“The Coming of Shadows” · Season 2
In this episode: John Sheridan (4), G'Kar (3), Emperor Turhan (3), Londo Mollari (1), Jeffrey Sinclair (1), Stephen Franklin (1), Kosh (1), Lord Antono Refa (1)
[G'Kar is outraged that Sheridan is allowing the Centauri Emperor to visit Babylon 5.]
Now, if this bothers you, I suggest you stay in your quarters, stick your fingers in your ears, and hum real loud until it's over! Unless you'd like to try something as breathtakingly rational as trying to open up a dialog?
[Centauri Emperor Turhan talks to John Sheridan about life.]
No regrets then?
A few. But just a few. You?
Oh, enough to fill a lifetime. So much has been lost, so much forgotten. So much pain, so much blood. And for what? I wonder...The past tempts us, the present confuses us, and the future frightens us. And our lives slip away, moment by moment, lost in that vast terrible in-between. But there is still time to seize that one last, fragile moment. To choose something better, to make a difference, as you say. And I intend to do just that.
I was ready... I had the dagger in my hand! And he has the indecency to start dying on his own!
[Franklin brings a message from the ill Emperor to G'Kar, who had planned to kill the Centauri leader.]
How is the poor fellow? I was so looking forward to meeting him and opening up...a dialog.
. . .
[Franklin relays the Emperor's message.]
He said..."We're wrong. The hatred between our people can never end until someone is willing to say, 'I'm sorry'. And try and find a way to make things right again, to atone for our actions."
[Garibaldi receives a recorded message from former boss Jeffrey Sinclair.]
There's a great darkness coming, Michael.
I would very much like to have seen a Vorlon.
[he closes his eyes; when he reopens them, Kosh is standing over him]
How will this end?
In fire.[N]
[relaying the Emperor's "last words"] He said..."Continue. Take my people back...to the stars."
. . .
[outside Medlab, after the Emperor's death]
Mollari, what did he say? Really?
He said..."You are both damned."
Well, it's a small enough price to pay for immortality.
So you are going to allow this? Even over my objections?
What, did I somehow turn invisible or something? Yes, Ambassador. The Emperor is allowed to come aboard. Now, if this bothers you, I suggest you stay in your quarters, stick your fingers in your ears, and hum real loud until it's over! Unless you'd like to try something as breathtakingly rational as trying to open up a dialog? G'Kar, you are in a position to directly negotiate with the head of the Centauri Republic, and you are wasting it on a tantrum!
[Centauri Emperor Turhan talks to Captain Sheridan about their paths in life.]
Why are you here, in this place, in that uniform? Was it your choice or were you pressed into service?
It was my choice. The planetary draft didn't start until the war, a few years later. I guess I wanted to serve something that was bigger than I was. Make a difference, somewhere, somehow. You seem interested in why people chose to be here.
It has occurred to me recently that I have never chosen anything. I was born into a role that was prepared for me. I did everything I was asked to do because it never occurred to me to choose otherwise. And now, at the end of my life, I wonder what might have been.
That's why my father taught me to live each second as though it were the last moment of my life. He said, "If you love, love without reservation. If you fight, fight without fear." He called it "the way of the warrior."
No regrets then?
A few. But just a few. You?
Oh, enough to fill a lifetime. So much has been lost, so much forgotten. So much pain, so much blood. And for what, I wonder? The past tempts us, the present confuses us, and the future frightens us. And our lives slip away, moment by moment, lost in that vast terrible in-between. But there is still time to seize that one last, fragile moment. To choose something better, to make a difference, as you say. And I intend to do just that.
These quotes come from Wikiquote's Babylon 5 pages and are available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.
