Sic Transit Vir
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| “Sic Transit Vir” | |
|---|---|
| Babylon 5 episode | |
 |
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| Episode no. | Season 3 Episode 12 |
| Guest stars | Carmen Thomas (Lyndisty) Damian London (Centauri Official) |
| Written by | J. Michael Straczynski |
| Directed by | Jesus Trevino |
| Production no. | 313 |
| Original airdate | 15 April 1996 |
| Episode chronology | |
| ← Previous | Next → |
| "Ceremonies of Light and Dark" | "A Late Delivery from Avalon" |
| List of Babylon 5 episodes | |
Sic Transit Vir is an episode from the third season of the science-fiction television series Babylon 5.
Contents |
[edit] Plot synopsis
Vir's fiancee from an arranged marriage arrives at Babylon 5.
[edit] Details
The episode opens with Ivanova having one of a sequence of dreams, this one where stands in C&C naked. She confides to Captain Sheridan about having odd dreams, without mentioning any details. He consoles her that it could be worse — she could be dreaming of being in C&C naked.
Vir is meeting with a royal councilor elsewhere, whilst a collection of Narns lurk in his own room.
Londo is attempting to exterminate a rather large bug that has got into his quarters. A beautiful young Centauri, Lyndisty, enters his room. When Vir arrives, Londo introduces her to him: she is Vir's arranged bride.
Meanwhile Zack Allen reports to Ivanova that a suspicious number of Narn have been passing through the station, all with papers purportedly signed by a Centauri bureaucrat "Abrahamo Lincolni", an identity shown to have been invented by Vir.
Separately, Sheridan has invited Delenn to his quarters for an evening meal. He has prepared flarn, but apparently his cooking leaves something to be desired; Delenn politely eats it, distracting Sheridan by talking about a picture on his wall, and then heavily seasoning it to render it edible.
Ivanova calls in Vir for questioning; in return he questions her on how best to approach his new bride.
A Narn then shouts "murderer" as he appears to lunge at Vir, who shelters his fiancée. Only the timely intervention of Sheridan then security saves them. The Narn shouted a blood oath before he was killed, and Sheridan wonders why anyone would have a blood oath against someone as gentle as Vir.
Sheridan and Delenn, as she helps him to do up his jacket (he has difficulty due to the injury he received to his arm whilst defending Vir from the attack of the Narn), are about to kiss as Ivanova interrupts summoning him to Londo's quarters, with news that every last Narn prisoner transferred by Vir is now listed as dead. Londo is surprised and very pleased to learn of his apprentice's personal contribution to the pacification Narn homeworld. Vir, intensely discomfited, finally confesses he has forging death certificates to smuggle live Narns away from the reach of the Centauri.
Vir returns to his room to find his bride demurely guarding a bound, gagged Narn on the floor. She proudly offers over the prisoner to Vir, for him to kill. She has no regard for Narn life, proudly mentioning how she accompanied her father on Narn culling, and has personally knifed a hundred Narn. The captured Narn is revealed to be the pouch brother of the earlier attacker; they were the only survivors from a village massacred by Lindisty and her father. Vir is horrified; his reaction genuinely puzzles Lindisty, yet her affection for Vir is genuine.
Londo, deeply disappointed at Vir's aiding the enemy, terminates Vir's position on Minbar and sends Lyndisty back to Centauri Prime while her family reconsiders the position and the potential marriage.
Ivanova uses the tricks that Vir was using to keep the underground railroad going as a way to save more Narns, adding more detail to the fake identity of "Abrahamo Lincolni", including a doctored photo of Sheridan as a Centauri.
Vir and Lyndisty say goodbye, each thinking the other is odd, but that in time the other's views will soften.
[edit] Arc significance
- The Centauri are trying to pacify the conquered Narn homeworld.
- Vir has been running an underground railroad to rescue Narns from the Centauri.
- Susan Ivanova has taken over Vir's underground railroad from Babylon 5.
[edit] Production details
[edit] Trivia
- The title is a variation on the latin phrase "Sic transit gloria mundi" which means “Thus passes away the glory of the world”. So the title means something like "Thus passes Vir", or alternatively "Thus passes the husband" as "vir" is latin for man or husband.
- Some fans have noted that Vir's lament that no one would consider him a hero is unfair to himself considering the Narns he helped would certainly appreciate his efforts, and he shielded Lindisty with his body when the blood-oath–seeking Narn attacked.
- Vir's work is reminiscent of Oscar Schindler's work to help Jews escape from the concentration camps in Nazi Germany.
- Although J. Michael Straczynski has said that this episode was inspired by William Shakespeare, it also owes an obvious debt to the play, The Lady's Not for Burning by Christopher Fry.
