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crack_van2004-06-03 05:21 am
iamsab.livejournal.com) wrote in crack_van2004-06-03 05:21 am
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Babylon 5, the last, best hope for...just about everything.
Welcome to the biggest of the small fandoms, or the smallest of the big fandoms, or, well, anyway, something with a disproportionate amount of femslash, some of the best aliens in the galaxy, and five seasons of continuity yet to be rivaled by any other show out there.
Continuity: good for the show, good for the viewers, hard for meeee because every little detail in this universe turns up later as the reason the universe collapsed, or didn't, or...I have a headache. Anyway. Here I go, full of spoilers and the dickens.
The Year is 2258, 2259, 2260, 2261, or 2262. The place is Babylon 5.
You Are Here:
Earth Alliance Station Babylon 5
Five miles long, home to half a million humans and aliens, the last of the Babylon stations (B1-3 took turns exploding, and B4 got sucked back in time 1000 years, but that is another story, see also: Valen).
Babylon 5 is a cosponsored project run by Humans and Minbari, a gesture of peace after the great war between those races that ended ten years before the show began. The Minbari requested Jeffrey Sinclair be put in charge of B5 and he stuck around for a year before being transferred to the Minbari homeworld as the Human ambassador there.
The station's ruling council comprises members of the League of Non-Aligned Worlds -- representatives of a dozen or so alien races working together in the interest of trade and diplomacy. Eventually these League Worlds form an actual Interstellar Alliance, but that's way down the road and we won't worry about it today. Mostly: trade, diplomacy, aliens, races to be discussed later.
Big blue station, spinning sections to simulate gravity, orbiting a planet called Epsilon 3, all alone in the night.
Dramatis Personae | Alien Races | Major Concepts and Events | Technology
___________________________
Your Dramatis Personae
Captain John J. Sheridan
Commander of Babylon 5, seasons 2-5. Sheridan was known as "Starkiller" to the Minbari because he made a name for himself by being the only member of Earthforce to destroy a Minbari ship during the Earth/Minbari war that took place ten years before B5 begins. He was a loyal soldier to Earthforce until, whoops, assassination and coup, and Nice President Santiago got blown up, replaced by Bad President Clark. Things looked murky, and Babylon 5 (as always, the last best hope for revolution) declared independence from Earth, offering the crew some much more flattering uniforms. Sheridan's goal had always been to rescue Earth from President Clark and its oppressors (see also: Earth War), but the plan got waylaid for a little while when he had to save the galaxy in a great big war (see also: Shadow War). Meanwhile, in an ironic twist, Sheridan fell in love with the Minbari Ambassador to B5, Delenn, who grew some hair and then they got married.
Sheridan died on Z'Ha'Dum (don't worry about it) and an alien named Lorien "breathed life into the remaining embers," restoring Sheridan to life for approximately twenty years, after which point he would simply. Stop. The series finale -- the season 5 finale, "Sleeping in Light" -- is set on this date, twenty years later, when Sheridan does, indeed, pass beyond the rim. You get a lot of wistful Delenn post-ep fic after that.
Minbari Ambassador Delenn
The Minbari society divides its people into three castes: worker, warrior, religious. Delenn is a member of the religious caste, following the teachings and prophecies of Valen that are the most sacred among Minbari (see also: Valen), sent to Babylon 5 as Ambassador. She also has a seat on the Grey Council, but that's not important now except to say that, at least early on in the series, Delenn was a rather influencial Minbari leader.
There's a theory among Minbari that Humans are "the other half of their soul," so, in order to make a fleshy theoretical point, Delenn used a device called the Triluminary (see also: Valen) to make herself look more human -- most notably, she grew hair, where all Minbari are bald except for the bony head crest.
As the great big war drew close, Delenn and Sheridan drew closer, and badda bing, alien sex, marriage.
---> [John/Delenn is the big B5 canonical het 'ship.]
Minbari Ambassadorial Aide Lennier
Lennier, also of the religious caste, is Delenn's aide and right-hand guy. He's got an unspeakably huge crush on her, but all that servant/master business makes it impossible for him to act on his feelings, plus, that whole thing with her and Captain Sheridan. So Lennier continues to serve Delenn dutifully and suffer in silence.
When Delenn and Sheridan got married, Lennier was decidedly peeved, and his frustration eventually grew to the point where he could no longer be around them anymore. He left to join the Rangers, and during a ritual he was visted by Morden who informed Lennier that he would one day betray the Anla'shok.
It seems Morden was right -- when Sheridan and Delenn were en route to Minbar to set up the headquarters for the new Interstellar Alliance, there was an accident on the ship and Sheridan was trapped behind a bulkhead door. Sheridan called for Lennier to help him, but Lennier did not. Sheridan managed to escape, but Lennier was so ashamed by his actions -- driven out of his love for Delenn -- that he left Minbar and disappeared forever.
---> [Lennier/Delenn is the second-biggest All Love is Unrequited angsty 'ship. Stay tuned.]
Commander Susan Ivanova
Ivanova's a cynical, fast-talking, intimidating Russian sex goddess, and Sheridan's executive officer. Her mother was a telepath and spent her life pursued by the Psi Corps, leaving Ivanova with a complete distrust of all things telepathic and anyone affiliated with the Psi Corps. This makes for some hot-tempered lovin' when Susan comes to realize her true feelings for B5's resident telepath, Talia Winters. That Susan herself is a latent telepath is a fact she's not big on making public; she's been hiding all her life for fear the Psi Corps will find out about her abilities and bring her in for their version of training and reprogramming. Meanwhile, she runs the hell out of B5's day-to-day operations, handles diplomatic issues with all the subtlety of a billy club, and in her spare time tries to teach herself to speak Minbari so that she can fly the White Stars without having to bring that pesky Marcus Cole along.
Ivanova was wounded during a battle in the Earth War, and was brought back to the station with only a few days to live. Marcus, unable to watch her die, hooked himself up to an alien healing device that transfers the life energy from one person to another, and fed his life energy to Ivanova, saving her, but killing himself.
Talia Winters
Blond telepathic bombshell, stationed on B5 for all their telepathic needs (scanning witnesses in crimes, supervising shady business dealings, whatever), and more than a little in love with Ivanova, who doesn't trust her as far as she can throw her. Eventually Talia and Susan develop a friendship, which gradually develops into...something more, and they get one hot night together before the sleeper personality the Psi Corps implanted in Talia's mind takes over, making Talia an evil bitch out to kill everyone, at which point she leaves B5, and Susan, forever.
---> [Susan/Talia's the big canonical femslash 'ship -- and how many fandoms get to say that?]
Ranger Marcus Cole
Marcus is a Ranger -- in small words, a human trained by Minbari in the fighting style of the Minbari as developed by the first Ranger, the Entil'Zha. The Rangers are meant to be an intergalactic, interracial peacekeeping force, and they fly the White Star ships which are crewed by Minbari. Delenn is given control of the Rangers (she becomes Entil'Zha, if you'll pardon my French) and therefore has the White Star Fleet at our disposal for all the great big wars.
Marcus is the Ranger assigned to Babylon 5, where he spends a good deal of time combing seedy bars for information, serving Delenn and the other Rangers, and pestering Ivanova, on whom he has a ginormous crush. There's canon to support that Marcus is a virgin -- "hasn't found the right person yet" -- but his feelings for Ivanova are anything but puritanical. Ultimately, he sacrifices his life to save hers, leaving a heartbroken Ivanova to sputter that she knew he had feelings for her, she knew, but she was scared: "I could've at least boffed him once!"
---> [Marcus/Ivanova is the big number one All Love is Unrequited USTy angsty het pairing. Marcus/Lennier shows up as a slash pairing fairly frequently too, what with their shared impossible loves and the fact that they both have affiliations with the Rangers.]
Security Chief Michael Garibaldi
Garibaldi's a recovering alcoholic who's fallen off the wagon more than once, usually as a result of having his heart broken by one Lise Edgars, or having his brain raked over by one Alfred Bester. In the beginning, Garibaldi's a scrapping and resourceful chief of security, having been given a second chance (after some sort of alcoholic fuckup) by the then-Commander of Babylon 5, jeffrey Sinclair. Garibaldi and Sinclair were the Starsky and Hutch of space, until Sinclair departed for points Minbari and Sheridan showed up and Garibaldi got a lot less gay. Garibaldi and Sheridan got along fine too, until Bester, the Psi-cop, decided to use Garibaldi for his own nefarious purposes (designing Garibaldi as a mole to find information about a threat against all telepaths, but that's another story), and reprogrammed Garibaldi's brain to make Garibaldi betray Sheridan (See also: Earth War). The betrayal was subtle, slow, took almost a whole year and after it was completed -- after Garibaldi had turned over Sheridan to the evil President Clark -- it took a lot of doing to get Garibaldi back in everyone's good graces even after Bester broke the spell. Garibaldi went back to to serve Sheridan and the Interstellar Alliance after that, but eventually quit and moved to Mars, where he married Lise, had a pretty daughter, and played a lot of tennis.
