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127 lines
7.4 KiB
127 lines
7.4 KiB
<h3>Synopsis by Katrina Glerum (kat@midwinter.com)</h3>
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<p>
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As Ivanova and Brother Edward banter over the outcome, Brother Theo and
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Captain Sheridan are engaged in a match of wits over chess and faith. Just
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as Brother Theo wins at both, Ivanova is called away to meet Ambassador
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Kosh's arriving ship. She has been invited to witness his ship deliver Lyta
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Alexander, the mysterious telepath who had helped the B5 crew find the Psi
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Corps plant in their midst
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(<a href="041.html">"Divided Loyalties"</a>).<p>
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Later, in Sheridan's office, Lyta explains how she had felt drawn to Kosh
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since she touched his mind years before
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(<a href="000.html">"The Gathering"</a>). In a final
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desperate attempt to find the Vorlons, she had herself abandoned in a life
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pod at the edge of Vorlon space. Although she agrees to submit to a medical
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exam by Franklin, she refuses to tell anything about her experiences after
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the Vorlons rescued her. As Garibaldi sums up for them all, "Nobody's ever
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been to the Vorlon homeworld, and back again; and yet she goes and comes
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back like she just took a trip to the corner store. And now she's working
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for Kosh. Is anyone else as creeped out about this as I am?"<p>
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In wrapping up business negotiations, Brother Edward explains that the data
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transfer service his order provides is like the manuscript illumination
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of the Middle Ages, namely a means to earn the money they need to continue
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their work of "learning all the names of God from our non-human brothers."
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As she is about to depart, the woman asks about the black rose that falls
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from the monk's bag, but he is more bewildered by it than she.<p>
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<img align=right width=128 height=96 src="/lurk/gif/048/mindwipe.gif" alt="">
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Garibaldi and Delenn watch an ISN anchor report the sentence of Death of
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Personality for a serial killer. The Chief explains that this type of
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mindwipe is considered more humane than the death penalty, and that after a
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criminal's memory has been erased, they are programmed to serve the
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community they harmed.<br clear=all><p>
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In MedLab, Dr. Franklin is intrigued to find that not only is Lyta in
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excellent health, but all her prior chronic and congenital ailments are also
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inexplicably gone. She manages to get away just as the gleam of fanatic
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inquisitiveness appears in his eyes.<p>
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Returning to his quarters, Brother Edward is terrified to see "DEATH WALKS
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AMONG YOU" scrawled in blood across the bulkhead. When he returns with a
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dubious Garibaldi moments later, all signs have vanished. <p>
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Londo catches Lyta exiting a transport tube. He is extremely curious to
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hear what she has seen among the Vorlons. When bribery fails as an
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enticement, he threatens to apprise the Psi Corps of her presence on B5.
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Her promise to bury a never-ending nightmare in the psyche of anyone who
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turns her in seems to cool his ardor.<p>
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<img align=right width=128 height=96 src="/lurk/gif/048/valen.gif" alt="">
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In an interview with Ambassador Delenn and Lennier, Brother Edward asks
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about the Minbari faith. In return she asks him what the defining moment of
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Christianity is to him personally. He replies by telling the story of Jesus
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waiting all night in the garden of Gethsemene for the Roman soldiers to
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seize him. Though he knew what was going to happen and he could have
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escaped, Jesus chose to stay, to sacrifice himself "to atone for the sins of
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others."<p>
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"A very fragile human moment," Brother Edward tells Delenn. "And I've
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often thought about that night, and I honestly don't know if I would
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have had the courage to have stayed."<br clear=all><p>
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<img align=right width=128 height=96 src="/lurk/gif/048/memory.gif" alt="">
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Returning home Downbelow, Brother Edward bumps into an odd Centauri. A
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moment later the corridor is pierced by a woman's scream of terror and
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pain -- and the hideous whine of an electric saw. Confronted with the same
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bloody message as before, the monk tries to run away, only to watch his
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panicked steps begin splashing through filthy water. With accusations and
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foreign sirens ringing in his ears, he collapses nearly on top of the corpse
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of a mutilated woman -- one who has a black rose stuffed in her mouth.<p>
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Brother Theo finds Brother Edward sitting deeply disturbed in his quarters.
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The older monk realizes the futility of his counsel, even as he asks Brother
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Edward to refrain from digging after the source of these waking nightmares.
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His fears are well founded, for the instant Theo is gone, Edward queries the
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computer about the things he has seen, cross-referenced against criminal
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records.<br clear=all><p>
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<img align=right width=128 height=96 src="/lurk/gif/048/theosher.gif" alt="">
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Quickly assessing the situation, Theo goes directly to Sheridan to enlist
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his aid in tracking down the information before Edward can. Sheridan is
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astonished to think that the kind, generous man they are all fond of could
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have been an irredeemable serial murderer. Garibaldi's search turns up that
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the troubled monk was once Charles Dexter, a.k.a. the Black Rose Killer, but
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not before Brother Edward discovers the same. Security also finds that
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Brother Edward's visions were not just hallucinations, but planted by
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somebody trying to rattle loose the memories of the past. This suggests to
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Sheridan that the strange Centauri was a telepath.<br clear=all><p>
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<img align=right width=160 height=120 src="/lurk/gif/048/sins.gif" alt="">
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Edward waits for Brother Theo to bid him goodbye. "I am a murderer," he
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says. "The sins of my former life must be atoned for." Theo begs him to
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come back into the fold, "If you ask God to forgive your sins, He knows what
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they are even if you've forgotten. Leave it in His hands!" But it is to no
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avail. Edward goes to await his victims' avenger, who has deliberately
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awakened the evil memories.<br clear=all><p>
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<img align=right width=128 height=96 src="/lurk/gif/048/scan.gif" alt="">
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Sheridan and Garibaldi attempt to interrogate the Centauri telepath about
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who hired him. When he smugly refuses to divulge anything, they toss a bag
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over his head, and usher in Lyta, who easily wrenches the location of the
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avenger from his mind. <p>
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Once again they are just a little too late though. By the time they find
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Brother Edward's battered body strung up spread-eagle on a rack, his life is
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nearly dissipated. Yet he forgives his tormentor. Finally, he has found
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the answer to his question. He did have the courage to wait in the garden of
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Gethsemene. As Edward draws his last breath, Brother Theo administers the
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final sacrament of Extreme Unction, the remission of sins. <p>
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The monk's torturer is easily caught and proudly admits to the crime, and
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two weeks later is sentenced to the death of personality. In the course of
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a conversation about the meaning of revenge and the difficulty of
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forgiveness, Brother Theo asks the Captain to meet the latest addition to
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his order, who is about to be shipped back to the monastery for training.
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It is the young psychopath, looking like sweet, untrammeled innocence.
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Under Brother Theo's reprimand, Sheridan struggles to overcome the bitter
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taste of forgiveness, and gives the newest monk his blessing. <p>
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<img align=right width=128 height=96 src="/lurk/gif/048/energy.gif" alt="">
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After completing an errand for Kosh, Lyta joins him in his chambers. As she
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faces him, a stream of energy leaps from her eyes and mouth into the glowing
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orifice of his open encounter suit. It becomes eerily apparent why she has
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no need of a breather in the methane environment. Puffing and fluttering
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gently on her neck are a set of gills.
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