History Recap / BabylonFiveS04E05TheLongNight

** After getting the poison needle, Londo and Vir have a moment of levity impersonating Cartagia in his last moments until Vir unwittingly reminds Londo that this could go very, ''very'' wrong.

* MeaningfulEcho: G'Kar accuses Londo of having an empty heart early on in the episode, an accusation that Londo does not answer directly. Later on, he speaks to Vir, saying the latter still has ''his'' heart--and it's a good one. In the same conversation, Londo muses that his honor is all ''Londo'' has left, implying that he felt G'Kar was correct in his assessment.

The Narns are still celebrating, trashing the throne room, when G'Kar comes in and demands to know why they're celebrating. They think they drove the Centauri off through strength. One of them, G'Lorn, even wants to make G'Kar their ruler, but he will have none of it.

-->'''Sheridan''': Captain's personal log final entry: We're going into the heart of the fire, one one side the Vorlons, on the other the Shadows, and us in the middle. Whether any of us will come back, I don't know. When I took command of Babylon 5, I found a note on my desk; someone had left it there for me. It was a poem by [[Creator/AlfredLordTennyson Tennyson]]. I still remember the last part of it:\\

* SpannerInTheWorks: A double example, in that each side created one for the other in rapid succession. The plan was originally to have the chains weakened so G'Kar could break them. Unfortunately, Cartagia noticed that the chains looked weak, so he had them replaced. [[{{Badass}} Despite this, G'Kar still broke the chains.]]

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: As G'Kar is marched to his death, fastened to some kind of cross beam restraint, he stumbles, and takes the opportunity to offer comfort to his people.

* MoodWhiplash: After getting the poison needle, Londo and Vir have a moment of levity impersonating Cartagia in his last moments until Vir unwittingly reminds Londo that this could go very, ''very'' wrong.

As G'Kar is marched out, Cartagia speaks ti the assembled Narns telling them to remember what they see him do, for it is the stuff of legends. He then comments to Londo that he ordered G'Kar's chains replaced since they looked weak. As G'Kar stands before him, he lays out a laundry list of crimes G'Kar has been accused of, violence against the Centauri Republic, insurrection, murder, sedition, treason, and others, the penalty for which is death by vivisection. "How do you plead?"

[[ModdWhiplash The humor killed]], Londo says, "It's time."

G'Kar slowly reaches up and, to the astonishment of all present, [[BreakingTheBonds pulls the chains off]] and attacks the guards. Chaos erupts as the Narns and Centauri in the room get into a brawl, and Londo pulls Cartagia into another room. The emperor is [[VillainousBreakdown not happy]], and ranting about how he'll have to [[YouHaveFailedMe have everyone killed]], so loudly the entire palace can probably hear them over the fight. When Londo tries to get him to shut up, Cartagia smacks him, causing him to drop the needle. [[RantInducingSlight Cartagia condemns Londo to burn with Centauri Prime for this slight]] then turns and runs right into Vir, who sticks the needle into Cartagia's chest. He collapses a moment later, still ranting, "I was to be a god, you understand? A god..." A pair of guards come up and Londo tells them the emperor has collapsed and sends them for a doctor.

The humor killed, Londo says, "It's time."

He comes to G'Kar's cell, astonished to see him missing an eye. G'Kar dryly comments that it offended Cartagia. Londo explains what will happen at the execution, his chains have been weakened, Londo's people put in place, guards bribed, but G'Kar must not harm Cartagia, or the Centauri will exact terrible retribution on the Narns. Londo must deal with Cartagia himself.

He advocates rebuilding and getting themselves back on their feet, but G'Lorn is bent on fighting the Centauri again. Disappointed, G'Kar turns to leave, when G'Lorn calls him a coward, asking what he's had to endure while Narn was occupied. G'Kar gives him a hard stare, then walks off laughing to himself.

On Babylon 5, Lennier comes in with reports on Shadow movements, that they're making essentially hit-and-run attacks, escorting their planet-killers in long enough to destroy a world then leaving, but they're not actually engaging each other. Sheridan explains that they have rules of engagement they're abiding by, but he doesn't know what they are. A signal comes in from a ''White Star'' over a planet where the Shadows are using a planet-killer. The Ranger in command, Ericsson, sends a probe down which records the cloud firing thousands of missiles deep into the planet's crust then detonating thermonuclear warheads right in the molten core, which causes the planet to start tearing itself apart from the inside out.

In his office, Sheridan listens to Ericsson's final transmission. The Shadows have taken the bait. Now the die is cast, and he and Delenn head out the truly massive fleet following them out.