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"Dearest Cecilia, the story can resume. The one I had been planning on that evening walk. I can become again the man who once crossed the surrey park at dusk, in my best suit, swaggering on the promise of life. The man who, with the clarity of passion, made love to you in the library. The story can resume. I will return. Find you, love you, marry you and live without shame." ― Ian McEwan, Atonement

"atonement" is one of my very favorite b5 episodes, because it explains so much about delenn and her choices.

lennier is wrong when he suggests that her choice to marry a human stems from guilt, because she undeniably loves that man, but the fact that she was in a position to fall in love with sheridan is directly related to what happened in the past.

she instantly and fully believed that sinclair has a minbari soul at least partly because it allows her to end the war. she places herself on babylon five, then personally takes up the mantle of prophecy over the objections of the grey council to become (almost) human herself. she sacrifices her body and her identity because she has spent her life since the war trying to make up for her mistake.

the reveal adds so much to specific earlier episodes as well as her general story. her fully traumatized response at the beginning of "soul hunter" makes so much sense now.

and the lady of the lake scene from "a late delivery from avalon"...

delenn believes she is responsible for the war because, in a moment of grief and rage, she ordered revenge that turned into a holy war.

"king arthur" believes that he started the war because, under orders, he fired the first shot.

and she takes excalibur from him—the king's burden, the symbol of both the tragic misunderstanding and his personal guilt—so he can be healed and given back his life, reborn into a new purpose.

it's perfect that the scene is silent, and that it's delenn's only scene in the episode. i only wish that it could have happened after "atonement" in the chronology of the series, so that this act of symbolic forgiveness could have been framed as part of her silent deliverance as well.

Keira Knightley in 'Atonement' (2007) dir. Joe Wright

ATONEMENT (2007) dir. Joe Wright

Atonement (2007) dir. Joe Wright

MOVIES + BATHS

JAMES MCAVOY as ROBBIE TURNER ATONEMENT (2007) dir. Joe Wright

Dearest Cecilia, the story can resume. The one I had been planning on that evening walk. I can become again the man who once crossed the surrey park at dusk, in my best suit, swaggering on the promise of life. The man who, with the clarity of passion, made love to you in the library. The story can resume. I will return. Find you, love you, marry you and live without shame.

JAMES MCAVOY as Robbie Turner in ATONEMENT (2007) dir. Joe Wright

Atonement (2007) dir. Joe Wright

ATONEMENT 2007, dir. Joe Wright

JAMES MCAVOY in ATONEMENT dir. Joe Wright 

Favorite Films (1/∞)

ATONEMENT (2007) dir. Joe Wright

“I like shots of hands. Anyone who saw Pride and Prejudice will recognise my slight fetish for hands.“ — Joe Wright (director’s commentary of Atonement)

I wanted to give Robbie and Cecilia what they lost out on in life. I’d like to think this isn’t weakness or evasion but a final act of kindness. I gave them their happiness.

ATONEMENT dir. Joe Wright

Dearest Cecilia, the story can resume. The one I had been planning on that evening walk. I can become again the man who once crossed the surrey park at dusk, in my best suit, swaggering on the promise of life. The man who, with the clarity of passion, made love to you in the library. The story can resume. I will return. Find you, love you, marry you and live without shame.

Atonement 2007, dir. Joe Wright