History Recap / BabylonFiveS02E18ConfessionsAndLamentations

!Confessions and Lamentations

* ShaggyDogStory: After going the whole episode struggling to find a cure for the plague, which includes having to deal with the Markab ambassador fighting his attempts out of an arrogant belief in purity, constantly using stims to stay awake, and eventually losing his Markab friend, Franklin finally succeeds...only to learn that all the Markab on the station have succumbed. And the ending news report reveals the same thing has happened to the vast majority of the population, essentially wiping them out a species. The only good to come of it is that the cure can still be used to protect others who are susceptible (such as the pak'ma'ra), preventing it from spreading to other species and possibly mutating, and Sheridan and Delenn becoming a little closer in the aftermath of the tragedy.

* ShaggyDogStory: After going the whole episode struggling to find a cure for the plague, which includes having to deal with the Markab ambassador fighting his attempts out of an arrogant belief in purity, constantly using stims to stay awake, and eventually losing his Markab friend, Franklin finally succeeds...only to learn that all the Markab on the station have succumbed. And the ending news report reveals the same thing has happened to the vast majority of the population, essentially wiping them out a species. The only good to come of it is that the cure can still be used to protect others who are susceptible (such as the pak'ma'ra), preventing it from spreading to other species and possibly mutating, and Sheridan and Delenne becoming a little closer in the aftermath of the tragedy.

* HopeSpot: Delenn shares a [[NoodleIncident story from her childhood]] in order to cheer up a Markab child. Lennier finds the child's mother and they are joyfully reunited...just as the child begins to succumb to the plague.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: A subtle hint is dropped that the Drafa virus might be artificial. A plot point that ''will'' gain prominence as far down the road as ''Crusade''.
** The racist bartender who suggests that the Vorlons spread to wipe out the Markab [[spoiler:is actually right about the Vorlons being willing to wipe out other entire races, as shown during the Shadow War. [=JMS=] also implies that either the Vorlons or the Shadows engineered the extinction of the Markab.]]

* BigDamnHeroes: A small fear-driven mob is beating a innocent Markab, and Garibaldi charges in screaming at them to get away from him before kicking one of the attackers to the ground.

* TooDumbToLive: The entire SPECIES of Markab. Against all evidence they insist that the disease only takes the 'sinful', they hid it from other species for over a YEAR, and actively tried to prevent Stephen from even realizing it was a disease. He still finds a cure in less than a week, after the Markab have become functionally extinct.

* HolierThanThou: This is pretty much what dooms the Markab. Their leaders repeat until the end that only those who are impure will be cut down by Drafa. The Markab Ambassador to Babylon Five even accuses the humans of [[InsaneTrollLogic poisoning the Markab population in order to make them look sinful]].

* ButWhatAboutTheAstronauts: It's mentioned at one point that due to the cover-up and general denial among the Markab, the plague's already spread to their colonies and other off-world population centers. There's also a brief mention at the end that there are probably a few Markab who survived the plague on ships or more remote colonies; however their numbers are almost certainly too limited to form a sustainable population, leaving the species functionally extinct.

* TooDumbToLive: The entire SPECIES of Markab. Against all evidence they insist that the disease only takes the 'sinful', they hid it from other species for over a YEAR, and actively tried to prevent Stephen from even realizing it is a disease. He still finds a cure in less than a week, after the Markab have become functionally extinct.

* DownerEnding: For virtually everyone involved. Only the pak'ma'ra benefit, as there is now a cure to a deadly disease they're vulnerable to. [[spoiler: And lunch.]]

** Sheridan orders Keffer to stop these excursions, supposedly because they're a waste of time and resources. In reality, he's following Delenn and Kosh's instructions to [[Recap/BabylonFiveS02E16InTheShadowOfZHaDum avoid drawing the Shadows out into the open too soon.]]

* ThisIsGonnaSuck: Garibaldi is a pragmatic realist during the staff briefing on the Drafa outbreak. He correctly asserts that once news becomes public, the general population will view the Markab as scapegoats and adovocates quarantine because it will be easier for his security force to protect them. Afterwards, Sheridan orders him to cancel leave for security personnel, as they both realize they're gonna need them.

Later Delenn congratulates Sheridan for finding a cure, but he credits Franklin. Franklin is currently in the Zocalo watching a news report that the Markab as a race have for all intents and purposes been wiped out. A bartender tries to make jokes, but Franklin walks off in disgust, muttering, "Nothing changes."