In the Shadow of Z'ha'dum

"In the Shadow of Z'ha'dum"
Babylon 5 episode
Episode no.	Season 2 Episode 16
Directed by	David J. Eagle
Written by	J. Michael Straczynski
Production code	217
Original air date	10 May 1995
Guest appearance(s)
Jeff Conaway (Zack Allan) Alex Hyde-White (Pierce Macabee) Ed Wasser (Morden)
Episode chronology

"In the Shadow of Z'ha'dum" is an episode from the second season of the science fiction television series Babylon 5.

Synopsis

Babylon 5 is swamped with Narn and other war refugees passing through. By order of Captain Sheridan, any too sick or injured to travel are sent to medbay until they are well enough to travel.
Sheridan holds Morden in custody and learns some of what happened to the expedition on which his wife was lost. Kosh and Delenn explain to Seridan about the Shadows. Kosh warns Sheridan "If you go to Za'Ha'Dum, you will die." The Night Watch is introduced as a vigilance Organization.

Arc significance

Vir reveals his desire to see Morden beheaded:

“

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 would look up at your lifeless eyes and wave like this. Can you and your associates arrange that for me, Mr. Morden?

”

The history of the war between the Shadows and the other races, including the First Ones, is described for the first time.
This episode establishes Morden's relationship to Anna Sheridan.
This is the first episode where Franklin states he's taking stims, foreshadowing his future abuse.
Franklin reveals himself to be a Foundationist, a religion founded just after humans first went into space.
The first mention of the Nightwatch.
The Vorlons are revealed as being one of the First Ones.
Z'ha'dum is revealed to be the home of the Shadows.
This episode establishes Sheridan's relationship with Delenn.
The question that Delenn asked in Season 1 to which she was simply given the answer 'yes' was 'Have the Shadows returned to Z'ha'dum'?

Production details

This episode was originally intended to air after "Knives", rather than before, with Sheridan's hallucination of the Icarus in that episode serving as a reminder to the audience of his wife's fate before more details were revealed in this episode.^[1]

Cultural references

Pierce Maccabee is the regional director of the Ministry of Peace, AKA "Minipax"—a reference to the organization of the same name and nickname—as in Orwell's 1984.
The name Z'ha'dum can be seen as a homage to Tolkien's Khazad-dûm (Moria) in Middle Earth. Just as Khazad-dûm has been abandoned for many years, and is now inhabited by an ancient evil, so too Z'ha'dum, once the home of a mighty civilization, is now the home of an ancient and deadly evil.

References

↑ JMS Speaks on "Knives"

External links

In the Shadow of Z'ha'dum 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 Byron Marcus Cole Vir Cotto Delenn Dukhat Stephen Franklin G'Kar Michael Garibaldi Susan Ivanova Kosh Naranek Lennier Elizabeth Lochley Londo Mollari Na'Toth Lord Refa John Sheridan Jeffrey Sinclair Ulkesh Talia Winters Lorien Morden Alfred Bester

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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