Babylon 5 3-12: Sic Transit Vir

Episode:

56

|

Writer:

J. Michael Straczynski

|

Air Date:

15-Apr-1996

---

This is my 200th post on Sci-Fi Adventures, so to celebrate I'm writing about the next Babylon 5 episode: Sic Transit Vir!

Star Trek loves to throw in the occasional Latin title, like Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges or Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum, but this is the first and only time it happened in Babylon 5. It's also the first of three occasions that a character's name appeared in a title, with Garibaldi and Londo getting their turn later. The title's a pun by the way, as it can mean both "thus passes the man" and "thus passes Vir". It's a step up from A Day in the Strife at least.

Additional trivia: this is one of five B5 episodes directed by Jesús Treviño, his second after Divided Loyalties. I think J. Michael Straczynski must have liked his work, as he's one of the elite few who got to direct a Babylon 5 movie (Thirdspace) and was invited back for the Crusade spin-off.

If you're wondering why I posted this after A Late Delivery From Avalon, it's because I'm still following the Lurker's Guide Master List, which makes this block of episodes look this:

11 - Ceremonies of Light and Dark
13 - A Late Delivery From Avalon
12 - Sic Transit Vir
14 - Ship of Tears
15 - Interludes and Examinations

This is relevant to you because I'm going to be giving SPOILERS for A Late Delivery in this review. I'm also going to be spoiling the hell out of Sic Transit Vir and some of the other episodes leading up to it.

---

Okay, here's the A Late Delivery from Avalon spoiler I warned you about:

The episode begins with a Vree Xill Cruiser and a Drazi Sun-Hawk flying by Babylon 5, showing that the League worlds have started sending ships to defend the station, as they agreed when they signed the Babylon Treaty. But A Late Delivery from Avalon started with the first ship arriving at the station since their secession from Earth Alliance and the C plot was about them coming up with the Babylon Treaty, so if you watched the episodes in their original broadcast order it would make no sense for these ships to be here yet.

It's July 3rd 2260, so it's been almost three months now since they broke away from Earth and everyone's gotten used to their new uniforms. Everyone except Ivanova, who decided to come to work entirely naked. Hey it's their station now, they can do what they want.

Ivanova's confused by her co-workers' stares and their well-acted reactions of absolutely shock, until she looks down and realises she's got a really good reason to wake up screaming. She hates these kinds of dreams.

But this means is that the Drazi and Vree ships in the establishing shot might have been part of her dream as well, so maybe this could fit before A Late Delivery from Avalon after all?

Meanwhile Vir is visiting the throne room on Centauri Prime, and that minister's there as well! The one showed up on a monitor screen at the very start of season one's The Quality of Mercy and hasn't appeared since.

It must be very strange for Vir to be here knowing that he's going to be sitting in that chair someday. In fact the minister catches him admiring the design at the top when he comes in. The minister tells him the Emperor has finished reviewing all those reports from Minbar he's been writing (and Londo has been rewriting) and he thinks that they are... good. Though it wasn't hard for them to notice Londo's influence, and the minister tells him to follow his own instincts and tell them the truth next time.

Also he's got a joke for him! "What its more dangerous than a locked room full of angry Narns? One angry Narn with the key!" Vir's not that keen on it, but the minister is cracking himself up telling it. I love this guy, he's great. Plus he's dressed like a sofa with a giant brush on his head and he makes it work.

And the cold open concludes with Vir walking into a room full of Narns, with one Narn shutting the door behind him.

You know, I don't think the episode ever explains how so many Narns got into the Royal Palace. We get a good idea by the end why they'd want to speak with Vir, but this scene's only really here to end the teaser with something dramatic and mysterious.

ACT ONE

Act one begins with another establishing shot of the station... and the Drazi and Vree ships are still there! So this definitely comes after A Late Delivery From Avalon then, which means there's no more reason for me to bring the episode up and I don't have to write that whole title out anymore.

