At a meeting of the Interstellar Alliance, the Drazi ambassador (Kim Strauss) and others refuse to sign the Declaration of Principles. They demand technological advances first. G’Kar (Andreas Katsulas) takes this rather personally, as he wrote the Declaration himself. Garibaldi (Jerry Doyle) thinks they have to get the attention of the Non-Aligned Worlds with a show of force. Elsewhere, an alien world is under attack by raiders, and a Ranger promises to bring help from Babylon Five.
Garibaldi watches Sheridan (Bruce Boxleitner), Delenn (Mira Furlan), G’Kar, and Mollari (Peter Jurasik) try to distribute aid to various worlds, to get them to sign the declaration. G’Kar has a revelation. Garibaldi thinks they should have telepaths gather covert intelligence. He seeks out Byron (Robin Atkin Downes) and the rogue telepaths in Downbelow. No-one wants to talk to him, and Byron lectures him on the troubles of telepaths. The Ranger on White Star 90 comes through the jump gate. In Medlab, Doctor Franklin (Richard Biggs) tells Delenn the Ranger is dying. Lyta Alexander (Patricia Tallman) scans him and learns of the victims of the raider attack. They wish to join the Alliance, offering knowledge. Lyta is connected to him when he dies.
Delenn tells Sheridan the aliens are the Enphili. The Alliance is obligated to respond because of the Declaration. Sheridan judges by the damage to the White Star 90 that the raiders have superior firepower. Delenn says to send as many White Stars as possible, which they do.
Sheridan speaks to the Drazi ambassador. Byron follows the ambassador when he leaves. Garibaldi finds Lyta in a restaurant, disturbed by her death experience with the Ranger. Other telepaths have been damaged from witnessing such a thing, including Bester. But she agrees to ask Byron to help. Sheridan is unable to sleep but finds a package at his door—G’Kar’s new opening of the Declaration. As the voice of G’Kar takes over the narration, we see White Stars gather for the attack, Franklin composing a letter to the Ranger’s family. Byron confronts Lyta. She tells him telepaths should take care of each other. Byron tells her the Drazi are setting a trap for the White Stars.
She informs Sheridan and Garibaldi that the Drazi were behind the attacks and warns them of the trap. The Enphili see the raiders coming in and White Stars appearing everywhere. Sheridan shows this to the Galaxy, shaming the Drazi ambassador. The Drazi beg forgiveness and the Alliance allows the ambassador to warn his people. The Declaration is signed. Sheridan is upset that their problems were solved by telepaths. G’Kar wants to re-write the Declaration again. Lyta joins Byron at a meeting of the rogue telepaths.
The title comes from Hamlet, Act 2, Scene 2: “What a piece of work is man…” Byron is proving to be an interesting character, but whether he is a good character or a bad one is not yet clear. He does not want to use his powers to help Mundanes and is willing to let them die without helping. Of course, the Mundanes are willing to use the telepaths for their purposes, even though they fear and despise them. Byron may be the centre of the episode, but G’Kar walks away with it.