Babylon 5: The Hour of the Wolf
February 16, 2019 2:09 PM - Season 4, Episode 1 - Subscribe
Expeditions set out from B5 to search for Garibaldi and Sheridan. Londo arrives in the court of Emperor Cartagia. "[Lennier:] It was the year of fire... [Zach Allen:] the year of destruction... [G'Kar:] the year we took back what was ours. [Lyta:] It was the year of rebirth... [Vir:] the year of great sadness... [Marcus:] the year of pain... [Delenn:] and the year of joy. [Londo:] It was a new age. [Franklin:] It was the end of history. [Ivanova:] It was the year everything changed. [Garibaldi:] The year is 2261. [Sheridan:] The place: Babylon 5."
-It has been a week since Z'ha'dum.
-G'Kar muses on the loss of Garibaldi and Sheridan. He also feels that they have lost Ivanova--to grief and guilt.
-Ivanova is visibly annoyed at a League meeting. Many members have withdrawn their ships, believing the war to be over or on pause, and no one will join for a mission to Z'ha'dum.
-Kosh2 didn't join the League meeting; Delenn tries to find out why. Ulkesh is distracted; Lyta attempts to serve as his aid but he just says that the Vorlon will now do what needs to be done. Lyta apologizes to Delenn.
-Kosh2 pulls some power (himself?) out of Lyta. She complains about carrying him; he is darker and she knows the Vorlons are planing soemthing that they are hiding from her. He curtly tells her not to interfere.
-Vir briefs Ivanova on what he learned from Londo's Shadow contacts: the White Star hit the planet surface with live nukes on board. Sheridan was last seen falling into a deep chasm. The Shadows are absolutely in pieces.
-Cartagia, wearing an unusually short hair crest (so he can wander, unnoticed, among the common people), meets Londo. He says he recalled Londo for his experience with off-worlders... and then a severely burnt Morden says hello to Londo, insisting that Londo will serve as the Shadow-Centauri liaison. The Shadows, in a deal with Cartagia, are moving Shadow ships to a Centauri island, to mitigate the effects of another possible attack on Z'ha'dum. Londo refuses; Morden insists, because others would do worse than Londo is willing to do... Londo grabs his old, purple coat at one point, and goes outside, only to see Shadow ships flying overhead.
-Londo goes to Cartagia and tries to get him to break the deal. Cartagia replies that the Shadows will make him a living god, and the sacrifice of his subjects might be required to do so.
-Minister Virini warns Londo not to push Cartagia; he is mad and is believed to have a desk with the heads of those who oppose the Shadows there, so that he may speak to them (a later scene confirms this). Londo orders Vir to Centauri Prime.
-Question #2, Sheridan: Lyta and Ivanova talk.
-They go, and Lyta isn't able to telepathically keep the Shadows at bay long enough. Her eyes go black, and everyone thinks it a wonderful idea to land of the surface, to meet people they thought long lost. Instead, the White Star jumps to hyperspace; Lennier programmed a failsafe to prevent this from happening.
-In the tunnels of Za'ha'dum, a hooded figure stumbles around. A rank insignia drops from him... Sheridan. Later, Sheridan is approached by a tall alien as he sits at a fire...
-Lennier scans his room for bugs and states his case plainly to Vir: the Emperor is mad, and must be killed for the good of the Centauri. He is asking Vir as Vir is the closest thing he has to a friend, and a patriot besides.
-It has been a week since Z'ha'dum.
-G'Kar muses on the loss of Garibaldi and Sheridan. He also feels that they have lost Ivanova--to grief and guilt.
In a way I think we have also lost Ivanova. It is as though her heart has been pierced and her spirit has poured out through the wound. She blames herself. It is foolish; it is destructive; it is…human. Ambassador Mollari has returned to Centauri Prime to take up his role as advisor of planetary security. I suppose he is quite happy with his new position. It's what he always wanted: power, title, responsibility. I think he is more alone than anyone else in the universe. Delenn has refused to eat for seven days, fasting, praying, and waiting. Delenn believes; I think she is the only one who does. The Shadows have paused in their pursuit of war and everywhere there is a sense of imminent change. Whether it is a change for good or ill, no one could tell, because no one has answered two very important questions: Where is Mr. Garibaldi? And what happened to Captain Sheridan at Z'ha'dum?-G'Kar busies himself with question #1. He breaks into Garibaldi's room, to gather clues, and is confronted by Zach Allen. They chat, and Zach, amused, allows that Daffy Duck (on a poster in G's room) is "sort of an Egyptian god of frustration." "How appropriate!"
-Ivanova is visibly annoyed at a League meeting. Many members have withdrawn their ships, believing the war to be over or on pause, and no one will join for a mission to Z'ha'dum.
-Kosh2 didn't join the League meeting; Delenn tries to find out why. Ulkesh is distracted; Lyta attempts to serve as his aid but he just says that the Vorlon will now do what needs to be done. Lyta apologizes to Delenn.
