Delenn is in chambers speaking with the League. Now that they know where the Shadows are going to strike, they need a fleet, as many ships as they can, but the League are being as stubborn and thick-skulled as ever. Delenn asks them to trust her, since they have kept every promise so far, or leave. None of them do. For their part, the Minbari promise as many warcruisers as possible and some additional forces as well.
Meanwhile, Sheridan gives Ivanova and Marcus a rundown on the situation, and then dispatches them to watch the target area in the White Star. They are to stay out of sight and not engage, but even then there’s probably a 50-50 chance they’ll come home.
Delenn returns to chambers to find the Drazi ambassador waiting for her. On behalf of the League, he promises all the ships thy can spare.
The White Star heads off, Garibaldi's starting to worry about Stephen, and Stephen himself is still in Downbelow, virtually indistinguishable from any of the Lurkers.
Then next day, Ivanova comes to wake Marcus for his shift and they talk for a bit about the Rangers and their training, and how he became fluent in Minbari. He then speaks in Minbari, “You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met.” When she asks what it meant, he just says it’s a Minbari greeting, “My words are inadequate to the burden of my heart.” Ivanova is a bit bemused by this. Marcus heads off, but Ivanova has to figure out the slanted beds so she can sleep.
Delenn brings the figures to Sheridan. The League is still holding back, but it’ll have to do. He also has concerns about both of them being in harm’s way along with Ivanova, nearly their entire leadership. Delenn assuages his worrying and then promises that when they come back they will spend the night together. She explains that Minbari have a ritual for when a couple becomes close, the female will watch the male as he sleeps to see what his true face is like. If she likes what she sees…Delenn promises to tell him after they make history.
Stephen, wandering around some dark corner, is drawn by noise to a pair of thugs beating someone up, but when he tries to break it up, one of them stabs him in the stomach. The thugs run off, and the victim does as well since he was dealing and doesn’t want to get arrested. Franklin is left alone and in pain.
Ivanova has just figured out how to get some sleep, piling pillows on the floor, when Marcus calls her to the bridge. A Shadow scout ship has arrived…just as the White Star drifts into the light. The scout turns tail and runs and the White Star gives chase to prevent it from sending any signals. On their flagship, Sheridan and Delenn go over their preparations one more time before she takes him to their tactical center.
Stephen is calling for help when he suddenly hears a voice. He looks up and sees…himself. His duplicate jumps down and looks him in the eye. “You said you had to keep walking until you met yourself, well here I am. So, if we’re going to talk, let’s talk, because I don’t think you have a lot of time.”
The White Star manages to destroy the scout, but takes damage in the process. They don’t have any time to think about it as a lot of Shadow ships suddenly materialize in front of them. Ivanova orders the signal sent.
As the fleet moves in, Stephen is still being confronted by the other Franklin who begins outlining his flaws, particularly the fact that he’s always run away. Left home to get away from dad, started hitchhiking on starships rather than do an internship, burning his notes on the Minbari rather than turn them over to Earthforce.
- Franklin: You use work to run away from your personal life, and stims to run away from your work. And right now, you are running away from everything.
Franklin demands Stephen start taking responsibility, while at the same time mocking him for his situation.
As the fleet jumps in, Sheridan orders the telepaths to begin jamming the Shadows and arranges the ships into formation as they begin the battle.
Franklin continues needling Stephen, mockingly outlining the symptoms he’ll be feeling leading up to death. Of course Stephen wasn’t that happy with his life anyway so it won’t matter much. He eventually irritates Stephen to the point that he starts dragging himself away. Franklin seems to sense some resolve in him and begins to urge him on.
- Franklin: Then get up off the damn floor! I don’t care how much it hurts. Don’t you go passing out in me, because that’s just another kind of running away. Now you take some responsibility! Show me that you want it! Get up off the damn floor!
The White Star finally gets engines back and flies into combat. All around them a massive battle rages.
Stephen stumbles along the halls as the Army of Light manages to destroy a number of Shadow ships, but many of their own ships are destroyed in return.
Stephen finally manages to get to a public area, calling for help. Just as he collapses the Shadows are driven into retreat. Together in the tactical center, Sheridan and Delenn hold each other as they survey the devastation around them.
