Another important thing I saw was the gift Ivanova gives to Sheridan, for Christmas, a piece of the Black Star, a Minbari ship Sheridan destroyed. Especially the reason behind it: Because it was said that it was impossible to destroy a Black Star, but Sheridan proved that even the impossible can become possible. Especially with what is ahead of them, it is good to know that nothing is impossible. Another important thing to remember is what Sheridan says about his uniform, it used to make him proud, now, to him, it is nothing more than a piece of cloth. Another sign Sheridan feels betrayed by the Earth alliance.

For Sheridan and Ivanova this certainly sounds as good news, Earth is finally going to take a stand in the war between the Narn and Centauri and even G’Kar is hopeful Earth finally is going to take a stand against the Centauri aggression. Lt. Keffer learns that someone from another squadron has also seen that Shadow vessel. He gets the data crystal which should alert the ship when a Shadow vessel is nearby.

Mr. Welles of the Night Watch visits Ivanova and promises her a fast(er) promotion in exchange for some valuable information she is privy to. Ivanova sees right through his request and shows him the door. What Ivanova says: this is very worrisome, it feels wrong. Yet Welles doesn’t see it that way. It becomes even more visible when we see a Night Watch meeting where Zack Allan is also present. My alarm bells go off when we learn that personal reports, things like the wrong opinions towards the government, is something that should be reported. When Welles asks Zack why he had nothing to report, you see Zack is startled! He thought to earn a few extra credits wearing the black Night Watch band around his arm, not realizing he was supposed to report such trivial things like another opinion or dock workers arriving too late at their jobs. You see how uncomfortable he becomes, he realizes this is not what he signed up for, yet he doesn’t quit at that point, even after he sees the result later when a shop owner is being taken away by security and labelling his store it’s closed because of sedition by the owner, he stays on with the Night Watch. Jeff Conaway shows his acting talents in this scene, such a strong performance showing his uncomfortableness.

Frederick Lantz has gotten different instructions, instead of choosing the side of the Narn on this matter, Lantz and the Centauri sign a Non-Aggression pact. For Sheridan and Ivanova this is unexpected, they are flabbergasted when Lantz reasons this decision as: We finally will have peace in our lifetime. Because of the Night Watch it comes to Welles and Lantz’s attention that Sheridan is harboring a Narn Heavy Cruiser. Londo has also become aware of this fact that a Narn heavy cruiser is in Babylon 5 space and sends a Centauri war cruiser to Babylon 5. Because the deal is not yet official, Sheridan is in his rights to help the Narn Cruiser and it helps that the Centauri war cruiser fires first, not only on the Narn cruiser, but also on Babylon 5. Keffer’s squadron successfully gets the Narn cruiser to through the jump gate as the Centauri cruiser blows up. Keffer gets a notice from his ship that a Shadow vessel is in the Neighborhood and decides to investigate, he sees the ship, records it and sends the recording back to B5 before getting destroyed by the Shadow vessel.

Sheridan is cleared for any wrong doing, yet Earth feels he has to apologize in public for how he handled it, keeping the Narn Cruiser a secret, so that another solution became impossible. Sheridan is on his way to Hydroponics where the ambassadors are waiting for him, yet he notices a Centauri leaving the public shuttle and leaving behind a bomb. He decides to jump out of the shuttle before it explodes. Everyone looks up, seeing the explosion and Sheridan hanging in mid-air. He will die on impact and so Delenn urges Kosh to act, because they both feel Sheridan is an important part of the upcoming battle with the Shadows. So, he exits from his encounter suit. Every race there sees Kosh emerging as a glowing angel, but each race sees it according to their own beliefs, so they all see something different, yet the same. Kosh catches the falling Sheridan and puts him safe on the ground. The whole station is talking about it, everybody saw something, accept for Londo Mollari, he saw nothing.

Ivanova lets Sheridan know Lt. Keffer did not return from the mission, we see Mollari angrily address the council while they annex more regions from the League of Non-aligned Worls. ISN shows the footage of the Shadow vessel destroying Lt. Keffer’s Starfury. According to the ISN reporter Earth doesn’t know anything about this vessel but promises to find out.

Final Word:

Before watching this episode, I wasn’t sure I was going to write a blog about it, but after finishing it, I still decided to do it. This episode sets up many things, like the insidious Night Watch, the coming war with the shadows, the revealing of Kosh, what he means to many worlds and it also means Sheridan has a vital part to play in this coming war with the Shadows. It actually is the start of two upcoming wars, the one with the Shadows and one with Earth, of which the Night Watch is an integral part of.