lurkers-guide/guide/106

<!-- TITLE The Fall of Centauri Prime -->

<h2><a name="OV">Overview</a></h2>

<blockquote><cite>
As Sheridan races to stop the Alliance ships from attacking Centauri Prime,
Londo's fate, and that of his people, is decided.
</cite>

</blockquote>

<pre><a href="/lurk/p5/intro.html">P5 Rating</a>: <a href="/lurk/p5/106">9.22</a>

Production number: 519
Original air date: October 28, 1998 (US)
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00019071C/thelurkersguidet">DVD release date</a>: April 13, 2004

Written by J. Michael Straczynski
Directed by Douglas Wise
</pre>

<p>
<hr size=3>

<h2><a name="BP">Plot Points</a></h2>
<ul>
   <li>@@@909646871 Sheridan didn't arrive in time to stop the Alliance
	ships from bombarding Centauri Prime.  The capital city was hard hit.

   <li>@@@909646871 The Regent is dead, killed by the Drakh to give Londo
	an alibi for the attacks on the Alliance cargo ships.

   <li>@@@909646871 Though he believes the Narn can never forgive the
	Centauri as a whole for what they've done, G'Kar has personally
	forgiven Londo.

   <li>@@@909646871 The Drakh have planted a Keeper on Londo.  He has agreed
	to the implantation, forced into it by the Drakh's claim that they've
	planted hundreds of fusion bombs all over Centauri Prime and will
	detonate them unless Londo cooperates.

   <li>@@@909646871 Londo has been crowned as emperor of the Centauri
	Republic.

   <li>@@@909646871 Delenn and Lennier have been rescued from hyperspace
	by the Centauri and reunited with Sheridan.

   <li>@@@909646871 Londo has officially appointed Vir as the new ambassador
	to the Alliance.

   <li>@@@909646871 The Alliance has demanded large war reparations from the
	Centauri, large enough that the Centauri economy will be on the brink
	of collapse.  Londo has agreed, but has told his people that they'll
	rebuild Centauri Prime alone, without any help from other worlds.

   <li>@@@909646871 Over a dozen ships have been sent to the Vorlon homeworld
	since the Vorlons left.  All have been destroyed by the Vorlon
	automatic defense systems.  According to Lyta, the Vorlon homeworld
	is off limits "until we're ready... in a million years."

</ul>

<h2><a name="UQ">Unanswered Questions</a></h2>
<ul>

   <li>@@@909646871 What work was the Drakh referring to when he claimed
	Centauri Prime was "perfect ground for us to do our work?"

   <li>@@@909684733 What will happen to the Alliance now that at least two
	of its member races have disregarded the President's orders?

   <li>@@@909684733 How badly was Centauri Prime hit?

   <li>@@@909646871 Why didn't Londo tell G'Kar about the Drakh?  Was he
	afraid that the knowledge would put G'Kar's life at risk?

   <li>@@@910043603 What happened to the Keeper that was attached to the
	Regent?  Was it the same one the Drakh later removed from his chest?

   <li>@@@909646871 What other Shadow technology do the Drakh have?

   <li>@@@909646871 What's on the Vorlon homeworld?  What determines whether
	humanity is ready to go there?

</ul>

<h2><a name="AN">Analysis</a></h2>
<ul>

   <li>@@@910045031 One of the first things the Drakh said to Londo was
	the Vorlon question, in this case, "Who are we?  What are we but a
	shadow of a shadow?"  Most likely it's completely innocuous, but it's
	possible that with their masters gone, are the Drakh now
	beginning to ask themselves questions other than the one put forth
	by the Shadows.

<p>
   <li>@@@909646871 The Drakh told Londo that they wanted a home.  That's the
	same thing the Drakh representative told Delenn in
	<a href="077.html">"Lines of Communication."</a>
	If she had given them a world as they'd requested, would they have
	settled there and not come in force to Centauri Prime?  Likely not;
	they were already on Centauri Prime in at least some capacity, since
	the Regent had already been implanted with a Keeper
	(<a href="073.html">"Epiphanies"</a>).

	<p>@@@910043845 
	The Drakh desire for a homeworld echoes the telepaths'
	struggle for the same thing.  Both the servants of the Vorlons and
	the servants of the Shadows have been left adrift and homeless after
	the First Ones' departure.

<p>
   <li>@@@909684733 The Regent was under Drakh control, but there may have
	been others; someone had to plant the fusion bombs all over Centauri
	Prime (assuming that wasn't just a bluff) and place the Shadow pods
	on the Centauri warships.  Obviously it's possible that all this was
	done by ordinary Centauri under the Regent's orders (which can only be
	disobeyed on threat of death, as Londo said in
	<a href="097.html">"In the Kingdom of the Blind"</a>)
	but the question still remains, how many other Centauri
	are under Keeper control?