Stephen is rushed to Medlab, still delirious as he sees the faces of his friends. Sheridan and Delenn arrive back on station but have already heard about Stephen. He’s lost a lot of blood but he’s stable. The battle met its objective, but it cost a lot. And it was the first time they brought the League together as a cohesive force. Garibaldi asks the question no one wants to consider:
- Garibaldi: Now that we’ve shown them we can hurt them, how long until they come knocking on our front door?
Sheridan: That’s what worries me.
The day after, Garibaldi is waiting for Stephen to wake up.
- Garibaldi: So, how do you feel?
Stephen: Like I was stabbed in the back and left to die. How the hell should I feel?
Garibaldi: Well he’s back to normal, as grouchy as ever.
When asked what he found, Stephen replies that he found out he didn’t like himself. Garibaldi figures there are worse revelations to get. As Garibaldi leaves, Stephen notices the flurry of activity.
In hyperspace a Shadow ship launches a small craft.
Back on station, Sheridan, Delenn and Ivanova discuss what the Shadows will likely do next. Ivanova brings up the possibility that they’re deliberately leaving them alone, but that begs the question why?
Sheridan suddenly starts remembering the dream he had over a year ago and tells them about it; how he saw himself wearing a Psi Cop uniform, and they are now working with Bester, he saw Garibaldi saying, “The man in between is searching for you,” and then Ivanova saying “You are the hand.” Delenn thinks this refers to Sheridan’s equal and opposite, who is sure to know who they are now, a reality that Sheridan is more is concerned with.
Despite not being fully recovered, Stephen is acting as head of Medlab again, and ordering his people around. Sheridan comes by to offer his job back, and Stephen agrees. He admits that resigning was just running away, and now he’s ready to appreciate the moment and define what he is.
Sheridan then gets a call that Delenn awaits his pleasure.
As Sheridan and Delenn begin their ritual, someone checks in on the station and a few minutes later appears at his quarters. A red-haired woman comes in and introduces herself as Anna Sheridan, John's wife.
This episode contains examples of:
- The Alliance: For the first time, a majority of the League of Non-Aligned Worlds joins with Babylon Five's forces and the Minbari (and the G'Tok) to fight in combination against the Shadows.
- Beautiful Dreamer: Delenn tells Sheridan after they return from the battle they will spend the night together, he will sleep and she will watch until his true face is revealed.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Franklin is on Walkabout. The idea being to get away from it all until he sees a vision to give him guidance (or at least to help him sort things out for himself). He sees a vision of himself. A vision who has no reservations against unloading on Franklin the same way he would on anyone else. The vision even lampshades this trope.
- Bizarre Alien Biology: One Minbari blood type is R-.
- Call-Back:
- Sheridan tells Delenn and Ivanova about the dream Kosh made him have and they discuss possible meanings.
- The final shot in the episode was foreshadowed in a timeflash.
- Ivanova also has trouble with the Minbari beds.
- Franklin was using the stims to run away from work.
- Chronic Hero Syndrome: One of Franklin's flaws that nearly gets him killed here. His other self lampshades it.Other!Franklin: You always have to be the hero.
- Continuity Nod:
- There's also a reference to an old Egyptian blessing.
- The shot where Franklin staggers into the Zocalo injured evokes a similar shot from "Chrysalis".
- Cue Card Pause: One element of the Minbari courting ritual is that the man may insist on a second chance if the woman doesn't like the "true face" he shows when he sleeps. Delenn explains that if the woman still rejects him, she can "leave when he falls asleep, file a complaint with the Elders, even cut off his..." Sheridan looks horrified as Delenn stumbles a moment trying to find the right word, until she continues, "...access to her family".
- Delirious Misidentification: As Stephen is rushed to Medlab, he sees his friends' faces in the people transporting him.
- Dramatic Drop: Delenn is playing with a snow globe in Sheridan's quarters when Anna's entrance causes her to lose her grip on it. It falls to the floor and shatters.
- Flying Saucer: The Vree Xill-class saucer reveals its antimatter weapon in the battle against the Shadows. The Vree will contribute their ships to every major engagement the Army of Light participates in from now on.
