"War without End" discussion

[ruuger]

This is the discussion post for the episodes 3X16 and 3x17 "War Without End, Parts 1 & 2". Spoilers for the whole of the series, including the spin-offs and tie-ins, are allowed here so newbies beware.

Summary:
Sinclair, Delenn and Sheridan travel back in time to rescue Babylon 4.

Extra reading:
The article for "War Without End", Part 1 and Part 2 at Lurker's Guide.

Comments

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Like everyone else here, I love War Without End to bits. Must attempt to be analytical nonetheless. So:

I'll never forget the jawdropping effect the three big revelations had on me the first time around - Sinclair being Valen, Londo and the Keeper, and the true reason for Londo and G'Kar killing each other. It says something about the quality of the two parter that despite being a Centauriphile, the Valen issue still completely caught my attention. Actually, even without that, I think this is Michael O'Hare's best performance as Sinclair on the show. He's relaxed and at peace with himself in a way he wasn't before - which fits with what happens to the charcter, of course - and there is both sadness and grace in all his scenes, along with some wry humour in his interactions with Sheridan. (Who comes across as remarkably boyish and young by comparison.) Also: the fact Sinclair is literally Valen, not a reincarnation but the same person in the flesh, makes the whole soul sharing business and the Minbari instruments responding to him nicely ambigious.

Speaking of sadness: "Goodybe, Michael." I really feel for Garibaldi there, every time.

Marcus & Ivanova are cute together, and the Sheridan/Delenn stuff is an original way to tease and avoid the "first kiss" cliché, but seriously, neither has a chance to compete in my viewing attention with Old Londo, the Keeper and G'Kar. One of the big, big reasons why one should see this show unspoiled is that Londo referring to G'Kar as his friend, sincerely, not sarcastically, really sends your head spinning. (As does the fact G'Kar kills Londo upon Londo's own request.) Until this moment, viewers expect Londo's death dream to play out, if it does, in the way present day Londo does too, as Londo and G'Kar coming to the end of their feud in a lethal way. Yes, G'Kar had an epiphany this season, but let's not forget that the previous episode just re-confirmed Londo's alliance with the Shadows. So "friend" is a biggie and of course what I wanted to see most from this point onwards in every subsequent episode was how they get there. I love this show.

Londo's death dream, familiar to the viewers since three seasons, recontextualized: best twist on a prophecy in sci fi, yes/yes?

The Keeper revelation was gutwrenching the first time and is gut wrenching still. One of the darkest fates given to a character. And yet, the reason why Londo's arc is so good is that he did his share to bring it about, and his tragedy is also part of his redemption.

Great as the whole space suit swapping in order to make everything fit with Babylon Squared is, the one point where my suspension of disbelief breaks down is when The One In A Space Suit touches s1 Sinclair, and the two get thrown apart. This was obviously meant as the result of the same person in two different timelines touching, and makes no sense if it's simply Delenn in a suit touching s3 Sinclair.

Delenn's flash forward to spending the night with Sheridan: made it pretty obvious the female person entering had to be Anna, but that's okay.

In conclusion: Awesome two parter is awesome. And nobody listens to Zathras.

[lizbee.livejournal.com]

Delenn's flash forward to spending the night with Sheridan: made it pretty obvious the female person entering had to be Anna, but that's okay.

The anticipation of the inevitable is just as good as the surprise.

I recently came across an episode reaction from a person who was totally unspoiled, and she not only guessed it was Anna, but recognised Melissa Gilbert from one word. Since I had literally never heard of Gilbert before B5, I was deeply impressed.

[nolivingman.livejournal.com]

I recognized her voice, too. I spent a not-insubstantial part of my childhood watching her play Laura Ingalls.

[lizbee.livejournal.com]

See, it was news to me that the Little House books had even been adapted for television. But I grew up under a rock.

[phoenix-silaqui.livejournal.com]

I definitely remember both recognizing the voice and realizing that she was married to Bruce and going, "wouldn't it be interesting if..." all those years ago and having the rest of fandom look at me like I had 3 heads.

It was fun being right :D