Anyone special waiting for you back home?
IvanovaNo, not anymore. You?
[bashful] Someone. She doesn't know it yet.
Ivanova
That's a strange way to pursue a relationship.
I suppose so. Ah...I want this thing to go right. I want it to be special.
Ivanova
Oh. A romantic! I don't think I've felt that way since the first time!
That's what I'm talking about.
[Susan's eyes narrow, get wide, then get wider.]
Ivanova
You mean you don't...you haven't...
Ivanova
You're a...
Ivanova
With anyone?
Never met the right person before.
Ivanova
Wow. I thought the First Ones were rare! Well, I hope she appreciates it.
So do I. It's... [An alarm goes off.] I'm picking something up!
Ivanova
A unicorn? [he gives her a confused look] Sorry.
[Ivanova and Garibaldi survey the fleet]
That is a hell of a lot of ships.
Susan Ivanova
And more on the way. The captain wants the biggest fleet in history if we're gonna end this war. The way things are shaping up out there it looks like he just might get it.
Ivanova
And then what what?
Well if we lose, there is no "then what", and if we win, what next? We're still renegades. I don't think there's anybody left on this side of the galactic core we haven't already honked off. We can't go home. Sometimes I don't know which scares me more, winning or losing.
Ivanova
God, I thought I was depressing.
I am the last, and...I was the first.
Susan Ivanova
I have to admit, I'm a little bit skeptical about that.
Skepticism is the language of the mind. What does your heart tell you?
Ivanova
My heart and I don't speak anymore.
. . .
To live on as we have is to leave behind joy, and love, and companionship, because we know it to be transitory, of the moment. We know it will turn to ash. Only those whose lives are brief can imagine that love...is eternal. You should embrace that remarkable illusion. It may be the greatest gift your race has ever received.
[Delenn and Sheridan "negotiate" an end to the Vorlon-Shadow War]
The others have rejected you! How do you have a war when no one will fight for either of you?
We refuse to take sides in this anymore! And we refuse to let you turn us against one another! We know who we are now. We can find our own way between order and chaos!
You can kill us one by one, and those who follow us, and those who follow them, on and on, every race, every planet. Until there's no one left to kill. You will have failed as guardians. And you will be alone.
It's over because we've decided it's over. Now get the hell out of our galaxy! Both of you!
[The Vorlons and Shadows hesitate, but Lorien steps in]
As I taught you and stepped aside, now you must do the same. Our age is past. This...belongs to the younger races now. They have learned to stand on their own. They have learned...to understand. Time to let them go.
SShadow
Will you...come...with us?
I have been here since the beginning. I will not leave you now. I will go with you beyond the Rim, and we will see again all those who went ahead of us, all those who we have missed for so long.
VVorlon
Then...we will not be alone?
[The Vorlons and Shadows disappear, and their respective fleets leave the system]
Ivanova
Don't jinx it.
[Lorien turns to address Sheridan and Delenn]
I waited a long time for someone to find me. Now, like the others, I find I hate to leave. But none of us can stay behind this time. That was why it was necessary to find all the remaining First Ones. This...is yours now. And you have an obligation...to do as we have done. To teach the races that will follow you and, when your time comes, as ours has, to step aside and allow them to grow into their own destiny. If your races survive, if you do not kill yourselves, I look forward to the day when your people join us...beyond the Rim.
[he starts dissolving into a ball of light]
[An ISN reporter complains to Sheridan about Ivanova's rough treatment.]
Commander! Did you threaten to grab this man by the collar and threaten to throw him out an airlock?
Susan Ivanova
[chagrined] Yes, I did.
I'm shocked! Shocked and dismayed.
[The reporter nods, mollified.]
May I remind you that we are short on supplies here? We can't afford to take perfectly good clothing and throw it out into space! Always take the jacket off first--I've told you that before!
[Ivanova nods meekly.]
Sorry. She meant to say, "stripped naked and thrown out of an airlock". I apologize for any confusion this may have caused.
[Ivanova tries to sell smugglers on running EarthGov's blockade.]
Susan Ivanova
We'll upgrade your data systems, and supercharge your engines! And, if you have an accident, we'll repair your ships. And sooner or later, your ships will have accidents.
