Babylon 5 5x17-18

[sholio]

Watch Babylon 5, she said. It will be fun, she said.


How is it that the show can tell you exactly where Londo's storyline is going and then it finally gets there and it's just a knife right in the heart?

That last goodbye with him and G'Kar, especially - he can't tell him anything, he can't tell him why, all he can do is try to minimize the damage he's afraid he's going to do to burn that relationship down in the future (as far as he knows, G'Kar is going to hate him sufficiently to kill him 15 years from now; he STILL DOESN'T KNOW THE DETAILS). And then openly pushing his friends away, because he needs them as alienated as possible so they're not in danger (except they have no idea why he's doing it, just that he's gone completely cold and he's burning down the Centauri's chance of connecting again with the Alliance). And Londo walking alone across the empty courtyard, and that last shot of him alone on the throne (except terribly not alone) - _good god_.

The show straight up tells you it's going to be a tragedy from mid season three and it's still a shot straight to the heart!

I can't really imagine what the last four episodes are going to be - I feel like the show for me wraps up here. I mean, considering that we do know the broad strokes of the details from the flash-forward in season three, I guess I can look up fanfic now without fear of spoilers, at least for the Narn-Centauri set of characters.

(It also rips my heart out that we don't even get the potential of Londo bonding with the other characters in the remaining 15 years we know he lives - he's got to hold them at arm's length for their own safety, and while they'll probably run into each other for political reasons over the years, he's got to play cold whenever he's around them to stop them from finding out what's going on or getting too close. GAAAAAAAAAAAHH. I like to think he'll get some small moments of joy and connection now and then anyway - he's told that his time will mostly be his own when the Drakh don't need him to do something for them - but AUGH.)

Apart from the emotional devastation of it all - I enjoyed Franklin and Lyta's trip to the Drazi homeworld (although what they found wasn't at all what I expected them to find; I still thought they were going to find out about the Drakh and I couldn't believe they didn't! (Although the Shadow tech still being around is interesting.) I'm obviously relieved and delighted the Centauri actually did rescue Delenn. Londo rescuing G'Kar during the bombardment of Centauri Prime was DELIGHTFUL.

And I'm glad I know the full arc of Londo's storyline now. It's devastating and tragic and breaks my heart, and I didn't want it to go there but it went exactly where it needed to go. And now I will be merrily contemplating fixits, because I think I need them to cope ...

Comments

[sovay]

I mean, considering that we do know the broad strokes of the details from the flash-forward in season three, I guess I can look up fanfic now without fear of spoilers, at least for the Narn-Centauri set of characters.

I can finally tell you that your future fic was actually pretty canon-compliant and I prefer to believe in it!

[sgatazmy]

All the fix its please...

[lyr]

I think it's a mark of especially skillful storytelling when you let the audience know the shape of the story early on - even from the beginning - and you can make that knowledge actually work to enhance the narrative arc to make it more powerful. Londo's tragedy is actually worse because you can see all the bricks being painfully laid long after you know there's going to be a wall there. That little voice that says maybe it won't actually be so tragic as it seemed, maybe there's some mitigating factors I didn't see just makes the crushing doom more effective.

Also, I just want to say that I have mad love for the final episode, and I'm looking forward to seeing your take.

[princessofgeeks]

To be honest, I have dropped off commenting because I was warned about season 5 and did not watch it. HUGS.

[selenak]

The Fall of Centauri Prime is one of the best episodes not just of B5 but of tv ever for me, and Londo Mollari has one of the best narrative arcs, full stop. Both individually and together with G'Kar, of course. The scene with him and G'Kar - "my people can never forgive your people - but I can forgive you" - is the best scene ever, full stop. And that's why in my opinion, anyone who says "you can skip the fifth" season is a barbarian.

JMS wrote some short stories after the show finished dealing with individual characters. The worst features Marcus. The best, and the first one he published, is about Londo shortly after The Fall of Centauri Prime, and it actually manages to be hurt/comfort (much hurt, but yes, actual comfort, too), and it deals directly with one of the points you raise. (Won't say which one because it should be read unspoiled.)

BTW: re: the prophecy by Lady Morella in season 2 about Londo's shots at redemption - the ones he missed were, "do not kill the one who is already dead" (Morden) and "save the eye which does not see" (G'Kar's eye), and the last one is what he does in this episode, "Confront your greatest fear". Because what is Londo accepting the horror of the Keeper to save Centauri Prime if not that.