s2e2: Revelations

Becoming a butterfly

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This might be the first purely arc episode the series has done. We’ve had arc-heavy episodes before, but they’ve always had a central plot that was contained to that particular episode. In ‘Revelations’ we have a b-plot with Sheridan’s sister arriving on the station, but everything else is long-term arc stuff. That makes for a thrilling 45 minutes.

It could have all tipped over into being lore-heavy or overly plot-driven and a bit dense. Instead, ‘Revelations’ is light on its feet, with the editing and music being the standouts for me. We zip back and forth between Delenn, Garibaldi Londo and G’Kar’s stories, scenes bleeding into each other. The music is more sophisticated than we’re used to and is tightly composed to what’s happening on screen, serving to tie everything together.

It feels like a fast paced episode, despite the amount of heavy lifting it has to do.

The G’Kar plot is grander than we might have expected. The last we heard, he was headed back to the Narn homeworld to investigate what happened at Quadrant 37 (back in season 1). Here we catch up with him in a fighter ship, accompanied by comrades as they get picked off one-by-one. We don’t recognise the ships, but they certainly seem similar to those big, black crab-like ships that have been doing Londo’s bidding. It’s an action-oriented side of G’Kar we haven’t seen before. He escapes, but is so worried by what he’s discovered that is willing to put aside his grievances with Londo to propose a united front. The scene with the two of them walking the corridors back on Babylon 5 is superb.

G’Kar’s attempts to warn the others fall on deaf ears, and the Narn heavy cruiser is destroyed. We still don’t know what these things are, but G’Kar’s investigation and his research in to Narn history/religious iconography seriously ups the stakes.

Also, I think this is the first time in the series we see inside hyperspace, right? Previously we’ve seen ships going in and out of jumpgates, but never what happens in-between. Talking of VFX: the seemingly 100% virtual bridge of the Narn cruiser is impressive for the time. I don’t think I’ve even noticed it being CG on previous viewings.

That all connects through to the Londo plot, as we see him getting more entangled in Morden’s activities. The awful thing is that London knows he’s being played, somehow, even if he can’t quite see how, but is unable to stop himself. He’s trapped by his on ambitions.

“Why don’t you destroy the entire Narn homeworld while you’re at it?”

“One thing at a time, Ambassador. One thing at a time.”

Love that exchange. So abrupt and chilling. As the audience, we’re screaming at Londo to cut ties with Morden and get the hell out, even though we don’t yet really know what’s going on.

Meanwhile, we learn more about Sheridan’s past and the death of his wife. This wasn’t hinted at in his first episode, and it’s good to get some backstory. We’re getting a more emotional captain here; it’s hard to imagine O’Hare playing these scenes, and I think ‘Revelations’ does an excellent job of further distinguishing Sinclair and Sheridan.

Garibaldi wakes up and his aide is arrested, then immediately is whisked away. The conspiracy, it appears, goes much higher than we might have suspected back in ‘Chrysalis’. That the command staff are already suspecting that the Earth Alliance is compromised, this early in the season, is something that surprised me. I love that Garibaldi is immediately distrusting of Sheridan; and conversely that Sheridan was immediately willing — insistent, in fact — to put his own life on the line to help Franklin treat Garibaldi. That says a lot about the both of them, and it’s interesting that Sheridan doesn’t use it as a bargaining chip to earn Garibaldi’s favour.

And finally, we have Delenn emerging from the chrysalis. No wings, alas, but she does have hair! We don’t yet know what this means, but G’Kar reading The Second Coming while we see Delenn looking at herself in the mirror is decidedly ominous. Again, there’s a confidence to the editing and pacing choices in this episode that makes the whole thing flow.

There’s a remarkable amount of stuff in this episode, and it’s surprising that it holds together at all. The commitment to long-term storytelling seems to have intensified, perhaps due to now being in the second season. I’m surprised by the confidence of the episode, and the seeming ease with which the show has pivoted to a new lead actor and character.

Next up is ‘The Geometry of Shadows’.

‼️ SPOILER STUFF ‼️

Well done to the anonymous Narn fighter pilot who achieves the first official kill of a Shadow vessel in Babylon 5.

Having now seen The Road Home, the recent animated movie, it’s easier to imagine G’Kar and his comrades descending down to planets and directly encountering either Shadows or their minions, and having to run for their lives back to their ships. We only see the tail end of their escape, but you can imagine the terror.

Perhaps the most intriguing part of this episode is how the Sheridan plot with his sister and his wife is actually directly linked to the G’Kar plot, but we don’t know it yet, and there’s no hint within this episode of that being the case. Reminds me of ‘Babylon Squared’, with Epsilon 3 sitting innocently in the background of the shots.

That the Narn warship that G’Kar sends actually goes to Z’ha’dum boggles my mind. I’d forgotten that we learn of the planet and go there right at the start of season 2. It’s likely that Anna Sheridan is on that very planet, even as we hear about her backstory for the first time from Sheridan’s sister.

On top of that we have the first real confirmation that President Clark is dodgy, and Garibaldi makes a link to the Psi Corps. We have a hint of what’s to come for Londo and the Narn — sooner than we might like, too.