Category Archives: Babylon 5

Spock: Edith Keeler. Founder of the peace movement. Kirk: She was right. Peace was the way. Spock: She was right. At the wrong time. —The City on the Edge of Forever Somewhere in my gut, storytelling and polyphony are mapped … Continue reading →

I will look upon him who shall have taught me this Art as one of my parents. I will share my substance with him, and I will supply his necessities if he be in need. I will regard his offspring … Continue reading →

This is an episode about the relationships we choose and those that we choose to abandon. Not just for Londo, though he’s the most overt example; two other characters spend this episode deciding among relationships. But let’s deal with Londo … Continue reading →

Remember back in Mind War, when G’Kar was playing Mysterious Soothsayer to Catherine Sakai? Let me pass on to you the one thing I’ve learned about this place. No one here is exactly what he appears. This is another one … Continue reading →

What’s the matter with my chapter? Everything. Bear in mind that I don’t write fiction; I edit it. Chapter 15 may be written in passable commercial prose, but it sheds no light, tells no stories, leads nowhere, says nothing that … Continue reading →

When I was a kid, I dreamed of being an astronaut. I didn’t pursue it, which was fortunate—my tendency to motion sickness alone would have been enough to disqualify me. But what do you do if you have pursued a … Continue reading →

Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better. —Worstward Ho, Samuel Beckett You know the trope. Young Trainee goes to Hidden Monastery in the Mountains (or functional equivalent) to learn Obscure Art. There follows a montage … Continue reading →

Ostensibly, this is an episode where Things Are Revealed1. I recall it being very effective at the time. But watching it again, knowing most of its secrets already, I found this episode interesting in other ways. For me, Babylon 5 … Continue reading →

Nothing’s the same any more. —Commander Jeffrey Sinclair The last line spoken in Chrysalis is the lament of anyone whose old certainties—some so solid they weren’t even identifiable as certainties—have passed away. It’s an excellent summing-up of the end of … Continue reading →

Babylon 5 came about by working on two different ideas for series. One was a vast, galaxy-spanning, huge show following the rise and fall of empires. The other show in the back of my head was about a small space … Continue reading →