Babylon 5/Tropes Q to Z: Difference between revisions

 

== Q ==

** Sheridan to the Vorlons and Shadows at the end of the Shadow War.

** Delenn is always giving this to the Grey Council, it seems. It may not be coincidental that she has political troubles back home.

** The Babylon 5 Advisory Council and the League of Non-Aligned Worlds was [[Invoked Trope|purposely designed]] to be the United Nations IN SPACE!

* [[Red Alert]]

* [[Redemption Equals Death]]: While Neroon had long been the most sympathetic, honorable, and sane Warrior-Caste Minbari, he was only completely redeemed when he sacrificed himself to save Delenn (and end the Minbari Civil War). He does declare himself (in a somewhat [[Narm|Narmy]] scene) Religious Caste just as he dies; although he most likely truly means it (given Shakiri's disgrace), he's also preserving Delenn's victory.

* [[Refuge in Audacity]]: How they smuggle Na'Toth off the Centauri homeworld. No Centauri would admit seeing their own Prime Minister slobberingly drunk snuggling up to a veiled slave girl and staggering toward the spaceport.

* [[Relationship Reveal]]: Following a year or two of dropped hints and innuendo, "Divided Loyalties" reveals Talia sleeping in the same bed as Susan Invanova.

* [[Retroactive Precognition]]: {{spoiler|All of Valen's prophecies.}}

* [[Revealing Hug]]: In "Born to the Purple", Londo and Adira embrace, and the camera lingers on Adira's face as the happy facade she's been putting on for Londo slips away.

* [[Road Trip Episode]]: Due to a blockade, Marcus and Dr. Franklin leave Babylon 5 and embark on a Type 2 on board a slow freighter to Mars in order to meet with [[La Résistance]].

* [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]]: An epic one in "The Coming of Shadows", when G'kar figures out that Londo Mollari -- to whom G'Kar finally extended his hand of friendship -- has declared war on the Narn colonies. It takes a whole security team ''and'' Sheridan to stop G'Kar from breaking into Londo's quarters to kill him, and for moment it looks like even ''that'' is not enough.

** Garibaldi expresses how moved he is (or not) by Bester's soliloquy about how he's just a [[Not Evil, Just Misunderstood|misunderstood family man]].

* [[Second Episode Introduction]]: Several of the cast regulars were not present in the [[Pilot Movie]]; Dr Franklin didn't show up for the first proper episode either.

** On the other hand, often played painfully straight with casualty numbers. [[Word of God]] is that a planetary bombardment using [[Colony Drop|Colony Drops]] had casualties of only 3 million, while the casualties of the Earth-Minbari War were only a little more than those that have been suffered in the Iraq War so far.

**** JMS is of the opinion that the advanced civilizations would generally use more birth control and naturally have lower populations, too. It's his explanation for why Centauri Prime only has a few billion people living on it (though one episode put the total Centauri population at 48 billion), provides a decent explanation as to why we rarely see children on the show, and is evidenced by the families we do see or hear mentioned (many characters are only children who in turn have only one child [ie: Lise, despite three marriages, only gave birth to Garibaldi's child, Delenn and Sheridan only have one child, Londo had 3 wives and at least 2 lovers but never any children, and so on]). It seems like the Narns are the only major species with larger families since they seem to have litters (but even then the occupation seems to have left them with a relatively stunted population).

** Why Franklin turns Dr. Hendricks in at the end of the episode "Infection".

** When confronted with Londo's announcement that he plans to divorce two of his wives, Timov passes up ample opportunities to win his favor or (failing that) murder him. She instead saves her husband's life via a [[AB Negative|blood transfusion]], on the condition that Franklin cannot reveal that she's the donor. In the end, Londo begrudgingly keeps Timov as his spouse, since she's [[Honest Advisor|the least dishonest]].

* [[Screw the Rules, I Have Connections]]: Mere hours after {{spoiler|Jack}} is arrested, President Clark calls Sheridan to demand his extradition to Earth. Shortly after leaving the station, the prisoner 'mysteriously' vanishes while en route.

* [[Screw the Rules, I Make Them]]: Typically invoked by the Psi Cops.

