Yora reviews Babylon 5

[Lord Vukodlak]

S1E16: Eyes
The ending was just terrible. A big conspiracy to undermine Earth Force and damage the president's influence got solved by Sinclair punching someone in the face? This did not solve anything!

No a single man's personal vendetta was stopped nothing else was solved nor does the episode imply that it was. And it wasn't solved by a punch in a face but by Sinclair rules laweryring our hammy villain so much he lost his temper and spilled the beans.

S1E16: Eyes
The only relevant information we get this episode is more evidence that the Earth Alliance is politically highly unstable with plotting and corruption at the highest level. And Bester is also having a horse in the race, working on the side that tries to undermine the president. The problem is that Bester only appeared once so far and first time watchers might not even remember who that was. And even if they do, they don't really have any context to see how this is relevant. Which in turn means that this detail won't stick with them and they won't remember his involvement here when he becomes more important later.

We also learn that the Minbari choose Sinclair to run B5. We learn about Ivanova's past and her relationship with her mother which unlike the stuff with her father in TKO has relevance. What first time watcher is not going to remember Bester? And the episodes dialog gives context to who Bester is and why he'd be doing this.

[Yora]

We also learn that the Minbari choose Sinclair to run B5. We learn about Ivanova's past and her relationship with her mother which unlike the stuff with her father in TKO has relevance.

But we were already told both these stories before. Sure, repeating them is good to remind viewers of its relevance and in case some viewers missed the last times. But that's not enough to carry an entire episode.
And sure, people would instantly remember Walter Koenig with a smug expression. But remembering the name Bester? That could easily be missed when you only saw a single episode with Bester in it once.

Another thing I just remembered when the telepath talks with Ivanova to convince her the scan will be harmless and he knows that her experience with the PsiCore are deeply troubled, he mentions Talia before apologizing for accidentally listening to her thoughts.

Just a curious thing I just noticed, but when the Deep Space Nine thread got to page 8, we were already starting with season 3. Either there are more B5 fans, or there's more to talk about with it.

[Rakaydos]

Just a curious thing I just noticed, but when the Deep Space Nine thread got to page 8, we were already starting with season 3. Either there are more B5 fans, or there's more to talk about with it.

How much plot was there to the first few seasons of DS9, in comparison to B5 (or even DS9's later seasons, after it reacts to B5's storytelling style)?

Because I want to say "Both" but that could just be personal bias.

[factotum]

And the real amazing thing is, we haven't even got to the good stuff yet!

[Saph]

How much plot was there to the first few seasons of DS9, in comparison to B5?

I think it's that. DS9 was mostly about watching the characters – there was a plot, but it was very slow to get going and there was a lot of filler. B5 moves the plot forward pretty much every episode. Even the standalone episodes usually have some small bit of plot advancement, or introduce something that'll be important later.

[Rodin]

I think it's that. DS9 was mostly about watching the characters – there was a plot, but it was very slow to get going and there was a lot of filler. B5 moves the plot forward pretty much every episode. Even the standalone episodes usually have some small bit of plot advancement, or introduce something that'll be important later.

Watching DS9 all the way through for the first time made me notice a few things about it compared to Babylon 5.

1) It contains less plot, told over 3* more seasons.

2) The plot we do get is crammed into "main story" episodes. Something major will happen, and then the universe will go into stasis for a dozen episodes until it's time for the main story to move again.

3) The different parts of the plot don't interact with one another. What happens on Bajor stays on Bajor, and what happens in the Gamma quadrant stays in the Gamma quadrant. Babylon 5 has incremental changes happening all the time that change how the different factions react to one another.

4) Almost all of the plot of DS9 takes place in the last 2 seasons. The main conflict in the show is the war with the Dominion. They aren't properly introduced until the end of season 2 (the equivalent of Signs and Portents) and the Dominion don't invade until the end of season FIVE. That's one heck of a lot of downtime for your main villains.

*I don't really count Babylon 5's 5th season, since all the main story elements got crammed into season 4.

-----------

I quite like the episode Eyes. It's more build-up of the worrying changes in EarthGov, and the first indication we have that Bester is going to be a recurring villain. I also really like that we have a sympathetic telepath character. It would be far too easy to paint all of PsiCorps as evil...and the later seasons go a bit too far in doing so. PsiCorps as an organization likely would have a lot of people like Jeffrey Combs in it - good people who joined and found a new home there without running into the dark underbelly of the organization. After this, I think we only meet people who are evil or have left PsiCorps because they aren't evil. It makes them a bit too villainous for my taste, especially since it's an organization that isn't self-selecting its members.

