“Knives”
Written by Lawrence G. DiTillio
Directed by Stephen L. Posey
Season 2, Episode 17
Production episode 216
Original air date: May 17, 1995
It was the dawn of the third age… Sheridan is unwinding in the station’s baseball stadium, having had a rough day dealing with the League of Non-Aligned Worlds. (Why B5 has a baseball stadium is left as an exercise for the viewer.) Garibaldi joins him, having had a crap day himself, dealing with stuff in Gray Sector, nicknamed “the Triangle” because of weird shit that happens there. Sheridan is intrigued, and considers checking Gray Sector out, despite Garibaldi’s urging him not to.
Mollari and Vir are discussing (and also singing) Centauri opera, when suddenly Mollari is jumped from behind. However, when the ambusher calls him “Paso Leati,” Mollari realizes that it’s his old friend, Vocator Urza Jaddo; the vocator is playing a prank. Jaddo and Mollari are both part of the Couro Prido dueling society on Centauri Prime. Mollari invites him for a drink, which Jaddo asks to postpone until later.
Sheridan goes to Gray Sector and comes across a Markab with his head bashed in. Even though he seems to be dead, the corpse grabs Sheridan’s neck as he’s reporting the corpse to Garibaldi. We see a glowy thing transfer from the corpse to Sheridan. This will probably be important later.
Franklin declares Sheridan healthy and recommends rest. He also says the Markab committed suicide—yes, he really did bash his own head in. It’s possible that the corpse spasmed, as corpses sometimes do when gas builds up.
Mollari waxes rhapsodic about his friendship with Jaddo. Their houses have been aligned for centuries, and they’ve been friends since childhood. Jaddo was always the better swordsman of the two of them, though Mollari was pretty good himself. “Paso Leati” became his nickname because he fought like a crazed leati, while Jaddo’s nickname was “Skal Tura,” which means “the silent beast.”
Jaddo finally arrives, and he and Mollari start drinking. And reminiscing. And drinking some more. Jaddo talks of Mollari’s rising status, but also that he knows that the Narn didn’t start the war with the Centauri, but rather a faction of Centauri aristocrats did. They also assassinated the prime minister. While the first part isn’t exactly news to Mollari (not that he can admit it), the second part is a surprise, as he believed the official story that the prime minister committed suicide.
Then Jaddo drops the other shoe: there is a motion before the Centaurum to declare Jaddo a traitor to the republic. Mollari is outraged and says he will look into it. Jaddo is grateful, and goes off to prepare for a banquet he’s throwing.
Sheridan’s attempts to sleep fail rather spectacularly, and he wakes up to see a grylor hovering over his bed. He shoots at it with a PPG, but the grylor isn’t actually there, so he does some lovely damage to the bulkheads of his quarters instead. Then in CnC, he sees the Icarus outside the station and goes into a panic, confusing everyone else who, of course, don’t see the ship his wife died on. He goes off to medlab.
Mollari talks to Refa, who acts surprised that Mollari is speaking well of Jaddo, who he says is definitely is a traitor, and Mollari should reconsider supporting him. Mollari makes it clear that he will continue to support Jaddo, and Refa should do what he can to quash the resolution to declare him a traitor. Mollari also reminds Refa who, exactly, has the big gun in this relationship.
Jaddo’s banquet is a lavish affair. Some Centauri nobles who used to ignore Mollari treat him well now. Mollari assures Jaddo that he talked to Refa and everything will be fine. Jaddo is enraged: Refa’s the one who brought the resolution in the first place, which Mollari didn’t know.
Then Jaddo gives Mollari a gift: the sword he used at the Battle of Gorash, his most famous campaign. He talks about how he has been condemned because, like the late emperor, he has spoken out against further conquest. Then he challenges Mollari to a Morago—a duel to the death.