* [[Secret Circle of Secrets]]: The Grey Council.

* [[Secret Keeper]]: Per Lumati custom, [[Dirty Old Man|Correlimurzon]] tries to celebrate his species' alliance with Earth by getting into Ivanova's pants. She delays him for a couple hours before offering to go through with it "human style," which involves 10 seconds of dancing but little else. It's implied that his servant, Taq, saw through Ivanova's ploy but was nonetheless impressed by her cunning.

* [[Secret Test of Character]]: G'Kar pulls this on Lyta in "Darkness Ascending." {{spoiler|She passes.}}

** From time to time, Garibaldi will pull this on other characters who he suspects of doing illegal things for noble reasons. As long as they tell him the truth, he will usually help them find a better way to accomplish it. Of course, he only does this for characters who he believes will tell him the truth, but he always leaves them a little room to disappoint him.

** Also Charles Dexter, the Black Rose Killer, AKA {{spoiler|Brother Edward.}}

* [[Serious Business]]: Drazi politics.

'''''[[What Do You Mean It's Not Heinous?|Purple]]''''' }}

* [[Sham Ceremony]]: {{spoiler|President Clark}}'s installation ceremony.

* [[Shame If Something Happened]]: Refa to Londo, after the latter voices his disgust at the [[Witch Hunt]] perpetrated on his Urza Jaddo.

** Also Londo to Lyta

* [[He Knows Too Much|She Knows Too Much]]: Despite intentionally leaving Talia alive as a witness, Abel Horn is later ordered to terminate her after she scans his mind.

* [[Shell Game]]: The literal shell game is seen in "Soul Hunter", where a hustler tries it on in Downbelow and gets knifed by a suspicious mark.

** From ''The Long Dark'', Amis is firmly in the full-blown crazy variety of this trope. Except it wasn't the war that messed him up, it was his entire squad (except for him) being wiped out by an invisible alien that could move through walls and killed its enemies by [[Body Horror|ripping their organs out through their mouths.]]

** Michael York's character from ''A Late Delivery From Avalon''. He's so full of guilt and remorse and becomes so divorced from reality for a time that he thinks he's [[King Arthur]].

* [[Shock Collar]]:

** In the first season episode "The Parliament of Dreams", G'Kar is forced to wear one as an act of revenge by one of his recently deceased political enemies.

** Delenn undergoes a torturous test of her allegiance by "the Inquisitor", who zaps her with electrified manacles every time she gives an unsatisfactory answer.

** Much later on, Sheridan finds himself trapped in one by an Earth Force torturer, not as the torture implement itself, but as a way [[Restraining Bolt|to show that he can't attack him]] if unchained.

** The PSI corps greeting [[The Prisoner|"Be seeing you"]], complete with the eye-in-the-forhead gesture.

* [[Show Within a Show]]: The ISN Special Reports, which form the focus of the episodes "And Now For a Word" and "The Illusion of Truth." The fouth season finale "The Deconstruction of Falling Stars" features more special reports, and other video records, being examined by a Ranger {{spoiler|one million years in the future}}.

* [[Silly Reason for War]]: The Drazi conflict in "The Geometry of Shadows", in which the Drazi split into two entirely arbitrary groups chosen by pulling scarves out of a barrel and then fight for the right to rule for the next five years.

* [[Sitting Duck]]:

** Londo invoked this trope {{spoiler|on the Shadow base on his homeworld}}.

* [[Space Cold War]]: Earth and Minbar. Earth and Minbar are slowly mellowing their relation at this time. Vorlons and Shadows are a straighter example of this.

** The Narn and the Centauri. {{spoiler|[[This Means War|Until partway into the second season]].}}

* [[Spikes of Villainy]]: The Shadows' spaceships. {{spoiler|Clark's [[Imported Alien Phlebotinum|Advanced Destroyers]] as well.}}

* [[Spit Take]]: G'Kar, on being unexpectedly hailed by his straight-laced assistant while he's relaxing in a seedy nightclub, in "Born to the Purple".

* [[Something That Begins With Boring]]: Marcus and Franklin on the way to Mars.

