Babylon 5 s02e16 Episode Script
In the Shadow of Z'ha'dum
Zack, what do we got? Another 200 refugees in | from Sector 29.
We've got five more ships due.
We're turning the healthy ones around and sending them | to the Narn Homeworld but the injured, they're filling | every bed in Medlab.
If we could ship out some of the injured No can do.
Captain's orders.
They | don't leave until they're fit to travel.
Chief, I understand how he feels.
You see them come through here, | you feel for them.
But we're swamped.
Now, can't you at least talk to him? - Mr.
Morden.
| - Vir.
- I was expecting Ambassador Mollari.
| - He was recalled to Centauri Prime for consultations about the war effort.
| - How is your war going? Why do you ask me questions when | you already know the answers? Just making conversation.
Here, sit.
Sit.
You don't like me, do you, Vir? I find this surprising.
My associates and I are doing everything | we can to help your people reclaim their place in the galaxy.
I should think you'd be grateful.
Is there a reason you sent for me? I sent for Ambassador Mollari.
But you're here, he's not, | and it can wait.
If restoring the Centauri Republic | means nothing to you, what does? What do you want? I'd like to live long enough to be there | when they cut off your head and stick it on a pike as a warning | to the next 10 generations that some favors come | with too high a price.
I want to look up into your lifeless eyes | and wave, like this: Can you and your associates | arrange that for me? Here's the information | Ambassador Mollari asked for.
Give it to him when he arrives.
You can go now.
Mr.
Morden? Captain, you got a minute? Yeah, sure.
What's up? It's the Narn refugee situation again.
I need discretionary power on the injured.
I thought we could handle it, | but there are so many coming through.
I mean, it's hard, Michael.
| They're a proud people.
To see them humbled like this is All right.
Tell Franklin to have his people | separate out the injured.
Light cases get first aid only.
| Then load them on the first ship out.
Critical cases get taken to Medlab | on a priority basis.
And the dying? Medlab.
Earth Central will say it's | a waste of resources.
I won't have people dying, cold | and alone, on the docking bay.
Understood.
The Icarus? Yes, the science vessel my wife was on | when she passed away.
I've been putting off sorting | through the last of her stuff.
What to keep, what to throw away.
She'd sent me a whole | breakdown of the mission: Crew, personnel when they were supposed | to come back.
I read about this when it happened.
I'm sorry.
- Mind if I look? | - There's nothing personal in it.
I mean, she didn't know | anybody else onboard.
Whoa.
Wait a second.
I know this guy.
I've seen him around.
That's impossible.
He was on the Icarus | when it exploded.
No, captain, | I know what I'm talking about.
I've seen him.
He's alive.
The Babylon Project was our last, | best hope for peace.
A self-contained world, five miles long, | located in neutral territory.
A place of commerce and diplomacy for a quarter of a million | humans and aliens.
A shining beacon in space, | all alone in the night.
It was the dawn | of the Third Age of mankind.
The year the Great War | came upon us all.
This is the story of the last | of the Babylon stations.
The year is 2259.
| The name of the place is Babylon 5.
That's him.
I never forget a face.
| Morden, same ID as on the Icarus.
He's supposed to be dead.
- Why didn't the Security Net catch him? | - Captain, come on.
We don't get every death certificate | from every ship and colony.
If he'd broken station rules or gotten into | any fights, we'd have run a full check.
He hasn't done anything | to attract attention.
When was he last here? Customs log shows he arrived here | two days ago.
Date of departure He's still here.
Find him.
Bring him here.
I don't care if you have to seal off | the whole station, I want him found.
I want to know what he's doing here.
And why he's alive when my wife | and everyone else who was onboard the Icarus | with him is dead.
Yes? Ms.
Winters? Pierce Macabee.
I sent you a note earlier.
Oh, yes, I just got it a little while ago.
I'm sorry, we had a conference | come through here.
Not a problem.
May I? - Of course.
| - Thank you.
So, what can I do for you? It's more a question of what | I can do for you.
And what we can do for Earth.
I'm regional director of the | newly formed Ministry of Peace or "Mini-Pax," as we like to call it.
We're rounding up support | for a series of new programs.
What kind of programs? Folks back home are nervous | about all the fighting.
They need reassurance.
They need an | environment dedicated to peace, not war.
We can't have peace with our neighbors | until we're at peace with ourselves.
So we are trying to find | new ways to do just that ways we can better help each other, | work with each other.
For the next two days, I will be giving | presentations in the lecture hall in Blue 6.
Just station personnel | and a few handpicked others.
I've spoken to your superiors back home | and based on their recommendations I'd like very much for you | to hear what we're offering.
Please say yes.
All right.
I'll try.
Monitoring Narn patient 15: Currently undergoing surgery to repair | damage to cardiovascular system.
Monitoring Narn patient 16: | Condition critical but stable.
- Doc.
| - I'm awake, I'm awake.
What is it? What? What? I just downloaded your medical log.
You haven't slept for 36 hours.
Yeah, I've been kind of busy.
I took some stims to get me through.
They're no substitute for food or sleep.
Yeah, well, I've got work to do.
And doctors who can do it | as well as you.
- Thanks for the vote of confidence.
| - I'm not playing.
I'm relieving you.
| Go to your quarters and sleep.
Six hours minimum.
| Then report to the mess hall and eat.
I'll join you there.
- But | - I mean it.
You're no use to me, | or anyone else, in this condition.
All right.
All right.
Here you go.
- Identicard.
| - Of course.
- Is there a problem? | - No.
No problem.
Step over there for a minute.
Let me get these others through.
| It's routine.
You said there wasn't a problem.
There won't be | if you'll just step over there.
I don't think that will be necessary.
Nice shoes.
