brennen
/
lurkers-guide



								                            [1][ISMAP]-[2][Home]


								    [3][Guide] [4][Background] ### SYNOPSIS ### [5][Credits] [6][Episode

								                       List] [7][Previous] [8][Next]


								  Synopsis by Katrina Glerum (kat@midwinter.com)


								   The station spins amidst a growing cloud of warships and tension as

								   the coalition prepares to defend itself against the Vorlons and

								   Shadows. Ivanova finds the Captain brooding in C&C. It seems that the

								   Shadows have finally reacted to the Vorlon "planet killer" attacks

								   against worlds where they have influence with an equally destructive

								   offensive against Vorlon supporters. They watch with horror as a

								   report shows an evil cloud suffusing a world, rippling the surface and

								   killing all sentient life on it.


								   "Giants in the playground," Sheridan remarks with disgust.


								   On Narn, Londo has convened a secret meeting of Centauri leaders. In

								   no uncertain terms he and Vir explain that if Emperor Cartagia is not

								   killed today and the Shadows driven off homeworld, Centauri Prime will

								   be destroyed by the Vorlons.


								   Ivanova tracks down the Captain again in his office. She tells

								   Sheridan he must be proud. Even if they die in the coming battle, it

								   will be at the head of what must be the greatest fleet the galaxy has

								   ever seen. When he tells her that he needs her to track down the

								   remaining First Ones for him and this will prevent her from

								   accompanying the fleet, she grows angry.


								   When she was a child, her mother told her to wait at the neighbor's

								   house one day. She waited and waited and her mother never came. It was

								   the day her mother killed herself. Ivanova refuses to be left behind

								   again. She makes Sheridan promise, as one soldier to another, not to

								   protect her, but to let her be there when the final battle comes.


								   The throne room rings with laughter as a jester entertains the court.

								   Emperor Cartagia enthusiastically explains his latest idea to Mollari.

								   When he attains godhood, Londo shall be his high priest. They will go

								   back to watch the Vorlons destroy Centauri Prime as soon as G'Kar is

								   executed. The emperor turns to find himself the object of the jester's

								   mimicry. The room stills and the courtiers quake until Cartagia

								   laughs, and everyone laughs with relief. Londo leaves to "check on

								   some arrangements."


								   He is shocked to see the "arrangements" sitting in a dark cell, drawn,

								   bloodied, with only a single eye. But "an empty eye can see through to

								   an empty heart," G'Kar says. Londo tells G'Kar that his chains have

								   been weakened enough that he can break them at the moment before his

								   execution to create a diversion the Centauri can use to kill the

								   emperor. "Your heart is empty, Mollari. Did you know that?" Londo's

								   sympathy dries up at that remark and he leaves the Narn with the

								   injunction not to touch the emperor's person. "Leave him to us."


								   Mollari returns to the throne room in time to see a body dragged from

								   the room and a jester's cap on the floor. "Humor is such a subjective

								   thing," Cartagia comments.


								   Later that night Vir appears bearing a secret package. He is surprised

								   no one followed him. "Everyone knows that you are incapable of doing

								   anything really dangerous or subversive," Mollari smiles. The package

								   turns out to be anything but innocuous however. It is a needlelike

								   dagger with a button on the handle that when plunged deep into the

								   breast of the victim will release a toxin that can kill a Centauri

								   "almost instantaneously." They joke around about whether that might be

								   long enough for the emperor to say "Londo killed Aaaaagh!"


								   As G'Kar is paraded through the corridors as a lesson to the Narn,

								   Cartagia idly mentions that he had G'Kar's chains replaced because

								   they looked weak. The emperor passes judgment, death by vivisection,

								   and asks for the Narn's plea. G'Kar only grabs his chains. With a

								   mighty pull he breaks them and attacks the emperor's guards. Londo

								   hurries Cartagia into an antechamber behind the throne.


								   Nervously fumbling for his dagger and peering around for guards, Londo

								   distractedly tells the enraged emperor to be quiet. Cartagia turns on

								   him instead, punching Mollari in the face and knocking the weapon out

								   of his hand before getting him in a headlock. "You will burn with the

								   rest of Centauri," he says, then turns away to find a dagger in his

								   chest, in the hands of a horrified Vir.


