Editing Mariel

|image=[[File:Mariel01.jpg|300px]]

|relatives=[[Londo Mollari]] <small>(husband - divorced [[2259]])</small><br>[[Durla]] (husband - from [[2271]])

|affiliation=[[Centauri Republic]]<br>[[House Mollari]]<br>[[Division of Public Works]]

|}}

{{quote box|Still the iron claw in the velvet glove, Mariel?|Timov, [[2259]]}}

'''Mariel''' was one of [[Londo Mollari]]'s three wives.

Before her marriage to Mollari, a very young Mariel had been courted by two promising noblemen in the military, [[Solla]] and [[Riva]]. Solla was the more promising and at her father's instruction Mariel willingly accepted his advances, much to Riva's consternation. Not willing to let the matter drop Riva attempted to fight Solla for Mariel's hand though was soundly beaten. After which Riva publicly swore vengeance against his rival suitor and when Solla and his younger brother [[Durla]] both fell ill from poisoning, suspicion instantly fell on Riva. Though Durla survived, Solla eventually succumbed and when the other members of their squad moved to arrest him, Riva very stupidly made the terminal error of resisting arrest.

Shortly thereafter, Mariel had become linked with [[House Mollari]] and her father arranged for her to wed the much older nobleman, Londo Mollari. Unnoticed by either newly wed, Durla had attended the bonding ceremony.<ref name="LongNight">''[[The Long Night of Centauri Prime]]''</ref>

Mollari referred to Mariel and his other wives (at least to [[Vir Cotto]]) as "Famine," "Pestilence," and "Death," stating their personalities could shatter entire planets.<ref>"[[The War Prayer]]"</ref>

Mariel was the youngest of Mollari's three wives by many years. Soft spoken and beautiful, she lavished affection on Mollari, but did not truly love him. She maintained numerous affairs, for as Mollari once explained to Captain [[John Sheridan]], she was attracted to men of power like a moth to flame—only ''she'' burned ''them''.

In [[2259]], Emperor [[Turhan]] offered to grant Mollari any one wish that he desired. He requested a divorce from the arranged marriages to his three wives: Mariel, [[Timov]], and [[Daggair]]. One condition was presented which was to keep at least one of the wives. He invited all three of them to come to [[Babylon 5]] so he could deliver the news personally, just before having an anniversary party for his [[Day of Ascension]]. Mariel had somehow learned in advance what was going on and, not willing to chance him choosing someone else, arranged with an old associate of hers, [[Matthew Stoner]], to have a Centauri artifact brought to Babylon 5, a statuette that had been booby-trapped by the [[Narn]]s to fire a poison dart when triggered by the touch of a Centauri. Stoner gave the artifact to a trader in the [[Zocalo]], telling him that an elegant Centauri woman would come by and indicate that she wanted to purchase it by pointing at it. <ref name="Armies" /> Mariel duly came to the trader later and pointed at the artifact, making the purchase (and because she wore gloves, as was the custom with Centauri ladies of her station, she was able to handle the deadly statuette without triggering it).

Whereas Timov made no pretenses regarding her feelings toward Mollari, Mariel along with Daggair put on a display of affection for him after arriving on the station, each endeavoring to be the one kept. Mariel gave the artifact to her husband at his Ascension Day party. The trap poisoned him, bringing him close to death. Mariel pouted and protested her innocence, though the other wives paid no attention to her.

However, Mollari did recover. While he was recuperating in Medlab, Mariel had a tryst with one of her lovers, none other than Mollari's hated rival, [[G'Kar]] of the [[Narn Regime]]. G'Kar explained that he knew full well she not only knew the device was trapped but identified herself as the giver to throw suspicion elsewhere. Although he agreed to keep his conclusions to himself, he warned her Mollari was likely to figure it out as well, though Mariel seemed unconcerned.

Ultimately, Mollari chose to keep Timov because he always knew where he stood with her. He did offer Mariel a modest alimony as a settlement, but she would no longer be able to live the privileged life of a noble she was accustomed to.<ref>"[[Soul Mates]]"</ref>

===Later life===

As a discard, Mariel found herself something of a pariah in Centauri social circles, a situation that only worsened after her ex-husband became the emperor. Living alone in her family estate and running out of funds, she was composing a suicide note when she was visited by [[Throk Milifa]] and brought to Chancellor [[Castig Lione]]. Based on the recommendation of Durla, who was now Minister of Internal Security, Lione offered Mariel a job in the Centauri Republic's new espionage division, which was codenamed the [[Division of Public Works]]. Mariel accepted, and recommended certain other individuals of her acquaintance whom she felt would prove useful to the new division.

As an agent of the Division of Public Works, Mariel traveled to Babylon 5 and set up base there, seducing Centauri Ambassador Vir Cotto and using him to get herself in contact with various ambassadors and officials of the [[Interstellar Alliance]]. Mariel had little trouble in charming the male diplomats and officials, using her charisma to her advantage even with species who would not find a Centauri physically attractive. She spent the next several months going between Babylon 5 and assorted planets. Her duplicity was eventually revealed to Cotto by a young [[techno-mage]] named [[Kane]].<ref name="LongNight" />

Seeking revenge on Mariel for making a fool of him, Cotto had the techno-mage [[Galen]] cast a love spell on her, making her utterly devoted to him. Cotto then used her to get himself into the good graces of Durla and his cronies, the dominant faction of the Centauri royal court, and purposefully lost her to Durla in a game of poker. Mariel became his spy in Durla's midst. In [[2271]] Mariel and Durla were married around the same time that the latter was elected Prime Minister.<ref name="Armies" />

*According to [[Peter David]], who wrote "[[Soul Mates]]," Mariel corresponds to "Death," following the "[[wikipedia:Four_Horsemen_of_the_Apocalypse|four horsemen of the Apocalypse]]" analogy used by Mollari to describe his wives in "[[The War Prayer]]." With Mariel ("Death"), Daggair ("Pestilence"), and Timov ("Famine"), Mollari himself completes the set as "War."

*During the scene in Mollari's Day of Ascension party where G'Kar is being accosted by Daggair for the grave insult of wearing shoes, G'Kar is seen throwing a small grape at Mariel, secretly. The passing of fruit is a part of Narn courtship rituals and symbolizes sexuality.<ref name="Armies">''[[Armies of Light and Dark]]''</ref>

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[[Category:People]]

[[Category:Females]]

[[Category:Centauri]]

[[Category:House Mollari]]

[[Category:Centauri Republic officials]]