Two Babylon 5 Characters Quietly Became One Of The Best Double-Acts In Sci-Fi History

Babylon 5‘s best duo subverted sci-fi expectations and developed into the two of the show’s most compelling characters. Babylon 5 was a groundbreaking entry in the sci-fi genre when it debuted, focusing on a space station designed as an intergalactic port for peace negotiations and trade. As a result, the primary races of Babylon 5‘s universe populated the station with several ambassadors and other powerful leaders, setting up all sorts of dynamics for the show to explore across five seasons.

One of the most prominent of these was the relationship between G’Kar and Londo, ambassadors to rival races who initially settled into straight forward roles in the show’s supporting cast. Played by Andres Katsulas and Peter Jurasik respectively, the duo were steadily given deeply complex character arcs to play with over the course of the show, with their rivalry morphing in unexpected ways. The result was a Babylon 5 enemies double-act that still feels painfully relevant over two decades later.

Why Babylon 5’s Londo And G’Kar Were One Of Sci-Fi’s Best Double Acts

How Londo And G’Kar Grew Against (And Alongside) One Another

One of the best antagonistic duos in Babylon 5, Londo and G’Kar are a sci-fi highlight of the era. Onboard Babylon 5, Londo and G’Kar serve as the representatives of the Centauri and Narn Empires, respectively. The latter was formerly controlled by the Centarui Republic, with the horrors of war still fresh in their collective memory. Even beyond their opposing allegiances, Londo and G’Kar served as an ideal contrast of cultures on Babylon 5. The self-serious and often confrontational G’Kar was a natural contrast to the boisterous and silly Londo.

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In the early episodes, the show could mine their rivalry for comedic purposes or as world-building through character moments. G’Kar was coded as a slightly more villainous figure, a schemer always looking to gain advantages over the other races of the galaxy. While Londo was far from perfect, he was an emotionally open and frequently friendly figure on the station. This naturally built into something far more tragic in season 2, when Londo and his allies ally with the villainous Shadows that results in the Narn homeworld being decimated by renewed Centarui Republic aggression.

Suddenly, the season and a half of animosity between the pair turned into something more complex. After wishing for an excuse to provoke a war with the Centarui, G’Kar is humbled and horrified by the true cost it has on his people and his home. Londo’s boasts about the might and honor of the Centuari foretold their brutal onslaught of the Narn, his pride turning into regret over the results of his actions in leading the Centuari to the Shadows. The pair start as fun aliens with a potentially high-stakes rivalry, only to become more complex as time wore on.

Londo & G’Kar Subverted Sci-Fi Tropes And Expectations

G’Kar And Londo Both Became Very Different People By Babylon 5‘s Ending

The evolution of Londo and G’Kar over the course of Babylon 5 is especially effective because of the way the pair operates in tandem during the first season of the show. Initially, G’Kar (and by extension the Narn as a whole) are portrayed as villains trying to gain influence and authority in the galaxy. While there was plenty of backstabbing and strange politics within the Centarui society, Londo and his ilk were more focused on maintaining their power and enjoying their lives. Initally, Londo was more comic relief than tragic figure, and G’Kar wasn’t the noble figure he’d become.

The seemingly villainous Narn were transformed into victims, with G’Kar suffering at the hands of his Centurai captors. The result was an arc where G’Kar returned to the Narn as a conflicted messiah-figure, struggling with the inspiration he inspires others. By contrast, Londo transformed a party animal whose flaws could be laughed off into something far more tragic. His meeting with Morden drew his people into the grasp of the Shadows, setting up their dark path. What made this unique compared to other villainous turns is how Babylon 5 never tried to disguise Londo’s actions as anything less than horrifying.

The other characters gradually distance themselves from him, while the perpetually loyal Vir loses his faith in a steadily more broken Londo. There is a pathos to Londo’s full awareness of his descent into villainy and reluctance to change course. Both characters and their growth play into deeply political themes, from Londo watching his republic descend into a brutal dictatorship to G’Kar witnessing his homeland be destroyed by a greater military force. Thirty years since Babylon 5 introduced fans to charming characters like G’Kar and Londo, the themes inherent to their stories are more prescient than ever.

Londo & G’Kar Killing Each Other Is One Of Babylon 5’s Biggest Twists

Babylon 5 Teased Londo And G’Kar’s Final Fate Early On

One of the benefits of Babylon 5 largely following a pre-established storyline was the ability to seed major character developments and turns far ahead of time. One of the most tragic of these story seeds was the fate of Londo and G’Kar, which was teased in the earliest episodes of Babylon 5. The Centuari can sometimes be afflicted with a vision of their final moments. Londo saw a vision of himself and a Narn he would eventually come to know as G’Kar, strangling one another to death in a straightforward act of mutual destruction.

However, as the show progresses and their true roles in the narrative are revealed, the full scope of the vision is laid bare. It turns out that by the time of the vision, the two had gained a quiet and tragic respect for one another. Long since lost to the thrall of the Shadows’ allies even after their defeat, Londo rules as Emperor with a heart weighed down by vast regret. Desperate to keep the alien controlling him from catching a time-displaced Sheridan, Londo convinces G’Kar to end his suffering.

G’Kar’s death comes as a result of the alien awakening within Londo, but their mutual deaths ensure the liberation of the Centuari under Vir’s control, as well as the stability of Sheridan’s time-loop. Londo and G’Kar’s mutual kill is the perfect culmination of their dynamic in Babylon 5. Initially set up as a straightforward conflict between broad characters, the depth of their motivations and the dynamic reimagining of real life concerns through the lens of sci-fi gives it a great depth. Elements like that are why Babylon 5 stands out from the rest of the sci-fi genre of its era.

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Babylon 5

Release Date

1993 – 1997

Showrunner

J. Michael Straczynski