Ivanva reveals to Sheridan that she's been having one bad dream after another, and Sheridan feels that it's because she's career military and they just broke away from her military. Like she said to Marcus in Messages from Earth, she doesn't know where she fits anymore. Subconsciously at least.

Then he says it's a good thing she's not having dreams where she shows up to work naked, as that'll mean she's in real trouble! That's such a jms line, and in my head Sheridan's just trolling her because he knows that's got to be one of the nightmares she's been having.

Meanwhile Londo is being tormented by a bug in his quarters. The insect kind apparently, not the kind that spies on you, though Londo also claims it has eight legs which would technically make it an arachnid. Either way maintenance is way too busy to help him at the moment, so he's left to fend for himself.

After two hours of this he's gotten riled up enough to take the duelling sword from Knives that he stabbed his friend to death with, and plunge it into the creature's heart... which turns out to have only been an inch long this whole time. Though he's certain the one he saw was longer, and that means there's more of them!

We haven't seen Londo do this kind of physical comedy in a long while and he's good at it. It makes him very sympathetic. Though I may just be saying that because I'm being harassed by a fly myself right now. The bloody thing's been bothering me since the start of the episode and I don't have a sword handy! Vir also mentioned being bothered by a fly in the teaser now that I think about it, so we're all suffering.

Just then a mystery woman arrives at Londo's door!

It's going to take a while before we find out who she is though, because the episode's bored of Londo now.

Instead we're checking in with a very dapper looking Vir, who's survived the room of Narns and is now wandering Babylon 5's customs area looking for Londo. I'm glad that the character's departure from the station hasn't actually had any impact whatsoever on the amount of times we've seen him on the station. He's been in 4 out of 12 episodes so far, the exact same as he'd managed by this point in seasons 1 and 2.

But after 16 seconds the episode gets bored of Vir as well, and goes to find out what Sheridan and Delenn are up to in the Zocalo.

Personally I think this extra probably has the more interesting story right now, as this piece of jewellery has obviously shocked her to the core. She looks like she just saw Ivanova walk in naked, but we'll never know why.

Sheridan gives us an update on the President Clark situation, revealing that the guy's too busy with his own problems on Earth to bother Babylon 5 again for the time being. I guess the command crew must have figured out a way to get information smuggled in about what's happening back home. Or maybe someone from their Resistance fleet told them. They've definitely been in touch, as Sheridan knows they're all busy with stuff as well, putting people into place and planning their next move.

So Sheridan's going to take advantage of this brief pause between crises to ask Delenn to dinner.

It's a really charming scene and the music backs me up on this. These two have great chemistry.

Plus I spotted one of Theo's monks in the background, as well as at least one Minbari officer, a Ranger, and a Narn working security. Not as many hats as I expected though.

The episode's finally ready to check in with Londo again at this point, as Vir drops by to say hi... and probably get him his dinner. Londo plays with him for a minute, pretending to read the newspaper, then reveals that his future wife's arrived! Her name is Lyndisty and Vir will be spending the rest of his life with her.

Vir responds by giving her the same little wave he gave Morden when he told him he wanted to see his decapitated head on a pike.

ACT TWO

Poor Vir doesn't know how to react. Having a beautiful woman from a noble family show up and say that she's totally okay with marrying you certainly saves a lot of time and awkward dates, but he's never met her before and this is all a complete surprise. Also terrifying.

For once we get to hear that Vir's star is in ascendance, as he's the liaison to Minbar and his reports are in favour at the Royal Court. All things that are very attractive to a girl... well to her mother anyway, who arranged this marriage with his uncle. He says that he wants to marry for love, but she feels that if he spends some time with her that'll no longer be an issue. She's very confident in her lovability.

Meanwhile Londo's still be bothered by his insects. He claims they're evolving before his eyes and he has to kill it before it develops language skills. I know it's a joke, but that's such a Centauri thing to do: murder something before there's a risk of having to talk to it and work out a compromise.

 

Whoa, Zack's in C&C! Ivanova even points out how rare it is to see him here.

