It is often said that every actor has that one roll they and they alone where born to play. Andreas found that roll in G'Kar. He brought more than justice to the roll, he brought the one thing that nobody else could have or ever will, he brought G'Kar to life.
Unbelievable. It is incredible how the late Andreas Katsulas had such a gift of acting, of speaking. Years after his death and decades after this series, monologues like this grip the soul and shed light on how much talent was in this series. God bless his family.
Its sad I was a teenage when this series was on TV, and I loved it alot. I knew the series was special. But in time and experience I now know how good these characters were. G'Kar and Londo were my favorite and they still are.
I had the pleasure of hearing Andreas katsulas read this monologue out live at a Babylon 5 convention before the episode had aired on TV. Everyone in the audience where either silently overwhelmed or crying over it.
Still moves me to this day, one of the finest pieces of dialogue ever performed. Even after 20 years it still moves me. Andreas Katsulas taken from us too soon.
@@carlleavey Yep, I still get a chill down my spine every time I hear Katsulas' Za'ha'dum monologue and the "We will be free" response to Londo Mollari. And agreed, Kasulas was taken from us way too soon.
" Greater than the death of the flesh is the death of hope, the death of dreams. Against this peril we can never surrender". Damn, I just found what's gonna be on my gravestone
That line applies to me. My doctor's assistant told me that I would have to wear a knee brace if I resumed training in BJJ. I would have to wear it for the next 2 years of training. Anyone experienced in BJJ knows that you cannot train live with a knee brace. My dreams and hope are dead. I will never make faixa-preta. :(
Veteran myself, had to step back from russian war. Will come back though. Still as Ukrainian, even as a child, I always felt for Narns. Against Chaos we can never surrender
This is simply the very finest monologue in the entire Babylon 5 series and shows both the quality of the writing as well as the acting talent of the speaker (Andreus Katsulas). This is what really sets B5 apart from many other TV shows, and puts it at the top of my list of the best science fiction "future history" TV series of all time.
+David Knisely I've heard G'Kar in other places (currently going through seasons right now). It...is...amazing...in here. Andreus was definitely blessed with the gift of acting. Walking through scenes this is like walking through ruins that still speak, that inspire vivid flashbacks of a world imagined. Babylon 5 was such a sleeper of a hit in this way.
I still very much like Babylon 5 and appreciate its grand space opera and philosophical observations from G'Kar and Londo. I too used to think B5 was the best science fiction TV series until I happened across Farscape whose space opera and philosophical observations overcame the science fiction cliches that B5 tried but never quite managed to do. Also, I think Farscape did a much better job of believable characters and their personal development, while B5 had too many stock and predictable characters, aside from the amazing character of G'Kar. B5 was fun, but Farsacpe still fascinates me.
The writing on Babylon 5 was fantastic and other then the extras, none of the characters were stock. They were all well developed and amazing. Truly, however, the dialogue for G'Kar and Londo was top notch, just amazing. I also love Farscape. It was incredible, but benefited from being later then Babylon 5. The writing, character depth and acting was also amazing. A great show... but I still put Babylon 5 on top.
It's a matter of taste to be sure. For me, I was so happy to find in Farscape, a Sci-Fi series that broke the Star Trek military-federation model. No doubt Farscape did, as you say, benefit from being later and of course from its association with the Jim Henson Company. I do think they did a better job playing with the conventions and with characterization, but yes, I love the B5 dialogue for G'Kar and Londo. I wish I had a loop of Londo going, "Ahhhh... Mr. Garibaldiiiiii...."
I know, right? This will *never* be surpassed. The original B5 actors, every one of them, took their characters and made them *their own!* Whatever (non-woke!) reboot may come, however interesting it may be, however close JMS makes any new script (apart from tidying up stray edges, finishing background story arcs, and finally closing open-ended questions like what *really* happened to Kosh), the bar was set very high and no new set of actors, however close they may come to *reaching* that bar, will *never* surpass it. RIP G'Kar, Garibaldi, Sinclair, Vir, and our beloved Delenn, all journeyed now Beyond The Rim.
@@chrismaguire3667 The original was woke -- aware of social injustice and the dangers it poses for societies and individuals. Why would you want a reboot to be otherwise?
@@Lucius_Chiaraviglio Because the current definition of woke is very much in the token sense of the word. It's about as hollow as the average political campaign ad. Case in point the gender swap of Liet/Kynes in Denis Villeneuve's Dune.... adds nothing to the story, breaks the in film Fremen lore and they gutted the character anyway so it was pointless - and that's before you get to the fact that Dune has one of the most female role saturated plots I have ever read in sci fi, which makes gender swapping any character in the story even more pointless again. Woke in Hollywood today is about the most shallow of appearances rather than actual good writing - somehow Hollywood confused political stereotype straw men with viable plotlines and birthed an era of extremely cringeworthy media 😩
@@mnomadvfx That isn't woke -- that's just Hollywood corrupting things in pursuit of extra revenue(*), the way they have been doing for decades before wokeness ever entered the mainstream. (*)Although they are certainly capable of botching that goal as well, but that's corporate bosses for you.
The thing about B5 (for me) was - it was BIG. Big plotline, big visuals, big cast & writing. Legend has it that JMS got the broad strokes of the entire series in a dream - the whole 5 year outline in one go. Wherever it came from it was a massive vision, executed with passion and style. Frank Herberts "Dune" - Heinleins "Future History" - Asimovs "Foundation" - Nivens "Known Space" - for my money B5 holds it own alongside any of these masterworks. More than earned it's place in the pantheon. NO - don't try to remake/restore it - it represents itself as a unique moment, I can't imagine any attempt to recreate this being anything other than a disappointment. (Than again, I recoiled at the thought of a BSG remake, and was happily proven wrong. So......?)
