520: Wheel of Fire
Directed by |
First broadcast week of |
G'Kar returns to Babylon 5 to find swarms of Narn holding figurines of him and calling his name. Garibaldi turns up to a Council meeting drunk - and Sheridan relieves him of duty to allow him to recuperate. Despite pressure from the Kha'ri, G'Kar refuses to return to Narn to become their leader. Lochley receives a call from Mars informing her that Psi Corps property has become subject to organized attacks - with the words "Remember Byron" inscribed at the scene of each crime. The funding trail for the terrorist attacks leads directly to Lyta Alexander - and Sheridan is called in to arrest her at gunpoint, as he is the only one unable to be affected by her Vorlon-enhanced abilities. Lochley confronts Garibaldi about his alcoholism, and confides in him that she suffered from the same problem, taking after her father. She calls Lise to the station to help him - and she wants him to help her run Edgars Industries. Considering that every one else is leaving the station, Garibaldi agrees - and also hits upon an idea: he proposes to Lyta that he will extend Edgars Industries' influence to drop the charges against her, if she promises to redirect the funds for her cause to campaign for peace rather than attack Psi Corps. He also wants her to remove the neural block Bester placed in his mind. Lyta makes a counter-proposal; Garibaldi promotes her cause as a benevolent one, while she works to undermine Psi Corps' power to eventually destroy them, and after that she will free Garibaldi to take his own revenge on Bester. Delenn faints from stress - and Franklin discovers that she is pregnant; her half-human half-Minbari physiology may not cope with having a child, but she and Sheridan decide to risk it. After Narn's threat to boycott Babylon 5 until G'Kar returns home, G'Kar himself decides that in order to avoid becoming enslaved into leading his own people, he will wander the Universe - and asks Lyta Alexander to come with him to give her time to ruminate.
Notes: Sheridan mentions Franklin's addiction to stims and resulting trauma (Interludes and Examinations, Walkabout, Shadow Dancing). G'Kar refers to the original offer for him to lead the Narn (The Long Night), and also mentions his teaching sessions as seen in Meditations on the Abyss. Lochley mentions a close friend she lost to drugs and alcohol - meaning Zoe, as seen in Day of the Dead. Delenn is pregnant with Sheridan's son, David (mentioned in War Without End, Part II). Bester told Garibaldi about the "Asimov" neutral block placed in his mind in Phoenix Rising. Lyta finally reveals the extent of her "alteration" by the Vorlons - telepaths were created as weapons in the war against the Shadows, and Lyta is one of very few "superweapons", with virtually unlimited powers.
Guest Cast: Denise Gentile returns as Lise Hampton-Edgars.