Babylon 5/Recap/S02 E20 The Long Twilight Struggle

The Long, Twilight Struggle

Tell them, that from this place we will deliver notice to the parliaments of conquerors that a line has been drawn against the darkness. And we will hold that line, no matter the cost. —Captain John Sheridan

This episode contains examples of:

• Action Film Quiet Drama Scene: After the scene of the bombing of the Narn homeworld, and the riots caused by the news reaching the station, scenes are shown of deserted corridors (with armed security in full riot gear standing guard in all of them) and Sheridan brooding in his office as ISN keeps up a running monologue describing the ongoing bombardment.
• Badass Army: Sheridan is introduced to and given command of the Rangers.
• Continuity Nod:
  • Londo mentions his Duel to the Death with Urza Jaddo and asks Refa how many more friends he'll have to kill.
  • Delenn also tries to fill some of the gaps in her vocabulary, as she demonstrates to Sheridan:

Abso-fraggin-lutely, dammit

• • Also counts as Foreshadowing: After Sheridan and Delenn leave the planet, Draal calls for Zathras.
• Disproportionate Retribution: Londo announces that under the new Centauri occupation, the penalty for the murder of any Centauri, by any Narn, will be the execution of 500 Narns.
  • Accompanied by an Eye Take from the Pak'Ma'Ra ambassador.
• Large Ham: Draal.
• Nuclear Weapons Taboo: When Lord Refa suggests the use of mass drivers against the Narn homeworld, Londo protests that they have treaties outlawing them. Refa dismisses these treaties as "ink on a page."
• OOC Is Serious Business: Earth and the Minbari lodge protests over the use of mass drivers, but the fact that the Vorlons also lodge one shows that what the Centauri are doing is a really bad thing.
• The Other Darrin: Draal is played by John Schuck rather than Louis Turenne. They Hand Wave this by saying The Machine has made him younger and more fit.
• Prayer Is a Last Resort: While G'Kar has demonstrated his spiritual side on a number of occasions, this is the first time we see him praying. He sits at the alter where the Book of G'Quon is, surrounded by lit candles, whispering fervently. Light years away, a Narn force sent to attack a Centauri supply depot is ambushed by the Shadows and quickly annihilated. As the Shadows leave, G'Kar stops praying and extinguishes the candles.
• Seeking Sanctuary: Following the fall of their homeworld, the remnants of the Narn Regime order G'Kar to seek political asylum on Babylon 5.
• Title Drop: Draal speaks of "the long, twilight struggle to come".
• The War Has Just Begun: G'Kar promises in his final speech to the council:

No dictator... no invader... can hold an imprisoned population by force of arms forever. There is no greater power in the universe than the need for freedom. Against that power, governments and tyrants and armies cannot stand. The Centauri learned this lesson once. We will teach it to them again. Though it take a thousand years, we will be free.

• Weapons of Mass Destruction: Mass Drivers, which hurl asteroids down onto the planet.
• Wham! Episode