If there had been a Sixth Season...?

[Icarus]

Okay, so I know that Babylon 5 was always planned and was always intended to be a five-year story but what do you think would have happened if there had been a Sixth Season? If the show had extended into a sixth year, and maybe beyond what would you have liked to see / what do you think we would have seen?

Personally, if it had happened I think the Telepath War would have/should have been explored in the arc. What about everybody else's speculations???

Icarus

 

[vacantlook]

I don't know if it could be worked into a episodic tv show, might would work better as a miniseries instead, but I've always been intrigued by the journey of G'Kar and Lyta.

 

[MOmega]

There is always an enemy or threat to fight with? Drakhs, Telepaths...

 

[PillowRock]

Personally, if it had happened I think the Telepath War would have/should have been explored in the arc.

So, would be expecting sixth season to skip ahead 2 years? Or are you talking about the eighth season?

Lyta and G'Kar plan to be gone for 2 years. Lyta told Garibaldi to have that force etc. ready for her when she got back at that time. That's when the Telepath War figures to happen.

 

[Mike G]

In a way we sort of already know. The Legions of Fire (Centauri) trilogy covers what would happen with the Centauri arc, We know what happens with the Drak from A Call To Arms and Crusade (somewhat), the Telepath War is still an unknown, but not really something that would have been presented in the show most likely. From Sleeping in Light we know who lives and who dies. River of souls also gives us some insight into life on the station after Sheridan and Garibaldi leave.

 

[Ninja_Squirrel]

I agree about the travels of G'Kar & Lyta. That would have been interesting. We already got a little glimpse of it in one of the magazine short stories.

Granted, it would not have been as interesting on an epic scale as with the original B5 core group, but I still would like to know what that sixth year would have been like with the "torch" having been passed to Lochley, Zack, Corwin, Tessa (Number One) Halloran, Dr. Hobbs, and best of all, Vir & Ta'Lon.

Vir was always a treat. For someone who was just in a few episodes, I came to admire Ta'Lon very quickly, and the way the "torch" was personally passed to him in G'Kar's message was really dramatic, in a quiet sort of way.

This would probably take far longer than just one extra season (if not one extra century), but it would have been interesting to see the growth of the former League worlds. I can't help but wonder if one of the minor races would have risen to be a more "medium" status. Maybe with the Vorlons gone and the Centauri in isolation, maybe two races would have risen to fill the space in the next "Big 5". Despite acting like dufuses at times, I think the Drazi problaby had the best chance at that, with the Brakiri coming in second.

Other things that may have been interesting in a sixth season:
More about Epsilon 3 & The Great Machine
The rebuilding of Narn
Medical discoveries of Dr. Franklin
Another promotion for Lt. Corwin
The birth of David Sheridan
Maybe some big secret left behind on the Markab homeworld
Sharing of technology among Alliance worlds (especially Earth)
More about the new Warlock class ships and the Excalibur project
A reappearance of Captain Susan Ivanova and/or Marcus Cole
Tessa's further development of a Covert Intelligence branch
A romance between Zack Allen & Dr. Lillian Hobbs (okay, maybe not)

 

[vacantlook]

I agree, I think the Brakiri would step up to be a more influential race. They contributed a whole lot of ships to Sheridan's fleet. I've always felt a little minor disappointment at never actually getting to see one of those cool huge Brakiri ships shoot at something. Perhaps the Vree would have become more influential as well. They contributed a large quantity of ships to Sheridan's fleet too.

As for the Warlock class ships, since Ivanova ended up as the Captain of one of them, it would be pretty cool to see her come to Babylon 5 with her ship for some reason or another.

 

[PillowRock]

As for the Warlock class ships, since Ivanova ended up as the Captain of one of them, it would be pretty cool to see her come to Babylon 5 with her ship for some reason or another.

Wasn't that the subject of another of the short stories?

 

[vacantlook]

I don't know; I haven't read any of the short stories and honestly wouldn't know how to get ahold of a copy of them in order to do so.

 

[KoshFan]

This would probably take far longer than just one extra season (if not one extra century), but it would have been interesting to see the growth of the former League worlds. I can't help but wonder if one of the minor races would have risen to be a more "medium" status. Maybe with the Vorlons gone and the Centauri in isolation, maybe two races would have risen to fill the space in the next "Big 5". Despite acting like dufuses at times, I think the Drazi problaby had the best chance at that, with the Brakiri coming in second.

The Minbari would clearly be in ascendancy -- oldest of the younger races, and the ones with the best understanding of the leftover Vorlon technology. And I agree with you that the Drazi and the Brakiri would emerge as major powers themselves, with the Drazi being somewhat similar to the Narns as they originally were.

Who else?

The Humans clearly have a destiny. But the Humans have fractured, in a way: Mars, Proxima 3, and other colonies have broken away, while Earth still harbors many people who followed Clark. The Great Burn in "Deconstruction" indicates that Humans were fundamentally split five hundred years out. The Humans most closely allied with the Minbari would probably flourish, but if the species is so fundamentally divided, then could Humans truly be called one of the major powers?

And finally the Narns. The Narns will undoubtably try to recover their former position, but they have been blasted back to bedrock. And G'Kar's teachings will probably make at least some of them rethink their priorities. I don't think that the Narns will be major players for a while -- and as JMS says, they never make it to the status that Humans and Minbari eventually achieve. "They are a dying people."

My power rankings:

Minbari
Earth-based Humans
Drazi
Brakiri
Narns
Space-based Humans
Everyone else


Also, I agree with you: more Ta'Lon would be wonderful.