I'll admit my knowledge | of the law is somewhat limited but I believe it's tradition | if you're going to hold someone you should at least charge him | with something.
Very pretty.
"Anna Sheridan.
" Is this supposed to mean something? - Departed Station Prime | five weeks ago on a planned six-month scientific | and archaeological mission to the Rim.
The last message received from Icarus | gave no sign of the problem that led That.
Yes, I was onboard the Icarus.
| I don't remember what happened.
I don't remember how I survived.
A passing transport found the wreck.
And I was outside, unconscious, | floating in an EVA suit.
I must have been outside working | when it exploded.
The shock and the trauma wiped | out my memory of what happened.
Why didn't you tell Earth Central | you were alive? It was months before I could remember | my name, much less file a report.
When I was back on my feet, | I sent a message to Earth Central.
I guess they never received it.
You're a damned liar.
I'm sorry you feel that way, captain, | but there's nothing I can do about that.
If there's nothing else, I'd like to You're not leaving.
- You can't do this.
| - Watch me.
You're gonna have to charge me | with something.
And last I heard, | being alive is not a crime.
You seem to have forgotten | something, Mr.
Morden.
Earth Central thinks you're dead.
Until I send them my report, | you are still dead.
That means you've got no rights, | no legal recourse no one to miss you | if you don't turn up.
You're playing a very dangerous | game, captain.
It could cost you your command.
One hundred and thirty-nine people | died onboard the Icarus, Mr.
Morden.
Including my wife.
And here you sit, not a scratch.
| Now, something here doesn't add up.
I intend to find out what happened.
| What really happened.
If necessary, you will sit here | for the next hour the next day, the next week, | the next month the next year, the next 500 years! But you will not leave here | until I know the truth.
Better? You've been pretty quiet.
| Did you get any sleep? As soon as my head hit the pillow.
I just had some bad dreams.
- About what? | - It's nothing.
It must be something | if it's bothering you.
Sometimes, before I fall asleep, | I close my eyes and see the face of every patient | that I ever lost.
They're always there waiting for me | right behind my eyelids, every night.
These past couple of days, | we've lost a lot of Narns, Susan.
This damned war with the Centauri.
I know.
They just keep coming.
They're crammed into | those refugee ships like sardines.
Sick, wounded.
By the time they get here, | half of them are beyond hope.
Beyond help, yes.
Beyond hope Do you believe in God, Susan? I suppose.
I mean, I was raised a Jew.
| I went to temple.
I was bat mitzvahed.
I didn't ask about your adolescence.
| I asked if you believe in God.
Most of the time.
Do you? I'm a Foundationist.
I've never heard of that one.
It's fairly new, only been around | about a hundred years.
One of a bunch that sprouted | after we had made contact with aliens.
See, the idea is that God is too big | to be defined by words.
Sort of like Zeno's Paradox.
There's an infinite number of dots | between you and the object.
The closer you get to defining God, | the further away it gets.
Okay.
What does that | have to do with this? You know, when a patient | starts to slip away I mean, he looks at you.
His eyes grab hold of you | the way a drowning man grabs hold of anything | to keep from sinking.
Afraid.
So afraid.
And then, just at the last, it's as if | they look past you to something else.
And the look on their face, | it's like nothing you can describe.
And then, just as they look past you the moment that they look past you, | you can't help but meet their gaze and just for an instant, | you see God reflected in their eyes.
I've seen a lot of reflected gods today, | Susan.
And I'm wondering how we | can keep believing in them when they've stopped believing in us.
- What was the color of the transport? | - We've been over this.
- The color? | - Gray.
- Two hours ago, you said white.
| - No, I didn't.
- What was the ship's ID? | - I don't remember.
- Where did it take you? | - A medstation on the Vega Colony.
There's no record of you being there.
| Why? I was unconscious most of the time.
| They didn't have much information.
- How many days did it take to get there? | - Three, I think.
It's a five-day jump to the Vega system.
| What was the doctor's name? What was the transport's ID? | What was the name of her captain? - What happened to the Icarus?! | - I told you, I don't know.
I don't remember.
You better start remembering, mister because when I'm done with you, | you'll wish you had died on the Icarus.
In the last 10 years, Earth has rebuilt | its defenses magnificently.
We can protect our people | from physical harm but is that enough? We cannot hope to make peace | with other civilizations until we have found peace | with ourselves.
And that, quite simply, is what | the Ministry of Peace is all about.
Now, as Babylon 5 has an early warning | system to detect possible attacks we at the Ministry of Peace | have created a system of our own.
We call it the Night Watch, | named after those brave citizens who stood vigil in the darkness | against possible enemies.
It's a completely volunteer organization, | officially endorsed by Earth Dome.
Members receive 50 credits per week above and beyond their regular salaries | for services rendered.
What kind of services? Just to be present wearing the colors | of the Night Watch.
Raise public awareness, make them | start thinking about peace about the way they treat one another.
I can't believe Earth would pay us | 50 credits a week just to walk around.
Correct.
As the name implies, | you must also be watchful.
Peace can be made or broken | with a gun, a word, an idea even a thought.
Now, those who work against peace | sow the seeds of discontent.
They plant false stories.
| They undermine the public good.
It's not | because they are necessarily evil it's because they don't know better.
| They're unhappy.
They lash out in the only way they can.
If we are made aware of these problems | as they occur then we can find these people.
We can talk to these people.
We can | embrace them in the arms of society while at the same time | protecting society from misinformation and harmful ideas.
We're less interested in actions | than we are in attitudes.
We must help protect society | against its own worst instincts.
By taking these bold steps, we will help | to insure a better future for everyone.
I'm proud to be a part of it, | and I hope you'll all join me in becoming a part of the Night Watch.
I think I'm getting to him.
