Babylon 5/Recap

Babylon 5 was a science fiction television series, created (and written almost in its entirety) by J Michael Straczynski and produced by Warner Bros. It ran from 1993 to 1998, airing first on PTEN and later on TNT. It was followed by a series of TV movies, a spinoff series, a pilot for a second spinoff and a direct-to-DVD special.

Season 1: Signs and Portents
"It was the dawn of the third age of mankind – ten years after the Earth-Minbari War. The Babylon Project was a dream, given form. Its goal: to prevent another war, by creating a place where humans and aliens can work out their differences peacefully. It's a port of call, home away from home for diplomats, hustlers, entrepreneurs, and wanderers. Humans and aliens, wrapped in two million, five hundred thousand tons of spinning metal, all alone in the night. It can be a dangerous place, but it's our last best hope for peace. This is the story of the last of the Babylon stations. The year is 2258. The name of the place is Babylon 5."

- Commander Jeffrey Sinclair gives the opening narration of season 1


 * The Gathering
 * 1) Midnight on the Firing Line
 * 2) Soul Hunter
 * 3) Born to the Purple
 * 4) Infection
 * 5) The Parliament of Dreams
 * 6) Mind War
 * 7) The War Prayer
 * 8) And the Sky, Full of Stars
 * 9) Deathwalker
 * 10) Believers
 * 11) Survivors
 * 12) By Any Means Necessary
 * 13) Signs and Portents
 * 14) TKO
 * 15) Grail
 * 16) Eyes
 * 17) Legacies
 * 18) A Voice in the Wilderness
 * 19) A Voice in the Wilderness, part 2
 * 20) Babylon Squared
 * 21) The Quality of Mercy
 * 22) Chrysalis

Season 2: The Coming of Shadows
"The Babylon Project was our last, best hope for peace. A self-contained world five miles long, located in neutral territory. A place of commerce and diplomacy for a quarter of a million humans and aliens. A shining beacon in space, all alone in the night. It was the dawn of the Third Age of Mankind… the year the Great War came upon us all. This is the story of the last of the Babylon stations. The year is 2259. The name of the place is Babylon 5."

- Captain John Sheridan gives the opening narration for season 2.


 * 1) Points of Departure
 * 2) Revelations
 * 3) The Geometry of Shadows
 * 4) A Distant Star
 * 5) The Long Dark
 * 6) Spider in the Web
 * 7) Soul Mates
 * 8) A Race Through Dark Places
 * 9) The Coming of Shadows
 * 10) GROPOS
 * 11) All Alone in the Night
 * 12) Acts of Sacrifice
 * 13) Hunter, Prey
 * 14) There All The Honor Lies
 * 15) And Now for a Word
 * 16) In the Shadow of Z'ha'dum
 * 17) Knives
 * 18) Confessions and Lamentations
 * 19) Divided Loyalties
 * 20) The Long, Twilight Struggle
 * 21) Comes the Inquisitor
 * 22) The Fall of Night

Season 3: Point of No Return
"The Babylon Project was our last, best hope for peace. It failed. But in the Year of the Shadow War, it became something greater: our last, best hope… for victory. The year is 2260. The place: Babylon 5."

- Commander Susan Ivanova gives the opening narration for season 3.


 * 1) Matters of Honor
 * 2) Convictions
 * 3) A Day in the Strife
 * 4) Passing Through Gethsemane
 * 5) Voices of Authority
 * 6) Dust to Dust
 * 7) Exogenesis
 * 8) Messages from Earth
 * 9) Point of No Return
 * 10) Severed Dreams
 * 11) Ceremonies of Light and Dark
 * 12) Sic Transit Vir
 * 13) A Late Delivery from Avalon
 * 14) Ship of Tears
 * 15) Interludes and Examinations
 * 16) War Without End
 * 17) War Without End, part 2
 * 18) Walkabout
 * 19) Grey 17 is Missing
 * 20) And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place
 * 21) Shadow Dancing
 * 22) Z'ha'dum

Season 4: No Surrender, No Retreat
"It was the year of fire… the year of destruction… the year we took back what was ours. It was the year of rebirth… the year of great sadness… the year of pain… and the year of joy. It was a new age. It was the end of history. It was the year everything changed. The year is 2261. The place: Babylon 5."

