Let’s take a trip to the internets of the past…
Here is from USENET:
Question posted: Londo failed to see Kosh when he revealed himself. Does this extend to all Centauri, or is it peculiar to Londo? If it is the former then it suggests that either the Vorlons have not openly visited the Centauri (why?) or that their worship of their deceased Emperors as gods has diminished the effect of exposure to Vorlons. If it is the latter then it must be because of Londo’s association with the Shadows. If this is the case then what would be the response of other Centauri on seeing a Vorlon?
JMS responds:
Nnnnnnoo, not really; the Centauri don’t actually have an equivalent to G’Quan or Valen.
Believe it or not, this one answer may add another layer to a scene in one of the last episodes of this season. You can infer it backwards once you see it, but now you’ll have it going in.
They [Centauri] believe in a variety of afterlives; the god you worship, of the centauri pantheon, holds dominion over a given “heaven” or afterworld. If you appease the god sufficiently during life, it will accept you into that afterworld, in preparation for the day when all heavens are united; if not, you will have to be reborn and choose another until one accepts you.
Londo saw what he said he saw.
Basically, all that was indicated in the script was that he for a beat isn’t sure what’s up…then lets it go. I generally don’t drop specific points explaining foreshadowing in the scripts, in case they leak out. If a line like that isn’t sufficiently clear for the actor’s intent, they then come to me and I explain it verbally. This was done in particular when we had to shoot “Chrysalis” before “Signs and Portents,” even though the latter aired before the former.
“It doesn’t matter. This place has been blessed.” Nobody was trying to claim it was only THEIR deity.
Thanks. I think that, with so many races around, you couldn’t go into holy wars or jihads at every occasion. In a way, what was seen was a validation for many…a moment they all came together, instead of coming apart.