** Leading to this [[Crowning Moment of Funny|hilarious]] exchange:

'''Franklin:''' And that's when I shot him, Your Honor. }}

* [[Soundtrack Dissonance]]: Lord Refa is brutally (and deservedly) murdered to the sounds of a gospel chorus. Doubles as [[Crowning Music of Awesome]].

* [[Space Is an Ocean]]: Magnificiently averted. Sort of lampshaded/subverted with the Minbari Sharlin cruiser, which looks like a fish (However, one could argue that [[From a Certain Point of View|Hyperspace is an ocean]]). The Minbari also practice what they call "going to the sea", in which an elder spends their last days journeying into space, searching for a place where they can be of use.

* [[Space Mines]]: In "Matters of Honor", we see a Centauri minefield deployed to interdict access to a planet.

* [[Space Opera]]

* [[Space Station]]: Kinda the whole point of the show.

** Psi-Corps.

** More blatantly, the Night Watch. They even have black armbands and posters proclaiming "TRAITORS CANNOT HIDE."

** Also, it is generally accepted as fact that anybody who goes to Z'Ha'Dum never comes back. {{spoiler|It gradually becomes apparent that this isn't entirely true, though it is very likely that you will not come back ''unchanged''.}}

* [[Stiff Upper Lip]]: Lennier's dryness and calmness sometimes give the impression of this.

* [[Stealth Hi Bye]]: Mr Morden pulls one on Londo at the end of "Signs and Portents".

* [[Stealth in Space]]: The Minbari warships have some kind of electronic countermeasure that prevents Earther ships from being able to get a solid lock on them. Sheridan intentionally has the White Star fleet go without their stealth systems running during the {{spoiler|Earth Alliance Civil War}} in order to show his opponents that he isn't just trying to slaughter them.

** The Vorlons are able to ''fold Hyperspace in on itself'', creating pockets that are nigh-impossible for the younger races to locate.

* [[Stealth Insult]]: Londo tells one of Emperor Cartagia's ministers that when he previously met the man, he was an infant, drooling on himself, and later a teenager trying to peek up girl's skirts...

''Cartagia's minister rolls his eyes'' }}

* [[Street Urchin]]: Alisa Beldon, when we first meet her.

* [[Stop Helping Me!]]: When Vir becomes the Centauri Ambassador to Minbar, Londo keeps offering him advice on how to phrase his reports, much to Vir's chagrin.

* [[Subliminal Seduction]]: "THE PSI CORPS IS YOUR FRIEND. TRUST THE CORPS."

* [[Subspace Ansible]]: Tachyon relays.

* [[Sufficiently Advanced Alien]]: Lorien and the other First Ones. And Not Quite As [[Sufficiently Advanced Aliens]], the Vorlons and the Shadows ({{spoiler|who happen to worship Lorien as something akin to a god}}). Also, [[Word of God]] says that Humans and Minbari will eventually [[Goal-Oriented Evolution|reach this state]]; in "The Deconstruction of Falling Stars" we see it happen.

* [[Super Fun Happy Thing of Doom]]

* [[Super Registration Act]]: The PsiCorps.

** JMS even used this to his advantage in the case of Ivanova. He had let slip that if Takashima had stayed on the show, she would have turned out to be a traitor. So when Ivanova showed up, people in the know assumed that Ivanova would now be the traitor. He even put [[Red Herring|subtle hints]] here and there that she might be a traitor to facilitate [[Wild Mass Guessing]]. When it turned out that {{spoiler|Garibaldi's second}} was in fact the traitor, fans were caught completely off-guard.

* [[Suspiciously Specific Denial]]: Deliberately [[Invoked Trope|invoked]] by Sheridan when he plants a news story that "Absolutely nothing happened today in Sector 85 by 9 by 12. Please remain calm." {{spoiler|He is telling ''almost'' the entire truth. Three White Stars, under his orders, ''did'' go to that sector and spend a little while shooting at nothing. Otherwise, absolutely nothing happened there.}}

* [[Switching POV]]: The stories aren't always anywhere ''near'' the space station, and the narration switches accordingly.