The more I pick his story apart, | the more it doesn't add up.
All I need is to find one verifiable lie You've had this guy for over 10 hours.
| You still haven't charged him.
- I'm aware of that, Mr.
Garibaldi.
| - No, I don't think you are.
Look, sometimes I play things | fast and loose.
But inside this office, I play it | by the book.
This ain't even close.
- I'll assume responsibility.
| - Can't do that.
Every prisoner is my direct responsibility.
I'm the one who's accountable, | and I'll be brought up on charges.
You can't look at him and tell me | you think he is legit! - He's hiding something.
| - Of course he is.
So are half the people here, | but you can't arrest them for it.
His station record is clean as a whistle.
Look, I know you're doing this | because of your wife.
I understand that.
Let me cut him loose.
| I'll find something to charge him with.
I won't let him out of the box, | not when I am this close.
He might jump ship! | I can't let that happen! You can't interrogate someone | for 10 hours without charges.
- The regs say | - Mr.
Garibaldi interpreting regulations for an officer | can be considered insubordination.
So now what? You'd charge me with insubordination? | You wanna lock me up in the next cell? You pulled the trigger on this one.
| You better be prepared to back it up.
I just need more time, Michael, that's all.
If he knows what happened to Anna If he is somehow responsible for I'm sorry, I can't let him go.
Well, I'm sorry too.
I can't be here as chief of security | while something like this goes on.
Either it stops, or I resign, | effective immediately.
What will it be, captain? You wanted to see me, captain? Mr.
Garibaldi has taken | a brief leave of absence.
On this short notice? | He wouldn't Until his return, I'm putting you in charge | of the prisoner.
- No one is to see him or talk to him.
| - Yes, sir.
- Yes? | - Vir Cotto asking to see you, captain.
- It will have to wait.
| - He says it's urgent.
All right.
Tell him I'll see him | in my office in 10 minutes.
- This shouldn't take long.
| - Yes, sir.
Anything else? Find Talia Winters.
Bring her here.
I'm short on time, so if you'll | please tell me what is so urgent It's about Mr.
Morden.
You know him? Ambassador Mollari has had | some dealings with him.
I have orders to ask | for his immediate release.
What makes you think we have him? He had an appointment | to pick up materials.
Mr.
Morden | never misses an appointment.
The station's records show | that he didn't leave so I conclude that you must have him.
| - We do.
We're holding him for questioning.
- Regarding? | - I'm afraid that's confidential.
Ambassador Mollari has asked for me | to insist upon his immediate release.
As official guest of the Centauri Republic, | he is eligible for diplomatic immunity.
Now, that is an awfully long way to go | on behalf of this guy.
Why? What's he mean to Londo? Who is he? He must have a lot of clout | with the Centauri.
But so far as he's told us, | he's just an ordinary trader.
I'm sorry, that's an internal matter.
But I've told you we are extending | diplomatic immunity to Mr.
Morden so please release him.
Diplomatic immunity only applies when | the subject is charged with a crime.
So far, Mr.
Morden hasn't been charged.
We're holding him in protective custody.
Protecting him from what? I haven't decided yet.
| Good day, Mr.
Cotto.
May I talk to you about this Morden? - Get in line.
| - I just spoke to Garibaldi.
- I assume he briefed you.
| - He did.
- You know everything you need to know.
| - No, I don't.
Captain, listen.
It's an executive officer's responsibility | to notify you if you're becoming - Irrational? | - That's as good a word as any.
Thank you for your notification.
| Now, if you don't mind Captain, look, you're forcing me | to report this.
I don't wanna do that.
| Don't you understand? I do understand, commander.
| I know how I look and sound.
But I have to do this.
For 10 years, the only things that | mattered to me were my wife and career.
When she died, she took the best part | of me with her.
I survived by telling myself that it was | an accident, like everybody said and focusing on the one other thing | that I had left, my job.
And now suddenly, | that's all turned upside down.
Maybe she was killed by that man | sitting in isolation right now.
If you were in my position, | would you let him go if you had that doubt in your mind? | Could you? No, I couldn't.
Neither can I.
Because the other possibility is that | if he is alive, then maybe she is alive.
And either way, I have to know because without that, | nothing else means one damn.
I'm sorry, captain, | but I can 't oblige you on this.
Psi Corps rules prohibit unauthorized | scans in civil or criminal investigations.
How can it be unauthorized? According to Earth Central records, | he is supposed to be dead.
Can a dead man object? You're using the letter of the law | to defeat the spirit of the law.
If you can get him to agree to a scan, | without duress - He won't.
| - Then there's nothing I can do.
All right.
If you'll please wait | outside for just a minute.
- Morden is in l-15, correct? | - Yes, sir.
I imagine it's getting | pretty ripe in there by now.
I want him moved immediately | to a holding cell, say 23.
- All right, but why? | - Escort Ms.
Winters back to her quarters.
Through Blue 7.
But that will put her in the same hall | as Morden.
- They'll pass each other.
| - Yes, they will.
I got her.
Get him out of here.
You all right? Are you sure you're all right? I think so.
It was terrible, like falling | into a bottomless well and cold, so cold.
And just for a second, | I thought I saw this What? What did you see? A shape.
I don't know.
It was probably nothing.
Still, you should make a full report.
I think I just did.
Ms.
Winters, for what it's worth, | I'm sorry.
I didn't think it I guess I had that coming.
I guess you did.
Hope it was worth it.
Her reaction tells me there's | more to this guy than I thought.
And that's a start.
Yeah, I suppose so.
Look, can I give you a piece of advice? Why not? Everybody else has.
I've seen what a loved one's death | can do to people.
It's played out here every day.
It can destroy you by making you | forget that you're not alone.
