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[1][ISMAP]-[2][Home]
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[3][Guide] [4][Background] ### SYNOPSIS ### [5][Credits] [6][Episode
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List] [7][Previous] [8][Next]
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A rabbi and a young man, Walker Smith, arrive on the station.
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Nearby, one alien is selling stolen "slappers" from Medlab to another
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alien. Garibaldi interrupts them, decking one when it tries to run. As
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he arrests the other, the first one comes at him from behind with a
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knife. Before it can reach Garibaldi, Walker Smith knocks it out with
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one punch. "One of these days, Garibaldi," Smith says, "you're gonna
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learn to watch your back."
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[INLINE] Smith saves Garibaldi's bacon.
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Garibaldi and Smith knew each other years before. Smith, it seems,
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dropped out of circulation, earning enough money for a boxing license.
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Later, he was involved in a scandal. He promises to tell Garibaldi the
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real story later, after he settles in.
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They meet at a bar later that day and reminisce about the past. Smith
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is surprised that Garibaldi has taken to drinking water instead of
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alcohol.
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Ivanova is reading when she receives a visit from the rabbi. It is
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Rabbi Koslov, or "Uncle Yossel" as Ivanova used to call him. He has
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come to deliver her father's legacy, entrusted to him shortly before
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Ivanova's father died (cf. [9]"Born to the Purple".) He had intended
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to give it to her at the funeral, but she didn't show up. "The station
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was in a crisis at the time," she explains. "I couldn't get away."
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Koslov says he understands -- as her father would have. He asks
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Ivanova if she has sat shiva for her father. She says no. He offers to
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sit with her, but she refuses. She has duties, and besides, it's been
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so long that there's hardly any point.
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Garibaldi and Smith talk about the scandal. Smith was a rising star in
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the boxing world. He was scheduled to fight the champ, and wouldn't
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agree to lose when pressed by some of the monied interests in the
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boxing federation. So they set him up, planting evidence that made him
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look like he was using drugs, creating a media circus that eliminated
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any chance of his career continuing. Now he has come to Babylon 5 to
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regain his fame by fighting in the Mutai -- an alien blood match that
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has never been entered by a human. Garibaldi tries to dissuade him,
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citing the deaths and numerous injuries of aliens in the Mutai, but
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Smith is adamant.
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Rabbi Koslov visits Sinclair and tells him of Ivanova's father's
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death, seeking to get Sinclair to grant leave so she can sit shiva.
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Ivanova, apparently, had kept her father's death to herself. That
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doesn't surprise Koslov, who says that after Ivanova's mother and
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brother died, Ivanova and her father had a falling-out. Sinclair says
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Ivanova can have as much time as she needs.
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[INLINE] Koslov visits Sinclair.
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That evening, Ivanova and Koslov dine in the Garden. They reminisce
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about old times. Ivanova says she had invited her father to visit
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Babylon 5, but he wouldn't come; he believed humans had no right to be
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in space until they learned to live in peace at home. When Koslov
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mentions that he saw Sinclair, Ivanova is furious. "My father always
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tried to control my life," she says, in tears. "I don't need anyone to
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take his place now that he's gone." She storms away.
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Smith and Garibaldi visit a training area where several aliens are
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practicing for the Mutai. Smith announces that he's looking for the
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Muta-Do, who is in charge of the contest. An alien tells Smith to
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leave, then knocks him flat on his back when he protests. The alien,
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it turns out, was the Muta-Do himself, and he tells Smith that humans
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are not allowed to fight in the Mutai.
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Smith and Garibaldi chat about the Mutai. "They may be snakeheads to
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you," Garibaldi says, "but the Mutai means something to them." Smith
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leaves, disgusted.
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In the corridor, an alien named Caliban tells Smith that there is
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another way to get into the Mutai. "But it will require respect, and
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great courage." Smith is very interested.
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Sinclair calls Ivanova into his office and offers her leave. She
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refuses, claiming that her emotions are her own to deal with as she
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sees fit. As she returns to her post, Sinclair cautions her to make
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sure she knows what she's really feeling.
