“Matters of Honor”
Written by J. Michael Straczynski
Directed by Kevin Cremin
Season 3, Episode 1
Production episode 301
Original air date: November 6, 1995
It was the dawn of the third age… Repairs are underway to B5 to fix the battle damage done by the Centauri. Sheridan approaches Kosh, whom he hasn’t seen in a while, to both thank him and express confusion regarding Kosh’s rescue of Sheridan. Kosh explains that being seen by so many people is exhausting for a Vorlon, and he’s been recovering. As for Sheridan’s confusion regarding Kosh’s rescue, he says it was necessary.
A Drazi helps a Ranger named Marcus Cole escape from the Ranger training facility on Zagros, a Drazi world. The Drazi is killed, but Cole makes it to a jumpgate and reduces his ship to minimal life support in order to get to B5 as fast as possible. By the time he arrives, he’s unconscious, and is brought to medlab.
Sheridan and Ivanova meet a VIP sent by Earth named David Endawi, who is with Special Intelligence. While EarthDome has apparently suppressed Keffer’s video of a Shadow ship that was shown on ISN and is publicly saying that it’s a known ship that is no kind of threat, the truth is, nobody knows what the hell it is. Endawi’s job is to talk to the various non-human diplomats on the station and see if anyone else knows what the heck the thing is.
Franklin removes a distinctive pin from the unconscious Cole. While he’s talking to another doctor about doing a workup, Cole wakes up and sneaks out of medlab unseen.
Mollari meets with Morden. To Mollari’s mind, there is no need for Morden’s “associates” any longer. It’s obvious that Mollari has buyer’s remorse regarding the Shadows. Morden asks to meet in Mollari’s quarters to “settle accounts,” after which Morden will go away for as long as Mollari wishes him to, a carefully chosen phrase that portends disaster.
Endawi’s first meeting is with Delenn, alongside Sheridan and Ivanova. She’s his first meeting because (a) Earth-Minbari relations are good right now and (b) the Minbari are one of the older species, and they seem likely to have some knowledge of the vessel in Keffer’s recording. Delenn watches the image and apologetically says she’s never seen anything like that before. After Endawi leaves, Delenn tells Sheridan and Ivanova that yes, that is a Shadow ship, and she didn’t actually lie to Endawi: she’s never seen one before. They were last active a thousand years ago, after all…
Lennier then takes Delenn to downbelow to meet with Cole. Delenn is reluctant until Lennier shows her the pin, and she realizes that it’s a Ranger. They meet in a bar, where Cole has ordered nonalcoholic drinks for them. He introduces himself and proves his bonafides as a Ranger. They go to somewhere more appropriate to meet, but then are accosted by some lurker thugs. The trio dispatch the thugs with hilarious ease and head to Sheridan’s office.
Endawi meets with Mollari, who offers him a drink. Endawi refuses because he’s on duty, and Mollari waxes rhapsodic on the subject of joy being part of one’s duty, which is his rationalization for drinking while working. When Endawi shows Mollari the footage, he recognizes the ship as the same as those of a dream he had of him on Centauri Prime watching ships like this fly overhead.
Sheridan, meets with Cole, Delenn, and Lennier, as well as Ivanova and Garibaldi. Zagros is a world that the Drazi loaned to the Rangers to use as a training facility. However, the Centauri have blockaded it. It’s too remote and unimportant to the Drazi to even be able to defend properly, especially since the Centauri are attacking other, more valuable parts of Drazi territory that need defending.
Cole came to B5 to request assistance in breaking the blockade long enough for the Rangers trapped there to get to safety. Garibaldi points out that Earth won’t provide that kind of ordnance, but Cole, Delenn, and Lennier assure them that that’s not an issue.
What is an issue is Endawi. Ivanova points out that they can’t just bugger off while an EarthDome official is on board without telling him why. Sheridan won’t abandon the Rangers, so he assigns Garibaldi to Endawi, telling him to keep him occupied and stalled while they do what they have to do.
Morden shows Mollari a galactic map, which is more or less bisected. All the stuff on one side is fair game for the Centauri to try to conquer. All the stuff on the other side is off-limits. When Mollari asks what guarantee he has that the Shadows will keep to their side of the metaphorical fence, Morden blandly says, “None.” Morden also indicates that he’s working closely with Refa now, which surprises and disturbs Mollari, as does Morden’s deflection of Mollari’s request to see one of Morden’s associates. Morden also requests that Centauri forces pull out of Drazi space—except for Zagros, that blockade should remain intact.
Sheridan, Ivanova, Delenn, Lennier, and Cole fly away from B5 with a fake flight plan and rendezvous with a ship with an unfamiliar configuration, though it has elements of both Minbari and Vorlon design—and also can create its own jump point. This is the White Star, and it is now under Sheridan’s command. The ship is staffed by Minbari from the religious caste, and its existence is a closely guarded secret. Not even all the Grey Council know of it. Because most of the crew can’t speak English, Lennier serves as the translator for Sheridan’s orders to the crew, and they set off to Zagros.
