Babylon 5: Grail

[Madner Kami]

The fourth one stayed up, right until it disappeared into a temporal thingy.

The FIFTH one though, stayed up and right were it was. Until it was demolished so it wasn't a hazard to navigation.

Because traffic to that uninhabited planet was really high enough to make that a credible problem. Also: space is really small, and cramped.

Also: navigation hazards in real space are relevant in a universe where all long distance travel is done FTL in an alternate dimension.

Also: blowing up a huge, easily detectable, space station into billions of tiny, likely undetectable, pieces on unpredictable orbits makes real-space navigation safer.


Remember: B5 is a show where space is two dimensional for plot purposes. Realism took a trip to Z'ha'dum and never came back.

I prefer to interpret that little nonsensical thing as a cover-story. Remember the Great Machine that nobody was supposed to know about? The thing on the planet next to B5? Once B5 is gone, nobody has a reason to go to that remote place anymore. Think about it.

[Nealithi]

I had not seen Grail on its first outing and got through a few more seasons before reruns brought it back. And I had thought it would be significant. You are seeking the holy grail. Who were the angels again? That Kosh had been setup to be avoided left the plot thread that the Vorlons do indeed have what is sought dangling.

[Wargriffin]

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I can't fight it


youtu.be/AGvxoWytMig

I see you, and raise you:


youtu.be/luVjkTEIoJc

on Second thought... lets not go to Babylon 5 tis a silly place.

[RobbyB1982]

JMS's official take on the destruction of station makes sense to me.

"Neither needless nor useless. It was built cheapest of all the stations, and it takes a lot of money to maintain it. With trade routes now going around it, there isn't enough income to support it. So do you leave it intact, for others to occupy or raid for weapons systems and other systems too difficult to yank out? Or take it out, the same way we implode buildings now?"

Less about it being a hazard in the vastness of space, and more that it could be occupied. Dated tech, sure, but weapons and huge facilities all the same.

And the cost to move it anywhere or drag it through a gate would have been ridiculous and likely impossible, so...

[Admiral X]

Yeah, but why not take it apart and salvage the materials?

[Robovski]

Why not crash it into the planet then? Or the star it is orbiting?

[ORCACommander]

once you have reached interstellar construction and exploitation there is no material scarcity anymore so salvaging it is pointless unless you are an outlaw looking to get military grade systems untraceably even if they are out of date.

Deorbiting into the planet is economically feasible but you would still be dropping a live fusion reactor onto the planet and even if the reactor does not loose containment you could have viable salvage. As for the star that would be economically wasteful compared to overloading its own fusion reactor

[Archanubis]

Why not crash it into the planet then? Or the star it is orbiting?

You mean the planet that's home to what basically amounts to a highly advanced tech center and weapons platform run by someone who is more than willing to use said weapons?

[J!!]

Why not crash it into the planet then?

I'm sure Draal would appreciate that. Do the Zaathras's not have enough work to do without having to clean up 500000000 tons of debris as well?

[Robovski]

Planets aren't tiny places, and the planet is basically uninhabited. A controlled deorbit to drop it on the far side shouldn't be a problem.