Babylon 5: Chrysalis Rewatch
April 2, 2018 1:48 PM - Season 1, Episode 22 - Subscribe
The Centauri and the Narn bicker about the ownership of an outpost, and one side takes decisive action. Delenn takes an irreversible step, after consulting with Kosh. Garibaldi's informant is killed and he wants to find out why. "And so it begins."
QUOTES:
-This episode features the "nibbled to death by cats" bit.
-Kosh's "and so it begins" is another fan-favourite line. As far as I know, it is first said by Kosh here; Delenn previously said it during the religious ceremony in Parliament of Dreams.
-"Nothing's the same anymore" are the final lines of the season. Wait for s2e1, it's even more different!
-On Centauri gods:
Londo: “Fine, fine, let’s say fifty. And how many of them do you think I must have angered in order to have G’kar’s teeth so deep into my throat?”
Vir: “All of them?”
Londo: “That’s what I thought.”
PLOT STUFF:
-It is New Year's Eve, 2258.
-Londo grows furious with the low position of the Centauri republic, as currently epitomized by the Narn possession of a Centauri-Narn-whatever outpost near Centauri space. He is approached by Mr. Morden (the "What do you want?/And then what?" guy from Signs and Portents) who says that he will take care of the problem for Londo, and Londo can personally take all the credit. It's just that there may, perhaps, be a time in the future where Londo may be in a position to give Mr. Morden a favour, you see...
-Strange, dark ships sent by Mr. Morden completely destroy the outpost.
-In return, G'Kar knows something is up. This can't have been one of the known races, so it must be something unknown--a belief to to which he alluded in Mind War (first quote). He returns to the Narn homeworld to investigate.
-Londo is horrified by the loss of life his actions have triggered.
-Sinclair and Sakai are going to get married.
-Meanwhile, Delenn (initially via Lennier) asks Kosh a question--which we don't know. He replies in the affirmative, reveals himself to her, and she decides to do something irreversible. She tries to get Sinclair to her side to reveal the secrets of the Battle of the Line before it is too late, but he is waylaid by the issue with Garibaldi (below). By the time he gets to see Delenn (prompted by Kosh reminding him), she is entombed in a chrysalis (a word last heard by the psychic child in "Legacies" when she scans Delenn) and cannot speak. Whoops. (Lennier is standing vigil over her chrysalis, while weeping.)
-A Lurker informant named Petrov dies in Garibaldi's arms, saying "They're going to kill him." He follows the trail to one "Devereaux", and eventually finds jamming beacons that centre on the transfer point that Earth Force One will be at soon, during the President's trip to Io. He realizes that someone is going to kill the president, but Garibaldi's season-long aide shoots him in the back to prevent Garibaldi from scuppering the plot. His right-hand-man then kills Devereaux.
-The president's trip is destroyed at Io, but the VP - Clark - was sick with a viral infection and had left the tour previously. Clark is now president; the good guys failed to prevent the assassination.
-Just after New Year's 2259, Garibaldi is found bleeding to death in an elevator. He is rushed to medlab but no one will know if he will survive.
-Morden is communicating with mantis-like, dark aliens in his quarters. He is reassuring them.
QUOTES:
-This episode features the "nibbled to death by cats" bit.
-Kosh's "and so it begins" is another fan-favourite line. As far as I know, it is first said by Kosh here; Delenn previously said it during the religious ceremony in Parliament of Dreams.
-"Nothing's the same anymore" are the final lines of the season. Wait for s2e1, it's even more different!
-On Centauri gods:
Londo: “Fine, fine, let’s say fifty. And how many of them do you think I must have angered in order to have G’kar’s teeth so deep into my throat?”
Vir: “All of them?”
Londo: “That’s what I thought.”
PLOT STUFF:
-It is New Year's Eve, 2258.
