{"id":7119,"date":"2018-12-17T13:00:12","date_gmt":"2018-12-17T21:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=7119"},"modified":"2018-12-11T19:07:46","modified_gmt":"2018-12-12T03:07:46","slug":"mark-watches-babylon-5-s03e16-war-without-end-part-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2018\/12\/mark-watches-babylon-5-s03e16-war-without-end-part-one\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Babylon 5’: S03E16 – War Without End, Part One"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the sixteenth episode of the third season of Babylon 5<\/i>, THIS IS TOO MUCH. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Babylon 5<\/i>.<\/p>\n

I just??? Need this show to stop??? Help???<\/p>\n

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

Now, my memory of the events of that episode are decent\u00e2\u20ac\u201dI remembered Zathras and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The One\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and the older version of Sinclair in the blue suit\u00e2\u20ac\u201dso I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d like to say that thus far, this episode appears to address most of the threads left unresolved. Obviously, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s other stuff going on here with Sinclair, with images of the future (!!!!!!), with Delenn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s knowledge of everything, with those damn letters, but STILL. Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, Babylon 4<\/i> was stolen to fight against the Shadows A THOUSAND YEARS AGO, and it was SHERIDAN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S TEAM who orchestrated that theft. Which I feel like more or less confirms what Sinclair\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s role is throughout this??? I think?\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hold on, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll get there. I just need to state that I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t believe this show set up this plot line over two years prior, and is just now<\/i> resolving it. And it comes at such an opportune time, too. It doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t feel random. Instead, in the midst of the growing war with the Shadows, these characters have a chance to deliver a definitive blow against the enemy. Granted, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a thousand years in the past, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still meaningful, and I appreciate the thematic appropriateness of where<\/i> this episode is placed.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sheridan<\/b><\/p>\n

I think the best way for me to talk about this labyrinthine plot is instead to focus on the characters, especially since I still have at least<\/i> another part to go that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll answer many of my questions. (At least I hope so, that is.) I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m fascinated by Sheridan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s role in this because out of all the characters here, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the most ignorant. And Delenn knows this! That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why she asks him to merely trust her; this journey is going to be RIDICULOUS, and she knows that, at least initially, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to have to operate on faith. It ends up being a lot of fun that Sheridan is thrown into this with so little to go on. Well, I think Ivanova is in the same boat in a lot of ways. Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, that recording of her is chilling<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Add on to that the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153answer\u00e2\u20ac\u009d to the mystery of Babylon 4<\/i>: these people are the ones who have to steal it. But given what we saw in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Babylon Squared,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the price is so stark. They know that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to pull all these people away from their families, and they know that the crew members of Babylon 4<\/i> are going to have a FUCKED UP experience. However, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pretty in-line with the nature of this show, which levies huge costs on these characters within the larger narrative. How willing are these people to do things like this if it means victory over the greatest evil? What makes it worth it? When does duty override comfort? It doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t take Sheridan very long to sign on to this absurd plan, even if he doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t understand it all. He trusts Delenn (with his life!!!), and he is certainly the kind of leader willing to go with the flow.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

AND THEN THE FLOW TAKES HIM TO A VERY DARK PLACE. Now, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m accepting that everything we see here\u00e2\u20ac\u201dincluding the recording that Garibaldi got\u00e2\u20ac\u201dis a possible<\/i> timeline. I say that because it appears that Sinclair deliberately thwarted a possible timeline by preventing Garibaldi from being on the destroyed Babylon 5<\/i>. (Which I still don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t understand. Where is that station anywhere in this future?) Even if that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the case, what a BOLD storytelling move, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. Because this episode tells us that our heroes win<\/i> against the Shadows years and years into the future, but that all is not well in the universe because of it. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been \u00e2\u20ac\u0153pushed back,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d which… doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mean destroyed? So they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re still around? Maybe??? Even so, Sheridan, unstuck from time, lands in a future where Londo is emperor of Centauri\u00e2\u20ac\u201das prophesied!!!\u00e2\u20ac\u201dand he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ready to execute Sheridan for not cleaning up the Shadows. Which is a real interesting reaction. Isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t Londo partially responsible for bringing the Shadows back to power??? And now, he cares about the destruction they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve wrought? It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s such a deeply, deeply Londo-esque moment, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it? Londo has the ultimate power in Centauri now, but this<\/i> is what he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s using it for? Spite???<\/p>\n

HELP ME.<\/p>\n

Sinclair<\/b><\/p>\n

Oh, it was so nice to see Sinclair back again, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s astounding to me how much his character has changed over these three season, especially since much of it has happened off-screen. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s now utterly believable as the coy and revered Ranger One, and his work is still spread about the show. Would the Rangers be as strong as they are without him? But for a long time now, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been openly hinted at that Sinclair was destined for something greater. When Sinclair reappears here, you can tell that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not lying when he tells Delenn that his life has purpose now, that his path is clear and certain. What that path is seems rather fucked up. Is he doomed to forever provided the closure to this time loop? We already know from the end of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Babylon Squared\u00e2\u20ac\u009d that Sinclair is the man in the blue suit. So there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something tragic about the notion that this is what he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s destined to do. I could also be wrong about this, but I feel like that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s where this is heading.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Well, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still a vague theory. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something huge I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m missing, I know it, and I imagine this next part is going to provide those missing pieces. Exactly how did Zathras get involved with this, and why did the Babylon 4<\/i> crew believe that Zathras caused this? (I suspect it was just coincidence.) How will Sinclair go back to the beginning? I assume the Babylon 5<\/i> team will succeed, but why is there an alternate future where Ivanova is on the station while it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s attacked by the Shadows? (Actually, I suspect this answer was already given to us: because that would be the Shadows\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s first attack after Babylon 4<\/i> was destroyed.) WHY IS THIS SHOW LIKE THIS.<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153War Without End, Part One\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":"