We salute a much-loved Babylon 5 character, played by the much-missed Stephen Furst…
This article comes fromDen of Geek UK.
Unfortunately, the universe didnt listen.
On June 16, Stephen Furst joined his fellow departedB5co-stars on the other side of the veil.
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J.M.
Vir Cotto was the personal assistant of Centauri ambassador Londo Mollari.
One ofBabylon 5s strengths was the development of the main characters over the course of the series.
Boxleitner added, Clearly, Stephen was born in the wrong time.
He should have been [born] around the Laurel & Hardy orHoneymoonersera.
Furst did indeed bring in some of the same bumbling naivety of his famousAnimal Housecharacter to Virs personality makeup.
But that selfsame episode of slapstick Vir comedy also gave us our first glimpse of Virs hidden backbone.
Elric makes the monster go away when he realizes it will not succeed in scaring Vir off.
You dont frighten easily, Elric tells Vir.
I work for Ambassador Mollari, Vir answers.
After a while, nothing bothers you.
As sci-fi fans, we like to project ourselves into the world of our heroes.
Characters are uninteresting if they dont go through changes.
In a series of quick glimpses, we are reminded of every characters remarkable journey.
None is as striking as Virs, and we have Fursts incredible acting depth to thank for that.
I find this surprising.
I should think youd be grateful.
Vir was absent for most of season three.
He came back a different man, even wearing some of the garb of the Minbari.
It is a terrible truth, but as one accumulates power, one loses friends.
One only has those who wish to use you, and those you wish to use.
I can only assume you have not been paying attention.
But Vir had been paying attention.
Mollari had no difficulty convincing Vir that Centauri Emperor Cartagia was insane and enlisting his help.
Vir threw in with Mollaris plan to get rid of the Emperor.
Vir struggled with the idea of killing Cartagia, at first.
Ive never been involved in a conspiracy to kill anyone before, not to mention the Emperor!
I thought we were past this, centuries ago!
I mean, theres got to be another way, Londo!
I mean, cant we reason with him or something, Vir asked Mollari in season foursThe Summoning.
Remember what I said before about there must be another way?
This is the turning point in Virs story arc.
Season four was the stage for Virs most profound transformation.
The bumbling, fearful assistant is gone, replaced by a seasoned, mature Vir.
But his decision came at a certain price, and he lost part of his innocence in the process.
Despite all of Mollaris careful plotting, Cartagias assassination was not fated to go down as planned.
No words are said, none are necessary.
#StephenFurst helped shape who I am.
Furst helped shape many of us.
In many ways, he was a fan, a geek, like us.
Watching Vir take part in the greatB5story arc was a lot like being there ourselves.
Thanks for taking us along for the ride, Stephen.
