lurkers-guide/background/x.html

<p>
This section contains a chronological summary of <cite>Babylon 5</cite>'s
story arc (the 5-year plotline) as it has been presented so far.
Only certain episodes, believed to be of some significance, are mentioned.
Note that this is chock full of <strong>spoilers!</strong>

<p>
The pilot, "The Gathering," is set in the year 2257, introducing station
Babylon 5 which has recently come online.  The last of the ambassadors,
Kosh, arrives on the station, prompting an assassination attempt.  Sinclair
is framed for the attempt, but is eventually cleared when the real culprit
-- a Minbari -- is discovered.  Many mysteries are introduced: Sinclair's
missing 24 hours on the Battle of the Line (with the announcement by the
Minbari that "there is a hole in your mind"); the mystery of Kosh, seen
only by the doctor and the telepath; and the disappearance or destruction
of the previous four Babylon stations.

<episode num=001>
<p>
<font size="+2"><b>Season one</b></font> begins with "Midnight on the Firing Line," about 6 months
later.
Lt. Cmdr Susan Ivanova has recently taken over the second-in-command post;
we learn of her dislike of the psi corps. The doctor and telepath from the
pilot are no longer on the station.  A Centauri agricultural outpost is
attacked without provocation by the Narns.  (In
broad strokes, this episode portrays the Narns as the "bad guys"
and the Centauri as wishy-washy comic relief.)  Luis Santiago is reelected
President of the Earth Alliance.

<episode num=002>
<p>
A "Soul Hunter," a member of an order which collects and preserves important
souls, finds himself on the station, and attempts to collect Delenn's soul
prematurely.  We learn the importance of the Minbari soul, and that they
prevented a soul hunter from taking the soul of their great leader Dukhat,
so that his soul would be reborn into the next generation.  Delenn is
called <em>Satai</em> by the soul hunter, which prompts Sinclair to wonder if
something is going on, as Satai is the title used my members of the Grey
Council, the Minbari ruling body and highest religious authority.

<episode num=003>
<episode num=004>
<episode num=005>
<episode num=006>
<p>
In "Mind War," two Psi Cops -- P12 level telepaths, including Bester
(played by Walter Koenig) -- come to the station in search of telepath
Jason Ironheart, who has achieved telekinetic abilities and is transforming
into something more than human.  He warns Sinclair that the Psi Corps are
starting to pull the strings in the government back on Earth.  When Bester's
partner is killed, Sinclair makes a new enemy.  Before departing, Ironheart
gives Talia a gift: telekinesis, and maybe other abilities as well.

<episode num=007>
<p>
"The War Prayer" introduces members of the Homeguard, an anti-alien
establishment back on Earth.

<episode num=008>
<p>
"And The Sky Full of Stars" explores what happened to Sinclair on the
Battle of the Line, 10 years before in the Earth-Minbari War.  Interrogated
and forced to relive the battle, we see Sinclair ram a
Minbari Cruiser, only to wake up on board, interrogated by the Grey
Council.  He recognizes Delenn as one of the Grey Council.  After escaping
from his interrogators, he chooses not to reveal to Delenn that he remembers
part of his missing 24 hours.

<episode num=009>
<p>
"Deathwalker" is a notorious war criminal from the Dilgar War, fought by
Earth and others several decades earlier.  She has a substance she claims
grants immortality -- but only at the cost of another's life.  The Vorlons
destroy her ship to prevent Earth from gaining the secret of immortality.

<episode num=010>
<episode num=011>
<p>
"Survivors" takes Garibaldi back into his alcoholism as he is accused of
sabotage.  The real culprit is the Homeguard.

<episode num=012>
<episode num=013>
<p>
"Signs and Portents"
deals with an attack by raiders on the station.  The B-story, in which
Londo acquires the long-lost symbol of his empire, the Eye, is more
important.  A mysterious, polite man named Morden inquires "What do you
want?" of the alien ambassadors, and seems to like Londo's response --
for the Centauri to reclaim their lost empire -- the
best.  The Eye is captured by the raiders, who are destroyed by a
mysterious ship that appears out of the shadows.  Morden returns the Eye to
Londo, "from friends you don't know you have."

<episode num=014>
<episode num=015>
<episode num=016>
<episode num=017>
<episode num=018>
<p>
In the two-parter, "A Voice in the Wilderness," it is discovered that the
planet below B5 is not as dead as it was thought.  The
Mars colony breaks out in rebellion.  A dying alien is found controlling
vast, tremendously powerful machinery on the planet below.

<episode num=019>
Draal, an old friend of Delenn's, takes charge of the machinery in the planet,
warning away all who would try to take it for themselves.  The Mars rebellion
is put down by Earth Alliance security forces.

<episode num=020>
<p>
In "Babylon Squared," Babylon 4 -- the biggest of the Babylon stations, which
dissapeared 24 hours after coming online, suddenly reappears.  Meanwhile,
off-station, Delenn is chosen by the Grey Council to be their new leader, but
declines because a Minbari prophecy tells her that her destiny lies on
Babylon 5.  She leaves with a powerful device called a triluminary.  As time
disturbances flash back and forward to other times (including a scene where
something is coming through the walls of the station, being fought off by
Garibaldi, as Sinclair is pushed into the crowds), the crew attempts to
evacuate the crew of B4.  A mysterious alien, Zathras, has appeared and tells
of a great, terrible war, and the attempt to pull B4 through time to use it
as a base of operations.  He is looking for "The One" -- the great leader of
an effort to bring peace to the galaxy.  The station is evacuated, but
Zathras, trapped, is rescued by "The One" -- who turns out to be a much older
Sinclair, aided apparently by Delenn.

<episode num=021>
<p>
"The Quality of Mercy" reveals a clinic run by Dr. Franklin in the
downbelow sections, as well as an alien healing machine that transfers
"life force" from one person to another.

<episode num=022>
<p>
"Chrysalis," the season one finale, refers to the cocoon that Delenn begins
to build using a mysterious crystalline machine.
Garibaldi uncovers a plot to assassinate the Earth President, but is shot
in the back by his right-hand man, left for dead.  Morden reappears, and
offers to take care of a problem for Londo, dealing with a region contested
with the Narns.  Delenn speaks to Ambassador Kosh, who reveals something to
her that verifies her interpretation of a prophecy.  She confronts
Sinclair about his knowledge of his interrogation, but enters into her
cocoon before they can talk.  Londo is horrified to find that the Narn
outpost has been utterly destroyed by mysterious forces.
The president is assassinated, and the vice
president is sworn in immediately.  G'Kar leaves to investigate the
destruction of the Narn base.