Enemies and Allies (Babylon 5, Londo/G'Kar)
Enemies and Allies
Author: hobsonphile
Fandom: BABYLON 5
Pairing: Londo/G’Kar, with mentions of Londo/Timov, Londo/Adira, and Londo/Urza Jaddo as well. The Centauri are polyamorous, afterall. *g*
Spoilers: The whole nine yards, folks. If you haven’t seen the entire five year run of B5, avert your eyes.
Acknowledgements: Many blessings to selenak, andrastewhite, kakodaimon, and sabine101, who have all influenced the content of this essay in one way or another through their fanfiction and commentary. It has been a true pleasure.
First, to warm up the crowd, a bit of amusement: I went through several working titles on this essay before settling on the old stand-by that, incidentally, is also the title of my Centauri/Narn focused fanfiction archive. Such titles included the amazed-at-the-new-phenomenon I Was Just Kidding, I Swear!; the somewhat put-upon Middle-Aged Aliens Can Have Sex Too!; the giggly Polyamory, Tentacle Pr0n, and Hot Centauri-On-Narn Action; and the grave Bound By Fate.
But upon second glance, all of these (plus the title I finally settled on) capture at least one driving force behind Londo/G’Kar fandom. As ‘ships go, Londo/G’Kar is profoundly non-traditional, not simply because of the middle-aged alien anatomy involved, but also because most fan interpretations of the pairing are far from exclusive. Londo/G’Kar is also a comic ‘ship, brimming with sarcasm and wit. And lastly, Londo/G’Kar is blessed to be framed by a rich, epic tragedy that spans twenty years and is informed by a bloody colonial history that spans more than a century.
Dramatis Personae
Principals
The Narn’s been complaining lately that we’ve all been leading with Londo in our commentary, which gives the false impression that the Centauri is the dominant partner. So, in the interest of placating said Narn, I will start with…
G’Kar, Ambassador of the Narn Regime, later addressed as Citizen:
A commentator at a recent con I attended at one point aptly summarized G’Kar’s arc thusly: “He starts off a terrorist and becomes Jesus Christ.” A veteran of the ultimately successful resistance against the Centauri’s colonial rule over his people, G’Kar comes to Babylon 5 with nothing short of genocide on his mind. In the opening episode of the first season, Midnight on the Firing Line, he openly confesses to Commander Sinclair that he dreams of the day “when we have cleansed the universe of the Centauri and carved their bones into little flutes for Narn children.” And when Mr. Morden asks him what he wants many episodes later, this violent vision remains:
"What do I want? The Centauri stripped my world. I want justice."
"What do you want?"
"To suck the marrow from their bones. To grind their skulls to powder!"
"What do you want?"
"To tear down their cities, blacken their sky, sow their ground with salt! To completely, utterly erase them!"
"And then what?"
"I don't know. As long as my homeworld's safety is guaranteed, I don't know that it matters."
-G'Kar and Morden, Signs and Portents
In the beginning, G’Kar is arrogant, aggressive, untrustworthy, and a libidinous xenophile. But interestingly, even in the early days, we see glimpses- seeds- of who he will be in the end. He rescues Catherine Sakai from one of the First Ones. He is a celebrant for the followers of G’Quan. He refuses to give in to torture.
It is the sudden reversal in the Narn Regime’s rise to power, precipitated by Londo’s alliance with Morden and the Shadows- and the devastating war and occupation that follows- that redeems G’Kar. And it is an enlightenment that is hard won- won through Londo’s fall and at one point literally seized over Londo’s broken body. Through war and blood and some Vorlon intervention, G’Kar begins to see the shape of the universal struggle and begins to understand his place in it. In time, he is truly ready to make the sacrifices necessary to save his people, including putting aside his hatred and forging necessary alliances with his enemy. And, most amazing of all, he finds the capacity to forgive.
The iconic moments in G’Kar’s arc are emotionally and visually stunning, some frankly Biblical in tone. His eye is gouged from his skull. He is lashed 39 times. He is paraded through the streets of Narn chained to a harness that only enhances the Christ-figure imagery. He writes a book which is published precipitously and through this becomes a figure of worship among the Narn.
