{"id":7073,"date":"2018-11-20T13:00:13","date_gmt":"2018-11-20T21:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=7073"},"modified":"2018-11-07T13:51:38","modified_gmt":"2018-11-07T21:51:38","slug":"mark-watches-babylon-5-s02e20-the-long-twilight-struggle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2018\/11\/mark-watches-babylon-5-s02e20-the-long-twilight-struggle\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Babylon 5’: S02E20 – The Long, Twilight Struggle"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the twentieth episode of the second season of Babylon 5<\/i>, I HURT EVEN MORE THAN THE LAST TIME. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Babylon 5<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Trigger Warning: For extensive discussion of terrorism, warfare, colonialism, and occupation, .<\/b><\/p>\n

You know, there is a light at the end of the darkness.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s there, in the scene Draal hinted at when he said that Delenn needed to introduce Sheridan to the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153others.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m glad that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s at the end of the episode that we learn the full extent of the Rangers and that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve brought Sheridan into the fold. That pledge to fight against darkness is necessary, because otherwise, this is somehow the darkest episode yet. Which I realize is risky to say because every time I point out how grim this show has gotten, IT GETS WORSE. And I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m fully expecting it to get worse, now that the Shadows have helped the Centauri occupy Narn.<\/p>\n

Seriously, though, this episode has a largely bleak ending, one that is both shocking and utterly heartbreaking. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s largely due to the sense of inevitability in the story: as we watch it unfold, we see the trap set into place. We despair as G\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Kar is ignored\u00e2\u20ac\u201dyet again, I might add, which only heightens the tragedy\u00e2\u20ac\u201dand the Narn are decimated by the Shadows. We witness the briefest flash of reluctance in Londo, which he immediately says is not<\/i> reluctance, and the hope that he might stop this nightmare from unfolding is destroyed.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not surprising in hindsight that this war was so quick and so brutal. It was orchestrated that way, and with the Centauri allied to the Shadows, it was always<\/i> going to be a rapid thing. The coming darkness that Delenn speaks of us is all the confirmation I need that this was merely a precursor to a greater presence for the Shadows. Still, I had some faith, however minuscule it was, that the Narn would find some way to prolong the war, to outlast the Centauri as they had done before, to prevent this all from happening. But the reality is that they were always at a disadvantage. The Centauri had better weapons. The Shadows. A populace of governments in Earth and the Non-Aligned Worlds who were all reluctant to stand up to them for fear of violating their own diplomatic efforts. The show hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t been subtle about that, nor has it ignored the small and large ways in which other communities were complicit in the spread of this menace.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Still, at the end of the day, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Long, Twilight Struggle\u00e2\u20ac\u009d exhibits the gleeful lengths the Centauri were willing to go to achieve victory, to dominate another culture completely. And perhaps that is why Londo behaves as he does during the council meeting after the Narn have surrendered: He feels so guilty over the extreme and vicious slaughter of the Narn that he lashes out at all the wrong people. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s easier that way, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it? He doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have to blame himself if he can puff himself up with bravado and ire, as if his government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s demands are anything but utterly barbaric. In this, JMS and the rest of the writing staff capture the truly heinous edge to dictatorships and empires, and I think that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why this episode hit me so goddamn hard. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve lived under and within an empire my entire life. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve watched governments around the world perpetuate some of the most vile shit one could ever imagine, and so, so much worse. And I know that for a while, most of them get away with it.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And the Centauri are getting away with it. They broke protocol to use mass drivers to obliterate a planet, to destroy it to such a degree that not only did the Narn have to surrender, but they couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t use it. As Lord Refa puts it, the Centauri can now move in at their leisure. Because who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to want to live on a planet so vastly eviscerated? But the part of this episode that kills me more than anything else is the terms. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hard to think about them because they reveal the true purpose of the Centauri: to subjugate another race. Which isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t a new revelation! But it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s spelled out so horrifically, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. The Narn can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t represent themselves; their lives are worth one five-hundredth of the life of a Centauri in the most literal terms; they will be \u00e2\u20ac\u0153re-civilized,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d which is terrorist code for any number of oppressive institutions.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Narn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s defense of themselves is also painted as terrorism. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s such an insidious little thing, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it? These people USED MASS DRIVERS TO BOMB A PLANET. How are the Narn<\/i> the terrorists? How can Londo utter these words when he knows that he called upon the Shadows to execute so very many people? He wears a mask of rage and supremacy during those council scenes, but I know there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a disgust buried deep in there. This man knows what he did to get where he wanted. Was it worth it? Can he do penance for his crimes?<\/p>\n

At this point, frankly speaking: I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t care. I really don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t care about his redemption because this is too raw, too real, too gut-wrenching. G\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Kar feels, at times, like a shell of his former self. And how can he not<\/i> be? He knows most of his friends and family have been murdered, and after just a few decades free of Centauri rule, they appear to be right back where they started.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Still, I found a comfort in G\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Kar\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s words to Londo, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what I want to end this review on. Those in power who harm and abuse often believe they are invulnerable and invincible, but G\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Kar\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s words remind me and remind Londo that resistances always form, always persist, and in the case of history, the Narn will just teach the same lessons of independence and sovereignty all over again.<\/p>\n

No matter the cost.<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Long, Twilight Struggle\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":"