Look, you and I, our job descriptions | are different.
But inside, we both carry the silly notion | that we can fix everything.
Well, we can't.
And you have to face that.
That you don't have to face it alone.
Captain we have to speak with you | about Mr.
Morden.
You must release him at once.
You too? The both of you? Why is everyone | so interested in this guy? You simply have to trust us, captain.
If you do not release him quickly, | everyone here is in terrible danger.
No.
Not until I get some answers | once and for all.
If this is the only way, then we | will give you those answers.
But be warned, | once you know his secret what we've known for three years, | you will never sleep well again.
Come, captain, the greatest nightmare | of our time is waiting for you.
There are beings in the universe billions | of years older than either of our races.
Once, long ago, they walked | among the stars like giants vast and timeless.
They taught the younger races, | explored beyond the Rim created great empires.
But to all things, there is an end.
Slowly, over a million years, | the First Ones went away.
Some passed beyond the stars, | never to return.
Some simply disappeared.
Delenn I'm sure this is interesting, but what | does this have to do with Morden? Not all of the First Ones have gone away.
A few stayed behind, hidden or asleep waiting for the day | when they may be needed when the Shadows come again.
- Shadows? | - We have no other name for them.
The Shadows were old when | even the Ancients were young.
They battled one another over | and over across a million years.
The last great war against the Shadows | was 10,000 years ago.
It was the last time the Ancients | walked openly among us.
But the Shadows were only defeated, | not destroyed.
A thousand years ago, the Shadows | returned to their places of power rebuilt them and began to | stretch forth their hand.
Before they could strike, they were | defeated by an alliance of worlds including the Minbari and the few remaining First Ones | who have not yet passed beyond the veil.
When they had finished, | the First Ones went away.
All but one.
There's still one of them left? Where? That is why Kosh cannot leave | his encounter suit.
He would be recognized.
Recognized? By whom? Everyone.
For centuries, the Vorlons stood alone, | the last remaining guardians watching and waiting.
Then, last year, I sent Kosh a message.
- Did you see Ambassador Kosh? | - I did.
Did you relay my question precisely word for word? I did.
His reaction? Just one word.
He said, "Yes.
" If "yes" was the answer what was the question? Have the Shadows returned | to Z'ha'dum? Z'ha'dum? That's the world G'Kar's | been warning us about all year.
Sheridan, learn.
Icarus, your wife's ship sent to investigate the ruins | of an ancient race no one has ever heard of before.
Z'ha 'dum.
Anna.
The Icarus, they found something.
- They woke something up.
| - Yes.
The Shadows could not allow them | to leave in case they might warn others.
Those who would not serve were killed.
But were they all killed? Delenn, maybe some of them | were kept alive as prisoners.
Anna might still be alive.
| Morden Must be released! After what you just showed me, | how can you ask me to let him go? Because right now, they do not know | how much we know.
The last time the Shadows lost | because they moved too quickly.
Now they are being careful, | gathering their forces slowly.
If you push Morden, sooner or later, | he will tell you what happened.
Then he will be killed, | and you will be killed.
The Shadows will move now, | before we're ready for them.
- How are they going to know? | - Because Morden is never alone! Listen to me.
Aside from the Vorlons we do not have the First Ones | to help us this time.
We are on our own.
We will have only one chance | to stop them, and if we fail billions will die.
There comes a moment when | each of us must pledge himself to something greater than himself.
You told G'Kar he had to decide | between revenge and the good of his own people.
Now you must make the same decision, | captain.
It will be the most important decision | of your life.
It's late, captain.
| You want to get some sleep? - Zack? | - Sir? You ever studied ancient history? | Twentieth century, World War II? Well, not really.
I always used to fall asleep | in history class.
The Germans had a secret code they | used for all their important messages.
It was called Enigma.
What they didn't know was that | the British had cracked the code.
Churchill's people intercepted a message | authorizing the bombing of Coventry.
Now, if they evacuated Coventry the Germans would know their code | had been broken and switch systems.
If that happened, it could | cost the Allies the entire war.
If they didn't evacuate the city hundreds of innocent men, | women and children would die.
So, what happened? They kept the secret.
There was no evacuation.
And on November 14, 1940 Coventry was destroyed.
The dead were piled up like cordwood.
I've seen newsreels of Churchill | visiting the ruins a few days later.
And you could just see it in his eyes the knowledge of what he'd done.
It was dark, haunted.
All these years, I've never been able | to get that image out of my head.
I'm glad it's a decision | I don't have to make.
I don't think I could live with myself.
How many lives is a secret worth? What was that sound? We've been picking it up | from the new cell.
We just put a new microphone in there, | but I guess it's malfunctioning.
"Never alone," she said.
Can you adjust the monitor? Scan on different wavelengths, | infrared, ultraviolet? - Yeah, I think so.
| - Do it! Stop! What? What did you see? Nothing.
Shadows.
Cut him loose.
Tell him it was all a mistake | and he can go.
You're sure? I cut him loose.
You were right.
I was wrong.
Come on back to work.
- What happened to change your mind? | - I'd rather not talk about that.
I'm not so sure I like the sound of that.
Next time, you'll listen to me? There won't be a next time.
Thanks.
Hey, captain you sure you're okay? Is he all right? I don't know.
- What's that? | - What? Oh, nothing.
What the hell.
| Earth wants to throw around its money who am I to say no? Fifty extra credits a week to walk around | and do what I do anyway? Why not? I let him go.
But there is a price tag attached.
You've been trying to help me | so we can understand each other.
It's not what I want anymore.
I want you to teach me | how to fight them.
How to beat them.
Because sooner or later, | I'm going to Z'ha'dum.
I'm going to stop them.
If you go to Z'ha'dum, you will die.
Then I die.