S1Smuggler #1
My pilots don't have accidents.
Ivanova
They will. I'll see to it.
S1Smuggler #1
You wouldn't!
Ivanova
Really? I've got a 200-megawatt pulse cannon in the forward cargo bay that says otherwise.
[After discussing recent events with Captain Sheridan, Commander Ivanova walks around his desk and sits in his chair.]
Susan Ivanova
Speaking of which, as of now I'm relieving you of command.
[slightly amused] Ivanova, your sense of humor has always been on the edge of good taste, but—
Ivanova
I'm serious, John.
[defensively] On what grounds?
Ivanova
You haven't taken any personal time in over nine months. And in that time we have broken away from Earth, fought a war, you have been declared dead at least once, and you know how tiring that can be.
There isn't much chance of me winning this argument, is there?
Ivanova
None whatsoever. I never give up when I'm right. Your only option is to surrender.
Who taught you to negotiate like that?
Ivanova
You did.
[impressed and defeated] Oh. Well, then I assume this enforced vacation is to begin immediately.
[Ivanova has already picked up papers from the desk and gotten to work.]
Ivanova
Started when I walked in that door.
Why not come up with a way to turn the war room into...I don't know...The Voice of the Resistance! Susan, during World War II, the French Resistance used to go on the air for one hour a night, always from a different location, broadcasting the real news about the war. Providing intelligence for the resistance fighters, encouraging Germans to defect. Well, why can't we do the same thing here?
Ivanova
Why do I get the ugly suspicion that you're volunteering me for this job?
[Ivanova is trying to get help from the Great Machine in setting up the Voice of the Resistance.]
Susan Ivanova
I'm trying to put together a facility to broadcast messages back home and to the other colonies. We've got all of the pieces we need, but–
But not having enough power to reach far places! Yes, Zathras understand. Everyone always coming to Zathras with problems. Big responsibility but Zathras does not mind. Zathras trained in crisis management.
Ivanova
That's great, but–
But only Zathras have no one to talk to. No one manages poor Zathras, you see. So Zathras talks to dirt. Or to walls, or talks to ceilings. But dirt is closer. Dirt is used to everyone walking on it. Just like Zathras. But we have come to like it. It is our role. It is our destiny in the universe. So, you see, sometimes dirt has insects in it. And Zathras likes insects. Not so good for conversation, but much protein for diet. Hmmm, huh, huh, very good! - Zathras fix now. Come, this way.
[last lines: Sheridan and Ivanova have viewed video of Earthforce ships destroying civilian transports carrying refugees from rebel planets]
This madness has gone on long enough. I don't care if we're not ready. I don't care if we're outnumbered and outgunned. I don't care what ISN says about us. This stops, and it stops now! Now if Earth wants to declare war on us, then it is time we took that war to Clark. You tell the others. Starting right now, we fight back and we fight back hard!
Susan Ivanova
I thought you were looking for some other way than firing at our own ships. They were following orders.
Any crew that executes an order like that is guilty of war crimes, and they deserve whatever they get. No, we're riding in, Susan. Anybody who wants to defect and join us? Fine. If they get in our way, we will knock them down. If they kill one of our ships, we'll kill three of theirs. And we keep going. We never slow down, and we won't stop. We're going after the colonies, then Mars, then Earth…and God help anybody who gets in our way.
[Ivanova issues careful orders to B5 fighters for avoiding order-spoofing from EarthGov.]
So from now on, I guess the operational phrase is "trust no one".
Susan Ivanova
No. Trust Ivanova, trust yourself. Anybody else, shoot 'em!
Susan Ivanova
This is the White Star fleet. Negative on the surrender. We will not stand down.
TECaptain Thomson, Earthforce
Who is this? Identify yourself!
Ivanova
Who am I? I am Susan Ivanova. Commander. Daughter of Andrei and Sophie Ivanov. I am the right hand of vengeance, and the boot that is going to kick your sorry ass all the way back to Earth, sweetheart! I am Death Incarnate, and the last living thing that you are ever going to see. God sent me.
Babylon 5 · 626 quotes
