Na'Toth

Na'Toth was a Narn diplomatic attaché and daughter of Counsellor Shu'Toth.^[2]

Personality[]

Na'Toth was an intelligent and cunning individual with a flair for witty replies. She has a sarcastic (if not sardonic) sense of humor which she has displayed on many occasions. She has also displayed knowledge on many topics both relating to Narn (such as her almost encyclopedic knowledge of the operations of the Thenta Makur) and outside of it (such as her knowing that the Pak'ma'ra are carrion eaters and her knowing of the Earth phrase "bon appetit"). In contrast to the more spiritual G'Kar, Na'Toth is very much the pragmatist. When asked by G'Kar what her beliefs are, Na'Toth comments she believes only in herself. She recounts that her father was a follower of G'Lan while her mother didn't believe in much of anything.^[3]

History[]

Na'Toth's grandfather died after the Dilgar War in 2232 due to injuries inflicted by Jha'dur. She took a Chon'Kar to exact revenge against her along with her family.^[4]

In 2258, she was assigned as Ambassador G'Kar's second attaché on Babylon 5, after his first aide Ko D'Ath died in an airlock accident one week previous. Na'Toth was sponsored by Counsellor Li'Dak of the Fifth Circle.

G'Kar was initially skeptical of Na'Toth, due to a warning that a member of the Thenta Makur, an assassins' guild, was going to be killing G'Kar in the near future. Another Narn turned out to be the assassin, but Na'Toth was able to prevent the assassin from killing G'Kar. Unlike Ko'Dath (whom he obviously seemed to despise immediately), G'Kar quickly developed a liking for Na'Toth and she would stay a loyal aide to him.^[2]

On one occasion, she helped him to secure a shipment of G'Quan Eth from Narn Homeworld. When the plant was destroyed in a cargo bay accident, she stole a Centauri religious statue as revenge for Londo Mollari keeping his own G'Quan Eth from him.^[3]

On another occasion, Na'Toth was to escort and aide Counselor Ha'rok. Unbeknownst to her, he was to meet Jha'dur about her universal anti-agapic. Na'Toth saw her in the Passenger Lounge first, and immediately attacked her. After she explained herself to Jeffrey Sinclair, G'Kar came to get her and Sinclair ordered her on house arrest at G'Kar's insistence he would deal with it. G'Kar brought Na'Toth to his quarters and learned about the situation. Na'Toth didn't like it, but agreed to postpone her vengeance until Jha'dur's invention was in their hands. She wouldn't get the chance, however, as Jha'dur dismissed G'Kar's offer and later was killed by the Vorlons on the way to Earth.^[4]

In 2259, she stood loyally beside him as they both prevented the local Narns from starting a major incident on the Babylon 5 station, during the Narn-Centauri War.^[5]

She was present on Narn when it was bombarded by the Centauri Republic, and was presumed to have been killed. In 2262, Londo Mollari and G'Kar discovered that she was alive and being kept in a cell under the Centauri imperial palace in an isolated, dirty, and exhausted state. Mollari speculated that it may have happened because of shifts within the government, and the likelihood that Na'Toth had simply been forgotten in the process. Even though he was the prime minister, Mollari was prohibited from ordering her release, but he gave into G'Kar's demands and formulated a plan to help her escape. Mollari subsequently borrowed the dress of a noblewoman to disguise Na'Toth. Wearing the dress and a black veil to cover her entire head and face, Na'Toth remained silent while being escorted by G'Kar and by Mollari, who pretended to be drunk. The group made it out of the palace to a ship to meet a Narn cruiser that would take Na'Toth home. She then went back to Narn to heal in body and spirit.^[6]

By 2269, Na'Toth, now a famous personality - thanks largely to the widespread popularity of the Book of G'Kar - was living in a private P'Lazzo in the new Narn Capital, Moktoke, where aside from tending to her gardens, she practiced her hobby of sculpting Da’Quana.^[7]

Notes[]

• When G'Kar left Babylon 5 with Lyta Alexander in 2262, he named the ship he purchased for his old attaché.^[8]

Behind the Scenes[]

The character of Na'Toth was conceived by series creator and executive producer J. Michael Straczynski as a replacement for G'Kar's original attaché Ko D'Ath when Mary Woronov—the actress playing Ko D'Ath—was unable to continue wearing the prosthetics and contact lenses necessary for the role.

Susan Kellerman was initially cast to play Na'Toth though she never even made it in front of the cameras as she suffered a bout of claustrophobia during her make-up test and walked off the show. In a panic, the shooting schedule was hastily rearranged while Executive Producer Douglas Netter tried to secure a replacement. Casting director Mary Jo Slater eventually called in Caitlin Brown on very short notice to fill the role of Na'Toth as a favour. Brown, having originally auditioned for the role of Delenn for the pilot and Susan Ivanova for the series, would appear as Na'Toth in five episodes thought season one.^[9][10]

By the end of the season, though Caitlin Brown declined the option to reprise the role in Season 2 as, in addition to the discomfort of the prosthetics the other actresses experienced, she was concerned that the role and the necessity of hiding her face behind a mask would negatively impact her feature film career.^[11] She did however make a guest appearance in Season 2's "There All the Honor Lies" as Guinevere Corey.

Rather than killing off and replacing Na'Toth as was done with Ko D'Ath, the Producers opted to recast the role with Mary Kay Adams taking Caitlin Brown's place. According to J. Michael Straczynski, Mary Kay Adams was very strong in her auditions, however when it came to filming she made a choice to play Na'Toth very quiet so as not to push against Andreas Katsulas's performance, which unfortunately pushed the character into the background and after only two appearances in Season 2 the character was quietly dropped.^[12]

It wasn't until Season 3's ("And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place") that Na'Toth was even mentioned again, in which her absence was explained by her being on the Narn Homeworld during the Centauri invasion. Na'Toth did finally reappear in Season 5's ("A Tragedy of Telepaths"), played again by Caitlin Brown who originated the role.

Appearances[]

References[]