Sheridan is back at the baseball stadium, having been there for three hours. Garibaldi arrives with some news: the Markab went through Sector 14. Sheridan only knows that that sector’s forbidden, but not why. Garibaldi explains about Babylon 4 and gives Sheridan footage of what happened. Studying the footage, Sheridan sees a white flash similar to what he’s seen in his hallucinations. He also sees a hallucination of his parents. Then he decides to go off in a Starfury, leaving his link behind. He goes to Sector 14. Garibaldi follows him in another Starfury. The glowy thing that transferred from the Markab leaves him and goes into a time portal that opens. The transfer knocks Sheridan unconscious, but luckily Garibaldi is there to rescue him.
Vir tries to talk Mollari out of the Morago, especially given that Jaddo is the better swordfighter. However, Mollari insists. While Jaddo draws first blood, Mollari is in the end victorious, killing his friend. The tradition of the Morago is that the winner takes responsibility for the loser’s family. Now Jaddo being declared a traitor will only affect him, and posthumously—the rest of House Jaddo is now part of House Mollari, and therefore immune from the consequences of the resolution.
Sheridan explains what happened: there was an energy being that popped out into Sector 14 and latched onto the Markab. The images drove the Markab to suicide. But Sheridan was able to figure out that it was communicating images of fear, loss, and home, and wanted to go back from whence it came.
Mollari is despondent over the death of his friend; Jaddo lost on purpose to save his family. Vir, having arranged to have Jaddo’s body to be returned to Centauri Prime, urges Mollari to reconsider the path he’s on. However, Mollari paraphrases Macbeth’s famous line: “I am in blood / Stepp’d in so far that, should I wade no more, / Returning were as tedious as go o’er.”
Get the hell out of our galaxy! Sheridan is able to dope out what the energy being is saying to him, unlike the Markab, who dashed his own brains out rather than continue to deal with it.
The household god of frustration. While EarthForce confiscated all the records of what happened with B4, Garibaldi did keep a copy. Which was probably illegal.
In the glorious days of the Centauri Republic… Dueling societies are a very important part of Centauri aristocracy, and their traditions have the force of law. Mollari and Jaddo are part of one such society, and its regulations allow Jaddo to save his family.
Also, Refa’s surprise that Mollari is supporting Jaddo isn’t particularly convincing, especially if the alliance between their houses is that established.
No sex, please, we’re EarthForce. Mollari has a sad remembrance of Adira, the dancer he had a fling with in “Born to the Purple.” Jaddo, for his part, is happily married, unlike Mollari, who doesn’t even mention his one remaining wife…
Welcome aboard. We’ve got a couple of recurring regulars: William Forward, back from “The Coming of Shadows” as Refa, and who will return in “The Long, Twilight Struggle.” And Joshua Cox, back from “And Now for a Word” as Corwin, who will return in “Divided Loyalties.”
But this week’s Robert Knepper moment is the appearance of Carmen Argenziano as Jaddo. He’s probably best known in genre circles for his recurring role on Stargate SG-1 as Jacob Carter/Selmak.
Trivial matters. This was filmed before “In the Shadow of Z’ha’dum,” and intended to be aired first, but “Knives” had too many special effects and had to be delayed.
Sector 14 was established as a no-fly zone due to the weird time-travel shenanigans of Babylon 4 in “Babylon Squared.” This episode establishes that those events were then classified.
Because it would’ve been awkward for Jaddo and Mollari to discuss the emperor and the prime minister without using their names, the characters get named. In a fit of—simplicity? laziness?—they are given family names that match the given names of the actors who played them in “The Coming of Shadows”: Emperor Turhan (played by Turhan Bey) and Prime Minister Malachi (played by Malachi Throne).
This is the last episode for a long time to be written by someone other than creator/executive producer J. Michael Straczynski. The remaining five episodes of season two, all of seasons three and four, and the first seven episodes of season five will all be written by Straczynski.
The echoes of all of our conversations.
“Vir, you have what the Earthers call a negative personality.”
“No, I don’t!”
“There, you see!”
—Mollari criticizing Vir, Vir replying, and Mollari saying, “Bazinga!”
The name of the place is Babylon 5. “You cannot build an empire based on slaughter and deceit!” The Sheridan half of this plot is relentlessly mediocre. It’s pretty standard space opera stuff that wouldn’t be out of place in a Star Trek or Stargate or Buck Rogers or Space: 1999 or Doctor Who episode, with the only uniquely B5 element being the use of Sector 14, but that’s only relevant as a minor continuity hit.
