Ever since I started rewatching B5, I've waited for and dreaded this episode. Marcus dies, for Ivanova. When I saw this the first time, there was a lot crying involved, and I was not able to watch another episode for a few days as I was so shook up.
It wasn't an easy scene this time, either. Compared to other stuff that was going on at the same time - majestic space fights, Agamemnon bursting through fire, Whitestars dashing here and there, that senator lady marching down the corridor, huge Minbari ships ominously hovering, people dying in blaze and glory - Marcus's death was so very intimate, so 'small', so quiet, such a short scene. Sheridan was ready to sacrifice his all to save Earth; Marcus was ready to give all he had to save one person. In the end, it's an equal sacrifice.
I'm from Finland - we don't do any dubbing except for kids' movies. I wish I'd remember exact numbers but there are studies saying that an average Finn reads the equivalent of dozens of books a year just due to the subtitles. That can't be bad
Usually subtitles are pretty good, and episode names are sometimes also quite cleverly translated. Not with B5, however. Titles are translated rather literally word for word (pretty boring). For example,
Endgame is just that,
loppupeli ('loppu'=end, 'peli'=game). A chess term, I guess, in both languages.
Other than occasional stupid and wrongful subtitle translations (due to underpaid, outsourced, translators who struggle with impossible deadlines), I feel like with subtitles we get the best of both worlds. We constantly hear other languages, we hear the original actors' work, and we get to read everything in our own language. Most Finns could get by in English, without the subtitles, but there are other, less-studied languages. I enjoy hearing French, Russian, Greek, German, Swedish, Spanish
