Babylon 5/Recap/S03/E19 Grey Seventeen Is Missing

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
< Babylon 5‎ | Recap‎ | S03


Delenn: We knew the Warrior caste was unhappy with our activities
Lennier: Unhappy? Delenn, he's planning to kill you.
Delenn: That is .. one interpretation.
Lennier: He said he would use any and all means necessary. I respectfully suggest that he intends to go far beyond harsh language.

This episode contains examples of:

  • Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene: Amidst Garibaldi's wandering through Grey Sector and Marcus and Neroon's fight, there's a scene of Delenn telling Sheridan about her parents, ending with her leaning on his shoulder.
  • Chekhov's Gun: not Garibaldi's Smith & Wesson, but rather, its bullets.
  • Duel to the Death: The Minbari Den'Sha, though its very existence poses some problems.
    • The tie-in novels and background materials suggest that willingly entering the Den'sha is legally considered to place responsibility for death on the person themselves. So it's "suicide by Minbari Warrior" for the loser and the victor hasn't "actually" killed in any legal or religious sense. The degree to which this satisfies the viewer is no doubt up to them.
  • Foreshadowing: At the end of the episode, Marcus asks Neroon to find a less uncomfortable method for any future revelations he has. Neroon rather spectacularly fails to.
  • Heel Realization: A minor but significant case; Neroon comes to understand that Delenn was right about humans and Minbari being more alike than different, and that she is the worthier leader because of the loyalty she earns from her subordinates. He says that Marcus, in what might have been his last moments, was "more Minbari than I".
  • Insane Troll Logic: Discussed by Lennier and Marcus after Lennier explains how breaking his promise not to tell anyone about Neroon by telling Marcus is not really breaking his promise.
  • Special Effects Failure: Sadly, the Zarg is perhaps the show's most prominant case of this.
  • You Are in Command Now: After Sinclair's...departure, Delenn is asked to take up leadership of the Rangers. This doesn't sit well with Neroon, who intends to challenge her.