Commander Jeffrey Sinclair / Ambassador Jeffrey Sinclair / Valen
Five seasons of Babylon 5, and Sinclair was commander for season 1. Yes, it's annoying that "Jeffrey Sinclair" and his successor "John Sheridan" have the same initials, but we'll try to put that aside for now, and we won't mention JMS's own initials, noooo, not at all.
Sinclair fought in the Minbari war, like Sheridan, and during the Battle of the Line (when Sheridan ultimately destroyed the Black Star) Sinclair experienced a block of "missing time" that would make Fox Mulder's nose twitch. Turns out, Sinclair was brought aboard a Minbari ship and exposed to the Triluminary, which, instead of growing him some hair (as it did for Delenn), showed that Sinclair's soul was similar to that of Valen, the Minbari's greatest spiritual leader. Believing that this proved the theory mentioned above -- Humans and Minbari share souls -- the Minbari immediately ended the war and decided it was time to embrace the long-lost other halves.
This was why Delenn et al requested that Sinclair be in charge of Babylon 5, and why a year later he left to live on Minbar and found the Rangers.
Several years later, Ambassador Sinclair came back to Babylon 5, where he told Delenn, Sheridan et al that they needed to go steal Babylon 4 (remember, from way up earlier in this overview?) and take it back in time 1000 years so the Minbari could use it as a base in the FIRST war against the Shadows (see also Shadow War). When B4 was sent back in time, Sinclair remained aboard, and used the Triluminary to make himself look more Minbari, as Delenn had used it to make herself look more human. When Sinclair showed up at Minbar in the past, he introduced himself with a Minbari name: Valen.
---> [Season 1 Garibaldi/Sinclair is the fandom's biggest slash pairing, with a good basis in canon as far as Very Best Friends go.]
Dr. Stephen Franklin
Stephen is the son of an ass-kicking Earthforce General and grew up a military brat, needless to say, his father wasn't thrilled that he became a doctor. He's a bit of an OCD personality, a perfectionist with a serious control freak problem -- this got him in trouble when he developed an addiction to stims that nearly cost him his job. He resigned for a period of time and went on "Walkabout," where he wandered around the station for half a season hoping to "meet himself" and solve his emotional crises. Garibaldi, having grappled addiction himself, tried to help Stephen but Stephen pushed him away.
During the Earth War, Stephen and Marcus were sent to Mars to coordinate the resistance there, and Stephen met -- and indulged in a brief affair with -- Tessa Halloran, who was known among the Mars rebels only as "Number One."
---> [Stephen/Garibaldi's the slash pairing you see most frequently, because of the addiction/recovery hurt/comfort theme, though the trip to Mars offered some nice Stephen/Marcus, especially since they were given the fake ids of a newlywed couple. I'm sure there's Stephen/Number One het fic out there too but I haven't seen it myself.]
Centauri Ambassador Londo Mollari
Londo (and his counterpart, G'Kar) is arguably the heart of Babylon 5, and his story arc undergoes the most profound change over the course of the series, making him both fascinating and tragic. To distill him to the salient points: Londo started out as the Centauri Ambassador to Babylon 5, at the tail end of the Narn/Centauri war. He's bombastic, aristocratic, and desperately ambitious -- since a young child, Londo has yearned for the throne of Emperor. His big break comes in the form of Mr. Morden, a servant of the Shadows who shows up on Babylon 5 offering promises of infinite power. Londo accepts an alliance with Morden, and with that Faustian bargain, his fate is sealed. The Shadows help the Centauri soundly defeat the Narn, bombing them back to the stone age and killing millions of Narn civilians. This earns Londo his desired respect among his people, but he begins to realize that the Shadows are dangerous allies. He's named Centauri Prime Minister, and while holding that post he tries desperately to shake the Shadow influence from his homeworld, but the Shadows don't give up power easily. Londo and his aide Vir end up assassinating the (seriously fucking insane) Emperor Cartagia, who believed the Shadows would offer him godhood -- but even with Cartagia's defeat, and even after Sheridan's forces conquer the Shadows and drive them from our galaxy, Centauri Prime is still tainted. The Shadows left behind allies, the Drahk, and, near the end of the series, the Drahk implant Londo with a "keeper," a symbiotic alien that will force him to do their bidding. When Londo finally takes the throne, he fully understands that it was all the mistakes in his life that led him to this tragic end, and that he must suffer and die for his people or else the Drahk will destroy his world.
Londo's important relationships include his one true love, a dancer named Adira, who was killed by Morden as a means of Morden's maintaining control over Londo -- yet another thing Londo hates the Shadows for. Londo's aide, Vir, is the only Centauri who understands the sacrifices Londo has made, but Londo's most important relationship is with G'Kar. Centauri have prophetic dreams, and Londo has dreamed, all his life, that he will die at the hands of G'Kar -- who will also die at his hands -- at some miserable point in the future when he is Emperor.
---> [Londo/G'Kar is the finest love/hate slash pairing in the land, though you also get Londo/Adira and Londo/Urza Jaddo (Londo's childhood friend and sparring partner). Londo&Vir is the ampersand fic that defines ampersand fic, where ampersand fic means Deep and Abiding Friendship and Loyalty]
Centauri Ambassadorial Aide Vir Cotto
Vir is Londo's loyal, idealistic, stammering little attache. Vir loves Londo and Centauri Prime, but doesn't always agree with Londo's decisions and often tries to speak up and convince Londo to be more compassionate. Vir warned Londo about getting involved with Morden and the Shadows at the very beginning, and if Londo had listened, things might have turned out quite differently.
After Londo died, Vir became Centauri Emperor.
Narn Ambassador G'Kar
G'Kar began as the Narn ambassador to Babylon 5, and is also a member of the Kha'ri, the Narn ruling body. After the Centauri occupied Narn during the war, they relinquished his title of ambassador, and G'Kar sought asylum on B5 as a free citizen. He is a great writer and orator, and is Sheridan's go-to guy for any decrees or speeches or declarations that might need to be presented to the League worlds.
When Centauri Emperor Turhan visited Babylon 5, G'Kar -- who hates the Centauri with the passion of a thousand hateful Narns -- plotted to assassinate him, but Turhan inconveniently had a heart attack and died all by himself. Before he died, he relayed a message to G'Kar, apologizing for the Centauri's acts against the Narn, and asking for peace. That message gave G'Kar renewed hope in the possibility of peace between the Narn and the Centauri, but that very day, Londo's alliance with the Shadows took off, and the next phase of the Narn/Centauri war commenced in force.
G'Kar remained safe as long as he was aboard Babylon 5, and he took that time to write a book about his experiences in the war. When Mr. Garibaldi disappeared (to be reprogrammed by Bester), G'Kar left the station to go find him, and was summarily captured and imprisoned by the Centauri. While in prison, G'Kar was beaten and tortured by Emperor Cartagia and his men, and G'Kar lost an eye. The experience was worth it for him, however, because it put him in a position to strike a deal with Mollari to free his people, and Mollari was true to his word.
After the Narn/Centauri war, G'Kar was still not ready to consider Mollari a friend, but he was assigned the position of bodyguard, protecting Londo from his enemies foreign and domestic. At the end of Londo's life, Londo's vision came true, and G'Kar and Londo died together, hands at one another's throats.
Lyta Alexander
Lyta came to Babylon 5 a renegade telepath, and Sheridan offered her protection. She stuck around to assist the Vorlon ambassador Kosh, and her strong connection to the Vorlons drove her to visit their homeworld, where they altered her and enhanced her telepathic ability to an incredible degree. After the Vorlons left, Lyta was somewhat at sea, and she finally had to agree to an arrangement with Bester to allow her the necessary Psi Corps credentials to get a job. She remained with the Corps until Byron came to Babylon 5, at which point Lyta joined the telepath resistance.