I’m also genuinely curious as to how the underfunded B5 has the space to waste on an entire baseball stadium, and how the Coriolis effect and the station’s rotation would affect baseballs hit in the air, which this episode carefully avoids discussing.
However, that’s not what this episode is worth watching for. We’ve already seen Mollari come to appreciate how alone he is on B5 now that his star has risen in the Centauri Republic, mostly in “Acts of Sacrifice.” Now he’s seeing the underside of it in the republic itself. This is the first hint that Refa may not be the staunch ally Mollari thought he would be.
The introduce-a-best-friend-we’ve-never-seen-before-and-then-kill-him is a bit of a cliché, but it works mainly because of the talent of the two guys playing them. Carmen Argenziano’s relaxed charisma works perfectly here, as he modulates from reminiscing with his old friend to outrage over how he’s been scapegoated by the Centaurum for daring to speak out against the current imperialism. And Peter Jurasik perfectly plays it, lucking into his ignorance regarding the prime minister’s cause of death to cover his lack of ignorance about the evil conspiracy of evil that has taken over the republic. He also is seeing all the unexpected consequences to the new world order on Centauri Prime, one that hits him right where he lives with the condemnation of his childhood friend.
Next week: “Confessions and Lamentations.”
As much as there are some benefits to having JMS write most of the episodes, in terms of consistency and vision, I do somewhat lament the loss of some of these episodes from other writers that served to flesh out aspects of the Babylon 5 universe that JMS didn’t have as much time for. The Londo-Ursa plot thread is very well done, and goes a long way towards showing the audience how things are going badly in the wake of Refa’s political moves on Centauri Prime.
On the other hand, we get the Sheridan subplot, which is a bit of a waste of time. Sure, it name-checks Sector 14, but that really doesn’t matter much until later in Season 3, so it doesn’t mean very much in the context of Season 2.
To me, the problem with JMS writing every episode was that eventually, every character ended up sounding the same, like the author in an extended monologue. When we finally got a non-JMS episode again in season 5, it was so refreshing to hear a different authorial voice again. (Although that episode was by Neil Gaiman, a fact that now carries a lot of unpleasant baggage.)
Yeah, it was always a creative double-edged sword.
The problem with the assumption that JMS writing all the episodes improved “consistency and vision” is that part of a showrunner’s job is to rewrite every other writer’s script in order to bring a consistent voice and vision to them, while still allowing a range of different writers’ voices and ideas to be part of the process. It isn’t necessary for the showrunner to be the exclusive writer in order to achieve that.
So I don’t think there was any real advantage to JMS writing everything. He could’ve overseen the plotting of every episode and the season arcs while still assigning the individual scripts to various writers and then rewriting for consistency, which is how the process works in most serialized shows. He just lacked the experience to realize he didn’t have to do it all himself. (JMS himself has said he regrets it in retrospect.)
Mods: The pentultimate paragraph has a weird goof in the link to the Acts of Sacrifice article.
Just a random observation. But I find it interesting how, even though both Sheridan and Garibaldi (or rather their actors) are both southpaws, Sheridan bats right while Garibaldi bats left.
At least by the standards of the show, the flying CG critter Sheridan hallucinates is actually pretty decent.
“This was filmed before “In the Shadow of Z’ha’dum,” and intended to be aired first, but “Knives” had too many special effects and had to be delayed.”
Certainly makes more sense, since Londo remarks in this one that he hasn’t been paying sufficient attention to events on Centauri Prime, while he’s absent in the other one because he’s visiting same.
Riffable moments
[just after Sheridan shoots the critter, with the blast going through and hitting what’s behind it]
My fourth grade Little League participation trophy!
Urza: You cannot build an empire based on slaughter and deceit.
Sure you can!
That vision of the Icarus also gives a reason why Sheridan is suddenly rifling through his dead wife’s stuff in “In the shadow…”
“This was filmed before “In the Shadow of Z’ha’dum,” and intended to be aired first, but “Knives” had too many special effects and had to be delayed.”