Garibaldi explains to Endawi that Sheridan and Ivanova were called away on business that was above Garibaldi’s pay grade. As a good security chief, Garibaldi doesn’t let himself know things he’s not cleared for. He also suggests that Endawi talk to G’Kar. When Endawi points out that the terms of the nonaggression pact Earth signed with the Centauri means that Endawi can’t talk to any Narn without Centauri approval, Garibaldi wryly says that he promises not to let himself know about that, either.
Endawi shows G’Kar the recording, and the Narn is relieved to have someone ask about it. He shows Endawi the drawing of a Shadow ship in the Book of G’Quan. (Why G’Kar does not mention the Shadow vessels he saw in “Revelations” is left as an exercise for the viewer, and I’m still wondering why he made no recordings of what happened at the top of that episode…)
The White Star arrives at Zagros. They attack the blockade, and while there are no Centauri warships, there is a Shadow ship lurking. It attacks—and misses, to Delenn’s surprise, which Sheridan theorizes is because they don’t recognize the White Star and don’t know how to attack it. The Rangers are able to get offworld, and then Sheridan orders a course for the jumpgate—he doesn’t want the Shadows to know that the White Star can create its own jump point. The Shadow vessel gives chase, and Sheridan has them leave hyperspace at the jump gate that’s in the now-empty Markab system. He then orders a jump point created inside the jump gate, which causes a big boom. The White Star is barely able to stay ahead of the explosion they cause—the Shadow ship is not. (Sheridan is willing to trash the Markab jump gate because its only use these days is by depredators picking the Markab homeworld clean. The captain says he doesn’t like grave robbers.)
Upon returning to B5, Sheridan apologizes to Endawi, saying that they were on a diplomatic mission that was a favor to the Minbari and which needed to be kept on the QT.
For his part, Endawi’s job is done, and he returns to Earth. He gives his report to a senator. Endawi mentions that only Narn seem to know anything significant, and it’s not much. (Why Endawi admits to meeting with a Narn without Centauri approval, in violation of the treaty, is left as an exercise for the viewer). After Endawi leaves, the senator meets with a Psi Cop and Morden, expressing relief that nobody seems to know anything except the Narn, and Morden assures them that the Narn are no kind of threat. The Psi Cop talks about how they can use this to their advantage, and they continue to have their Evil Meeting of Evil.
Sheridan calls a meeting that includes Ivanova, Garibaldi, Franklin, Delenn, and Cole. He refers to it as a war council and says that they’ll meet once a fortnight, plus whenever there’s an emergency. Franklin asks for more details on what the Shadows are exactly, and we fade out on Delenn giving him the same spiel she gave Sheridan bout the Shadows back in “In the Shadow of Z’ha’dum.”
Get the hell out of our galaxy! Sheridan proves his worth as commander of the White Star pretty dang quickly, as he shows an excellent strategic mind—with notions that don’t at any point occur to the various religious caste members under him—and hands the Shadows a significant defeat.
Ivanova is God. Ivanova already knew all about the Rangers and Sheridan, Delenn, and Garibaldi’s role with them. Sheridan is nonplussed to discover this, to which Ivanova says that he should start worrying when something happens on the station that she doesn’t know about.
If you value your lives, be somewhere else. Delenn has supervised the construction of a super-vessel to aid in the cause, which seems to be a Ranger project, given that Cole knew about it. Delenn says that not all the Grey Council knows about it, which, interestingly enough, means that some of the Grey Council does know about it…
In the glorious days of the Centauri Republic… Mollari hilariously thinks it will be easy to extricate himself from Morden and the Shadows, showing an uncharacteristic lack of insight and a characteristic sense of self-delusion.
Though it take a thousand years, we will be free. Earth officials apparently can’t have any contact with the Narn without approval from the Centauri Republic, which is, um, excessive, and speaks to a very poor negotiation on the part of Earth.
We live for the one, we die for the one. Cole joined the Rangers in honor of his brother, who had joined and then died during a Shadow attack. Until his brother’s death, Cole hadn’t taken the notion of the Rangers particularly seriously, but now he’s quite devoted to the cause.
The Shadows obviously see the Rangers as a threat, since the only reason for targeting Zagros so aggressively is to deal a blow to the Rangers.
The Corps is mother, the Corps is father. In the scene where it becomes clear that Morden has his claws in at least some of EarthDome, the Psi Cop talks about using the Shadows’ existence to further their own agenda. Given the other ways that Psi Corps has furthered their own agenda so far, this is scary as heck.
The Shadowy Vorlons. Kosh’s answers to Sheridan’s queries are annoying and frustrating to the captain, to which the ambassador replies, more than once, “Good.”
Looking ahead. Mollari mentions the dream he had of the Shadows flying overhead on Centauri Prime, an image that we saw him see in “The Coming of Shadows,” and which will come to pass in “The Hour of the Wolf.”
Welcome aboard. Tucker Smallwood plays Endawi, while Kitty Swink plays the senator and Andrew Walker plays the Psi Cop.
