Atonement
Reviewed by Accolyte Jharlenn of Clan Li'Shar
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Unlike most B5 episodes (especially once you get this far into the arc) this one was actually quite simple, in that, although it did have SMALL bits of other plotlines that would be important later and two running gags, it was mostly about just one story, all the way through. That one story was about Delenn, but let's review the smaller ones first to get them out of the way.
First of all, we have a hilarious scene in which Zack is complaining and complaining and COMPLAINING about the new funky black uniform he has to wear now that he is Chief of Security and therefore on the command staff. He goes on about how it itches and how Minbari have NO fashion sense, etc. until the lady Minbari tailor quite DELIBERATELY jabs him in the BUTT with her needle! "She did that on purpose!" yells Zack to Lennier. "Yes, I believe she did," Lennier answers calmly. "I will take care of this." Then in Minbari, he says to the tailor "Good work. Let me deal with the human. And next time--use a bigger needle."
"And don't you forget it!" says Zack, ASSUMING she was just chewed out, but actually having NO idea what Lennier just said. But of course it turns out, as you may have guessed, that Zack's REAL problem with the uniform is not the uniform itself, but the fact that HE is Chief of Security and not Mr. Garibaldi. In Zack's mind, things will never be back to normal again until Garibaldi comes back to his old job, and he has a stubborn/desperate faith that he will, eventually.
Next small other plotline bit: Even though he KNOWS that President Clark is only doing all these nasty things to make B5 move before they're ready, Sheridan still thinks he should do something to fight back while they still can. So he is sending Marcus and Franklin to Mars together, undercover, to track down the resistance, help them, and find out from them exactly how bad the situation is. They agree to leave at once, and Franklin, being a nice guy unlike what most fans seem to think, stops off just before he leaves to quietly offer to help find information on Sheridan's father. Sheridan thanks him for the thought but says that it's too dangerous, the town's probably crawling with Nightwatch, and that if Clark actually HAD his father, they would have said so, to use it against him. Therefore he must be all right.
The ending of this plotline (in this episode) has an amusing scene with Franklin and Marcus both sitting strapped in in a YUCKY ship that doesn't even have gravity, while Marcus snips his pike in and out, in and out, in and out, sings "I am the very model of a modern major general" and Franklin says, "This is the kind of conversation that can only end with a gunshot." Like I said earlier, they do make a great comedy team in a weird way.
Running gags:
G'Kar has a new eye, a prosthetic blue one that was made for Humans. He can take it out, place it somewhere else, and still be able to see what it sees! Look for this to be used again later in the season...
Ivanova, who is, after all, still the head of the Green Drazi (remember from the early second season, "The Geometry of Shadows"?) and will be for another couple of years, is invited by the Drazi Ambassador to some kind of religious festival that is supposed to be some kind of big party. It evidently is, because Ivanova comes STAGGERING out of an elevator later, leaning on a cane (did she break her foot AGAIN? What is it with her and Drazi?), her hair and clothes completely rumpled, and COVERED with glitter, spangles, and streamers. "Don't. Ask." she says to Sheridan, and hobbles past with an air of desperate dignity. Very amusing and now I want to know what the party was like! If the Drazi have just as much fun at their religious festivals as the Centauri do, that would take some doing...
And now onto the actual meat of the episode, the plot with Delenn. Although this does have impact on the future, it mainly shows the past. However, it shows it from an entirely new perspective that we have not seen before.
The episode starts with Delenn being told by this SNIPPY guy named Calenn that she must return to Minbar and do something called "The Dreaming", and that if it does not go well, she will never be able to see Sheridan again. Then w see her in a VERY slinky dress ("I make it a practice never to question alien cultures", says Sheridan in blunt honesty, "when they are dressed like THAT.") to take him out to dinner, and then spend one last night with him, her watching while he sleeps. The first one was on the White Star ("I will watch, and catch you if you should fall.") the second was right before Anna Sheridan showed up (CRASH goes the snowglobe) and so now he owes her one more night. "What you see in a face that's mashed up agains the pillow and drooling I'm sure I don't know", says Sheridan, laughing, but goes along with it anyway. And the next morning, while he's still asleep, she slips out without telling him why she's leaving or what it means. She almost goes away completely alone, but Lennier, staying up outside her doorway, snags her and eventually convinces her to let him come along. Together, they head for Minbar.
