Ambassador Delenn (Mira Furlan) explains to her aide Lennier (Bill Mumy) that she is summoned before the Minbari Grey Council. The new leader wants to discuss her roles as a member of the Council and Ambassador to Babylon Five. Her recent transformation into a Minbari/Human hybrid is already causing friction and she may not be back. Commander Ivanova (Claudia Christian) briefs Captain Sheridan (Bruce Boxleitner) on several ships that have gone missing in the sector. Sheridan wants to take out a Starfury, despite Ivanova’s misgivings. In deep space, a Narn Frazi-class heavy fighter is attacked by a mysterious alien vessel. The pilot ejects and is picked up by the attacker.
Lennier informs Delenn that her flyer is ready and that he will accompany her in his own flyer, despite her misgivings. General William Hague of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Robert Foxworth) is arriving at Babylon Five early, but Sheridan believes he will be back in time. Delenn and Lennier arrive at the Grey Council’s ship and Delenn proceeds to the council chamber. Sheridan’s fighter wing arrives at the jump gate and scans for missing ships. They are attacked by a strange ship. Sheridan has to eject and is picked up by the attacker before it jumps away.
The ship accompanying Sheridan, badly damaged, heads toward Babylon Five. General Hague arrives and is met by Ivanova. He notes that Sheridan is not there. Sheridan awakes on the alien vessel, strapped to a table, with automated instruments hanging above him. Delenn appears in an empty Grey Council Chamber. Hedronn (Robin Sachs) appears to tell her she has been stripped of her title of Satai. She can speak to the Council before her ambassadorship is rescinded. The Starfury makes it back to Babylon Five. After being experimented on, a metal rod is dropped to Sheridan and a Drazi attacks him with the same weapon. He fights the Drazi, who is killed by a Narn. Both of the aliens are under some sort of mind-control.
Back on Babylon Five, the returning pilot dies. Ivanova discusses the kidnapping with Garibaldi (Jerry Doyle). Delenn asks to remain on her mission at Babylon Five, but is replaced on the Council by Neroon (John Vickers) of the warrior caste. Lennier will stand by her. Sheridan dreams of Ivanova saying, “You are the hand,” Garibaldi saying, “The man in between is searching for you,” of himself in a Psi Corps uniform, and Kosh (Ardwight Chamberlain) saying, “This is the first time your mind has been quiet enough to hear me,” and “You have always been here.” He awakes noticing that he might be able to pry open the door with the weapon given to him.
On the way back to Babylon Five, Delenn and Lennier hear about Sheridan’s kidnapping. She informs Ivanova that the perpetrators might be the Streib and sends the co-ordinates of their home world. The Narn prisoner awakes and helps Sheridan pry his way out. They feel the ship is under attack, and it is, by the Agamemnon and a Babylon Five fighter squadron led by Ivanova. When the Streib are ordered to release their prisoners, they space them instead, and Ivanova rains hell on them. Sheridan and the Narn escape in a pod. In the midst of attacking the Streib ship, Ivanova notices morse code coming from the pod and snags it.
Back on Babylon Five, Sheridan and the Narn are treated in Medlab. The former runs into Kosh, who says, “You have always been here.” General Hague meets Sheridan in his quarters. They discuss—after turning on a jamming device—the assassination of President Santiago and the possible Psi Corps responsibility. The General asks Sheridan to help, and later Sheridan enlists the help of Ivanova, Garibaldi, and Doctor Franklin, who will all stand with him.
The Narn character, Ta’lon (Marshall Teague) will reappear as a good friend to Sheridan. The warrior caste now effectively controls the Grey Council. Sheridan was hand-picked by President Santiago before he died. Presumably, the entire dream-sequence was sent by Kosh--his idea of communication. Lennier comes off nicely in this episode, as does General Hague. I wondered why a threatening alien species might pop up for one episode, and then never be heard from again, but if the Shadows appeared in every episode in the season, we’d wonder why the showdown was taking so long. I think we can suppose the Shadows are behind much of the unrest in the Babylon Five universe, just as much of the unrest on Earth during the Cold War was stirred up by the Russians and the Americans. As a case in point, in the previous episode, Gropos, Earthforce was involved with the Sh’lassen only because of the Narn-Centauri War. One wonders how many Mordens are out there, making deals.