“The Fall of Centauri Prime”
Written by J. Michael Staczynski
Directed by Douglas E. Wise
Season 5, Episode 18
Production episode 519
Original air date: October 28, 1998
It was the dawn of the third age… The joint Drazi-Narn fleet is bombarding the shit out of Centauri Prime. Mollari gets a badly injured G’Kar out of his cell before that entire building is destroyed.
On B5, Garibaldi reports to Sheridan about the bombardment—including that the Centauri Prime defenses are either down or away—and also that Delenn’s ship never made it to Minbar.
In hyperspace, Lennier is working furiously on the damaged White Star to try to get something working so they can be found.
On Centauri Prime, Mollari finds the Regent—and then he is finally read in on what the hell’s been going on, as he meets a Drakh. They were servants of the Shadows, but they were left directionless when the Shadows buggered off beyond the rim and left homeless when Z’ha’dum was destroyed. They came to Centauri Prime because the Shadows used this as a base. They manipulated events to make the Centauri pariahs on the galactic stage, and also leave them in such terrible shape that they would need the Drakh’s help to rebuild. The Drakh have also borrowed a page from Mollari’s playbook: they’ve placed fusion bombs all over Centauri Prime. If Mollari doesn’t do as the Drakh wish, they’ll set off the bombs, killing billions beyond the millions who are already dying from the Narn-Drazi bombardment.
Sheridan arrives at Centauri Prime with a fleet of White Stars, and demands that the Narn and Drazi stand down. Na’Tok refuses, and points out that the Centauri fleet that was sent away is on their way back. They won’t care if the attack was authorized or not, and Sheridan can either join the fleet or get caught in the crossfire.
The Regent informs Mollari that the Regent himself is the scapegoat that will allow the war to end. After the Regent dies, Mollari will become emperor and he can order the fleet to stand down, saying that the Regent is responsible for all the awful things that have happened. Just before the Keeper leaves his shoulder and he dies in Mollari’s arms, the Regent admits that he has failed in his duties and responsibilities.
Mollari goes to G’Kar. He doesn’t share any information about the Drakh, but he does say that the Regent is dead and is responsible, and that Mollari is now emperor—which means G’Kar can no longer be his bodyguard. Mollari also warns G’Kar that he will hear strange things about the emperor in the coming years. G’Kar says he understands, and also forgives Mollari for everything he’s done.
Then Mollari goes to the Drakh, who extracts a Keeper from his person, which attaches itself to Mollari. The new emperor then calls off the Centauri fleet and surrenders to Sheridan, and declares that the Centauri Republic is withdrawing from the IA. Sheridan, in turn, demands reparations from the Centauri. Sheridan also informs Mollari of Delenn’s disappearance.
In private, Mollari begs the Drakh to spare Delenn. In public, Mollari meets with Sheridan and agrees to rescue Delenn, but it is a favor he is doing that Mollari will call upon to return some day. Mollari also claims that the Regent bought the Shadow tech used on the unstaffed ships that assaulted the cargo ships on the black market.
In hyperspace, the White Star has drifted off the beacon. As a last-ditch Hail Mary, Lennier fires the last of the weapons, hoping that will work as a flare. A Centauri fleet sees that and finds them. Thinking they’re about to die, Lennier confesses his love for Delenn, who replies, “I know”—
—and then the Centauri tow the White Star back to normal space. Lennier thumphers, and Delenn lets him off the hook, pretending she didn’t hear what he said.
Sheridan and Delenn are reunited on Centauri Prime. Along with G’Kar and Vir, they watch Mollari’s inaugural speech, in which he blames the Regent for the recent unpleasantness—but also excoriates Sheridan and the IA for their attack and their demand for reparations.
After the speech, Mollari urges them all to depart. He officially appoints Vir the Centauri ambassador to the IA. Sheridan and Delenn are understanding of his need to project strong leadership in light of what’s happened. Delenn also says she senses a darkness about Mollari.
Mollari then walks alone to his official inauguration.