The tragedy of G’Kar lies in the last. For while he makes his sacrifices- while he grows to be the Narn’s new prophet and the Thomas Jefferson of the Interstellar Alliance- he effectively drifts away from his own people and, in the end, can no longer live among them.
His fate, as we come to understand, is tied to another world- another being- entirely.
Londo Mollari, Ambassador, Prime Minister, and eventually Emperor of the Centauri Republic:
Londo is the greatest tragic character ever conceived for television. Period.
As I’ve noted in previous essays, Londo has a great deal in common with G’Kar in the beginning. Londo too is fiercely patriotic, untrustworthy and libidinous. He is a poker cheat and arguably an alcoholic. But he is also incredibly affectionate and deeply romantic, at times seeming to possess infinite wells of energy and bonhomie, and at other times seeming to possess equally infinite wells of sadness and longing. This is the genius of JMS: He made Londo so God-damned likable.
Alas, likeability does not save Londo from his own flaws. Romantic in every way, Londo is wedded to an idealized, glorious past for his people that probably never was and is bitterly frustrated with the aimless, powerless present. It is the discord between ideal history and reality that drives Londo to Morden and seals his fate.
Londo is the lynchpin in the Shadow War- the voice that launches a thousand ships and decimates a world. As Captain Sheridan says to Londo in a moment of desperation, “Everything is falling apart and the Centauri are at the center of it all.” And yet. And yet- and this is another stroke of genius on the part of JMS- we also see that Londo understands- he knows- the gravity of what he has done.
It’s this knowing- this guilt- that makes Londo so eminently rewarding and so frustrating as a character. Because while Londo knows, he still, at every critical juncture, makes the wrong decision, digging himself further in the pit and leaving us all wondering in sorrow if he can ever be redeemed.
In the fourth season, JMS takes up the question of Londo’s redemption. And as G’Kar found his redemption through Londo, Londo finds his redemption through G’Kar, saving his own world from conflagration through G’Kar’s sacrifice and discovering in the process that he has ceased to hate his adversary. Keeping his promise to G’Kar and freeing Narn is the first step in Londo’s slow climb back to the light.
JMS has said in the past that one of the major themes of Babylon 5 was personal responsibility- owning up to one’s choices and actions. The culmination of Londo’s arc exemplifies this theme and is the principle reason your author feels sympathy for Londo as a character. Faced again with the potential annihilation of his world, knowing that his choices brought the Shadows’ legacy to Centauri Prime, Londo, who has never abided solitude, submits himself to over fifteen years of isolation and torment in the service of the Drakh. It is one of the severest punishments a man can ever take upon himself, and Londo does so with astonishing bravery and dignity.
Londo dies broken and battered, but redeemed. A more powerful depiction of atonement I have never seen.
Supporting Characters
Thrown into the mix are also a number of friends, spouses and previous lovers.
Vir Cotto, Diplomatic Attaché to Londo Mollari, Ambassador, and eventually Emperor of the Centauri Republic:
Come on. This is me we’re talking about here. Did you really think Vir wouldn’t be mentioned at some point? *g*
Wise beyond his years and deeply compassionate, Vir is Londo’s best friend, his conscience, his son in spirit if not in fact, and, as The Very Long Night of Londo Mollari reveals, also Londo’s reason to be better. Londo/G’Kar fandom is incomplete without acknowledgement of the power of this friendship, about which I have gone on at length elsewhere.
Na’Toth, Diplomatic Attaché to G’Kar:
Unfortunately, very little time in canon is devoted to developing Na’Toth’s relationship with her ambassador. But we do catch glimpses of genuine caring- for example, when Londo and G’Kar work together to orchestrate Na’Toth’s escape from the prison below the royal palace on Centauri Prime in the fifth season. These teases have been expanded upon in some marvelous gen fic.