[Yora]

PsiCorps reminds me of the Circle of Mages in Dragon Age. Their methods are questionable, but are addressing very real concerns. You have people with powers that give them a significant advantage and can stay completely undetected by regular people. Everyone can use normal abilities to attack and exploit people, but there are always other people with the same normal abilities who can stop. With a telepath or mage, the only people who can counter them are other telepaths or mages. That they are born with the powers is unfortunate, but there's a sound reasoning behind compulsory registration, like there is for highly dangerous devices and substances. The real issue in both cases is how the policing is done in practice.

They are also the only two cases I can think of where people with powerful special abilities being repressed makes sense. It makes no sense when the weak repress the strong, but the PsiCorps and the Circle both have an institution through which the strong repress each other. You have good people who see the real danger and approve of tracking all people with powers, as well as those people who use that institution to gain power over each other, and the two groups working together on the greater goal.

(While the PsiCorps has the Psi Cops, the Circle has the templars who are not mages, but who get their mage-fighting powers from complicit mages.)

[Lord Vukodlak]

While their are similarities between the Psicorps and the Circle of Magi their are some major differences. Rather then go on a big long rant, I’ll sum up.

The PsiCore is a cult where no member is allowed to leave.... the organization
The Circle of Magi is a Prison, where (with few exceptions) you aren't allowed to leave the building.

No Templar do not get their power from complicit mages. Dwarves are more involved with granting a Templar’s abilities then mages.(Dwarves provide the Lyrium.)

[Yora]

S1E17: Legacies

An important Minbari general died away from the homeworld and custom demand that his body is displayed to all Minbari along the way to the funeral. When the huge Minbari cruiser arrives at the station it readies all its guns and the captain refuses to explain, but fortunately Delenn arrives in the command center just in time to explain that it's tradition to draw weapons to honor great leaders. The weapons are not charged and the ship has no intention to fight.

Ivanova and Talia happen to be around the stores when a young homeless thief is having a telepathic migraine attack and take her to the medical station. Talia says this is not unusual for young telepaths and should not have caused any serious harm, but she needs to be send to Earth to get proper training by PsiCorps. Ivanova is of course completely against it, claiming that she's under arrest and not going anywhere. But as long as she's in the medical station, Franklin has the final say what happens with her.
When she wakes up, Talia tells her how to quiet the noise of all the people around and that she must learn to stop listening to people's sounds, in particular Ivanova, who is standing next to them.

The Minbari captain Neroon is particularly rude to everyone and Delenn doesn't seem to like him much either. He demands that during the night, nobody is to enter the area where the body is kept and his own soldiers will be guarding it. The next day Delenn and Neroon lead Sinclair and Garibaldi to see the body, but shockingly the coffin is empty. Delenn is upset, but keeps Neroon from starting a fight with Sinclair.

Ivanova goes to Sinclair to tell her about the telepath and that she wants to find some other option than giving her to PsiCorps, but she needs more time. Sinclair approves of it and teller her to see what she can do.

Sinclair talks with Delenn to get some advice on who might have wanted to take the body. Delenn thinks the humans really didn't like him, since he was one of the generals who attacked Earth, but if Home Guard had stolen him, Sinclair is certain they would already have announced it publicly. Delenn tells him that the general was originally a priest before he became a warrior, which makes him a complicated figure.

Garibaldi goes asking Na'Toth if the Narn know anything about the missing body. She tells him that the Narn have no interest in corpses, but recommends he goes asking the pakmara who might find it tasty. Unfortunately they find a strip of a Minbari burial robe near the pakmara quarters, though they deny any involvement. Garibaldi takes the suspect pakmara to Franklin to have his stomach analysed for Minbari remains, but the results don't show anything.

The telepath girl Elisa gets along well with Talia, but Ivanova insists on talking with her to tell her about the evil things about the PsiCorps and that she's trying to find an alternative for her. As Ivanova goes to talk with Franklin and Na'Toth uses the opportunity to try hiring a human telepath for genetic research to create Narn telepaths. Elisa looks into her mind and finds it very disturbing, but the offer sounds really good. As much as Ivanova hates PsiCorps, she strongly urges to not with the Narn.
As another alternative, Ivanova takes her to talk with Delenn. Delenn describes the telepaths in Minbari society as basically monks who use their abilities to help people for free, which doesn't sound too attractive to Elisa. When the topic of alien minds being disturbing comes up, she peeks into Delenn's thoughts and sees that Minbari priests had stolen the corpse. Elise wants to leave and then tells Ivanova that she saw something about a hidden corpse.

