Babylon 5/Recap/S04/E13 Rumors Bargains and Lies

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    • 02 Thirdspace
    • 03 The River of Souls
    • 04 A Call to Arms
    • Babylon 5: The Lost Tales
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  • S01
    • E00 The Gathering
    • E01 Midnight on the Firing Line
    • E02 Soul Hunter
    • E03 Born to the Purple
    • E04 Infection
    • E05 The Parliament of Dreams
    • E06 Mind War
    • E07 The War Prayer
    • E08 And the Sky Full of Stars
    • E09 Deathwalker
    • E10 Believers
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    • E12 By Any Means Necessary
    • E13 Signs and Portents
    • E14 TKO
    • E15 Grail
    • E16 Eyes
    • E17 Legacies
    • E18 A Voice in the Wilderness, Part 1
    • E19 A Voice in the Wilderness, Part 2
    • E20 Babylon Squared
    • E21 The Quality of Mercy
    • E22 Chrysalis
  • S02
    • E01 Points of Departure
    • E02 Revelations
    • E03 The Geometry of Shadows
    • E04 A Distant Star
    • E05 The Long Dark
    • E06 Spider in the Web
    • E07 Soul Mates
    • E08 A Race Through Dark Places
    • E09 The Coming of Shadows
    • E10 GROPOS
    • E11 All Alone in the Night
    • E12 Acts of Sacrifice
    • E13 Hunter Prey
    • E14 There All the Honor Lies
    • E15 And Now for A Word
    • E16 In the Shadow of Z'ha'dum
    • E17 Knives
    • E18 Confessions and Lamentations
    • E19 Divided Loyalties
    • E20 The Long Twilight Struggle
    • E21 Comes the Inquisitor
    • E22 The Fall of Night
  • S03
    • E01 Matters of Honor
    • E02 Convictions
    • E03 A Day in the Strife
    • E04 Passing Through Gethsemane
    • E05 Voices of Authority
    • E06 Dust to Dust
    • E07 Exogenesis
    • E08 Messages From Earth
    • E09 Point of No Return
    • E10 Severed Dreams
    • E11 Ceremonies of Light and Dark
    • E12 Sic Transit Vir
    • E13 A Late Delivery From Avalon
    • E14 Ship of Tears
    • E15 Interludes and Examinations
    • E16 War Without End, Part 1
    • E16 War Without End, Part 2
    • E17 War Without End, Part 2
    • E18 Walkabout
    • E19 Grey Seventeen Is Missing
    • E20 And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place
    • E21 Shadow Dancing
    • E22 Z'ha'dum
  • S04
    • E01 The Hour of the Wolf
    • E02 Whatever Happened to Mr. Garibaldi?
    • E03 The Summoning
    • E04 Falling to Apotheosis
    • E05 The Long Night
    • E06 Into the Fire
    • E07 Epiphanies
    • E08 The Illusion of Truth
    • E09 Atonement
    • E10 Racing Mars
    • E11 Lines of Communication
    • E12 Conflicts of Interest
    • E13 Rumors Bargains and Lies
    • E14 Moments of Transition
    • E15 No Surrender, No Retreat
    • E16 The Exercise of Vital Powers
    • E17 The Face of the Enemy
    • E18 Intersections in Real Time
    • E19 Between the Darkness and the Light
    • E20 Endgame
    • E21 Rising Star
    • E22 The Deconstruction of Falling Stars
  • S05
    • E01 No Compromises
    • E02 The Very Long Night of Londo Mollari
    • E03 The Paragon of Animals
    • E04 A View From the Gallery
    • E05 Learning Curve
    • E06 Strange Relations
    • E07 Secrets of the Soul
    • E08 Day of the Dead
    • E09 In the Kingdom of the Blind
    • E10 A Tragedy of Telepaths
    • E11 Phoenix Rising
    • E12 The Ragged Edge
    • E13 The Corps Is Mother, the Corps Is Father
    • E14 Meditations on the Abyss
    • E15 Darkness Ascending
    • E16 And All My Dreams Torn Asunder
    • E17 Movements of Fire and Shadow
    • E18 The Fall of Centauri Prime
    • E19 The Wheel of Fire
    • E20 Objects in Motion
    • E21 Objects at Rest
    • E22 Sleeping in Light
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Every time you try to get them do something for their own good, they figure you've got some sort of a hidden agenda. —Susan Ivanova

This episode contains examples of:

• Batman Gambit: Sheridan's whole scheme to get the League of Non-Aligned Worlds to allow the White Stars into their territory.
• Bat Deduction: Sheridan basically throws a bunch of things out there and lets the League ambassadors "figure out" what's going on.
• Big Yes: After his plan succeeds, Sheridan walks into a transport tube expressionlessly, but as soon as the doors close he lets one loose.
• Entertainingly Wrong: The League's final conclusion: that there is some new enemy which can only be detected by the White Stars. Therefore, we must have the White Stars protecting our territories to keep these unseen enemies out. To that end, we will force Sheridan to deploy them along our borders, giving him any clearances he needs, so he doesn't have any excuses. And through it all, we will remain blissfully unaware that we have done exactly what he wanted us to do.
• Getting Crap Past the Radar: Unlike the Drazi, who have beady little eyes, the Centauri have "great big eyes, and great big scanners, and great big..." Well. (Note Londo is gesturing to the sides of his torso as he says this; where his people's Naughty Tentacles are located).
• Happily-Failed Suicide: Once the religious caste members realize Delenn is not going to allow the Warrior Caste to rule, they rush to turn off the valve releasing the toxic fumes into the ventilation system. Fortunately, Lennier got there and turned it off in time.
• Honor Before Reason: The Religious Caste leaders decide that they would rather die than allow the ship to reach Minbar when they think Delenn is going to sell them out.
• Laughing Mad: Sheridan at the beginning.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial: "Nothing happened today in sector 83x9x12. I repeat, nothing happened." Subverted in that nothing did happen, but Sheridan wants them to think something did as part of his Batman Gambit. Poor Ivanova.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Lennier to the Religious Caste: "Have we fallen so far that we can no longer trust ourselves?"