Babylon 5’s biggest, most explosive battles
Pa Joshua Tyler
| Published
Sci-fi movies and TV shows are filled with great space battles, but rarely do you see the realism of them. There are a few recent exceptions. Space impressed audiences with its realistic portrayal of future space battles. 2000s Battlestar Galactica used fundamental Newtonian physics to make some of the most incredible space scenes ever captured on screen.
Long before any of these shows, one science fiction the series updated large-scale, more scientifically accurate space battles with new technology that exceeded anything seen before. The show was also the first ever to use CGI on television. It changed everything about how science fiction was created.
You’re about to find out what happens when the last best hope for peace fails. These are the best space battles Babylon 5arranged in order from greatest to greatest.
4. Battle of Proxima 3 (No Surrender No Retreat Season 4)
With the Shadow War over, Babylon 5 Captain John Sheridan can turn his attention to dealing with Earth. This is bad news for President Clark, a corrupt totalitarian dictator who has come to power. Clark orders Earth ships to begin attacking civilian targets, and Sheridan can’t let it happen.
A fleet of 6 Omega-class destroyers, led by Captain Trevor Hall aboard the EAS Heracles, is ordered to blockade Proxima 3, a human colony that has broken away from Earth. Sheridan decides this is where he wants to make a statement.
The an alien allies who aided Sheridan during the Shadow War signed neutrality treaties and would not participate. Sheridan moves on Proxima with the White Star fleet and all the fighters he can find.
The battle does not begin immediately. This is an Earth-on-Earth conflict, and neither side is out to kill their brothers and sisters. Sheridan asks the other side to come over, offering them amnesty, offering them anything if they stop supporting the corrupt Earth government.
Captain Hall answers and is not interested in Sheridan’s speeches. He is loyal to Clark, and while some of the other ships accept Sheridan’s offer, Hall launches an attack.
Earth’s forces are no match for Sheridan’s White Star fleet, and with the support of Babylon 5’s fighter squadrons, it is clear that Hall cannot win. Hall refuses to give up, intending to fight to the last, but his team riots. They surrender and the battle is over.
3. Liberation of the Earth (Season 4 Endgame)
From the beginning, the Earth Alliance Civil War loomed large in the background of everything that was happening in Babylon 5. It ends here.
To set the right tone, Captain John Sheridan hands over his command to the earthship EAS Agamemnon. Agamemnon was his previous command before he was transported to Babylon 5.
He encounters a fleet of 36 Earth destroyers over Mars led by General Leftcourt, a man loyal to Earth’s corrupt President Clark. Sheridan is ready for them. For weeks, he ferried Shadow-modified telepaths aboard Earth ships.
Sheridan launches a diversion by attacking planetary bases with his White Stars. He orders the telepath Lyta to activate the telepaths smuggled aboard the Earth ships. They awaken, disabling most of Earth’s destroyers. The remaining 10 ships are out of commission by the White Star fleet.
Things seem to be going well at the moment, but that will change soon. Earth is surrounded by a series of defense platforms, and realizing that it’s all over, President Clark decides to turn them on his planet. The battle becomes a race against time to destroy the platforms before they wipe out the Earth’s population.
Meanwhile, the other alien races that supported Sheridan during the Shadow War stayed out of the fray at Sheridan’s request. Although they have never intervened in human conflict before, G’Kar and Londa are determined to support their human friends. They had previously convinced the others in Sheridan’s Alliance of Light to form up and go to help.
Everyone comes to Earth. Sheridan and the White Stars. Ships of earth allies. The Minbari, the Centaurs, the Narns, and the Non-Aligned League. Every race in the galaxy arrives with one common goal: save the Earth.
They attack Earth’s defense platforms in a desperate attempt to save the planet. It works, but too slow. Sheridan’s ship, the Agamemnon, is damaged and its weapon systems disabled. There’s one platform left, and it’s about to shoot across the planet. Sheridan orders an increase in speed and sends his ship and its crew to their deaths.
That’s when, at the very last second, General Leftcourt arrives. He repaired his ship and after hearing what Clark had done, he decides to go to the other side. A former enemy teams up with Sheridan in one final battle to save the human race, and the last platform is destroyed.
The land is released. Clark commits suicide. The civil war is over.
2. Battle of Corian VI (On Fire Season 4)
The shadow war rages on. To combat the threat of the Shadows, Babylon 5’s Captain Sheridan formed the Alliance of Light, consisting of forces from Narn, Minbar, and the smaller unaligned worlds of the galaxy.
The Vorlons, whom they thought were their allies, turned out to be villains no different from the Shadows. They destroy entire planets to destroy all Shadow influence. Not getting along.
