| abstract
| - On the Minbar homeworld, a Minbari, Rathenn, is shown delivering a box to a hooded figure. Rathenn explains that he and his fellow priests are obeying its instructions written nine hundred years prior, to open it exactly today. The figure reaches and looks inside and sees an envelope addressed to Jeffrey David Sinclair. He removes his hood, revealing himself as Ambassador Sinclair(!), also known as the Entil'Zha, or leader of the Rangers. Rathenn wonders aloud how "he" knew where Sinclair he would be in 900 years. How, indeed... In Babylon 5, C&C is picking up a distress call from the quarantined Sector 14, the place where Babylon 4 disappeared. Ivanova asks to put it through and, to their amazement, her own voice is heard calling out for help, with explosions in the background. It is dated eight days into the future. In the temple in Minbar, Sinclair, with the letter still in his hand, is waiting for his ship to Babylon 5. Rathenn announces that it is ready and offers his help if Sinclair would confide in him, but Sinclair tells him that this was meant for him alone. Rathenn watches Sinclair leave, somehow sensing that they will never meet again. The Vorlon Ambassador to Minbar joins Rathenn and tells him that Sinclair "is the closed circle" and "is returning to the beginning". Whatever that means. Even a Minbari can't make heads or tales of anything Vorlons say. In the War Room, Sheridan, Ivanova and Garibaldi are listening to the phantom message. Garibaldi suggests the possibility that, because time does not work properly in that sector since Babylon 4 disappeared, the message could be coming from the future. He asks Sheridan's permission to go to Sector 14 to investigate in case they need to prepare for some calamity. Zack Allen is having quite a time trying to process the identicards of those in the station's docking bay, but while he is overlooking them, he comes across a very interesting one -- that of Ambassador Sinclair. Zack welcomes Sinclair back to the station, and asks him if he plans to be staying long. Sinclair says that is a more interesting question than Zack knows, and disappears into the crowd. Lennier enters Delenn's quarters and finds her troubled and praying. "He is here", she tells Lennier, close to tears. Lennier replies that it "must be done", or the consequences will be dire. On the table by the candle, we see that Delenn received a letter, as well. Marcus and Sheridan are in the War Room discussing the latest reports. It seems that the Shadows have ceased their attacks now that the Vorlons are kicking their butts, but it won't last long. Delenn interrupts and asks Sheridan to join her on the White Star immediately; that's Sinclair's cue to enter through the back door. The two legends exchange pleasantries (and a private joke about running this god-forsaken station), but before Sheridan can ask how Delenn knew about Sinclair's visit, a communication comes in from Garibaldi: the temporal rift in Sector 14 is twice as big as usual, and that this is caused by a powerful tachyon field generated by the Great Machine on Epsilon 3. Sheridan argues with Delenn that they should be going to Epsilon 3 to find out what is happening there, but Delenn tells him that there is not time for that, and that she will explain everything once they're underway. As their shuttle embarks for the White Star, a skeptical Sheridan muses that Sinclair's timing is uncanny, to which Sinclair replies that There Are No Coincidences. Marcus tells Sheridan to quit while he's ahead, since "Ranger One" has a reputation for seldom giving straight answers. (There's a lot of that going around, old bean.) Garibaldi picks up a replay of the distress signal from Future Ivanova, who a reports that the captain is dead, the enemy is boarding them, and that Garibaldi is rigging the fusion reactors to explode. She switches to external cameras, and the enemies attacking the station are indeed Shadows. The timestamp on the recording is eight days into the future. On the White Star, Delenn shows everyone an old recording from the time of the last great war against the Shadows, 1000 years ago. Just as all hope seemed to have been lost, their salvation appeared out of nowhere: Babylon 4. With it, the Shadow fleet was destroyed and the Shadows were driven away from Z'ha'dum. The Shadows, shrewd as they are, sent fighters to destroy the station six years ago (coinciding with Babylon 4's initial "disappearance"). Another archive video shows the White Star traveling back in time to prevent their attack. Unless Sheridan sticks to the script, the Shadows would win the war against the Minbari, or at least force a stalemate, and therefore much of their military might would still be intact in the present. This would enable them to destroy Babylon 5 in just eight days. Sheridan orders Garibaldi to return to Babylon 5 while a small vessel carrying Zathras docks with the ship. Draal has sent Zathras to deliver equipment that is crucial to sending Babylon 4 back in time, including a homing device that must be placed on the central power core. Sinclair recognizes him as the strange alien he encountered onboard Babylon 4 last time, and Zathras greets him as "The One". Sinclair, wary of any more paradoxes, warns Zathras not to divulge any future information when they meet again in the past. Zathras is totally confused (he's not alone), but since he is good at doings, not understandings, it's all good. Before they proceed, Sinclair takes Sheridan aside to asks him not to mention his presence to Garibaldi. Zathras hands out small devices to everyone, saying that without them, they may become unstuck in time. These devices, time stabilizers, will protect them and keep them from drifting. After everybody has dutifully strapped on their stabilizer thingies, the White Star moves into the temporal rift. Garibaldi returns to Babylon 5 where Sgt. Allan tells him of Sinclair's visit, to Garibaldi's utter shock. He goes to his quarters and checks his messages, discovering one from Sinclair, but it is password-encoded. Garibaldi is trying to find the password unsuccessfully until it hits him: "Hello, old friend". The message from Sinclair is a Goodbye, as he will not be coming back from Babylon 4, and if Garibaldi had gone there as well, he would not return either. Ivanova is able to fire at the Shadow fighters, destroying the fusion bomb before it can reach Babylon 4. A huge blast is created, and the White Star is caught in it. Sheridan's time stabilizer is hit by a blast of energy, and he vanishes. Zathras explains that Sheridan has become unstuck in time, and could be in either the past or the future. Delenn wants to try to find him, but Sinclair insists that their best chance is to board Babylon 4 now that its scanners are temporarily blinded by the blast and complete their mission. Meanwhile, a deeply confused Sheridan is handcuffed and facing an unhappy-looking Londo Mollari in full imperial regalia, right before he's thrown down onto the floor and kicked by the imperial guardsman. Sheridan recognizes the Emperor on the throne as Londo, who looks quite a bit older than Sheridan remembers him. The White Star moves to grapple onto a stable area of Babylon 4. Delenn has been deeply disturbed by Sheridan's disappearance. Sinclair insists that he will be all right, and, to her stunned surprise, tells her in fluent Minbari that he knows what is coming. Sinclair confides to her that he always sensed something was amiss with his existence, but that now, his path is clear. Back in the future, Mollari rants about how Sheridan and his allies drove the Shadows away, but that the Shadows' servants wrought vengeance on Centauri Prime, and Sheridan allowed it to happen. Sheridan is dragged to a window, where he looks out upon the burning, smoking city around him.
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