Certainly makes more sense, since Londo remarks in this one that he hasn’t been paying sufficient attention to events on Centauri Prime, while he’s absent in the other one because he’s visiting same.
I don’t know whether that struck me on previous viewings, but it did ring a bell for me this time as well. “Wait, wasn’t he -just- there?”
“the flying CG critter Sheridan hallucinates is actually pretty decent”
And it looked like it was wearing a little conical birthday hat, too. Fun!
“Urza: You cannot build an empire based on slaughter and deceit.
Sure you can!”
Think this goes to show the Centauri, or at least elite Centauri, have a rather delusional self-perception. The list of empires that weren’t built on slaughter and deceit has got to be pretty short, and based on what we know the Centauri definitely didn’t make the cut in the first place. I’d say it’s a null set, but there’s so much (real) history that I avoid making absolute statements because somebody always has a counterexample.
Link’s fixed — thanks!
I just figured that most of the “stadium” is a projection with a net behind it. Basically a fancy batting cage.
Coriolis force Hmm. Well, if you put a lot of spin on the ball…
No, we saw that it was in Green Sector, the spherical park area of the station, same as the Zen garden, open-air restaurant, and other stuff. It’s just a part we haven’t seen before.
The opener with Londo and Vir reminds us that Andreas Katsulas isn’t the only musical member of the cast. In fact, at Bill Mumy’s urging those three and Claudia Christian and Mira Furlan put out an album called Trying to Forget as The Be Five. They remastered the album in 2011 with two additional tracks in honor of those cast members who had died in the interim, especially Katsulas.
The batting cage might not be a full-fledged baseball diamond. It could be a space not much larger than a real batting cage with the computer assessing each hit and the apparent distance provided by view screens of some sort. Around the time this was made, there was a trend of having a driving range in a strip mall. There would be a movie screen showing the hole maybe 20 feet from the tee. As I remember it, the ball would be shown traveling down the fairway based on where it hit the screen, but that seems too advanced for the 90s.
The Londo plot was good. The moment of Londo and Vir singing opera together was beautiful, an argument turning into a duet. Who knew they could both sing so well? And Jurasik’s a decent stage swordfighter too, though that fight had a lot of Errol Flynning in it, swords aimed at each other’s swords instead of their bodies. I feel Argenziano’s performance was undermined a bit by the accent he put on, though it’s refreshing when Centauri actors at least try to do the accent.
Speaking of which, who knew the Centauri language sounded so much like Italian? It doesn’t help that the “Centauri opera” was in a very conventional Earth-like style.
I was impressed by how much continuity there was in a non-JMS episode, how much it connects to the main plot arcs while still being a standalone tale. I’m pretty sure this is the first time Emperor Cartagia’s name is established.
I agree the Sheridan plot was mediocre and kind of anticlimactic, but the CGI on the flying creature was pretty good. Mainly I find it absurd that Garibaldi would let the station commander go anywhere unescorted, especially to a legendarily dangerous sector.
Why wouldn’t they have a baseball field? It’s a 5-mile-long station, a literal city in space with a quarter-million inhabitants and a whole big sphere of open space and parkland in the middle. I’m sure it has at least one baseball field, tennis courts, basketball courts, the same assortment you’d find in any large park. You’re right that Coriolis drift would be an issue, though, and orienting the field the way it was shown, with the center line of the field parallel with the sphere’s axis rather than parallel with the equator, would probably be a bad idea. It’d make more sense to align it with the equator, so the Coriolis drift would be toward or away from the batter rather than sideways, though I’m not sure which would be better.
As I recall, we never did come to a real consensus on the newsgroup. And we discussed it a lot.
Mainly I find it absurd that Garibaldi would let the station commander go anywhere unescorted, especially to a legendarily dangerous sector.
Technically, he did not let that happen, since he went too. Although one could reasonably ask why if Garibaldi had enough time to suit up to follow Sheridan, he couldn’t bring a full wing with him. Not that that would have changed anything in this case.
