Mark Watches ‘Babylon 5’: S02E17 – Knives

In the seventeenth episode of the second season of Babylon 5, Londo fights, and Sheridan takes someone home. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Babylon 5. 

This was a neat episode, but I didn’t think it was as strong as many of the other episodes in this season. LET’S TALK.

The Passenger

You know, “Babylon Squared” basically ruined me, and there was a slight hope that the end of this episode would shed even the tiniest bit of light on that mindfuck of a story, but NOPE. NOT AT ALL. But I admire that because I feel like the “answer” to the events in that episode will be given much more space than just some twist in the end of another story. Instead, “Knives” gives us a story of empathy, and it’s rather endearing, isn’t it? We don’t really know what’s on the other side of that weird rift in space where Babylon 4 disappeared to. There’s apparently some sort of war that Babylon 4 was needed for, but other than that? Delenn and Sinclair have a role to play, but this episode focuses on another ramification: a strange new creature came through the rift, hitched a ride in another alien, and is now just trying to get home. I do tend to like this trope subversion where a possession or an antagonistic force is actually not antagonistic at all. And it’s fitting that it ended up in the character who is often trying to understand others, too! I enjoyed that. This ends up being just another mystery out in space, and I don’t think I need to know every detail about everything in order to appreciate this story.

Londo

That being said, I feel like there’s a major flaw in the other plot in this story: What exactly did Urza Jaddo do? I feel like we’re supposed to infer from the episode itself that perhaps what he reveals to Londo at the reunion feast is what he’s been saying publicly. It’s clear that he opposes the expansion of the Centauri Empire, that he agreed with the previous emperor and with Malachi about pursuing peace. I can see why Refa and his consortium of supporters would view him as a threat and why they’d target him. But what exactly did they tell the Centaurum? How did they prove their case? 

Perhaps the point is that they didn’t need to have any concrete evidence, that this was all about how easily one can ruin the reputation of another person within Centauri society. I can get that, I suppose, but this seems like a rather elaborate means to address that. Urza had to know from the beginning that this was a losing effort, that no matter what Londo did, the Centauri government was going to declare him and his house a traitor. So does that mean that Urza was always going to duel Londo to the death? Was he always going to die at Londo’s hand in order to save the reputation of his house? And was that more important than fostering any sense of rebellion in case he was right about where the government was headed?

This is a bit too muddled for me, but what I did enjoy about this plot was how it forced Londo to reflect on what he’d done since he had agreed to work with Morden. Does that reflection come with a change in behavior? No, shockingly; Londo instead remarks that he needs to see all of this through to the end. It’s his destiny, right? This is what he has to do. I admit to being surprised initially that after realizing that other Centauri would have to pay the cost for Londo’s ascension, Londo didn’t want to stop what he was doing. But this is what he’s wanted for a long time, and he’s already killed so many people. Why stop now? Why stop here? It’s a disturbing end to this plot, and I feel more certain that Londo’s arc is only going to get darker and darker over the course of this show. 

The video for “Knives” can be downloaded here for $0.99.

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About Mark Oshiro

Perpetually unprepared since '09.
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