Babylon 5 (TV Series)

The Coming of Shadows (1995)

Turhan Bey: Centauri Emperor

Photos 

Quotes 

• Centauri Emperor Turhan : Why are you here, in this place, in that uniform? Was it your choice or were you pressed into service?

  Capt. John Sheridan : It was my choice. The planetary draft didn't start until the war, a few years later. I guess I wanted to serve something that was bigger than I was. Make a difference, somewhere, somehow.

  Centauri Emperor Turhan : It has occurred to me recently that I have never chosen anything. I was born into a role that was prepared for me. I did everything I was asked to do because it never occurred to me to choose otherwise. And now, at the end of my life, I wonder what might have been.

  Capt. John Sheridan : That's why my father taught me to live each second as though it were the last moment of my life. He said, "If you love, love without reservations. If you fight, fight without fear." He called it "the way of the warrior."

  Centauri Emperor Turhan : No regrets then?

  Capt. John Sheridan : A few. But just a few. You?

  Centauri Emperor Turhan : Oh, enough to fill a lifetime. So much has been lost, so much forgotten. So much pain, so much blood. And for what? I wonder. The past tempts us, the present confuses us, and the future frightens us. And our lives slip away, moment by moment, lost in that vast, terrible in-between. But there is still time to seize that one last, fragile moment. To choose something better, to make a difference, as you say. And I intend to do just that.

• Centauri Emperor Turhan : How will this end?

  Kosh Naranek : In fire.

• [first lines] 

  Centauri Emperor Turhan : Is everything ready?

  Centauri Prime Minister : Yes. The royal liner is standing by. We have adequate warships for protection, and they're prepared to set forth as soon as we arrive.