 

== T ==

* [[Take That]]:

** In the series finale, an inspirational message doubles as a dig at the show's doomsayers.

** Another, more political [[Take That]] was hidden in the first season episode ''By Any Means Necessary''. The Rush Act mentioned in it, giving EarthGov the power to break up labor strikes by any means necessary, was [[Word of God|named after Rush Limbaugh]]. Amusingly, when asked by a viewer from the UK who Rush Limbaugh is, JMS answered [[Unusual Euphemism|"Leading American proctologist. Trust me."]] Zing!

* [[Take Off Your Clothes]]: In one scene in "The Quality of Mercy", Ivanova walks into a slum clinic run by Dr. Franklin, and Franklin, without turning around, tells her to start by removing all her clothes. Ivanova replies by asking for flowers and a dinner first.

* [[The Talk]]: Once Vir realizes he's been shafted into an arranged marriage, he makes a beeline for Ivanova, asking her advice about courting women.

* [[Talking Your Way Out]]: In "The Parliament of Dreams", G'Kar tries the "whatever you were paid, I'll double it" tactic on the assassin. It doesn't work because, the assassin explains, the assassin's guild has a reputation to uphold and comes down very hard on members who let themselves get bought off.

* [[Tasty Gold]]: Somebody in a low dive in Downbelow tests a coin this way in "Survivors".

* [[Tattooed Crook]]: The thug in "Survivors".

* [[Team Handstack]]: In "TKO", Walker Smith, Garibaldi, and Caliban do one before Walker goes into the ring. (Caliban gives the other two a "what is this strange earthling custom?" look before he joins in.)

* [[Technology Marches On]]: The thick digital tablets used by the station personnel might have looked futuristic in the mid 90's when the show was produced. Also, the [[Snowy Screen of Death|snowy static]] shown on a screen whenever a camera is taken out is jarring if you are used to modern screens that simply switch to a blank black or blue screen when their signal is lost.

* [[Techno Wizard]]: The Technomages.

* [[The Teetotaler]]: The Centauri Regent. When Londo is informed that the Regent has been drinking himself into a stupor lately, Londo responds that the Regent had purposely cultivated sobriety as [[Blue and Orange Morality|his one vice]].

** Even races the Vorlon never visted have psychics.

** In the second season, Captain Sheridan, who does not know Garibaldi yet, is able to tell that he is {{spoiler|contemplating suicide}}, based on the fact that Garibaldi is {{spoiler|sitting alone in his quarters idly loading and unloading his sidearm.}} Of course, given the recent events that had happened, Sheridan was right to be on the lookout for warning signs.

* [[Temporal Paradox]]: The storyline involving {{spoiler|Sinclair going back in time to become Valen}} is rich with both the Object Loop ({{spoiler|the device that he and Delenn use to switch between being human and Minbari}}) and the Information Loop ({{spoiler|everything he teaches the Minbari as Valen, which he learned from the Minbari, who learned it from Valen}}).

** In "Revelations", when Garibaldi attempts to recall who attacked him, most of his flashback is just a rerun of the actual scene of him getting attacked, including several shots of Garibaldi in third person. The sequence does contain one new shot, representing Garibaldi noticing a detail that passed him by at the time, and this is in first person.

* [[Third Person Person]]: Zathras.

* [[This Is the Part Where]]: The assassin in "The Parliament of Dreams":

* [[This Was His True Form]]: The end of "Infection" plays out like this for the guy taken over by [[The Corruption]] {{spoiler|though it's quickly established that he's only unconscious, not dead}}. Notable because it's a supposedly sciency weapon, and it took hours to transform him into the monstrous form, but once it leaves him he's back to normal in seconds, just like magic.

