Babylon 5: Our Last, Best Hope For Peace

[sutter]

Any fans of Babylon 5 on the forum?

When I was much younger, I loved the show because it had cool spaceships, wacky aliens, and a snarky Russian lady who got all the best lines. As an adult, I love it for the sharp writing, the deep three-dimensional characters who change and grow as they carry their personal pain through the hell of war, and the sadly still very relevant commentary on social control through force and propaganda. B5 was one of those key stories that prepared me to hold onto hope when the whole world seems given to despair.

I wanted to share two of my favorite quotes. The first, said by the Centauri emperor in a Hugo-winning episode:

So much has been lost, so much forgotten. So much pain, so much blood. And for what, I wonder? The past tempts us, the present confuses us, and the future frightens us. And our lives slip away, moment by moment, lost in that vast terrible in-between. But there is still time to seize that one last, fragile moment. To choose something better. To make a difference.

And one from G'Kar:

G'Quan wrote, "There is a greater darkness than the one we fight. It is the darkness of the soul that has lost its way. The war we fight is not against powers and principalities, it is against chaos and despair. Greater than the death of flesh is the death of hope, the death of dreams. Against this peril we can never surrender." The future is all around us, waiting in moments of transition, to be born in moments of revelation. No one knows the shape of that future, or where it will take us. We know only that it is always born in pain.

[gardevoir]

I recently discovered B5 while flicking through the first episodes of a bunch of old sci-fi (Stargate, Farscape, etc) while trying to fall asleep. The first episode of B5 had me sitting bolt-upright in bed, frantically trying to figure out who was lying to who.

Absolutely incredible series. I particularly enjoyed going through afterward and reading the Lurker’s Guide for additional production context (which made a LOT of things make more sense). It’s beautifully philosophical, sometimes dark as hell in too-relevant ways, but it never stops being funny and charming, especially in those dark moments, and that really sets it apart.

I can’t pick a favorite quote (G’Kar’s monologue on the nature of truth is too long!), but man. The dynamic between Londo and G’Kar is so brilliantly written, and their performances are a delight to watch.

[Trysdyn]

I need to go through B5 again. I just finished a rewatch of Battlestar Galactica and B5 is the only thing that even lands in the same ballpark for me.

When you go asking "What's like BSG?" people think you mean the military ship combat stuff but when I ask that, I mean the political intrigue and slow burn espionage and interactions in space. So that's basically a list consisting of B5 and uh... that's it.

Over time I've morphed from really digging the Membari into kind of growing to entirely distrust and dislike them. Now I just want G'Kar and Londo to make out sloppy style.

Why yes, I also ship Bashir and Garak in DS9; why do you ask?

[gardevoir]

Why yes, I also ship Bashir and Garak in DS9; why do you ask?

I mean, it’s so razor-close to canon that they basically said “it’s not NOT canon” in the retrospective documentary What We Left Behind. So, like, yeah, same, honestly.