Back on B5, Sheridan, Delenn, Garibaldi, Franklin, G’Kar, and Alexander meet to discuss the Shadow tech that the Centauri used. Franklin talks about how weapons from the Soviet Union went on the black market after that nation collapsed, and were later used to destroy San Diego. He worries about history repeating itself. When Garibaldi suggests going to the Vorlon homeworld to see what they can scrounge, Alexander unexpectedly says that the Vorlon homeworld is off-limits to the younger races for another million years—and Alexander has no idea how she knew that or why she said it.
Get the hell out of our galaxy! Sheridan proves to be utterly impotent and useless, as everything that happens is despite his best efforts, not because of them. He also seems very upset that Mollari won’t treat him as a friend, but only as a fellow politician.
If you value your lives, be somewhere else. Apparently, Mollari thinks highly enough of Delenn to beg the Drakh to allow him to rescue her.
In the glorious days of the Centauri Republic… The Centauri Republic ends the episode completely broken, utterly isolated, and under the secret control of allies of the Shadows.
Though it take a thousand years, we will be free. When G’Kar thanks Mollari for saving his life, the latter is dismissive, saying G’Kar would’ve done the same for him. G’Kar replies, “Yes, but I am the better person.”
The Shadowy Vorlons. Apparently, the Vorlons left their planetary defenses on, and also left an embedded message in Alexander’s brain to assure folks that they should stay away from their homeworld until they’re ready.
No sex, please, we’re EarthForce. Lennier admits his love for Delenn when he thinks he’s going to die, and Delenn pulls a Han Solo and says she knows—then she lets him off the hook when they wind up not dying. It’s all rather tiresome….
Looking ahead. More a “looking behind,” as the status quo on Centauri Prime that we saw in Sheridan’s jump forward in time in the “War Without End” two-parter is set in motion here, with Mollari being made emperor and receiving his Drakh Keeper.
The Drakh also mentions wanting to do their work on Centauri Prime without interference from the IA or anyone else. At least one aspect of that “work” will be seen in A Call to Arms and Crusade when they unleash a plague.
Welcome aboard. Back from “Movements of Fire and Shadow” are Wayne Alexander as the Drakh, Damian London as Virini, and Robin Sachs as Na’Tok. It’s the final appearance of all three in those particular roles. Alexander will be back as Lorien in “Sleeping in Light,” and also appear as a Drakh in the movie A Call to Arms and as Soul One in River of Souls. We’ll next see Sachs as Coplann in In the Beginning. Also Simon Billig makes the first of two appearances as a Ranger who’s there to give Sheridan someone to talk to; he’ll be back in “Objects at Rest.”
Trivial matters. The first scene in The Long Night of Centauri Prime, the first book in the “Legions of Fire” novel trilogy by the late great Peter David, is the scene from this episode of Mollari getting his Keeper. The trilogy then continues the story of Mollari’s reign as emperor over the next several years.
This episode has flashbacks to “Into the Fire” (Mollari using bombs to destroy Shadow ships, Morden rather prophetically swearing vengeance on the Centauri by the Shadows’ allies), “Born to the Purple” (Mollari and Adira in bed together), “The Parliament of Dreams” (Mollari getting very drunk), “The Coming of Shadows” (Mollari’s vision of him and G’Kar killing each other, G’Kar buying Mollari a drink), “The Long, Twilight Struggle” (Mollari watching the bombardment of the Narn homeworld), and “Darkness Ascending” (Delenn hugging a surprised Mollari).
This is Damian London’s last on-screen appearance in anything. He turned 67 the year this episode aired, and he’d been acting since the age of 16, so he likely retired after this. He died in 2022 at the age of 91.
Mollari first saw the Drakh in shadow when he stopped the prime minister from being assassinated in “In the Kingdom of the Blind.” The Shadows went off beyond the rim with the Vorlons and other First Ones in “Into the Fire.” Z’ha’dum was destroyed in “Epiphanies.” The Drakh’s animus toward Delenn was seen in “Lines of Communication.”
