Just Finished My 1st Time Through Series And..

[benisjamin33]

Hello, first time poster, and just recently finished all of the seasons this last couple of weeks. Once I started, I just couldn't stop, and now I am at a point were I want more, but I don't know if I want to watch a TV move if it isn't going to have a majority of the cast and no relevance to the original story. So I was wondering what some people recommendations would be on continuing the B5 story. There were a couple things I was hoping would be resolved in the last episode, and weren't, so I was also wondering if there were any books or TV movies that did address these loose ends that have been bothering me.

1. The Drakh controlling Centauri Prime. We all kind of guessed what happens with the flash forward and such, but is there any more in depth movie/book that better describes what steps were taken in the liberation of the Centauri. Also, if G'kar was off discovering himself, why the hell would he go visit Centauri Prime, missing his new eye, just to kill Londo and himself?

2. The Telepathy war. Litta and Michael had a deal that he would help her a mass cash/supplies to help combat Psi Core, and would, in return, unblock Michael so he could take out Bester. After the flash forward Michael didn't see to have a care in the world, so I am guessing everything went according to plan.

3. Lennier. At first I was happy that Delenn and Sheridan got together, but halfway through season 4 I started routing for the underdog. Delennn played with this poor guys heart, I felt so bad for him when he just jetted off near the end of season 5, claiming he would redeem himself in her eyes. So yeah whatever happened with that? On Wiki, they said he died with Litta after they blew up Psi Core headquarters.

I hope these aren't noob questions, but these loose ends having been bugging the crab out of me, and if there were any books or movies that would give some of these issues closure that would be great.

 

[GaribaldisHair]

Hello, first time poster, and just recently finished all of the seasons this last couple of weeks. Once I started, I just couldn't stop, and now I am at a point were I want more, but I don't know if I want to watch a TV move if it isn't going to have a majority of the cast and no relevance to the original story. So I was wondering what some people recommendations would be on continuing the B5 story. There were a couple things I was hoping would be resolved in the last episode, and weren't, so I was also wondering if there were any books or TV movies that did address these loose ends that have been bothering me.

Welcome to the board.

1. The Drakh controlling Centauri Prime. We all kind of guessed what happens with the flash forward and such, but is there any more in depth movie/book that better describes what steps were taken in the liberation of the Centauri. Also, if G'kar was off discovering himself, why the hell would he go visit Centauri Prime, missing his new eye, just to kill Londo and himself?

The Legions of Fire trilogy fills in a lot of the blank for this story ... but it can be tricky to get hold of all three, I gather.

2. The Telepathy war. Litta and Michael had a deal that he would help her a mass cash/supplies to help combat Psi Core, and would, in return, unblock Michael so he could take out Bester. After the flash forward Michael didn't see to have a care in the world, so I am guessing everything went according to plan.

JMS always planned to use a theatrical movie to tell the story of the telepath war/crisis, if it ever happens. There are some hints of what happened in the Psi Corps trilogy of books, and in Crusade, but the main thrust of the story has not yet been told.

3. Lennier. At first I was happy that Delenn and Sheridan got together, but halfway through season 4 I started routing for the underdog. Delennn played with this poor guys heart, I felt so bad for him when he just jetted off near the end of season 5, claiming he would redeem himself in her eyes. So yeah whatever happened with that? On Wiki, they said he died with Litta after they blew up Psi Core headquarters.

The original plan (as I understand it) was that Lennier and Lyta would appear in the Crusade episode Patterns of the Soul and would be shown to be involved in the bombing of Psi Corps headquarters, and assumed dead as a result of the explosion. However, in practice, they either could not afford or could not come to a deal with Pat Tallman and/or Bill Mumy, so another, anonymous telepath was used in the story instead.

We don't know whether that means JMS has therefore dropped that as the official fate of Lyta and Lennier, but I would think it likely that he will find another way to kill them off should we ever get a movie or other outlet for it in the future.

 

[benisjamin33]

It is tough for me to stay hopefull of the possibility of there being more movies/shows. All the actors are getting older doing their own thing, and it would be really hard to get a lot of the key cast members signed back on. I just finished Call to Arms, last night, and now I got to find/watch the Cursade spin off if I want to find out if Earth survives, but mean while none of the previous loose ends I was hoping would be addressed in the movie, were not. It is just too bad that actors, producers, contracts, big movie corporations, etc. could hold back and limit JMS ability to tell the whole story. It would be nice if there was just a big book telling the story from begining to end, and without leaving anyone out this time.

 

[JoeD80]

Also, if G'kar was off discovering himself, why the hell would he go visit Centauri Prime, missing his new eye, just to kill Londo and himself?

He left the station in 2262. His death was in 2278. He didn't take 16 years to discover himself. My guess is his journey with Lyta ended in about 5 years (there was one short story written by Joe about G'Kar and Lyta on their travels). I believe G'Kar had already been on Centauri Prime for four years or so before the death scene in the books.

The original plan (as I understand it) was that Lennier and Lyta would appear in the Crusade episode Patterns of the Soul and would be shown to be involved in the bombing of Psi Corps headquarters,.

This scene was also at one point planned for the Babylon 5 feature film, according to the partial outline revealed in the Movie Scripts book.

It is just too bad that actors, producers, contracts, big movie corporations, etc. could hold back and limit JMS ability to tell the whole story.

The main story is the five years on the station, and that was told. That's the way Joe wanted to do it. The side stories involving Garibaldi/Bester, Lennier's fate, the occupation of Centauri Prime, etc. are different stories in the same Universe, but they weren't meant to be in the show or anything. Take the Centauri one for example - we can see in Objects at Rest that the Keeper is going to be given to David, and we saw in War Without End that Sheridan & Delenn came to Centauri Prime, likely because of David. The Drakh tells Londo about the fusion bombs around Centauri Prime, and in the flash-forward we see the fires caused by the bombs burning across the planet. The connections are there in the show, even if the details of these side-stories were elsewhere.

