substantial ransom. Before they get far a black ship shimmers into view and destroys them.

Later, Ambassador Mollari is visited by Mr Morden, who gives him a gift from "friends you don't know you have". It's the Eye, and the promise they will find him again.

Wrapping up the episode, Garibaldi tells Sinclair he hasn't found out much about Sinclair's missing day, but what he has found out is that Sinclair was pretty far down the list of potential commanders for Babylon 5. Every name above his was rejected by the Minbari government, who had approval over who would run Babylon 5 in return for their involvement. He wasn't able to find out why. Lady Ladira also sees Sinclair on her departure from the station. She shares with him her vision of fire and death, which hasn't changed despite averting the raider attack. It's a possible future, but one that may be avoided.

As with The War Prayer, the episode manages to link together its seemingly unrelated plot strands, apart from the business of Garibaldi's investigation which largely serves as bookends. It seems out of place, until later when it becomes apparent that it's actually very relevant indeed. The Shadows are introduced for the first time, although not named as such by anyone other than Ladira who doesn't know what they are. It's clear Delenn does know, and has been warned, and equally obvious the other ambassadors don't - apart from Kosh. During his encounter with Mr Morden he says to leave the station, "they are not for you", and it's clear he's addressing the creatures Delenn saw surrounding Morden rather than Morden himself.

The episode asks more questions than it answers, but it does so with a promise that loose ends have been left loose for a reason, and answers will come with time.