Delenn's clan, Mir (note: this name was chosen for two real-life reasons: One--part of the actress's real name--"MIRa Furlan" and Two--because "Mir" means "peace" in Russian, and she is a diplomat after all) has gathered to pass judgement on whether she should marry Sheridan or not. No Minbari has ever taken one who was not a Minbari for a mate; that has been their rule ever since they first discovered other intelligent races. So she has to go into "The Dreaming" to find out what her REAL motives are for wanting to marry Sheridan. If they are not the "right" motives, according to her clan, then she will not be allowed to EVER see him again. Yikes. What are the right reasons? She must find that out for herself. And she is then bound to accept the judgement of her clan, whatever it might be.
Now, MY reaction to this would be to say, "Sit on it! I'll marry whoever I damn well please, you bunch of snot-nosed bigots!" but that's me, not Delenn. She agrees and goes into The Dreaming, along with Lennier as her guide/protector.
In this, we see some interesting chunks of Delenn's past. We see her as a very young accolyte (done up as FULL Minbari again, natch!) when she first became Dukhat's aide. We get to see some of Dukhat, "the greatest of us all" and find out that he is not actually that bad of a guy, once you get to know him. I don't mean "bad" as in a bad PERSON, but rather "bad" as in "annoying". I always assumed that the "greatest Minbari" would be some stuffy ascetic type, but this guy is fun. He's SARCASTIC, he makes snide comments, he's a lot more open-minded towards aliens than the typical Minbari, and just a lot more willing to question, to wonder outside his little circle of knowledge that all Minbari tend to stay within, to ask--"Why?"
And so is Delenn. That's partially why he picked her. But it is not the most important reason...
From there, the introductory scene, we get to see a nice parallell of when SHE becomes his aide to when Lennier becomes HER aide: "Look up." "I cannot, it is disrespectful!" "I cannot have an aide who will not look up, you will forever be bumping into things." Nice touch. Then we get to see her induction into the Grey Council, in which she repeats the litany we already know ("candle and the star", yada yada) but starts it off with "I am BECOME Grey..." instead of "I AM Grey..." and the Triluminary...GLOWS...when she touches it. This evidently does not happen often because it freaks the other Satai out completely! Hmmn...
We also see her, totally shy and unsure of herself, being used as an example to berate the Grey Council (notice that even after Dukhat told her to stand within the circle, she could only make herself stand on the EDGE of it?), and hear some stuff about the Minbari's first contact--or rather, first knowledge of--the Humans. They heard about them from the Centauri, (interesting) and although the rest of the Grey Council hates the idea, Dukhat (and Delenn) both think that they should make contact with the Humans and try to get to know them, peacefully. But they sit on their butts and wait, hoping that the Humans will simply pass them by and not notice their planet, until they meet in the WRONG way and tragedy strikes...
(A couple of notes on actors: First of all, I thought Reiner Schone did a good job as Dukhat (and Valen's name, he's TALL!) and also see if you can't recognise Robin Atkin Downes, who will later have a large role as Byron the renegage telepath in Season Five, as the main Grey Council dude who talks to Delenn. Evidently, from what I've heard, the combination of the pain from the head-bone, the heavy robes, the heat, and the bright lights caused the poor guy to PASS OUT! I guess some of us were just meant to be Minbari and others weren't...but at any rate, he did make a good one nonetheless.)