---> [Lyta shows up in a lot of femslash pairings, Lyta/Delenn being the most prominent, I believe, as well as Lyta/Ivanova and Lyta/Talia. Lyta/Zack is the most common het pairing, with some basis in canon.]
Security Chief Zack Allen
Zack was Garibaldi's second in command until Garibaldi resigned his commission (after Bester played with his brains) at which point Zack became chief of security.
During the Clark administration, Zack earned some extra bucks working for the Night Watch, but when he realized what Night Watch was about, he quit. There's canon evidence to support that Zack's got a bit of a crush on Lyta, but Lyta's been pretty busy with the Vorlons and telepaths.
Captain Elizabeth Lochley
Lochley showed up in the fifth season after Ivanova left and Sheridan was promoted to President of the Interstellar Alliance. Lochley came aboard B5 as the new captain, and it took some time for the crew to adjust to her, but she held her own. She and Sheridan were married for a time, several years back, but they divorced amicably. There's also the open question of which side Lochley was on in the Earth war, and compelling evidence to suggest that she served Earthforce on Clark's side, not because she believed in Clark's agenda, but because she took an oath to Earthforce, and because it was her job.
Mr. Bester, Psi Cop
Bester is a very strong telepath, rated P-12, and a Psi Cop -- an elite force among the Psi Corps assigned to reel in rogue telepaths and make them members of the corps. Bester fell in love with a rogue telepath, a woman named Carolyn, who was abducted by the Shadows and modified with Shadow technology so she could serve as the central processing unit of a Shadow ship. Before the Shadows could utilize her (or the 100 or so other telepaths they'd abducted), Sheridan and his crew rescued the telepaths and kept them in cryostasis on board Babylon 5 until Dr. Franklin could figure out a way to safely remove the Shadow implants without killing them.
After Lyta was modified by the Vorlons, Bester took a great interest in her, because it seemed the Vorlons had enhanced her telepathic abilities beyond any other telepath known to exist. When Lyta found herself hard up for cash, Bester offered her reinstatement in the corps in name only, in exchange for her body after her death, so he could study her telepathic enhancements.
Bester lives and dies for the Psi Corps, and believes strongly in their motto -- "The Corps is Mother, The Corps is Father." He believes that rogue telepaths and telepaths who seek freedom and independence are simply misguided, and that they will all be happier once they've come back into the Psi Corps fold.
Byron
Byron, a former Psi Cop and former partner of Bester's, is a very strong telepath who led a rebellion of rogue telepaths headquartered on Babylon 5. He believed in freedom for all telepaths, and wanted to find a homeworld for them where they would not be pursued by the Psi Corps. After a brief romance with Lyta Alexander, Byron died a martyr, and the telepathic rebellion continued in his name.
Mr. Morden, Associate to the Shadows
Morden's a charming and smarmy Human who had traveled aboard the Icarus, a ship that disappeared near Z'Ha'Dum several years back, with Sheridan's wife Anna aboard. Some of the Icarus's crew -- Morden and Anna included -- were not killed, but rather reprogrammed by the Shadows to act as their liaisons to the younger races. Looking for allies (or, rather, impressionable people to use), Morden came to Babylon 5 to interview the various ambassadors with the Shadows' one question: "What do you want?"
Morden found Londo's answer to the question favorable, and thus, the alliance between the Centauri and the Shadows began.
When Sheridan went to Z'Ha'Dum and destroyed their capital city, Morden was presumed dead, but he reappeared -- looking quite the worse for wear with his skin falling off and so on -- on Centauri Prime, just in time to convince the Fucking Looney Toon Cartagia to offer Centauri Prime as a base of operations for the Shadows (against Londo's objections -- Londo had learned his lesson). Londo destroyed the Shadow base on Centauri Prime, enraging Morden, and then Londo killed Morden for good, offering his head on a pike for young Vir to look up at and wave.
Kosh
There were two Koshes, or, as the Vorlons say, "we are all Kosh." Kosh One was the first Vorlon ambassador to Babylon 5, and he forged a relationship with Lyta Alexander, who carried a part of him around in her brain. She served as his ambassadorial aide, after she was brought to the Vorlon homeworld and "altered" to serve their purposes. Kosh One also seemed to care deeply for Sheridan, even warning him not to go to Z'Ha'Dum because he would die there.
After Kosh One was killed, a new Vorlon ambassador was dispatched to B5 -- Kosh Two -- much less friendly and snuggly than the first Kosh. The new Kosh showed little interest in helpingS Sheridan or the alliance, and was decidedly cruel to Lyta, who continued to serve as his aide. When the true agenda of the Vorlons was made clear near the end of the Shadow war, Kosh Two was kicked off the station.
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Your Major Concepts and Events
Earth/Minbari War
Many years before the series begins, when Delenn was a young acolyte still in religious vocational college, the Minbari got word of a new punk race kicking it in the galaxy -- Humans. The Grey Council (led by Delenn's favorite teacher, the wise Dukhat -- not to be confused with the fellow from DS9 with the same name) debated whether or not to meet and greet this new race, decided against it, and, some years later (while still being ten years before the show begins) found themselves face to face with their very first Earth ship. The Minbari greeted the ship, as is their custom, with gunports open to show that they were not concealing weapons. The Humans, seeing the open gunports, figured the Minbari were about to attack, and opened fire.
Duhkat was killed in this first attack, and Delenn and the rest of the Grey Council, in grief and outrage, called for a full-scale war against the Humans. The Minbari greatly outgunned the Humans, having far superior technology and at least a thousand year head start in space, and Earth would have been annhilated if not for two events. First, Delenn and the others brought Sinclair aboard one of their ships to study, and learned that Minbari and Humans share common DNA, thus confirming the long-standing Minbari religious belief that Humans are the other half of their soul.
Meanwhile, Captain Sheridan, serving in Earthforce aboard the Agammemnon, became the first Human to destroy a Minbari ship when he lured the Minbari Black Star into a mined asteroid field. The Minbari surrendered after that, and peace was declared between the two races. They commenced the Babylon project together.
Narn/Centauri War
The war between the Narn and the Centauri had gone on for ages before the start of the series, but it's Londo's alliance with Morden and the Shadows that really turns the table for the two races. With the Shadows supporting the Centauri, the Narns are utterly defeated, their civilization left in ruins. The Narn ruling body, the Kha'ri, is destroyed, and its only surviving member is G'Kar, who requests asylum aboard Babylon 5. Sheridan and Babylon 5 try to convince the Earth Alliance to help the Narns in their struggle against the Centauri, but the Earth Government (under the rule of President Clark) choose to back the Centauri instead -- just one of the many frightening changes on Earth that lead to Sheridan and B5's secession from the Earth Alliance.
G'Kar is Public Enemy Number One as far as the Centauri are concerned, but his asylum on B5 protects him until he leaves the station to go on a hunt for the missing Mr. Garibaldi. Free of B5's protection, the Centauri capture G'Kar and imprison them on their homeworld.
When the Insane Nutbar Emperor Cartagia is installed on the throne of Centauri Prime, Londo realizes that Cartagia must be assassinated, and he goes to the cell where G'Kar is being held to ask G'Kar for help. This is the first time Londo and G'Kar have a common goal, and, while G'Kar is unable to forgive Londo for what he's done to the Narn, G'Kar agrees to help in exchange for Londo's promise to remove the Centauri presence from the Narn homeworld and end the war. Cartagia is killed, Londo keeps his promise, and the Centauri/Narn war ends.
The Shadow War
A thousand years ago, a strange and ancient race known as the Shadows emerged from their homeworld, Z'Ha'Dum, to try and conquer the galaxy. With the help of Valen and the Babylon 4 station, the Minbari were able to cripple the Shadow fleet, who returned to their homeworld to regroup. Now, a thousand years later, the Shadows have re-emerged, ready to kill anyone who won't bend to their will.
The Vorlons (see also Kosh), the ancient enemies of the Shadows, agree to help Sheridan and Babylon 5 in their war against the Shadows, but when the Shadow war commences full-bore, the Vorlon's agenda becomes clear. The Vorlons cut a swath of destruction throughout the galaxy, killing innocents and civilians on any world the Shadows "touched," and the Shadows come in guns blazing to do the same to any world visited by Vorlons.
