SFX Issue 43

October 1998

Fantasy Babylon Season Five

What would season five have been like if creator JM Straczynski hadn’t been forced to wrap up the Earth War before the end of season four? SFX takes a guess at how the arc might’ve developed, based on JMS’ own comments, actual episodes and some wild guesses...

5.01 Between The Darkness And The Light

Garibaldi falls into the hands of the Resistance and narrowly escapes execution as a traitor. With a skeleton force provided by Number One, he joins Franklin and Lyta in a last-bid attempt to rescue Sheridan. Distracted by the burden of command, Ivanova agrees to let a group of runaway telepaths establish a colony on the station without considering the consequences, just before she’s fatally injured in battle…

5.02 Endgame

Sheridan resumes his command for the final assault on Earth, using the cryogenically frozen telepaths to disable Clark’s fleet, while Marcus uses the alien life-giver to save Ivanova’s life at the cost of his own…

5.03 The Very Long Night Of Londo Mollari

A grieving Ivanova’s pain is eased by the leader of the telepath colony, Byron, while Franklin destroys the life-giver in anger – just as it might be useful. Londo is struck by a heart attack after hearing he’s to be appointed Emperor and is forced to reconsider his life while in a coma…

5.04 Rising Star

Fired with the desire to make amends, Londo joins Delenn and G’Kar, in persuading President Luchenko to join the Interstellar Alliance they intend to form. She agrees, but pressures Sheridan into quitting Earthforce rather than face court-martial – unaware that he’s been selected as the Alliance’s first President. Sheridan and Delenn marry at last, while Garibaldi sets out to free Lise from the Martian mafia…

5.05 No Compromises

Ivanova returns to her duties, while Garibaldi accepts a position as Sheridan’s head of covert intelligence, hoping he’ll be able to use his position to find Lise. But Sheridan’s inauguration is interrupted by an assassination attempt, which is only averted by one of Byron’s telepaths.

5.06 Strange Relations

With Babylon 5 now under Earthforce authority, Bester arrives on a mission to retrieve the rogue telepaths. Despite Ivanova’s misgivings, she can find no legal reason to stop him – until she re-interprets the quarantine regulations. Garibaldi returns to Mars looking for Lise…

5.07 Dying To Be Heard

(Written by Bill Mumy and Peter David)

As Londo prepares to depart for Centauri Prime, his replacement as ambassador arrives on the station – but Londo prefers to leave Vir as acting ambassador. Meanwhile, a string of Alliance transport ships are attacked by Raiders, while Sheridan finds himself suffering from an embarrassing ailment and G’Kar becomes Londo’s bodyguard...

5.08 The Corps Is Mother, The Corps Is Father

Bester and two trainee Psi-Cops visit the station in pursuit of a murderer.

5.09 Secrets Of The Soul

Franklin’s survey of alien biology reveals a shocking crime, while Ivanova becomes increasingly close to Byron as more telepaths join the colony. As they spend the night together, her latent telepathy bursts into life. As their thoughts merge, Byron discovers how Sheridan used the frozen telepaths to disable Clark’s vessels…

5.10 In The Kingdom Of The Blind

As Raider attacks on Alliance ships increase, Londo and G’Kar find the Centauri palace infested by intrigue. Enraged by Sheridan’s sacrifice of the frozen telepaths, Byron’s telepaths read the darkest secrets of each ambassador, and threaten to reveal them unless the telepaths are given their own homeworld...

5.11 A Tragedy Of Telepaths

With Byron’s telepaths walled up in Brown Sector, Sheridan is forced to overrule Ivanova and call in Bester, driving Ivanova to the brink of resignation, while Garibaldi finally confronts the Psi-Cop. On Centauri Prime, G’Kar discovers an old friend imprisoned in the Palace’s cells…

5.12 Phoenix Rising

As Bester attempts to force the telepaths out, the situation spirals out of control. Byron and Ivanova attempt to calm events down, but after the militants take hostages in Medlab, Byron is forced to gun down the militant leader, and Byron and his followers bring the situation to a close by taking their own lives…

5.13 The Ragged Edge

The Alliance ambassadors demand that the Raider problem should be brought under control, while G’Kar returns to the station to discover he’s become an object of veneration during his absence. Garibaldi manages to track a lone survivor of the raids to the Drazi homeworld, and finds evidence which implicates the Centauri. Shaken by his experiences with Bester, and his continuing inability to find Lise, Garibaldi returns to the bottle…

5.14 Day Of The Dead

(Written by Neil Gaiman)

Lennier returns to the station in the aftermath of Byron’s self-sacrifice, just as the Brakiri celebrate their Day Of The Dead. During the night, Londo is visited by Adira Tyree, Garibaldi by PFC Dodger, and Lennier by Morden. Ironically, Ivanova, who’d hoped to speak with Byron one last time, is visited instead by Marcus, who helps her find new purpose in life – while she finally gets to “boff” him...

5.15 Learning Curve

Lennier is assigned to a Ranger training vessel alongside Findell, while Londo takes advantage of a Drazi attempt to bug his quarters to ensure Vir is ready to take his place as ambassador. Before leaving the station, Lennier and Findell fall prey to a loan shark who’s attempting to take N’Grath’s place as head of the station’s underworld – who the Rangers deal with in their own way.

5.16 Darkness Ascending

Aboard his White Star, Lennier continues his training, while also pursuing secret orders from Delenn to investigate the Raider attacks. Lennier takes out a fighter, convinced he’s worked out a way to track the Raiders to their base and finds a massive Centauri fleet orbiting an unknown planet.…

5.17 And All My Dreams Torn Asunder

Armed with Lennier’s proof of the Centauri’s guilt, Sheridan imposes a blockade on the Republic – and Londo is forced to withdraw from the Alliance. He and G’Kar return to Centauri Prime, but are thrown in jail, while Garibaldi misses a vital report due to drunkenness…

5.18 Movements Of Fire And Shadow

As the war heats up, the Centauri target the station, while Franklin and Lyta discover the truth about the Centauri attacks – too late to stop the Drazi and the Narn mounting a devastating attack on the Centauri homeworld...

5.19 The Fall Of Centauri Prime

The Drakh’s schemes finally bear fruit as Londo discovers his fate…

5.20 Wheel Of Fire

Sheridan confronts Garibaldi over his drinking problems – just as news from Number One on Mars gives him hope of finding Lise and a reason to pull himself together…

5.21 The Alien Within

As Babylon 5’s command staff prepare to go their separate ways, Na’Toth, Vir, Lennier and Number One prepare to assume new positions of authority, while the happy endings are marred by ominous portents…

5.22 Sleeping In Light

Decades into the future, the surviving veterans of the legendary Babylon project gather together for one last meeting...