- Foreshadowing: The countdown begun in the previous episode continues into this one, starting at "Z Minus 7 Days" this episode.
- Injured Self-Drag: Stephen Franklin's Journey to Find Oneself ends when he tries to intervene in a mugging and gets stabbed in the stomach. After lying in pain for a while, he starts seeing a Helpful Hallucination of himself that starts outlining all his flaws, especially running away from all his problems. Stephen eventually gets so irritated he starts dragging himself to where someone can find him, his alternate self egging him on.
- Hallucination: Then get up off the damn floor! I don't care how much it hurts. Don't you go passing out on me, because that's just another kind of running away. Now you take some responsibility! Show me that you want it! Get up off the damn floor!
- Longing Look: Delenn seems to be in the middle of one when Anna shows up.
- Near-Death Experience: Franklin's experience after being stabbed.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Franklin intervenes to save a man from being killed, and is stabbed for his troubles. The man he saves? Apologizes and leaves him to die.
- Now What?: Garibaldi and Ivanova point out to Delenn and Sheridna that now that the Shadows had been beaten in a major engagement, they're sure to strike back.
- Oh, Crap!: Ivanova and Marcus' faces scream this, when they realize that they're going to be exposed to the Shadow scout.
- Other Me Annoys Me: Franklin went on Walkabout in order to "meet himself". After his vision/hallucination of himself gives him a verbal beatdown, he realizes he hates himself. He uses that hate to literally will himself to both live and stagger to safety.
- Pyrrhic Victory: Played with. The allied races lose two ships for each one they destroy - but in brutal honestly, against the Shadows far more advanced warships that is a genuinely impressive ratio to achieve. The fleet also achieves its strategic objective of forcing the Shadows to retreat and the unified fleet is proven as a combat effective weapon. As Sheridan put it; 'not great, but okay'.
- Ramming Always Works: Invoked by the Shadow scout ship. Literally wounded and unable to escape, it swings around and rams the Whitestar. The scout ship is destroyed and the Whitestar is heavily damaged.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: It turns out that Franklin doesn't like Franklin.
- Rhetorical Question Blunder: Marcus answering Ivanova's question.
- Security Cling: Sheridan and Delenn as they survey the aftermath of the battle.
- Shadow Archetype: Other!Franklin is Franklin's suppressed inner self.
- Snow Globe of Innocence: At the very end of the episode, Delenn is in Sheridan's quarters, watching him sleep. (It's a Minbari custom, part of their equivalent of getting engaged.) Delenn notices a snow globe on the table and picks it up to look at it. Just then the door slides open and a woman walks in.Woman: Hello. You must be Delenn. I'm Anna Sheridan. John's wife.
[The snow globe slips from Delenn's fingers in slow motion and shatters on the floor.] - Space Battle: A massive centerpiece of the episode as the unified Army of Light fights the Shadows head on for the first time. Despite their losses, they manage to drive the Shadows back but at a tremendous cost to ships and lives.
- Swiss-Cheese Security: Sheridan and his command crew have a great many people who would probably rather he (and they) ceased to exist. Including Earth, the Psi Corps and of course the Shadows. And you might think that when the later finally decide to deal with him, they would pull out some pretty incredible technology and abilities to sneak Anna in past layers of security, restricted access areas and close protection guards and Rangers to have a chat? Nope, she just shows up in an alien ship one night, docks, walks through customs with her own Earth identicard, takes a lift to Johns quarters and then lets herself in at the door to introduce herself to Delenn.
- Talking to Themself: Franklin has this happen after he's been stabbed and is bleeding to death. He gives himself a "The Reason You Suck" Speech. By the end, it has turned into a Rousing Speech of sorts.
- This Is Gonna Suck: Ivanova and Marcus's reactions to seeing the Shadow vessels jump in, and realizing they're gonna be right in the middle of things once they send the signal to the rest of their own fleet.Ivanova: That's a lot of ships.
Marcus: That's a bloody awful lot of ships.
[...]
Ivanova: Well, Who Wants to Live Forever?
Marcus: I do, actually! But what the hell.... Signal away. - You Bastard! / What the Hell, Hero?: Other!Franklin really doesn't pull any punches while outlining his personality flaws.
