"Fire, Madness, and Redemption":
The Fourth Season of Babylon 5

Essay by Lady Keela Shanri



While Season Four was NOT, technically, the end of the series as a whole, it sure feels like it. Most of the huge plot-threads seem to be completely resolved (except for the Centauri/Drakh/Keepers/Londo-as-Emperor one, which, frankly, interests me MUCH more than any old Telepath War...) and "Endgame" and "Rising Star" seem to be a fairly satisfactory ending point. And this season almost WAS the last one, due to major budget problems, and it shows. Things seemed to be wrapping up a little bit too quickly at places. Still, for my money, this is EASILY the very best season of Babylon 5, and if only the Centauri Prime stuff with the Keepers and all that had been wrapped up as well, we wouldn't have NEEDED a Season Five.
Let's jump right in with the character-development part, shall we?

Captain/President John J. Sheridan: Boy, did HE ever change during this season, arguably the most out of any of the main characters. I mean, it's hard to make a more dramatic change than starting the season off DEAD and then ending it alive, now, isn't it? Seriously, he did indeed "come back to life" (by means of a character--Lorien--and an entire plot-thread that BUGGED me), with a more agressive, meaner personality and a gruffer voice for some reason. He started getting rather arrogant, and making nasty, hard-nosed choices that he wouldn't have before--killing New Kosh instead of asking him nicely to leave first, THEN kill him, using the teepsicles, etc. He got tortured and scruffed up and ended up with a goatee beard. He led an outright war against Earth and eventually won on the side of light--but the price...He started off a dead ex-Captain (ex-person, actually) and ended up the PRESIDENT of the newly-formed Interstellar Alliance. And, on a more personal note, he started the season single but ended it a happily married man.

Michael Garibaldi: Notice--no rank there. At all. That's because our dear old grump, looking more "BALDi" than ever now, starts off the season MISSING, presumed dead, then, when he's found, there's something not quite right about him. He's even more suspicious, paranoid, and cynical than normal, and is getting downright petulant (and annoying). He RESIGNS from Security, hence the lack of a rank or title, starts his own freelance business and seems to be all right with that for a while, then his growing distrust and even hatred of the way Sheridan's acting now causes him to get involved with Edgars and Co. From there, he goes down the spiral from freelance to renegade to TRAITOR, as he even TURNS IN Sheridan, but at the end we find out it was not all his fault, it was Bester's programming of his mind, and he tries to redeem himself by helping break Sheridan out of jail and helping with the last big battles in "Endgame". By the end of the season, he seems to be married to or at least strongly involved with Lise Hampton-Edgars (BARF!), and, while still not in a uniform, seems to be getting back into the other characters' good graces rather easily. UNFAIR!! Londo has to pay for HIS sins with a gods-damned KEEPER, how come Garibaldi gets off so easily in only two episodes' time AND "gets the girl"? (Granted, SHE isn't much of a catch, but even so...) SPECIST!! I'm calling the Alliance Bigotry Committee...

Dr. Stephen Franklin: The good doctor gets back on his feet after his "walkabout" that almost killed him last year, and we see him being compassionate as always here, and making a good foil for the much-missed Marcus--those two were a great comedy team together. The way he helps Ivanova when she's sobbing her heart out, or finds that datacrystal of Sheridan's to cheer up the mourning Delenn--how can the fans say they don't like this guy?! At any rate, he's a lot more relaxed and mellow now that he's off the stims (but not all the time, evidently SOME of that super-tense personality was real), there is a short mention of the fact that his singer girlfriend is now dead (sniff), and on a lighter note, he gets involved with "Number One", the leader of the Mars resistance cell. I have a feeling (based on commercials from Season Five episodes that TNT has shown during the older episodes) that they are going to be together for a while...

