Babylon-5 - G'Kar
Created | Updated Mar 6, 2003
Famous quote :"If I take a lamp and shine it toward the wall, a bright spot will appear on the wall. The lamp is our search for truth ... for understanding. Too often, we assume that the light on the wall is God, but the light is not the goal of the search, it is the result of the search. The more intense the search, the brighter the light on the wall. The brighter the light on the wall, the greater the sense of revelation upon seeing it. Similarly, someone who does not search--who does not bring a lantern--sees nothing. What we perceive as God is the by-product of our search for God. It may simply be an appreciation of the light ... pure and unblemished ... not understanding that it comes from us. Sometimes we stand in front of the light and assume that we are the center of the universe--God looks astonishingly like we do--or we turn to look at our shadow and assume that all is darkness. If we allow ourselves to get in the way, we defeat the purpose, which is to use the light of our search to illuminate the wall in all its beauty and in all its flaws; and in so doing, better understand the world around us."
G'Kar - Member of the Kha'Ri, prophet and visionary
G'Kar is by far the most religiously inspired main character of Babylon-51 . He is played by Andreas Katsulas.
G'Kar - Character-background
G'Kar is a Narn, a species that has been dominated by the Centauri for over a hundred years. The Narn have an agressive nature but they were unable to withstand the technical superiority of the Centauri. The result of the occupation was that over the years the homeplanet(also known as Narn) was exploited, mined and emptied of valuable resources by the Narn under the yoke of the Centauri. This has caused great resentment under the Narn-people and an unquenchable thirst for revenge on the Centauri.
Before the occupation, the Narn where ruled by the Kha'Ri, a body of men assembled from the various tribes on the planet. After the occupation the Kha'Ri was dismantled but it is still regarded as the rightful government of Narn by the Narn. It was forced to go underground in order to survive the repression of the Centauri.
After the Centauri managed to kill the members of the Kha'Ri, G'Kar, the last known member of the Kha'Ri, moved to Babylon-5. Babylon-5 is controlled by humans and these have garantueed safe passage to anyone with peaceful intent for as long as the duration of their stay on the station. Of course the Centauri Londo Molari also lives on the station so they are frequently involved in fights, verbal and otherwise.
There is however, a strange kind of understanding between Londo and G'Kar, and this becomes more and more clear as the series progresses.
After some years on the station, G'Kar has a revelation, a vision. He sees the way to free his people from the Centauri and this vision is at least semi-religious in nature. After this experience G'Kar is definitely a different man, and a man much more difficult to understand. He starts to write religious scriptures, although he does not regard them as religious but more as philosophical in nature. As he is still a member of the Kha'Ri, his followers read his words and start seeing him more and more as the new prophet who will free them from oppression. Ironically, G'Kar has also become a much more peaceful man who sees ways to win battles for his people without resorting to violence. This causes much misunderstanding among the Narn.
While out looking for the missing Mr. Garibaldi, G'Kar is taken prisoner by the Centauri and presented to their leader, the insane emperor Cartagia. After much pestering and worse(G'Kar loses an eye because the emperor does not like the way he looks at him), Cartagia decides to hold a show-trial on Narn itself in which G'Kar will be found guilty and summarily executed in front of his people.
Londo has by now realized that Cartagia is a madman who has even invited The Shadows to take residence on Centauri Prime. Unbeknown to Cartagia and G'Kar, Londo has been preparing for an assasination-attempt on Cartagia's life. With the help of the distraction caused by G'Kar during the trial, and the help of Londo's faithful aide Vir Cotto, Londo manages to assasinate the emperor and succeed him to the throne. As a reward for G'Kar's help, Londo then orders the Centauri to leave Narn and gives the Narn back their freedom.
In one of the most memorable scenes featuring G'Kar he is surrounded by his fellow-Narns in the government-palace on Narn. As all his fellow-Narns go about smashing the palace into little pieces, G'Kar pleads for them to stop. "My friends, do not destroy, this is all ours now!". The Narn offer G'Kar the leadership of the people but he refuses saying that he will take his rightful place among the Kha'Ri but that he will not lead alone. "Have you not learned at all? Would you depose one dictator just to replace him with another?" Blinded by the need for revenge the Narn accuse G'kar of "hiding on Babylon-5 and not suffering at all while they were being oppressed each and every day". After a brief silence G'kar bursts out into laughter and walks away. These actions, very unlike the Narn, puzzle his followers and they see him more and more as an oracle who will lead them to the light. G'Kar does not like this at all as he wants his people to understand what he means, not just follow his rules.
After Earth has been liberated G'Kar boards his ship and sets sail for a long journey through known space and beyond. The telepath Lita Alexander accompanies him on his journey. G'Kar has decided that his people need to think for themselves and that he will have to leave in order for them to do so. This gives him an ever greater aura of holiness of course, and it is the start for the construction of legends about him.
Recommended episodes :
Dust to dust
The long night
Return to the Babylon-5 Universityproject
1Babylon 5 is a Science Fiction TV-series that was originally aired in the U.S.A. in the 1990s. The story-arcs revolve around a spacestation - Babylon 5 - that is the last to be built to try and ensure peace between spacefaring races, including the human race.
The series has gone on to be one of the most popular SF TV-series ever. The most important difference between Babylon 5 and other series is that it was written as one story that would span 5 years and 5 seasons of episodes. So from the start the outline was clear to the producers.
This has resulted in a very consistent series.
Unfortunately it also requires the viewer to watch at least three contiguous episodes. Three episodes is usually enough to follow one complete sub-storyarc.
A more detailed entry on Babylon 5 will follow shortly and will be referred to here.
The series has gone on to be one of the most popular SF TV-series ever. The most important difference between Babylon 5 and other series is that it was written as one story that would span 5 years and 5 seasons of episodes. So from the start the outline was clear to the producers.
This has resulted in a very consistent series.
Unfortunately it also requires the viewer to watch at least three contiguous episodes. Three episodes is usually enough to follow one complete sub-storyarc.
A more detailed entry on Babylon 5 will follow shortly and will be referred to here.