* [[Throw It In]]: Averted for the most part. JMS was very much against ad-libbed lines, since he was careful about how every line was written in order to avoid screwing up the [[Myth Arc]]. In the few cases where it did happen, he had very serious talks with the actor involved (such as when Billy Mumy/Lennier hummed a mantra that turned out to be the title of the album his band made). One notable case where an addition was allowed is in ''The Fall of Night'', the Season 2 finale. The Earth Ambassador tells Ivanova that his pen was a gift from his wife. After mentioning this, he kisses the pen. JMS states in that episode's commentary that when he asked the actor why he did that, the actor responded "Well, my wife isn't here, so I can't kiss her, so I kiss the pen instead." JMS then chuckles and says "Ah, actors. Someday they'll all be replaced with CG. I'm kidding. No I'm not. Yes I am."

** For the Earth Alliance, this is an execution method reserved for mutiny and treason.

** In "The Corps Is Mother, the Corps Is Father," Bester and another Psi Cop ''hyper''space a "mundane" who killed one of their colleagues.

* [[Time Abyss]]: Lorien

* [[Time Travel]]: "Babylon Squared" and the two-parter "War without End". Notable as the episodes (set two seasons apart) are both sides of the same time travel event.

* [[To Be Lawful or Good]]: When Nightwatch first comes to B5, Zack ecstatically joins. Over the next year he is slowly horrified by Nightwatch's fascistic nature. After witnessing firsthand the arrest of a shopkeeper who [[Disproportionate Retribution|dared to badmouth President Clark]], Zack agrees to help remove Nightwatch from the station.

* [[Tome of Eldritch Lore]]: Each civilization seems to have its own version of this. Delenn is well schooled in Minbari Eldritch lore. G'kar is obsessed with the Narn variation.

** The [[Trope Namer]]. Specifically Lyta Alexander and Sheridan. {{spoiler|To a lesser extent, telepaths (of all races) in general.}}

* [[Tractor Beam]]: The Minbari have them.

* [[Trashcan Bonfire]]: "Chrysalis" has a scene with, in the background, a group of homeless people huddled around a futuristic equivalent, what looks like a large orange light bulb in a frame the shape and size of an oil drum.

* [[Trigger Phrase]]: Lyta's "password" for uncovering the Psi Corps agent among Sheridan's ranks.

* [[Truce Zone]]: The Babylon stations were all built to be this. So much for that idea.

* [[Trust Password]]: In "A Late Delivery From Avalon", a deluded man claiming to be King Arthur gets into a scuffle with station guards. Marcus decides to put his accent to good use, bowing before "Arthur" and claiming that Galahad and Lancelot are onboard, as well. "Arthur's" face [[Subverted Trope|immediately darkens]]; Galahad and Lancelot died at the Battle of Camlann!

* [[Trying to Catch Me Fighting Dirty]]: Sheridan's famous victory against the Minbari flagship, ''Drala Fi'' ("Black Star" in English), by converting an [[Asteroid Thicket]] into a makeshift minefield. The Minbari didn't appreciate this little improvisation, despite the unlikelihood of an Earthforce ship being able to take out a Minbari warcruiser in a ''fair'' fight. Instead, Sheridan was labeled "Starkiller" and smeared throughout Minbar as a [[The Butcher|butcher]] and coward.

** The humans in turn point out that the only reason the ''Black Star'' got close enough for that to work was because they were homing in on the humans' distress signal so they could [[Sink the Life Boats|destroy a helpless ship.]]

* [[Tuckerization]]:

** In the episode "Survivors" there is a high-ranking soldier named General Netter; Doug Netter was the series' executive producer.

* [[Turn in Your Badge]]: In "Survivors", Garibaldi is suspended from duty and made to turn in his security authorization, communication link and sidearm after being framed for the sabotage he was investigating. True to the trope, he insists on continuing to investigate on his own.

** Following an order by the Political office allowing Nightwatch to take over B5's security, Nightwatch begin consolidating its hold on the station by firing staff who won't cooperate and join ("Point of No Return"). Ironically reversed at episode's end, when Sheridan relieves them ''all'' of duty, replacing the disloyal guards with Narns.

** And [[Played With]] in ''Conflicts Of Interest'': Garibaldi resigned several episodes previously, but never got around to turning in his Identicard and his issued gear until Sheridan and Zack Allen pressed the issue. Zack even knew Garibaldi well enough to ask for his ''backup'' gun too. {{spoiler|He didn't realize that Garibaldi would have a spare ''Identicard'' too.}}

* [[Twisting the Words]]: "The Illusion of Truth"

* [[2-D Space]]: Averted. The human Star Furies have multiple thrusters and rotate across all three axes.