Sheridan -- with the help of Lorien and the other ancient races (the First Ones) -- organizes an ambush and forces the Shadows (servants of Chaos) and the Vorlons (servants of Order) to face off once and for all. Sheridan and the other younger races tell the Shadows and the Vorlons that they don't want to be the playthings of the older races anymore, and that all the First Ones better pack up their old grudges and, as Sheridan put it, "get the hell out of our galaxy!" Led by Lorien, the oldest of the First Ones, the Shadows and Vorlons and the rest of the First Ones pass "beyond the rim," leaving the galaxy to the younger races -- the dawn of the Third Age of mankind.
The First Ones and Related Business
Long before the Humans or Minbari or Centauri walked their respective planets, much older races "walked among the stars like giants" -- these are the First Ones. Over millenia, most of the First Ones passed "beyond the rim, to whatever lies in the space between galaxies," but some stayed behind, namely the Vorlons and the Shadows. There are six or seven other First Ones, who popped up during the Shadow War in big flashy ships, and after the war, they all passed beyond the rim at Sheridan's urging.
The oldest of the First Ones -- purportedly the oldest sentient being in the universe -- is a man named Lorien, who lived for centuries deep below the ground in Z'Ha'Dum. After Sheridan blew up Z'Ha'Dum's capital city, Sheridan heard Kosh's voice telling him to JUMP NOW, and so he did, and fell a long time in a big pit. When he woke up in the dark, Lorien was there -- Sheridan had died, and Lorien had effectively brought him back to life, because the universe needed Sheridan. After that, Sheridan took Lorien back to B5, where Lorien was influencial in helping end the Shadow war and encouraging the First Ones to leave the galaxy.
Also -- Babylon 5 orbits a planet called Epsilon 3, on which there is a Great Machine that does...things. Mostly what you can do is plug yourself into it, and, jacked in, you can travel the universe with just your mind. The Great Machine is cared for by an old Minbari named Draal, who came upon it in his travels, and a fleet of furry guys all called Zathras who handle the daily maintenance and scurry around talking to dirt. One of the Zathrases went back in time with Sinclair/Valen/Babylon 4, and helped the Minbari drive away the Shadows in the first Shadow War.
The Earth War
The Shadows dealt with, Sheridan and his crew turned their attention to Earth, where the new president Clark was engaged in some very shady dealings and the whole planet was under martial law.
Clark installed people loyal to his regime in his cabinet and the military and elsewhere, and two years into his administration, he had taken control of the news media and was spinning out propaganda suggesting that Babylon 5 and other groups were "renegade" and under the evil influence of aliens. Clark instated the "Night Watch" (see also Zack Allen), a law-enforcement agency (not unlike some of Bush's latest decisions, see also the Patriot Act) designed to seek out people with differing opinions -- in other words, anyone who spoke out against the government or showed any signs of independent thought -- and do away with them.
In truth, it was Clark who was influenced by evil aliens -- the Shadows, of course -- and Sheridan organized a fleet to go back to Earth and remove Clark from power. Many members of Earthforce fought on Clark's side, not because they believed in his agenda but because they were simply doing their jobs, and going up against his former friends and teachers was among the hardest things Sheridan was forced to do.
Clark's forces had a new fleet of ships, super destroyers built using Shadow technology. While Sheridan and his forces headed for Mars and then Earth, Ivanova and the White Star fleet moved on ahead, to take on Clark's advanced destroyers. The White Star Fleet was successful, but Ivanova was mortally wounded during the attack (see also Marcus).
In order to defeat Clark's ships, Sheridan turned to the Shadow-modified telepaths he had in cryosuspension (see also Bester). He placed one telepath on each of Clark's ships, and the telepaths linked with the ships computers and destroyed them, helping bring Sheridan to victory.
When Sheridan's fleet arrived at Earth, they saw that Clark had turned Earth's missile defense-grid planetwise, planning to destroy Earth itself in a last-ditch attempt at victory. Many Earth ships were destroyed trying to disable the missiles, but Sheridan was ultimately victorious, and when he reached Earth, Clark had committed suicide and Earth was ready for a new, and better, President.
Telepaths/Psi Corps
Most races in the B5 universe have and employ telepaths -- in fact, the Narns are the only race that don't breed telepaths, due to the slaughter of all Narn telepaths in the first Shadow war a thousand years ago. The Human telepaths are controlled by the Psi Corps -- a paramilitary organization built to keep telepaths under control, and to teach them and help them enhance their powers.
Telepaths are rated on a Psi scale, from P-1 (the weakest) to P-12 (the strongest). After Lyta's enhancement by the Vorlons, she clocked in way beyond P-12, something no Human telepath has ever done.
Many Human telepaths rejected the idea of joining the corps, and were forced into hiding to escape the Psi Cops who would come looking for them. Telepaths not wishing to join the corps were offered two options: go to prison or a rehabilitation facility, or take drugs called "sleepers," which suppress their telepathic talent.
When the hundred or so telepaths were abducted by the Shadows (see also Bester, Earth War), they were modified to serve as control units on Shadow ships. Sheridan's crew rescued them, but they were too far modified for them to return to society.
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Your Major Alien Races
Minbari
A good deal older than Humans, Minbari had space travel over a thousand years ago. Their race is divided into three castes, worker, warrior, and religious, and their main religion is based on the tenets of a prophet named Valen who appeared mysteriously a thousand years ago. Valen formed the Grey Council, which is the Minbari seat of power and is made up of three representatives from each caste. See Delenn.
Centauri
The Centauri were the first race that Humans encountered when we first started exploring space. They gave us jumpgate technology and generally held our hands while we learned about aliens. The Centauri Republic is based on very traditional notions of Empire and royalty, and Centauri get maudlin about "the great old days of the Republic" at the slightest provokation. See Londo Mollari.
Narn
The Narn were, by all accounts, a peaceful, agrarian race before the Centauri occupied their world many centuries ago. The Narn fought off the Centauri occupation and grew to become a race of warriors, bent on conquest and destruction. The Centauri again defeated the Narn, stripmining their world and leaving the Narn broken and angry. When the Narn went up against the Centauri once more, the Centauri nearly destroyed them for good. The Narn have a very strict caste system, and, despite their warrior nature, have strong religious beliefs, most surrounding an ancient text by their great leader G'Quon. See G'Kar.
Vorlons
Rarely seen without their encounter suits, the Vorlons are among the oldest of the First Ones, and a race the Humans never really understood much about. When Sheridan was in a transport tube accident above B5's arboretum and started to fall to the ground, Kosh One shucked his encounter suit and flew up to save Sheridan. Every race who witnessed the un-suited Vorlon saw something different, but in each case, the Vorlon looked like something out of their mythology -- some kind of angel. It's likely that the Vorlons visited the homeworlds of many alien races, centuries ago, to impress their image upon the civilizations, in the hopes of making the civilizations trust them and love them as gods and angels. The Vorlons serve order above all, and ask the question: "Who are you?" to anyone who will listen. Aside from that, they don't talk much, fond of one-word cryptic answers and infuriating stretches of silence.
Shadows
Another of the oldest of the First Ones, the Shadows' homeworld is Z'Ha'Dum, way out near the galactic rim. The Shadows live to serve Chaos, believing that races and civilizations grow stronger through violence and war. They may have many allies among the younger races, including the Drahk who occupy the Centauri homeworld. The Shadows ask: "What do you want?"
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Your Typical Technology
Jumpgates/Jump Points -- rather than relying on Warp speed or hyperspace technology, the Babylon 5 universe employs a series of "jump gates" throughout space, which ships can enter and then travel quickly through hyperspace to another jump gate, where they exit. It often requires a series of jumps to get from one planet to another, and jump gates are man-made and placed near planets, stations, shipping lines, etc. Some larger ships (and the White Star fleet) are capable of opening their own "jump point" without a gate nearby, and can enter the hyperspace corridors that way.
White Star Fleet -- the White Stars are a breed of very fast, very schmancy Minbari ships built using organic Vorlon technology. They are the fastest ships in the current fleet, and capable of opening their own jump points in space rather than relying on jumpgates. They are mainly crewed by Minbari who speak no language other than their own, and there is often a Ranger commanding each ship.
Fannish Links
190 Bester Place -- a good, comprehensive B5 reference site.
JumpNow -- reference, image gallery, and a fic archive, primarily of the Sheridan/Delenn variety.
B5 Chronology -- from the dawn of time to one million years in the future, a chronology of B5-related events.
Enemies and Allies -- the one and only Narn/Centauri fic archive.
Psi Corps Headquarters -- Psi Corps related fic and links.
FemFic.org -- B5 femslash.
