Passing Through Gethsemane

"Passing Through Gethsemane"
Babylon 5 episode
Episode no.	Season 3 Episode 4
Directed by	Adam Nimoy
Written by	J. Michael Straczynski
Production code	305
Original air date	27 November 1995
Guest actors
Brad Dourif (Brother Edward) Patricia Tallman (Lyta Alexander) Louis Turenne (Brother Theo)

"Passing Through Gethsemane" is an episode from the third season of the science fiction television series Babylon 5.

Synopsis

A Vorlon transport docks at Babylon 5 with Ambassador Kosh and the human telepath Lyta Alexander aboard. The senior staff of Babylon 5 is, to say the least, curious about what Lyta's seen on the Vorlon homeworld, where no human has ever been. But she is silent on that point. When she's examined by Dr. Franklin in MedLab, however, she is given an even cleaner bill of health that she had before; even remnants of childhood injuries and congenital defects are gone.

One of the brothers of the Cistercian Order on the station, Brother Edward, receives a small package with a black rose while he's conducting a business transaction for his Order. It remains a mystery to him, along with some writing apparently in blood. Brother Edward starts to hear voices and have flashbacks of a woman's murder. He raises his concern that he may be going insane to Babylon 5's security chief Michael Garibaldi and the head of his order Brother Theo.

Brother Theo petitions Captain Sheridan to use Babylon 5's resources to find out what Brother Edward is tormented by before he does. But Brother Edward finds out first that he was the Black Rose Killer, a Jack the Ripper-like murderer on an Earth colony. Several women died before he was caught nine years ago and sentenced to "death of personality", the 23rd century response to the death penalty that obliterates a criminal's mind and restructures it (previously referred to in The Quality of Mercy) so, minus his criminal tendencies and his memory of his previous life, he performs constructive rather than destructive acts for the rest of his days.

However, several families of the Black Rose Killer's victims have come to Babylon 5 seeking revenge, and they've hired a Centauri telepath to reawaken memories of Brother Edward's past life. Sheridan, Ivanova, Garibaldi, and Brother Theo arrive just in time to find Brother Edward beaten and hanging from construction beams shaped like a cross. Edward is grateful to die for his crimes now that he remembers them and also because he wanted to know if he would have the courage to face his persecutors the way Jesus did in Gethsemane.

In the final act, one of the revenge killers is apprehended, gleefully taking credit for the murder of Brother Edward. The killer is sentenced to the same "death of personality" punishment as his victim. The sentence is carried out and, in a twist of reconciliation, the killer is welcomed into the Order by Brother Theo as Brother Malcolm. Theo is willing to forgive him for what he's done and challenges Sheridan that forgiveness, while a hard thing, is always something worth striving for. After first being enraged at seeing the "new" Brother Malcolm, Sheridan grudgingly sees the wisdom in Theo's words and wishes Brother Malcolm well.

The episode ends with Lyta and Kosh (with his environmental suit open) having an energy stream flow between them; Kosh is using Lyta to carry part of his essence. She also displays gills around her neck, freely breathing the Vorlon atmosphere without her usual oxygen mask. These are apparently the result of modifications the Vorlons have made to Lyta's physiology which better adapt her to carrying pieces of a Vorlon's consciousness inside her.

Arc significance

Lyta Alexander returns to the station, now working for Ambassador Kosh.
The popular form of penalty known as Death Of Personality apparently doesn't completely remove the memories of the criminals.
Lennier explains to Brother Edward that the spiritual leader Valen is "a Minbari not born of Minbari". This is similar to the reference in Macbeth to how the character of Macduff is not "of woman born".

Production details

The title is derived from the garden of Gethsemane in which Jesus waited and prayed before he was arrested and crucified, as Brother Edward recounts in the episode.
This episode was originally developed for the show's second season but had to be "scuttled" because a fan posted a story idea on GEnie that was very similar to the plot of the episode.^[1] Legal steps had to be taken to clear the situation up before the story could be put back into the production pipeline.