-Kosh2 pulls some power (himself?) out of Lyta. She complains about carrying him; he is darker and she knows the Vorlons are planing soemthing that they are hiding from her. He curtly tells her not to interfere.
-Vir briefs Ivanova on what he learned from Londo's Shadow contacts: the White Star hit the planet surface with live nukes on board. Sheridan was last seen falling into a deep chasm. The Shadows are absolutely in pieces.
-Cartagia, wearing an unusually short hair crest (so he can wander, unnoticed, among the common people), meets Londo. He says he recalled Londo for his experience with off-worlders... and then a severely burnt Morden says hello to Londo, insisting that Londo will serve as the Shadow-Centauri liaison. The Shadows, in a deal with Cartagia, are moving Shadow ships to a Centauri island, to mitigate the effects of another possible attack on Z'ha'dum. Londo refuses; Morden insists, because others would do worse than Londo is willing to do... Londo grabs his old, purple coat at one point, and goes outside, only to see Shadow ships flying overhead.
-Londo goes to Cartagia and tries to get him to break the deal. Cartagia replies that the Shadows will make him a living god, and the sacrifice of his subjects might be required to do so.
-Minister Virini warns Londo not to push Cartagia; he is mad and is believed to have a desk with the heads of those who oppose the Shadows there, so that he may speak to them (a later scene confirms this). Londo orders Vir to Centauri Prime.
-Question #2, Sheridan: Lyta and Ivanova talk.
My father told me about it. It's the time between three and four in the morning. You can't sleep, and all you can see is the troubles and the problems and the ways that your life should've gone but didn't. All you can hear is the sound of your own heart. I've been living in the hour of the wolf for seven days, Lyta. Seven days. The wolf and I are now on a first-name basis.-Lyta suggests that, because of their connection to Sheridan and Kosh, that she and Ivanova might be able to sense Sheridan on Z'ha'dum. Ivanova readily agrees to go.
-They go, and Lyta isn't able to telepathically keep the Shadows at bay long enough. Her eyes go black, and everyone thinks it a wonderful idea to land of the surface, to meet people they thought long lost. Instead, the White Star jumps to hyperspace; Lennier programmed a failsafe to prevent this from happening.
-In the tunnels of Za'ha'dum, a hooded figure stumbles around. A rank insignia drops from him... Sheridan. Later, Sheridan is approached by a tall alien as he sits at a fire...
-Lennier scans his room for bugs and states his case plainly to Vir: the Emperor is mad, and must be killed for the good of the Centauri. He is asking Vir as Vir is the closest thing he has to a friend, and a patriot besides.
Londo grabs his old, purple coat at one point
An important moment; Londo's attire has been becoming steadily darker in hue as things have progressed; this marks a turn in the character, away from the darkness. (And, of course, it also ensures consistency of wardrobe for this moment - we've seen it before, in his dreams).
posted by nubs at 12:27 PM on February 25, 2019 [3 favorites]
An important moment; Londo's attire has been becoming steadily darker in hue as things have progressed; this marks a turn in the character, away from the darkness. (And, of course, it also ensures consistency of wardrobe for this moment - we've seen it before, in his dreams).
posted by nubs at 12:27 PM on February 25, 2019 [3 favorites]
I love Londo in this, his face as he realizes that Cartagia really doesn’t care about any other Centauri but himself is heartbreaking. I wish the actor who did this had been in more things.
posted by corb at 10:14 PM on March 30, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by corb at 10:14 PM on March 30, 2019 [2 favorites]
Things I liked about this episode:
Ivanova, Lyta and Delenn teaming up to go to Z'ha'dum-- and coming back alive! "No one returns from Z'ha'dum", my ass.
The SUPERBLY named Wortham Krimmer absolutely devouring the role of Emperor Cartagia, plus Damian London as the Centauri minister.
Londo's "you are the closest thing I have to a friend-- I know, I am as surprised as you are" speech to Vir.
I wish the actor who did this had been in more things.
I do, too. But he's taught acting at UNC for many years, so he will have influenced a good number of actors out there.
posted by Pallas Athena at 4:08 PM on May 1, 2021
Ivanova, Lyta and Delenn teaming up to go to Z'ha'dum-- and coming back alive! "No one returns from Z'ha'dum", my ass.
The SUPERBLY named Wortham Krimmer absolutely devouring the role of Emperor Cartagia, plus Damian London as the Centauri minister.
Londo's "you are the closest thing I have to a friend-- I know, I am as surprised as you are" speech to Vir.
I wish the actor who did this had been in more things.
I do, too. But he's taught acting at UNC for many years, so he will have influenced a good number of actors out there.
posted by Pallas Athena at 4:08 PM on May 1, 2021
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-Ivanova admits to herself that Sheridan is dead and pledges to continue his work.
posted by flibbertigibbet at 2:09 PM on February 16, 2019