Babylon 5: The Lost Tales

Babylon 5: The Lost Tales is the first of the iconic series from the 1990s in a number of years. It represents a kind of innovation as it is a direct to DVD movie consisting of two interrelated stories set in the universe created by J. Michael Straczynski fifteen or so years ago.

The original series often depicted huge space battles and the destruction of entire planets in a story arc that depicted the struggle between not so much good and evil as order and chaos. Babylon 5 was a lonely city floating in neutral space between a number of interstellar empires, including that of Earth. It was a place where various alien races met, made deals, and occasionally fought. Babylon 5 was a place where mysteries slowly unfolded and was the intersection of events that shaped the galaxy.

Babylon 5: The Lost Tales takes place nine years after the Great Shadow War and the campaign to overthrow the tyranny of Earth President Clark. Babylon 5 is still a place of mystery and danger, but is prospering under the enlightened command of Earth Force Colonel Elizabeth Lochley, played by Tracey Scoggins.

In the first story Colonel Lochley has a problem with a hapless maintenance worker that seems to be of the sort that only be addressed by a Roman Catholic priest. Along the way there is some interesting philosophical ruminations about the nature of religion in a star faring society. I did not agree with all of those ruminations, but they were worth considering nevertheless.

The second story starts when President John Sheridan, played by Bruce Boxleitner, is headed for Babylon 5 for the celebration of the tenth anniversary of the Interstellar Alliance. There's an amusing vignette with a reporter, followed by a surprise visit by Galen, the technomage played by Peter Woodward.