But I will not go down easily, | and I will not go down alone.
You will teach me? Yes.
We've got five more ships due.
We're turning the healthy ones around and sending them | to the Narn Homeworld but the injured, they're filling | every bed in Medlab.
If we could ship out some of the injured No can do.
Captain's orders.
They | don't leave until they're fit to travel.
Chief, I understand how he feels.
You see them come through here, | you feel for them.
But we're swamped.
Now, can't you at least talk to him? - Mr.
Morden.
| - Vir.
- I was expecting Ambassador Mollari.
| - He was recalled to Centauri Prime for consultations about the war effort.
| - How is your war going? Why do you ask me questions when | you already know the answers? Just making conversation.
Here, sit.
Sit.
You don't like me, do you, Vir? I find this surprising.
My associates and I are doing everything | we can to help your people reclaim their place in the galaxy.
I should think you'd be grateful.
Is there a reason you sent for me? I sent for Ambassador Mollari.
But you're here, he's not, | and it can wait.
If restoring the Centauri Republic | means nothing to you, what does? What do you want? I'd like to live long enough to be there | when they cut off your head and stick it on a pike as a warning | to the next 10 generations that some favors come | with too high a price.
I want to look up into your lifeless eyes | and wave, like this: Can you and your associates | arrange that for me? Here's the information | Ambassador Mollari asked for.
Give it to him when he arrives.
You can go now.
Mr.
Morden? Captain, you got a minute? Yeah, sure.
What's up? It's the Narn refugee situation again.
I need discretionary power on the injured.
I thought we could handle it, | but there are so many coming through.
I mean, it's hard, Michael.
| They're a proud people.
To see them humbled like this is All right.
Tell Franklin to have his people | separate out the injured.
Light cases get first aid only.
| Then load them on the first ship out.
Critical cases get taken to Medlab | on a priority basis.
And the dying? Medlab.
Earth Central will say it's | a waste of resources.
I won't have people dying, cold | and alone, on the docking bay.
Understood.
The Icarus? Yes, the science vessel my wife was on | when she passed away.
I've been putting off sorting | through the last of her stuff.
What to keep, what to throw away.
She'd sent me a whole | breakdown of the mission: Crew, personnel when they were supposed | to come back.
I read about this when it happened.
I'm sorry.
- Mind if I look? | - There's nothing personal in it.
I mean, she didn't know | anybody else onboard.
Whoa.
Wait a second.
I know this guy.
I've seen him around.
That's impossible.
He was on the Icarus | when it exploded.
No, captain, | I know what I'm talking about.
I've seen him.
He's alive.
The Babylon Project was our last, | best hope for peace.
A self-contained world, five miles long, | located in neutral territory.
A place of commerce and diplomacy for a quarter of a million | humans and aliens.
A shining beacon in space, | all alone in the night.
It was the dawn | of the Third Age of mankind.
The year the Great War | came upon us all.
This is the story of the last | of the Babylon stations.
The year is 2259.
| The name of the place is Babylon 5.
That's him.
I never forget a face.
| Morden, same ID as on the Icarus.
He's supposed to be dead.
- Why didn't the Security Net catch him? | - Captain, come on.
We don't get every death certificate | from every ship and colony.
If he'd broken station rules or gotten into | any fights, we'd have run a full check.
He hasn't done anything | to attract attention.
When was he last here? Customs log shows he arrived here | two days ago.
Date of departure He's still here.
Find him.
Bring him here.
I don't care if you have to seal off | the whole station, I want him found.
I want to know what he's doing here.
And why he's alive when my wife | and everyone else who was onboard the Icarus | with him is dead.
Yes? Ms.
Winters? Pierce Macabee.
I sent you a note earlier.
Oh, yes, I just got it a little while ago.
I'm sorry, we had a conference | come through here.
Not a problem.
May I? - Of course.
| - Thank you.
So, what can I do for you? It's more a question of what | I can do for you.
And what we can do for Earth.
I'm regional director of the | newly formed Ministry of Peace or "Mini-Pax," as we like to call it.
We're rounding up support | for a series of new programs.
What kind of programs? Folks back home are nervous | about all the fighting.
They need reassurance.
They need an | environment dedicated to peace, not war.
We can't have peace with our neighbors | until we're at peace with ourselves.
So we are trying to find | new ways to do just that ways we can better help each other, | work with each other.
For the next two days, I will be giving | presentations in the lecture hall in Blue 6.
Just station personnel | and a few handpicked others.
I've spoken to your superiors back home | and based on their recommendations I'd like very much for you | to hear what we're offering.
Please say yes.
All right.
I'll try.
Monitoring Narn patient 15: Currently undergoing surgery to repair | damage to cardiovascular system.
Monitoring Narn patient 16: | Condition critical but stable.
- Doc.
| - I'm awake, I'm awake.
What is it? What? What? I just downloaded your medical log.
You haven't slept for 36 hours.
Yeah, I've been kind of busy.
I took some stims to get me through.
They're no substitute for food or sleep.
Yeah, well, I've got work to do.
And doctors who can do it | as well as you.
- Thanks for the vote of confidence.
| - I'm not playing.
I'm relieving you.
| Go to your quarters and sleep.
Six hours minimum.
| Then report to the mess hall and eat.
I'll join you there.
- But | - I mean it.
You're no use to me, | or anyone else, in this condition.
All right.
All right.
Here you go.
- Identicard.
| - Of course.
- Is there a problem? | - No.
No problem.
Step over there for a minute.
Let me get these others through.
| It's routine.
You said there wasn't a problem.
There won't be | if you'll just step over there.
I don't think that will be necessary.
Nice shoes.
I'll admit my knowledge | of the law is somewhat limited but I believe it's tradition | if you're going to hold someone you should at least charge him | with something.