Back to the story now--Delenn then relives the beginning of the Earth/Minbari war, as the Earth ships approach and Dukhat warns that maybe they should close their gun ports, that the Humans might take it the wrong way, and "Satai Byron" says no, and while they're arguing--BOOM the Humans fire the first shots. This happens to hit THEIR ship, everyone is knocked about, pillars fall down and crush people, etc, and Dukhat is killed. But just before he dies, he says something to Delenn. She can't hear it at first, but it sticks in her mind as important anyway. Meanwhile, the story still going on, Satai Byron walks up to her and asks what to do, and her answer is to "KILL THEM!! ALL OF THEM!! MAKE THEM PAY FOR WHAT THEY HAVE DONE HERE! ANIMALS! BRUTAL!! WIPE THEM OUT!!" etc. Naturally rather rattled by this answer (heck, she was even pounding on his chest), Satai Byron goes off to give the order--and the war starts.
That's it. SHE started the ENTIRE FRAGGING WAR!! (Well, okay, a combination of her and that trigger-happy Earther Captain...)
"Is this what you meant when you said that I might change my opinion of you after we went through the Dreaming?" asks Lennier, softly. When she says yes, he tells her not to worry, that he is still pledged to her side.
Then that snoot Calenn comes in and tells them the Dreaming is over. As Delenn is lying on her bed, waiting for judgement, she suddenly remembers something, LEAPS to her feet, and goes stalking back INTO the "Whisper Gallery" (where the Dreaming is done), Lennier following her, to find Calenn there to stop her. She tells him to come along too, even though a set of THREE people in the Dreaming at the same time is just not DONE, and together they relive the part of the memory that was bugging her: What did Dukhat say right before he died? ("AAAAARRRGGGGHH!" No, wait, that's a rather tasteless Centauri joke my...erm...friend...Lufa Caldoni told me, never mind.) Seriously, now she can pick up the words that were always there in her subconscious:
"You are...a child...of Valen."
A-HA!
Armed with this knowledge, and some records that Lennier was able to..obtain from the knowledge-keepers ("They will recover soon"--I was on the floor laughing at that. Good ol' Lennier, kicking butt again! What's a "butt", again...?), Delenn confronts Calenn. "A child of Valen", she says. It turns out that Valen, whom evidently Calenn KNEW was originally Human ("a Minbari not born of Minbari"), after the Shadow War of 1,000 years ago, married and had lots of kids. But not only did Sinclair's change into Valen cause Minbari and Human SOULS to start merging, but also DNA! He was still partly Human inside, and so therefore so are all of his descendants! And now, after 1,000 years, there are a LOT of part-Human Minbari running around! (For example, any male who has a beard is part Human--as we Minbari can't have ANY hair on our own. So that means that, for example, Dukhat and Draal are both descended from Valen as well.) So, Delenn concludes triumphantly, that means that the race is ALREADY not "pure" Minbari, and so therefore it doesn't MATTER if she marries Sheridan because her children would NEVER have been pure Minbari ANYWAY!
Calenn is more than a little bit ashamed and embarrassed that this secret information has leaked out, and begs Delenn not to tell the others. He has thought of another way to let her get away with marrying Sheridan--back in the old days, when they still fought each other, the winning clan would offer a female from their own clan to the one they defeated, as a symbol of life. (This makes a rather interesting parallel between Minbari culture and, of all things, CENTAURI culture, for they ALSO have a custom in which the victor of a fight must help the loser's family--the winner of that ceremonial sword-duel must take responsibility for the House of the one he defeats. Hmmn...) So, Calenn says, why does he not just tell them that she is being offered to the Humans as a traditional offering of peace to a defeated enemy? "It will be a great sacrifice"...but one she can live with!
Now, I would have liked to see Delenn go in front of her entire clan again, but this time in triumph rather than shame, and TELL them the truth! Tell them that probably most if not all of them (being her clan, they're related to her, yes?) are NOT pure Minbari themselves, tell them that to be descended from Valen, considered one of their greatest birth-honours, is ALSO to be "impure", the thing they are most afraid of! I would have LOVED to see the looks on their faces. Also any bunch of people that closed-minded need to be shaken up a little in my opinion. As an Earther woman from the 20th century once said, "Those who are easily shocked should be shocked more often." But that's just me...
At any rate, she arrives back on the station, now perfectly able to carry on and make a life with Sheridan in good conscience...
...and she NEVER tells him what really happened...
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