References

↑ Straczynski, J. Michael (From: Jms at B5 To: AOL), (1996-2-21), 'Re:" Original Ideas ", etc.', The J. Michael Straczynski Message Archive, © 2008 by Synthetic Worlds

External links

Passing Through Gethsemane at The Lurker's Guide to Babylon 5

Babylon 5

Series	Episodes The Gathering In the Beginning Thirdspace The River of Souls A Call to Arms The Legend of the Rangers The Lost Tales Crusade Episodes

Characters	Lyta Alexander Zack Allan Marcus Cole Vir Cotto Delenn Stephen Franklin G'Kar Michael Garibaldi Susan Ivanova Kosh Naranek Lennier Elizabeth Lochley Londo Mollari Na'Toth John Sheridan Jeffrey Sinclair Talia Winters Lorien

Species	List of civilizations Centauri Drakh First One Human Minbari Narn Pak'ma'ra Vorlon Shadow

Ships	Black Star Excalibur Explorer class starship Frazi heavy fighter G'Quan class heavy cruiser Hyperion class heavy cruiser Liandra Nial class heavy fighter Nova class dreadnought Olympus class corvette Omega class destroyer Primus class battlecruiser Raider Fighter Sentri medium fighter Shadow Planet Killer Sharlin Class Warcruiser Starfury Sun Hawk class gunship T'Loth class cruiser Trigati Valen class cruiser Vorchan White Star

Wars	Centauri-Narn War Dilgar War Earth Alliance Civil War Earth–Minbari War Shadow War Telepath War

Locations	Babylon 4 Babylon 5 Z'ha'dum

Organizations	Earth Alliance EarthForce Grey Council Interstellar Alliance League of Non-Aligned Worlds Minbari Warrior Caste Nightwatch Psi Corps Rangers Technomages

Miscellanea	Novels, short stories and comic books List of people involved with Babylon 5 List of people involved with Crusade Babylon 5 influences Babylon 5's use of the Internet Babylon 5 Wars Collectible Card Game Babylon 5 Roleplaying Game Babylon Park Battle of the Line The Be Five Book of G'Kar Foundationism Great Machine Lurker's Guide Mythology PPG Shon'Kar Spoo Triluminary Index of Babylon 5 articles

Category:Babylon 5

Babylon 5 episodes

Season 1	Midnight on the Firing Line Soul Hunter Born to the Purple Infection The Parliament of Dreams Mind War The War Prayer And the Sky Full of Stars Deathwalker Believers Survivors By Any Means Necessary Signs and Portents TKO Grail Eyes Legacies A Voice in the Wilderness (Parts 1 & 2) Babylon Squared The Quality of Mercy Chrysalis

Season 2	Points of Departure Revelations The Geometry of Shadows A Distant Star The Long Dark Spider in the Web Soul Mates A Race Through Dark Places The Coming of Shadows Gropos All Alone in the Night Acts of Sacrifice Hunter, Prey There All the Honor Lies And Now for a Word In the Shadow of Z'ha'dum Knives Confessions and Lamentations Divided Loyalties The Long, Twilight Struggle Comes the Inquisitor The Fall of Night

Season 3	Matters of Honor Convictions A Day in the Strife Passing Through Gethsemane Voices of Authority Dust to Dust Exogenesis Messages from Earth Point of No Return Severed Dreams Ceremonies of Light and Dark Sic Transit Vir A Late Delivery from Avalon Ship of Tears Interludes and Examinations War Without End (Parts 1 & 2) Walkabout Grey 17 Is Missing And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place Shadow Dancing Z'ha'dum

Season 4	The Hour of the Wolf Whatever Happened to Mr. Garibaldi? The Summoning Falling Toward Apotheosis The Long Night Into the Fire Epiphanies The Illusion of Truth Atonement Racing Mars Lines of Communication Conflicts of Interest Rumors, Bargains and Lies Moments of Transition No Surrender, No Retreat The Exercise of Vital Powers The Face of the Enemy Intersections in Real Time Between the Darkness and the Light Endgame Rising Star The Deconstruction of Falling Stars

Season 5	No Compromises The Very Long Night of Londo Mollari The Paragon of Animals A View from the Gallery Learning Curve Strange Relations Secrets of the Soul Day of the Dead In the Kingdom of the Blind A Tragedy of Telepaths Phoenix Rising The Ragged Edge The Corps is Mother, the Corps is Father Meditations on the Abyss Darkness Ascending And All My Dreams, Torn Asunder Movements of Fire and Shadow The Fall of Centauri Prime The Wheel of Fire Objects in Motion Objects at Rest Sleeping in Light

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