In our minds, Na’Toth is always played by Caitlin Brown. *g*
Adira Tyree:
An exotic dancer and a slave, Adira is ordered by her master to begin a romantic relationship with Londo to gain access to devastating state secrets contained in Londo’s Purple Files. Naturally, this scheme is derailed- Adira actually falls in love with Londo and Londo falls in love with her in return. And who wouldn’t fall in love with Londo in her place? Londo showers Adira with affection, gifts and, in the end, freedom, and apparently is great in bed. *g*
Londo looks to Adira to fill his empty places- to help him recapture lost hope and youth. But Adira becomes another casualty on Londo’s tragic path to the throne. In Interludes and Examinations, she at last decides to return to Londo after adjusting to her new freedom and is murdered on the transport by Morden in a calculated effort to bring Londo back into his fold. Heartbreakingly, it works.
Just as you cannot ignore Londo&Vir, you cannot- I repeat, cannot- ignore Londo/Adira while writing Londo/G’Kar. Not if you want me to read your story, anyway. I’m sort of a canon Nazi like that. *g* Fortunately for you, the Centauri are polyamorous. *g*
But seriously: Londo falls back into Morden’s clutches and has Lord Refa brutally murdered to avenge Adira’s death. He breaks down and tears apart his quarters in grief and rage when he learns the truth about Morden’s guilt and subsequently has Morden brutally murdered as well. He almost cries with joy when Adira appears to him in The Day of the Dead and he whispers her name as he’s being examined by the Drakh. He loved the bejesus out of this woman. Don’t delete her or I swear to the Great Maker I will come after you with a pitchfork.
So, yeah. I have some opinions on this matter. *g*
Urza Jaddo:
Urza is Londo’s upstanding boyhood friend, his dueling partner, and, in some interpretations, his sometimes lover. *g* Urza is a political dissenter who falls prey to Refa’s smear campaigns and organizes a duel to the death with Londo in which he purposely leaves himself open for a fatal thrust, forcing Londo to kill him and thus save his family from dishonor. Under the rules of the duel, Urza’s family is taken into House Mollari.
Timov, daughter of Algul and first wife of Londo Mollari:
Timov is the wife Londo kept. *g* She appears in only one episode, but her personality is so distinctive and so bloody funny that all of us saw instantly why she was a perfect match for Londo. *g* Londo likes a challenge, you see- he likes unvarnished honesty. And Timov, all practical, blunt cleverness and snark, provides both in spades. Timov knows Londo’s faults and what’s more, she tells him exactly what they are. In this, she shares at least one thing in common with G’Kar. Many Londo/G’Kar fans consider Londo/Timov the equivalent, equally viable het alternative.
I should probably mention Lord Refa and Emperor Cartagia as well, but this is starting to run long. So, onward!
Londo/G’Kar: The Sub-Textual Evidence
Chemistry, chemistry, chemistry- the chemistry between Londo and G’Kar, even when they are bitter enemies, is so great you can practically see it dripping down the walls. When they are in a scene together, it smolders. They are constantly invading each other’s personal spaces. And they can’t leave each other alone- not indefinitely, at least, although they make some valiant efforts along the way.
Beyond this, there are specific details and moments that raise the eyebrows of all Londo/G’Kar fans. For example, it is very curious that the first thing that comes out of G’Kar’s mouth when he learns of the attack on the Narn colony in quadrant 14 in The Coming of Shadows is not some variant of, “Those bastard Centauri are at it again!” but, rather, ”He betrayed me!” In fact, on the whole, the Narn-Centauri War plays out between Londo and G’Kar not only in political terms, but in deeply personal terms as well. Each is the other’s focal point.
In addition, there is the matter of Londo’s pursuit of G’Kar in No Surrender, No Retreat. I believe that while Londo’s desire to assist Sheridan is genuine- one more step in his attempt to turn over a new leaf- that bit of political maneuvering is only a peripheral motivation for arranging the meeting. The bulk of Londo’s six minute virtual monologue focuses not on Sheridan, but on Londo’s repeated attempts to gain some sort of footing with G’Kar and justify himself in the Narn’s eyes. Why does he bother with this? Why, when G’Kar likely would’ve seen the virtue of the political proposal without the posturing?
