Babylon 5
1994
(Opening narration, season 1) Commander Jeffrey David Sinclair: It was the dawn of the third age of mankind, ten years after the Earth-Minbari War. The Babylon Project was a dream given form. Its goal: to prevent another war by creating a place where humans and aliens could work out their differences peacefully. It's a port of call, home away from home for diplomats, hustlers, entrepreneurs, and wanderers. Humans and aliens wrapped in two million, five hundred thousand tons of spinning metal, all alone in the night. It can be a dangerous place, but it's our last, best hope for peace. This is the story of the last of the Babylon stations. The year is 2258. The name of the place is Babylon 5.
(Opening narration, season 2) Captain John Sheridan: The Babylon Project was our last, best hope for peace, a self-contained world five miles long located in neutral territory, a place of commerce and diplomacy for a quarter of a million humans and aliens, a shining beacon in space, all alone in the night. It was the dawn of the third age of mankind, the year the great war came upon us all. This is the story of the last of the Babylon stations. The year is 2259. The name of the place is Babylon 5.
(Opening narration, season 3) Susan Ivanova: The Babylon Project was our last, best hope for peace. It failed. But in the year of the Shadow War, it became something greater: our last, best hope for victory. The year is 2260. The place - Babylon 5.
(Opening narration, season 4) Lennier: It was the year of fire, Zack Allan: The year of destruction, Citizen G'Kar: The year we took back what was ours. Lyta Alexander: It was the year of rebirth, Ambassador Vir Cotto: The year of great sadness, Marcus Cole: The year of pain, Delenn: And a year of joy. Ambassador Londo Mollari: It was a new age. Dr Stephen Franklin: It was the end of history. Susan Ivanova: It was the year everything changed. Michael Garibaldi: The year is 2261. Captain John Sheridan: The place, Babylon 5.
Commander Jeffrey David Sinclair: I tried. I tried to warn them. But it all happened, just the way I remembered.
Citizen G'Kar: G'Quon wrote, "There is a greater darkness than the one we fight. It is the darkness of the soul that has lost its way. The war we fight is not against powers and principalities, it is against chaos and despair. Greater than the death of flesh is the death of hope, the death of dreams. Against this peril we can never surrender. The future is all around us, waiting, in moments of transition, to be born in moments of revelation. No one knows the shape of that future or where it will take us. We know only that it is always born in pain."
Captain Elizabeth Lochley: What the hell is your problem? Michael Garibaldi: For starters, I don't know you, therefore I don't trust you. Captain Elizabeth Lochley: The world is full of people you don't know. Michael Garibaldi: I worry about that all the time.
Lorien: It's easy to find something worth dying for. Do you have anything worth living for?
Susan Ivanova: This isn't some deep space franchise, this station is *about* something!
Delenn: I am Grey. I stand between the candle and the star. We are Grey. We stand between the darkness and the light.
(Describing a Shadow ship) Lt Warren Keffer: It was jet black, a shade of black so deep your eye just kind of slides off it. And it shimmered when you looked at it. A spider, big as death and twice as ugly. And when it flies past, it's like you hear a scream in your mind.
Ta'Lon: Congratulations citizen G'Kar. You are now a religious icon.
Marcus Cole: I used to think it was a terrible thing that life was so unfair. Then I thought, 'what if life *were* fair, and all of the terrible things that happen to us came because we really deserved them?' Now I take great comfort in the general unfairness and hostility of the universe.
Marcus Cole: ... Wouldn't it be much worse if life were fair? And all the terrible things that happen to us come because we actually deserve them. So now I take great comfort in the general hostility and unfairness of the universe.
Delenn: (Delenn's ship arrives after Earth Alliance attacks B5) This is Ambassador Delenn of the Mimbari. Babylon 5 is under our protection. Withdraw or be destroyed! Earth Alliance officer: Negative! We have authority here. Do not force us to engage your ship. Delenn: Why not? Only one human captain has ever survived battle with a Mimbari Fleet. He is behind me. You are in front of me. If you value your lives, be somewhere else!
Ambassador Londo Mollari: Ah, arrogance and stupidity all in the same package. How efficient of you!
Citizen G'Kar: No dictator, no invader can hold an imprisoned population by force of arms forever. There is no greater power in the universe than the need for freedom. Against that power tyrants and dictators cannot stand. The Centauri learned that lesson once. We will teach it to them again. Although it take a thousand years, we will be free.
Captain John Sheridan: Are you trying to cheer me up? Susan Ivanova: No sir, wouldn't dream of it. Captain John Sheridan: Good, I hate being cheered up. Susan Ivanova: In that case we're all going to die slow, agonizing deaths. Captain John Sheridan: Thank you, I feel so much better now.
Commander Jeffrey David Sinclair: Everyone lies, Michael. The innocent lie because they don't want to be blamed for something they didn't do and the guilty lie because they don't have any other choice.