Very pretty.
"Anna Sheridan.
" Is this supposed to mean something? - Departed Station Prime | five weeks ago on a planned six-month scientific | and archaeological mission to the Rim.
The last message received from Icarus | gave no sign of the problem that led That.
Yes, I was onboard the Icarus.
| I don't remember what happened.
I don't remember how I survived.
A passing transport found the wreck.
And I was outside, unconscious, | floating in an EVA suit.
I must have been outside working | when it exploded.
The shock and the trauma wiped | out my memory of what happened.
Why didn't you tell Earth Central | you were alive? It was months before I could remember | my name, much less file a report.
When I was back on my feet, | I sent a message to Earth Central.
I guess they never received it.
You're a damned liar.
I'm sorry you feel that way, captain, | but there's nothing I can do about that.
If there's nothing else, I'd like to You're not leaving.
- You can't do this.
| - Watch me.
You're gonna have to charge me | with something.
And last I heard, | being alive is not a crime.
You seem to have forgotten | something, Mr.
Morden.
Earth Central thinks you're dead.
Until I send them my report, | you are still dead.
That means you've got no rights, | no legal recourse no one to miss you | if you don't turn up.
You're playing a very dangerous | game, captain.
It could cost you your command.
One hundred and thirty-nine people | died onboard the Icarus, Mr.
Morden.
Including my wife.
And here you sit, not a scratch.
| Now, something here doesn't add up.
I intend to find out what happened.
| What really happened.
If necessary, you will sit here | for the next hour the next day, the next week, | the next month the next year, the next 500 years! But you will not leave here | until I know the truth.
Better? You've been pretty quiet.
| Did you get any sleep? As soon as my head hit the pillow.
I just had some bad dreams.
- About what? | - It's nothing.
It must be something | if it's bothering you.
Sometimes, before I fall asleep, | I close my eyes and see the face of every patient | that I ever lost.
They're always there waiting for me | right behind my eyelids, every night.
These past couple of days, | we've lost a lot of Narns, Susan.
This damned war with the Centauri.
I know.
They just keep coming.
They're crammed into | those refugee ships like sardines.
Sick, wounded.
By the time they get here, | half of them are beyond hope.
Beyond help, yes.
Beyond hope Do you believe in God, Susan? I suppose.
I mean, I was raised a Jew.
| I went to temple.
I was bat mitzvahed.
I didn't ask about your adolescence.
| I asked if you believe in God.
Most of the time.
Do you? I'm a Foundationist.
I've never heard of that one.
It's fairly new, only been around | about a hundred years.
One of a bunch that sprouted | after we had made contact with aliens.
See, the idea is that God is too big | to be defined by words.
Sort of like Zeno's Paradox.
There's an infinite number of dots | between you and the object.
The closer you get to defining God, | the further away it gets.
Okay.
What does that | have to do with this? You know, when a patient | starts to slip away I mean, he looks at you.
His eyes grab hold of you | the way a drowning man grabs hold of anything | to keep from sinking.
Afraid.
So afraid.
And then, just at the last, it's as if | they look past you to something else.
And the look on their face, | it's like nothing you can describe.
And then, just as they look past you the moment that they look past you, | you can't help but meet their gaze and just for an instant, | you see God reflected in their eyes.
I've seen a lot of reflected gods today, | Susan.
And I'm wondering how we | can keep believing in them when they've stopped believing in us.
- What was the color of the transport? | - We've been over this.
- The color? | - Gray.
- Two hours ago, you said white.
| - No, I didn't.
- What was the ship's ID? | - I don't remember.
- Where did it take you? | - A medstation on the Vega Colony.
There's no record of you being there.
| Why? I was unconscious most of the time.
| They didn't have much information.
- How many days did it take to get there? | - Three, I think.
It's a five-day jump to the Vega system.
| What was the doctor's name? What was the transport's ID? | What was the name of her captain? - What happened to the Icarus?! | - I told you, I don't know.
I don't remember.
You better start remembering, mister because when I'm done with you, | you'll wish you had died on the Icarus.
In the last 10 years, Earth has rebuilt | its defenses magnificently.
We can protect our people | from physical harm but is that enough? We cannot hope to make peace | with other civilizations until we have found peace | with ourselves.
And that, quite simply, is what | the Ministry of Peace is all about.
Now, as Babylon 5 has an early warning | system to detect possible attacks we at the Ministry of Peace | have created a system of our own.
We call it the Night Watch, | named after those brave citizens who stood vigil in the darkness | against possible enemies.
It's a completely volunteer organization, | officially endorsed by Earth Dome.
Members receive 50 credits per week above and beyond their regular salaries | for services rendered.
What kind of services? Just to be present wearing the colors | of the Night Watch.
Raise public awareness, make them | start thinking about peace about the way they treat one another.
I can't believe Earth would pay us | 50 credits a week just to walk around.
Correct.
As the name implies, | you must also be watchful.
Peace can be made or broken | with a gun, a word, an idea even a thought.
Now, those who work against peace | sow the seeds of discontent.
They plant false stories.
| They undermine the public good.
It's not | because they are necessarily evil it's because they don't know better.
| They're unhappy.
They lash out in the only way they can.
If we are made aware of these problems | as they occur then we can find these people.
We can talk to these people.
We can | embrace them in the arms of society while at the same time | protecting society from misinformation and harmful ideas.
We're less interested in actions | than we are in attitudes.
We must help protect society | against its own worst instincts.
By taking these bold steps, we will help | to insure a better future for everyone.
I'm proud to be a part of it, | and I hope you'll all join me in becoming a part of the Night Watch.
I think I'm getting to him.
The more I pick his story apart, | the more it doesn't add up.