Zack's fascinated by her giant window, talking about how the view makes you feel naked in front of the universe, which hits a bit of a nerve. I guess the dreams are still bothering her then.

He's here to tell her that they've been getting a lot of Narns coming through the station lately, escaping from Narn. The weird part is that their Centauri who approved their papers of transit is called Abrahamo Lincolni.

Whoever's been getting these Narns out must be well meaning, but a bit dumb.

Cut to Vir and Lyndisty in the Zen garden.

Hang on, we're seeing it from the other angle. We never see the Zen garden from this direction!

Lyndisty seems to be getting a little impatient, as she wonders if it it'll take him long to love her. She feels that people are given time in a pile of tiny boxes, so small that they're hard to find when you need them.

Vir points out that she may not like him, but she's not bothered by that as they'll grow together! She's got an answer for everything.

Not many love stories are about a man getting to know his wife, and even fewer feature a wife as strange as Lyndisty. She's great, but very weird and off-putting. And her kisses are apparently lethal, though Vir somehow lives to tell her that. In fact he risks a second one.

Vir's all over this episode now as when the scene cuts to Sheridan's office, there he is again.

He actually came here himself to tell Ivanova about Abrahamo Lincolni, which is good because it saves her from having to track him down.

Turns out Vir didn't have the authority to approve transfers, so he invented someone who did. I wish I could invent someone in authority to authorise stuff for me, that sounds like a nice deal he's got going on there.

The Narns he's transfered are getting sent to work camps, though it's all voluntary and much better than being on Narn right now. He had to give a fake name because a lot of Centauri would rather not have Narns moving in, doing jobs and living in some degree of comfort. This answer seems to satisfy Ivanova so the episode can get back to the love story.

The love story between Sheridan and Delenn I mean.

He's destroyed his kitchen trying to cook them some flarn and he acknowledges it's probably terrible as he's not a chef like Garibaldi. Funny that when any character compares themselves to someone else in this series, it's always Garibaldi (even when they're talking to someone who's likely never met the guy).

Speaking of Garibaldi, he doesn't appear in this story as the actor needed some time off to let his broken wrist heal. Up to this point Jerry Doyle had been the only actor from the pilot movie The Gathering to appear in every single episode afterwards, but that streak was broken here. Final score: 1 movie and 55 episodes in a row. From this point Claudia Christian takes the lead, as she hasn't skipped an episode since Ivanova's introduction in season one, episode one.

Anyway, it's clear by the look on Delenn's face that she hates Sheridan's flarn.

And also by the way she distracts him and surreptitiously drowns her plate in salt and pepper (or their alien equivalents). But she lies and says that it's good, to help him save face. It's a shame these two have been having so much trouble with dinner, seeing how much they enjoy each other's company. They had a great first date back in A Race Through Dark Places but every meal since then has been a struggle for one of them.

Fortunately their dinner is interrupted by an 'assault in progress' one floor down. Sorry, I mean an 'assault in process'. I wonder if that's a different thing.

Huh, Londo's quarters in Green Sector are only one level down from Sheridan's quarters in Blue Sector? I'm never going to figure out how the sectors fit together on this station.

Vir and Lyndisty are in a bit of trouble as a Narn's standing in their way with a knife. A pak'ma'ra's there too, but they've clearly realised they're in the wrong corridor and make a speedy exit.

The Narn claims he followed them to find the murderer, and then lunges at the two of them with a knife. Vir does what he can to hold him off, but it's not going great for him. Then Sheridan rushes in to defend them, and even he gets knocked down! Though it's a great backwards stunt fall by the actor, really impressive.

I'm less impressed by the way he gets sliced across the arm, but there's no sign of torn fabric or blood for the rest of the fight.

The man shouts something ending in "Chon-kar", and I recognise that from another story! It's what Na'Toth's family swore against Deathwalker, in the episode Deathwalker. It means blood oath. Actually what it means is you're gonna die unless you stop them first, and fortunately Zack Allan turns up in the nick of time to put a round of super-heated helium into the Narn's torso.