Sinclair comes to his quarters where Neroon has been tearing everything apart and attacks him, but Sinclair manages to fight him off until Garibaldi arrives with Elisa. Sinclair and Garibaldi go to Delenn and catch her trying to smuggle an urn off the station. Delenn admits that they wanted to give him a funeral respectful for a priest. If this come out publicly, it would seriously hurt the relations between the warriors and the priests, so Delenn asks them to let her handle the situation with Neroon.

She goes to Neroon and tells him they will both declare that the dead general has physically ascended to the afterlife. If he doesn't play along, the Gray Council will order the destruction of their clan. And he will obey, just as he obeyed when he was ordered to surrender to the humans in the war. That probably was an unnecessary and unwise stab at him.
Neroon also has to go to Sinclair and apologize. Sinclair tries to defuse the situation somewhat by promising to send a condolence message to the Minbari home world to honor and praise the general he fought against himself. That does quite please Neroon and makes him reconsider his opinion about human soldiers.

Delenn offers Elisa an opportunity to work as an interpreter between Minbari and humans. Ivanova and Talia take her to her ship to see her off. Talia apologizes to Ivanova for being so insistent about sending Elisa to PsiCorps earlier and invites her to have a drink.

Sinclair can't help himself and catches Elisa between the departure area and the ship to ask if she saw anything else interesting in Delenn's thought. She tells him the word chrysalis was strongly on her mind, but she couldn't get any context for it.

--

This one was pretty good, I would say. The plot itself isn't spectacular by any means, but the structure felt a lot better than in the recent weak episodes.

We learn that the Minbari priests and warriors don't get along very well. I think there were some hints about this before, but here it is made very explicit. Delenn also mentions that it would not take much to get a lot worse quite quickly.

The telepath B-plot wasn't that great because the conflict between Talia and Ivanova doesn't really feel urgent. Also the acting for Elisa isn't very good, but she looks like she's actually 14 or 15, so you can't expect too much from her. While the plot is pretty irrelevant, it does serve a surprisingly broad range of functions. First it obviously repeats and reinforces the sketchiness of PsiCorps while also showing that someone as nice and decent as Talia genuinely sees it as a good institution. Elisa also is the plot device to solve the A-plot mystery. Then we repeat and reinforce the information about the Narn being annoyed that they have no telepaths, and also get some ideas about Minbari telepaths, but I believe that has no continuity relevance. But Elisa going to the Minbari nicely mirrors Neroon warming up to Sinclair. While Delenn obviously told him exactly what to say to Neroon to appear honorable in his eyes and Sinclair had a cruiser full of very angry Minbari next to his station, there is a sense of a wider approach between the two species beyond just Delenn and her pals.
And that thing with Minbari showing their weapons as a honorable greeting.

I was a bit disappointment with Neroon this episode. He's a bit bland here, but becomes so much better when he appears again later.

[Rodin]

This is another season 1 filler favorite. As I mentioned with Jeffrey Combs from the last episode, I like the look at PsiCorps as a real and necessary organization that would be attractive for some people. If they were always this evil Gestapo they never would have survived to become as powerful as they are.

Neroon is a jerk here, and I actually didn't realize it was him in this episode until my third viewing. I guess you need to be a one-dimensional jerk before growing a third dimension?

The one other complaint I have about the episode (acting aside, because none of the season 1 acting is that great, including some of the regulars) is the whole business with the Minbari cruiser at the beginning. People: You fought a WAR over this mistake. This is something that would have been addressed at some point! What's worse is that Delenn clearly KNOWS that this might cause a misunderstanding. This is a scheduled visit of a funeral party, not a surprise visit out of the blue. Delenn would have known they were coming and informed the Babylon 5 command crew about the proper protocols for welcoming the ship. It's literally her JOB to do so.

Still, I can't complain too much. If I recall correctly, this was actually the teaser for the episode. Having some crisis before the opening credits was mandatory for Sci-Fi shows of this era. An episode like this that doesn't introduce the main conflict until the second act is going to have trouble. Not sure why they didn't just use the Mindquake for that though.

[Yora]

It would have worked just as well if some of the traffic controllers are freaking out over the weapons and Sinclair telling them not to panic because he has experience with Minbari warriors. Same tension, but more believable.

[Rodin]

It would have worked just as well if some of the traffic controllers are freaking out over the weapons and Sinclair telling them not to panic because he has experience with Minbari warriors. Same tension, but more believable.

Or just because Sinclair is commander of the station and a member of the Advisory Council, and as such would have been briefed on it by Delenn.

That could also be written off as a 90s thing - bridge bunnies don't get to do anything interesting, panicking is reserved for the main cast.