** G'Kar and Na'Toth both speak of "Earth hours" in "The Parliament of Dreams". Oddly, they mostly do it when discussing a deadline G'Kar is facing -- which was set by a Narn, and which they discuss only with each other and with another Narn. So why don't they talk about it in terms of their own Narn hours?

** Neatly inverted in "By Any Means Necessary", with Sinclair pointing out to G'Kar that "The Narn homeworld is twelve light-years from Babylon 5. Ten of ''your'' light-years."

** Starting with the spinoffs, we begin to see the Interstellar Alliance begin to use Destroyers as well, in this case referring to something with more firepower than a Minbari Warcruiser while being [[Lightning Bruiser|much faster]].

* [[Tyrant Takes the Helm]]: Col. Ben Zayn's (short-lived) takeover as Commander of Babylon 5.

 

== U ==

* [[Unable to Cry]]: Mariah Cirrus, upon finding out that her husband is dead. [[Justified Trope|Justified]] because the cryogenic hibernation process caused her tear ducts to dry up.

* [[Underground Railroad]]: Babylon 5 is host to part of the Telepath Underground Railroad, a network that helps Rogue Telepaths escape the Psi Corps. The stationmaster on B5 is revealed to be {{spoiler|Doctor Stephen Franklin.}}

** In the second and third seasons, multiple such railroads are set up by various characters to help {{spoiler|Narn civilians}} escape the brutal occupation of their homeworld after their war with the {{spoiler|Centauri Republic.}}

* [[Unobtainium]]: Quantium-40, used in construction of hyperspace jump gates.

** The firing coil of a PPG is made out of an alloy called "morbidium", which (according to the 1st season episode "Chrysalis") is a metal that is harder than diamond.

* [[The Unpronounceable]]: The Shadows' true name is said to have hundreds of syllables (it's ten thousand characters long!) and to be unpronounceable for the tongues of younger races.

* [[Unusual Euphemism]]:

** Characters are repeatedly being described as having "Gone beyond the Rim" when the actor playing them dies. This is most noticeable in {{spoiler|G'Kar}} who continued to be a prominent character even after the show ended until the actor playing him died of lung cancer.

Londo: "Yes. I feel like I'm being nibbled to death by cats!" }}

** Sheridan: "Well, as my great granddad used to say, cool"

** A more literal example, Vir's "Spoo-for-brains"

** In the first season, "stroke" is occasionally used basically as a substitute for "fuck" (with "stroke" presumably referring to masturbation). This doesn't really appear again afterwards, except in the episode "Gropos":

** In at least one instance, a character refers to himself as being "honked off."

** And there's Sheridan's exclamation of "Abso-fraggin-lutely!" Delenn repeats it in a later episode, in an inapppropriate but hilarious fashion.

* [[Voice of the Resistance]]: [[Trope Namer]].

* [[Volleying Insults]]: In "Convictions", Londo and G'Kar are trapped in an elevator. They exchange a final volley of insults as a rescue crew approaches -- much to G'Kar's annoyance, as he'd seen the incident as a chance to watch Londo die without political reprisals.

'''Londo:''' [[You're Insane!|You are insane!]]<br />

'''G'kar:''' And ''that'' is why we'll win.<br />

'''G'kar:''' So do I.<br />

'''Londo:''' ''Shut up!'' }}

== W ==

* [[Walk and Talk]]

* [[The War Has Just Begun]]: Sheridan's speech at the conclusion of "Severed Dreams".

* [[War Is Glorious]]: Seems to be the motto of the Minbari Warrior Caste.

* [[Warts and All]]:

** Played in a heartwarming manner between Lennier and Delenn in ''Atonement'':

** Also from Vir to Londo although Londo's warts were more obvious.

* [[Weird Trade Union]]: As part of a one-shot joke Cartagia complains that the Centauri torturers have insisted on being called "pain technicians" ever since they got organized.