When they check the body, they discover that the knife is now covered in blood! Maybe Sheridan just has the kind of blood that takes a minute or so to become visible.

 ACT THREE

Ivanova discusses the attack with Sheridan over the monitor in C&C. In fact she walks between three different monitors on opposite sides of the room, all with his face on them, which makes me wonder what he's seeing from his side.

Here's a Babylon 5 fact for you: whenever they did scenes like this of a character talking from another location over the monitor, they just put a backdrop up behind them because it was much less trouble than setting up the actual set.

The two of them can't imagine why someone would want to swear a blood oath on Vir, but they're going to investigate.

Vir, on the other hand, is finding it pretty plausible that someone would want to hurt him. First G'Kar beat him up in Dust to Dust, then he got a bottle over the head in Point of No Return, now this. He's only been back to the station three times this season, and it happens every time!

It's also no surprise that Lyndisty finds his bravery pretty appealing. She'd think he was a hero if he'd spent the whole day drinking beers and watching Centauri football, so taking on a knife-wielding manic to save her life is probably the one thing he could've done to make her like him more.

Trouble is that the danger's not over yet. The episode cuts back to Sheridan's Ivanova's office (she seems to have claimed it now), where she tells Vir that "there may be another... Narn out to finish what the first one started". Sometimes an actor will hesitate mid-sentence to show that they're having to take a moment to think of the ideal word, but in this case it feels more like they just didn't have time to film a better take of the line.

Vir starts nervously rambling about his wife, who isn't actually his wife, but kind of is... and he eventually gets to asking Ivanova what women want when things get intimate, mentioning that he's never gotten past one before. One tentacle that is, not first base.

Ivanova really wants to tap out of this conversation and I know how she feels. I bet Claudia Christian loved the chance to finally get some more comedy to play though.

Meanwhile Delenn's helping Sheridan fasten his jacket so he doesn't have to move his wounded arm, and the two of them lean into a kiss...

Then Ivanova appears on the TV and ruins it!

Funny how this is the opposite of what happened in Voices of Authority, where Sheridan had to kiss another woman to keep her from seeing that Ivanova had appeared in his quarters. I'm not sure if this more or less embarrassing for the two officers.

They really need to sort out the monitors on this station. It seems that anyone can just appear on screen whenever they want and spy on whatever you're doing, it's ridiculous. Though the screen in Sheridan's quarters actually has been changed recently.

I don't know when it happened, but the BabCom terminal has gotten a lot sleeker and more Star Trek. That shot on the left is from season two, but it looked that way all the way up to Voices of Authority at least.

Anyway, Ivanova ruined the moment to let Sheridan know that there's a serious problem with Vir.

Cut to Londo's quarters, where Ivanova reveals the whole truth about Vir's operation to him, assuming he must have been in on it.

Vir has forged travel papers for 2000 Narns to leave their world to go to work camps. But it turns out that they're all dead. So this episode went dark all of a sudden.

It does explain why someone swore a blood oath on Vir and anyone close to him, seeing as the Narn tend to frown upon the Centauri murdering them. Speaking of people close to him, another Narn is currently stalking Lyndisty in a hallway with another huge knife.

How is it that King Arthur is the only person who isn't allowed to bring a bladed weapon onto this station! Not that they were able to stop him.

ACT FOUR

Londo's reaction to this is pretty horrifying as there's not even the slightest hint of concern about this. 2000 dead Narns is fine with him!

The guy's been taking steps towards the light recently, or at least steps to make sure the Shadows don't come and catch Centauri Prime unguarded, but this scene makes it clear that when the Narns are involved he hasn't changed at all. In fact this is even worse, as he at least showed some guilt during the orbital bombardment. Though does Londo really believe that Vir actually killed those Narns, after putting up with him constrantly pleading with him to be less of a dick for the last two years? Surely he knows him better than that.

