Season 2, Episode 3 – The Geometry of Shadows

This is not quite as full of stuff as the previous episode.

Garibaldi is better but he is depressed: he was shot by his own man, his best friend is gone away and he’s not sure of his place anymore.

Lord Refa is visiting Londo. He tells Londo no one can believe all the things that Londo has done lately and tries to get Londo to tell him what is going on. Londo is slippery and tells him nothing. Refa talks about the son of the current emperor dying and leaving a void which he and a group of Centauri mean to fill when the old emperor dies. Londo agrees to join them.

The Drazi begin brawling in the Zocalo. Each one is wearing either a green or a purple sash.

Lord Refa leaves B5 and we see a group of technomages come aboard.

Back to the Drazi – every five years, the Drazi each pick a color out of a barrel, green or purple, and they fight each other for a year. The winner is the ruling group until the cycle is up and they do it again. Sheridan tells Ivanova he wants her to handle the smaller problems onboard, freeing him for larger concerns. He also tells her she has been promoted to Commander. She gets to solve the Drazi problem.

The technomages are making sigils.

Vir is hunting Londo to remind him of an appointment. Londo asks him if he believes in fate. Vir gives him a wonderful speech but Londo presses. Vir says yes, why? Londo mentions that the first emperor had the blessing of 3 technomages and Londo wants their endorsement. He tells Vir to arrange it.

Sheridan goes to see Garibaldi. According to JMS, Garibaldi was suicidal at this point. Sheridan gives him the old Sheridan pep talk and promises he’ll hold his job as long as he can.

Ivanova talks to the Drazi and they explain the simple fact that whoever wins the yearlong conflict wins and the colors really don’t mean anything. Susan moves a sash from one to another and a brawl begins.

Vir visits the technomages – they have a conjured monster guarding their quarters. Vir simply keeps repeating why he’s there. One of the technomages comes out and tells Vir they will not meet with Londo as they are on their way toward the rim. Elric tells Vir this nice quote variation from Tolkien: “Do not try the patience of wizards for they are subtle and quick to anger.”

Ivanova broke her foot in the last brawl and she tells Sheridan that she will fix the Drazi.

Vir gives Londo the Technomage’s answer but Londo wants him to go back again.

Lou Welch tells Garibaldi they want him to come back.

Londo tells Sheridan that he can help with the technomages and Sheridan sets up a meeting.

The Drazi have begun killing one another and Ivanova finds a room full of dead purple Drazi.

At the meeting with the technomages, Elric insists that they do not have to tell Sheridan where they are going. He also says that Londo has been seeking an audience and has video though Londo denies it. Elric blasts Londo’s hidden recording device and Sheridan makes him leave. He asks where they’re going but Elric doesn’t tell him. He asks if Sheridan believes in magic. The Captain says the smell of orange blossoms remind of home and sort of make him believe in magic.

Elric says magic exists in the mind and tells Sheridan they leave to protect their magic and their knowledge from the coming darkness. He places something in Sheridan’s hand as he leaves; it is an orange blossom.

Ivanova tells the Drazi that the killing must stop. The green leader says he has invited the purple Drazi to peace talks and will kill them all when they are assembled. They take her prisoner and Lou welch tells Garibaldi about the peace talks, saying he got a message from Ivanova. Garibaldi asks if he actually talked to her and when Welch says no, Garibaldi knows something is wrong. Garibaldi goes to rescue Ivanova.

Londo tells Vir the technomages are harassing him: Holodemons on his computer have bought useless stocks. Vir says he should apologize to them.

Ivanova grabs a green sash and becomes the leader, something she can do since changes in the rules are bogged down in committee.

Londo apologizes, has 3 demons on his back as he leaves.

Garibaldi takes his old job back.

Sheridan goes to see the technomages off and Elric tells him that Londo is touched by darkness.

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Quotes:

VIR (about fate): "I believe that there are currents in the universe. Eddies and tides that pull us one way or the other. Some we have to fight, some we have to embrace. Unfortunately, the currents that we have to fight look exactly like the currents we have to embrace. The currents that we think are gonna make us stronger they're the ones that are going to destroy us, and the ones we think are going to destroy us they're the ones that are going to make us stronger."

GREEN DRAZI TO IVANOVA: "Green must fight Purple. Purple must fight Green. Is no other way.”

ELRIC TO LONDO: "As I look at you, Ambassador Mollari, I see a great hand reaching out of the stars. The hand is your hand. And I hear sounds of billions of people calling your name...Your victims."

*

Questions:

1. I know that JMS said Garibaldi was suicidal but did he really have reason to be? He’d been saved, his friends were all right, the station was still there and he was offered his job back. Was the betrayal of someone who’d obviously been a plant all along enough reason to shoot himself?
2. Do you think Ivanova’s solution to the Drazi problem was really a solution? Did anything really change? Was this part just a way to insert the insanity of blind patriotism into the plot? Or even blindly following past customs?
3. What did you think of the bolder Vir?
4. Do you think Sinclair would have sent Ivanova to deal with the Drazi?
5. Do you think Refa was offering Londo a large role in the new empire or was he just buttering him up to convince him to join them so they could share in his recent successes?

Sources:
The Lurker’s Guide to Babylon 5 – The Geometry of Shadows: http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/countries/us/guide/025.html
The Babylon Project – The Geometry of Shadows: http://babylon5.wikia.com/wiki/The_Geometry_of_Shadows
Wikiquote – Babylon 5: https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Babylon_5#The_Geometry_of_Shadows