A Late Delivery From Avalon
Reviewed by Ranger Lufa Caldoni
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Well, this was not a terrible episode, but it wasn't great, either. A low-key character piece on the surface, it adds to both the show's past and it's future in small, subtle ways.
It has one main plot and two small subplots. Let's discuss the main one first.
Basically, this crazy guy shows up on the station who thinks he's King Arthur, come back to help when and where he was most needed. Of course, we know he must be a loony, he's not REALLY Arthur (although Marcus's comment about the Vorlons preserving people, as they did with "Sebastian", WAS a rather good point), but having gotten that out of the way, who IS he?
Dr. Franklin does some research into this and what he discovers is rather tragic.
Meanwhile, "Arthur" is going about the station, specifcially Down Below, all in chain mail and a cloak, with "Excalibur", a really pretty sword (and I know swords!) at his side, righting wrongs. He beats up a gang of thugs and gets a picture back that they stole from a little old lady lurker, with the help of G'Kar. This was EASILY my favourite part of the episode, "Arthur" and G'Kar's friendship. It was so PERFECT that G'Kar would identify with and buy into this guy--his quest to help people rise up against horrible odds, a "Round Table" of honourable warriors--heck, Narns often fight with Samurai swords so G'Kar WOULD know where he was coming from! Not knowing how much G'Kar does or does not know about Earth legends, I do think he might have actually been BELIEVING the guy's stories, and had no IDEA he was crazy. The scene with G'Kar falling over drunk was just precious, and he DID make a rather satisfying thump when he hit the floor. But Londo's still stunning in purple...
It was also rather appropriate to have Marcus be totally into all the legends and know just how to treat "Arthur" and what to say, heck, he is THE most medieval-y-looking character on a science-fiction, rather than FANTASY, show I have EVER seen. That hair, that beard, that accent, that cloak...
Meanwhile, Franklin has found out who "Arthur" really was and thinks he HAS to tell him to cure him. Marcus argues that to tell him would just hurt him worse, and since he's happy, and a decent guy, and dignified as "Arthur", they might as well let him be. (I should mention here that I really LIKE their relationship; I have always liked Franklin even though most B5 fans don't and he deserves to have a good friend.) But Franklin decides to tell him anyway.
What IS the truth? The truth is that "Arthur" is actually David McCintyre, a decorated Earthforce officer who retired because of psychological problems. See, he was the gunnery officer on the Prometheus at that first fatal meeting between Human and Minbari. He was the one who physically fired the shots that STARTED the whole Earth/Minbari War!!
Of course, it was the CAPTAIN of the ship who ORDERED him to do that, but still, the fact that it was his finger that pressed that button has haunted the poor man to this day. He goes over the edge when Franklin tells him the truth--even MORE so, I mean--and keeps going on about how he can't be healed until the Lady of the Lake comes to take Excalibur from him.
This is another one of those great "who's to say what's right and what's wrong?" debates that B5 gets you into. On the one hand, Marcus was right, that they should just have left "Arthur" alone because he was happy that way and not hurting anyone--in fact, HELPING people. On the other hand, FRANKLIN was ALSO right because he was trying to cure a mental illness and get the guy back on his feet in the real world again. He ended up hurting him worse, but he couldn't have known that, and the remorse that Franklin shows towards the end proves that he is in fact a decent guy.
Well, they decide that to heal him, they might as well HAVE "The Lady of the Lake" come to him and take the sword. And who better for that part than...
Delenn.
When I saw this for the first time and she walked into the room, I was like, "YES!" She was SUCH a perfect choice, for many reasons. On the surface, it's because of her appearance--a delicate, ethereal look as if she really is one of the realm of Faerie, a flowing gown with medieval-style sleeves, long straight hair, etc.--but ALSO because she was the OTHER person responsible for truly starting the Earth/Minbari War. It was his shots fired, and it was her rage at Dukhat's death--those TWO things--that started it. So in a way, they're linked.
She takes the sword and at the end of the episode, "Arthur", or rather, David McCintyre, seems to be okay as he leaves the station, and those weird nightmares he keeps slipping into (which, I might point out, were probably the WORST part of the episode, to me--they seemed jerky, melodramatic, and went on too long) are finally gone.
Now on to the two subplots. The main one considered Garibaldi, the ingredients for that infamous bagna cauda (at least that's what I ASSUME he was gonna make), and a potentially "disgruntled" postal worker. Funny--I especially liked how he charged the guy one hundred and ONE credits at the end, for the bribe--but the OTHER subplot was far more important, even though it got hardly any time.
What the second very small subplot was about was Sheridan and Ivanova trying to get as many of the Leauge of Non-Aligned Worlds to help back the station, now that they're not being supported by Earth anymore. They don't want to have to lean solely on the Minbari for support. That scene in which Ivanova is handing out those pamphlets to the League ambassadors--and in which we get our first REAL look at a Brakiri, a "background" race I've always liked without knowing why--that scene may very well be the VERY first hint of the coming Interstellar Alliance. So watch it carefully...
And with that, dear readers, I leave you. In Valen and the Great Maker's name, (me being a Centauri Ranger and all) valtoo!
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