Susan Ivanova: Always finding good in every situation, Captain? Captain John Sheridan: Absolutely. If I didn't, I might end up like you. Susan Ivanova: Hey, what's that supposed to mean? Did anybody else hear that?
Mr Morden: What do YOU want? Ambassador Vir Cotto: I'd like to live just long enough to be there when they cut off your head and stick it on a pike as a warning to the next ten generations that some favors come with too high a price. I want to look up into your lifeless eyes and wave like this. (waves) Can you and your associates arrange that for me, Mr Morden?
Dr Stephen Franklin: Marcus, this is the kind of conversation that can only end in a gunshot.
Marcus Cole: (Number One has just come on to Dr Franklin, who is skeptical) Ask me, I think she likes you. Dr Stephen Franklin: Ah, c'mon, nah... it's just business, that's all. Marcus Cole: Stephen... Dr Stephen Franklin: Look, I was just helping her out of a difficult situation, that's all... Marcus Cole: Fifty cretits says that's not all she wants you to help you out of. Dr Stephen Franklin: Oh, c'mon, Marcus you're such a... Marcus Cole: ... romantic? Dr Stephen Franklin: Ah... Marcus Cole: We're still in a war here, Stephen, only now it's a different kind of war, maybe the worst of the two. It's hard to know who to trust; a situation like this makes you afraid, makes you want to reach out to someone who may just feel the same way you do about things, who might be willing to risk this much to help you when the rest of the world couldn't give a damn. Number One: Oh, Franklin, I almost forgot; since it was your hotel that was bombed this orning you're on your own. Like to joine me for dinner tonight? I can't promise much, but it'll be the best we can pull together. Dr Stephen Franklin: (Shrugs) Sure. Number One: (to Marcus) We're short-handed on guard duty tonight. If you could help out... Marcus Cole: Love to! (Number One leaves) Okay, that'll be fifty credits... Dr Stephen Franklin: Now don't you start with me... Marcus Cole: C'mon, you cheap bastard... Dr Stephen Franklin: Marcus, don't you start with me... Marcus Cole: Sorry, gotta go. Guard Duty. Touch passion when it comes your way, Stephen. It's rare enough as it is. Don't walk away when it calls you by name. Number One: (Much later, as Marcus is keeping watch) Ohhhh. Stephen...
Ambassador Londo Mollari: Everyone around me dies, Mr Morden, except those who most deserve it.
Ambassador Londo Mollari: Six months ago hardly anyone knew my name. Now everyone wants to be my friend. I wanted respect. Instead I have become a wishing well with legs.
Ambassador Londo Mollari: When I said my quarters were cold, I did not mean, 'Oh, I think it's a little chilly in here, perhaps I'll throw a blanket on the bed.' No, I said it was COLD, as in, 'Oh, my left arm has snapped off like an icicle and shattered on the floor'! This is highly inappropriate, Captain! Captain John Sheridan: You're right. There are several other parts of your body I'd much rather see snapped off.
Dukhat: When others do a foolish thing, you should tell them it is a foolish thing. They can still continue to do it, but at least the truth is where it needs to be.
Kosh Naranek: Understanding is a three-edged sword.
Kosh Naranek: A stroke of the brush does not guarantee art from the bristles.
Kosh Naranek: The avalanche has already started; it is too late for the pebbles to vote.
(Leading a Minbari fleet against a human fleet) Delenn: Only one human captain has ever survived battle with the Minbari fleet. He is behind me. You are in front of me. If you value your lives, be somewhere else.
Susan Ivanova: Ivanova is always right. I will listen to Ivanova. I will not ignore Ivanova's recommendations. Ivanova is God. *And*, if this ever happens again, Ivanova will personally rip your lungs out!
Susan Ivanova: Confirmed Survey 1. Upon arrival you will report for debriefing. And just one more thing, on your trip back I want you to take the time to learn the Babylon 5 mantra. Ivanova is always right. I will listen to Ivanova. I will not ignore Ivanova's recommendations. Ivanova is God. And if this ever happens again (shouts) Ivanova will personally rip your lungs out! Babylon control out. (to herself) Civilians. (looks up) Just kidding about that God part. No offense.
PsiCop Alfred Bester: Well, there is just no delicate way to say this. (pause) I want your body. Lyta Alexander: (shouts) What? Are you out of your mind?
Captain John Sheridan: Commander, did you threaten to grab a hold of this man by the collar and throw him out an airlock? Susan Ivanova: Yes, I did. Captain John Sheridan: I'm shocked. Shocked and dismayed. I'd remind you we are short on supplies here. We can't afford to take perfectly good clothing and throw it out into space. Always take the jacket off first, I've told you that before. (to the ISN reporter) Sorry, she meant to say stripped naked and thrown out an airlock. I apologize for any confusion this may have caused.
Lorien: We've lived too long, seen too much. To live on, as we have, is to leave behind joy, love, and companionship because we know it to be transitory; of the moment. We know it will turn to ash. Only those whose lives are brief can believe that love, is eternal. (pause) You should embrace that remarkable illusion. It may be the greatest gift your race has ever received.