And less central to the overall plot, but still indispensable in any discussion of Londo/G’Kar, are the wicked scenes featuring the two of them in Rising Star, one of which features Londo explicitly offering to give G’Kar sexual pointers and then, after G’Kar huffs off (and is that an air of challenge?), musing that he and G’Kar are developing a “strange relationship.” “At times, I find I rather enjoy it.” To my mind, this scene makes Londo/G’Kar practically canon. *g*
Oh, but I assure you, there is more. The fifth season is shot through with intimate jabbing. Londo and G’Kar know each other inside and out at this point- every nook and cranny. But it seems as if they’ve decided to find each other’s warts and flaws a source of amusement and friendly, high-stakes challenge rather than a source of contempt. What’s more, they become so touchingly attached to each other- and not simply because Delenn assigns G’Kar to Londo as his bodyguard. “Where he goes, I go,” Londo declares in And All My Dreams, Torn Asunder, and he means it. You really get the sense as we approach the close of the final season that Londo and G’Kar would follow each other into hell.
The Master List of Reasons Why
Ew! Londo is pouchy and pale and he has six tentacles! And Great Maker knows what G’kar has! How can you find sex involving them hot?
Awhile ago, I asserted that hotness wasn’t the point- it was about the richness of these two fully drawn characters. Since then, some wonderful writers have proved me wrong. So let me state for the record that tentacle pr0n can be hot. I can’t exactly explain why this is true, but it is. There’s just something about the dynamic in this pairing- the aggressive, super-competitive, wall-slamming-in-desperate-horniness, clawing-each-other-for-dominance dynamic- that just rings my bell.
Plus, there are some writers among us with fertile imaginations who simply like to imagine completely alien ways of having sex. *g*
Polyamory: Not an OTP in the Traditional Sense
Centauri culture allows multiple mates. And most fans of Londo/G’Kar have embodied that ethos in their writing. Die hard as they are, they frequently dabble in other Londo-ships without a second thought and are respectful of canon ‘ships such as Londo/Adira and Londo/Timov. I like this variety and this attention to canon in my fandom.
The Comic Dimension
andrastewhite has, in the past, sagely reminded us “never to forget that Londo/G’Kar is funny.” This is true- these boys are snark-tacular. Londo has apparently made it his goal in life to remind G’Kar that his feet are 100% pure clay no matter how many people worship him- an endeavor at which he succeeds on an amusingly regular basis. Meanwhile, G’Kar has Londo largely figured out, an advantage he uses as often as he can with generally rewarding results. He gets under Londo’s skin in so many delicious ways.
The Epic Dimension
As I mentioned before, the Londo/G’Kar ‘ship is set in the context of a long-term tragic arc that is truly classic in scope. They are, at the very start, linked by a death prophecy. Each one’s fate, each one’s redemption, each lurch into darkness or light is dependent upon the other. I think if Delenn were here, she would nod in agreement when I say that, in their own way, Londo and G'Kar are soul mates, destined to struggle, to fight, to bleed, to seek redemption, and ultimately to die together.
The themes- the history- that are woven through the Londo/G’Kar arc provide a deep well for inspiration. They are each, in a sense, avatars for their people trying to work through more than a hundred years of hatred and blood on a microcosmic scale- trying and failing and trying again to touch the armistice. They are, together, the drama of sin, atonement and forgiveness embodied.
Resources and Recommendations
Enemies & Allies: the Narn/Centauri Archive
A lot of available Londo/G'Kar is here, on my archive. (The rest will probably find their way up there in time. *g*) The site also features wonderful pre-slash and gen.
There is also an ongoing Londo/G'Kar storyline in progress at theatrical_muse. The relevant journals are:
londo_mollari, penned by selenak
citizengkar, penned by sabine101 (though recently, due to access issues, selenak and kakodaimon have picked up some of the slack)
emperor_cotto_i and timov_of_algul, penned by yours truly.
