B5 Rewatch: Revelations

Howdy folks! Welcome to Tuesday and another edition of the Babylon 5 rewatch! Today we'll be looking at the second episode of the second season, "Revelations." It looks like we'll finally get to find out what G'Kar's been up to. Sound good? Cool. Onward!

(Spoilers, ho!)

Let Me Sum Up

Sheridan is settling in and trying to get the station back to business as usual. Unfortunately, council meetings are a bit of a wash as Delenn is still in a cocoon and G'Kar is still off investigating the attack on the base in Quadrant 37. Londo is not pleased, but there's not really much anyone can do about it so they decide to try again tomorrow.

G'Kar leads a squad of Narn fighters up against a flight of Shadow ships. When they are destroyed he decides to head back to Babylon 5 to warn everyone else.

Sheridan's sister Elizabeth comes to visit him at his new post. This brings up painful memories of his wife Anna, who died two years ago.

Worried that Garibaldi lingers in his coma after several weeks, Franklin wants to try something unorthodox. He gets Sheridan's permission to try using the alien healing device on the chief of security. He intends to use his own energy, like Rosen did. When it comes down to it though, Sheridan feels like he should be the one giving up his energy. They decide to share the task, trading off to avoid draining either man too much.

G'Kar returns to the station. He tells Na'Toth of what he saw and explains that when he learned of the attack on their base, he knew it was either a new race or an old one. He believes the attack was perpetrated by a very old race indeed. A Darkness last seen over a thousand years ago, once encountered by their religious leader G'Quan. G'Kar says they must warn the others of the return of the Darkness.

Garibaldi wakes up from his coma finally, still trying to stop the assassination of the President. He is less than pleased to learn that the attempt was successful and that he has been out of action for several weeks. The corrupt guard who shot him sidles in to the Medlab to find out if Garibaldi can identify his attacker, but Garibaldi does not know it was him, since the shot came from behind.

Delenn emerges from her cocoon but is suffering from terrible pain. She has Lennier call for Franklin. Franklin finds her covered in some sort of rocky shell, but when he touches it, some flakes off. Delenn is clearly in agony, and wondering what exactly she has become. Franklin does his best to help her.

G'Kar calls a council meeting to warn them of the shadows, but Sheridan doesn't know what they're supposed to do about it. He is not so sure that the attackers are this ancient enemy G'Kar is convinced they are. Especially without any sort of confirmation from the Narn homeworld. He thinks maybe some new race has just colonized their old world. G'Kar is adamant, saying he is willing to provide proof. Despite their misgivings, he has convinced his government to send a ship to the far edge of the Rim to a world known as Z'ha'dum. They are to scan the planet for signs of life. If any are found, G'Kar fears that all of their races stand on the edge of extinction.

This catches Londo's attention, as he had been asked by Morden to inform him any time he heard about goings on in the Rim. Londo tells Morden of the expedition. Morden is noticeably unsettled by the news and asks when the ship is scheduled to arrive. Londo tells him.

Garibaldi enlists Talia to scan his memories of his attack to try to find out who shot him. She is hesitant but a deep scan shows that Garibaldi caught sight of his attacker's face in a reflection. With this information they are able to arrest the shady guard. He tells Garibaldi that there is a new order coming in to power on Earth and he's decided to join up with the side that's going to win. When Garibaldi asks if he means Home Guard, the man scoffs and calls them amateurs. Later Sheridan gets a call from the President who says he wants to personally oversee the investigation into a possible conspiracy to murder his predecessor. He orders the suspect sent to Earth on the next prison transport and all documentation regarding the matter sent to him as well.

The Narn ship arrives at Z'ha'dum only to be met by a shadow ship and destroyed upon arrival. Officially it is deemed as a malfunction on the ship. G'Kar knows better, citing the fact that just after the ship's exit from hyperspace it would have been out of contact with the rest of the Narn. If it had been attacked during that period, there would have been no way for them to report back that they were indeed under attack. Of course, he realizes that could only have been possible if the shadows knew that the Narn ship was coming. The only people who knew about the ship's arrival were the Council. Sheridan bristles at the implication.

Lennier breaks up the tension by arriving that moment and asking to address the Council. He announces that Delenn has returned and is requesting to retake her seat on the Council. Sheridan eagerly agrees and Delenn enters the room, hooded. She removes the hood and is revealed to have changed. She now looks to be a cross between Minbari and human.

She explains that Sinclair has been allowed to live on her world to create a greater understanding between their two races. To that end, she has undergone her change to become a bridge between the two races so that they can avoid any future conflicts like the Earth-Minbari war.

Garibaldi reveals to Ivanova and Franklin that something his attacker said made him think that Psi Corps was behind Santiago's murder. While they are forbidden from putting forth any of their members for public office, they did endorse Clark for the Vice Presidency. Which means there is now a Psi Corps sympathizer in the President's office, when all signs point to the telepaths doing a lot of behind the scenes maneuvering for a power grab.