- Lennier, Allan, G'Kar, Lyta, Vir, Marcus, Delenn, Londo, Franklin, Ivanova, Garibaldi and Sheridan all chip in on the opening narration for season 4.


 * 1) The Hour of the Wolf
 * 2) Whatever Happened to Mr. Garibaldi?
 * 3) The Summoning
 * 4) Falling to Apotheosis
 * 5) The Long Night
 * 6) Into the Fire
 * 7) Epiphanies
 * 8) The Illusion of Truth
 * 9) Atonement
 * 10) Racing Mars
 * 11) Lines of Communication
 * 12) Conflicts of Interest
 * 13) Rumors, Bargains and Lies
 * 14) Moments of Transition
 * 15) No Surrender, No Retreat
 * 16) The Exercise of Vital Powers
 * 17) The Face of the Enemy
 * 18) Intersections in Real Time
 * 19) Between the Darkness and the Light
 * 20) Endgame
 * 21) Rising Star
 * 22) The Deconstruction of Falling Stars

Season 5: The Wheel of Fire
"And so it begins... ..there is a hole in your mind... What do you want? ...no one here is exactly what he appears... ...nothing's the same anymore... Commander Sinclair is being reassigned... ...why don't you eliminate the entire Narn homeworld while you're at it? ...I see a great hand, reaching out of the stars... Who are you? ...President Clark has signed a decree today declaring martial law... ...these orders have forced us to declare independence! ...weapons supplies... ...unless your people get off your encounter-suited butts and do something! ...you are the One who was... ...if you go to Z'ha'dum, you will die.... Why are you here? Do you have anything worth living for? ...I think of my beautiful city in flames... ...like giants in the playground... ...NOW GET THE HELL OUT OF OUR GALAXY! ...we are here to place President Clark under arrest."

- Clips from previous episodes make up the opening narration of season 5.


 * 1) No Compromises
 * 2) The Very Long Night of Londo Mollari
 * 3) The Paragon of Animals
 * 4) A View from the Gallery
 * 5) Learning Curve
 * 6) Strange Relations
 * 7) Secrets of the Soul
 * 8) Day of the Dead
 * 9) In the Kingdom of the Blind
 * 10) A Tragedy of Telepaths
 * 11) Phoenix Rising
 * 12) The Ragged Edge
 * 13) The Corps is Mother, the Corps is Father
 * 14) Meditations on the Abyss
 * 15) Darkness Ascending
 * 16) And All My Dreams, Torn Asunder
 * 17) Movements of Fire and Shadow
 * 18) The Fall of Centauri Prime
 * 19) The Wheel of Fire
 * 20) Objects in Motion
 * 21) Objects at Rest
 * 22) Sleeping in Light

The Films
"I believe that when we leave a place, part of it goes with us and part of us remains. Go anywhere in the station, when it is quiet, and just listen. After a while, you will hear the echoes of all our conversations, every thought and word we ever exchanged. Long after we're gone, our voices will linger in these walls..."

- G'Kar's words from "Objects in Motion" are the opening narration for The Lost Tales.


 * In the Beginning
 * Thirdspace
 * The River of Souls
 * A Call to Arms
 * The Legend of the Rangers: To Live and Die in Starlight
 * The Lost Tales: Voices in the Dark

Crusade
"Galen: Who are you?

Gideon: Matthew Gideon, Captain. Attached to the Earth Alliance starship Excalibur.

Galen: What do you want?

Gideon: To find a cure for the Drakh plague before it wipes out all life on Earth.

Galen: Where are you going?

Gideon: Anywhere I have to.

Galen: Who do you serve, and who do you trust?"

- Gideon and Galen give the opening narration and set up the entire series.


 * 1) War Zone
 * 2) The Long Road
 * 3) The Well of Forever
 * 4) The Path of Sorrows
 * 5) Patterns of the Soul
 * 6) Ruling from the Tomb
 * 7) The Rules of the Game
 * 8) Appearances and Other Deceits
 * 9) Racing the Night
 * 10) The Memory of War
 * 11) The Needs of Earth
 * 12) Visitors from Down the Street
 * 13) Each Night I Dream of Home
 * To the Ends of the Earth
 * Value Judgements
 * Tried and True
 * War Story
 * The Walls of Hell
 * Untitled episode (part 3 of the Sword trilogy)
 * The End of the Line