Ambassador/En'til'zha/First Lady Delenn: She changed a lot in this season too, although mostly in status not in personality. She was becoming a nice, sweet, soft little lady-love for Sheridan for a while, then showed us some more of her "Be somewhere ELSE!" mode in her daring and sometimes insane battle tactics. She despaired over the Minbari Civil War, wondering if it was her fault for breaking the Grey Council, had to "atone" for her past in order to be allowed to marry Sheridan in the future, discovered that the Minbari gene-pool is NOT as pure as they'd like to think it is, that she's a descendant of Valen, and showed us (through flashbacks) exactly how the Earth/Minbari war started--and that SHE was the cause of it all! (Well, mostly.) She almost killed herself in the Starfire Wheel to stop the civil war, then was rescued by the also much-missed Neroon at the last second, and re-formed the Grey Council with the Worker Caste in a position of very definite dominance. In between all this, she was performing Minbari rituals with John Sheridan and eventually ended up marrying him AND becoming the First Lady of the newly-formed Interstellar Alliance IN THE SAME EPISODE! Yes, this girl had a busy year...

Attaché Lennier: He didn't change much here, as usual. Lennier generally stays the same--which is what makes what happens to him in Season Five so startling! But that's a subject for another essay--anyway, I suppose he perhaps got even more cynical and sarcastic than he was already, and has become a bit more of a smart-mouth. And when Sheridan came back from the dead--you could FEEL the hurt oozing from Lennier when he looked into Delenn's delighted eyes. Oh, geez. He was a nice, honourable, quiet little Minbari as always, and that's about all I have to say about that.

Ambassador/Prime Minister Londo Mollari: To me, this season represents the beginning of Londo's redemption. He starts it by his plots to assassinate Emperor Cartagia. WAIT a minute, since when is killing someone the moral HIGH ground?! It is if the person in question is Cartagia! If the mad Emperor does not die, then the Vorlons will blow away Centauri Prime. And Londo, first and foremost, is a patriot. As he gets closer and closer to real power, he alternately shies away from it and grabs eagerly for it (in this season, we see him both sitting on the THRONE when he's not Emperor yet, AND saying he does not WANT the throne later on) but all the while, his loyalty to Earth has never wavered--no, wait, that's from Sheridan's "We have come home" speech, never mind. Anyway, he plots to kill an evil monarch--but does not actually DO so--finally figures out what Mr. Morden REALLY is up to, and has him killed too, gets the Shadows off Centauri Prime, and, at the last minute, is willing to DIE to save his homeworld. For me, that's it. That's his redemption. Anyone who is willing to go that far to save their people shouldn't have to end up with a KEEPER! ARGH! But at any rate, Londo the tragic anti-hero finally, through plotting, darkness and death, manages to drag himself by his fingernails over the precipice towards the Light. By the end of the season, he has become the Prime Minister but is spending his time as Ambassador on the station, preferring to remain away from home because it's stressful and depressing. He may not have that choice much longer as a message from Centauri Prime at the end of the season says that the little Regent is dying (sniff) and that Londo may have to be EMPEROR soon! Whoah, boy...

Attaché Vir Cotto: This was the season when Vir truly "lost his innocence". Although he got a lot to do in Season Three and started first really sticking up for himself and others there, it's hard to GET a much more dramatic event than having him KILL THE EMPEROR!! Originally, Londo was slated to do that, but then, according to Straczynski, Vir "leapt up inside my head and yelled at me", and so a wonderful plot twist--and an even better character developing moment--was the result. Having Vir do it just makes it so much more meaningful. And of course, being Vir, he gets all SAD about it afterwards, even though the person he killed was an absolute MONSTER, and feels ashamed of himself! From chubby, nervous, bumbling, goofy sidekick to serious, sorrowful, slender (!) young gentleman, Vir has indeed changed a lot. "What was it all for, I wonder?" he says sadly, watching the fireworks from the jubilant newly-freed Narns. "What was any of it for?"

Citizen/Ambassador (?) G'Kar: G'Kar also went through a lot in this season. He started off as just plain "Citizen" G'Kar, on a quest to find his good friend Michael Garibaldi, whom it seemed no-one else really cared about as THEY were all busy finding Sheridan (who ended up finding himself, but that's another story). Garibaldi eventually makes his own way home, rescued by Zack Allen and co., but G'Kar's quest leads him to places much worse than he could have imagined. He ends up being tortured in Cartagia's dungeon as a toy of the mad Emperor's, is forced to scream and sacrifice his dignity to save his life, and, even more significant, he has to throw in and make a deal with his former worst ENEMY, Londo, in order to free his homeworld! A lovely twist. He is a truly mellow spiritual leader by the end of the season, and, despite his outright rudeness to Londo in "Epiphanies", the two seem to be old buddies--in an odd, insulting, "old married couple" kind of way, by the end of the year. Oh, yes, and he lost his eye, too, thus (most likely) fulfilling part of Lady Morella's prophecy. Seems like EVERYONE had a bad year, doesn't it?