Furthering the bad news, Ivanova discovers that during transport, Garibaldi's attacker managed to escape, along with all of the evidence about the incident. She tried to inform President Clark, but he is not taking any calls and she can't get through. Sheridan seems annoyed but not too surprised.

Commentary

Heh. Londo is pissed that Delenn and G'Kar are missing.

"Ambassador Delenn remains indisposed." (Lennier)
"Indisposed! She's in a cocoon!" (Londo)
"Yes?" (Lennier)

Oh, Lennier my dear. Hah. Upside to Delenn's situation = more Lennier.

Na'Toth just stares. I love her. Dude. You're looking to Kosh for help? That's just funny.

Oh. They got a new actress to be Na'Toth didn't they? Boo. Her voice doesn't have quite the same presence.

Oh, looks like things aren't all that rosy where G'Kar is. Fighting Shadow ships by the look of it. Looks like he's going home now though.

Heh. I was looking at the credits and seeing all those women with the last name Sheridan and wondering just how many ex-wives this dude has. But one of them is his sister, not an ex.

Oh, hey, look at that. Franklin's bringing that alien healing device into play. He wants to use it on Garibaldi. Interesting.

Sheridan is really all about food, isn't he? I mean, he is really excited about the food on the station.

Ah. Morden. Lovely. Oh good lord Londo. Don't go giving him any ideas! The entire Narn homeworld indeed.

Well. At least Londo knows he's made a shady deal.

I know that we need to play catch-up with Sheridan and all, but the second episode he's in might be a bit early for heavy emotional revelations, huh?

Sheridan wants to give up his energy for Garibaldi, huh? So he's that kind of commanding officer.

"Weep for the future, Na'Toth. Weep for us all." (G'Kar)

This is where we start to kick off (or at least learn about) G'Kar's faithful side. G'Quan spoke of the shadows, and G'Kar believes they are responsible for the destruction of the Narn base. He knows they mean danger for more than just the Narn though.

Looks like something's happening with Delenn.

Oh, and Garibaldi's awake too, awesome! Oh, it's shady guard-dude! He doesn't look too happy. Oh poor Garibaldi, he is so out of the loop.

Um, what exactly does shady guard dude think he'll accomplish if he shoots someone right now? In a room full of all of the ranking officers, all of whom he cannot kill at once. Hmm. That's right, walk away.

Oh, the beginning of the G'Kar/Londo bromance! The temporary peace that leads to an eventual friendship (if a rocky one).

Delenn's out of her cocoon! Well, looks like the band is getting back together all at once, huh? Huh. Apparently she stayed in the mud bath for too long. That's not gonna be fun to wash off.

Exposition!

Man, Sheridan does like to pile on the self-guilt, doesn't he?

Look at that little light bulb go on over Londo's head at the mention of the Rim. Yeah, you know what power G'Kar's talking about, don't you Londo? You just don't want to believe it.

Oh, Garibaldi is asking Talia for help identifying his attacker. Interesting. I think she's even more uncomfortable with the scan than he is. Well. That was a convenient reflection.

Delenn has wings? Well, that's one way to get a guy out of his office.

Oh lordy. Garibaldi has to confront the dude in person. Sigh. Wow. This interrogation scene is oddly lit and framed.

A new order on Earth, huh? That doesn't sound good.

Spacing. As an official form of execution. That's just. Damn.

Is Earth still trying to deny that Santiago was murdered? Oh you know the new President is dirty. Wants the prisoner relocated AND all of the documentation? Yeah, that's not suspicious. Not at all.

Alright Sheridan, this is your first "What would Sinclair do?" moment.

Lennier, your timing is impeccable.

Aw, look at Sheridan falling in love at first sight.

You know, I love that Sheridan is just so darn excited about his job.

Oh, and a message from his dead wife. Well, that alleviates some of his guilt, hopefully. Well this is good. He gets a little bit of closure with Anna so he can begin the process of wooing Delenn.

Psi Corps endorsed President Clark for the Vice Presidency? That is intriguing news indeed. Also disturbing. Huzzah for long-ranging story arcs!

Delenn is fascinated by her new look. I don't really understand that whole misdirect with her rocky shell. Was it just to throw us off from what she had really turned into? It seems kind of random. Especially considering she's so calm and collected about her transformation when she finally reveals it to everyone else. I can't remember if that comes back into play later on or not.

Is anyone surprised that the prisoner got away? With all of the evidence? Anyone? Sigh. Don't these people keep backup files? I don't care if it was the President asking, there is no way that in a space-faring age only one copy of that kind of information exists. That's just stupid, also known as a clumsy plot device.

I hope there will be further development on that front. That seems like a strange thing to leave as a loose end, especially for this show.

I guess we'll see, eh?
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That wraps up another week of the rewatch! Thanks for joining me! I hope to see you back here again on Monday for the next episode, "The Geometry of Shadows." Ooh, I like that title.