"The Fall of Centauri Prime" discussion

[ruuger]

This is the discussion post for the episode 5x18, "The Fall of Centauri Prime". Spoilers for the whole of the series, including the spin-offs and tie-ins, are allowed here so newbies beware.

Summary:
Alliance ships bomb Centauri Prime, and Londo accepts a Drakh keeper and becomes the Emperor to protect his people.

Extra reading:
The article for "The Fall of Centauri Prime" at The Lurker's Guide.

Comments

[selenak.livejournal.com]

It feels slightly odd to have Sheridan on Centauri Prime to me – we’ve discussed many times how the Centauri plots don’t really interact with the Sheridan plot during the Shadow War; the Centauri Court always feels like a different narrative space to the station or anything associated with it. It’s a little disconcerting to have them directly interacting for once.

Oh, that's true! The only other occasion are the flash forwards in War without End, and to say time-travelling Sheridan is out of his depth there is putting it mildly. (No fault of his own on that occasion, of course.) It really does feel as if a character from Lord of the Rings suddenly shows up in I, Claudius, doesn't it? Two very different types of narrative.

Someone brought up Churchill in a comment to the last episode; it occurs to me that with JMS' beloved WWII parallels (specifically Churchill-Sheridan in In the Shadow of Z'ha'dum), he could have gone the whole way and let Sheridan be voted out of power as soon as possible after that season 5 demonstration, whereupon Sheridan retires with Delenn to Minbar as a private citizen, but I guess he was too much in love with the king archetype (as opposed to the Cincinnatus one). (Not, err, that Churchill was Cincinnatus, either. For from it.)

Well spotted about the Vorlon-telepaths, Drakh-pods & Centauri parallel. Yes, uneven, but at least there is a kind of symmetry.

Centauri ships: my favourite thing about them is that they're purple. Only the Centauri could carry that off in style. In purple, they are stunning.:)

[widsidh.livejournal.com]

let Sheridan be voted out of power as soon as possible after that season 5 demonstration, whereupon Sheridan retires with Delenn to Minbar as a private citizen.

not that Churchill did that ;-)

BTW, while watching Londo being takenby the Keeper, I think I suddenly realized the point of Exogenesis - it was to get us used to the idea of species which merge with others. It makes the Keepers less unusual, and in a horrible way, more believable.

Other than that there is probably nothing to add to what has already been said. I shall join the general sob-fest...

[4thofeleven.livejournal.com]

Honestly, it seems like heroes in science fiction and fantasy never get a nice, quiet retirement...