And if you're interested, I also highly recommend getting in touch with myself and the following guilty parties:
selenak
andrastewhite
kakodaimon
sabine101
Author: hobsonphile
Fandom: BABYLON 5
Pairing: Londo/G’Kar, with mentions of Londo/Timov, Londo/Adira, and Londo/Urza Jaddo as well. The Centauri are polyamorous, afterall. *g*
Spoilers: The whole nine yards, folks. If you haven’t seen the entire five year run of B5, avert your eyes.
Acknowledgements: Many blessings to selenak, andrastewhite, kakodaimon, and sabine101, who have all influenced the content of this essay in one way or another through their fanfiction and commentary. It has been a true pleasure.
First, to warm up the crowd, a bit of amusement: I went through several working titles on this essay before settling on the old stand-by that, incidentally, is also the title of my Centauri/Narn focused fanfiction archive. Such titles included the amazed-at-the-new-phenomenon I Was Just Kidding, I Swear!; the somewhat put-upon Middle-Aged Aliens Can Have Sex Too!; the giggly Polyamory, Tentacle Pr0n, and Hot Centauri-On-Narn Action; and the grave Bound By Fate.
But upon second glance, all of these (plus the title I finally settled on) capture at least one driving force behind Londo/G’Kar fandom. As ‘ships go, Londo/G’Kar is profoundly non-traditional, not simply because of the middle-aged alien anatomy involved, but also because most fan interpretations of the pairing are far from exclusive. Londo/G’Kar is also a comic ‘ship, brimming with sarcasm and wit. And lastly, Londo/G’Kar is blessed to be framed by a rich, epic tragedy that spans twenty years and is informed by a bloody colonial history that spans more than a century.
Dramatis Personae
Principals
The Narn’s been complaining lately that we’ve all been leading with Londo in our commentary, which gives the false impression that the Centauri is the dominant partner. So, in the interest of placating said Narn, I will start with…
G’Kar, Ambassador of the Narn Regime, later addressed as Citizen:
A commentator at a recent con I attended at one point aptly summarized G’Kar’s arc thusly: “He starts off a terrorist and becomes Jesus Christ.” A veteran of the ultimately successful resistance against the Centauri’s colonial rule over his people, G’Kar comes to Babylon 5 with nothing short of genocide on his mind. In the opening episode of the first season, Midnight on the Firing Line, he openly confesses to Commander Sinclair that he dreams of the day “when we have cleansed the universe of the Centauri and carved their bones into little flutes for Narn children.” And when Mr. Morden asks him what he wants many episodes later, this violent vision remains:
"What do I want? The Centauri stripped my world. I want justice."
"What do you want?"
"To suck the marrow from their bones. To grind their skulls to powder!"
"What do you want?"
"To tear down their cities, blacken their sky, sow their ground with salt! To completely, utterly erase them!"
"And then what?"
"I don't know. As long as my homeworld's safety is guaranteed, I don't know that it matters."
-G'Kar and Morden, Signs and Portents
In the beginning, G’Kar is arrogant, aggressive, untrustworthy, and a libidinous xenophile. But interestingly, even in the early days, we see glimpses- seeds- of who he will be in the end. He rescues Catherine Sakai from one of the First Ones. He is a celebrant for the followers of G’Quan. He refuses to give in to torture.
It is the sudden reversal in the Narn Regime’s rise to power, precipitated by Londo’s alliance with Morden and the Shadows- and the devastating war and occupation that follows- that redeems G’Kar. And it is an enlightenment that is hard won- won through Londo’s fall and at one point literally seized over Londo’s broken body. Through war and blood and some Vorlon intervention, G’Kar begins to see the shape of the universal struggle and begins to understand his place in it. In time, he is truly ready to make the sacrifices necessary to save his people, including putting aside his hatred and forging necessary alliances with his enemy. And, most amazing of all, he finds the capacity to forgive.
The iconic moments in G’Kar’s arc are emotionally and visually stunning, some frankly Biblical in tone. His eye is gouged from his skull. He is lashed 39 times. He is paraded through the streets of Narn chained to a harness that only enhances the Christ-figure imagery. He writes a book which is published precipitously and through this becomes a figure of worship among the Narn.