In the framing sequence of the movie In the Beginning, which takes place a decade and a half after this episode, most of the windows in the palace are boarded up, so the emperor can’t see the devastation on Centauri Prime. Vir makes the suggestion to board the windows to Mollari here.
In a rarity for this series, there was a “previously on Babylon 5” bit at the beginning to fill folks in, since the previous episode (a) ended on a cliffhanger, and (b) aired four months previous. In truth, the show should have done this on the regular….
The echoes of all of our conversations.
“When we first met, I had no power and all the choices I could wish to make. Now I have all the power I could ever want—and no choices at all. No choices at all…”
“Mollari, understand—I can never forgive your people for what they have done to our world. My people can never forgive your people. But I can forgive you.”
—Mollari and G’Kar having a moment.
The name of the place is Babylon 5. “I am still Centauri, and I am not afraid.” It’s funny, when B5 was ramping up in the early 1990s, the thing I was most dreading were the Centauri. Most of the aliens looked sufficiently alien and interesting, particularly the Minbari and Narn. But the Centauri looked like something out of a low-budget 1930s movie serial with their big eyebrows and ridiculous hair and outrageous accents. On top of that, the two actors playing the Centauri in the opening credits were the guy who played Sid the Snitch on Hill Street Blues and the guy who played Flounder in Animal House.
And then “The Gathering” aired, and Peter “Sid the Snitch” Jurasik’s Londo Mollari turned out to be one of the absolute best things about it. His lament to Garibaldi at how far the Centauri had fallen was magnificently written and delivered.
Here we are now toward the end of the series’ run and, contrary to my initial expectations and fears, the rise and fall of the Centauri Republic over the course of five seasons has absolutely been the best through-line of the series. Yes, they still look ridiculous, and yes, those accents are ludicrous (and inconsistently applied). But the writing and acting has just been superlative, from people you’d expect it from (Turhan Bey, Malachi Throne, Majel Barrett, Lois Nettleton, Jane Carr, Ian Oglivy, Gerritt Graham, Julian Barnes, Carmen Argenziano) and from actors whose performances were a pleasant surprise (Wortham Krimmer, William Forward, Blair Valk, Damian London, Fabia Udenio, and, of course, Jurasik and Stephen Furst).
This aptly titled episode concludes the Centauri arc in magnificent fashion. Jurasik perfectly plays Mollari’s helplessness as the noose slowly tightens around his neck without him able to do a damn thing about it. The only thing he manages to accomplish is save Delenn and Lennier’s lives.
(That is, by the by, the only part of the episode I dislike, as the entire Lennier-loves-Delenn arc has been oogy and reductive and tiresome. Delenn’s speech shouldn’t have been letting him off easy and pretending she didn’t hear him, she should’ve told him to grow the fuck up and get over his big self.)
The real tragedy of Londo Mollari here is that in the end he does what he’s always done: what he thinks is best for the Centauri people. This makes him rare among the aristocracy on his world—most of the people we see in that sphere are opportunists who are interested mainly in improving their personal positions. There are exceptions besides Mollari—Emperor Turhan, Urza Jaddo, Lord Jano—but they are few and far between, and, more to the point, they’re all dead.
Every decision Mollari makes is dictated by his desire to prevent loss of Centauri lives. The Drakh’s planting of fusion bombs is a masterstroke, especially since they got the idea from Mollari himself, and it cuts off Mollari’s attempts to negotiate with the Drakh at the knees. He isn’t Cartagia who assumes that the destruction of Centauri Prime will elevate him to godhood or Lord Refa who will do anything for more power. He’s a patriot, who does what he does for his home and his people. Sadly, the best he can do is mitigate the damage, as the Drakh’s plan is far too entrenched and subtle for Mollari to be able to do much about it at this late date. He does manage to keep his personal relationships with G’Kar, Sheridan, Delenn, and Vir in a decent place, though he is forced to utterly trash his political relationships with the former three.
And in the end, he sits on the throne, alone. Back in “The Hour of the Wolf,” G’Kar mused that Mollari was the loneliest person in the universe, and this episode bears that out. There were really only two people on Centauri Prime he trusts, G’Kar and Vir, and he sends them both away.