A remake is never going to be as good as this. I would much rather see them re-release the original series with updated special effects, like they did with TOS. Although I personally don't mind the original FX, even if they are inferior by today's standards.
@@robjohnson8522 The way they butcher things now ... is the way they butchered things then, too. Episodic series didn't even exist. JMS only got what he wanted by fighting for every inch of the way. They wouldn't be retelling the same stories, so I don't see why not try.
Love the way G'Kar started off as the bad guy and then over the course of the season we get to see that he's really an honourable man with great wisdom and courage.
@@SpringIsBACK I have never for a second believed in god but have read the bible cover to cover. Something, I am sure, the majority of supposedly devout christian haven't taken the time to do. And JMS has always shown great interest in the philosphy and lore of those holy texts. There is a lot to like and be inspired by in the bible even if you don't believe in the magic man in the clouds. If it weren't such good storytelling it wouldn't have been so popular over the centuries
This monologue brought me solace in my darkest hour. The doctors in the ward didn't understand. Despite everything I was going through there would be light at the end of the tunnel eventually
"G'Kuon 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 the flesh is the death of hope, the death of dreams. Against this peril we can never surrender"."
There is a quotation in the Bible that says a similar thing, and said it first, in the Epistle to the Ephesians. I believe JMS was taught by Jesuits, as Jeffery Sinclair in B5 was (I feel that JMS based JS on himself), and B5 has a *lot* of spiritual and Biblical tenets and allusions in it. Any modern woke version that rejects this basis, for the sake of the current zeitgeist, will destroy the tenets of B5 as surely as any Shadow Infiltration... And believers *know*, for real, this is what is going on in our world *right now!*
That's what made the show so great. First and foremost the monologues which G'Kar had 99% of them but as much as this was a great sci-fi show, its the only sci-fi show I can remember that talked so much and often about faith and religion, and talked out it in a respectful way. As a person who is deeply religious it meant a lot to me. One of my all time fav. scenes is in the episode 'Passing Through Gethsemane' where the priest who was a serial killer before having his mind wiped. When he talked about faith, Jesus and the night at gethsemane, I can and have watched that scene over and over. The writing on this show was truly amazing.
I remember, almost 22 years ago, when I first saw Z'hadum - it was very late one Friday night, as the local station aired B5 around that time then; I had the VCR recording, and I was editing out commercials, archiving the episode; I had the VCR plugged into a stereo receiver, and was wearing headphones, so the sound was extra intense! *JUMP! NOW*!! As G'Kar gave his narration, I was still reeling....then the credits. Dang.
THE single best B5 monologue ever. Everything comes together perfectly: the dialogue, Andreas Katsulas' line delivery, the visual montage, Christopher Franke's subtle musical stylings laden with foreboding. The scene remains as riveting as it was when it first aired.
+LordZontar Andreus was blessed with a gift, and it shows in just...how...much...range G'Kar's character had. This scene, this reading, the interactions of characters and the direction that the rest of the series would take... I had absolutely no idea as a teenager that Babylon 5 would go on to achieve so much renown in the minds of people (and in the minds of computer gamers, i.e. "Babylon 5: I've Found Her" and the like of other shadow B5 games and game modifications). But yes... it's interesting how this scene still grabs me, even after watching it multiple times...
@@ryuhaneda Another speech he gave was in the Council Chamber when Narn had surrendered to the Centurai Republic and he gave his speech about Freedom, truly moving. Another was when he read the Charter for the Inter Stellar Alliance - or Sheridan did - another moving speech. It seems what ever it is he is talking/saying it is very moving. Andreas gave G'Kar such a great voice.
Babylon 5 still holds so much meaning for me in my life. It spoke to me then and it still does. How fast the years have flown, thank you for posting this amazing monologue. You can see it's influence in so many shows now. JMS - Great Maker!
Londo, Sheridan, Sinclair, Garibaldi, Delenn, Lennier, Kosh, Vir... Should I continue? Long-running series often develop chemistry between the actors grow, as do their characters. Star Trek:TOS, Mission:Impossible, The Man from Uncle, The Little House on the Prairie, Bonanza, The Virginian, The Wild, Wild West (all 1960s shows, I admit)... All claimed their characters for their own and put themselves into them, and the resulting fusion? Well, judge for yourself.
I had the pleasure of meeting Michael O'Hare at a Con in Rye, NY...he looked so lost, and I had the honor of treating him like a person, and allow him to express himself in his own way...and I met the cast that were still alive at GenCon as we drank, partied and held wheeled chair races in the revolving restaurant/bar after hours...and I have 2 lithographs signed by the complete cast, both # 2 of 10...J.M.S. has both #1's... I miss those days.....
Remember watching this on channel 4 at 6pm on a Sunday way back in 96 and I will never forget it. Glad i was able to witness the phenomenon that was Babylon 5. Delenn was my fav right from the start😇
I didn’t think I’d be listening to this a quarter century later in the early phases of Coronavirus and global recession and thinking “PREACH IT, G’KAR.”
I always thought this series was underrated. It started off slowly, but found its footing and became a worthy addition to that golden era of sci-fi I miss so much.
“...the future is all around us. Waiting in moments of transition to be borne in moments of revelations. No one know the shape of that future or where it will take us. We know only that it is always borne .....in pain.” No truer words have been spoken in the year 2020.
"Greater than the death of flesh is the death of hope. The death of dreams. Against this peril we can never surrender." ... Dunno why but whenever I'm down, this lifts me up.
Last week, my youngest brother died suddenly and unexpectedly. I can tell you that these words have brought me more comfort than have a dozen hugs and well wishes.
@@tuchehstone Just read this... I don't know you but condolences for your loss and you are right... the future comes with pain, I have no other way of putting it than what my martial arts teachers told me over the years: "Embrace the suck" simple phrase but if you don't learn to face pain, it will forever rule you. Not sure if this is the right thing to say in your circumstances but it comes from the heart... facing our pain makes us stronger.