All I need is to find one verifiable lie You've had this guy for over 10 hours.
| You still haven't charged him.
- I'm aware of that, Mr.
Garibaldi.
| - No, I don't think you are.
Look, sometimes I play things | fast and loose.
But inside this office, I play it | by the book.
This ain't even close.
- I'll assume responsibility.
| - Can't do that.
Every prisoner is my direct responsibility.
I'm the one who's accountable, | and I'll be brought up on charges.
You can't look at him and tell me | you think he is legit! - He's hiding something.
| - Of course he is.
So are half the people here, | but you can't arrest them for it.
His station record is clean as a whistle.
Look, I know you're doing this | because of your wife.
I understand that.
Let me cut him loose.
| I'll find something to charge him with.
I won't let him out of the box, | not when I am this close.
He might jump ship! | I can't let that happen! You can't interrogate someone | for 10 hours without charges.
- The regs say | - Mr.
Garibaldi interpreting regulations for an officer | can be considered insubordination.
So now what? You'd charge me with insubordination? | You wanna lock me up in the next cell? You pulled the trigger on this one.
| You better be prepared to back it up.
I just need more time, Michael, that's all.
If he knows what happened to Anna If he is somehow responsible for I'm sorry, I can't let him go.
Well, I'm sorry too.
I can't be here as chief of security | while something like this goes on.
Either it stops, or I resign, | effective immediately.
What will it be, captain? You wanted to see me, captain? Mr.
Garibaldi has taken | a brief leave of absence.
On this short notice? | He wouldn't Until his return, I'm putting you in charge | of the prisoner.
- No one is to see him or talk to him.
| - Yes, sir.
- Yes? | - Vir Cotto asking to see you, captain.
- It will have to wait.
| - He says it's urgent.
All right.
Tell him I'll see him | in my office in 10 minutes.
- This shouldn't take long.
| - Yes, sir.
Anything else? Find Talia Winters.
Bring her here.
I'm short on time, so if you'll | please tell me what is so urgent It's about Mr.
Morden.
You know him? Ambassador Mollari has had | some dealings with him.
I have orders to ask | for his immediate release.
What makes you think we have him? He had an appointment | to pick up materials.
Mr.
Morden | never misses an appointment.
The station's records show | that he didn't leave so I conclude that you must have him.
| - We do.
We're holding him for questioning.
- Regarding? | - I'm afraid that's confidential.
Ambassador Mollari has asked for me | to insist upon his immediate release.
As official guest of the Centauri Republic, | he is eligible for diplomatic immunity.
Now, that is an awfully long way to go | on behalf of this guy.
Why? What's he mean to Londo? Who is he? He must have a lot of clout | with the Centauri.
But so far as he's told us, | he's just an ordinary trader.
I'm sorry, that's an internal matter.
But I've told you we are extending | diplomatic immunity to Mr.
Morden so please release him.
Diplomatic immunity only applies when | the subject is charged with a crime.
So far, Mr.
Morden hasn't been charged.
We're holding him in protective custody.
Protecting him from what? I haven't decided yet.
| Good day, Mr.
Cotto.
May I talk to you about this Morden? - Get in line.
| - I just spoke to Garibaldi.
- I assume he briefed you.
| - He did.
- You know everything you need to know.
| - No, I don't.
Captain, listen.
It's an executive officer's responsibility | to notify you if you're becoming - Irrational? | - That's as good a word as any.
Thank you for your notification.
| Now, if you don't mind Captain, look, you're forcing me | to report this.
I don't wanna do that.
| Don't you understand? I do understand, commander.
| I know how I look and sound.
But I have to do this.
For 10 years, the only things that | mattered to me were my wife and career.
When she died, she took the best part | of me with her.
I survived by telling myself that it was | an accident, like everybody said and focusing on the one other thing | that I had left, my job.
And now suddenly, | that's all turned upside down.
Maybe she was killed by that man | sitting in isolation right now.
If you were in my position, | would you let him go if you had that doubt in your mind? | Could you? No, I couldn't.
Neither can I.
Because the other possibility is that | if he is alive, then maybe she is alive.
And either way, I have to know because without that, | nothing else means one damn.
I'm sorry, captain, | but I can 't oblige you on this.
Psi Corps rules prohibit unauthorized | scans in civil or criminal investigations.
How can it be unauthorized? According to Earth Central records, | he is supposed to be dead.
Can a dead man object? You're using the letter of the law | to defeat the spirit of the law.
If you can get him to agree to a scan, | without duress - He won't.
| - Then there's nothing I can do.
All right.
If you'll please wait | outside for just a minute.
- Morden is in l-15, correct? | - Yes, sir.
I imagine it's getting | pretty ripe in there by now.
I want him moved immediately | to a holding cell, say 23.
- All right, but why? | - Escort Ms.
Winters back to her quarters.
Through Blue 7.
But that will put her in the same hall | as Morden.
- They'll pass each other.
| - Yes, they will.
I got her.
Get him out of here.
You all right? Are you sure you're all right? I think so.
It was terrible, like falling | into a bottomless well and cold, so cold.
And just for a second, | I thought I saw this What? What did you see? A shape.
I don't know.
It was probably nothing.
Still, you should make a full report.
I think I just did.
Ms.
Winters, for what it's worth, | I'm sorry.
I didn't think it I guess I had that coming.
I guess you did.
Hope it was worth it.
Her reaction tells me there's | more to this guy than I thought.
And that's a start.
Yeah, I suppose so.
Look, can I give you a piece of advice? Why not? Everybody else has.
I've seen what a loved one's death | can do to people.
It's played out here every day.
It can destroy you by making you | forget that you're not alone.
Look, you and I, our job descriptions | are different.
But inside, we both carry the silly notion | that we can fix everything.