B5 on ff.net -- yeah, that. Most B5 fic makes it to ff.net in one way or another, and it's the most comprehensive archive we've got.
That's what I got. You should watch this show. And stay tuned for recs, all June, with your host, the Zocalo's only Sab. *g*
(Once I recover from this overview which may or may not have killed me dead.)
Continuity: good for the show, good for the viewers, hard for meeee because every little detail in this universe turns up later as the reason the universe collapsed, or didn't, or...I have a headache. Anyway. Here I go, full of spoilers and the dickens.
The Year is 2258, 2259, 2260, 2261, or 2262. The place is Babylon 5.
You Are Here:
Earth Alliance Station Babylon 5
Five miles long, home to half a million humans and aliens, the last of the Babylon stations (B1-3 took turns exploding, and B4 got sucked back in time 1000 years, but that is another story, see also: Valen).
Babylon 5 is a cosponsored project run by Humans and Minbari, a gesture of peace after the great war between those races that ended ten years before the show began. The Minbari requested Jeffrey Sinclair be put in charge of B5 and he stuck around for a year before being transferred to the Minbari homeworld as the Human ambassador there.
The station's ruling council comprises members of the League of Non-Aligned Worlds -- representatives of a dozen or so alien races working together in the interest of trade and diplomacy. Eventually these League Worlds form an actual Interstellar Alliance, but that's way down the road and we won't worry about it today. Mostly: trade, diplomacy, aliens, races to be discussed later.
Big blue station, spinning sections to simulate gravity, orbiting a planet called Epsilon 3, all alone in the night.
Your Dramatis Personae
Captain John J. Sheridan
Commander of Babylon 5, seasons 2-5. Sheridan was known as "Starkiller" to the Minbari because he made a name for himself by being the only member of Earthforce to destroy a Minbari ship during the Earth/Minbari war that took place ten years before B5 begins. He was a loyal soldier to Earthforce until, whoops, assassination and coup, and Nice President Santiago got blown up, replaced by Bad President Clark. Things looked murky, and Babylon 5 (as always, the last best hope for revolution) declared independence from Earth, offering the crew some much more flattering uniforms. Sheridan's goal had always been to rescue Earth from President Clark and its oppressors (see also: Earth War), but the plan got waylaid for a little while when he had to save the galaxy in a great big war (see also: Shadow War). Meanwhile, in an ironic twist, Sheridan fell in love with the Minbari Ambassador to B5, Delenn, who grew some hair and then they got married.
Sheridan died on Z'Ha'Dum (don't worry about it) and an alien named Lorien "breathed life into the remaining embers," restoring Sheridan to life for approximately twenty years, after which point he would simply. Stop. The series finale -- the season 5 finale, "Sleeping in Light" -- is set on this date, twenty years later, when Sheridan does, indeed, pass beyond the rim. You get a lot of wistful Delenn post-ep fic after that.
Minbari Ambassador Delenn
The Minbari society divides its people into three castes: worker, warrior, religious. Delenn is a member of the religious caste, following the teachings and prophecies of Valen that are the most sacred among Minbari (see also: Valen), sent to Babylon 5 as Ambassador. She also has a seat on the Grey Council, but that's not important now except to say that, at least early on in the series, Delenn was a rather influencial Minbari leader.
There's a theory among Minbari that Humans are "the other half of their soul," so, in order to make a fleshy theoretical point, Delenn used a device called the Triluminary (see also: Valen) to make herself look more human -- most notably, she grew hair, where all Minbari are bald except for the bony head crest.
As the great big war drew close, Delenn and Sheridan drew closer, and badda bing, alien sex, marriage.
---> [John/Delenn is the big B5 canonical het 'ship.]
Minbari Ambassadorial Aide Lennier
Lennier, also of the religious caste, is Delenn's aide and right-hand guy. He's got an unspeakably huge crush on her, but all that servant/master business makes it impossible for him to act on his feelings, plus, that whole thing with her and Captain Sheridan. So Lennier continues to serve Delenn dutifully and suffer in silence.
When Delenn and Sheridan got married, Lennier was decidedly peeved, and his frustration eventually grew to the point where he could no longer be around them anymore. He left to join the Rangers, and during a ritual he was visted by Morden who informed Lennier that he would one day betray the Anla'shok.
It seems Morden was right -- when Sheridan and Delenn were en route to Minbar to set up the headquarters for the new Interstellar Alliance, there was an accident on the ship and Sheridan was trapped behind a bulkhead door. Sheridan called for Lennier to help him, but Lennier did not. Sheridan managed to escape, but Lennier was so ashamed by his actions -- driven out of his love for Delenn -- that he left Minbar and disappeared forever.
---> [Lennier/Delenn is the second-biggest All Love is Unrequited angsty 'ship. Stay tuned.]
Commander Susan Ivanova
Ivanova's a cynical, fast-talking, intimidating Russian sex goddess, and Sheridan's executive officer. Her mother was a telepath and spent her life pursued by the Psi Corps, leaving Ivanova with a complete distrust of all things telepathic and anyone affiliated with the Psi Corps. This makes for some hot-tempered lovin' when Susan comes to realize her true feelings for B5's resident telepath, Talia Winters. That Susan herself is a latent telepath is a fact she's not big on making public; she's been hiding all her life for fear the Psi Corps will find out about her abilities and bring her in for their version of training and reprogramming. Meanwhile, she runs the hell out of B5's day-to-day operations, handles diplomatic issues with all the subtlety of a billy club, and in her spare time tries to teach herself to speak Minbari so that she can fly the White Stars without having to bring that pesky Marcus Cole along.
Ivanova was wounded during a battle in the Earth War, and was brought back to the station with only a few days to live. Marcus, unable to watch her die, hooked himself up to an alien healing device that transfers the life energy from one person to another, and fed his life energy to Ivanova, saving her, but killing himself.
Talia Winters
Blond telepathic bombshell, stationed on B5 for all their telepathic needs (scanning witnesses in crimes, supervising shady business dealings, whatever), and more than a little in love with Ivanova, who doesn't trust her as far as she can throw her. Eventually Talia and Susan develop a friendship, which gradually develops into...something more, and they get one hot night together before the sleeper personality the Psi Corps implanted in Talia's mind takes over, making Talia an evil bitch out to kill everyone, at which point she leaves B5, and Susan, forever.
---> [Susan/Talia's the big canonical femslash 'ship -- and how many fandoms get to say that?]
Ranger Marcus Cole
Marcus is a Ranger -- in small words, a human trained by Minbari in the fighting style of the Minbari as developed by the first Ranger, the Entil'Zha. The Rangers are meant to be an intergalactic, interracial peacekeeping force, and they fly the White Star ships which are crewed by Minbari. Delenn is given control of the Rangers (she becomes Entil'Zha, if you'll pardon my French) and therefore has the White Star Fleet at our disposal for all the great big wars.
Marcus is the Ranger assigned to Babylon 5, where he spends a good deal of time combing seedy bars for information, serving Delenn and the other Rangers, and pestering Ivanova, on whom he has a ginormous crush. There's canon to support that Marcus is a virgin -- "hasn't found the right person yet" -- but his feelings for Ivanova are anything but puritanical. Ultimately, he sacrifices his life to save hers, leaving a heartbroken Ivanova to sputter that she knew he had feelings for her, she knew, but she was scared: "I could've at least boffed him once!"
---> [Marcus/Ivanova is the big number one All Love is Unrequited USTy angsty het pairing. Marcus/Lennier shows up as a slash pairing fairly frequently too, what with their shared impossible loves and the fact that they both have affiliations with the Rangers.]
Security Chief Michael Garibaldi
Garibaldi's a recovering alcoholic who's fallen off the wagon more than once, usually as a result of having his heart broken by one Lise Edgars, or having his brain raked over by one Alfred Bester. In the beginning, Garibaldi's a scrapping and resourceful chief of security, having been given a second chance (after some sort of alcoholic fuckup) by the then-Commander of Babylon 5, jeffrey Sinclair. Garibaldi and Sinclair were the Starsky and Hutch of space, until Sinclair departed for points Minbari and Sheridan showed up and Garibaldi got a lot less gay. Garibaldi and Sheridan got along fine too, until Bester, the Psi-cop, decided to use Garibaldi for his own nefarious purposes (designing Garibaldi as a mole to find information about a threat against all telepaths, but that's another story), and reprogrammed Garibaldi's brain to make Garibaldi betray Sheridan (See also: Earth War). The betrayal was subtle, slow, took almost a whole year and after it was completed -- after Garibaldi had turned over Sheridan to the evil President Clark -- it took a lot of doing to get Garibaldi back in everyone's good graces even after Bester broke the spell. Garibaldi went back to to serve Sheridan and the Interstellar Alliance after that, but eventually quit and moved to Mars, where he married Lise, had a pretty daughter, and played a lot of tennis.
