Deathwalker
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| “Deathwalker” | |||||||
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| Babylon 5 episode | |||||||
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| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 9 |
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| Written by | Larry DiTillio | ||||||
| Directed by | Bruce Seth Green | ||||||
| Guest stars | Sarah Douglas (Jha'dur) Robin Curtis (Ambassador Kalika) Cosie Costa (Abbut) Aki Aleong (Senator Hidoshi) |
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| Production no. | 113 | ||||||
| Original airdate | 20 April 1994 | ||||||
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| List of Babylon 5 episodes | |||||||
"Deathwalker" is an episode from the first season of the science fiction television series Babylon 5.
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[edit] Synopsis
A war criminal arrives aboard the station with a stunning scientific discovery: a substance that offers possible immortality.
[edit] Details
Ambassador Kosh hires Talia Winters to telepathically monitor some transactions, and is instructed to meet up at the hour of scampering.
Na'Toth meanwhile is waiting for a ship to dock, when she spots an individual disembarking from another ship. She goes wild shouting "Deathwalker" and attacks the woman until she is restrained. Sinclair and Garibaldi meet up to discuss the incident, and although she has all the outward trappings of a Minbari and has arrived from Minbari space it is clear she is not a Minbari. They have heard the name Deathwalker before. They question Na'Toth and find she has taken a blood oath to kill the Dilgar woman known as Deathwalker. Deathwalker was responsible for a series of experiments on Na'Toth's grandfather and other people, that ended with most of them dying. This happened over 30 years ago, and would make the woman much older than she appears now.
Talia meets up with Kosh and his client Abbut, but she can not find out any details from Kosh. A mind scan of Abbut show his mind is empty of thoughts. Several cryptic sayings are exchanged between the two.
In Medlab, Dr Franklin has stabilised Deathwalker, and reports her body is healing itself very quickly. Sinclair tells him she is a Dilgar, which Franklin doesn't believe. The Dilgar were mostly wiped out in the Dilgar War, and those that survived died when their sun went nova. The records show Deathwalker was a name given to Warmaster Jha'dur, who was the infamous leader of the Dilgar invasion of the non-aligned sectors in 2230. It also shows she is a specialist in biochemical, biogenetic, and cyber-organic weapons. Her body appears too young to be the Deathwalker, and too old to be her daughter. Garibaldi arrives with a Dilgar uniform and a mystery drug. Sinclair is called away to answer a gold channel call.
Na'Toth apologises to G'Kar for her actions, but G'Kar understands the nature of the blood oath. However he says that Jha'dur is carrying something very useful to Narn, so she will have to delay her revenge for the good of Narn.
Sinclair's gold channel call is from Senator Hidoshi, and he wants Sinclair to send Deathwalker to Earth as soon as possible. He refuses to hear any arguments from Sinclair and terminates the call.
In Medlab Jha'dur wakes, and is angry with Franklin who is analysing the drug. She says it is her life's work. Sinclair goes to Medlab, bumping into Londo on the way, who asks if the rumours of Deathwalker are true. Sinclair shrugs off the rumour. He arrives in Medlab and dismisses Franklin to talk to Jha'dur. She confirms she is Deathwalker, and that she has discovered a drug that cures disease and retards the ageing process in all humanoid life forms. However the drug is unstable and difficult to produce, but Sinclair can see the results.
Talia's meeting comes to an end with more cryptic sayings. She asks both sides what the meaning of the meeting was, but both decline to give her a straight answer.
Sinclair asks Lennier for help, as Deathwalker claimed she has been living with the Wind Swords, a branch of the Minbari warrior caste. He agrees to try and find out.
G'Kar meets with Deathwalker who originally coming to B5 to deal with a senior official from Narn regarding her discovery. She offers to give the drug to the Narn, but only on the condition that Na'Toth is executed and her remains presented to her. G'Karn refuses.
Sinclair, Ivanova, Garibaldi and Franklin meet to discuss options. They decide that Earth is probably the best place for her, although not without a lot of disagreement.
Sinclair, and a security detail, prepares to escort Jha'dur off the station, but G'Kar has told the League of Non-Aligned Worlds about her presence. A delegation intercepts Sinclair and demands Deathwalker be turned over to them to stand trial. Sinclair, in an attempt to stall for time, suggests instead that the B5 council debate the matter and hold a vote regarding a war-crimes trial.
When the council vote is called Londo votes 'No' claiming the Centauri had no quarrel with the Dilgar. G'Kar states that the Narn will vote 'Yes' but only on the condition that the trial is held on Narn. When the league objects G'Kar responds by voting 'No' instead. Sinclair, on behalf of Earth, votes 'Yes'. Ambassador Kosh refuses to attend, on behalf of the Vorlons, which leaves the swing vote in the hands of the Minbari, who are represented by Lennier due to Delenn's absence. He announces that the Minbari are abstaining. This means the vote is 2 to 1 against. The council descends into uproar as various members of the League storm out.
Sinclair confronts Lennier claiming that the Minbari gave shelter to Jha'dur. Lennier replies that it was one of their more militant warrior groups that took her in and that his government had no knowledge of their actions until recently.
Meanwhile Talia has her second meeting with Kosh and Abbut, which is every bit as confusing as the first. It seems clear that Abbut is part machine though.
The tension aboard the station increases when a League warship arrives and threatens B5 with destruction if Deathwalker is not handed over. When additional League ships arrive with similar demands, Ivanova manages to talk them out of attacking, and Sinclair manages to reach a compromise, where Jha'dur will go to Earth, and then after she has finished helping them with the drug, she will be released to the League for a trial.
However just before she departs, Jha'dur smugly informs Sinclair there is a price to her immortality medication; the essential components are fatally derived from the bodies of beings of the same species of the recipient. With a sadistic glee, she predicts that the various species will turn on each other internally and ravenously for immortality, sparking a wave of mass murder and chaos that will destroy any pretensions of moral superiority to her people: "Not like us? You will become us." Being helpless to stop her scheme since he knows that his government will still want her medication regardless, all the incensed Commander can do is order the criminal off his station.
Sinclair, Garibaldi and representatives of the various worlds gather on the observation deck, including, to everyone's surprise, Ambassador Kosh, to watch as Jha'dur's ship leaves B5. However, before it can reach the jump gate, a Vorlon ship comes through and destroys Jha'dur's ship. Kosh informs the assembled representatives that they are not ready for immortality yet.
Sinclair and Garibaldi later discuss the significance, and Talia joins them and explains about her meeting with Kosh. Garibaldi says he knows of Abbut–he is a "Vicar" (a term derived from "VCR"), which is a type of alien that is part machine, part sentient being. They act as living recorders and can record just about everything, including brain-wave patterns. Abbut had been recording Talia's personality: "Reflection, surprise, terror...for the future."
[edit] Arc significance
- The Dilgar War is first mentioned, showing some of Earth's backstory. The Dilgar invaded the non-aligned sectors in 2230.
- Kosh tells the League that they "are not ready for immortality", in a tone indicative of the Vorlon's self-appointed role as parental figure for the lesser races.
- The exchange between Kosh and Abbut, monitored by Talia Winters, was to have significance in later seasons, after the events which led to Lyta Alexander activating the dormant artificial personality embedded in Talia by the Psi-Corps. The initial plan for the storyline was that Kosh would eventually restore Talia to her real personality using the data recorded by Abbut. However, the departure of Andrea Thompson, the actress playing Talia, at the end of the second season meant that this would never be put into motion.
[edit] Production details
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[edit] References
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