* [[Weld the Lock]]: Garibaldi and the Mars Resistance blow the lock on an Earthforce outpost (depressurising it to immobilise those inside) then weld it shut again.

{{quote|{{spoiler|I'm Anna Sheridan. John's wife.}}|{{spoiler|Note- this is while Delenn is spending the (first) night with John.}}}}

** The last line of ''Comes The Inquisitor'':

* [[What Could Have Been]]: The role of Knight Two in "And the Sky Full of Stars" was originally offered to [[The Prisoner|Patrick McGoohan]] (who couldn't fit it into his filming schedule) and then [[Walter Koenig]] (who was too ill to take it). Koenig, of course, was [[Happy Ending|later cast as Alfred Bester]].

* [[What Could Possibly Go Wrong?]]: Nice one, Sheridan.

* [[What Did You Expect When You Named It?]]: Even putting aside the [[Faux Symbolism|unlucky connotations]] of "Babylon", Earthforce has already deployed ''four'' Babylon stations, each of which has either blown up or vanished. Did it not occur to them to maybe name it different next time?

** For that matter, why do people keep insisting on naming ships Marie Celeste?

* [[What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?]]: Londo stabbing a bug in his quarters with an antique Centauri knife.

* [[What Do You Mean It's Not Heinous?]]: Earth Gov trying to make Sheridan pay fifty credits a month rent for his spacious quarters, which appear to be larger than many apartments on Earth.

** Sheridan claims that it's not the money, it's the principle of the thing. If he lets the bureaucrats back on Earth get a toe in the door, then they'll start micromanaging his job until he can't wipe his nose without a countersigned order.

** Also his reaction to Sheridan in general during the 4th Season.

* [[What Measure Is a Non-Cute?]]: Spoo. The Interstellar Animals Rights Protection League's official policy on the treatment of spoo is "Kill 'em.".

** What happened to Captain Lochley? She's not at the party they have for Sheridan, she's not listed among the dead, and she's not on Babylon 5. And it's a little weird that Sheridan would invite everyone else and not his ex-wife.

*** "Sleeping in Light" was filmed at the end of season 4 in case the show got canceled. As a result, Lochley didn't appear since Ivanova's actor hadn't left yet, and thus Lochley's character hadn't been introduced.

** In the episode "Sic Transit Vir," Vir's fiance has captured a Narn, whom she offers for Vir to kill. After this scene, which ends before Vir takes any action, the Narn is never referred to again.

* [[Who Wants to Live Forever?]]:

** Lorien explains to Susan that he and his race were born naturally immortal.

** Subverted in "Deathwalker", when a war-criminal creates a serum for immortality. Every government wants it for themselves. The catch: for the serum to work for one individual, certain components which can't be produced artificially must be extracted from another member of the same race, a process which is fatal to the other person. She intends for the billions who will die for the immortality of others as revenge for the defeat and extermination of her people in a previous war. Even knowing this, Sinclair and the others can't stop her from walking away unharmed. {{spoiler|Then the Vorlons blow up her ship with her and her serum in it.}}

* [[Who Watches the Watchmen?]]: Actually, nobody monitors Psi-Corps.

* [[Will Not Tell a Lie]]: The Minbari like to think of themselves as this, but it's at best an [[Informed Attribute]]. Their definition of 'lie' is extremely flexible. Notably it doesn't include lying to save another person's honour (which forms the basis of the plot of the second season episode "There All The Honour Lies") or lying by omission. And some Minbari characters, including Delenn who is easily the most prominent one on the show, just plain ''ignore'' this supposedly deeply ingrained aspect of their culture; one fan quipped on Usenet that "the way to tell whether Delenn is lying is to check whether her mouth is moving", and no-one (including JMS, then a regular contributor to that newsgroup) disagreed.

* [[With Due Respect]]

* [[With Great Power Comes Great Insanity]]: Three quarters of human telekinetics are insane.

** Skip the except. Any woman who can become Satai, can be offered a job as head and refuse, can disband and rebuild the Grey Council by fiat, and can stop a war by burning herself alive might as well be a queen.