I want the "There is a greater darkness..." to "Against this peril..." section of this monologue engraved on my tombstone. Great words. A message worth sending forward. Although Londo's "My shoes are too tight.." It pretty deep as well.
That was always so poetic and prophetic -As far as I am concerned, the best and most humbling monologue in any form of fiction that I have ever heard! 100% on the goosebump factor!
I watched B5 as it aired in my country, a long time ago. This monologue really stunned me. And my friends. Incredible. Today, I watched this with my first child, a teenager now. I mentioned B5 and she wanted to know more. I showed her this. She was as stunned as I was back in the day. We will start watching B5 S1E1 tomorrow. You know a show is something else, when it keeps affecting generation after generation.
Like ancient Narn religious leader G'Quon I knew tremendous pain... at the end of every season of Babylon 5 at having to wait for the next season to come around. This television show was very special and I remember being part of the online community of fans that followed it. Good people that enjoyed quality science fiction from all over were drawn to this show.
He was you and me. The everyday person who the world chewed up and spit out. But he transcended his pain. So he was an example of what we can all be if we let go of the past and make a better future.
G'kar didn't start out that way. When first introduced he was a schemer and borderline villain with a massive chip on his shoulder. His journey through tragedy to enlightenment is one of the most compelling character arcs in the series.
G'Kar and Londo traveled the same road from opposite directions. G'Kar was full of hate and self-righteous wish to hurt the Centauri until Kosh gave him an epiphany while he was torturing Londo through the use of a telepathic drug.
Yes, this a thousand times this. Watched this with my brother on Channel 4 in the UK, and we had to wait at least a year. I remember season 4 starting, so many great moments I share with a man I quite often disagree with. No matter what, scifi in general, and B5 in particular, binds him and me together
Something DS9 clearly didn't copy, but should have, strong season closers. Babylon 5 really nailed it in that department and had greater dramatic urgency, that made for some of the most memorable moments and scenes in the show.
Yeah, that ep with Baltar's trial that ended with Kara showing up, telling Lee she's been to earth, and then the camera panning over the galaxy and zooming in on Earth totally blew me away; I was daydreaming about it the whole next day at work!
Such a brilliant moment. The end of the best season ever of Babylon 5, one of the greatest moments of television. The X-Files, Xena: Warrior Princess, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, even Doctor Who - but Babylon 5 was the best.
I had the honour of watching Andreas Katsulas with Peter Jurasik on stage together. They played off each other brilliantly at the con, as well as on screen together.. Blackpool, UK 1997.
Was that the year Jerry Doyle turned up unexpectedly on the Sunday? The best con I ever attended! The buzz in the hall was incredible. The cast was fantastic, especially Andreas and Peter who were hilarious together. I still try to live by JMS's words abt the importance of creating Moments of Magic. Oh, to relive that wonderful weekend, Fandom when it was run by and for fans. Golden days.
I wouldn't mind seeing this show remastered. Every B5 fan knows how amazing it was to see the kind of SFX used at the time, but we also know how much better things have gotten in the years since the show first came out. I've seen people mention their desire to see the show "re-made" or (shudder) "re-booted". No, no, no! Not without Andreas and Richard and Jeff and Michael. Too many actors who created the principle characters are gone. But I think re-creating all the SFX with modern digital clarity would be welcomed by many and could introduce the show to a whole new generation of fans who might otherwise be put off by the original's rather primitive effects.
Deconauticus Star Trek was a very different situation. Most of the effects were easily replaced from static matte shots and stock ship footage. With Babylon 5 a number(many) of the effects are interwoven much more intricately (entire sets are CGI as an example) and the quality of the footage for those shots has not stood the test of time.
+OpenMawProductions It could still be done I think because the raws of the scenes would have been filmed on Blue or Greenscreen sets. The CGI could simply be reshot. But that's simply on the possibility of that, I acknowledge the cost limitation, particularly since the studios in general seem to be tightening their budgets more from what I can see.
+Cap Tin Like I said, the reason it's an issue is because the stuff that was shot in a standard format was everything without FX, the FX stuff, including scenes with composites, were shot at a lower quality. Which is why some scenes seem strangely "low res" or dodgey. They were SHOT that way to save money. B5 simply isn't a show you can do to the same standard as other remasterings because of that.
I remember when I first saw this I was sitting in my chair all bunched up with my hands over my mouth. Afterwards everyone I watched it with were just speechless. I remember we had a hard time even talking about it. It's almost like we were in shock.
+sunnchilde You're lucky. I didn't start watching the show until The Earth Civil War started and I missed the Shadow War in its first run, which I always preferred. Still kinda miffed about it.
Hearkened back to the end of season 1 where Ivanova also found herself abruptly in charge, bereft of both her commanding officer and her chief of security.
I miss this so much, B5 was and is my favorite TV show of all time. Never thought anything could be better than the original Trek. I rewatched it a few months ago. I find it quite chilling that today parallels B5 in many many ways. Just my opinion. Stay safe folks.
The closing monologue from the third season of Babylon 5. Taken from the episode "Za'ha'dum" is one of the greatest moments in poetry for Screenplaywriting in SciFi;
It was the end of the Earth year 2260, and the war had paused, suddenly and unexpectedly. All around us, it was as if the universe were holding its breath…waiting. All of life can be broken down into moments of transition, or moments…of revelation. This had the feeling of both. […] G'Quan 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.
I know the script was composed by JMS, but *only* Andreas Katsulas' G'Kar could deliver it *so perfectly!* Rip, AK and, with him, G'Kar, who simply... stopped... and journeyed Beyond The Rim.
