301: Matters of Honor
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First broadcast week of |
David Endawi of Earthforce Special Intelligence arrives to question the station staff and ambassadors about the identity of the ship seen in the flight recording made by the late Lt Keffer. Delenn won't admit to anything, Londo recalls his dream of their arrival on Centauri Prime, and G'Kar shows Endawi a drawing of it in the Book of G'Quan. Delenn is contacted by the Ranger Marcus Cole, who tells her that their training colony on Zagros VII has been blockaded by the Centauri and the Shadows may also be moving in on them.
Londo meets with Morden to tell him he no longer wishes to be associated with him; Morden mentions that Lord Refa may be a willing candidate to continue their association with the Centauri, and even carves up a map of the galaxy to tempt Londo - he fails.
Delenn takes Sheridan aboard the White Star, a new ship built from combining Minbari and Vorlon technology to fight the Shadows. They travel to Zagros VII to find a Shadow vessel, which they lure through hyperspace and trap inside a jumpgate while they open another, killing it.
Endawi makes his report to a senator in Earthdome, and after he leaves Morden and a Psi Cop enter. Morden is pleased that the Shadows have still gone undetected by the major races. The Psi Cop says that they could still use the situation to their advantage, and speed up their own program on Earth. With Marcus remaining aboard Babylon 5, Sheridan forms the War Council to help devise strategies against the Shadows.
Notes: Londo's dream of the Shadow vessels arriving on Centauri Prime is first seen in The Coming of Shadows, and becomes relevant again in The Hour of the Wolf. The Narn link with the Shadows is recalled here (from G'Kar's warnings in Revelations) and further explored in Ship of Tears. Delenn's description of the Shadows at the end of this episode is the same as the one she gives Sheridan in In the Shadow of Z'ha'dum. Marcus says he joined the Rangers in honour of his brother, another Ranger killed in battle (as detailed in the novel To Dream in the City of Sorrows). Kosh says to Sheridan "I have always been here", a statement he used before in All Alone in the Night, and again in Dust to Dust, Interludes and Examinations and In the Beginning. Sheridan refers to the death of the Markab race (Confesstions and Lamentations).
Marcus describes the Ranger pin as being forged in a white-hot flame and cooled in three bowls: an ancient holy water, Minbari blood and human blood. The last two signify the link between the humans and the Minbari, so is it possible the "holy water" is Vorlon blood?
Guest Cast: Tucker Smallwood appeared as David Endawi. He has appeared in Space: Above and Beyond and The X Files.