Delenn: (Teenier is a Ranger in training, and he has been beaten almost to death. One of his teachers declares "Mora'dum," which means the application of terror) Delenn: Captain, this is not about revenge. Captain Elizabeth Lochley: (sarcastically) Captain Elizabeth Lochley: Oh, then what is this about? Delenn: Terror. Captain Elizabeth Lochley: So, what kind of terror are we talking about here, Delenn? Delenn: The kind that cripples; the kind that destroys. Not from without, but from within. As soon as he can stand, whether he is fully healed or not, Teenier will prepare to face his terror. Those who harmed him now have power over him. He must take back that power or he will never be whole again. We will go with him, and bring him to the point of his terror. And then, he will face it. Captain Elizabeth Lochley: But if he isn't fully healed, he could die in the effort. Delenn: He is Anla'shok, and we choose to do that which frightens us, knowing that there are no guarantees. He may lose; we cannot help him. Captain Elizabeth Lochley: Then he will stand alone. Delenn: At the end, Captain, we all stand alone.
Susan Ivanova: I am Susan Ivanova, Commander. Daughter of Andre and Sophie Ivanov. I am the right hand of vengeance and the boot that is going to kick your sorry ass all the way back to Earth, goddammit! I am death incarnate, and the last living thing that you are ever going to see. God sent me.
Susan Ivanova: An expedition to Coriana space found Sheridan's ship a few days later, but they never found him. All the airlocks were sealed, but there was no trace of him inside. Some of the Minbari believe he will come back some day, but I never say him again in my lifetime...
Susan Ivanova: Babylon 5 was the last of the Babylon stations. There would never be another. It changed the future and it changed us. It taught us that we have to create the future or others will do it for us. It showed us that we have to care for one another, because if we don't, who will? And that true strength sometimes comes from the most unlikely places. Mostly, though, I think it gave us hope, that there can always be new beginnings. Even for people like us.
Captain John Sheridan: Something far worse than the Shadows: reporters.
Centauri Emperor Turhan: How will this end? Kosh Naranek: In fire.
(Repeated line) Delenn: In Valen's name.
(Surveying a scene in a bar below) Sebastian: Nothing changes: Decadence, immorality, chaos.
(a telepathic implant prevents Garibaldi from shooting Bester) Michael Garibaldi: What have you done to me? PsiCop Alfred Bester: I've hit you with an Asimov.
(an Earthgov agent is trying to seduce Sheridan, and he has to let her) Captain Susan Ivanova: Good luck, captain. I think you're about to go where... everyone has gone before.
Lord Refa: Why should I do as you say? Ambassador Londo Mollari: Because I have asked you; because your sense of duty to our people should override any personal ambition; and because I have poisoned your drink.
Ambassador Vir Cotto: Prophecy is a guess that comes true. When it doesn't, it's a metaphor.
(Marcus has just cleared out a bar, singlehandedly) Lennier: I see they trained you well back home. Marcus Cole: Well, they said I was carrying around a lot of repressed anger. Lennier: And? Marcus Cole: I'm not repressed anymore!
Citizen G'Kar: The Earthers have a saying: "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer." I believe they stole it from us.
Ambassador Londo Mollari: What do you want, you moon-faced assassin of joy?
Ambassador Londo Mollari: Do you really want to know what I want? Do you really want to know the truth? I want my people to reclaim their rightful place in the galaxy. I want to see the Centauri stretch forth their hand again and command the stars. I want a rebirth of glory, a renaissance of power! I want to stop running through my life like a man late for an appointment, afraid to look back or look forward. I want us to be what we used to be! I want... I want it all back the way it was. Does that answer your question? (Londo leaves) Mr Morden: Yes. Yes, it does.
(Londo asks a visiting Technomage for a prophecy) Elric: As I look at you, Ambasador Mollari, I see a great hand reaching out of the stars. The hand is your hand. And I hear sound; the sounds of billions of people calling your name. Ambassador Londo Mollari: My followers? Elric: Your victims.
Captain John Sheridan: These are your sons and daughters, whose loyalty has never wavered, whose belief in the Alliance has forced us to take extraordinary means. For justice, for peace, for the future... we have come home.
Delenn: Then I will see you again, my love, in the place where no shadows fall.
Lt Corwin: Do we trust no-one then? Cmdr. Susan Ivanova: No, trust Ivanova, trust yourself, anybody else, shoot'em.
Citizen G'Kar: Do you want to be president? Captain John Sheridan: Yes. Citizen G'Kar: Then put your hand on the book and say I do. Captain John Sheridan: I do. Citizen G'Kar: Good, let's eat.
Citizen G'Kar: As the humans say, up yours!
Lorien: The universe began with a word. But which came first: the word or the thought behind the word? You can't create language without thought, and you can't conceive a thought without language, so which created the other, and thus created the universe?