This was my favorite of G'kar's speeches on B5, it still gives me goosebumps every time I hear it. For a while, I had it printed up over the image of Shadow vessels and hanging over my desk. Incidentally, on Jerome Froese's live album, Nightshade Family, he has this monologue playing before he begins his set! (Jerome Froese is the son of Edgar Froese, founder of Tangerine Dream, of which Christopher Franke was a member for a long time).
G'Quan wrote: "There is a greater darness 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"
BABYLON 5 WAS A SHOW THAT WAt 10 time better then startrek , starwar, all the rest of the sci fi show put together and still cant believe they never try a reboot or at lease remaster and upgrade the CGI battles
That voice WAS genius in its tones and i cried when he passed!!!!!!!!!! His presence on the "Fugitive" overshadowed Harrison Ford by awhole lot!!!!!!!!!!! Acting was in his blood and he knew IT!!!!!!!!!!!!
Epicness X Itself. I've got the entire season 5 of Babylon 5 as gift, & now I may have to rent the previous 4 from Netflix after I'm through with those to whet my appetite for good science fiction / drama. Andreas Katsulas - R.I.P. - was a master orator.
God, I miss this show! And I miss G'kar and Londo. Both characters I wouldn't mind having as friends. If only this could have been told as it was intended, without what was done because of the threat of cancellation every year.
Such a great show,Should never get a reboot because it's flawless. Personally I feel it's the best show I've seen in many years. Such classics like this should remain untouched to preserve the original.
I am sorry Krassimir, but the writing on B5 was head and shoulders above ST (any generation) to the point where the very best of ST was about par with the average of B5. In part this comes from the B5 story arc that was the soul of B5, not grafted on to an existing skeleton. B5 is one of the high water marks of Science Fiction as literature.
ablethevoice Then let them be put off. Films, TV shows, music or games are the product of their time, as are the special effects of B5. I guess the very same people would also love to watch a recoloured version of Casablanca...
Right on! I find my imagination takes over much like how when reading a book. People rave about books yet they have 0 special effects. Our mind paints the best canvas. Same here, there's enough SFX to show and my mind has always (since seeing it for the first time in the 90's) taken over the rest. People needing 'great SFX' to be entertained probably have little in the way of imagination.
I woudln't really call that a fair comparison - it's far more reasonable to digitally remaster a show into Hi-Def that it is to colorize a B&W classic.
It is often said that every actor has that one roll they and they alone where born to play. Andreas found that roll in G'Kar. He brought more than justice to the roll, he brought the one thing that nobody else could have or ever will, he brought G'Kar to life.
Unbelievable. It is incredible how the late Andreas Katsulas had such a gift of acting, of speaking. Years after his death and decades after this series, monologues like this grip the soul and shed light on how much talent was in this series. God bless his family.
Best speeches in tv history imho. No one comes close
Its sad I was a teenage when this series was on TV, and I loved it alot. I knew the series was special. But in time and experience I now know how good these characters were. G'Kar and Londo were my favorite and they still are.
@@Strooling G'Kar, Londo (even at the times when I could barely stand him), Delenn, and Vir were my most favorites, but the entire cast were great.
They stole a lot of that speech from the Bible
I had the pleasure of hearing Andreas katsulas read this monologue out live at a Babylon 5 convention before the episode had aired on TV. Everyone in the audience where either silently overwhelmed or crying over it.
Still moves me to this day, one of the finest pieces of dialogue ever performed. Even after 20 years it still moves me. Andreas Katsulas taken from us too soon.
@@carlleavey Yep, I still get a chill down my spine every time I hear Katsulas' Za'ha'dum monologue and the "We will be free" response to Londo Mollari. And agreed, Kasulas was taken from us way too soon.
just...wow
Babylon 5 was Andreas' Magnum Opus!
You lucky bastard. That must've been such a cool experience
" Greater than the death of the flesh is the death of hope, the death of dreams. Against this peril we can never surrender".
Damn, I just found what's gonna be on my gravestone
That line applies to me. My doctor's assistant told me that I would have to wear a knee brace if I resumed training in BJJ. I would have to wear it for the next 2 years of training. Anyone experienced in BJJ knows that you cannot train live with a knee brace. My dreams and hope are dead. I will never make faixa-preta. :(
@@perfectsplit5515 OSS!
That is also my motto against 2020.
Veteran myself, had to step back from russian war. Will come back though.
Still as Ukrainian, even as a child, I always felt for Narns.
Against Chaos we can never surrender
My darling, chaos is Soros- not Putin. And you should have said " as a Ukrainian Loyalist ". You don't get to speak for the entire Ukraine.
This is why “Babylon 5” was and it remains dear to soo many...little gems of knowledge and self-reflection such as these...
Okay, okay,
I will give in and rewatch the whole series 😎
Happy now ?
😄👍👏❤🇳🇱
This is simply the very finest monologue in the entire Babylon 5 series and shows both the quality of the writing as well as the acting talent of the speaker (Andreus Katsulas). This is what really sets B5 apart from many other TV shows, and puts it at the top of my list of the best science fiction "future history" TV series of all time.
+David Knisely I've heard G'Kar in other places (currently going through seasons right now). It...is...amazing...in here. Andreus was definitely blessed with the gift of acting. Walking through scenes this is like walking through ruins that still speak, that inspire vivid flashbacks of a world imagined. Babylon 5 was such a sleeper of a hit in this way.
Best show ever written, IMHO
I still very much like Babylon 5 and appreciate its grand space opera and philosophical observations from G'Kar and Londo. I too used to think B5 was the best science fiction TV series until I happened across Farscape whose space opera and philosophical observations overcame the science fiction cliches that B5 tried but never quite managed to do. Also, I think Farscape did a much better job of believable characters and their personal development, while B5 had too many stock and predictable characters, aside from the amazing character of G'Kar. B5 was fun, but Farsacpe still fascinates me.