<p>
   <li>@@@909684733 The Regent died when his Keeper was removed, but in
	<a href="076.html">"Racing Mars,"</a>
	Captain Jack survived the loss of his Keeper -- and it even grew back.
	Maybe it's simply that the Regent's Keeper completely removed itself,
	while Captain Jack's was still partially in place.  Or it may be that
	a Keeper can control whether its host lives or dies when it leaves.

<p>
   <li>@@@909646871 Keepers grow, or at least live, on the bodies of Drakh.
	That suggests that the Keepers aren't independent entities per se, but
	are instead appendages of the Drakh.  Shadow organic technology can
	receive instructions over large distances as evidenced by the pods,
	so it's possible that Keepers employ the same techniques to stay in
	contact with their parent Drakh even when far away.

	<p>
	It may also be the case that Keepers are in extremely short supply;
	for example, it's possible that each Drakh can only be linked to
	a single Keeper.

<p>
   <li>@@@909684733 Accepting the Keeper -- and the position of Emperor --
	may have been the fulfillment of the last of Lady Morella's prophecies
	(<a href="053.html">"Point of No Return"</a>):
	"You must surrender yourself to your greatest fear, knowing it will
	destroy you."  Londo accepted the loss of his autonomy and moved one
	step closer to his dream of death
	(<a href="031.html">"The Coming of Shadows"</a>)
	for the sake of saving his people.

<p>
   <li>@@@910252056 Londo's acceptance of the Keeper, self-sacrifice for the
	sake of his people, is in line with the Third Principle of Sentient
	Life as taught to Minbari
	(<a href="018.html">"A Voice in the Wilderness"</a>).

<p>
   <li>@@@909646871 Londo told Sheridan that in exchange for freeing Delenn,
	he might ask Sheridan for a favor in the future.  What nature of favor
	did he have in mind?  Was asking for a favor Londo's idea or the
	Keeper's?  Londo has exchanged favors for favors before
	(<a href="018.html">"A Voice in the Wilderness"</a>)
	and the fact that his tone abruptly became belligerent just after he
	asked for the favor implies that the Keeper took control of him at
	that point.

	<p>
	On the other hand, this favor may just cancel out the one Londo
	already owed Sheridan for telling him about the approach of the Vorlon
	fleet
	(<a href="070.html">"Falling Toward Apotheosis"</a>).

<p>
   <li>@@@909684733 Delenn speculated that she and Lennier might find a
	million-year-old jumpgate left behind by the First Ones.  That has
	already happened at least once
	(<a href="112.html">"Thirdspace"</a>).
	Given what happened in that case, Delenn would probably have second
	thoughts about actually trying to activate such a device.

<p>
   <li>@@@909686798 The Centauri warships that rescued Delenn and Lennier
	might well have been preparing to destroy them, only to receive orders
	to the contrary from Centauri Prime at the last moment.

<p>
   <li>@@@909646871 Lennier's admission to Delenn probably won't change her
	attitude toward him significantly, since as she said, she already knew
	he was in love with her.  But it may eliminate any possibility that
	he can maintain his facade of platonic devotion toward her, and may
	make it harder for him to convince himself that he can win her love.

<p>
   <li>@@@910044090 How did Londo convince the Drakh not to kill Delenn?
	Or did he give the order on his own?  If the Keeper didn't regard such
	an order as a threat to its interests, it might have allowed him to
	do so.

<p>
   <li>@@@909684733 What were the reparations demanded of the Centauri?
	Are they the reason the Centauri apparently still hadn't rebuilt after
	17 years
	(<a href="061.html">"War Without End"</a>)?
	Why would Sheridan go along with a demand that would crush an entire
	world for two decades?  As a student of Earth history, and given his
	familiarity with World War II in particular
	(<a href="038.html">"In the Shadow of Z'ha'dum"</a>)
	Sheridan must have recognized that crushing war reparations can have
	unintended consequences, e.g. the rise of the Nazi party in a Germany
	crippled by humiliating sanctions after World War I.  Why would he
	risk something similar happening on Centauri Prime?

	<p>
	One possibility is that he felt he had no
	choice; the Narn and Drazi had already amply demonstrated their
	willingness to take matters into their own hands when they weren't
	getting satisfaction from the Alliance.  Sheridan may have felt that
	anything less than outrageous sanctions would prompt some of the
	Alliance races to start killing again.

	<p>
	It's also possible, of course, that the reparations will have nothing
	to do with the state of Centauri Prime seventeen years hence (at which
	time there will once again be fires burning in the capital city.)
	Perhaps Centauri Prime's future condition will be due to the Drakh
	or the war against them (which will take place in the next twenty
	years, according to Delenn's recollection at the end of
	<a href="087.html">"Rising Star."</a>)

<p>
   <li>@@@909684733 The Narn and Centauri are now mutually responsible for
	large numbers of civilian deaths on each other's homeworlds.  Each
	homeworld ended up under the control of enemy forces after being
	bombarded, though most of the Centauri don't know about their occupiers
	yet.