Sinclair: I'm still waiting for an explanation, gentlemen. Ambassador Londo Mollari: Yes, and I'm prepared to give you one, Commander, as soon as the room stops spinning. Sinclair: This station creates gravity by rotation. It never stops spinning. Ambassador Londo Mollari: Well, you begin to see my problem.
A guard: I don't watch TV. It's a cultural wasteland filled with inappropriate metaphors and an unrealistic portrayal of life created by the liberal media elite.
Citizen G'Kar: Our thoughts form the universe. They are always important.
(Returning from the wedding of Sheriden & Delenn) Ambassador Londo Mollari: Stop eating that! You don't even know what it is. Citizen G'Kar: Something called... "rice." Ambassador Londo Mollari: Yes. And if it was any good, do you think they would have been standing there, throwing it at people?
(the command staff have used their command codes to reset the station's computer system) Cmdr. Susan Ivanova: Peekaboo? Michael Garabaldi: Would you have guessed it?
Citizen G'Kar: I told you I could help. The book of G'Quan. Read it. We'll talk afterwards. Michael Garibaldi: I don't read Narn. Citizen G'Kar: Learn!
Emperor Cartagia: (to Londo Mollari) The trouble with being infallible is that you have to deal with everyone else making mistakes.
Ambassador Londo Mollari: Vir, stay. If you go, as a matter of honor, I will have to go with you, and if I am forced to leave this place, with all its marvelous opportunities, I will have to kill you... What are friends for?
Major Krantz: What if we take you with us, put you on trial. Zathras: Zathras not of this time. You take, Zathras die. You leave, Zathras die. Either way, it is bad for Zathras.
Citizen G'Kar: If I take a lamp and shine it toward the wall, a bright spot will appear on the wall. The lamp is our search for truth... for understanding. Too often, we assume that the light on the wall is God, but the light is not the goal of the search, it is the result of the search. The more intense the search, the brighter the light on the wall. The brighter the light on the wall, the greater the sense of revelation upon seeing it. Similarly, someone who does not search - who does not bring a lantern - sees nothing. What we perceive as God is the by-product of our search for God. It may simply be an appreciation of the light... pure and unblemished... not understanding that it comes from us. Sometimes we stand in front of the light and assume that we are the center of the universe - God looks astonishingly like we do - or we turn to look at our shadow and assume that all is darkness. If we allow ourselves to get in the way, we defeat the purpose, which is to use the light of our search to illuminate the wall in all its beauty and in all its flaws; and in so doing, better understand the world around us.
Drazi Ambassador: Captain Sheridan! We thought you were dead! Captain John Sheridan: I was. I'm better now.
Marcus Cole: (after beating someone for information) It's like I always say, you get more with a kind word and a two-by-four than with just a kind word.
Ambassador Londo Mollari: Why? Lennier: In Minbari culture we are taught that it is an honor to help another save face. Ambassador Londo Mollari: But Delenn? Lennier: Will know better, but will not inquire out of respect. Good day, Ambassador." Ambassador Londo Mollari: Lennier, if there's any way I can repay you... Lennier: Ambassador, there is one thing. At the table, a... part of you detached. What was that? Ambassador Londo Mollari: Well, it is difficult to explain... (whispers in Lennier's ear, and Lennier looks very suprised) Ambassador Londo Mollari: Yes, it's true. Yes. Here, Li, Goddess of passion, a synthesis of male and female Centauri. Did you think these were just decorations? Lennier: I'm going to take a vow of silence concerning this entire conversation. Good day. Ambassador Londo Mollari: (to Li) They are a strange people... but they're okay.
Susan Ivanova: If I live through this without completely losing my mind, it will be a miracle of Biblical proportions. Lt Corwin: (aside) Well, there goes my faith in the Almighty.
Ambassador Londo Mollari: Physics tells us that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. They hate us, we hate them, they hate us back. And so, here we are, victims of mathematics!
Captain John Sheridan: No surrender, no retreat.
Susan Ivanova: So the next time we find out where the Shadows plan to strike, we can mine the area, and as soon as they come out of hyperspace... Citizen G'Kar: Then, as you so concisely say, Boom!
Susan Ivanova: Ambassador, do you really want to know what's going on down there? Ambassador Londo Mollari: Yes, absolutely! Susan Ivanova: Boom. Boom boom boom. Boom boom. Boom! Have a nice day!
Ambassador Londo Mollari: Mr Garibaldi, just now, would you really have killed me? Michael Garibaldi: Yes. Yes, I would've, but I'm just as glad I didn't have to. The paperwork's a pain in the butt.
Susan Ivanova: Don't. You're too young to experience that much pain.
(Sinclair is fighting an extremely powerful organic robot soldier) Sinclair: I'm gonna try and make it mad. Michael Garibaldi: Make it mad? Are you nuts? Commander!
Ambassador Londo Mollari: Do you know what the last Xon said just before he died? (Clutches heart) AAAAAAAAAAAARGHHH!