* [[The World Is Not Ready]]: Stock excuse for why advanced aliens won't entrust the Narn, Centuari, or human species with advanced technology.

* [[Would Not Shoot a Good Guy]]

* [[Word of Gay]]: JMS once asked actor Wortham Krimmer to tone down Emperor Cartagia's fey behavior, to which Krimmer responded, "Well, Joe, he's bisexual, don't you know." When JMS gave an "oh really" sort of reply, Krimmer said, "Absolutely. He's the emperor. He can f--- anyone he wants."

* [[Word of God]]: JMS remained active on USENET throughout the show's run, and would often answer questions about the B5 'verse posted to rec.arts.sci-fi.tv.babylon5.moderated.

* [[World of Cardboard Speech]]: Ironheart gives one of these to Sinclair in ''Mind War''.

* [[Worth Living For]]: Stephen Franklin, after getting a lengthy [["The Reason You Suck" Speech]] from {{spoiler|a trauma-induced hallucination of himself}}.

** Delenn says that Sinclair is looking for something [[Worth Living For]] during the first season. Garibaldi implies the same, saying that Sinclair is constantly throwing himself into dangerous situations because it's easier to find something worth dying for than something worth living for.

* [[Worthy Opponent]]: {{spoiler|Delenn}} says this about humans while watching them die at Battle of the Line from the Grey Council's shipboard palace. Sinclair says this about Minbari in "Midnight on the Firing Line". As each of these are destined to {{spoiler|exchange species}} it is a kind of [[Foreshadowing]].

* [[Wretched Hive]]: A seedy tavern in Downbelow where Marcus meets with his contacts.

** In the second-season episode "The Geometry of Shadows", Ivanova breaks her leg in a brawl that broke out while she was trying to resolve an internal dispute between two Drazi factions; Claudia Christian had actually broken her leg in an accident and they needed an excuse for her leg being in a cast.

*** In fact, her leg was already broken in the scene where it happens in the show. One can assume that her cry of pain as she falls [[Enforced Method Acting|was not entirely faked]]. JMS referred to her as "a trooper" for doing this.

 

* [[You Already Changed the Past]]: Babylon 4 reappears four years after it disappearance ("Babylon Squared"). In the two-parter "War Without End," it is revealed that Babylon 4 was snatched by the Minbari and taken to the year 1260 AD to help fight the Shadows. To prevent this from happening, the Shadows sent a bomb to Babylon 4 just as it was about to come on-line in 2254. However, the White Star also goes back in time, destroys the bomb, and (as it turns out) [[Timey-Wimey Ball|takes it back in time as well]]. However, this is not before the time travel device (sent by Draal and delivered by Zathras) malfunctions, dropping Babylon 4 back into present-day 2258, resulting in the events of "Babylon Squared." Sinclair then realizes that {{spoiler|he must take Babylon 4 back in time himself, and then uses the triluminary device to turn himself into a Minbari--specifically, Valen, who led them in the First Shadow War, organized their society, and effectively became the main prophet of their religion}}.

** The Vorlon Inquisitor is [[Berserk Button|easily peeved]] by anybody presuming to be 'chosen', or part of a greater plan. As he later confides to Sheridan, the Inquisitor believed he was doing God's work when he {{spoiler|committed the Whitechapel murders}} centuries ago.

* [[You Can't Fight Fate]]: See "Dreaming of Things To Come", above.

* [[You Didn't Ask]]: Sinclair's excuse for not sharing an important piece of information sooner in "A Voice in the Wilderness". (The real reason is that he just made it up on the spot.)

*** [[All There in the Manual|According to some]] possibly-non canon material, the Drazi language is very simple, and they find languages with complex grammar rules (like English) hard to learn. Apparently their not incapable of learning, however. The Drazi ambassador's English is notably improved in the 5th Season.

* [[You're Insane!]]: Sinclair's reaction in "And the Sky Full of Stars" when the interrogator explains his theory about Sinclair being a Minbari sleeper agent.

* [[Your Door Was Open]]

* [[Your Terrorists Are Our Freedom Fighters]]

 

{{reflist}}