Season 1, Episode 3 – Born to the Purple

I might be one of the only people I know who doesn’t like this episode but I found Londo and Adira rather disturbing, just another old fool making an idiot out of himself for a piece of fluff and this was also the first time we’d met a Centauri woman with her bald head and top knot, which I also found unattractive at the time.

Having said those things, we also learn more about Ivanova, Garibaldi and a little about Talia and her abilities.

The main plot is, of course, Londo and Adira. She is really a slave to a non Centauri, who’d sent her to find Londo’s “purple files” and give them to him so he can sell them to the Narn. The purple files are dirt on important people on Centauri and would break Londo and ruin a lot of lives if they came to light.

The Centauri have always reminded me of the French royal court, with all of their foppishness and intrigue. We do find later that there is also real bite to these at first seemingly silly people. Very real bite.

Negotiations with the Narn are one of the secondary plots though other than arguing a little over concessions, there really aren’t many details about the Euphrates Treaty. We do meet G’kar’s new aid, Ko D’ath, who only appears in this episode and is quite fierce and enthusiastic. She apparently dies before the next episode in ‘an unfortunate airlock incident.’

Londo is so busy courting Adira that he lets Vir represent him in the negotiations, admonishing him not to give away the homeworld. Insulted by this, G’kar allows Ko D’ath to represent him with the same admonition. Adira, under threat from her master, Trakis, steals the data and puts it on a crystal.

Meanwhile, Garibaldi has found someone using Gold channel without authorization and he tell Ivanova, who pointedly ignores him. He doesn’t let it go until he captures the next use, which is Ivanova talking to her estranged father, who tells her he is proud of her though he’d never shown it. Then he apparently dies.

Sinclair is using Talia in the negotiations and she, in the end, helps find Adira when she runs from her master. She is freed after this and as she leaves the station, Londo gives her a family heirloom brooch that he had given to her and that she had returned after she betrayed him by stealing his data.

Some questions to ponder:

1. Though we are not told exactly what it is, what do you think the Euphrates Treaty is?
2. Using telepaths in interplanetary negotiations seems a bit odd to me. What is your take on this?
3. Why do you think Sinclair didn’t send Garibaldi after Adira instead of him and Londo nosing around?
4. Did Londo’s purple files remind you of anything in our society or our history?

Source materials:
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0517634/?ref_=ttep_ep3
B5 wikia: http://babylon5.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page
Lurker’s Guide to ‘Born to the Purple’: http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/countries/us/guide/003.html