A more realistic version of the plot might have been Sheridan having to explain his theory to at least Ivanova and to convince her to let him test it. That seems like it would defuse the tension too early although I guess it could have leaned into the question of whether Sheridan was being controlled or influenced for some more nefarious purpose.
“Technically, he did not let that happen, since he went too.”
I’m not talking about that part, I’m talking about the “B5 Triangle” part at the beginning, the place in Gray Sector where Sheridan found the dead Markab and got infected to begin with. There’s no way in hell that Garibaldi would let the commander of the station go alone to a part of the station infamous for people disappearing. He should’ve insisted on a full security detail. Sheridan’s “[going alone is] half the fun of it” opinion is hardly sufficient justification to suspend the kind of security procedures that would logically be mandatory for any commanding officer.
Yeah, OK, fair enough, although it is hardly the first (or the last) time that a senior officer on this show just decides to ignore basic safety considerations for no obvious reason other than the plot wants them to be alone.
Re: the Errol Flynning, I noticed that too but reconciled it as neither really wanting to hurt the other.
It’s what you expect in fiction, since realistic swordfights tend to be over in seconds (or at least have shields to block the swords, because you don’t block a blade with another blade in real fights). I was just impressed that Jurasik and Argenziano apparently had decent training in stage fighting and could do the routine themselves without needing stunt doubles. And this is in the same episode where we learn Jurasik could sing opera.
I don’t think the amount of continuity is that surprising, given this was a di Tillio story. That had been his primary job on the show up to this point. Plus, the two of them had worked together a lot over the years, both on various shows and co-hosting the Hour 25 radio show. Any other script writer, yeah, it would have been incredible.
Sure, but it’s not just that it references prior continuity, it’s that it feels like it moves the ongoing arc forward in subtle ways. It establishes Cartagia’s name, it reveals to Londo that Malachi was assassinated and that he needs to pay more attention to homeworld politics, and it brings Sheridan up to speed about Babylon 4 and Sector 14. Also, in the intended airing order, it re-establishes the Icarus and leads into “In the Shadow of Z’ha’dum.” So it doesn’t feel like a digression the way some of the standalones do.
Amazon Prime showed this one before “In the Shadow” so I saw them in production order. In the shadow has a line to the effect that Mollari is on Centauri Prime which makes much more sense in production order.
I’m watching on Prime too, but I’m following the order of Keith’s reviews.
I’m not a baseball guy, but….. that’s not a stadium. That’s a small field with a low fence at best. To me, a stadium implies a massive tall surrounding building with lots of people and a massive field in the middle.
Even from reading JMS’s posts, I never fully understood why DiTillio left B5 after season 2. He was a good extra pair of hands, capable of developing interesting side stories in this particular universe while JMS focused on the bigger picture. At least he left on a good note in terms of his work. “Knives” is an excellent Londo Mollari vehicle.
I didn’t quite realize it at the time, but yeah. Londo didn’t get the info on Refa having a hand on Malachi’s death until this episode. A nice use of a standalone episode having a direct effect on the greater Centauri arc. There’s a ton of chemistry between the two of them, making for some memorable scenes. Jaddo makes such an impression that I was genuinely affected by his sacrifice at the end. Great performance.
And the notion that questioning your government’s more extreme actions makes you a traitor deserving retribution? It never felt more relevant than now. B5 is usually at its best when tackling matters of fascism.
The Sheridan plot? Not much to say about it, but you can tell this was meant to take place before “In the Shadow of Z’Ha’Dum” because of that Icarus sighting. It was meant to set up the teaser on that episode when he finally looks over Anna’s belongings and the Icarus crew manifest when Garibaldi recognizes Morden.
And the dead Markab by suicide? It may have been because of Sector 14, but it was a clever way to set up in advance what’s about to happen to the Markab people.
I just had a thought: Londo killed Jaddo in the middle of a ritual combat inside the station – neutral territory where that’s…. not supposed to happen. And yes, technically, that’s not a crime since it’s an internal Centauri matter and Londo has diplomatic immunity. But I can only wonder the amount of paperwork Vir had to fill out in order to satisfy Garibaldi over the bloodshed that just took place inside the station – especially with the Narn/Centauri conflict going on. And it wouldn’t make Garibaldi look good either to have one more death happening under his watch.