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Smith tells Garibaldi that he's giving up and going home, maybe even
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hanging up his gloves for good. But before he leaves, he wants to see
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what he missed. He has two passes ("ducks") to the evening's match,
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featuring the Sho-Rin, the champion of the Mutai.
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They attend the fight. The Sho-Rin, Gyor, makes short work of his
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challenger. When the fight is over, the Muta-Do faces the crowd. "Who
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will challenge such a one?" he asks. Smith steps forward and makes his
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challenge; Gyor accepts, and the fight is set for three cycles hence.
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As Smith leaves the room, an alien warns him to stay out of the Mutai;
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humans have stuck their noses into enough alien business already.
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[INLINE] The Mutai.
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Ivanova apologizes to Koslov. He gives her her father's legacy: an
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antique samovar, owned by the Ivanov family since the time of the
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tsars. Koslov tries once more to get Ivanova to sit shiva, but she
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refuses. It's not that she's stopped being a Jew, she says, but that
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her father was never there for her, not even after her mother and
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brother died and she needed him the most. And she can't forgive him
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for that.
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[INLINE] Ivanova and her legacy.
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Smith trains with the help of Garibaldi and Caliban.
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Later, Koslov is on his way off the station when Ivanova comes to say
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goodbye. As he's about to board his ship, she remembers her father's
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last words and calls out to Koslov. She has decided to sit shiva.
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In the training area, Smith continues to prepare for the fight. "Has
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he got a chance?" Garibaldi asks Caliban. Caliban considers for a
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moment. "He will fight bravely."
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[INLINE] Smith expresses his confidence.
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Later, Garibaldi and Smith eat dinner. Garibaldi tells Smith there's
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still time to back out of it. Smith says that Gyor's skill isn't a
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reason to back away: "To be the best, you have to fight the best."
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Ivanova asks Sinclair for leave, which he grants. He offers to sit
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shiva with her as her friend.
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In front of a small gathering, Koslov speaks of Andrei Ivanov. He was
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a scholar, and above all a man of peace. Ivanova recalls a time when
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she was a child. Kasharev, a neo-Communist author and a childhood idol
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of Ivanova's, was reading from one of his books in St. Petersburg. She
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convinced her father to take her to the reading. Afterward, she asked
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Kasharev a question she'd been formulating for weeks. Kasharev
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dismissed it out of hand, prompting her father to give him a creative
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verbal lashing. Later, he told her it had been a good question.
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[INLINE] Sitting shiva.
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The Mutai begins. Smith and Gyor pummel each other. At first it looks
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like Gyor will win easily, but Smith comes back with a vengeance. When
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it seems he might have a chance, the alien who complained about
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Smith's participation earlier takes out a small blowgun and readies a
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dart. Garibaldi grabs it just as the alien is about to shoot.
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Ivanova reads a Jewish prayer in English for Sinclair's benefit. Tears
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flow as she releases her pent-up grief over her father's death.
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The Mutai continues. Both Gyor and Smith are just about worn out, but
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they keep at each other until both collapse to the floor, exhausted.
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The Muta-Do declares the match a draw.
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After saying farewell to Ivanova and Sinclair, Koslov leaves the
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station. Smith departs, but not before Gyor and the Muta-Do catch up
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with him in the departure lounge. Humans, the Muta-Do says, are now
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free to fight in the Mutai. With a parting compliment from Garibaldi,
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Smith boards his ship home.
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Synopsis by [10]Steven Grimm
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[16][Next]
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[17]Last update: March 19, 1997
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References
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1. file://localhost/cgi-bin/imagemap/titlebar
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2. LYNXIMGMAP:file://localhost/lurk/maps/maps.html#titlebar
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3. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/014.html
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4. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/background/014.shtml
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5. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/credits/014.html
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6. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/episodes.php
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7. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/synops/013.html
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8. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/synops/015.html
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9. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/synops/003.html#ivanova-dad
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10. http://www.midwinter.com/~koreth/
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11. file://localhost/lurk/lurker.html
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12. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/synops/014.html#TOP
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13. file://localhost/cgi-bin/uncgi/lgmail
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14. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/episodes.php
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15. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/synops/013.html
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16. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/synops/015.html
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17. file://localhost/lurk/lastmod.html
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