In truth, this is all his own damn fault. Back in “Signs and Portents,” he gave a good answer to Morden’s “What do you want?” query, and in “Chrysalis,” he agreed to let Morden’s “associates” destroy Quadrant 37. Every awful thing that has happened since then derives from that moment when Mollari agreed to let Morden do him that favor. And now he sits alone on a throne with great power and no power all at the same time.
It’s a bravura performance by Jurasik, magnificently aided and abetted by J. Michael Straczynski’s script and another superlative, spooky turn by London in his swan song, as well as Wayne Alexander’s magnificently creepy Drakh. This season has been hit-and-miss—and a lot more miss than hit—but what’s worked has been the stuff with the Centauri. Indeed, that has been the case from jump. These silly-looking people with their absurd hair and dopey accents and huge eyebrows have provided a brilliantly complex and nuanced political thriller over the course of these five years.
Next week: “The Wheel of Fire.”
I love this episode. In my opinion, whatever the shortcomings of the fifth season, the Centauri arc is worth the time.
A number of scenes from this episode will pop into my head from time to time, but three scenes rise above the rest: the Regent’s final speech, particular his final words; Londo’s ‘goodbye’ to G’Kar and G’Kar’s words of forgiveness; and finally, Londo looking back over the years and then walking to his inauguration alone (the score here just kills me every time).
I would agree with the criticism of the Delenn-Lennier scene as the weakest link, though. But I’ve been rather critical of Delenn’s poor management of Lennier’s feelings since the end of the fourth season.
ETA: I re-read the script book notes from JMS on this episode, and one thing jumped out at me. He says he was never happy with the Drakh. I’m a bit surprised by this. I thought they worked very well this season, especially this episode. I can see his dissatisfaction with the early depictions of the Drakh, since they didn’t quite work, but the Drakh in this episode was very memorable in my book.
I remember this episode well. I especially recall the moment when Londo gets the keeper. When we first learned through a flash-forward that Londo would end up kept, I had assumed that it would happen just like with Virini; that the keeper would be snuck onto him while he slept. When this aired and I saw that he made the choice (admittedly under duress) to take it on, I was moved by the lengths Londo will go to for his people.
It’s also the moment when he redeems himself, as foreseen by the Emperor Turhan’s wife.
That’s arguable. “Save the eye that does not see” was almost certainly saving G’Kar’s eye, which he could have stopped. “Do not kill the one who is already dead,” almost certainly was not killing Morden, because doing so doomed Centauri Prime. And the last, “Surrender to your greatest fear, knowing that it will destroy you” I don’t think you can plausibly argue to be related to the Keeper. WE, the audience, are afraid for Londo getting the Keeper because we’ve known about it for 2+ years at this point. But Londo had no clue Keepers even existed until this day. Not to mention that surrendering to the Keeper does NOT redeem Londo. It’s the best of several bad options, but it does not help him “avoid the fire that awaits him.” Centauri Prime STILL ends up getting devastated by Drakh fusion bombs in 2278, though not completely destroyed.
On the other hand, Londo has lived with the fear of dying at the hands of G’Kar for his whole life. At the end of his life, he surrenders his life to G’Kar, knowing it will mean his death, his destruction, but in doing so he saves Sheridan, Delenn, and David, allowing Vir to become Emperor and the resistance (written about in the Legions of Fire trilogy) to expel the Drakh and save his world. That’s what redeems Londo.
““Save the eye that does not see” was almost certainly saving G’Kar’s eye, which he could have stopped.”
Is it? Both G’Kar’s original eye and its bionic replacement can see. And if we’re talking about a cryptic prophecy, then “save the eye” probably means something more metaphorical than saving an actual eye.
Quoted on the Lurker’s Guide page for “Falling Toward Apotheosis” is this exchange:
Whether that’s JMS being cute or him confirming that this was Londo’s first chance to change his fate is up to individual interpretation.