<p>
   <li>@@@909646871 The particulars of Londo's speech were almost certainly 
	dictated by the Drakh.  By isolating Centauri Prime from the other
	worlds, the Drakh will more easily be able to work in secret without
	attracting the Alliance's attention.

<p>
   <li>@@@909684733 Londo said the Centauri were now alone in the universe.
	That resonates with Kosh's description of the Centauri
	(<a href="001.html">"Midnight on the Firing Line"</a>):
	"They are alone.  They are a dying people.  We should let them pass."

<p>
   <li>@@@910045130 Londo referred to the war, and the attack on Centauri
	Prime, as "the long night."  Is that related to Kosh's message to
	Sheridan in
	<a href="096.html">"Day of the Dead,"</a>
	"When the long night comes, return to the end of the beginning?"

<p>
   <li>@@@909684733 This is the second time Londo has sent Vir away to
	protect him from Shadow influence; he arranged for Vir to be the
	ambassador to Minbar in
	<a href="047.html">"A Day in the Strife."</a>

<p>
   <li>@@@909646871 Franklin said, "We know the Shadows had hundreds of
	allies."  Did he mean hundreds of individuals, or hundreds of races?
	If the latter, who were the Shadows' allies besides the Drakh, and how
	does Franklin know about them?

	<p>
	One possibility is that the word "Drakh" refers to Shadow servants in
	general, not one particular species.  That would also explain why the
	Drakh on Centauri Prime doesn't look like the alien who boarded the
	White Star in
	<a href="077.html">"Lines of Communication."</a>
	(That alien identified himself as an emissary of the Drakh, though,
	so it's possible he wasn't Drakh at all.)

<p>
   <li>@@@909684733 Is the Vorlon homeworld related to the new Earth
	mentioned in
	<a href="088.html">"The Deconstruction of Falling Stars?"</a>
	That episode took place a million years in the future, at which time
	humanity would, according to Lyta, be allowed onto the Vorlon
	homeworld.  There's some symmetry if the Vorlon homeworld is the new
	Earth: the Drakh had a home but lost it thanks to the Vorlons (in the
	form of Lyta's enhanced powers, which set off Z'ha'dum's self-destruct
	mechanism in
	<a href="073.html">"Epiphanies"</a>)
	while humanity lost a home but gained a new one thanks to the Vorlons.

</ul>

<h2><a name="NO">Notes</a></h2>
<ul>

   <li>@@@909646871 Keepers can't be seen unless they choose to be seen.

   <li>@@@909646871 A Keeper doesn't control its host all the time, according
	to the Regent; it only does so when its interests are at stake.

   <li>@@@909646871 The primary weapons of a White Star produce recoil.

   <li>@@@909646871 Weapons-console sequence for continuous fire of a White
	Star's main weapons: Green, then red twice.

   <li>@@@910039130 Centauri warships are equipped with tractor beams, just
	like Minbari ships
	(<a href="008.html">"And the Sky Full of Stars,"</a>
	among others).  It may be that tractor beams are a natural extension
	of artificial gravity technology, which both the Centauri and Minbari
	employ.  Earth ships, at least until Earth's recent acquisition of
	artificial gravity
	(<a href="087.html">"Rising Star"</a>),
	have to tow objects conventionally
	(<a href="002.html">"Soul Hunter"</a>).

   <li>@@@909646871 Either Centauri encryption isn't very thorough, or
	Vorlon/Minbari codebreaking technology falls just short of being able
	to crack it in real time.  Sheridan's first officer was able to discern
	voices in the transmission to the Centauri fleet, but not any words. 
	That implies that the transmission was encrypted using some form of
	audio transformation.

   <li>@@@909646871 The idea of boarding up all the windows in the palace
	(<a href="111.html">"In the Beginning"</a>)
	was originally Vir's.

   <li>@@@909646871 Shadow remote-control pods aren't as efficient as
	directly employing a sentient being as the brains of a ship.

   <li>@@@909646871 It's possible to visit the San Diego ruins.

   <li>@@@909646871 The weapons used in the terrorist nuking of San Diego
	(<a href="001.html">"Midnight on the Firing Line"</a>)
	could be traced back to the breakup of the Soviet Union, according to
	Franklin.

</ul>

<h2><a name="JS">jms speaks</a></h2>
<ul>

   <li>@@@909690725 This is a devastating episode, by the way...so much
	happens in this that it's kinda staggering, actually.

	<p>
	Of the final 5, this one, and the last two, are my favorites.  And I
	like 'em all.

<p>
   <li>@@@910251884 Yes, the capital was getting beat up, but there's a
	difference between thousands of dead and billions dead...Londo sacrified
	himself to save the lives of billions.

</ul>