Ambassador Londo Mollari: Ah, our household gods. In a world where every day is a struggle for survival, you need all the gods you can get.
Ambassador Vir Cotto: Ah! He has become one with his inner self! Michael Garibaldi: He's passed out. Ambassador Vir Cotto: That too.
Na'Toth #2: Ambassador, it is not my place to speculate on how anything gets into your bed.
Tu'Pari: My orders are quite specific. You are to know pain. You are to know fear. And then you are to die at the required hour. I confess I'll be happy when this assignment is finished. Allaying the target's suspicions can be so time-consuming.
Citizen G'Kar: That hurt. Na'Toth #2: Ambassador, it was the only way to disable the pain-givers. I had to hit them as hard as possible, as often as possible and still make it appear as though I were beating you into another incarnation. Citizen G'Kar: And you didn't enjoy it in the least. Na'Toth #2: I didn't say that.
Citizen G'Kar: With luck, they may never find you, but if they do, you will know pain... Na'Toth #2: And you will know fear. Citizen G'Kar: And then you will die. Have a pleasant flight.
Citizen G'Kar: Let me pass on to you the one thing I've learned about this place. No one here is exactly what he appears. Not Mollari, not Delenn, not Sinclair... and not me.
Ambassador Londo Mollari: My shoes are too tight and I have forgotten how to dance.
Sinclair: They say God works in mysterious ways. Michael Garibaldi: Maybe so, but He's a con-man compared to the Vorlon.
Kosh Naranek: You are not ready for immortality.
Susan Ivanova: Vakar Ashok, our gun arrays are now fixed on your ship and will fire the instant you come into range. You will find their power quite impressive... for a few seconds.
Kosh Naranek: Ah, you seek meaning? Talia: Yes. Kosh Naranek: Then listen to the music, not the song.
Dr Stephen Franklin: I'm waiting. For an apology. Sinclair: You better check the temperature in Hell first.
Citizen G'Kar: The universe is run by the complex interweaving of three elements. Energy, matter, and enlightened self-interest.
Major Lianna Kemmer: I demand you open a channel to Earth at once. Susan Ivanova: I'm a Lieutenant Commander on Earth Force, Major. I don't take demands. If you will request, I will consider it. Major Lianna Kemmer: Very well, then. I request that you open a channel to Earthdome. Susan Ivanova: Request denied. Have a nice day.
Sinclair: Are you telling me this is about a flower?
Citizen G'Kar: We all believe in something... greater than ourselves, even if it's just the blind forces of chance.
Citizen G'Kar: Oh, why does the universe hate me.
Sinclair: You should never hand someone a gun unless you are sure where they will point it
Sinclair: Problem with the transfer tube? Talia: No, not really. It seems like every time I get into the tube, Mr Garibaldi is there. It's like he knows. Sinclair: Talia, Mr Garibaldi is many things, but he's not omniscient. (Garibaldi appears) Talia: I think I'll take the stairs. Sinclair: I think I'll join you.
Delenn: The third principle of sentient life is the capacity for self-sacrifice, the conscious ability to override evolution and self-preservation for a cause, a friend, a loved one.
Susan Ivanova: I know, I know. It's a Russian thing. When we're about to do something stupid, we like to catalog the full extent of our stupidity for future reference.
Sinclair: Ready? Delenn: Why is it that your people always ask someone if they are ready right before you are about to do something massively unwise? Sinclair: Tradition.
(to Garibaldi, who is depressed) Ambassador Londo Mollari: ... Suddenly, I looked up and this beautiful dancer is leaning down over the stage, and looking right into my eyes. And she said: 'Whatever it is, it can't be that bad.' And then she kissed me, right here. Mr Garibaldi. Whatever it is, it can't be that bad!
Ambassador Londo Mollari: Now, I go to spread happiness to the rest of the station. It's a terrible responsibility but I have learned to live with it.
Susan Ivanova: Worst case of testosterone poisoning I have ever seen.
Ambassador Londo Mollari: Now, landing thrusters... landing thrusters, hmm. Now if I were a landing thruster, which one of these would I be?
Susan Ivanova: God I hate mornings. Sinclair: We noticed. Personally I find it the best part of the day. Susan Ivanova: We all have our cross to bear. Sinclair: The time I learned to really appreciate mornings was during the three years I spent being taught by Jesuits. We used to get up at five o'clock every morning for sunrise mass, then one hour of meditation before class. We'd sit, quiet, in peace. Breathing in, breathing out. Breathing in, breathing out. Breathing in, breathing out.
Ambassador Londo Mollari: I will show you the Babylon 5 that I know. You will find that a revelation of the highest order. Lennier: I don't know, Ambassador. Ambassador Londo Mollari: Oh, my good dear friend. Trust me!
Lennier: There's no alcohol in here, is there? Ambassador Londo Mollari: Alcohol? No, of course not. Here, drink up. Lennier: Because my people do not react well at all to alcohol. Even a small quantity causes psychotic impulses and violent, homicidal rages. (Londo stops him from drinking) Ambassador Londo Mollari: Ahh ahh ahh... my mistake. *Alcohol*...