Commander Jeffrey Sinclair / Ambassador Jeffrey Sinclair / Valen
Five seasons of Babylon 5, and Sinclair was commander for season 1. Yes, it's annoying that "Jeffrey Sinclair" and his successor "John Sheridan" have the same initials, but we'll try to put that aside for now, and we won't mention JMS's own initials, noooo, not at all.
Sinclair fought in the Minbari war, like Sheridan, and during the Battle of the Line (when Sheridan ultimately destroyed the Black Star) Sinclair experienced a block of "missing time" that would make Fox Mulder's nose twitch. Turns out, Sinclair was brought aboard a Minbari ship and exposed to the Triluminary, which, instead of growing him some hair (as it did for Delenn), showed that Sinclair's soul was similar to that of Valen, the Minbari's greatest spiritual leader. Believing that this proved the theory mentioned above -- Humans and Minbari share souls -- the Minbari immediately ended the war and decided it was time to embrace the long-lost other halves.
This was why Delenn et al requested that Sinclair be in charge of Babylon 5, and why a year later he left to live on Minbar and found the Rangers.
Several years later, Ambassador Sinclair came back to Babylon 5, where he told Delenn, Sheridan et al that they needed to go steal Babylon 4 (remember, from way up earlier in this overview?) and take it back in time 1000 years so the Minbari could use it as a base in the FIRST war against the Shadows (see also Shadow War). When B4 was sent back in time, Sinclair remained aboard, and used the Triluminary to make himself look more Minbari, as Delenn had used it to make herself look more human. When Sinclair showed up at Minbar in the past, he introduced himself with a Minbari name: Valen.
---> [Season 1 Garibaldi/Sinclair is the fandom's biggest slash pairing, with a good basis in canon as far as Very Best Friends go.]
Dr. Stephen Franklin
Stephen is the son of an ass-kicking Earthforce General and grew up a military brat, needless to say, his father wasn't thrilled that he became a doctor. He's a bit of an OCD personality, a perfectionist with a serious control freak problem -- this got him in trouble when he developed an addiction to stims that nearly cost him his job. He resigned for a period of time and went on "Walkabout," where he wandered around the station for half a season hoping to "meet himself" and solve his emotional crises. Garibaldi, having grappled addiction himself, tried to help Stephen but Stephen pushed him away.
During the Earth War, Stephen and Marcus were sent to Mars to coordinate the resistance there, and Stephen met -- and indulged in a brief affair with -- Tessa Halloran, who was known among the Mars rebels only as "Number One."
---> [Stephen/Garibaldi's the slash pairing you see most frequently, because of the addiction/recovery hurt/comfort theme, though the trip to Mars offered some nice Stephen/Marcus, especially since they were given the fake ids of a newlywed couple. I'm sure there's Stephen/Number One het fic out there too but I haven't seen it myself.]
Centauri Ambassador Londo Mollari
Londo (and his counterpart, G'Kar) is arguably the heart of Babylon 5, and his story arc undergoes the most profound change over the course of the series, making him both fascinating and tragic. To distill him to the salient points: Londo started out as the Centauri Ambassador to Babylon 5, at the tail end of the Narn/Centauri war. He's bombastic, aristocratic, and desperately ambitious -- since a young child, Londo has yearned for the throne of Emperor. His big break comes in the form of Mr. Morden, a servant of the Shadows who shows up on Babylon 5 offering promises of infinite power. Londo accepts an alliance with Morden, and with that Faustian bargain, his fate is sealed. The Shadows help the Centauri soundly defeat the Narn, bombing them back to the stone age and killing millions of Narn civilians. This earns Londo his desired respect among his people, but he begins to realize that the Shadows are dangerous allies. He's named Centauri Prime Minister, and while holding that post he tries desperately to shake the Shadow influence from his homeworld, but the Shadows don't give up power easily. Londo and his aide Vir end up assassinating the (seriously fucking insane) Emperor Cartagia, who believed the Shadows would offer him godhood -- but even with Cartagia's defeat, and even after Sheridan's forces conquer the Shadows and drive them from our galaxy, Centauri Prime is still tainted. The Shadows left behind allies, the Drahk, and, near the end of the series, the Drahk implant Londo with a "keeper," a symbiotic alien that will force him to do their bidding. When Londo finally takes the throne, he fully understands that it was all the mistakes in his life that led him to this tragic end, and that he must suffer and die for his people or else the Drahk will destroy his world.
Londo's important relationships include his one true love, a dancer named Adira, who was killed by Morden as a means of Morden's maintaining control over Londo -- yet another thing Londo hates the Shadows for. Londo's aide, Vir, is the only Centauri who understands the sacrifices Londo has made, but Londo's most important relationship is with G'Kar. Centauri have prophetic dreams, and Londo has dreamed, all his life, that he will die at the hands of G'Kar -- who will also die at his hands -- at some miserable point in the future when he is Emperor.
---> [Londo/G'Kar is the finest love/hate slash pairing in the land, though you also get Londo/Adira and Londo/Urza Jaddo (Londo's childhood friend and sparring partner). Londo&Vir is the ampersand fic that defines ampersand fic, where ampersand fic means Deep and Abiding Friendship and Loyalty]
Centauri Ambassadorial Aide Vir Cotto
Vir is Londo's loyal, idealistic, stammering little attache. Vir loves Londo and Centauri Prime, but doesn't always agree with Londo's decisions and often tries to speak up and convince Londo to be more compassionate. Vir warned Londo about getting involved with Morden and the Shadows at the very beginning, and if Londo had listened, things might have turned out quite differently.
After Londo died, Vir became Centauri Emperor.
Narn Ambassador G'Kar
G'Kar began as the Narn ambassador to Babylon 5, and is also a member of the Kha'ri, the Narn ruling body. After the Centauri occupied Narn during the war, they relinquished his title of ambassador, and G'Kar sought asylum on B5 as a free citizen. He is a great writer and orator, and is Sheridan's go-to guy for any decrees or speeches or declarations that might need to be presented to the League worlds.
When Centauri Emperor Turhan visited Babylon 5, G'Kar -- who hates the Centauri with the passion of a thousand hateful Narns -- plotted to assassinate him, but Turhan inconveniently had a heart attack and died all by himself. Before he died, he relayed a message to G'Kar, apologizing for the Centauri's acts against the Narn, and asking for peace. That message gave G'Kar renewed hope in the possibility of peace between the Narn and the Centauri, but that very day, Londo's alliance with the Shadows took off, and the next phase of the Narn/Centauri war commenced in force.
G'Kar remained safe as long as he was aboard Babylon 5, and he took that time to write a book about his experiences in the war. When Mr. Garibaldi disappeared (to be reprogrammed by Bester), G'Kar left the station to go find him, and was summarily captured and imprisoned by the Centauri. While in prison, G'Kar was beaten and tortured by Emperor Cartagia and his men, and G'Kar lost an eye. The experience was worth it for him, however, because it put him in a position to strike a deal with Mollari to free his people, and Mollari was true to his word.
After the Narn/Centauri war, G'Kar was still not ready to consider Mollari a friend, but he was assigned the position of bodyguard, protecting Londo from his enemies foreign and domestic. At the end of Londo's life, Londo's vision came true, and G'Kar and Londo died together, hands at one another's throats.
Lyta Alexander
Lyta came to Babylon 5 a renegade telepath, and Sheridan offered her protection. She stuck around to assist the Vorlon ambassador Kosh, and her strong connection to the Vorlons drove her to visit their homeworld, where they altered her and enhanced her telepathic ability to an incredible degree. After the Vorlons left, Lyta was somewhat at sea, and she finally had to agree to an arrangement with Bester to allow her the necessary Psi Corps credentials to get a job. She remained with the Corps until Byron came to Babylon 5, at which point Lyta joined the telepath resistance.
---> [Lyta shows up in a lot of femslash pairings, Lyta/Delenn being the most prominent, I believe, as well as Lyta/Ivanova and Lyta/Talia. Lyta/Zack is the most common het pairing, with some basis in canon.]