The writing on Babylon 5 was fantastic and other then the extras, none of the characters were stock. They were all well developed and amazing. Truly, however, the dialogue for G'Kar and Londo was top notch, just amazing.
I also love Farscape. It was incredible, but benefited from being later then Babylon 5. The writing, character depth and acting was also amazing. A great show... but I still put Babylon 5 on top.
It's a matter of taste to be sure. For me, I was so happy to find in
Farscape, a Sci-Fi series that broke the Star Trek military-federation
model. No doubt Farscape did, as you say, benefit from being later and of course from its association with the Jim Henson Company. I do think they did a better job playing with the conventions and with characterization, but yes, I love the B5 dialogue for G'Kar and Londo. I wish I had a loop of Londo going, "Ahhhh... Mr. Garibaldiiiiii...."
RIP Andreas Katsulas
Rest in peace Mira
I must have watched this a thousand times over more than twenty years and the ending of G'Kar's monologue still gives me chills
I know, right? This will *never* be surpassed. The original B5 actors, every one of them, took their characters and made them *their own!*
Whatever (non-woke!) reboot may come, however interesting it may be, however close JMS makes any new script (apart from tidying up stray edges, finishing background story arcs, and finally closing open-ended questions like what *really* happened to Kosh), the bar was set very high and no new set of actors, however close they may come to *reaching* that bar, will *never* surpass it.
RIP G'Kar, Garibaldi, Sinclair, Vir, and our beloved Delenn, all journeyed now Beyond The Rim.
@@chrismaguire3667 The original was woke -- aware of social injustice and the dangers it poses for societies and individuals. Why would you want a reboot to be otherwise?
@@Lucius_Chiaraviglio Because the current definition of woke is very much in the token sense of the word.
It's about as hollow as the average political campaign ad.
Case in point the gender swap of Liet/Kynes in Denis Villeneuve's Dune.... adds nothing to the story, breaks the in film Fremen lore and they gutted the character anyway so it was pointless - and that's before you get to the fact that Dune has one of the most female role saturated plots I have ever read in sci fi, which makes gender swapping any character in the story even more pointless again.
Woke in Hollywood today is about the most shallow of appearances rather than actual good writing - somehow Hollywood confused political stereotype straw men with viable plotlines and birthed an era of extremely cringeworthy media 😩
@@mnomadvfx That isn't woke -- that's just Hollywood corrupting things in pursuit of extra revenue(*), the way they have been doing for decades before wokeness ever entered the mainstream.
(*)Although they are certainly capable of botching that goal as well, but that's corporate bosses for you.
I refer to this speech often
The thing about B5 (for me) was - it was BIG. Big plotline, big visuals, big cast & writing. Legend has it that JMS got the broad strokes of the entire series in a dream - the whole 5 year outline in one go. Wherever it came from it was a massive vision, executed with passion and style.
Frank Herberts "Dune" - Heinleins "Future History" - Asimovs "Foundation" - Nivens "Known Space" - for my money B5 holds it own alongside any of these masterworks. More than earned it's place in the pantheon.
NO - don't try to remake/restore it - it represents itself as a unique moment, I can't imagine any attempt to recreate this being anything other than a disappointment. (Than again, I recoiled at the thought of a BSG remake, and was happily proven wrong. So......?)
😲 your so right!!!!!!!! If there was a Mount Rushmore for epic story creators he would be on it for Babylon5 alone!!!!!!!!!!!!
Amen on no remake! They way they butcher things now... I would hate so see somthing I love so much butchered!
A remake is never going to be as good as this. I would much rather see them re-release the original series with updated special effects, like they did with TOS. Although I personally don't mind the original FX, even if they are inferior by today's standards.
@@robjohnson8522 The way they butcher things now ... is the way they butchered things then, too. Episodic series didn't even exist. JMS only got what he wanted by fighting for every inch of the way.
They wouldn't be retelling the same stories, so I don't see why not try.
Don't forget the music as well! When you watch B5 Crusade, you realize how much you miss the original B5 music for these episodes...
Love the way G'Kar started off as the bad guy and then over the course of the season we get to see that he's really an honourable man with great wisdom and courage.
Eoin - It's basically a slightly rewritten story of Saul. And, no... I have no problem with that! Interesting that it comes from an atheist.
@@SpringIsBACK Agreed. Stay safe.
@@SpringIsBACK I have never for a second believed in god but have read the bible cover to cover. Something, I am sure, the majority of supposedly devout christian haven't taken the time to do. And JMS has always shown great interest in the philosphy and lore of those holy texts. There is a lot to like and be inspired by in the bible even if you don't believe in the magic man in the clouds. If it weren't such good storytelling it wouldn't have been so popular over the centuries
The same could be said for Londo as his story arc progresses
This monologue brought me solace in my darkest hour. The doctors in the ward didn't understand. Despite everything I was going through there would be light at the end of the tunnel eventually
"G'Kuon 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 the flesh is the death of hope, the death of dreams. Against this peril we can never surrender"."
There is a quotation in the Bible that says a similar thing, and said it first, in the Epistle to the Ephesians. I believe JMS was taught by Jesuits, as Jeffery Sinclair in B5 was (I feel that JMS based JS on himself), and B5 has a *lot* of spiritual and Biblical tenets and allusions in it.
Any modern woke version that rejects this basis, for the sake of the current zeitgeist, will destroy the tenets of B5 as surely as any Shadow Infiltration...
And believers *know*, for real, this is what is going on in our world *right now!*
@@chrismaguire3667 indeed.
such a speaker... u cant stop ya self from hearing every single word... from beyond the great Rim we still here Gkar's words... rip andreas...