[Yora]

One of the bridge bunnies gets promoted to looking handsome, but not do anything else.
I think he even gets a name, but I can never remember it.

[ImperiousLeader]

One of the bridge bunnies gets promoted to looking handsome, but not do anything else.
I think he even gets a name, but I can never remember it.

David Corwin. What, he's handsome, apparently the actor went on to do soaps.

[comicshorse]

One of the bridge bunnies gets promoted to looking handsome, but not do anything else.
I think he even gets a name, but I can never remember it.

One of the bridge bunies gets promoted to be being Mr Morden
Seriously check out 'The Gathering', the actor who plays Morden has a minor role as one of the bridge crew

[Lord Vukodlak]

Or just because Sinclair is commander of the station and a member of the Advisory Council, and as such would have been briefed on it by Delenn.

That could also be written off as a 90s thing - bridge bunnies don't get to do anything interesting, panicking is reserved for the main cast.

It’s hard to separate knowledge of future episodes from past but I think this was the first point we learn about the whole gunports open thing. So it was to tell the audience that fact more then anything.

[factotum]

Regarding Alisa, IMDB says this was her first role (of not very many), so I guess the poor acting is to be somewhat expected. I do wonder if Neroon was only supposed to ever show up in this episode, but he impressed JMS etc. enough to get a meatier role later on?

Incidentally, this episode was originally supposed to air after "Babylon Squared" but got moved up the order because JMS didn't want two PsiCorps-heavy episodes back to back (e.g. this and "The Quality of Mercy").

[Olinser]

Regarding Alisa, IMDB says this was her first role (of not very many), so I guess the poor acting is to be somewhat expected. I do wonder if Neroon was only supposed to ever show up in this episode, but he impressed JMS etc. enough to get a meatier role later on?

Incidentally, this episode was originally supposed to air after "Babylon Squared" but got moved up the order because JMS didn't want two PsiCorps-heavy episodes back to back (e.g. this and "The Quality of Mercy").

That's exactly what happened, Neroon was supposed to be just this episode but JMS was impressed with him and made him the face of the warriors.

[tomandtish]

One of the bridge bunies gets promoted to be being Mr Morden
Seriously check out 'The Gathering', the actor who plays Morden has a minor role as one of the bridge crew

Muy internal canon is that Morden was trying to infiltrate B5 but got canned a bit later so had to take a different route.

[Lord Vukodlak]

Muy internal canon is that Morden was trying to infiltrate B5 but got canned a bit later so had to take a different route.

One problem

Spoiler

Show

The Icarus crashed December 3rd 2256. The Gathering takes place a month later. That it a fast turn around time.

[comicshorse]

One problem

Spoiler

Show

The Icarus crashed December 3rd 2256. The Gathering takes place a month later. That it a fast turn around time.

Spoiler

Show

To paraphrase "für die Schatten Reisen schnell" (for the Shadows travel fast)

[Yora]

S1E18/19: A Voice in the Wilderness

Ivanova detects strange geological activities from the planet the station and jump gate are orbiting and sends a survey team to take a look, just to make sure. As the shuttle is approaching to land, it gets almost hit by a beam from the surface that still severely damages its system. Ivanova sends two fighters to drag the shuttle back to the station. The planet was supposed to be completely uninhabited and so the science team wants to check their recordings to figure out what happened and try finding the source of the beam the next day.

Sinclair and Delenn have a meeting with Londo about traffic and customs fees agreement. The conversation turns to the Narn always being a nuisance to the Centauri and Londo tells the others that it's innevitable. The Narn and the Centauri hate each other so much that they always have to keep getting back at each other and hating each other more for it. it's simple physics. Delenn tells Sinclair in private that Londo will come around eventually. Because the alternative is too terrible to consider.

The buried facility on the planet is sending a constant signal beam into space, but they have no idea what it's for. Completely unrelated, Ivanova mentions to Sinclair that there hasn't been anything about Mars in the news today, which is odd because that usually happens only during scheduled military exercises. I'm sure it's nothing.

Delenn is visited by an old, round Minbari called Draal who she is very happy to see.

The evening news report that there is currently an ongoing rebellion on Mars. When Sinclair turns of his TV, he sees a ghostly image of a creepy looking alien in his room that asks him to help him.

Draal tells Delenn that there seems to have been something quite wrong in Minbari society for a while now, and not just the tension between the warriors and the priests. He feels too old for this world and has decided to die, and wanted to visit Delenn one last time.

Garibaldi tries to reach his ex-girlfriend on Mars but can't get permission to get a call. He goes to Talia to ask for help, but she really doesn't like him. He assures her he's not trying anything funny but really needs help to get a call, and he knows PsiCorps has a secret base on Mars that surely has it's own separate communications system.

