Another of 1000 reasons why I love those scenes is that Londo is aware how easy it is to fall back to verbal sparring mode with G'Kar, and how he consciously tries to avoid that in order to have a real conversation with him - and G'Kar, while for the most part blocking and stonewalling, makes one genuine reply that "very long year" before landing his masterblow by pouring the drink back. It hurts each time, and yet of course G'Kar is acting completely understandable from his pov. Easy acceptance of Londo's offer would be wrong.
Yet why does he, in the end, sign and drink before the episode is over? There is the greater good reason, of course - Londo is right about the symbolic power of throwing their support behind Sheridan together - but there is also that G'Kar's first post-Centauri Prime solution - "you don't exist in my universe" (Epiphanies) - is not going to work. Not least because Londo, who always has trouble with the word "no", won't let it, but also because Londo is right re: their comet-status. They can't ignore each other or pretend the other doesn't exist, and they've done the enemies thing already. Neither of them, not even Londo at this point, would actually call the alternative "friendship", and much as Londo isn't ready to apologize yet, G'Kar is far from ready to forgive him, but that drink is also the acknowledgment that they can move on from the past and that they get each other on a level where no others do.
...err, was there something else happening in this episode?
II
Yet why does he, in the end, sign and drink before the episode is over? There is the greater good reason, of course - Londo is right about the symbolic power of throwing their support behind Sheridan together - but there is also that G'Kar's first post-Centauri Prime solution - "you don't exist in my universe" (Epiphanies) - is not going to work. Not least because Londo, who always has trouble with the word "no", won't let it, but also because Londo is right re: their comet-status. They can't ignore each other or pretend the other doesn't exist, and they've done the enemies thing already. Neither of them, not even Londo at this point, would actually call the alternative "friendship", and much as Londo isn't ready to apologize yet, G'Kar is far from ready to forgive him, but that drink is also the acknowledgment that they can move on from the past and that they get each other on a level where no others do.
...err, was there something else happening in this episode?