He truly was a brilliant actor and sometimes I feel he just didn't get the recognition he deserved
That's what made the show so great. First and foremost the monologues which G'Kar had 99% of them but as much as this was a great sci-fi show, its the only sci-fi show I can remember that talked so much and often about faith and religion, and talked out it in a respectful way. As a person who is deeply religious it meant a lot to me. One of my all time fav. scenes is in the episode 'Passing Through Gethsemane' where the priest who was a serial killer before having his mind wiped. When he talked about faith, Jesus and the night at gethsemane, I can and have watched that scene over and over. The writing on this show was truly amazing.
This show is more relevant today than in the '90's...G'Kar's speech moved me so greatly.
I remember, almost 22 years ago, when I first saw Z'hadum - it was very late one Friday night, as the local station aired B5 around that time then; I had the VCR recording, and I was editing out commercials, archiving the episode; I had the VCR plugged into a stereo receiver, and was wearing headphones, so the sound was extra intense!
*JUMP! NOW*!!
As G'Kar gave his narration, I was still reeling....then the credits.
Dang.
When i was a kid i skipped the beginning of my friends birthdays just to watch b5 on TV every sunday. B5 FOREVER!
I remember, too. Soon as Kosh spoke up, I was on my feet yelling at Sheridan. "JUMP!" Such moments are so rare, and should never be forgotten.
THE single best B5 monologue ever. Everything comes together perfectly: the dialogue, Andreas Katsulas' line delivery, the visual montage, Christopher Franke's subtle musical stylings laden with foreboding. The scene remains as riveting as it was when it first aired.
+LordZontar Andreus was blessed with a gift, and it shows in just...how...much...range G'Kar's character had. This scene, this reading, the interactions of characters and the direction that the rest of the series would take... I had absolutely no idea as a teenager that Babylon 5 would go on to achieve so much renown in the minds of people (and in the minds of computer gamers, i.e. "Babylon 5: I've Found Her" and the like of other shadow B5 games and game modifications).
But yes... it's interesting how this scene still grabs me, even after watching it multiple times...
@@ryuhaneda Another speech he gave was in the Council Chamber when Narn had surrendered to the Centurai Republic and he gave his speech about Freedom, truly moving. Another was when he read the Charter for the Inter Stellar Alliance - or Sheridan did - another moving speech. It seems what ever it is he is talking/saying it is very moving. Andreas gave G'Kar such a great voice.
Andreas' monologues and Christopher Franke's music. They definitely embodied the less is more when it came to moving scenes, and it worked.
Babylon 5 still holds so much meaning for me in my life. It spoke to me then and it still does. How fast the years have flown, thank you for posting this amazing monologue. You can see it's influence in so many shows now. JMS - Great Maker!
Perfect television. Art in motion.
The character development of G'kar was a literally masterpiece. Rarely do you find a character in a tv series of any kind grew as he did.
Londo, Sheridan, Sinclair, Garibaldi, Delenn, Lennier, Kosh, Vir... Should I continue?
Long-running series often develop chemistry between the actors grow, as do their characters.
Star Trek:TOS, Mission:Impossible, The Man from Uncle, The Little House on the Prairie, Bonanza, The Virginian, The Wild, Wild West (all 1960s shows, I admit)... All claimed their characters for their own and put themselves into them, and the resulting fusion?
Well, judge for yourself.
Omg! What an incredible series! I’m so glad…and So fortunate that I was able to watch it in the first run, original form.
We never had enough of G'kar and his monologues, and then he was gone :(
Babylon 5 had the best dialog of any sci-fi series ever written. I love Sci-Fi of all types. Babylon 5 is my favorite, my #1 on the top of the list.
KrK007
What I loved about it, it would go from such profound moments, to a moment like Londo fighting a cockroach in his quarters.
I had the pleasure of meeting Michael O'Hare at a Con in Rye, NY...he looked so lost, and I had the honor of treating him like a person, and allow him to express himself in his own way...and I met the cast that were still alive at GenCon as we drank, partied and held wheeled chair races in the revolving restaurant/bar after hours...and I have 2 lithographs signed by the complete cast, both # 2 of 10...J.M.S. has both #1's... I miss those days.....
Remember watching this on channel 4 at 6pm on a Sunday way back in 96 and I will never forget it. Glad i was able to witness the phenomenon that was Babylon 5. Delenn was my fav right from the start😇
I didn’t think I’d be listening to this a quarter century later in the early phases of Coronavirus and global recession and thinking “PREACH IT, G’KAR.”
I always thought this series was underrated. It started off slowly, but found its footing and became a worthy addition to that golden era of sci-fi I miss so much.
“...the future is all around us. Waiting in moments of transition to be borne in moments of revelations. No one know the shape of that future or where it will take us. We know only that it is always borne .....in pain.” No truer words have been spoken in the year 2020.
"Greater than the death of flesh is the death of hope. The death of dreams. Against this peril we can never surrender." ...
Dunno why but whenever I'm down, this lifts me up.
Last week, my youngest brother died suddenly and unexpectedly. I can tell you that these words have brought me more comfort than have a dozen hugs and well wishes.
@@tuchehstone Just read this... I don't know you but condolences for your loss and you are right... the future comes with pain, I have no other way of putting it than what my martial arts teachers told me over the years: "Embrace the suck" simple phrase but if you don't learn to face pain, it will forever rule you.
Not sure if this is the right thing to say in your circumstances but it comes from the heart... facing our pain makes us stronger.
I want the "There is a greater darkness..." to "Against this peril..." section of this monologue engraved on my tombstone. Great words. A message worth sending forward. Although Londo's "My shoes are too tight.." It pretty deep as well.
"The Future is always born in pain. The history of war, is the history of pain."
That was always so poetic and prophetic -As far as I am concerned, the best and most humbling monologue in any form of fiction that I have ever heard!
100% on the goosebump factor!
Still the best sci-fi monologues ever given on TV.
The writing in this show was on another level from anything else in the 90s.
That White Star was carrying two 500 Megaton H-Bombs, total yield was a 1 Gigaton fusion blast. They felt it.