 

[Jannie]

... Perhaps would have resembled this :
http://www.telusplanet.net/public/dgolding/vs6/VS6.htm
It is a really good set of fanfic (if you like it) , Enjoyt it!! .

 

[RW7427]

If I could write a 6th season, I'd have it take place a little into the future, not right in 2263. I'd try to find a way to incorporate the Lengend of the Rangers story and the Crusade story into it somehow, like having Gideon's crew and Martel's crew meet with Sheridan, Delenn, and Lochley on B5.

 

[skyace]

sadly, earth-based humans are canned. based on the NUMEROUS problems that earth-culture had based on JMS' writing, I'd say that earth needs a reboot.

(which is what it's probably getting with the Great Burn)

earth would only become a major power after a dramatic change in earth culture/government/politics/societal beliefs. (a key societal belief like..."no human shall kill another human")

maybe having nearly 100% of the population with telepathic abilities would be enough to reduce the extremely fatal amount of corruption, arrogance, hatred, lack of respect for life, etc.

er, the point is, earth-based humans won't be a major power for a while.

 

[vacantlook]

maybe having nearly 100% of the population with telepathic abilities would be enough to reduce the extremely fatal amount of corruption, arrogance, hatred, lack of respect for life, etc.

You know, I actually really like this point. Despite the eventually option for difference in approach to the problem that the division between Byron and some of his followers over the concept of approaching their fight in a pacifistic manner as opposed to being violent, Byron's group was a one that on the whole got along with each other exceptionally well. If that connection was extended to all of humanity along with a do not kill or a do not harm another belief, then Humans would be a much greater force in the galaxy.

 

[grumbler]

Not sure I agree. The strength of humans in the B5 universe comes from their ability to form communities of diverse elements. A psi-based human race would have the directions determined by the ones with the strongest psi-powers, not those with the best ideas (look to the unimaginative Psicorps for that effect). Humans were so successful interacting with the other aliens because they had to handle interpersonal relationships "the hard way" which meant that empathy was based on training and experience, not on psi ability.

I think a psi-based human race would become introverted like the Vorlons and Shadows, both of whom relied exclusively on the superiority of their technology for their impact on the universe. Had they been middling-tech power like the EA, no one would have paid them any particular attention, as their "personalities" were nil to anyone but themselves.

Note that the Minbari were successful interstellar powers while being middling tech-wise, and they were not mostly telepaths.

 

[skyace]

Not sure I agree. The strength of humans in the B5 universe comes from their ability to form communities of diverse elements. A psi-based human race would have the directions determined by the ones with the strongest psi-powers, not those with the best ideas (look to the unimaginative Psicorps for that effect). Humans were so successful interacting with the other aliens because they had to handle interpersonal relationships "the hard way" which meant that empathy was based on training and experience, not on psi ability.

I think a psi-based human race would become introverted like the Vorlons and Shadows, both of whom relied exclusively on the superiority of their technology for their impact on the universe. Had they been middling-tech power like the EA, no one would have paid them any particular attention, as their "personalities" were nil to anyone but themselves.

Note that the Minbari were successful interstellar powers while being middling tech-wise, and they were not mostly telepaths.

well. its one of those um love/hate things or something.

i agree with you that a 100% telepathic humanity could be a bad thing.

my point about the telepathic stuff was merely to venture a possible change; i understand why a rigid society is bad (kinda like the Minbari even though they are way cool) so if there were someway for humans to say...cut general corruption and associated destructive stuff in half then sigh.

I don't like the things that JMS has happening to humans/Earth in B5 but I haven't thought of a better method for change. =( If you reduce corruption or violence then progress, initiative, and evolution (which is slower than molasses atm) would take longer than it does, which is worse in the long run.

 

[vacantlook]

A psi-based human race would have the directions determined by the ones with the strongest psi-powers, not those with the best ideas (look to the unimaginative Psicorps for that effect).

The PsiCorps is only one means of social construct for telepaths we've seen. There's no reason to assume that a human race of all telepaths would organize themselves to be such that only the strongest teep would lead.

 

[Truth_Seeker]

If there was a sixth season happening in 2263 this is how I imagine it:

-Vir would find out that Londo is under the control of the Drakh and he would start a resistence movement against them
-Garibaldi would use his contacts as a former Head Of Covert Operations for the Interstellar Alliance to gather information about the illegal activities of Bester and the Psi Corps which would lead to a trial.
-Lita and G'Kar would find a deserted planet which would become a colony of rogue telepaths and narns,financed by the Narn government in exchange for telepathic genes
-Sheridan and Delenn would continue expanding the Alliance including some new races and resolving problems among the older members
-Lennier would save Sheridan and Delenn from a conspiracy against them and Sheridan would forgive him.Lennier would become a Ranger again.
-Dr.Franklin would find a way to free the telepaths used by the Shadows.This would encourage Vir to organize an assault on the Royal Palace Of Centauri Prime, kidnap Londo and take him back to Babylon 5 where Franklin would figure out that the Drakh keeper uses the same Shadow technology as the devices in the brains of the telepaths.After a lot of experiments Londo is freed from the keeper.

If anyone has other ideas we could really make a great script although I don,t think that there will be any more seasons of the show.

 

[WarpPig]

Wasn't that the subject of another of the short stories?

It was. It also dealt with the fate of Kosh 2's ship. Basically, the Warlocks include some shadow tech, which was playing havoc with Ivanova's telepathy. She brings her ship to B5, where Kosh's ship is placed on board. The Vorlon ship is able to 'switch off' the shadow devices, so if the shadowtech is ever turned against the alliance, at least one of the Warlocks will be on their side.