Babylon 5, what order for movies & miniseries?

Henry · January 7th 11, 05:58

I'm renting B5 from Netflix and I want to watch the series and specials in the proper order--the order they were broadcast in. Is this the right sequence?

The Gathering. (pilot)
Season 1.
Season 2.
Call to Arms.
Season 3.
Season 4.
River of Souls
Thirdspace
Season 5.
Ledgend of the Rangers
Crusade pilot (name?)
Crusade season 1.
Lost Tales.

Demonn · January 7th 11, 06:30

Watch In the Beginning first... it's set during the Earth/Minabri war and sets up the show perfectly. It's weird going from that to watching The Gathering though. Just keep in mind that The Gathering came first so a lot of the stuff in the episode was changed... ahh, pilots.

So yeah...

In the Beginning
The Gathering
Season 1
Season 2
Season 3

Thirsdspace takes place between Season 3 & 4 I believe. I know it's definitly not between 2 & 3, or 4 & 5 so that's what's left.

Season 4

Don't let the last ep of Season 4 throw you off... there's still more to come.

Season 5

The River of Souls
A Call to Arms

Crusade

Legend of the Rangers

& then finally...

Lost Tales

Enjoy the show... I have it all on DVD and I still get bored on Netflix sometimes & watch an ep... They need more stuff, good stuff, but then they have B5 so I will refrain from complaining.

Demonn · January 7th 11, 06:36

& I guess the movie collection isn't available to watch on Instant...

Bester · January 7th 11, 11:13

I would strongly advise against watching In the Beginning first, as it spoils many of the surprises of the series. Instead, I would advise:

The Gathering
Season 1
Season 2
Season 3
Season 4
In the Beginning
Thirdspace
Season 5
River of Souls
A Call to Arms
Crusade
Legend of the Rangers
The Lost Tales

Basically, I would advise watching the series in the order it was produced, regardless of the chronological story aspects. This is the best way to retain the surprises and twists.

rjb · January 7th 11, 13:42

I agree with Bester's order, with a couple of differences - see below - and also agree with his strong recommendation not to watch "In the Beginning" until much later - between series 4 and 5 works (when it was made, in fact) - for the reason he said: it spoils many aspects of the ongoing series, otherwise.

The differences:
(1) The film "Thirdspace" slots in, chronologically *, after episode 8 of series 4 ("The Illusion of Truth"), though because it was made at the end of series 4 there is no reference to it in the remainder of series 4 after episode 8 (which would seem strange, as it's about a `significant` event).

(2) Chronologically, "The Legend of the Rangers" comes before "A Call to Arms" (though it was made later).

(3) If you really wanted to be chronological about your watching (some do, some don't), you'd save the very last episode of all (the last of series 5), "Sleeping in Light", until after everything else, including "Crusade" and "The Lost Tales".

(* Strictly speaking, the film "Thirdspace" fits, chronologically, after the first act/teaser of episode 9 in series 4 (a certain person's new uniform fitting) and before the rest of that episode, but that might be taking the desire to watch things chronologically a bit too far

.)

Demonn · January 7th 11, 15:13

One can never take B5 too far...

Sindatur · January 7th 11, 16:22

This is pretty thoroughly debated in the FAQ sub-Forum

In short, regarding In The Beginning, my opinion is, if you haven't seen the series in full before, it should indeed be viewed later. however, if you have already seen the series, and know all the twists and turns and reveals the series takes, it does make a Fantastic opening episode, laying out a bigger piece of Chronological history than the Gathering.

RW7427 · January 8th 11, 01:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by Demonn

One can never take B5 too far...

Agreed!

Sinclair · January 13th 11, 12:37

I am moving this thread to the FAQ forum.

Am I actually performing a moderating duty!?!

Demonn · January 14th 11, 00:54

Get that man a cookie!