In other words, 17 Tsar Bombas.
I watched B5 as it aired in my country, a long time ago. This monologue really stunned me. And my friends. Incredible.
Today, I watched this with my first child, a teenager now. I mentioned B5 and she wanted to know more. I showed her this.
She was as stunned as I was back in the day.
We will start watching B5 S1E1 tomorrow. You know a show is something else, when it keeps affecting generation after generation.
Like ancient Narn religious leader G'Quon I knew tremendous pain... at the end of every season of Babylon 5 at having to wait for the next season to come around. This television show was very special and I remember being part of the online community of fans that followed it. Good people that enjoyed quality science fiction from all over were drawn to this show.
Damn, full body goosebumps, even after 11 years..
G'Kar was always the true moral center of the B5 universe.
And I always thought it was Londo.....looooooooolll
Londo is a pragmatist, G'Kar is an idealist.
He was you and me. The everyday person who the world chewed up and spit out. But he transcended his pain. So he was an example of what we can all be if we let go of the past and make a better future.
G'kar didn't start out that way. When first introduced he was a schemer and borderline villain with a massive chip on his shoulder. His journey through tragedy to enlightenment is one of the most compelling character arcs in the series.
G'Kar and Londo traveled the same road from opposite directions. G'Kar was full of hate and self-righteous wish to hurt the Centauri until Kosh gave him an epiphany while he was torturing Londo through the use of a telepathic drug.
SO much good writing in Babylon 5...and this is one of the BEST examples. For a TV show...Profound.
God, i love this show so much.
Now this is how to end a season. People had to have this season finale in them for a whole year before they got the answers in season four.
Yes, this a thousand times this. Watched this with my brother on Channel 4 in the UK, and we had to wait at least a year. I remember season 4 starting, so many great moments I share with a man I quite often disagree with. No matter what, scifi in general, and B5 in particular, binds him and me together
Something DS9 clearly didn't copy, but should have, strong season closers. Babylon 5 really nailed it in that department and had greater dramatic urgency, that made for some of the most memorable moments and scenes in the show.
That year long wait was torture! TORTURE! 😂😂
best series i watched in all my life ... there was never something better !
it's a tie between B5 and BSG. But you're right. B5 is more cohesive and well written
As far as scifi stuff goes...hands down, the best so far.
Not even 16 and Pregnant or Jersey Shore? ;)
Yeah, that ep with Baltar's trial that ended with Kara showing up, telling Lee she's been to earth, and then the camera panning over the galaxy and zooming in on Earth totally blew me away; I was daydreaming about it the whole next day at work!
gundam 00 might be better, it's at least equal.
One of the best moments from the best spisode of the best season of the best show of all time.
its 2019 and its still true
It's 2020 and that's still very much accurate.
2021 and still holds water.
Such a brilliant moment. The end of the best season ever of Babylon 5, one of the greatest moments of television.
The X-Files, Xena: Warrior Princess, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, even Doctor Who - but Babylon 5 was the best.
The end of the year 2021.
The end of the year 2024.
I had the honour of watching Andreas Katsulas with Peter Jurasik on stage together. They played off each other brilliantly at the con, as well as on screen together.. Blackpool, UK 1997.
Was that the year Jerry Doyle turned up unexpectedly on the Sunday? The best con I ever attended! The buzz in the hall was incredible. The cast was fantastic, especially Andreas and Peter who were hilarious together.
I still try to live by JMS's words abt the importance of creating Moments of Magic.
Oh, to relive that wonderful weekend, Fandom when it was run by and for fans. Golden days.
I wouldn't mind seeing this show remastered. Every B5 fan knows how amazing it was to see the kind of SFX used at the time, but we also know how much better things have gotten in the years since the show first came out. I've seen people mention their desire to see the show "re-made" or (shudder) "re-booted". No, no, no! Not without Andreas and Richard and Jeff and Michael. Too many actors who created the principle characters are gone. But I think re-creating all the SFX with modern digital clarity would be welcomed by many and could introduce the show to a whole new generation of fans who might otherwise be put off by the original's rather primitive effects.
It would cost about as much as starting from scartch just to redo the effects. At least according to JMS>
Deconauticus Star Trek was a very different situation. Most of the effects were easily replaced from static matte shots and stock ship footage. With Babylon 5 a number(many) of the effects are interwoven much more intricately (entire sets are CGI as an example) and the quality of the footage for those shots has not stood the test of time.
+OpenMawProductions It could still be done I think because the raws of the scenes would have been filmed on Blue or Greenscreen sets. The CGI could simply be reshot. But that's simply on the possibility of that, I acknowledge the cost limitation, particularly since the studios in general seem to be tightening their budgets more from what I can see.
+Cap Tin Like I said, the reason it's an issue is because the stuff that was shot in a standard format was everything without FX, the FX stuff, including scenes with composites, were shot at a lower quality. Which is why some scenes seem strangely "low res" or dodgey. They were SHOT that way to save money. B5 simply isn't a show you can do to the same standard as other remasterings because of that.
@@Deconauticus Warner Bros owns all of the rights to a reboot/remaster/continuation. They have absolutely no interest in doing anything with B5.
I remember when I first saw this I was sitting in my chair all bunched up with my hands over my mouth. Afterwards everyone I watched it with were just speechless. I remember we had a hard time even talking about it. It's almost like we were in shock.
+sunnchilde You're lucky. I didn't start watching the show until The Earth Civil War started and I missed the Shadow War in its first run, which I always preferred. Still kinda miffed about it.
So you were/are human.
Pretty much the same emotional state as the folks on Babylon 5 at the end of this episode! ;-)
this whole monologue is so relevent to 2020
Woah, that's deep dude.
Goose bumps. 33 year old Norwegian here and I miss wathing this show every sunday as a 17 year old.
