Text 6195, 217 rader
Skriven 2006-08-13 21:34:00 av Robert E Starr JR (6692.babylon5)
Ärende: Into the Fire: my review
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The Vorlon/Shadow War reaches its end, ushering in the "third age of
man" referenced as far back as Londo's narration in "The Gathering."


THE PLOT

Emperor Cartagia is dead. Now Londo and Vir find themselves scrambling
back on Centauri Prime to undo the damage the insane Emperor had
wrought. Londo is determined to rid the Centauri Homeworld of all
Shadow influences before the Vorlons arrive, and in so doing save his
people. However, his reasoning is undermined at a critical juncture
when an intelligence officer lets him know the truth about Adira's
death. It was not Lord Refa who had her killed. As the intelligence man
notes, "the details are everything."

Meanwhile, Sheridan's fleet acts as a crucible between the Shadows
and the Vorlons at Coriana 6. Sheridan is desperate to contact
representatives of both races. He knows that only by talking to them
can he hope to stop this war. But he also cannot permit the Vorlons to
destroy the 6 billion people living on Coriana 6. And when it becomes
apparent that the Vorlons are ignoring his signal, he has to call in
his trump card - the First Ones gathered by Ivanova and Lorien -
earlier than he had intended, putting the already slim hope of success
even further in jeopardy...


THE GOOD

The scenes on Centauri Prime are magnificent, as always. The highlight
of the episode is probably Londo's confrontation with Mr. Morden.
After three-and-a-quarter years of always being in somebody's power,
of being manipulated, of having to watch his every step and every word,
Londo is finally in control here. And he is both quite scary and
absolutely magnificent. He casually has Morden's invisible Shadow
escort executed, knowing full well that they are there. He dictates
terms to Morden. Finally, when Morden makes the fatal mistake of
assuming that he is still the one with the power in this scene, Londo
obliterates the Shadow presence on Centauri Prime and has Morden
dragged away. As Londo insolently settles back onto the throne that is
not yet his, he is every inch the Emperor - and is probably, at this
instant, the best Centauri emperor we have seen thus far in the series.


The tragedy of this scene, of course, is that Londo is at his most
heroic... and yet at the same time, it is this moment of strength that
seals both his fate and the fate of the Centauri Republic. As Morden
cries out to Londo that the Shadows' allies will take revenge, Londo
dismisses his words - ultimately has Morden executed. And so Londo
misses his next to last chance at avoiding his destiny. Of course, he
has no way of knowing that Morden may be "the man who is already dead."
Garibaldi would never have told him that Morden has been officially
classified as dead. It is a rich and terrible irony, though, that
Londo's moment of greatest strength will ultimately lead to almost
twenty years of enforced weakness for him.

Morden's disintegration after the Shadows are all obliterated is also
notable. This is the first time we have seen Morden where he is truly
alone. Bereft of his "associates," Morden is no longer poised, no
longer intimidating. That aura of quiet confidence is gone. He
crumples, he lets out an anguished cry as he realizes that Londo really
is going to destroy the island. As he is dragged away, Morden is made
weak for the first time ever. For a man who has done the things Morden
has done, one moment of vulnerability is more than enough to be fatal -
and to deliver to Vir his wish from late Season Two, as Morden's head
is mounted on a pike.

Bizarrely enough, just about every character who is asked what they
want over the course of the series gets it. Londo gets a powerful,
warlike Centauri Prime, with a royal court suffused with deadly
internal politics... just as I imagine the Centauri Prime of old was.
G'Kar ultimately gets a Centauri Prime that is shattered. Londo gets
revenge for the death of Adira. All of those wished come true. But the
only character who is able to enjoy his wish when he gets it is Vir,
who sure enough gets to grin and wave at Morden's head, just as he
said he would like to back in Season Two (the flashback to "In the
Shadow of Z'ha'dum," by the way, highlights the striking amount of
weight Stephen Furst lost by Season Four).

Londo's true patriotism and loyalty to his world is once again
highlighted when Vir points out that one thing remains on Centauri
Prime that the Shadows have touched: Londo himself. Just at that
moment, the Vorlon Planet Killer arrives and blots out the sun. Londo
barely hesitates before urging Vir to save their world by killing him
and showing the Vorlons the body. Londo values his life, to be sure...
but he values his world even more. It is that - his love for his
planet, combined with the strength of his passions - that Morden failed
to take into account when he chose Londo back in "Signs and Portents."


In addition to the great character moments for Londo and Vir, this
episode provides a character combination we haven't seen yet, as it
pairs Lorien and Ivanova. I truly enjoyed the scenes between these two
characters. Lorien's ancient wisdom, mysticism, and patience makes a
beautiful contrast to Susan's prickliness, cynicism, and brashness.
Susan scoffs at Lorien's claims at being "The First One" on logical
grounds; no one could discover the secret of immortality in a single
lifetime, and it is absolutely impossible that any living being could
be naturally immortal. Lorien counters by quietly telling Susan of the
stagnancy of his own immortality, and of the "remarkable illusions"
that humans' short lifespan allows. He urges Susan to listen to her
heart, to open herself to the illusion that "love is eternal." If
Lorien has elevated Sheridan to the point where he sees the captain as
almost an equal, then here he takes Sinclair's former role as a
mentor to Ivanova.