Security Chief Zack Allen
Zack was Garibaldi's second in command until Garibaldi resigned his commission (after Bester played with his brains) at which point Zack became chief of security.
During the Clark administration, Zack earned some extra bucks working for the Night Watch, but when he realized what Night Watch was about, he quit. There's canon evidence to support that Zack's got a bit of a crush on Lyta, but Lyta's been pretty busy with the Vorlons and telepaths.
Captain Elizabeth Lochley
Lochley showed up in the fifth season after Ivanova left and Sheridan was promoted to President of the Interstellar Alliance. Lochley came aboard B5 as the new captain, and it took some time for the crew to adjust to her, but she held her own. She and Sheridan were married for a time, several years back, but they divorced amicably. There's also the open question of which side Lochley was on in the Earth war, and compelling evidence to suggest that she served Earthforce on Clark's side, not because she believed in Clark's agenda, but because she took an oath to Earthforce, and because it was her job.
Mr. Bester, Psi Cop
Bester is a very strong telepath, rated P-12, and a Psi Cop -- an elite force among the Psi Corps assigned to reel in rogue telepaths and make them members of the corps. Bester fell in love with a rogue telepath, a woman named Carolyn, who was abducted by the Shadows and modified with Shadow technology so she could serve as the central processing unit of a Shadow ship. Before the Shadows could utilize her (or the 100 or so other telepaths they'd abducted), Sheridan and his crew rescued the telepaths and kept them in cryostasis on board Babylon 5 until Dr. Franklin could figure out a way to safely remove the Shadow implants without killing them.
After Lyta was modified by the Vorlons, Bester took a great interest in her, because it seemed the Vorlons had enhanced her telepathic abilities beyond any other telepath known to exist. When Lyta found herself hard up for cash, Bester offered her reinstatement in the corps in name only, in exchange for her body after her death, so he could study her telepathic enhancements.
Bester lives and dies for the Psi Corps, and believes strongly in their motto -- "The Corps is Mother, The Corps is Father." He believes that rogue telepaths and telepaths who seek freedom and independence are simply misguided, and that they will all be happier once they've come back into the Psi Corps fold.
Byron
Byron, a former Psi Cop and former partner of Bester's, is a very strong telepath who led a rebellion of rogue telepaths headquartered on Babylon 5. He believed in freedom for all telepaths, and wanted to find a homeworld for them where they would not be pursued by the Psi Corps. After a brief romance with Lyta Alexander, Byron died a martyr, and the telepathic rebellion continued in his name.
Mr. Morden, Associate to the Shadows
Morden's a charming and smarmy Human who had traveled aboard the Icarus, a ship that disappeared near Z'Ha'Dum several years back, with Sheridan's wife Anna aboard. Some of the Icarus's crew -- Morden and Anna included -- were not killed, but rather reprogrammed by the Shadows to act as their liaisons to the younger races. Looking for allies (or, rather, impressionable people to use), Morden came to Babylon 5 to interview the various ambassadors with the Shadows' one question: "What do you want?"
Morden found Londo's answer to the question favorable, and thus, the alliance between the Centauri and the Shadows began.
When Sheridan went to Z'Ha'Dum and destroyed their capital city, Morden was presumed dead, but he reappeared -- looking quite the worse for wear with his skin falling off and so on -- on Centauri Prime, just in time to convince the Fucking Looney Toon Cartagia to offer Centauri Prime as a base of operations for the Shadows (against Londo's objections -- Londo had learned his lesson). Londo destroyed the Shadow base on Centauri Prime, enraging Morden, and then Londo killed Morden for good, offering his head on a pike for young Vir to look up at and wave.
Kosh
There were two Koshes, or, as the Vorlons say, "we are all Kosh." Kosh One was the first Vorlon ambassador to Babylon 5, and he forged a relationship with Lyta Alexander, who carried a part of him around in her brain. She served as his ambassadorial aide, after she was brought to the Vorlon homeworld and "altered" to serve their purposes. Kosh One also seemed to care deeply for Sheridan, even warning him not to go to Z'Ha'Dum because he would die there.
After Kosh One was killed, a new Vorlon ambassador was dispatched to B5 -- Kosh Two -- much less friendly and snuggly than the first Kosh. The new Kosh showed little interest in helpingS Sheridan or the alliance, and was decidedly cruel to Lyta, who continued to serve as his aide. When the true agenda of the Vorlons was made clear near the end of the Shadow war, Kosh Two was kicked off the station.
Your Major Concepts and Events
Earth/Minbari War
Many years before the series begins, when Delenn was a young acolyte still in religious vocational college, the Minbari got word of a new punk race kicking it in the galaxy -- Humans. The Grey Council (led by Delenn's favorite teacher, the wise Dukhat -- not to be confused with the fellow from DS9 with the same name) debated whether or not to meet and greet this new race, decided against it, and, some years later (while still being ten years before the show begins) found themselves face to face with their very first Earth ship. The Minbari greeted the ship, as is their custom, with gunports open to show that they were not concealing weapons. The Humans, seeing the open gunports, figured the Minbari were about to attack, and opened fire.
Duhkat was killed in this first attack, and Delenn and the rest of the Grey Council, in grief and outrage, called for a full-scale war against the Humans. The Minbari greatly outgunned the Humans, having far superior technology and at least a thousand year head start in space, and Earth would have been annhilated if not for two events. First, Delenn and the others brought Sinclair aboard one of their ships to study, and learned that Minbari and Humans share common DNA, thus confirming the long-standing Minbari religious belief that Humans are the other half of their soul.
Meanwhile, Captain Sheridan, serving in Earthforce aboard the Agammemnon, became the first Human to destroy a Minbari ship when he lured the Minbari Black Star into a mined asteroid field. The Minbari surrendered after that, and peace was declared between the two races. They commenced the Babylon project together.
Narn/Centauri War
The war between the Narn and the Centauri had gone on for ages before the start of the series, but it's Londo's alliance with Morden and the Shadows that really turns the table for the two races. With the Shadows supporting the Centauri, the Narns are utterly defeated, their civilization left in ruins. The Narn ruling body, the Kha'ri, is destroyed, and its only surviving member is G'Kar, who requests asylum aboard Babylon 5. Sheridan and Babylon 5 try to convince the Earth Alliance to help the Narns in their struggle against the Centauri, but the Earth Government (under the rule of President Clark) choose to back the Centauri instead -- just one of the many frightening changes on Earth that lead to Sheridan and B5's secession from the Earth Alliance.
G'Kar is Public Enemy Number One as far as the Centauri are concerned, but his asylum on B5 protects him until he leaves the station to go on a hunt for the missing Mr. Garibaldi. Free of B5's protection, the Centauri capture G'Kar and imprison them on their homeworld.
When the Insane Nutbar Emperor Cartagia is installed on the throne of Centauri Prime, Londo realizes that Cartagia must be assassinated, and he goes to the cell where G'Kar is being held to ask G'Kar for help. This is the first time Londo and G'Kar have a common goal, and, while G'Kar is unable to forgive Londo for what he's done to the Narn, G'Kar agrees to help in exchange for Londo's promise to remove the Centauri presence from the Narn homeworld and end the war. Cartagia is killed, Londo keeps his promise, and the Centauri/Narn war ends.
The Shadow War
A thousand years ago, a strange and ancient race known as the Shadows emerged from their homeworld, Z'Ha'Dum, to try and conquer the galaxy. With the help of Valen and the Babylon 4 station, the Minbari were able to cripple the Shadow fleet, who returned to their homeworld to regroup. Now, a thousand years later, the Shadows have re-emerged, ready to kill anyone who won't bend to their will.
The Vorlons (see also Kosh), the ancient enemies of the Shadows, agree to help Sheridan and Babylon 5 in their war against the Shadows, but when the Shadow war commences full-bore, the Vorlon's agenda becomes clear. The Vorlons cut a swath of destruction throughout the galaxy, killing innocents and civilians on any world the Shadows "touched," and the Shadows come in guns blazing to do the same to any world visited by Vorlons.
Sheridan -- with the help of Lorien and the other ancient races (the First Ones) -- organizes an ambush and forces the Shadows (servants of Chaos) and the Vorlons (servants of Order) to face off once and for all. Sheridan and the other younger races tell the Shadows and the Vorlons that they don't want to be the playthings of the older races anymore, and that all the First Ones better pack up their old grudges and, as Sheridan put it, "get the hell out of our galaxy!" Led by Lorien, the oldest of the First Ones, the Shadows and Vorlons and the rest of the First Ones pass "beyond the rim," leaving the galaxy to the younger races -- the dawn of the Third Age of mankind.
