Written by J. Michael Straczynski
Directed by David J. Eagle

Everything in the series so far has been leading up to this moment. The “severed dreams” are the dreams of peace in the galaxy. With the events back on Earth, everyone has to choose what they will do. Will they knuckle under to an illegal fascist takeover of Earth Government? Or will they fight?

The EarthForce ship, Alexander, is being fired upon. Major Ryan (Bruce McGill), the commander, doesn’t want to open fire on other EarthForce vessels, but is forced to and destroys the Clarkstown. He laments that this war means they know everyone they are killing. They set a course for Babylon 5 to make repairs.

Captain Sheridan (Bruce Boxleitner) tells Security Chief Garibaldi (Jerry Doyle) and Commander Ivanova (Claudia Christian) that the Alexander is on the way. Since the Alexander is in rebellion against Earth Government, its presence will label them as traitors. Sheridan plans to shut down outgoing communications once it arrives. When it arrives, he tells any of the Command staff who have a problem with giving aid to the Alexander can leave the command deck. He states that giving them aid is a matter of humanity.

The Minbari Ambassador Delenn (Mira Furlan) and her aide, Lennier (Bill Mumy), bring aboard a Minbari spy who was gathering intelligence among the league worlds and has bounty hunters after him. When he awakens in Medlab, he tells them that the Shadows have made alliances among the nonaligned worlds and set them to war against each other to create chaos.

Major Ryan tells Sheridan, Ivanova, Dr. Franklin (Richard Biggs), and Garibaldi that General Hague was killed in the firefight with the Clarkstown. He tells them the only hope is that the Mars Colony has rejected Martial Law. Ivanova is surprised that EarthForce is going along with President Clark. Ryan tells them he has spent the past year putting his own people in strategic positions. If anyone does raise objections, they are arrested for treason. Sound familiar? While they are talking, they receive word that EarthForce has begun bombing Mars Colony.

ISN is broadcasting out of Geneva. One of the reporters bravely goes on air to communicate what’s really happening, and then ISN is taken off the air. Some of the other colonies begin breaking away from the Earth Government. They also receive word that EarthForce is on its way to seize control of Babylon 5 and arrest the command staff. Sheridan tells his staff it’s time to make a choice. They all agree to fight.

Delenn goes back to Minbar to meet with the Grey Council. She is told they will not meet with her, but she pushes into the chamber anyway. She accuses them of ignoring what was happening until it was too late. The Shadows have set worlds fighting against each other as a way of creating chaos for them to move in. She urges them to fight, and some of the Council Members leave with her.

Sheridan calls home to talk to his parents. His father (Rance Howard) is home, and he reassures Sheridan that they will be fine, and he knows that John will do the right thing.

Sheridan reads a speech in which he declares that what President Clark has done to Mars Colony and what it intends to do to Babylon 5 is unconstitutional. The colonies Orion 7 and Proxima 3 have also broken away from Earth, and he announces that so has Babylon 5, until President Clark is removed from office. Anyone who doesn’t want to be a part of it is free to leave.

Ivanova asks to be allowed to join the Starfury Squadron. Sheridan hesitates at first, then allows her to accompany them. The Agrippa comes through the jumpgate with other ships and demands that they all surrender. Sheridan states the orders are illegal, and they will defend themselves if they attempt to carry out those orders. He orders everyone not to fire the first shot. He will not start the fight, but he will finish it if they are fired upon.

Earth Alliance fires on the station and the Starfuries for the upcoming battle. There are pods filled with an invasion force sent to the hull of Babylon 5. Garibaldi and his security team, including the Narn, fight them off. The Alexander joins the battle defending Babylon 5. Just as the battle is winding down, more EarthForce ships show up and demand that Babylon 5 surrender. Just then, Delenn arrives with Minbari ships and tells them to go away.

The battle was won, but the cost in lives is staggering. Sheridan manages to replenish his Starfuries from one of the ships that was destroyed. Major Ryan wants to leave to find other ships that are aligned with them. Sheridan shows his gratitude to Delenn for showing up when she did. Ivanova brings Sheridan onto the promenade, where those who are on their side give him a round of applause.

At this point, I want to scream at people to go watch this show. When I first viewed it, the impression was that I was seeing the galaxy similar to events leading up to World War II. Now it feels like this was written based on events in the United States over the past decade. The way their broadcast media has been manipulated not to tell the masses the truth about what’s been happening is all too similar to the current corporate takeover of the media to silence dissent. Anyone who doubts that what’s happening in the US hasn’t happened before can look to this show, written in the early 1990s, and see the parallels to what’s going on today. It’s nothing new. It’s the fascist playbook.

This episode does a great job of showing the conflict within Sheridan. He’s been a soldier his entire life, but he knows that what he signed on to protect is being usurped by President Clark and those he has put into positions where they are useful to him. The same way, the checks and balances in the US Constitution are no longer effective because the people who swore to uphold what it said are now ignoring the rule of law because ignoring it benefits them. Bruce Boxleitner is the least stiff I’ve seen him in this episode. It worked before, as he had a military background and was something of a fish out of water when he was thrust into command of Babylon 5.

Likewise, the deepening friendship between Sheridan and Delenn is beginning to take on new meaning. She has his back in every way possible. There is nice chemistry and respect between Boxleitner and Mira Furlan. Both have sacrificed to get to this point, and they are being drawn together more and more.

The story advances in a logical way. Ever since the truth was uncovered about President Clark being behind the death of President Santiago, this moment was coming. Strazynski did a great job demonstrating how the command staff was reluctant to go down this road until they felt they were forced to. The actors do a great job conveying this reluctance as well. Even as Ivanova is asking to be part of the battle, it’s because of the loyalty she feels to the men and women they are asking to go into battle against people they might know, not because she enjoys the battle. She doesn’t feel comfortable asking others to do something that she wouldn’t do.

The space battle scenes are so worth watching on the new remastered Blu-ray or any streaming services that carry this version. Where there was blurriness and bleeding from the 1990s CGI, everything is now crisp and stunning. There are still some moments where it’s obvious that I’m watching something CGI, but it’s so much better than what I used to see on my DVDs.

As an aside, it’s a shame Stephen Furst doesn’t appear in this episode. He and Bruce McGill were in the movie Animal House together, and it would have been funny to give them a moment where they think they know each other from somewhere.

It’s hard reviewing Babylon 5 now. Maybe I would have been better off reviewing it years ago, since it didn’t seem as prescient. I just can’t ignore the parallels between a fictional television show from the 1990s and what I see happening today. Since I don’t believe J. Michael Straczynski is a time traveler, the only explanation is that it is nothing new. We have seen this before, and we will survive it as a species. Meanwhile, let’s blow up a few spaceships.

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