By Jonathan Klotz
| Published
It can be hard to choose a favorite character from Babylon 5. A great case can be made for everyone, but there’s no denying that the Centaurian Ambassador Londo Mollari is one of the best. A proud Centauri, Londo represents the very best of his species…when he feels like it. He’s prone to excess in everything, whether it’s drinking or women, and his pride goes before his fall, but it’s that complicated mix of characteristics that makes him so memorable. In Season 1’s “The War Prayer,” Londo steps up and helps a young couple defy marriage tradition in the name of love. For all his faults, Londo knows what love feels like, and what a Centauri marriage entails, after all, he’s gone through with it three times.
Londo And The Centauri Concept Of Love
“The War Prayer” splits its runtime between Sinclair and Ivanova dealing with The Homeguard attacking aliens, and Londo (Peter Jurasik) navigating a politically complicated situation involving Vir’s (Stephen Furst) cousin, Kiron (Rodney Eastman), and the love of his life Aria (The Wonder Year’s star Danica McKellar). Arranged marriages are custom among the Centauri, which as Londo says, is a society with no need for love. That’s a little ironic considering how far he was willing to go for the exotic dancer Adira Tyree.
Londo explains his past marriages to the young couple, dubbing his former wives Famine, Pestilence, and Death, all of whom appear in Season 2’s “Soul Mates,” and oddly, Londo seems to retain an appreciation for Timov (Jane Carr) who makes zero attempt to show love or affection for him shortly after the arranged marriage was completed, finding her honesty regarding her complete disdain for him to be refreshing. The problem for Londo, is that deep down, he longs for love of the type he briefly experienced with Adira, which is why he finds a way for the lovers to remain unmarried, until they are old enough to choose a spouse for themselves.
The solution, sending them to stay with his well-connected and very important cousin, doesn’t technically defy Centauri tradition. Londo won’t break the rules of the Centauri, but he’ll bend them. Constantly.
Babylon 5’s Worldbuilding Is Second To None
No one is the same at the end of Babylon 5 as they were at the beginning, especially not Londo given his ultimate fate, but for all the major changes in his position, it’s a testament to the writing of J. Michael Straczynski that even the smallest detail of Londo’s life and outlook becomes relevant later. Would Londo have acted the same way for another Centauri couple that wasn’t directly related to his aide? Absolutely not.
“The War Prayer” shows how alien culture isn’t so far removed from human culture, no matter what the Homeguard may want to believe. From G’Kar and Delenn’s responses to the assaults on aliens, to Londo carefully navigating tradition and custom, it’s all more evidence that the world building of Babylon 5 is second to none. When Londo delivers the line, “My shoes are too tight, and I have forgotten how to dance” we see another glimpse of the flawed man fans will fall in love with over the next four seasons. He’s seen too much, done too much, compromised too much, and the worst was yet to come.