The science team takes another shuttle to the planet and Ivanova tells them not too get too close where the fighters won't be able to get to them if something goes wrong. The pilot tells her it will be fine and gets shots at by missiles from the surface. The fighters manage to shot down most of the missiles and the shuttle barely makes it to an altitude where the fighters can tow it back.

"Ivanova is always right.
I will listen to Ivanova.
I will listen to Ivanova's recommendations.
Ivanova is god!"

The scientists were able to record the launch of the missiles and to track the launch site to a 5 mile deep crack that must have been opened by the recent earthquake.

Sinclair and Ivanova take a shuttle down to the planet and have some fighters shot down the missiles coming at them. (Yeah, that sounds smart.)
They find an underground base and discover some old alien corpses. Sinclair detects a laser trap that sets off by thrown rocks and seems to have a 3 second recharge delay. So he throws another stone and they run through, just barely avoiding getting killed. (Also sounding smart.)
As they go deeper, they find a massive high tech underground base.

Talia tells Garibaldi she called PsiCorps and he can't be using their communications systems, but someone on Mars went to look for his friend. They couldn't get access to the casualties list, but she's not on the list of people who are accounted for. Which doesn't look good, but does not confirm anything.

Another big earthquake hits the underground base and blocks the path back to the shuttle. The alien apears again asking for help, and they find the real body in a great machine in a nearby room. He tells them he needs their help or everyone will die. The pull him out and find another way to the shuttle and fly back to the station.

At the same time the jump gate opens and some huge ship is coming through.

--

...which turns out to just be an EarthForce cruiser. Captain Pierce calls to inform them that he's there to take control of the situation. Sinclair has a talk with him and is told the cruiser had been ordered to go to the station because the reports about the discovery of activity on the planet has people higher up concerned that aliens might try to steal whatever interesting there is first. Sinclair tells him the situation was handled discretely until a giant cruiser showed up. The way the captain is talking I am assuming this is going to one of these stories about a clueless authority figure accidentally almost killing everyone by not listening to the protagonists.

Some people at a bar mouth off about the military should just wipe out the whole population of Mars and be rid of them, and one of them gets a beating from Garibaldi.

Sinclair goes to bed but is called back by Ivanova that the cruiser has send a shuttle to the planet. Sinclair calls the captain to warn him not to go to the planet on his own because his shuttle doesn't have a (completely made up) jammer to block the missiles. He will give him their jammer once it is repaired. Ivanova also detected that the underground facilities are about to blow themselves apart, which will annihilate the entire planet. And there simply are not enough ships in the area to evacuate the entire station.

Londo hears of the Earthforce cruiser and wants the Centauri to have a share of whatever they found on the planet.

Delenn and Draal are going to their quarters and Draal hears the voice of the alien from the planet, this time addressing him directly. He follows the voice and finds the alien in the medical station who is waking up.

An unknown ship arrives through the jumpgate and scans the station and the cruiser. An alien like the one from the planet calls them to say that they are the last of their people and have been looking for their world for centuries. They make a claim to the system and want everyone gone in 10 hours. The cruiser captain calls back to say that the ship has 9 hours to leave or it will be destroyed.

Sinclair goes to the alien in the medical station, who tells him the people on the ship are outcasts and the technology on the planet is not for them. He has been listening to the communications coming in and out of the station since it was being build and tells Sinclair to not let them reach the planet. Also the machines need to have an operator or will self destruct themselves, and he's so old that he is dying.

Delenn and Draal think the alien called Draal for a clear purpose and even though he did not ask for it, they think they know what must be done. Londo finds them and tells them he also saw the projection, and they know Sinclair did as well. Draal thinks its because all three of them truly understand self sacrifice for a greater cause. Which Londo finds amusing, but he agrees. Londo, Delenn, and Draal take the alien from the medical station and on Londo's shuttle to go to the planet.
The alien ship starts shooting and so the cruiser starts shooting as well. Sinclair gives the command for the station to join the battle. Garibaldi takes a shuttle to follow the others to the planet and the defenses let both shuttles through.

The alien sets up the machine so that Draal can take his place. He uses it to send an energy wave that disables the computers on the station and the ships and then sends them a message that the technology in the planet is not allowed to be used by anyone for the time being, and that he has now full control over its defenses. The aliens try to land anyway and are shot down very quickly. With things clear now, the cruiser soon leaves as well.

Communications to Mars are back on and Garibaldi gets a call with his ex-girlfriend he has not spoken to in years since he left. She is very grateful that he cared, but also lets him know that she got married in the meantime.