Captain John Sheridan: Bester. PsiCop Alfred Bester: Captain Sheridan. Captain John Sheridan: Get the hell out of my chair.
(Addressing young recruits) PsiCop Alfred Bester: Reports of our depression have been greatly exaggerated.
Captain John Sheridan: Delenn, I have been working up a good mad all day and I am NOT about to let you ruin it by agreeing with me!
Susan Ivanova: Another lesson? Captain John Sheridan: Uh-huh. Susan Ivanova: What was this one about? Captain John Sheridan: Uh... Beauty... In the dark... Susan Ivanova: Well... They must be working. You're beginning to sound just like a Vorlon.
(repeated line) Ambassador Londo Mollari: Great Maker!
Ambassador Londo Mollari: But this - this, this, this is like being nibbled to death by... what are those Earth creatures called? Feathers, long bill, webbed feet... go 'quack'... Ambassador Vir Cotto: Cats. Ambassador Londo Mollari: Cats. Being nibbled to death by cats.
Marcus Cole: That's a lot of ships! That's a bloody awful lot of ships!
Dr Vance Hendricks: Savor the mystery, Stephen, we don't get enough of them.
(Doctor Franklin hands Ivanova a long printout with her "food plan" diet) Lt Commander Susan Ivanova: I'll *gain* weight! Dr Stephen Franklin: At first, yes. Lt Commander Susan Ivanova: Fine! All my life I've fought against imperialism; now *I'm* the expanding Russian frontier! Dr Stephen Franklin: Yes, but with very nice borders.
Elric: We are dreamers, shapers, singers, and makers. We study the mysteries of laser and circuit, crystal and scanner, holographic demons and invocations of equations. These are the tools we employ, and we know many things.
Delenn: We are star stuff. We are the universe made manifest trying to figure itself out.
Byron: But where is it written that all our dreams must be small ones?"
Captain John Sheridan: Our new friend just said all the security in the world can't stop a lone gunman dedicated to exchange his life for the target, and he is right. So you may as well live instead of being a prisoner.
Captain John Sheridan: If more of our so-called leaders would walk the same streets as the people who voted them in, live in the same buildings, eat the same food instead of hiding behind glass and steel and bodyguards, maybe we'd get better leadership and a little more concern for the future.
Susan Ivanova: May God stand between you and harm in all the empty places where you must walk.
G'Kar: It is said that the future is always born in pain. The history of war is the history of pain. If we are wise, what is born of that pain matures into the promise of a better world, because we learn that we can no longer afford the mistakes of the past.
Alfred Bester: Being a telepath means you're special and rare and valuable.
Lennier: If you do not know the present, how can you claim to know the future?
Alfred Bester: Much as it might offend their sense of perspective, not everything is about Babylon 5.
Zathras: Zathras is used to being beast of burden to other people's needs. Very sad life... probably have very sad death, but at least there is symmetry.
Randall: Hey! That's private property. We've got rights here. Zack Allen: What you're gonna have is my foot 16 inches up your butt if you don't get the hell out of my way!
(while seeking information relating to Delenn's kidnapping, Marcus has knocked everyone in a bar unconscious) Marcus Cole: Bugger! Now I'll have to wait for someone to wake up!
(Garabaldi has launched his Starfury without donning his flight suit, in order to stop the assassin plotting to kill Sheridan) Michael Garabaldi: If this cockpit breaches, I'm screwed!
Captain John Sheridan: In breaking away from Earth, we have begun a difficult and uncertain journey, and none of us can see its end, but our cause remains a just one. That truth honours and sanctifies our fallen comrades who have made the ultimate sacrifice so that we might carry on the work that is ahead of us. We are gathered here today to honour their memory and their names.
Captain John Sheridan: From the stars we came. From the stars we return. From now, till the end of time. We therefore commit these bodies to the deep.
(Garabaldi has reset the command codes and rebooted the computer. Cmdr. Susan Ivanova: God, I hate this part. I'm always afraid I've broken something. Michael Garabaldi: It'll be fine. I've done this before. the computer restarts) Michael Garabaldi: Ah, Told ya. Computer (pause) Michael Garabaldi: Computer? Sparky the Computer: Hey, what do you want? Michael Garabaldi: Run diagnostics. Sparky the Computer: What, you got a broken arm or something? I got a station to run here! Cmdr. Susan Ivanova: Computer. Sparky the Computer: I know, do a diagnostic. So, maybe Level 42 doesn't get its quota of oxygen today because I'm distracted, but if it makes you happy! Michael Garabaldi: Stop! Cmdr. Susan Ivanova: Garabaldi? Michael Garabaldi: I just remembered, they tried to install Artificial Intelligence subroutines when the station went operational. They shut it down right away because it didn't work right. Must have come back on-line when the system re-booted. Cmdr. Susan Ivanova: Great! How do we shut it down? Sparky the Computer: I heard that! Are you two easily offended, or what?