The tragedy of G’Kar lies in the last. For while he makes his sacrifices- while he grows to be the Narn’s new prophet and the Thomas Jefferson of the Interstellar Alliance- he effectively drifts away from his own people and, in the end, can no longer live among them.
His fate, as we come to understand, is tied to another world- another being- entirely.
Londo Mollari, Ambassador, Prime Minister, and eventually Emperor of the Centauri Republic:
Londo is the greatest tragic character ever conceived for television. Period.
As I’ve noted in previous essays, Londo has a great deal in common with G’Kar in the beginning. Londo too is fiercely patriotic, untrustworthy and libidinous. He is a poker cheat and arguably an alcoholic. But he is also incredibly affectionate and deeply romantic, at times seeming to possess infinite wells of energy and bonhomie, and at other times seeming to possess equally infinite wells of sadness and longing. This is the genius of JMS: He made Londo so God-damned likable.
Alas, likeability does not save Londo from his own flaws. Romantic in every way, Londo is wedded to an idealized, glorious past for his people that probably never was and is bitterly frustrated with the aimless, powerless present. It is the discord between ideal history and reality that drives Londo to Morden and seals his fate.
Londo is the lynchpin in the Shadow War- the voice that launches a thousand ships and decimates a world. As Captain Sheridan says to Londo in a moment of desperation, “Everything is falling apart and the Centauri are at the center of it all.” And yet. And yet- and this is another stroke of genius on the part of JMS- we also see that Londo understands- he knows- the gravity of what he has done.
It’s this knowing- this guilt- that makes Londo so eminently rewarding and so frustrating as a character. Because while Londo knows, he still, at every critical juncture, makes the wrong decision, digging himself further in the pit and leaving us all wondering in sorrow if he can ever be redeemed.
In the fourth season, JMS takes up the question of Londo’s redemption. And as G’Kar found his redemption through Londo, Londo finds his redemption through G’Kar, saving his own world from conflagration through G’Kar’s sacrifice and discovering in the process that he has ceased to hate his adversary. Keeping his promise to G’Kar and freeing Narn is the first step in Londo’s slow climb back to the light.
JMS has said in the past that one of the major themes of Babylon 5 was personal responsibility- owning up to one’s choices and actions. The culmination of Londo’s arc exemplifies this theme and is the principle reason your author feels sympathy for Londo as a character. Faced again with the potential annihilation of his world, knowing that his choices brought the Shadows’ legacy to Centauri Prime, Londo, who has never abided solitude, submits himself to over fifteen years of isolation and torment in the service of the Drakh. It is one of the severest punishments a man can ever take upon himself, and Londo does so with astonishing bravery and dignity.
Londo dies broken and battered, but redeemed. A more powerful depiction of atonement I have never seen.
Supporting Characters
Thrown into the mix are also a number of friends, spouses and previous lovers.
Vir Cotto, Diplomatic Attaché to Londo Mollari, Ambassador, and eventually Emperor of the Centauri Republic:
Come on. This is me we’re talking about here. Did you really think Vir wouldn’t be mentioned at some point? *g*
Wise beyond his years and deeply compassionate, Vir is Londo’s best friend, his conscience, his son in spirit if not in fact, and, as The Very Long Night of Londo Mollari reveals, also Londo’s reason to be better. Londo/G’Kar fandom is incomplete without acknowledgement of the power of this friendship, about which I have gone on at length elsewhere.
Na’Toth, Diplomatic Attaché to G’Kar:
Unfortunately, very little time in canon is devoted to developing Na’Toth’s relationship with her ambassador. But we do catch glimpses of genuine caring- for example, when Londo and G’Kar work together to orchestrate Na’Toth’s escape from the prison below the royal palace on Centauri Prime in the fifth season. These teases have been expanded upon in some marvelous gen fic.
