s3e16: War Without End, part 1

The path is clear

We’re watching the pioneering 90s TV show Babylon 5. If you want to join us, hit subscribe then go to your account and turn on the Let’s Watch notifications.

This may have been my most-watched episode back in the day, along with part 2. I can still remember my teenage brain melting at its implications. It’s an abrupt return to the more fantastical side of B5, after the focus on the Earth civil war.

The Babylon 4 story may be the most audacious trick Straczynski pulls in the entire show’s run. A twisty-turny time travel epic, told across three seasons, somehow managing to incorporate a change in lead actor. It’s the ultimate demonstration of the power of long-form, serial storytelling on television and is only possible because of the way the show was structured.

‘Babylon Squared’, back in season 1, found a way to tell a self-contained story within a much larger piece. It didn’t make sense on the macro level, and there was clearly more to come. Not in an immediate part 2, or an episode later that season, oh no — Straczynski waited two years. Given the vagaries of television, that was a bold move. The chances that he’d get the chance to tell the other side of the B4 story were slim.

When I’m writing my serials, like Tales from the Triverse, it’s entirely within my control. The benefit of writing prose fiction is that there are no random factors, other than my own changing ideas. A TV show has so many moving parts, I can’t quite fathom the complexity of trying to hold this together.

Michael O’Hare leaving being the perfect example. Whatever JMS had planned, ‘War Without End’ is not it. When O’Hare exited the show, that could have been the end for the B4 story. Instead, it’s retooled in a way that is very successful in part 1. It makes sense of O’Hare’s cameo appearance in season 2, and the decision to keep the character of Sinclair in play, even if the actor had left the show.

Knowing now that O’Hare was suffering serious mental health issues, something which JMS withheld from public knowledge until after the actor’s death, gives Sinclair’s return in ‘War Without End’ an extra poignancy. This is a Sinclair who has finally found a kind of peace, a direction for his life and an explanation of the events of the Battle of the Line. My favourite line here is Sinclair:

“All my life I've had doubts about who I am, where I belonged. Now I'm like the arrow that springs from the bow. No hesitation, no doubts. The path is clear.”

Sinclair’s peace comes with it a renewed sense of duty, channelled this time into a purposeful sacrifice rather than the self-destructive death-wish antics of season 1.

The episode has to do a lot of heavy lifting. We get our first proper look at Minbar, and a quick catch-up on Sinclair’s whereabouts. The future recording sets the stakes, and then we’re whisked away for a Delenn Infodump aboard the White Star. As grand as the serial experiment is, here we see JMS trying to make the story comprehensible for newer viewers, or anyone who has simply forgotten season 1 by this point.

(incidentally, the screening room is a very cool minimalist set — love the design of the arched wall lights)

Sheridan being pulled away to the future is slightly convenient (for the plot, not for him), but the sudden reveal of Emperor Londo is effective. It’s a shame the view of a ‘destroyed’ Centauri Prime looks like a dodgy photobash. There’s no real sense of proper destruction.

The final scene feels like plot wrangling, with everyone sent off to their respective areas in order to sync up with the events of ‘Babylon 4’, but it’s thrilling stuff regardless. On first viewing especially, it feels like anything could happen next.

Oh! Plus we get our first ever glimpse at another Vorlon. I’d forgotten that was in here.

Next up is ’War Without End: Part 2’. Obviously.

‼️ SPOILER STUFF ‼️

Vast amount of material in this one. It’s wall-to-wall arc stuff. We have the return of Sinclair, barrelling towards the huge revelation in part 2 that recontextualises the entirety of season 1, as well as most of Delenn’s actions up to now.

The Valen twist floored me back in the 90s, as I’d not seen it coming and the ramifications for the wider story are immense. Even with him having left the show, it positions Sinclair as the single most important character. Without him, there is no hope of victory. It’s a chewy loop paradox, as well, one which the show clearly isn’t interested in exploring.

We also get hints here of ‘The One’ being all three of them, which is a retcon but one that works — not least thanks to Tim Choates’ legendary depiction of Zathras. Much like Mira Furlan, Choates can deliver exposition in such a way that you never really notice.

The glimpse of Centauri Prime’s future gives us clues about where the Shadow war might be going, though at this point we don’t know if it’s a fixed future or something that could yet be avoided. In the next part we’ll find out how the flash-forward connects to other glimpses we’ve had of Londo as Emperor.