"Born to the Purple" discussion [spoilers]

[ruuger]

This is the discussion post for the episode 1X03, "Born to the Purple". Spoilers for the whole of the series, including the spin-offs and tie-ins, are allowed here so newbies beware.

Extra reading:

The article for "Born to the Purple" at Lurker's Guide.

Comments

[ruuger]

Something that I hadn't thought about before: How long do you think that Londo and Adira had been seeing each other in this episode?

Previously I'd thought that when Londo finds Adira in his quarters, it was because Trakis had send her to him and this was their first night together. On this viewing, however, I got the impression that it was not their first encounter (and Trakis only forced her to steal the files after he'd found out that she was having an affair with Londo).

[selenak.livejournal.com]

First night: no, I don't think so. The way she blows him a kiss from the stage in the teaser looked to me as if they had already been physically intimate at this point. On the other hand, I think Trakis didn't find out, he knew from the start. He asks "how are things going with the ambassador?", not "So, I hear you're seeing the ambassador". IMO he either told Adira outright to start an affair with Londo or he immediately pounced after seeing that Londo was interested, because he probably was after those files - and revenge on the Centauri - from the get-go.

[beatrice_otter]

Trakis might have set her on Londo a long time before the ep starts, but have figured that it takes a while to get close enough to be able to get to the Purple Files. That would give the two of them time to get a acquainted, and also once she fell in love she'd probably have started stalling, which explains why he doesn't buy her excuses (besides her inability to lie) and gives her the mind-probe thingy.