{"id":7070,"date":"2018-11-15T13:00:25","date_gmt":"2018-11-15T21:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=7070"},"modified":"2018-11-07T13:13:51","modified_gmt":"2018-11-07T21:13:51","slug":"mark-watches-babylon-5-s02e16-in-the-shadow-of-zhadum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2018\/11\/mark-watches-babylon-5-s02e16-in-the-shadow-of-zhadum\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Babylon 5’: S02E16 – In the Shadow of Z’ha’dum"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the sixteenth episode of the second season of Babylon 5<\/i>, WHY HAVE YOU HURT ME THIS WAY. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Babylon 5<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What do I even say I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122VE EMBARRASSED MYSELF SO BADLY.<\/p>\n

The Night Watch<\/b><\/p>\n

Well, not as cool as that other Night Watch that I got to write about, unfortunately. Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, I do not trust Pierce Macabee, and I do not trust this newly-formed Ministry of Peace. Because over the course of this entire episode, and in spite of the fact that Macabee gave a whole-ass explanation of what the Ministry of Peace is, HE DIDN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T ACTUALLY TELL US WHAT THEY DID. So, people are just supposed to report others for having thoughts\/actions\/words\/behaviors that lead to a breakdown of peace? That is suspiciously<\/i> vague, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s some 1984<\/i> bullshit. Is this literally<\/i> the Thought Police? And I know that term has been wildly misappropriated these days, but in this context, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what this feels like. Exactly what<\/i> does the Ministry of Peace do once someone is reported? Are they aware of the creepy history of armbands??? I DON\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T LIKE THIS.<\/p>\n

Vir<\/b><\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m going to devote the majority of this review to Sheridan and his discovery, but I needed to take a moment to openly acknowledge something else: Vir. Vir, who already got a lot more interesting to me in this week\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s batch of episode, delivers perhaps one of the most brutal insults this show will probably ever have. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know how anyone can top this. I deeply, DEEPLY respect that Vir answered Morden\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s creepy question by saying that he wanted to be there WHEN MORDEN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S HEAD WAS IMPALED ON A PIKE. I just!!!! This is the revolutionary action we need!!! Okay, yes, it might be, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also important to note that even though Vir says this and makes his distaste known, he doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t help Sheridan at all. He still does his job and is loyal to both Morden and Londo. So much for the sentiment.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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

Wow, the name of that ship really is spot-on for this journey, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it? Except Sheridan didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t fly too close to the sun in this episode; he flew too close to the darkness<\/i>. Look, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m still reeling from what Sheridan learns about his wife\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ship, about Morden\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s survival, and about the epic, ancient war that has played out throughout time. For a while, though, I had another theory percolating in my mind that I vocalized on video. I became increasingly worried that Sheridan was not right, that Morden was actually<\/i> telling the truth as best as he could. What if he really was the only survivor and his story was right\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 at least up to the moment when the Shadows recruited him. Thus, this entire attempt was pointless; Sheridan wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t going to get the truth he wanted.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Instead, Babylon 5<\/i> goes to a much, much darker place. We get confirmation that Morden is PERPETUALLY SURROUNDED BY THE SHADOWS. They are already here!!!! Oh my god, that one reveal alone<\/i> made me want to curl up, and it also made me want to re-watch all of Morden\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s prior scenes with the knowledge that the Shadows are RIGHT THERE next to him. But this is just one part of a greater nightmare, one that multiple episodes have been hinting at since the beginning of this show. I know I still don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have all the pieces, but this massive chunk of mythology is enough to let me know that Babylon 5<\/i> is going to be EVEN DARKER THAN I EXPECTED.<\/p>\n

And it isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t a coincidence that this happens amidst a massive influx of Narn refugees to the station. The war that Londo helped start by allying with the Shadows has had horrific consequences for these people, and it continues to get worse. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m happy that the Babylon 5<\/i> staff are taking on the burden of helping them without any real hesitation, despite that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s taking a toll on them. (I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m worried about Dr. Franklin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s lack of sleep and food, though. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a LONG time to go without sleep or a meal.) But this is all a precursor; it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a symptom; it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an omen. These refugees are only the start of something worse<\/i>. What if the Centauri win their war? What happens when the Shadows are ready to come out of hiding? Will they destroy the Centauri, too, no longer needing them?\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know. But when Delenn and Kosh finally reveal more of the history to Sheridan, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s clear he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s now involved in something that puts him in way, way over his head. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a war that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s spanned such an absurd, inconceivable length of time, fought between ancient races that were thought to have disappeared. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hard to wrap your mind around all this when you think about how \u00e2\u20ac\u0153In the Shadow of Z\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ha\u00e2\u20ac\u2122dum\u00e2\u20ac\u009d started off as a mystery about the death of Sheridan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s wife, Anna. Where does it end?<\/p>\n

Well, for starters: the Icarus<\/i> accidentally found one of the Shadows on Z\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ha\u00e2\u20ac\u2122dum and woke it up. And unless there was another survivor, then that means everyone<\/i> but Morden was murdered because they wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t choose to serve the Shadows. So, we can infer from this that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s become a representative of sorts of the Shadows. Why him? Why use him in the way that the Shadows do? Well, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not important as of yet; the confirmation is all we need, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all Sheridan needs to know how serious this is.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Oh, and then there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s that casual reveal that AMBASSADOR KOSH IS ONE OF THE FIRST ONES. Hi, hello plot thread first introduced in THE MOVIE THAT STARTED ALL OF THIS. Oh my god, I wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t ready for this reveal either? And with all<\/i> of the other First Ones dead or gone, that means that this war is gonna be REAL fucked up. Look, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve already seen just how destructive the Shadows can be. What will happen when they come out full force? What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s that<\/i> going to look like?<\/p>\n

Thus, Sheridan is left with a horrible, horrible secret. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s given a real-world parallel in Churchill and the bombing of Coventry in 1940. (Did that actually happen? I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve heard of it before, but I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t recall if all the details are true or if it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been mythologized a bit since the war ended.) Sheridan knows what G\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Kar spoke of, he knows the real stakes, and yet? He can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t tell anyone, even if it means saving people. If they show their hand too early, the Shadows will strike, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll all be over. Billions<\/i> will die.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Oh my god, this show is so HAUNTING. Why are you all doing this to me???<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153In the Shadow of Z\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ha\u00e2\u20ac\u2122dum\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":"