Garibaldi then has a talk with Delenn and asks her why they didn't talk to Sinclair about going to the planet. Delenn says it's because she knows Sinclair would have inisted that he takes over the machine but his destiny lies elsewhere. Garibaldi is surprised Londo helped them, and Delenn reminds him that Londois more complex and decent than he thinks.

--

I rate these two episodes as good, but just barely. There is lots of fascinating stuff but the plot isn't very tight. I am not even sure this needed to be a two-parter. Yet at the same time, the unknown aliens seem greatly underdeveloped and not get opportunity to actually do anything meaningful. That ship only shows up to add tension. Two episodes are either too long or too short, not quite sure which one.

That captain annoyed me. Just like that colonel two episodes before. Fanatically incompetent leader characters always seem silly and unbelievable. Also, things got really hot on Mars. The Earth Alliance is in a really sorry state.

Londo being a decent guy when it seems there's nothing to lose and there's no real other choice is also nice.

The CGI looks pretty good for the ships, but pretty crappy for some of the shots of the great fantastic underground base. Instead of pasting the actors in, they used CGI models walking over a bridge and those look really awful.

I really like that they consistently treat all the species differently for the use of breathing masks in unusual atmospheres. Sometimes you people in full gear and others walking next to them without anything.

Astronomy geek complaints: There is no way the underground power plants can generate enough energy to blow up a planet and destroy a nearby space station. This would require Death Star levels of energy.

[Rodin]

This pair of episodes is probably my favorite from season 1. Adventure from exploring a planet, rising tension from the time limit, and a lot of really good lines. Especially from Ivanova. Londo piloting the ship down is one of my favorite moments of his.

Sinclair and Delenn have a meeting with Londo about traffic and customs fees agreement. The conversation turns to the Narn always being a nuisance to the Centauri and Londo tells the others that it's innevitable. The Narn and the Centauri hate each other so much that they always have to keep getting back at each other and hating each other more for it. it's simple physics. Delenn tells Sinclair in private that Londo will come around eventually. Because the alternative is too terrible to consider.

Spoiler: Later seasons

Show

Deeply creepy in retrospect. While Londo does come around, he does so FAR too late and directly causes the death of millions.

On the planet having sufficient energy to blow itself up and the station...yeah, I can see it. For a given value of scientific realism, anyway. If we accept that Death Star planetbusters are a thing, then the weaponry on Epsilon 3 would likely be capable of it. It's at a minimum Vorlon level tech, and possibly even older than that. Neither the Shadows or the Vorlons show any inclination to go anywhere near the place, and they both have planetbuster tech themselves. Also of note - the machinery is powerful enough to transmit a powerful tachyon beam out into deep space to where Babylon 4 disappeared. That's a lot of energy, and it does so effortlessly.

[Yora]

I remember this one as one of my favorite early episodes and one that is super important in the main storyline and I don't want to wait until tomorrow to watch it.

[Added after finishing it: It is as fantastic as I remember. Anyone still on the fence should absolutely watch this one instead of reading it. Last chance to experience the hype. ]

S1E20: Babylon Squared

A fighter on patrol runs into a strange space anomaly and is hit by a flash of light. When the auto-pilot continues the programmed course and returns to the station, the pilot is dead with no trace of anything that could have killed him. Franklin's scan show that he looks normal from the outside but his organs failed from old age.

At the same time, Delenn leaves the station in her shuttle all by herself. Nothing suspicious here.

Garibaldi finds that the dead pilot had scratched "B4" in his belt buckle and Sinclair reveals that the anomaly is in the same place where Babylon 4 disappeared. He then gets interrupted by a call from the command center that they are receiving a distress call from Babylon 4. Ivanova checks the ID code of the signal and it's a match. The officer leading the construction of Babylon 4 is calling for help but the signal is lost before he can say what's happening there.

Sinclair and Garibaldi take a fighter squadron and four transport to see if they can help in any way.

Delenn is waiting in space until a Minbari cruiser appears to pick her up. She is given a gray robe and goes to a meeting with the rest of the Grey Council. After the formal greeting, the others are very happy to see her again. It has been 10 years since the death of the last leader and the others have decided that Delenn should succeed him. She thinks that she's still needed on Babylon 5, but they tell her someone else will take the position of ambassador.