Guide Page: “Falling Toward Apotheosis”
Ironically, JMS decided to put a “previously” recap at the start of this episode before he was informed that there would be a 4-month hiatus preceding it. According to his commentary, he just figured it was called for, since it was the climax to a lot of different threads so a reminder would be helpful. When the network people called to tell him about the hiatus and suggest he put a recap at the start of this episode, they were nonplussed when he told them he already had.
If Peter Jurasik had ever gotten a role with the depth of Londo on a more mainstream show, he’d have a lot more recognition and a few Emmys at the very least, maybe even some big film roles. Instead he’s Sid the Snitch for most people who know him at all.
When we first learned that Londo and G’kar would one day strangle each other to death, it made sense. They were bitter enemies. Then Sheridan’s flashforward filled in some details, though that “old friend” statement still felt a little ironic. But at this point, we finally see that it was sincerely meant. Those two enemies had reached a place where the other was the only one they could truly call a friend.
I’m glad JMS dropped the visual vibro-Drakh thing from Season 4’s “Lines of Communication.” That never made sense to me from any angle: atmosphere, storyline, or physics. And this way we’re able to actually enjoy Wayne Alexander’s portrayal. I remember hearing that JMS didn’t like the way the effect turned out. I just wonder what he was going for. It would have grown increasingly tedious if continued for this season.
Supposedly the reason for the Drakh smeariness in Season 4 was because they weren’t happy with the costume, so they tried to cover it up and make it look otherworldly in post-production. If that’s true, I don’t think it was ever intended by JMS, and everyone was almost certainly happier with the make-up and costume here.
Guide Page: “Lines of Communication”
I would guess the idea was either that the Drakh were partly extradimensional or that they used some kind of distortion field or holographic effect to avoid being clearly perceived, or perhaps to unnerve and intimidate people. The fact that the Drakh on Centauri Prime aren’t using the effect suggests the latter. Maybe they don’t need the camouflage there because they have control over the people they allow to see them, whether directly through the Keepers or indirectly through their control of powerful people in the court.
I’m glad we’re finally getting into some really good episodes again. It’s such a pity that it took half a season to get to the take-off roll, and another few episodes to get airborne.
For some reason, I used to be more invested in Lennier’s tragic unrequited love with Delenn. I can’t for the life of me imagine why. I know Straczynski thought it was a great plotline, but it’s just kind of skeevy on all sides.
Outside of that, there’s some fantastic character work in this episode, and great payoffs. That said, it does seem implausible to me that Londo can blame the regent and talk his people out of fighting back without any pushback or any of the Centauri military going rogue and shooting at the Alliance. I guess that’s one of the perks of being emperor. All in all, a minor nit for a good episode.
I think unrequited crush plot lines are, in general, more appealing when you’re younger and less experienced, and more frustrating if you’ve actually lived through/observed a couple of rounds of both sides (the unrequited piner and the person who has someone following them around but never says anything so they can be turned down, and also never takes steps to get over the crush).
That and the rise of incel culture has decreased sympathy for sad dudes who are sad because the woman they want isn’t interested in them, and takes their sadness out on other people.
Re: “Mollari, understand—I can never forgive your people for what they have done to our world. My people can never forgive your people. But I can forgive you.”
…apparently you’re unaware of the alternate version of that script with the alternate version of G’Kar.
Londo and G’Kar’s final moment alone is the one moment that always gets me every time I rewatch this episode. The way he tries to tell G’Kar his current perilous situation without being able to. Dropping little hints without letting on. And G’Kar just agreeing with his words without fully realizing the extent of Londo’s quagmire. He’s about to achieve his biggest ambition, but his conscience now knows the price he has to pay for the rest of his life. We couldn’t feel any more sorry for Londo in this moment than we already are.
And then G’Kar forgives him.
In the beginning of season 1, Sinclair told Londo a lot of things could change in 20 years. He was almost prophetic. It took five. I, for one, never expected it would happen, especially after Londo’s betrayal in “The Coming of Shadows”, when G’Kar wanted nothing but blood.