SPOILER WARNING!


It is a shame Claudia Christian did not remain for Season Five. In a
way, the series would almost have been the story of Susan's
development if she had stayed. She's the one who has the most to
learn at the start of the series, and who is mentored by virtually
every major character: Sinclair teaches her how to use strategy to
fight back inside the rules; Sheridan teaches her that sometimes you
have to make your own rules. Talia teaches her the pain that can come
when you open yourself to the wrong person; Marcus teaches her the pain
that can come when you don't open yourself to the right person;
Lorien urges her to open herself up at all. I wonder what lessons she
might have learned in Season Five, had the actress not decided to leave
for (as it turned out, non-existent) greener pastures.


Finally, I found the "Mind's Eye" scenes at the climax of the
episode, as the Shadows and the Vorlons confront Sheridan and Delenn in
a surreal dreamscape, fascinating. As with many of the series' most
memorable sequences, these scenes are pure theater. A darkened stage,
no real stage dressing or set. Just the actors, performing on a mostly
bare stage.

The Vorlons (Order) are represented by a still statue, whose lips do
not move even as it communicates with Sheridan. The representative of
Order does not move, does not progress, preaches blind obedience. Order
tinged with nothing else is stagnant and oppressive.

The Shadows (Chaos), by contrast, are always moving. Chaos is
represented to Delenn through several characters we know: Ivanova,
Franklin, Lennier, and Marcus. These choices are probably no accident.
Ivanova's emotions have been in turmoil from her introduction. She
bottles up her feelings - and like anyone who chooses to avoid
expressing emotion, those feelings have a tendency to lash out at
inopportune moments (be it a barroom brawl in "Eyes" or giving Bester
the satisfaction of a punch to the face in "Ship of Tears"). Dr.
Franklin's life was thrown into chaos by his stim addiction. Marcus
is a man who hides his inner pain under a jester's mask, and who
spends a lot of his time looking for a way to get himself killed.
Lennier is caught in his own chaos - between his unrequited love for
Delenn, his refusal to acknowledge a certain disdain for humans (see
his "We are not the same" outburst to Marcus in "Ceremonies of Light &
Dark"), and his increasing tendency to ride the very edge of what is
allowed by the rules of the Minbari religious caste... in many ways,
Lennier may be the most chaotic of all the regular characters.

But though Chaos is always in motion throughout these scenes, to an
extent that very restlessness is its weakness. Just as Order cannot
manage to move forward (or at all), Chaos cannot manage to be still for
a moment. As Delenn argues against Chaos' words, the representatives
of Chaos are unable to reason terribly effectively. When it is clear
that Delenn will not bow to the Shadows' will, she is confronted with
the final vision of Chaos: herself - grabbing at her to violently
compel an obedience it cannot inspire. For all its motion, chaos tinged
with nothing else is unreasoning, and therefore just as stagnant and
immovable as Order.


THE BAD

A minor point, and not really a problem with this episode. However,
given Sheridan's explanation of "the third age of man," one does
wonder: how, in Season One's narration, could Sinclair have begun
with, "It was the dawn of the third age of man?" After all, Sinclair
was removed from the timeline during the second age, as put forth by
Sheridan. Sinclair could certainly narrate his part of the story to a
listener (which is how I've always taken the "Babylon 5" credit
voice-overs). However, he could not possibly narrate events that
happened after his trip back in time (at least, not unless there's a
part of the story that hasn't quite been told yet).

Now, it's obvious that this - like several other things - was just a
"speed bump" caused by the unexpected casting change. For that matter,
it wasn't something that occurred to me on first viewing. It did
occur to me this time, though, and is a tiny (if insignificant) blemish
on the series' continuity.


As for specific flaws with this episode, there aren't really very
many. The end of the Vorlon/Shadow War does feel like it comes about a
little too quickly and a little too easily, however. Perhaps the battle
inside the minds of Sheridan and Delenn could have been extended, along
with the final missile attack on the fleet, to make this a 2-parter.
There's a point, shortly after the "mind's eye" sequence and
extending to Sheridan's "Get the hell out of our galaxy!" speech, in
which the sense of tension that had built to a breaking point over the
past six or seven episodes suddenly seems to evaporate. I love the
ideas behind the resolution, and much of the execution. But at the very
end, in my opinion, some of the individual moments simply are not held
long enough, leading to a sense of anticlimax.

Because of this issue - the feeling that it ends just a little too
quickly, after all the events building up to it - I can't quite award
this episode full marks, despite being an excellent piece of television
up to that point.


My Final Rating: 9/10.

Next Up: The end of the Vorlon/Shadow War is seen from a very different
perspective in Jeanne Cavelos' "Summoning Light."
                                                                               
                          
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