brennen
/
lurkers-guide



								<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.