Well, we can't.
And you have to face that.
That you don't have to face it alone.
Captain we have to speak with you | about Mr.
Morden.
You must release him at once.
You too? The both of you? Why is everyone | so interested in this guy? You simply have to trust us, captain.
If you do not release him quickly, | everyone here is in terrible danger.
No.
Not until I get some answers | once and for all.
If this is the only way, then we | will give you those answers.
But be warned, | once you know his secret what we've known for three years, | you will never sleep well again.
Come, captain, the greatest nightmare | of our time is waiting for you.
There are beings in the universe billions | of years older than either of our races.
Once, long ago, they walked | among the stars like giants vast and timeless.
They taught the younger races, | explored beyond the Rim created great empires.
But to all things, there is an end.
Slowly, over a million years, | the First Ones went away.
Some passed beyond the stars, | never to return.
Some simply disappeared.
Delenn I'm sure this is interesting, but what | does this have to do with Morden? Not all of the First Ones have gone away.
A few stayed behind, hidden or asleep waiting for the day | when they may be needed when the Shadows come again.
- Shadows? | - We have no other name for them.
The Shadows were old when | even the Ancients were young.
They battled one another over | and over across a million years.
The last great war against the Shadows | was 10,000 years ago.
It was the last time the Ancients | walked openly among us.
But the Shadows were only defeated, | not destroyed.
A thousand years ago, the Shadows | returned to their places of power rebuilt them and began to | stretch forth their hand.
Before they could strike, they were | defeated by an alliance of worlds including the Minbari and the few remaining First Ones | who have not yet passed beyond the veil.
When they had finished, | the First Ones went away.
All but one.
There's still one of them left? Where? That is why Kosh cannot leave | his encounter suit.
He would be recognized.
Recognized? By whom? Everyone.
For centuries, the Vorlons stood alone, | the last remaining guardians watching and waiting.
Then, last year, I sent Kosh a message.
- Did you see Ambassador Kosh? | - I did.
Did you relay my question precisely word for word? I did.
His reaction? Just one word.
He said, "Yes.
" If "yes" was the answer what was the question? Have the Shadows returned | to Z'ha'dum? Z'ha'dum? That's the world G'Kar's | been warning us about all year.
Sheridan, learn.
Icarus, your wife's ship sent to investigate the ruins | of an ancient race no one has ever heard of before.
Z'ha 'dum.
Anna.
The Icarus, they found something.
- They woke something up.
| - Yes.
The Shadows could not allow them | to leave in case they might warn others.
Those who would not serve were killed.
But were they all killed? Delenn, maybe some of them | were kept alive as prisoners.
Anna might still be alive.
| Morden Must be released! After what you just showed me, | how can you ask me to let him go? Because right now, they do not know | how much we know.
The last time the Shadows lost | because they moved too quickly.
Now they are being careful, | gathering their forces slowly.
If you push Morden, sooner or later, | he will tell you what happened.
Then he will be killed, | and you will be killed.
The Shadows will move now, | before we're ready for them.
- How are they going to know? | - Because Morden is never alone! Listen to me.
Aside from the Vorlons we do not have the First Ones | to help us this time.
We are on our own.
We will have only one chance | to stop them, and if we fail billions will die.
There comes a moment when | each of us must pledge himself to something greater than himself.
You told G'Kar he had to decide | between revenge and the good of his own people.
Now you must make the same decision, | captain.
It will be the most important decision | of your life.
It's late, captain.
| You want to get some sleep? - Zack? | - Sir? You ever studied ancient history? | Twentieth century, World War II? Well, not really.
I always used to fall asleep | in history class.
The Germans had a secret code they | used for all their important messages.
It was called Enigma.
What they didn't know was that | the British had cracked the code.
Churchill's people intercepted a message | authorizing the bombing of Coventry.
Now, if they evacuated Coventry the Germans would know their code | had been broken and switch systems.
If that happened, it could | cost the Allies the entire war.
If they didn't evacuate the city hundreds of innocent men, | women and children would die.
So, what happened? They kept the secret.
There was no evacuation.
And on November 14, 1940 Coventry was destroyed.
The dead were piled up like cordwood.
I've seen newsreels of Churchill | visiting the ruins a few days later.
And you could just see it in his eyes the knowledge of what he'd done.
It was dark, haunted.
All these years, I've never been able | to get that image out of my head.
I'm glad it's a decision | I don't have to make.
I don't think I could live with myself.
How many lives is a secret worth? What was that sound? We've been picking it up | from the new cell.
We just put a new microphone in there, | but I guess it's malfunctioning.
"Never alone," she said.
Can you adjust the monitor? Scan on different wavelengths, | infrared, ultraviolet? - Yeah, I think so.
| - Do it! Stop! What? What did you see? Nothing.
Shadows.
Cut him loose.
Tell him it was all a mistake | and he can go.
You're sure? I cut him loose.
You were right.
I was wrong.
Come on back to work.
- What happened to change your mind? | - I'd rather not talk about that.
I'm not so sure I like the sound of that.
Next time, you'll listen to me? There won't be a next time.
Thanks.
Hey, captain you sure you're okay? Is he all right? I don't know.
- What's that? | - What? Oh, nothing.
What the hell.
| Earth wants to throw around its money who am I to say no? Fifty extra credits a week to walk around | and do what I do anyway? Why not? I let him go.
But there is a price tag attached.
You've been trying to help me | so we can understand each other.
It's not what I want anymore.
I want you to teach me | how to fight them.
How to beat them.
Because sooner or later, | I'm going to Z'ha'dum.
I'm going to stop them.
If you go to Z'ha'dum, you will die.
Then I die.
But I will not go down easily, | and I will not go down alone.
You will teach me? Yes.