We’ve also got recurring regulars Ed Wasser, back from “In the Shadow of Z’ha’dum” as Morden, who will next be seen in “Ceremonies of Light and Dark,” and Ardwight Chamberlain, back from “Comes the Inquisitor” as the voice of Kosh, who will next be heard in “Passing Through Gethsemane.” Regular alien actor Jonathan Chapman plays the Drazi pilot.
Trivial matters. With the new season is a new opening-credits voiceover, now done by Claudia Christian, which mirrors her voiceover from the end of “The Fall of Night.” Andrea Thompson, Mary Kay Adams, and Robert Rusler are all dropped from the opening credits, while Jason Carter (Cole) and Jeff Conaway (Allan) have been added. Rusler’s Keffer died in “The Fall of Night” and Thompson’s Winters was written out in “Divided Loyalties.” The true final fate of Adams’ Na’Toth won’t be learned until “A Tragedy of Telepaths.”
This episode is the first appearance of Carter as Cole. The events leading up to his appearance here is chronicled in the novel To Dream in the City of Sorrows by Kathryn M. Drennan, which also showed the forming and training of the Rangers under Sinclair. (Carter is also a friendly acquaintance of your humble rewatcher, as we have been guests at several conventions together, among them several Dragon Cons, as well as Con*Cept in Montréal in 2002, the Big Damned Flanvention in Burbank in 2005, Treklanta in Atlanta in 2015, etc.)
We are also introduced to the White Star, a Minbari/Vorlon hybrid ship that will serve as B5’s main support vessel henceforth.
We get a couple of new sets: the White Star, obviously, and also a new medlab set, which is explained by medlab having been renovated.
Morden’s comment about how easily treaties can be broken is a frightening echo of Refa’s words on the subject in “The Long, Twilight Struggle.”
The Markab were wiped out by disease in “Confessions and Lamentations,” which is why their jumpgate was expendable.
The echoes of all of our conversations.
“I hate being cheered up. It’s—depressing.”
“So, in that case: we’re all going to die horrible, painful, lingering deaths.”
“Thank you, I feel so much better.”
—Sheridan and Ivanova bantering.
The name of the place is Babylon 5. “I don’t usually speak unless I have something to say.” This is a generally effective season premiere. The conflict with the Shadows starts to move more into the foreground with the debut of the White Star, and the Rangers doing likewise. The latter have been background elements for half a season now, and it’s good to see them more front and center, primarily through the Marcus Cole character, whom Jason Carter imbues with a quiet gravitas.
The thing that gobsmacked me while watching this episode, though, was the realization that neither Mollari nor Delenn had ever actually seen a Shadow ship. With Delenn, it wasn’t really that much of a surprise, because of course she wasn’t around a millennium ago, but I think I was just thinking that Kosh had shown her images of them or something.
Mollari not knowing also makes perfect sense, but it still threw me, mostly because he’d already “seen” them in his dream, and it wasn’t until watching his talk with Endawi that I realized that he hadn’t yet connected Morden’s associates with the prophetic dream of spider-like creatures flying over Centauri Prime.
Unfortunately, it also drew attention to a rather major continuity error, one of several bits of sloppiness in this episode’s script, to wit, the fact that G’Kar saw Shadow ships in “Revelations.” At the time I rewatched that episode, I pointed out how absurd it was that G’Kar took no recordings of that battle that he barely escaped from, and I’m watching this episode and wondering why he’s only telling Endawi about the drawing in the Book of G’Quan when he’s seen one of the fershlugginer things…
That talk is not really an official one, as Endawi is forbidden by treaty to even speak to G’Kar without the okay of a Centauri official (who would be Mollari in this case, who would never grant it). Which is fine, except that Endawi then blithely and openly discusses his illegal conversation with G’Kar when reporting to the senator.
Our introduction to Marcus Cole is unnecessarily complicated. We have him disappearing from medlab, going from unconscious to gone in an unconvincingly short amount of time, then we have him calling for a meeting in downbelow with Delenn and Lennier which serves absolutely no purpose whatsoever except to set up the fight between our heroes and the thugs of downbelow. Cole, Lennier, and Delenn knocking a bunch of doofuses around the corridor is entirely gratuitous and utterly pointless. Wouldn’t it have been much simpler to just have Cole wake up in medlab and call for the meeting without all the pointless cloak-and-dagger nonsense and the tiresome action scene in downbelow?
Tucker Smallwood is a welcome breath of fresh air in this episode, as far too many Earth officials have been either scum-sucking weasels or people who seem nice but who have awful agendas. (In the previous episode, we got one of each!) But Smallwood’s Endawi is a refreshing change: a professional doing his job. He’s not a hardass, he doesn’t have a hidden agenda (well, you could argue he does, but it’s hidden from Endawi himself, so I’m not sure that counts), and he comports himself competently and professionally. He even takes Garibaldi’s bullshit in stride, especially since it gives him a means to talk to G’Kar off the record.
The things I most appreciated about this episode were the reinforcement of the notion that Sheridan is a strong leader and a good tactician and the fact that the great war that has been promised to come upon us all for twenty-two episodes during season two finally comes upon us all at the top of season three.
Next week: “Convictions.”