Turns out that Vir actually arranged to save Narns who would've died, and changed the records so no one would look for them. Because he couldn't stand by and do nothing. Londo's a bit annoyed now, as if this gets out the scandal will hurt them both.

This does raise the question of why the Narns want to kill Vir, but Londo explains without a hint of irony or self-awareness that "They're Narns, captain. They don't need a reason for murder." A minute ago he was cool with Vir murdering 2000 of them for no reason, but now it's something that a Narn would do.

Well Lyndisty's okay at least! I guess the Narn following her down the corridor must have gotten bored and wandered off. She does say she's been looking everywhere for Vir, and seeing as this is a five mile long station that's a lot of ground to cover.

Lyndisty can tell he's troubled from his expression, which is a good sign I reckon. It's less of a good sign when she starts saying things like "Everyone knows that where there's trouble there's always a Narn at the centre of it," and calling them genetically inferior. It's a pretty terrible sign when she keeps going and going about how they're lazy and other such Narn facts.

The actress is so good though. Lyndisty's pretty good as well, as it turns out she took out that other Narn all by herself!

She's got him wrapped up for Vir as a surprise! She kept him alive so that Vir could kill him!

Surprise, the Narns didn't swear a blood oath against Vir, they swore one against Lyndisty's family. Her father was in charge of culling the herds on Narn. Herds of Narns that is. You cure future aggression by cutting it out of gene pool you see. Sometimes they had to burn entire villages! Hang on, didn't this episode used to be a comedy?

She sees his reluctance to murder the guy and tries to gently talk him into it, explaining to him that they're not really aware. She's done it hundreds of times herself! Vir's saved thousands of Narns, she's killed hundreds, so it seems that their relationship has hit a bit of a rocky patch. He decides not to tell her that though while she's holding the Narn's dagger and offering his life as a token of their love.

ACT FIVE

Vir manages to escape that awkward situation off screen, but now he has to suffer a lecture from Londo. The guy's just spent the last hour calling in favours, which is weird seeing as he said he used up all his favours to get Lady Morella on board a few episodes ago. Though it's been a few months, I suppose he could've gotten new favours since then.

Turns out that this kind of thing happened the last time they sent an envoy to Minbar as well, so it's not a huge surprise to people that Vir screwed up. Disappointing, but not surprising. The Minbari took advantage of his naiveté. So Londo's arranged for all records to be destroyed to cover it up, and Vir is getting demoted back to his assistant so he can continue to teach him how to be a proper bastard of a Centauri.

Vir doesn't say a thing to defend himself, he takes everything he gets, as if he really does believe he's screwed up. Or maybe he just appreciates that the consequences could've been much worse and Londo's really tried to look out for him. Plus Stephen Furst didn't have a sitcom to co-star in anymore at this point and he could do with the work.

So Vir's star isn't really so ascendant anymore. This doesn't mean that his marriage has been cancelled, but it has been postponed for a while.

Sheridan finds Ivanova sitting in his corner of C&C, and wonders what she's up to. If he has a problem with her sitting on his chair here it's a good thing she hasn't told him she's been using his office all episode.

Turns out that she's just been using his security clearance to do a bit of work, hopefully free herself of her bad dreams. All this time since they broke away she's been doing her normal job, basically running air traffic control, and she hasn't had an opportunity to do any good. But now she's found one.

They may have really put their foot in it by revealing Vir's plan to Londo, but they never actually told Londo about Abrahamo Lincolni. This means he still has his authorisation, so she can use him to continue smuggling out Narns until someone else catches on.

Seems like she'd need more than a photoshopped picture of Sheridan's head on Londo's body use this imaginary bureaucrat to authorise transit papers, but maybe not! Maybe Vir's given her all the passwords and codes needed to send authentic looking requests to the right computers. Either way I'm sure the Centauri won't be too upset if they catch the Independent State of Babylon 5 meddling in their business.