								   Within the hour Londo announces Cartagia's death to the court. In the

								   same moment he declares that this is a sign that they must leave Narn

								   forever. They must also return to Centauri Prime immediately to remove

								   the Shadow presence there. Since there is no clear line of succession,

								   he is named Prime Minister by a member of the Centaurum to lead until

								   a new emperor can be chosen.


								   Back on Babylon 5, Lennier hurries into the war room with an

								   intelligence report. It shows that the Shadows, like the Vorlons, are

								   destroying planets hit-and-run style. He is interrupted by an incoming

								   report from a White Star scout, whose probes are able to show how the

								   Shadows operate. They surround the victim planet with a cloud of black

								   missiles. These missiles assault the planet en masse, burrowing

								   through the crust to the planet's molten core where they detonate

								   together. The resultant tectonic upheaval effectively destroys all

								   life on the planet within hours.


								   Garibaldi is upset. "We are outclassed, boys and girls."


								   But Lennier knows where the Vorlons might be heading next, Coriana 6,

								   a planet with over 6 billion people on it. They convene the League

								   worlds to discuss their next strategy.


								   The Centauri must leave Narn immediately but Vir is no where to be

								   found. Londo's impatience with his assistant turns into distaste when

								   he finds Vir thoroughly drunk. But he softens in the face of Vir's

								   anguish. No matter how good the cause, Vir has just killed someone in

								   cold blood. Londo tells him what he did was necessary, that he may

								   have saved their people. "But you still have your heart. And your

								   heart is a good one. You would not be in such great pain otherwise."

								   Their conversation is interrupted by the fireworks of celebrating

								   Narns. Londo may regret the loss of his own heart, he says as he

								   leaves Vir, but in keeping his promise to G'Kar, at least he retains

								   his honor.


								   The League representatives are appalled by their first vision of the

								   Shadow planet killing cloud. In this mood of despair Sheridan

								   announces they will stand against the Vorlons at Coriana 6. In

								   addition, it's time the Shadows and Vorlons fought each other directly

								   instead of attacking through the destruction of innocent worlds. The

								   Shadows will have to be tricked into joining them however. While the

								   League watches, Sheridan calls up the White Star scout ship again and

								   instructs her captain to attack a Shadow base near one of their main

								   staging areas. The Shadow response will be instant--and deadly.

								   Sheridan asks this crew to leak news of a nonexistant coalition base

								   near Coriana 6 to the Shadows, and to die in apparent defense of this

								   false intelligence.


								   The Narn throne room is the scene of revelry once again, this time as

								   the Narn tear it to pieces. G'Kar is outraged when he sees this, and

								   even more infuriated when the Narns try to make him their new leader

								   to strike back against the Centauri once and for all. He will lead

								   only as a member of the Kha'Ri, not as a dictator. Angry at being told

								   off, one Narn asks him, while we've been down here suffering under

								   Centauri rule, "What have you endured?" G'Kar's answer begins in rage

								   and ends in ineffable mirth.


								   The scout ship's final message is received at the station. The Shadows

								   have taken the bait. And so the greatest fleet anyone has ever known

								   sets off for Coriana 6.


								   [14][Next]


								      [15]Last update: November 30, 1997


								References


								   1. file://localhost/cgi-bin/imagemap/titlebar

								   2. LYNXIMGMAP:file://localhost/lurk/maps/maps.html#titlebar

								   3. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/guide/071.html

								   4. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/background/071.shtml

								   5. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/credits/071.html

								   6. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/episodes.php

								   7. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/synops/070.html

								   8. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/synops/072.html

								   9. file://localhost/lurk/lurker.html

								  10. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/synops/071.html#TOP

								  11. file://localhost/cgi-bin/uncgi/lgmail

								  12. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/episodes.php

								  13. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/synops/070.html

								  14. file://localhost/home/woodstock/hyperion/docs/lurk/synops/072.html

								  15. file://localhost/lurk/lastmod.html