Lyta Alexander: Lyta started showing us firmly which side she was on in this season--the side of Light. At first she seems to just be some kind of lap-dog for the Vorlons, then she turns against New Kosh and helps Sheridan and co. assassinate him and also helps them out in the big Shadow/Vorlon conflict by telling them what the Vorlons are up to. But as the season goes on, you realise that this poor woman has got to be one of the most underappreciated people in existence! She is always being just used and tossed aside by the others, no-one ever comes by just to talk, or treats her like a Human being. By the end of the season, she has been forced to re-join Psi Corps though in name only, and helps out the side of Light in the Earth Civil War by waking up the teepsicles as only she can. But does she get any thanks for this? NOOOO. In fact, the only person to treat her decently is Zack, who is sweet even if he IS a dork. Oh, and she got bumped up from recurring to regular status in this season, too.

Sargeant/Security Chief Zack Allen: Zack more or less stayed the same during this season, but it is a mark of just HOW action-packed this year was that even those who relatively stood still had quite a bit happen to them as well! He started a relationship that is not to be (grump) with Lyta, and if you ask me he's WAY more deserving of her than Byron! And she'd be happier with Zack. Anyway, his relationship with Garibaldi--programmed at the time--became strained and Zack very reluctantly became Chief of Security, a post that it looks like he's going to keep 'cos even though Garibaldi's back to as normal as he ever gets, he seems to be in no hurry to put that uniform back on...

Gone But Not Forgotten:

Commander/Captain Susan Ivanova: Probably the leaving that broke the most B5 fans' hearts, Susan Ivanova looked for First Ones in this season, faced down enemy Earthforce ships with a wonderful if a bit corny speech, learned Minbari, found out that Marcus loved her--and now owes her life to his sacrifice! Oh, geez... Grieving over his death, unable to believe the fact that he loved her so much that he killed himself for her, and she was always too afraid to return his love, she requested transfer to one of the new Warlock-class ships and Sheridan, in one of his last acts as an Earthforce Officer, bumped her up to Captain. Now she's away from Babylon 5, leaving those memories behind and trying to find herself. Goodbye, Ivanova. We'll miss you.

Ranger Marcus Cole: Marcus was so hopelessly romantic from the beginning that you just KNEW it had to end in tragedy. But as the Forestmaster said in the Dragonlance novels (to avoid spoilers, I'll refrain from saying WHO this quote is about): "We do not mourn those who die fulfilling their destiny." Well, I'm not saying that siphoning his life-force through the alien healing device to save Ivanova after an accident on the White Star was his DESTINY, exactly, but it's the WAY you'd expect him to die, yes? On his feet, doing something brave, and noble--but not futile. Our dear "unicorn" starts off the season being funny and cutting it up with his "husband", Franklin (don't ask) but ends it in tragedy, kneeling by Ivanova's broken body and whispering "I love you" just before he passes out. Sniff. Pass the Kleenex, would you?