I always felt for Ivanova in this scene. Not only has she lost Sheridan, Garibaldi's gone too. Everything's on her now. Alone.
Hearkened back to the end of season 1 where Ivanova also found herself abruptly in charge, bereft of both her commanding officer and her chief of security.
She's John's sister. She could have handled it. Easily.
I miss this so much, B5 was and is my favorite TV show of all time. Never thought anything could be better than the original Trek. I rewatched it a few months ago. I find it quite chilling that today parallels B5 in many many ways. Just my opinion. Stay safe folks.
I watched it again recently myself. The pandemic episode was prophetic . It was almost an exact simile of all that has happened during covid
Such a significant monologue, so beautifully prepared by Katsulas. The presentation arrests the entirety of even my ADHD mind.
Thanks for uploading those great B5 moments
The closing monologue from the third season of Babylon 5. Taken from the episode "Za'ha'dum" is one of the greatest moments in poetry for Screenplaywriting in SciFi;
This man was so integral part as to why we love this show.
A great monologue and well delivered by Andreas Katsulas.
R.IP Andreas we miss you
2020 feels a lot like this
2014. The coup. That's when my life became Hell.
I can listen to G'Kar's voice all day long.
One of the greatest monologues in TV/cinematic history. Period.
I liked Mr. Katsulas as the one arm man in the movie"The Fugitive" with Harrison Ford as Dr. Richard Kimball!
I have fond memories of watching this when it premiered on tv at a con, with a room packed with anime fans. Absolute silence.
It was the end of the Earth year 2260, and the war had paused, suddenly and unexpectedly. All around us, it was as if the universe were holding its breath…waiting. All of life can be broken down into moments of transition, or moments…of revelation. This had the feeling of both. […] G'Quan 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.
This was always my favorite monolog of the series.
And even the end credits fit the tone of that banger of an ending!
Love this show!
I know the script was composed by JMS,
but
*only* Andreas Katsulas' G'Kar could deliver it *so perfectly!*
Rip, AK and, with him, G'Kar, who simply... stopped... and journeyed Beyond The Rim.
G'kar. At first the obvious villain but by the end he was the soul of the show. Incredible acting and incredible writing.
This was my favorite of G'kar's speeches on B5, it still gives me goosebumps every time I hear it. For a while, I had it printed up over the image of Shadow vessels and hanging over my desk. Incidentally, on Jerome Froese's live album, Nightshade Family, he has this monologue playing before he begins his set! (Jerome Froese is the son of Edgar Froese, founder of Tangerine Dream, of which Christopher Franke was a member for a long time).
G'Quan wrote: "There is a greater darness 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"
BABYLON 5 WAS A SHOW THAT WAt 10 time better then startrek , starwar, all the rest of the sci fi show put together and still cant believe they never try a reboot or at lease remaster and upgrade the CGI battles
He had handsdown the best monologues in sf history....
Really doesn't need to be remade.
Andreus Katsulas what a fucking actor , thank you sir , may he rest in pease.
Beautiful.
G'kar always had the best lines, because who else could deliver them better?
That voice WAS genius in its tones and i cried when he passed!!!!!!!!!! His presence on the "Fugitive" overshadowed Harrison Ford by awhole lot!!!!!!!!!!! Acting was in his blood and he knew IT!!!!!!!!!!!!
Epicness X Itself. I've got the entire season 5 of Babylon 5 as gift, & now I may have to rent the previous 4 from Netflix after I'm through with those to whet my appetite for good science fiction / drama. Andreas Katsulas - R.I.P. - was a master orator.
God, I miss this show! And I miss G'kar and Londo. Both characters I wouldn't mind having as friends. If only this could have been told as it was intended, without what was done because of the threat of cancellation every year.
G'Kar's "We are one" monologue is the only speech only that tops this.
Best season finale in tv history!
Such a great show,Should never get a reboot because it's flawless. Personally I feel it's the best show I've seen in many years. Such classics like this should remain untouched to preserve the original.
I agree, doing a continuation where the original is mentioned on occasion, ST TOS was mentioned on ST: TNG.
I am sorry Krassimir, but the writing on B5 was head and shoulders above ST (any generation) to the point where the very best of ST was about par with the average of B5. In part this comes from the B5 story arc that was the soul of B5, not grafted on to an existing skeleton. B5 is one of the high water marks of Science Fiction as literature.
ST didn't have an arc. But some of the STNG episodes explored Sci-fi in a way that even B5 didn't. So each has merit. As does SG, FS and BTG. :)
Z'ha'dum.
I think it's a nice word play by JMS, actually: Entil'zha (Until Zha) and Z'ha'dum (Doom on Zha)...
Reminds me of Khazad-dûm or Moria from LotR
I loved his voice, so soft
An amazing episode, for me...from start to finish.
it was the end of the earth year 2020...
Andreas Katsulas could read a phone book and it would be memorizing.
K'Gars ending speech is worth memorizing.
G'Kar*
One of the reasons I Hope b5 is never rebooted
It was ahead of its time nowdays it wouldn’t have all this
More relevant today than ever before
Rest in peace Andres Katsulas.
ablethevoice
Then let them be put off. Films, TV shows, music or games are the product of their time, as are the special effects of B5.
I guess the very same people would also love to watch a recoloured version of Casablanca...
Right on! I find my imagination takes over much like how when reading a book. People rave about books yet they have 0 special effects. Our mind paints the best canvas. Same here, there's enough SFX to show and my mind has always (since seeing it for the first time in the 90's) taken over the rest.
People needing 'great SFX' to be entertained probably have little in the way of imagination.
I woudln't really call that a fair comparison - it's far more reasonable to digitally remaster a show into Hi-Def that it is to colorize a B&W classic.
G'Kar is the soul of this show.
God bless you, Andreas Katsulas.
Truly amazing moment in B5