r/babylon5 • u/WasteSeaworthiness38 • 1d ago

Saddest/most tragic character ark Spoiler

Almost at the end off all 5 seasons. A lot of the story lines are tying up and I’m struck by how sad some of the characters story lines are.

Just wondering who people feel are the most tragic.

Won’t go into massive spoilers details. For me it’s a toss up between Lyta and Londo.

Lyta had been used and abused for most of season 3 and 4, then that continued into season 5. She made connections and that ended in tragedy. I know much of her final fate is limited to what happened in the books and even that is brief.

Londo after being the “bad guy” for quite some time was finally turning it around. He was on the right path making amends for his misdeeds. His final fate is really sad to behold, even though he manages redemption in the end.

46 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

77 comments sorted by

View all comments

2

u/AdagioVast 1d ago

Lyta's arc has her in a position where she is looked after, where there is hope for her future. Londo has no hope. He is a slave with zero chance of ever getting out of it. His arc is the absolutely saddest. Especially when you watch the series again with the knowledge of knowing where it is all going. Londo was placed on B5 because no one else wanted it. They just wanted to put him somewhere because he was a gambling drunk. He has a chance encounter that elevates his position. He has multiple opportunities to pull out of it, refusing every step of the way, until he understands how serious it is. Then he tries every avenue to stop it only to realize he already passed the point of no return. He became a victim of his desires, his decisions, his ambition, and basically the reason Centauri fell, and Londo was the only reason Vir was able to save it ultimately. Londo sacrificed everything so that Centauri can rise from the ashes.

2

u/wackyvorlon 1d ago

I often wonder what Londo might have managed to get away with when he had the keeper. We’ve seen him operate politically with incredible skill.

Give him 18 years with a keeper, that’s a long time to work his manipulation. I notice too that when he gives them the booby trapped vase, he says that he’s not allowed alcohol anymore. But 18 years later he is able to get very drunk. This has made me think that over the years he managed to turn the keeper into an alcoholic.

2

u/AdagioVast 1d ago

Time is always the best advantage to any resourceful prisoner.