To me, G’Kar’s final personal words to Londo may just be the best apology and attempt at amends I’ve ever heard in my life. He doesn’t excuse the Centauri or ignore the fact that the Narn will never able to move past the scars of the occupation. He knows the past can’t be forgotten. But he finally finds it in his heart to bury the hatchet with Londo for both their sakes. Simple, yet immensely powerful words.
And the look on Jurasik’s face makes me emotional every time. To Londo at that moment, G’Kar’s words of forgiveness mean more to him than becoming Emperor. And he’ll never be able to share this moment again as he promptly takes the bullet for the surviving Centauri and allow the Keeper to take ahold of him. Heartbreaking, just heartbreaking.
To me, this isn’t only Babylon 5’s finest scene. It’s also one of the best scenes of any show before or since. It’s up there with Sisko watching elder Jake’s death, Kirk unable to cope with the loss of Edith Keeler or Picard telling a dying Dathon the tale of Gilgamesh. It’s Babylon 5’s biggest crowning moment in five seasons.
The Drakh’s plan was flawless, especially the way they aped Londo’s tactics. Presumably, some of those fusion bombs will go off in the coming years between this episode and Sheridan’s time travel. Obviously, the shots of the burning buildings on that future weren’t still a result of the Narn/Drazi bombing. They would be a result of weapons of mass destruction much closer to home.
While I agree the Delenn/Lennier side of the story is the weak link, I disagree with krad’s alternative solution. I don’t believe for a second that Delenn would ever tell Lennier to suppress his feelings or raise her voice in anger towards him, telling him to back off and cut it out. She simply isn’t able to. She can do that to other aliens and other Minbari – not him. Their entire relationship has been built on trust and devotion – his devotion. Not once in five seasons has she ever treated him in any other way than affection and gratitude. He never wavered. Even if she felt cornered by his more-than-friends approach to their relationship, she still wouldn’t push him rudely away.
While I agree with you that it is a strong moment, for me it is also a frustrating one. There really isn’t any obvious reason why Londo couldn’t have told G’Kar more directly. He doesn’t have a keeper yet and while the Drakh might have him under surveillance Londo is pretty good at evading surveillance when he wants to. It’s kind of the flip side of the Alliance not reading Londo in when they began to suspect problems among the Cenauri. There is a missed opportunity for collaboration to solve a common problem. In the end, Londo’s pride is still there, and still preventing him from putting his full trust in G’Kar. And ultimately this is to the detriment of the Centauri people who he is trying to save.
Of course, that’s how tragedy works. It wouldn’t be a proper tragedy if there wasn’t a better option that Londo just couldn’t take.
I think that with the Drakh holding billions of Centauri lives hostage with fusion bombs, Londo felt he couldn’t take the risk of telling G’Kar anything. If G’Kar or the Alliance started taking actions that suggested they knew the truth, it could tip the Drakh off that Londo had told them, and they would retaliate against the Centauri people.
Besides, Londo may be good at evading forms of surveillance he knows about, but he’s only just learned about the Drakh, and what he knows is that they have ways of remaining undetected and employ advanced technologies beyond what he’s familiar with. He had no way of knowing what kind of surveillance they might have been using, so how could he evade it?
Yes, that was presumably Londo’s reasoning. I don’t think the Drakh would have been that eager to play their trump card so readily, because it would permanently weaken their leverage, but that’s not a testable counterfactual. In any case, Londo decides the risk is too great. That’s understandable and I’m not saying I would necessarily have made a different decision in the same circumstances. But it stands in contrast to the previous examples the show sets out where leaps of faith pay off. I don’t think that’s an accident.
This would have been a great ending to the series, with “Sleeping in Light” as an epilogue.
I honestly don’t remember much of what happens next. Garibaldi sobers up and leaves, and that’s about it.
Basically we see everyone leave B5, heading off to different places for different reasons. It’s the end of an era (and the beginning of the end of B5 as an important place, although that takes some time to be obvious).
I’ve always though this arc shows G’Kar’s rise and Londo’s fall, but this rewatch has made me realize that’s not the case. Londo rises too, in that by the end of B5 he’s a significantly better person than he was at the start of the series (which is what makes his end here so tragic).