It has been seven days since Captain Sheridan (Bruce Boxleitner) and Garibaldi (Jerry Doyle) have disappeared. Ivanova (Claudia Christian) naturally blames herself. Londo (Peter Jurasik) has returned to Babylon Five in his new job advising the Emperor (Worthan Krimmer) on security. G’Kar (Andreas Katsulas) thinks Londo is the loneliest being in the universe. Delenn (Mira Furlan) is fasting and praying. She believes Sheridan is alive. The Shadows are playing a waiting game after their loss.
Ivanova finds the League of Non-Aligned Worlds to be uncooperative. Many have withdrawn ships from Babylon Five’s defense, thinking the war is over. She wants to attack Z’ha’dum, but the League refuses. Lennier (Bill Mumy) notices that the Vorlon Ulkesh (voice of Ardwight Chamberlain) did not attend the meeting and Delenn wonders why. Minister Milo Virini (Damian London) briefs Londo before his meeting with Emperor Cartagia and Londo’s aide Vir (Stephen Furst), who has learned what happened to Sheridan at Z’ha’dum, reports that the White Star crashed into the city, setting off a nuclear explosion and Sheridan fell into a chasm. The Shadows are in chaos. On Centauri Prime, Londo finds Morden (Ed Wasser) severely burned. He has nothing to say about Sheridan’s fate. He tells Londo that the Emperor has allowed the Shadows to move some forces to Centauri and Londo can do nothing about it.
Delenn meets the Vorlon Ulkesh in the Zen Garden with telepath Lyta Alexander (Patricia Tallman) as his aide. Delenn wants the Vorlon to help, but he refuses. Zack (Jeff Conaway) finds G’Kar musing in Garibaldi’s quarters. He intends to go looking for him. Londo is summoned before the Emperor and sees Shadow vessels flying overhead as he did in his vision. The Emperor says the Shadows will make him a living God. Londo leaves, horrified, and is told that the Emperor talks to the severed heads of his rivals at night. Lyta complains of the darkness in the Vorlons now. Londo contacts Vir and tells him to pack up and leave Babylon Five.
Lyta visits Ivanova and Ivanova tells her about the Hour of the Wolf. Lyta thinks they can find Sheridan if they go to Z’ha’dum. Their White Star arrives at Z’ha-dum and scans, calling for Sheridan. Lyta feels the Shadows and keeps them away for a time. The ship jumps to hyperspace, as Lennier programmed it to bug out in the presence of danger. Vir arrives at Centauri Prime and Londo tells him the Emperor is insane and they have to kill him. Ivanova accepts that Sheridan is dead and vows to continue his work. Deep in Z’ha-dum, Sheridan sits down by a fire with a tall alien.
This episode begins Season Five: No Surrender, No Retreat. Cartagia was based on Caligula and Worthan Krimmer was hired to play him because of his supposed resemblance to the mad Roman emperor. When Londo is summoned by the Emperor, he cannot find his coat and puts on an old one. When he sees the Shadow ships above, he is thus wearing the coat he was wearing when he foresaw the event episodes ago. G’Kar muses over the picture of Daffy Duck on the wall of Garibaldi’s quarters—some sort of household god. When it was not certain if Babylon Five would return for a fifth season, J. Michael Straczynski took much of Season Five and pushed it forward into Season Four. Then, when the series was picked up after all, he had to write another Season Five, which he did. All of it, except one episode written by Neil Gaiman.