{"id":7069,"date":"2018-11-14T13:00:17","date_gmt":"2018-11-14T21:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=7069"},"modified":"2018-11-07T13:12:19","modified_gmt":"2018-11-07T21:12:19","slug":"mark-watches-babylon-5-s02e17-knives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2018\/11\/mark-watches-babylon-5-s02e17-knives\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Babylon 5’: S02E17 – Knives"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the seventeenth episode of the second season of Babylon 5<\/i>, Londo fights, and Sheridan takes someone home. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Babylon 5<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This was a neat episode, but I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think it was as strong as many of the other episodes in this season. LET\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S TALK.<\/p>\n

The Passenger<\/b><\/p>\n

You know, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Babylon Squared\u00e2\u20ac\u009d 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 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153answer\u00e2\u20ac\u009d to the events in that episode will be given much more space than just some twist in the end of another story. Instead, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Knives\u00e2\u20ac\u009d gives us a story of empathy, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s rather endearing, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it? We don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really know what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s on the other side of that weird rift in space where Babylon 4<\/i> disappeared to. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s apparently some sort of war that Babylon 4<\/i> 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<\/i> 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\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fitting that it ended up in the character who is often trying<\/i> to understand others, too! I enjoyed that. This ends up being just another mystery out in space, and I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think I need to know every detail about everything in order to appreciate this story.<\/p>\n

Londo<\/b><\/p>\n

That being said, I feel like there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a major flaw in the other plot in this story: What exactly did Urza Jaddo do<\/i>? I feel like we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re supposed to infer from the episode itself that perhaps what he reveals to Londo at the reunion feast is what he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been saying publicly. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 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\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d target him. But what exactly did they tell the Centaurum? How did they prove their case?\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps the point is that they didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t need<\/i> 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<\/i> going to duel Londo to the death? Was he always<\/i> going to die at Londo\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 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?<\/p>\n

This is a bit too muddled for me, but what I did<\/i> enjoy about this plot was how it forced Londo to reflect on what he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d 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\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s his destiny, right? This is what he has<\/i> to do. I admit to being surprised initially that after realizing that other Centauri<\/i> would have to pay the cost for Londo\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ascension, Londo didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to stop what he was doing. But this is what he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s wanted for a long time, and he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s already killed so many people. Why stop now? Why stop here<\/i>? It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a disturbing end to this plot, and I feel more certain that Londo\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s arc is only going to get darker and darker over the course of this show.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Knives\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":"