There used to be a line here that they cut for time saying that the Narn is recovering in Medlab, so Vir didn't actually kill him and neither did Lyndisty. Hopefully they've got better guards at his door than the ones who were supposed to look after King Arthur last episode, because he ain't going to stop trying to kill them.

Lyndisty's going to be fine though, as she's leaving the station. But she still loves Vir and despite everything he actually still kind of loves her too. They may not agree on everything, but they both believe that the other can change. And we finally get a kiss this episode!

It seemed weird to me at first that someone as decent as Vir would want to have anything to do with her, considering that she's a dangerous unrepentant murderer who told him a story about how pretty villages are when they burn. Even for a Centauri that seems a bit much!

But it occurred to me afterwards that believing that people aren't beyond redemption is Vir's defining characteristic. His main role in the story seems to be Londo's conscience, but despite every horrific thing the man has done he has never given up on him and probably never will. And he won't give up on Lyndisty either.

CONCLUSION

---

Sic Transit Vir is a bit of a change for season three, as it's a stand-alone comedy with romances in both the A plot and the B plot. Sure a man gets gunned down after slicing Sheridan's arm and Vir's sort-of wife tells us a story about the times she's helped her dad murder hundreds of Narns, but it's much more lightweight than the stories we've been getting lately. Even after the twist.

The last episode put the epic Shadow War and Earth arcs on hold for a story about the first victim of the Earth-Minbari War, and the action remains paused here so the series can check in with the Narns and Centauri. Turns out they still hate each other, though Vir has actually managed to make a few Narn friends. G'Kar pointed out in Comes the Inquisitor that Vir can't apologise to the dead, so he decided to save the living instead. If only Lyndisty had been able to have a chat with G'Kar as well; I think listening to one of his poetic and heartfelt speeches would have at least gotten her to concede that the Narns are probably self-aware.

Lyndisty comes across as sweet, poetic, dangerous, slightly loopy and very sheltered, which is good because if she didn't the episode wouldn't really work. The actress does a great job selling the fact that she's murdered countless people because she just doesn't know any better, while also coming off as creepy long before the twist is revealed. The episode's eager to make sure viewers understand that the Centauri really do not like the Narn, that's the culture that Londo and Lyndisty have grown up in, and she has been well trained in everything expected of her. Even if they hadn't bought into the propaganda, their position in society relies on them having socially acceptable opinions.

Vir, on the other hand, has never really fit in at home, and that's made it easier for him to broaden his horizons. Londo believes it's being around Minbari these last few months that's corrupted him, but really Vir has been 'corrupted' for years, and just took the first opportunity he had to do some good. And he ends up losing his position because of it, which is the worst thing for a Centauri (and it's all because Ivanova snitched on him!) This kind of explains why it's so rare for to see a 'good' Centauri like him, though we already learned this back in Knives, where Londo's friend Urza Jaddo was ruined for opposing Lord Refa and had to get himself killed to so that his family would be under Londo's protection.

I suppose the Centauri minister at the start might also be considered good, seeing as he told Vir to follow his own instincts and not listen to Londo, but he was talking about getting accurate intelligence at the time. That's part of the problem right there actually. Lyndisty's not operating under accurate intelligence, and neither is the Royal Court as long as they've got people like Londo deliberately telling them what he thinks they want to hear instead of what is true. In fact at the end of the episode Vir says he believes that Lyndisty can change, and Lyndisty replies that they say that Vir can change, with 'they' being the people feeding her their truths and defining her world view.

Vir's probably right I reckon, but getting Lyndisty to change her opinions is going to be an uphill battle, seeing as it would mean accepting that her dad is a monster. It'd also mean she'd have to accept the guilt of everything she's done, and she's done a lot. Maybe it would be kinder to let her carry on as she is, and just confiscate her knives.

Anyway, I thought the episode was alright. Not a standout, but very watchable and a definite step up from the last two.

---

COMING SOON

Babylon 5 will return with Ship of Tears.

I always appreciate people reading my posts, and I appreciate it when they leave comments as well. Hint hint.