Babylon 5: The Long Night

[Fianna]

https://sfdebris.com/videos/babylon5/b5s4e05.php

While they're both technically part of the War With The Shadows (& Also Now The Vorlons), the Narn & Centauri stories and the Human & Minbari stories have always felt very separate, and this stretch of episodes made that more pronounced than usual.

[Al-1701]

I remember my mom was so shocked when Vir was the one to kill the Emperor. She literally gasped when the camera panned to him and he stabbed him. But it was in a way poetic. In the introduction to "In the Beginning", Londo told the two children "The quiet ones are the ones who change the universe...the loud ones only take the credit." I can't help but think he was at least in part referencing what happened here.

[Nealithi]

Vir lives the idea that taking a life is not easy. And it never should be.

I feel Sheridan had to listen to the final moments of Whitestar 14. Because if he didn't, then it was too easy to send people to die because he told them to.

[griffeytrek]

I remember my mom was so shocked when Vir was the one to kill the Emperor. She literally gasped when the camera panned to him and he stabbed him. But it was in a way poetic. In the introduction to "In the Beginning", Londo told the two children "The quiet ones are the ones who change the universe...the loud ones only take the credit." I can't help but think he was at least in part referencing what happened here.

I think J Michael Strascinski was likely more shocked than your mother. And he wrote the scene. He has long said he sat down to write the scene knowing full well that Lando was going to kill the emperor. But as he was writing it he described it as if one of his characters started arguing with him in his head. They stood up and said "no, let me do it". He's described it as a very sobering experience as a writer. As if the characters he was writing and creating were starting to move in their own ways.

[jadenova]

Vir's reaction to seeing Morden's head on a pike: https://gfycat.com/pitifulzigzaggalapag ... imal-house

[Scififan]

At the end everyone got what they wanted, but only Vir got satisfaction.

[Al-1701]

I think J Michael Strascinski was likely more shocked than your mother. And he wrote the scene. He has long said he sat down to write the scene knowing full well that Lando was going to kill the emperor. But as he was writing it he described it as if one of his characters started arguing with him in his head. They stood up and said "no, let me do it". He's described it as a very sobering experience as a writer. As if the characters he was writing and creating were starting to move in their own ways.

Which is ironic since he wrote an episode of the Real Ghostbusters of an animator where his characters did start to move in their own ways.

[animalia]

Deleted because I was basically just venting my existential issues out on the board and that is really the kind of stupid best done with my therapist

[Frustration]

I do wonder what the series would have been like if JMS had felt certain there would be a fifth season, and thus didn't compress it into the fourth (and then had to improvise a fifth season for TNT).

[RobbyB1982]

I do wonder what the series would have been like if JMS had felt certain there would be a fifth season, and thus didn't compress it into the fourth (and then had to improvise a fifth season for TNT).

He's talked about this at length. Largely, it would have been the same.

The war with the Shadows still would have ended where it did in the middle of season 4. The big difference is the tail end of season four. The season finale would have been what is now episode 18, the one where Sheridan is interrogated. The fight with earth would still have resolved three or four episodes into season 5.


"The Deconstruction of Falling Stars" which is the current season 4 finale, probably wouldn't exist, or at least not in the same way, as it was largely invented to fill the gap where the original season 4/series finale sat after they got approved for season 5.

Season 5 was *always* intended to be a aftermath season, a long epilogue. JMS is pretty open about stuff like LotR being an major inspiration, and that has a really really lengthy epilogue talking about the aftereffects o war as well. (Basically the entire second half of the last book is aftermath, the ring is actually finished pretty early.)

It feels stretched mostly because the Byron telepath story goes way too long so the first half of the season is iffy, but the second half with all the Londo and Gkar stuff is great.

The actual most significant change had they KNOWN there was going to be a season 5 might be that Claudia Christian MIGHT have stuck around as Ivonova for the season. Her not coming back was an entire kerfluffle that MIGHT have been avoided were contracts settled in advance and season 5 greenlit earlier... but most discussions from the time point to her wanting to leave and do movies at that point and then blaming it on her agent, so who can say.

Considering the Bryon arc was supposed to also be the culmination of her telepath storyline, it makes sense that the Byron arc slogged... it was supposed to focus on TWO leads and instead it was only on one so it was just... pff.