Sparky the Computer: You know, you look very stressed. This is not good. Hey, how about something to eat? Maybe a nice piece of Briskett, you'll suck an orange? Michael Garabaldi: Would somebody please fix this thing before I go out of my mind!
Sparky the Computer: Oh, not that my feelings would have any meaning for you, but why are you having these people poke me all over the place. I'm a perfectly reasonable Artificial Personality. Nobody's ever complained before, but I guess some people just aren't happy unless they're messing it up for everyone else. You know, you really should stand up straight. Your mother and I have been worried about this for years. We've been trying to talk to you about it but... (Garabaldi draws his gun and shoots the speaker)
General Richard Franklin: Every soldier lives with death, son. But I suppose, sometimes, we forget that our loved ones must live with it, too.
General Richard Franklin: A man who won't stand up for his own principles is not really a man at all.
G'Kar: I believe that when we leave a place a part of it goes with us and part of us remains. Go anywhere in these halls, when it is quiet and just listen. After a while you will hear the echoes of all of our conversations, every thought and word we've exchanged. Long after we are gone, our voices will linger in these walls for as long as this place remains. But I will admit that the part of me that going will very much miss the part of you that is staying.
Zathras: Cannot run out of time. There is infinite time. You are finite. Zathras is finite. This is... wrong tool.
Dr Stephen Franklin: Now why do you believe her, and not me? Michael Garibaldi: Because when you lie, it's all over your face. She's a much better liar than you are. Lyta Alexander: Thank you. (pause) Wait a minute!
Dr Stephen Franklin: Doesn't anyone listen to one damn word I say?
Dr Stephen Franklin: Have a seat, lend a hand, or get out of my way, but do not question me in my lab, doctor!
Dr Stephen Franklin: This damn well better be worth it. Because if this story of yours turns out to be bogus, I'm going to kill you twice. Now you got that?
Interrogator: We don't want cooperation. We want conversion. We want repentance.
Dr Stephen Franklin: I realize that I always defined myself in terms of what I wasn't. I wasn't a good soldier like my father. I wasn't the job. I wasn't a good prospect for marriage or kids. Always what I wasn't, never what I was. And when you do that, you miss the moments. And the moments are all we've got. When I thought I was going to die, even after everything that's happened, I realized I didn't want to let go. I was willing to do it all over again, and this time I could appreciate the moments. I can't go back, but I can appreciate what I have right now. And I can define myself by what I am instead of what I'm not. Captain John Sheridan: And what are you? Dr Stephen Franklin: Alive. Everything else is negotiable.
Marcus Cole: I am a Ranger. We walk in the dark places no others may enter. We stand on a bridge, and no one may pass. We live for the One! We DIE for the ONE!
Captain John Sheridan: I swear, the next person around here who acts irrationally, I'm going to shoot myself in the head. Delenn: (Delenn enters fuming) Bastards! Dr Stephen Franklin: Did she just... Captain John Sheridan: She did! Dr Stephen Franklin: I'll go get the gun.
Susan Ivanova: No boom today... boom tomorrow. There's always a boom tomorrow.
Ta'Lon: I carry my sword in my hand. You carry yours in your heart and in your mind. As I see it, that gives you a two-to-one advantage in arms. Be fair, Citizen G'Kar.
Ambassador Londo Mollari: I would remind the Drazi Ambassador that the Centauri have already signed the declaration. Citizen G'Kar: And if the Centauri can sign it, anybody can sign it! Ambassador Londo Mollari: Right!
Delenn: We may be able to get the Pak'ma'rah on board to help, but they're going to need something in exchange. Ambassador Londo Mollari: Oh, offer them my body. Another 10 minutes of this, I'll be dead anyway! Citizen G'Kar: (Without looking up) I second the motion!
(an Earth Gov battle fleet have been prevented from seizing Babylon 5) Delenn: Your Government will think twice before engaging a Mimbari fleet. Marcus Cole: They're not *my* government! Back on the colony, Earth was just a place that sent us books and vids, and took 30% of our income. Should have given them the boot years ago!
Captain John Sheridan: (Bester has just revealed information he's uncovered) So, how did you find out about all of this? PsiCop Alfred Bester: I'm a telepath. Work it out!
Ambassador Londo Mollari: Fools to the left of me, feeders to the right... I need to find a real job.
Commander Jeffrey David Sinclair: Mr Garibaldi was right. He said this was going to be trouble. Susan Ivanova: There's nothing more annoying than Mr Garibaldi when he's right.
Na'Toth: The Narn regime has accomplished many things in its glorious past, but bodysnatching isn't one of them.
General Richard Franklin: I had an Alfredo Garibaldi under my command during the Dilgar invasion. Excellent soldier. Michael Garibaldi: That was my dad. General Richard Franklin: So much for genetics.