In our minds, Na’Toth is always played by Caitlin Brown. *g*
Adira Tyree:
An exotic dancer and a slave, Adira is ordered by her master to begin a romantic relationship with Londo to gain access to devastating state secrets contained in Londo’s Purple Files. Naturally, this scheme is derailed- Adira actually falls in love with Londo and Londo falls in love with her in return. And who wouldn’t fall in love with Londo in her place? Londo showers Adira with affection, gifts and, in the end, freedom, and apparently is great in bed. *g*
Londo looks to Adira to fill his empty places- to help him recapture lost hope and youth. But Adira becomes another casualty on Londo’s tragic path to the throne. In Interludes and Examinations, she at last decides to return to Londo after adjusting to her new freedom and is murdered on the transport by Morden in a calculated effort to bring Londo back into his fold. Heartbreakingly, it works.
Just as you cannot ignore Londo&Vir, you cannot- I repeat, cannot- ignore Londo/Adira while writing Londo/G’Kar. Not if you want me to read your story, anyway. I’m sort of a canon Nazi like that. *g* Fortunately for you, the Centauri are polyamorous. *g*
But seriously: Londo falls back into Morden’s clutches and has Lord Refa brutally murdered to avenge Adira’s death. He breaks down and tears apart his quarters in grief and rage when he learns the truth about Morden’s guilt and subsequently has Morden brutally murdered as well. He almost cries with joy when Adira appears to him in The Day of the Dead and he whispers her name as he’s being examined by the Drakh. He loved the bejesus out of this woman. Don’t delete her or I swear to the Great Maker I will come after you with a pitchfork.
So, yeah. I have some opinions on this matter. *g*
Urza Jaddo:
Urza is Londo’s upstanding boyhood friend, his dueling partner, and, in some interpretations, his sometimes lover. *g* Urza is a political dissenter who falls prey to Refa’s smear campaigns and organizes a duel to the death with Londo in which he purposely leaves himself open for a fatal thrust, forcing Londo to kill him and thus save his family from dishonor. Under the rules of the duel, Urza’s family is taken into House Mollari.
Timov, daughter of Algul and first wife of Londo Mollari:
Timov is the wife Londo kept. *g* She appears in only one episode, but her personality is so distinctive and so bloody funny that all of us saw instantly why she was a perfect match for Londo. *g* Londo likes a challenge, you see- he likes unvarnished honesty. And Timov, all practical, blunt cleverness and snark, provides both in spades. Timov knows Londo’s faults and what’s more, she tells him exactly what they are. In this, she shares at least one thing in common with G’Kar. Many Londo/G’Kar fans consider Londo/Timov the equivalent, equally viable het alternative.
I should probably mention Lord Refa and Emperor Cartagia as well, but this is starting to run long. So, onward!
Londo/G’Kar: The Sub-Textual Evidence
Chemistry, chemistry, chemistry- the chemistry between Londo and G’Kar, even when they are bitter enemies, is so great you can practically see it dripping down the walls. When they are in a scene together, it smolders. They are constantly invading each other’s personal spaces. And they can’t leave each other alone- not indefinitely, at least, although they make some valiant efforts along the way.
Beyond this, there are specific details and moments that raise the eyebrows of all Londo/G’Kar fans. For example, it is very curious that the first thing that comes out of G’Kar’s mouth when he learns of the attack on the Narn colony in quadrant 14 in The Coming of Shadows is not some variant of, “Those bastard Centauri are at it again!” but, rather, ”He betrayed me!” In fact, on the whole, the Narn-Centauri War plays out between Londo and G’Kar not only in political terms, but in deeply personal terms as well. Each is the other’s focal point.
In addition, there is the matter of Londo’s pursuit of G’Kar in No Surrender, No Retreat. I believe that while Londo’s desire to assist Sheridan is genuine- one more step in his attempt to turn over a new leaf- that bit of political maneuvering is only a peripheral motivation for arranging the meeting. The bulk of Londo’s six minute virtual monologue focuses not on Sheridan, but on Londo’s repeated attempts to gain some sort of footing with G’Kar and justify himself in the Narn’s eyes. Why does he bother with this? Why, when G’Kar likely would’ve seen the virtue of the political proposal without the posturing?