 

[benisjamin33]

[/QUOTE]
The main story is the five years on the station, and that was told. That's the way Joe wanted to do it. The side stories involving Garibaldi/Bester, Lennier's fate, the occupation of Centauri Prime, etc. are different stories in the same Universe, but they weren't meant to be in the show or anything. Take the Centauri one for example - we can see in Objects at Rest that the Keeper is going to be given to David, and we saw in War Without End that Sheridan & Delenn came to Centauri Prime, likely because of David. The Drakh tells Londo about the fusion bombs around Centauri Prime, and in the flash-forward we see the fires caused by the bombs burning across the planet. The connections are there in the show, even if the details of these side-stories were elsewhere.[/QUOTE]

Seasons 1-4, and lil bit of season 5, were some of the best Sci Fi television I have ever seen, and I loved the Vorlons vs the Shadows and everyone else caught inbetween. I just get this feeling that JMS knew there were plenty of people like you and I who loved the show and wanted to see it go on, that he did leave those loose ends untied for the possibilities of spin offs, movies, and books. It is too bad that the spin off and a majority of the movies, maybe not "The Beginning," told different stories instead of addressing the ones that they had. Instead they bring in new problems to solve like the virus that the Dakhr infected Earth with. I just wish that they finished up with their major characters in some individual Sci Fi movies instead of always focusing on Sheridan. We already had closuer with him, Stephen, Ivonva, for the most part Delenn (not the Lienner part of course), and I would also say with Londo as well. Hell if they just wrote a couple books that filled in the gaps about G'Kar and his 16yr gap finding himself and his eventually return to Centurie Prime, Michael and Litta vs Bester, and Lienner would make me satisfied.

 

[vacantlook]

The Drakh dumping the Shadow Virus on Earth was done as a set up to Crusade.

 

[benisjamin33]

The Drakh dumping the Shadow Virus on Earth was done as a set up to Crusade.

I have been debating whether I should watch the 13 episodes of the Crusade. I don't think I would be as invested in the show and that it could take away from the original experience. Also tried watching the first 10mins of the Legend of the Rangers, or whatever it is called and I just get this over acting cheesy feeling.

 

[Jan]

Crusade told some very good stories and had great characters.

I liked Rangers for what it was, too - a pilot for the Sci-Fi channel. I did like the characters quite a bit, too.

Jan

 

[JoeD80]

he did leave those loose ends untied for the possibilities of spin offs, movies, and books.

I think the way some dialogue was written was keeping the sequels/novels in mind, but the idea of having stories beyond the main show was planned. In some of his earliest notes Joe wrote:

Story is future history. Covers only the events of 2258 - 2262. Characters and universe have history before, and history after. We dive in, witness the events of those years, and dive out again at end. Universe goes on.

Hell if they just wrote a couple books that filled in the gaps about G'Kar and his 16yr gap finding himself and his eventually return to Centurie Prime, Michael and Litta vs Bester, and Lienner would make me satisfied.

Pretty much all those were covered in books except for the Lennier one. The Psi Corps trilogy does skip over the telepath war, but goes in to the final chase between Garibaldi and Bester, and the fate of Lyta is mentioned a couple of times. The Centauri trilogy does cover G'Kar once he decides to head to Centauri Prime. The Lennier one would have been in the feature film and/or Crusade, but we can see from "Sleeping in Light" that he died since Delenn toasts him at the dinner.

 

[Alioth]

The Drakh tells Londo about the fusion bombs around Centauri Prime, and in the flash-forward we see the fires caused by the bombs burning across the planet. The connections are there in the show, even if the details of these side-stories were elsewhere.

Well, I just got the Centauri Trilogy (I was actually lucky enough to catch the full set of three on Amazon for a reasonable price under $20, rather than some ridiculous $50+ price for just the third one that I'd seen there before, so I jumped on it) and have read through book 1, so don't give me too many details--but that was from fusion bombs?

I don't know if it's just me, but I always thought the fiery scenes of Centauri Prime in WWE/In the Beginning were rather... underwhelming. Like how a city would look after heavy artillery shelling in a typical "conventional" war, not after intense orbital bombardment or certainly not from fusion bombs, which I'd think would level everything and vaporise much of a several-mile radius, with at least as much power as multi-megaton nuclear warheads. But we saw most buildings still standing for the most part, just on fire.

But yeah, I know Londo said this was the doing of "the Shadows' allies", i.e. the Drakh, and I know that fusion bombs were what they were blackmailing Londo with. Just didn't look, well, all that bad, considering the kind of destruction we've seen in other places and times in the B5 series. Damage like that might have killed several thousand (and made much of the population homeless), not hundreds of millions as their threats (and the supposed force of fusion bombs in each city) seemed to imply.

 

[JoeD80]

The heavy damage was just out of camera range .

 

[RW7427]

The Drakh dumping the Shadow Virus on Earth was done as a set up to Crusade.

I have been debating whether I should watch the 13 episodes of the Crusade. I don't think I would be as invested in the show and that it could take away from the original experience. Also tried watching the first 10mins of the Legend of the Rangers, or whatever it is called and I just get this over acting cheesy feeling.

I have Crusade on DVD (like I have all of B5 on DVD... ) and I must say that I like it. B5 was much better IMO, but every once in a while I like to pop in an ep or two of Crusade, simply because it's a part of the B5 universe.