The First Ones and Related Business
Long before the Humans or Minbari or Centauri walked their respective planets, much older races "walked among the stars like giants" -- these are the First Ones. Over millenia, most of the First Ones passed "beyond the rim, to whatever lies in the space between galaxies," but some stayed behind, namely the Vorlons and the Shadows. There are six or seven other First Ones, who popped up during the Shadow War in big flashy ships, and after the war, they all passed beyond the rim at Sheridan's urging.
The oldest of the First Ones -- purportedly the oldest sentient being in the universe -- is a man named Lorien, who lived for centuries deep below the ground in Z'Ha'Dum. After Sheridan blew up Z'Ha'Dum's capital city, Sheridan heard Kosh's voice telling him to JUMP NOW, and so he did, and fell a long time in a big pit. When he woke up in the dark, Lorien was there -- Sheridan had died, and Lorien had effectively brought him back to life, because the universe needed Sheridan. After that, Sheridan took Lorien back to B5, where Lorien was influencial in helping end the Shadow war and encouraging the First Ones to leave the galaxy.
Also -- Babylon 5 orbits a planet called Epsilon 3, on which there is a Great Machine that does...things. Mostly what you can do is plug yourself into it, and, jacked in, you can travel the universe with just your mind. The Great Machine is cared for by an old Minbari named Draal, who came upon it in his travels, and a fleet of furry guys all called Zathras who handle the daily maintenance and scurry around talking to dirt. One of the Zathrases went back in time with Sinclair/Valen/Babylon 4, and helped the Minbari drive away the Shadows in the first Shadow War.
The Earth War
The Shadows dealt with, Sheridan and his crew turned their attention to Earth, where the new president Clark was engaged in some very shady dealings and the whole planet was under martial law.
Clark installed people loyal to his regime in his cabinet and the military and elsewhere, and two years into his administration, he had taken control of the news media and was spinning out propaganda suggesting that Babylon 5 and other groups were "renegade" and under the evil influence of aliens. Clark instated the "Night Watch" (see also Zack Allen), a law-enforcement agency (not unlike some of Bush's latest decisions, see also the Patriot Act) designed to seek out people with differing opinions -- in other words, anyone who spoke out against the government or showed any signs of independent thought -- and do away with them.
In truth, it was Clark who was influenced by evil aliens -- the Shadows, of course -- and Sheridan organized a fleet to go back to Earth and remove Clark from power. Many members of Earthforce fought on Clark's side, not because they believed in his agenda but because they were simply doing their jobs, and going up against his former friends and teachers was among the hardest things Sheridan was forced to do.
Clark's forces had a new fleet of ships, super destroyers built using Shadow technology. While Sheridan and his forces headed for Mars and then Earth, Ivanova and the White Star fleet moved on ahead, to take on Clark's advanced destroyers. The White Star Fleet was successful, but Ivanova was mortally wounded during the attack (see also Marcus).
In order to defeat Clark's ships, Sheridan turned to the Shadow-modified telepaths he had in cryosuspension (see also Bester). He placed one telepath on each of Clark's ships, and the telepaths linked with the ships computers and destroyed them, helping bring Sheridan to victory.
When Sheridan's fleet arrived at Earth, they saw that Clark had turned Earth's missile defense-grid planetwise, planning to destroy Earth itself in a last-ditch attempt at victory. Many Earth ships were destroyed trying to disable the missiles, but Sheridan was ultimately victorious, and when he reached Earth, Clark had committed suicide and Earth was ready for a new, and better, President.
Telepaths/Psi Corps
Most races in the B5 universe have and employ telepaths -- in fact, the Narns are the only race that don't breed telepaths, due to the slaughter of all Narn telepaths in the first Shadow war a thousand years ago. The Human telepaths are controlled by the Psi Corps -- a paramilitary organization built to keep telepaths under control, and to teach them and help them enhance their powers.
Telepaths are rated on a Psi scale, from P-1 (the weakest) to P-12 (the strongest). After Lyta's enhancement by the Vorlons, she clocked in way beyond P-12, something no Human telepath has ever done.
Many Human telepaths rejected the idea of joining the corps, and were forced into hiding to escape the Psi Cops who would come looking for them. Telepaths not wishing to join the corps were offered two options: go to prison or a rehabilitation facility, or take drugs called "sleepers," which suppress their telepathic talent.
When the hundred or so telepaths were abducted by the Shadows (see also Bester, Earth War), they were modified to serve as control units on Shadow ships. Sheridan's crew rescued them, but they were too far modified for them to return to society.
Your Major Alien Races
Minbari
A good deal older than Humans, Minbari had space travel over a thousand years ago. Their race is divided into three castes, worker, warrior, and religious, and their main religion is based on the tenets of a prophet named Valen who appeared mysteriously a thousand years ago. Valen formed the Grey Council, which is the Minbari seat of power and is made up of three representatives from each caste. See Delenn.
Centauri
The Centauri were the first race that Humans encountered when we first started exploring space. They gave us jumpgate technology and generally held our hands while we learned about aliens. The Centauri Republic is based on very traditional notions of Empire and royalty, and Centauri get maudlin about "the great old days of the Republic" at the slightest provokation. See Londo Mollari.
Narn
The Narn were, by all accounts, a peaceful, agrarian race before the Centauri occupied their world many centuries ago. The Narn fought off the Centauri occupation and grew to become a race of warriors, bent on conquest and destruction. The Centauri again defeated the Narn, stripmining their world and leaving the Narn broken and angry. When the Narn went up against the Centauri once more, the Centauri nearly destroyed them for good. The Narn have a very strict caste system, and, despite their warrior nature, have strong religious beliefs, most surrounding an ancient text by their great leader G'Quon. See G'Kar.
Vorlons
Rarely seen without their encounter suits, the Vorlons are among the oldest of the First Ones, and a race the Humans never really understood much about. When Sheridan was in a transport tube accident above B5's arboretum and started to fall to the ground, Kosh One shucked his encounter suit and flew up to save Sheridan. Every race who witnessed the un-suited Vorlon saw something different, but in each case, the Vorlon looked like something out of their mythology -- some kind of angel. It's likely that the Vorlons visited the homeworlds of many alien races, centuries ago, to impress their image upon the civilizations, in the hopes of making the civilizations trust them and love them as gods and angels. The Vorlons serve order above all, and ask the question: "Who are you?" to anyone who will listen. Aside from that, they don't talk much, fond of one-word cryptic answers and infuriating stretches of silence.
Shadows
Another of the oldest of the First Ones, the Shadows' homeworld is Z'Ha'Dum, way out near the galactic rim. The Shadows live to serve Chaos, believing that races and civilizations grow stronger through violence and war. They may have many allies among the younger races, including the Drahk who occupy the Centauri homeworld. The Shadows ask: "What do you want?"
Your Typical Technology
Jumpgates/Jump Points -- rather than relying on Warp speed or hyperspace technology, the Babylon 5 universe employs a series of "jump gates" throughout space, which ships can enter and then travel quickly through hyperspace to another jump gate, where they exit. It often requires a series of jumps to get from one planet to another, and jump gates are man-made and placed near planets, stations, shipping lines, etc. Some larger ships (and the White Star fleet) are capable of opening their own "jump point" without a gate nearby, and can enter the hyperspace corridors that way.
White Star Fleet -- the White Stars are a breed of very fast, very schmancy Minbari ships built using organic Vorlon technology. They are the fastest ships in the current fleet, and capable of opening their own jump points in space rather than relying on jumpgates. They are mainly crewed by Minbari who speak no language other than their own, and there is often a Ranger commanding each ship.
Fannish Links
190 Bester Place -- a good, comprehensive B5 reference site.
JumpNow -- reference, image gallery, and a fic archive, primarily of the Sheridan/Delenn variety.
B5 Chronology -- from the dawn of time to one million years in the future, a chronology of B5-related events.
Enemies and Allies -- the one and only Narn/Centauri fic archive.
Psi Corps Headquarters -- Psi Corps related fic and links.
FemFic.org -- B5 femslash.
B5 on ff.net -- yeah, that. Most B5 fic makes it to ff.net in one way or another, and it's the most comprehensive archive we've got.
That's what I got. You should watch this show. And stay tuned for recs, all June, with your host, the Zocalo's only Sab. *g*
(Once I recover from this overview which may or may not have killed me dead.)
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