And less central to the overall plot, but still indispensable in any discussion of Londo/G’Kar, are the wicked scenes featuring the two of them in Rising Star, one of which features Londo explicitly offering to give G’Kar sexual pointers and then, after G’Kar huffs off (and is that an air of challenge?), musing that he and G’Kar are developing a “strange relationship.” “At times, I find I rather enjoy it.” To my mind, this scene makes Londo/G’Kar practically canon. *g*
Oh, but I assure you, there is more. The fifth season is shot through with intimate jabbing. Londo and G’Kar know each other inside and out at this point- every nook and cranny. But it seems as if they’ve decided to find each other’s warts and flaws a source of amusement and friendly, high-stakes challenge rather than a source of contempt. What’s more, they become so touchingly attached to each other- and not simply because Delenn assigns G’Kar to Londo as his bodyguard. “Where he goes, I go,” Londo declares in And All My Dreams, Torn Asunder, and he means it. You really get the sense as we approach the close of the final season that Londo and G’Kar would follow each other into hell.
The Master List of Reasons Why
Ew! Londo is pouchy and pale and he has six tentacles! And Great Maker knows what G’kar has! How can you find sex involving them hot?
Awhile ago, I asserted that hotness wasn’t the point- it was about the richness of these two fully drawn characters. Since then, some wonderful writers have proved me wrong. So let me state for the record that tentacle pr0n can be hot. I can’t exactly explain why this is true, but it is. There’s just something about the dynamic in this pairing- the aggressive, super-competitive, wall-slamming-in-desperate-horniness, clawing-each-other-for-dominance dynamic- that just rings my bell.
Plus, there are some writers among us with fertile imaginations who simply like to imagine completely alien ways of having sex. *g*
Polyamory: Not an OTP in the Traditional Sense
Centauri culture allows multiple mates. And most fans of Londo/G’Kar have embodied that ethos in their writing. Die hard as they are, they frequently dabble in other Londo-ships without a second thought and are respectful of canon ‘ships such as Londo/Adira and Londo/Timov. I like this variety and this attention to canon in my fandom.
The Comic Dimension
andrastewhite has, in the past, sagely reminded us “never to forget that Londo/G’Kar is funny.” This is true- these boys are snark-tacular. Londo has apparently made it his goal in life to remind G’Kar that his feet are 100% pure clay no matter how many people worship him- an endeavor at which he succeeds on an amusingly regular basis. Meanwhile, G’Kar has Londo largely figured out, an advantage he uses as often as he can with generally rewarding results. He gets under Londo’s skin in so many delicious ways.
The Epic Dimension
As I mentioned before, the Londo/G’Kar ‘ship is set in the context of a long-term tragic arc that is truly classic in scope. They are, at the very start, linked by a death prophecy. Each one’s fate, each one’s redemption, each lurch into darkness or light is dependent upon the other. I think if Delenn were here, she would nod in agreement when I say that, in their own way, Londo and G'Kar are soul mates, destined to struggle, to fight, to bleed, to seek redemption, and ultimately to die together.
The themes- the history- that are woven through the Londo/G’Kar arc provide a deep well for inspiration. They are each, in a sense, avatars for their people trying to work through more than a hundred years of hatred and blood on a microcosmic scale- trying and failing and trying again to touch the armistice. They are, together, the drama of sin, atonement and forgiveness embodied.
Resources and Recommendations
Enemies & Allies: the Narn/Centauri Archive
A lot of available Londo/G'Kar is here, on my archive. (The rest will probably find their way up there in time. *g*) The site also features wonderful pre-slash and gen.
There is also an ongoing Londo/G'Kar storyline in progress at theatrical_muse. The relevant journals are:
londo_mollari, penned by selenak
citizengkar, penned by sabine101 (though recently, due to access issues, selenak and kakodaimon have picked up some of the slack)
emperor_cotto_i and timov_of_algul, penned by yours truly.
And if you're interested, I also highly recommend getting in touch with myself and the following guilty parties:
selenak
andrastewhite
kakodaimon
sabine101