{"id":7029,"date":"2018-10-16T13:00:51","date_gmt":"2018-10-16T20:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=7029"},"modified":"2018-10-08T07:31:07","modified_gmt":"2018-10-08T14:31:07","slug":"mark-watches-babylon-5-s01e20-babylon-squared","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2018\/10\/mark-watches-babylon-5-s01e20-babylon-squared\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Babylon 5’: S01E20 – Babylon Squared"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the twentieth episode of the first season of Babylon 5<\/i>, I DON\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T GET IT. HELP. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Babylon 5<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

YOU\u00e2\u20ac\u2122RE ALL MEAN, WHAT THE FUCK, WHAT IS HAPPENING ON THIS SHOW.<\/p>\n

Delenn<\/b><\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not that anything here is necessarily \u00e2\u20ac\u0153easy\u00e2\u20ac\u009d to decipher, but at least there is some directness to Delenn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s subplot in this episode. Of course, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m still missing so many pieces, and the Prophecy that clearly influenced the Minbari\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s decision to end the war with Earth is pretty damn mysterious. But that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a tiny piece given to us: the motivation for the end of the war. Something the humans do\u00e2\u20ac\u201dor some<\/i> humans, I should say\u00e2\u20ac\u201dare so significant that the Minbari surrendered in order to make sure that prophecy came true. And was it specifically<\/i> about Sinclair? Because they didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t take any other humans to experiment or poke or prod, so there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something<\/i> there, right?\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what that is, but this episode felt like such a natural accompaniment to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153A Voice in the Wilderness.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d There, Delenn bid her friend goodbye after they made a heart-wrenching decision because they knew it was the right thing. So, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a very quiet journey on Delenn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s part that finally becomes loud. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s summoned to the Grey Council, where she learns that she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been nominated as the new leader of the Council. AND THEN PROMPTLY REJECTS IT. She knows what a big deal this is, but she also knows that her study of the prophecy is vital, too. Why does she have to stay on Babylon 5<\/i>? Well, we know that she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s got something on Sinclair, but by the end of the episode, we discover that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got a completely different<\/i> mission: stopping some horrible war.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The non-linear plot makes it hard to analyze this because I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know if anything here is definite or just a potential future. Regardless, though, Delenn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s journey is incredibly important, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a fascinating thing to follow her as she rejects this huge honor, all so she can remain on Babylon 5<\/i>. Does she want to do<\/i> anything there? Is she just a distant observer, or is she going to eventually find a way of getting involved? What is that involvement? How does she end up alongside Sinclair, pulling Babylon 4<\/i> in and out of time to use in a war against\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t fucking know. WHO IS THIS WAR BETWEEN. What the fuck???<\/p>\n

Babylon 4<\/b><\/p>\n

I know I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m probably botching some of these details, but: Babylon 4<\/i> disappeared because it was pulled out of time to be used as a station and a base of operations for\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 some war? Between light and dark? But when this happened, well over a thousand crew members were also stranded aboard it, so if that was really Sinclair, DAMN. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s messed up. But that doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make sense, does it? I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m leaving out Zathras, the mysterious species of alien who tells the present-day crew what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going on. They are a bizarre character, but as far as I could tell, The One\/Sinclair was genuinely trying to save as many people from dying by holding the time jumps.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

AND THOSE TIME JUMPS. Was that<\/i> the war in Sinclair\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s glimpse? Seeing Lise again so soon after the last episode was a trip, too. We know one of these events really happened, so is that massive fight an inevitability, too? I DON\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T KNOW!!! I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know how much determinism and free will plays into all of this. Fuck it, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know much at ALL about where this show is going. This is such a bold episode because of the way that it largely does not resolve anything that is brought up. Delenn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s story is a chapter in a much larger one, the writers know that, and the writers don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t care about MY FEELINGS. Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, what is the prophecy??? Who made it? How has it been affecting events thus far in the show in ways I have not picked up yet? WHY ARE YOU ALL EVIL.<\/p>\n

What the fuck<\/i> did I just watch?\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Babylon Squared\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n

– My YA contemporary debut, ANGER IS A GIFT<\/a>, is now out in the world!\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong>If you’d like to stay up-to-date on all announcements regarding my books, sign up for my newsletter<\/a>! DO IT.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"