All this leads to a densely populated planet called Coriana VI. Sheridan lures Shadow and Vorlon forces to this location.
Until now, the two elder races had avoided warring with each other. Instead, they use others as pawns in an eternal argument against each other. Sheridan’s plan is to force the Vorlons and Shadows to clash, even though he knows his forces will be caught in the middle.
He has an ace in the field. The Vorlons and Shadows aren’t the only Elder Races left in the Galaxy. Sheridan sends Ivanov to recruit the last remnants of the other First. Whether they will appear on call is unknown.
The battle begins. The Shadows and the Vorlons fall into Sherdian’s trap. The ancient enemies are so laser-focused on each other that the two megapowers ignore Sheridan’s vastly inferior Army of Light.
Refusing to be ignored, Sheridan attacks using the mined asteroids as a trap. Now the Vorlons and Shadows are furious. They turn to fight the Army of Light.
The battle quickly turns into a huge fiery ball of destruction as the three fleets tear each other to shreds. All is not well in the Army of Light; they are destroyed. Sheridan calls for help, and then the First Ones show up. They only bring one ship each, but one ship is enough.
There are now four fleets involved instead of three, and the battle becomes even more chaotic. The first to destroy the Vorlon planet killer, saving Corianna VI.
The shadows envelop Sheridan’s fleet in a cloud of death, ending the battle. Both the Vorlons and the Shadows appear before Sheridan and Delenn, demanding that they choose one of their sides. Babylon 5’s power couple refuses.
Enraged, the Shadows begin firing missiles at Sheridan’s command ship, the White Star 2. Each time they do so, the Light Alliance ships throw themselves in the path of the missiles, sacrificing themselves to save their leaders.
Driven by Sheridan and his men’s decision to commit suicide rather than choose a side, the Vorlons and Shadows surrender. The eldest of the First, Lorien, convinces them to leave the Galaxy and move on. The Shadow War is finally over.
1. Battle of Babylon 5 (Shattered Dreams Season 3)
Battle for Babylon 5 is something the series has been building towards for three seasons. We have watched as the Earth government, to which the Babylon 5 crew answers, has become increasingly authoritarian and corrupt.
Sometimes the signs of the decay of earth’s government lurk in the background. Sometimes they were at the center of the story. It happened gradually. We know it, and the Babylon 5 crew knows it.
Captain Sheridan tried to remain neutral, but it would not last. In the season 3 episode “Shattered Dreams”, he is forced to take a stand. Such a position leads to immediate conflict.
The corrupt president of Earth has ordered the Earthforce fleet to attack and destroy the ships of those not loyal to his regime. One of these ships, an Omega-class destroyer named EAS Alexander, is forced to fight back. Hunted and on the run, the ship’s commander, Ed Ryan, realizes that he and his crew have only one place of refuge left. This place is Babylon 5.
The Alexander and another Omega-class destroyer, the Churchill, soon arrive at Babylon 5. Sheridan is ordered to surrender them or face the government and the planet he’s sworn to protect. Sheridan and his team decided to fight.
He declares the independence of Babylon 5 and prepares for battle. Earth sends a task force to throw him and everyone who supports him in prison. A battle ensues.
The attack task force consists of two Omega-class destroyers and two Hyperion-class heavy cruisers. Babylon 5 has its own defense network, its own fighters and two Omega-class destroyers.
Sheridan and his captains hesitate to fire on other Earth ships. Until recently, the people on board the enemy ships were friends and colleagues. Their opponents aren’t that interested in being contained, and so the battle begins.
Babylon 5 launches its fighters and activates the defense grid. The station and its allies fire back. Explosions everywhere. The enemy launches breakout pods that begin dropping troops onto the station to capture it. “Babylon-5” is ready to repel the bartyrants, but the Earth ships outnumber them.
One of Babylon 5’s ships, the Churchill, is severely damaged. Her captain decides to sacrifice himself and his crew by destroying the remaining attacker.
One Omega-class destroyer remains, but Captain Sheridan orders the station to concentrate fire. She is badly damaged and Sheridan asks his commander to surrender. It’s too late and the ship explodes.
The battle is over; Sheridan thinks they survived. It’s not, and they didn’t.
A new jump gate opens and more Earth ships appear. Two more Omega-class destroyers and a Hyperion-class destroyer engage the exhausted Babylon 5. Sheridan and his crew prepare to die.
That’s when the Minbari arrive and Delenn gives what might be the greatest speech in science fiction history.
“Only one human captain has ever survived a battle with a Minbari fleet. He is behind me. You are in front of me. If you value your life, find yourself somewhere else.’
Terrified by the Minbar’s superior ships, Earth’s fleet runs to the jump gate and never returns. Babylon 5’s independence is secured and the battle is over for now.
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