Babylon 5/Tear Jerker: Difference between revisions

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* There were two moments in the TV movie ''In the Beginning'' that choked me up.
** Regardless of how many times he watches it, I still have to choke back the tears when the Earth Alliance President calls for ships to take part in the Battle of the Line.
{{quote| '''Earth President:''' This is... This is the president. I have just been informed that our midrange military bases at Beta Colony and Proxima 3 have fallen to the Minbari advance. We have lost contact with Io and must conclude that they too have fallen to an advanced force. Our military intelligence believes that Minbari intend to bypass Mars and hit Earth directly, and the attack may come at any time. We have continued to broadcast our surrender and a plea for mercy, and they have not responded. We therefore can only conclude that we stand at the twilight of the Human race. In order to buy more time for our evacuation transports to leave Earth, we ask for support of every ship capable of fighting, to take part in a defense of our homeworld. We will not lie to you. We do not believe survival is a possibility. We believe that anyone who joins this battle, will never come home again. But for every ten minutes we can delay the military advance, several hundred more civilians may have a chance to escape to neutral territory. Though Earth may fall, the Human race must have a chance to continue elsewhere. No greater sacrifice has ever been asked of a people, but I ask you now, to step forward one last time, one last battle to hold the line against the night! May God go with you all.}}
*** It's especially bad when you realise that even if the Line does its job, you're talking about a few hundred humans left. This is an extinction level attack, and she's begging for whatever help she can to save a pitiful few hundred people. Reduces me to tears every time I see it.
*** Damn it, I've never even watched In The Beginning (though I've watched a lot of Babylon Five) and I just started tearing up.
**** http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbBRrK9Q-rw
** Likewise, Londo Mollari's account of the Human-Minbari war produced some tears as well.
{{quote| '''Londo Mollari:''' The humans, I think, knew they were doomed. But where another race would surrender to despair, the humans fought back with even greater strength. They made the Minbari fight for every inch of space. In my life, I have never seen anything like it. They would weep, they would pray, they would say goodbye to their loved ones and then throw themselves without fear or hesitation at the very face of death itself. Never surrendering. No one who saw them fighting against the inevitable could help but be moved to tears by their courage and their stubborn nobility. When they ran out of ships, they used guns. When they ran out of guns, they used knives and sticks and bare hands. They were magnificent. I only hope, that when it is my time, I may die with half as much dignity as I saw in their eyes at the end. They did this for two years. They never ran out of courage. But in the end, they ran out of time.}}
*** http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeNBJ5o-b7s#t=1m27s
* For someone who knows the [[Backstory]], the meeting between Delenn and "King Arthur" in "A Late Delivery from Avalon". Both bore heavily the knowledge that they had helped to start the Earth-Minbari war. Indeed "King Arthur" might actually have fired the shot that killed Delenn's beloved mentor.
** The prequel [[Clip Show]] movie ''In The Beginning'' verifies that his flashback was the real deal. This also has the [[Hey, It's That Guy!|weird effect]] of giving Micheal York a half-second cameo in the film.
* Londo after he finds out {{spoiler|Adira}} is dead. The haunted loss on Peter Jurasik's face was something that a lesser actor could have reduced to [[Narm]], but in his capable hands...sob.
** There's also the follow-up in the Season Four episode "Into the Fire." Londo has been informed that it was in fact Mr. Morden who had {{spoiler|Adira}} killed. As soon as he is alone, he completely trashes the room he's in, upending tables and breaking furniture, screaming "He played me!" over and over again. Then, he collapses against a wall, sobbing uncontrollably and staring at a picture of himself, looking into the face of the one indirectly responsible for her death.
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* The scene in "The Fall of Centauri Prime" when Londo walks willingly to his doom - knowing he has to sacrifice his freedom and his friends to save his people. All while we see a montage of his life so far set to heartbreaking music. I was in ''floods'' of tears.
** Made even worse by the fact that he doesn't get out of it, and he is controlled by his 'keeper' until the day he dies.
** It gets better / worse in the ''Centauri Prime Trilogy'' of sequel novels. They put a whole new spin on Londo's [[Dying Asas Yourself|death]] at the hands of [[The Power of Friendship|G'Kar]]. ''And'' Londo finally gets to see what a Vorlon looks like: {{spoiler|it takes the form of his dead lover Adira, and guides him away from the Shadows and into heaven}}. It's kind of breathtaking.
** Also, the conversation beforehand when G'Kar finally forgives him for all the terrible things he did...let's face it, that entire episode was one big [[Tear Jerker]].
* "I think I loved Talia."
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** And now, Zack Allen took ship and went out to join them.
* While it was not something that is on the show, JMS' introduction on the Season Five DVD booklet as he explains the odds the show overcame to become what is was, especially the final words.
{{quote| On the front of my house, there is an art deco door knocker, with a small silver plaque in the center. It contains just three words: Never Surrender Dreams. Faith manages. Here endeth the lesson.}}
* Delenn and G'Kar's discussion right before the latter joins the war council.
* After Marcus dies Lennier is talking with Delenn, and he asks this question, "Delenn, do you know what Ivanova said at the end? That all love is unrequited?" It's a small one but it hurts to hear his voice crack when he says it.
* Sheridan talking with his dad one last time before everything is about to hit the fan in ''[[Wham! Episode|Severed Dreams]]''. His dad doesn't know the details, but he's [[Genre Savvy]] enough to have a solid idea, and simply reassures his son that he and his mom will be alright, and that Sheridan must do what he needs to do, just like he was raised to do.
* In an episode shortly after the Centauri takeover of Narn: Vir ends up in an elevator with G'Kar and this exchange takes place
** Vir: I'm sorry!
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* My favorite episode is "The Very Long Night of Londo Mollari." It has a lot of powerful moments, but the bit that gets to me the most viscerally is his small, pathetic, "I do not want to die."
* From the episode ''The Long Night'', after the Centauri withdraw from Narn and an exhausted G'Kar confronts a group of his fellow Narns in the replica throne room. The Narns want to immediately begin plans to strike back, saying that the Centauri have taught them the path to victory, but G'Kar tells them that they have learned the wrong lessons.
{{quote| Narn: "But the Centauri -"<br />
G'Kar: "ARE A LOST PEOPLE! They should be pitied! They are already on a course for self-destruction! They do not need help from us!" }}
** The way G'Kar's voice almost breaks as he shouts this got me tearful. Part of it's no doubt a result of having been brutally tortured for days, but another part of it is G'Kar taking another step on his path to full enlightenment. He once lived for the purpose of destroying the Centauri, but now he's almost crying for them. In some ways, I found this moment as tear-provoking and significant as his epiphany in ''Dust to Dust''.