-Londo grows furious with the low position of the Centauri republic, as currently epitomized by the Narn possession of a Centauri-Narn-whatever outpost near Centauri space. He is approached by Mr. Morden (the "What do you want?/And then what?" guy from Signs and Portents) who says that he will take care of the problem for Londo, and Londo can personally take all the credit. It's just that there may, perhaps, be a time in the future where Londo may be in a position to give Mr. Morden a favour, you see...
-Strange, dark ships sent by Mr. Morden completely destroy the outpost.
-In return, G'Kar knows something is up. This can't have been one of the known races, so it must be something unknown--a belief to to which he alluded in Mind War (first quote). He returns to the Narn homeworld to investigate.
-Londo is horrified by the loss of life his actions have triggered.
-Sinclair and Sakai are going to get married.
-Meanwhile, Delenn (initially via Lennier) asks Kosh a question--which we don't know. He replies in the affirmative, reveals himself to her, and she decides to do something irreversible. She tries to get Sinclair to her side to reveal the secrets of the Battle of the Line before it is too late, but he is waylaid by the issue with Garibaldi (below). By the time he gets to see Delenn (prompted by Kosh reminding him), she is entombed in a chrysalis (a word last heard by the psychic child in "Legacies" when she scans Delenn) and cannot speak. Whoops. (Lennier is standing vigil over her chrysalis, while weeping.)
-A Lurker informant named Petrov dies in Garibaldi's arms, saying "They're going to kill him." He follows the trail to one "Devereaux", and eventually finds jamming beacons that centre on the transfer point that Earth Force One will be at soon, during the President's trip to Io. He realizes that someone is going to kill the president, but Garibaldi's season-long aide shoots him in the back to prevent Garibaldi from scuppering the plot. His right-hand-man then kills Devereaux.
-The president's trip is destroyed at Io, but the VP - Clark - was sick with a viral infection and had left the tour previously. Clark is now president; the good guys failed to prevent the assassination.
-Just after New Year's 2259, Garibaldi is found bleeding to death in an elevator. He is rushed to medlab but no one will know if he will survive.
-Morden is communicating with mantis-like, dark aliens in his quarters. He is reassuring them.
The end of Michael O'Hare's run as Jeffrey Sinclair; it's been mentioned previously, but he was suffering from a serious mental health issue and left the show. It was great that he was able to return for War Without End and give Sinclair a fitting end to his arc.
I always found the "question to Kosh" bit overly melodramatic.
posted by nubs at 3:29 PM on April 2, 2018 [1 favorite]
I always found the "question to Kosh" bit overly melodramatic.
posted by nubs at 3:29 PM on April 2, 2018 [1 favorite]
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Na'Toth: Ten thousand of our best warriors--dead! It's as if some great hand reached out of space and... Just erased them.
G'Kar: It wasn't the humans. The Centauri don't have the will. The Vorlons don't care. The Minbari wouldn't do it. The other worlds aren't powerful enough for a strike like this. There's someone else out there, Na'Toth.
Londo's reaction to the attack:
Morden: Ambassador, you asked to see me?
Londo: Yes, what have you done?
Morden: Only what you asked me to do. You had a problem with Quadrant 37 -- we took care of it.
Londo: Yes, but you killed ten thousand Narns!
Morden: I didn't know you cared. Ten thousand, a hundred thousand, a million; what's the difference? They're Narns, Ambassador: your sworn enemy.
Londo: Yes, I know, but I didn't think... I thought that you might find a way to protect our ships, or--or cripple their forces, not--
[two civilians pass by in the Garden Maze, the conversation pauses]
Morden: Ambassador, your name is being spoken at the highest levels of the Centauri government. They don't know how you did it; they don't care! They credit you with saving them from another embarrassment without creating a war in the process. They've noticed you, Ambassador. Which was the point of the exercise.
Londo: Yes, but ten thousand... in cold blood?
And sicne I haven't finished the series yet, I am now removing this from My Activity.
posted by flibbertigibbet at 2:02 PM on April 2, 2018