Den första verbala hänvisningen till skuggorna förekommer i säsong 1-avsnittet "Tecken och portenter" , när Londo och Lord Kiro (en Centauri nobleman) debatt Lady Lahiras vision om Babylon 5: s förstörelse:
LONDO: Then you don't believe her vision?
LORD KIRO: She's been wrong before. On my first birthday, she said that I would someday be killed by "shadows".
LONDO: Shadows?
LORD KIRO: Doesn't exactly make sense, does it?
I slutet av avsnittet
Lord Kiro is killed by the Shadows. This is, in fact, the appearance of the Shadow ship that you refer to. It materializes briefly and destroys the raider ship that Lord Kiro is on.