Sinclair and Garibaldi arrive at Babylon 4, which is surrounded by strange distortions. They land and find the station empty but are then being shot at by a crazy officer. Garibaldi sneaks behind him and overwhelms him, and major Krantz arrives with security. He tells them they need to evacuate the station immediately and suddenly Sinclair and Garibaldi find themselves in a battle in full combat gear. Moments later they are back to normal and Krantz tells them everyone keeps getting flashes to moments in the past or apparently the future.
Everything started just after the station was completed and fully powered up, and they also got a strange alien prisoner who appeared in a flash of light at the same time. He says his name is Zathras and seems to recognize Sinclair when he sees them, but then decides that he is "not the one". He was send to take the station and deliver it to someone because it is greatly needed. There will be a great war that will be the end of everything. They need the station to use as their base to fight back. If he fails to bring the station to the correct time, the galaxy will be doomed. A security officer comes running for the major because a man in a human space suit is appearing again. They go running and Zathras goes after them, and decides that the man is The One. And he is doing something that keeps the station in this time to allow the crew to be evacuated. Sinclair goes to the space man and reaches out his hand, but when they almost touch he is throw back across the room by a flash of light. Zathras quickly runs to the space man to give him a device and says he fixed it, and the space man disappears.

Delenn is certain that her destiny is to stay on Babylon 5 and she has to get another meeting with all the other members to tell them that she refuses to lead them. She tells the others she believes humans are the people that was prophesied by the prophet Velen and that she still needs more time to study them. The other Minbari are not impressed by humans, but Delenn is sure they have a great future.
They tell her if she does not take the role of leader, she has to be removed from the council and may never return to it. She still insists and she gets four votes to support her wish and four votes against it, and is told to leave.

Zathras tells Sinclair and Krantz that he gave the space man his time stabilizer so he will survive the time jump. Since he is now in a wrong time, he will die without it, but it doesn't worry him. Garibaldi calls that the evacuation is almost finished and they will have to leave one. Krantz insists that they take Zathras with him. Something is shaking the station and Zathras is trapped under a falling beam. Sinclair wants to stay and free him, but Zathras tells him he must leave because he has a destiny. Sinclair leaves, but shortly after the space man appears again to help Zathras. Once the last shuttle has left, the spaceman takes off his helmet and he turns out to be an older Sinclair. He says he tried to warn them but everything has happened just like last time. He is told that this is the way it must be by Delenn, who we hear but do not get to see. There are also people who are waiting to see them,

The station disappears in a great flash leaving no trace. Garibaldi wonders if the story of a great war is true, and Sinclair hopes that if it is, the station will help the good people to win.

As Delenn is leaving the Council Cruiser, one of the other members sees her off and also gives her an important artefact that probably will serve her better than them.

--

[happy noises]

It has begun.

E0: The Gathering and S1E1: Midnight on the Firing Line were good, S1E13: Signs and Portents was better, and this one is where the awesome crazy that still gets people excited 25 years later really kicks in. It's not just that the plot is quite good, but I think it's the presentation that really makes the whole thing work so well. The whole episode feels surreal and just a little bit creepy in just the right way. First you got the fighter returning with a dead pilot, then the crew on Babylon 4 being really freaked out, and then on top of that you get Zathras and space man who are undecipherable agents in a war that stretches through time and is about the fate of the galaxy. When asked, Zathras can't even tell if it will be in the future or was in the past. And I think Babylon 4 feels like a quite unsettling place, even though it's just some emptied out Babylon 5 sets with different lighting and unusual camera angles.

And at the same time Delenn having her secret meeting with the The Omniscient Council of Vagueness that has its meeting place on a cruiser flying alone through space and talking about destiny and prophecies creates an impression that the two are connected. And then we later very clearly hear Delenn on Babylon 4 with the old Sinclair while she is simultaneously on the ship of the Grey Council. So we know that Delenn will also be travelling through time and will be one of the masterminds behind what happens with the station.
Sinclair unknowingly meeting himself from the future is also super weird. And that moment when Sinclair and Garibaldi are in a battle. Was that the past or the future?

I love it, this is amazing. This is why I am here.

Spoiler: Continuity error?

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The Gray Council does not seem convinced that the humans are the ones prophesied by Velen and Delenn doesn't have proof yet. Doesn't that conflict with what we later learn about that time they captured Sinclair and stopped the destruction of Earth? I seem to remember that they were absolutely certain when they studied him, which made them pull the emergency break in such a weird and sudden way.

I think I remember now how I was first starting to watch the show. I think we started watching it at the start of Season 3. Which I believe is about the last good point where you can jump in. I remember that I first saw Sinclair much later than Sheridan, and that Talia was always "that other telepath". And when I first saw this episode I was mind blown to see how everything I knew from later seasons came together in that moment.

[factotum]

Astronomy geek complaints: There is no way the underground power plants can generate enough energy to blow up a planet and destroy a nearby space station. This would require Death Star levels of energy.