Mr. Morden: One of B5's best villians left us this year (actually, about FOUR of them did!) as Londo finally found out what he was REALLY up to...and Vir finally got his wish...BWAHAHA...
Alyt Neroon of the Warrior Caste: Another great recurring villian, Neroon redeemed himself at the end and turned briefly into a GOOD guy, sacrificing himself to save Delenn, his mortal enemy. Good-bye, Neroon. Rest easy, in the place where no Shadows fall...
Emperor Cartagia: Next in our parade of Great Villians Who Bit the Dust Needlessly Soon is Emperor Cartagia, arguably the most ENTERTAINING villain B5 ever had. Definitely the most manic (or is that "maniacal"?) Although less important to the overall B5 plotline than Neroon and Morden, who DO both go back to the first season after all, Cartagia, who had been mentioned occasionally ever since mid-Season Two, finally made his first--and last--appearance here in Season Four. Within only five episodes, five GLORIOUS episodes, he gave a wonderful performance, ate all the furniture, made us laugh, made us shudder, and his death made a wonderful plot twist and character bit for Vir! He almost blew up his own planet, thereby going along with Kosh's prophecy that it would all end "in fire". And the world of Centauri high fashion will never be the same...
President W. Morgan Clark: It is no accident that has me putting both of these villians who bit the dust in Season Four right next to each other. No accident at all. They are total parallells for each other! The two evil, mad monarchs, both of whom torture people, both of whom imprison or kill those who are even ACCUSED of treason, without trial (for the Centauri evidence of this, see Urza Jaddo's comments in Season Two's "Knives"), and both of whom--although for slightly, but only SLIGHTLY, different reasons, almost BLOW UP their own home planets! When I saw Clark's note that said "Scorched Earth" in "Endgame" I instantly remembered Cartagia's speech to Londo in "Falling Towards Apotheosis" that ended with, "Let it burn...let it all end...in FIRE!" As the Romans said, "De nobis fabula narratur"--their story is our story...
Ambassador Kosh Ulkesh ("New Kosh"): Yet another villain who died this season, this is one that I didn't mourn the passing of at all. (Well, same with Clarke--he was IMPORTANT, but he was nowhere near as INTERESTING as his Centauri counterpart, Cartagia). New Kosh was just plain MEAN, a typical Vorlon snotnose who seemed to think he was a Borg at times! And he was really nasty to poor Lyta. Good riddance.
William Edgars and Wade: A pair of villains that go together, these two were both great characters that did not get anywhere NEAR enough time in the sun--only two episodes for Edgars, maybe four for Wade! Edgars was deliciously creepy because he seemed so sweet and nice and grandfatherly, Wade was cool because he was an interesting paradox--a thug with brains and a philosophical bent. Together, they made late Season Four a little more interesting and it's kinda sad they had to leave so soon.

Recurring Characters: Bester programmed abd deprogrammed Garibaldi, uncovered a conspiracy against the telepaths, was responsible for the deaths of Edgars and Wade, managed to ensnare Lyta into the Corps (partially) and showed real emotion over his sleeping beauty, Carolyn. The No-Name Minister Dude got a lot more to do, showed that he had a bit of a spine, helped Londo, got a tiny bit of happiness in his pathetic little life when he was promoted to Regent--and had it taken away again, VIOLENTLY and needlessly, in the same episode when he woke up with a KEEPER on his shoulder! Lise Hampton showed up in person rather than just a flashback for the first time and I wish she hadn't, her name has become Lise Hampton Edgars, she seems to be married to Garibaldi and we find out what happened to her kid, and Zathras reappeared to help Ivanova put the "Voice of the Resistance" together.
New Recurring Characters: Lorien SEEMED to go beyond the Rim but I know from spoilers he will return (GAG me, groan, retching noises, snore), Number One is an interesting and strong new female character, and Earth President Susanna Luchenko looks to be a potentially good character, I hope she shows back up again but I don't know.

Plot summary: This is going to be HARD to sum it up, but here goes: The Earth Civil War ended, with the highlights being the evil ISN broadcasts, Mars and Franklin's work with the Mars resistance, Garibaldi's betrayal of Sheridan and Sheridan's resulting torture, the Voice of the Resistance, Edgars, Wade, Bester, and the telepath virus, defecting and "defecting" enemy Earthforce ships, the use of the teepsicles in the last battle, "scorched Earth", Clark's suicide, ISN coming back to its REAL self, Sheridan being kicked out of Earthforce, and, last but not least, the work of two entire years was culminated into the League of Non-Aligned Worlds becoming the new Interstellar Alliance, with Sheridan and Delenn as seeming co-rulers. Centauri Prime underwent just about as much turmoil, as they lost an Emperor and an island, gained a Regent and a new Prime Minister, set Narn free and were almost destroyed. Villians dropped by the bushel, by the pound. A couple of regulars left or died as well.
When all was said and done--it was, in Vir's words--a HELL of a year--and a hell of a wonderfully exciting ride!

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