Sebastian: Good luck to you in your holy cause, Captain Sheridan. May your choices have better results than mine - remembered not as a messenger. Remembered as a reformer, not as a prophet, not as a hero, not even as Sebastian. Remembered only. as Jack.
Susan Ivanova: It's just that I've always had trouble waking up when it is dark outside. Commander Jeffrey David Sinclair: Commander, we're on a space station. It is always dark outside. Susan Ivanova: (forlornly) I know... I know...
PsiCop Alfred Bester: Mr Garibaldi, on a scale of one to ten... just how stupid do you think I am?
Marcus Cole: (noticing Ivanova's not paying attention to his report) There's always the threat of an attack by say, a giant space dragon. The kind that eats the sun once every 30 days. It's a nuisance, but what can you expect from reptiles? Did I mention that my nose is on fire? And that I have 15 wild badgers living in my trousers? (Ivanova glares at him) I'm sorry would you prefer ferrets?
Captain John Sheridan: (Bester arrives in a Psi Corp Starfury) Mr Bester, we no longer have any ties to Earth or to the Psi Corps. So we don't have to put up with *you* or your games. Now, I am sitting on four brand new uni-directional pulse cannons. Give me one good reason I shouldn't blow you out of the sky. PsiCop Alfred Bester: Curiosity. Kill me and you'll never know what brought me all the way out here. I think if you weigh that against the brief satisfaction of blowing me out of the sky, you'll do the right thing. (long pause) Captain? Captain John Sheridan: I'm thinking it over.
President Susanna Luchenko: (to Sheridan after his forces free Earth) Half of Earth force wants to give you a kiss on the cheek and the Medal of Honor. The other half wants you taken out and shot. As a politician you learn how to compromise - which by all rights means I should give you the Medal of Honor then have you shot.
Lennier: (Lennier and Vir do not make eye contact during this conversation) Sometimes I get so close and yet it feels like I'm shut out of the important things. Ambassador Vir Cotto: It's a useless feeling. The Ambassador is definitely going through some changes. He even looks different. Lennier: Indeed. And now with the military starting to stampede over everyone and everything... Ambassador Vir Cotto: People coming and going and secret meetings... Lennier: You never know what it's all about until later when it's too late. Ambassador Vir Cotto: And they never listen to us. Ambassador Vir Cotto, Lennier: Makes me nervous. Ambassador Vir Cotto: (they finally look at each other) Same time tomorrow? Lennier: Sure.
Ambassador Vir Cotto: As Mr Garibaldi would say, it's been one hell of a day. Lennier: Yes. A hell of a day. Ambassador Vir Cotto: And a hell of a year. Lennier: A hell of a five years. Ambassador Vir Cotto: Hell of a life. Lennier: You win.
Commander Jeffrey David Sinclair: Keep them (Vir and Kodath) talking. I'm going to find Londo and bring him here. Talia: What if he refuses? Commander Jeffrey David Sinclair: Then I hurt him.
Citizen G'Kar: (to Londo after they discover the Centauri are still building warships during peace time) Well, with everyone now on the same side, perhaps you're planning to invade yourselves for a change. I find the idea curiously appealing. Once you've finished killing each other, we can plow under all the buildings and plant rows of flowers that spell out the words, "Too annoying to live" in letters big enough to be seen from space.
Captain John Sheridan: May I have your attention please. In the last few hours, we have learned that warships are coming this way from Earth. Their orders are to seize command of Babylon 5 by force. As commanding officer and military governor of Babylon 5, I cannot allow this to happen. President Clark has violated the Earth Alliance Constitution: by dissolving the Senate, declaring martial law, and *personally* ordering the bombing of civilian targets on the Mars colony. He is *personally* responsible for the deaths of hundreds of innocent people. Following these attacks, Orion 7 and Proxima 3 have broken away from the Earth Alliance, and declared independence. Babylon 5 now joins with them. As of this moment, Babylon 5 is seceding from the Earth Alliance. We will remain an independent state till President Clark is removed from office. At the end of this current crisis, anyone who wishes to leave for Earth is free to do so. Meanwhile for your own safety, I urge everyone to stay in your quarters until this is over. That is all.
Ambassador Londo Mollari: Only an idiot would fight a war on two fronts. Only the heir to the throne of the Kingdom of Idiots would fight a war on twelve fronts.
PsiCop Alfred Bester: Anatomically impossible, Mr Garibaldi. But you're welcome to try.
Captain John Sheridan: Full power! Give me everything you've got! Lennier: If I were holding anything back I would tell you.
Delenn: The rebirth ceremony was part of your training on Minbar. Marcus Cole: I missed it. I overslept. Delenn: It lasts all day! Marcus Cole: Oh, yes. I was ill.
Timov: Do you seriously expect me to become involved in your sexual Olympics ? Ambassador Londo Mollari: They were merely expressing their feelings for me. Timov: I can do that. (slaps him hard) Ambassador Londo Mollari: (wincing) You haven't changed. Timov: You have. You've devolved.