Not long after this aired, DS9 aired “Sons of Mogh”, and we all remember what happened to Worf when he tried to execute his brother in a Klingon ritual. Sisko all but stripped him of rank.
The difference in Sons of Mogh is that Worf was under Sisco’s command. Neither Londo nor Jaddo owes any obedience to Sheridan.
Granted, there would still be paperwork.
Still, they’re presumably bound to obey the laws of the station itself. Diplomatic immunity isn’t a license to break the law, just a safeguard against using false criminal charges to threaten or imprison another country’s diplomats. There’s an expectation that diplomats will respect local laws, and their own nations may prosecute or penalize them or revoke their immunity if they violate local laws. Or the host may request that they be reassigned and replaced.
On the other hand, it could be that various powers represented on B5 have dueling traditions and negotiated for explicit guarantees that their right to duel among themselves would be protected as long as they didn’t threaten anyone else. But when the Drazi went to war with each other over the scarf thing, I’m pretty sure Garibaldi did arrest a bunch of them, though they weren’t necessarily diplomats.
It could be the Centauri have some chambers that serve as sovereign territory for diplomatic functions on board.
I think I recall reading that DiTillio left because he just didn’t feel he was given enough to do with JMS dominating the writing as much as he did.
This is actually something I keep wondering about if the B5 reboot ever comes out of WB Development Hell: the inaugural Writers Room.
Would JMS go down that creative dominance path again? Or would he take a back seat and ease off this time around?
I’ve got a feeling it would probably be the latter. JMS ultimately succeeded in realizing B5’s potential and premise; he has nothing to prove this time around.
JMS has also been candid about how much the stress and strain of writing Seasons 3 and 4 by himself wrecked his health. I can’t see him wanting to go down that road again (especially in his 70s).
This episode really reinforces my impression that the Centauri are basically eighteenth-century Venice: once one of the world’s foremost powers, but long past its sell-by date; nominally a republic, but with an utterly ossified class structure. And apparently speaking a language and singing operas that sound very, very Italic (at least to someone who doesn’t speak a word of Italian).
I thought krad might mention this in Trivial Matters, but I do believe that the brief alien-induced vision of Sheridan’s parents is the only time we see his mother. And that when we actually see Sheridan’s father for real in future episodes, he is played by a different actor: the late great Rance Howard, father of Ron.
It didn’t strike me until this rewatch, but the alien stuck in Sheridan is almost definitely a Vorlon, or at least part of one. His work with Kosh would also help explain why he was able to interpret its desire (and not kill himself).
No, JMS stated on a message board at the time that it was definitely not a Vorlon.
Then they shouldn’t have reused the effects in season 3 with Lyta and Kosh.
Reusing FX elements is a budget issue. It’s not meant to be taken literally as an in-story equivalence. Star Trek didn’t intend Flint’s mansion in “Requiem for Methuselah” to be the Rigel VII fortress from “The Cage”; it just reused the matte painting and hoped viewers either wouldn’t notice or would know better than to take it literally.
Also they did not actually reuse that FX for the Vorlons. I haven’t watched either of the episodes in question in years, but I have seen them many times. Granted, it is still an incorporeal being streaming out of a character’s mouth, but otherwise the shots are completely different. The Vorlon effect is way brighter and more “powerful” looking than the wispy thing in the image that is posted in the article above, AND Ulkesh is coming out of Lyta’s eyes as well as mouth. (a la “Big Trouble in Little China”). There’s a clip of this here: https://youtu.be/i9n_sZ9n_9k?si=w0Ottrgo_ss6etHU&t=245
I didn’t watch B5 until after watching Stargate SG-1.
So I remember it was… a little weird seeing Jacob Carter/Selmak, heh, with hair and a funny accent.
I joked they were trying to go undercover in a System Lord’s domain and took a wrong turn or Chulak (or alternate Stargate planet of choice).
It’s not dissimilar to watching Buffy for the first time years after DS9. Seeing Armin Shimmerman as Principal Snyder without the Ferengi makeup was likewise a little weird, LOL.