Spoiler

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We're in a setting where we *know* that the older races have the capability of destroying planets, so it doesn't seem unreasonable the Great Machine has that capability.

What annoys me about it is that it's a really crappy design for a machine. Imagine someone sells you a computer that self-destructs if you take the CPU out--that's the level of stupidity we're talking about here. Also, I don't think we ever find out why the Great Machine was built or what its purpose originally was--we obviously know what it actually got used for during the run of the series, but surely the builders of the thing can't have intended it for that?

One other quibble:

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When we later see the Great Machine and Draal, he's a much younger man. If the machine can make its "controller" younger, why did the guy currently in there die? It wasn't like they had to change the actor, either, because Louis Turenne appears as Brother Theo in season 3, so he ought to have been available.

[Timeras]

What annoys me about it is that it's a really crappy design for a machine. Imagine someone sells you a computer that self-destructs if you take the CPU out--that's the level of stupidity we're talking about here.

It is more than a CPU. It's also the "conscience" of the machine. If the machine would just wait for a new operator, anyone could take control.

[Olinser]

Spoiler

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We're in a setting where we *know* that the older races have the capability of destroying planets, so it doesn't seem unreasonable the Great Machine has that capability.

What annoys me about it is that it's a really crappy design for a machine. Imagine someone sells you a computer that self-destructs if you take the CPU out--that's the level of stupidity we're talking about here. Also, I don't think we ever find out why the Great Machine was built or what its purpose originally was--we obviously know what it actually got used for during the run of the series, but surely the builders of the thing can't have intended it for that?

One other quibble:

Spoiler

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When we later see the Great Machine and Draal, he's a much younger man. If the machine can make its "controller" younger, why did the guy currently in there die? It wasn't like they had to change the actor, either, because Louis Turenne appears as Brother Theo in season 3, so he ought to have been available.

You realize there are quite a few machines in our world that actually WILL rip themselves apart in short order without proper control, right? Heck at the simple level if the brakes on a car are removed then basically the only way to stop is to crash it.

Any number of pressurized systems WILL fail, quite catastrophically in many cases, without proper control over them. It's why they tend to have manual relief and shutoff valves. However, sufficiently powerful or complex systems may not be capable of shutting off manually, that's why they have multiple backups and failsafes.

The plant that I work in uses liquid ammonia as a coolant in food manufacturing. If we were to completely lose the computer system that regulates the pressure while the system is engaged, it would blow out the tubes and leak ammonia out, causing a disaster in several mile area. That's why we have manual shutoff valves for everything if it happens.

But the system may simply be too complex for that to work. The amount of power you're talking about is UNBELIEVABLY massive, it may simply not be possible to turn it off. Which is why it's going to blow the whole planet if it rips apart.

It also took quite an extended period of time for the system to get to the point of destruction after they removed the main operator. It wasn't a case of 'take it out and it explodes!'. It more was a case of, 'the backups simply can't keep it going anymore, they're slowly failing, and we can't shut it off manually'.

A better question is why the current operator waited until he was at death's door before looking for a replacement.

[GrayDeath]

Spoiler: Age

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Because it can ejuvenate them...to a point.

I seem to remember Draal alter talking about it to Delenn, but since my first experience was with a (very guud but still) translated version, that might have been added.

To sum it up: Expect to live far longer than normal, but not forever if you become an Epsilon 3 CPU ^^

Ah yes, I think Is aw these last 2/3 Episodes more often than anhy other.

Hmmmm....:D

[Rodin]

One other quibble:

Spoiler

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When we later see the Great Machine and Draal, he's a much younger man. If the machine can make its "controller" younger, why did the guy currently in there die? It wasn't like they had to change the actor, either, because Louis Turenne appears as Brother Theo in season 3, so he ought to have been available.

Spoiler

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Louis Turenne was having health problems when Draal reappeared in season 2, so they were forced to recast Draal. However, they liked his acting so they created a role for him in Brother Theo. He stopped acting altogether shortly afterwards - Babylon 5 is one of his final roles.

Given how cursed the rest of the Babylon 5 cast was, I assumed he had died. Apparently, he's still going strong at 86 years old. Good for him.

[Droid Tony]

Spoiler: Continuity error

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All the Minbari know for SURE is that Minbari souls are being reborn in/as humans. As of season one, they think Sinclar is the reincarnation of Valen. So they don't want to kill Minbari souls in human bodies.

We don't ever see the prophecy, so it likely does not say ''humans", but something more like ''a new unknown race".


And the Warrior Caste is also trying to downplay the whole idea that ''the Prophecy" is even coming true.