“In the Shadow of Z'ha'dum” · Season 2
In this episode: John Sheridan (2), Stephen Franklin (1), Vir Cotto (1), Kosh (1), Zack Allan (1), Morden (1)
If restoring the Centauri Republic means nothing to you, what does? What do you want?
I'd like to live just long enough to be there when they cut off your head and stick it on a pike as a warning to the next ten generations that some favors come with too high a price. I would look up at your lifeless eyes and wave like this.
[He gives Morden a mockingly cheerful finger waggle.]
Can you and your associates arrange this for me, Mr. Morden?
[Franklin tells Ivanova what he sees when a patient dies.]
And then, just at the last, it's as if they look past you at 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. [pauses] 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.
You ever studied ancient history? 20th century, World War II?
Well...not really. [grins] 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. One day, Churchill's people intercepted a message authorizing the bombing of a city named Coventry. Now, if they evacuated Coventry, the Germans would know their code had been broken, and switch to another system. 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. [N]
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--I've seen newsreels of Churchill visiting the ruins a few days later. And you can just see it in his eyes, the knowledge of what he'd done. Dark, haunted. All these years I've never been able to get that image out of my head.
Well, 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?
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. [N]
These quotes come from Wikiquote's Babylon 5 pages and are available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.
