Babylon 5 - Episodics (#317)
"War Without End, Part 2"

Written by J. Michael Straczynski, directed by Mike Vejar

17 years into the future, Sheridan confronts emperor Londo Mollari, who throws him in a Centauri prison cell, where he's reunited with an older Delenn. On Babylon 4, Ivanova creates a hull breach, prompting a station evacuation. In the future, Sheridan and Delenn are brought before Londo, who reveals a parasitic creature rendered unconscious by, alcohol. Before it awakens, he frees his captives, and is then joined by an old G'Kar. The two old enemies strangle each other, and are found by Vir, who picks up the emperor's seal. Sheridan reappears on B4 and helps Sinclair prepare the station to be moved back through time, but a power surge pushes B4 forward, aging Sinclair prematurely. Zathras is captured, as the younger versions of Sinclair and Garibaldi arrive on the station and history repeats itself. Sinclair tells the others it's his destiny to take B4 back in time, and he and Zathras stay behind as the others return to the Whitestar. The station travels into the past, and Sinclair uses the triluminary to transform himself into the Minbari leader, Valen.

With the second part of the ambitious 'War Without End, Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski managed to tie up plot threads that had been dangling for three seasons. He also asked as many new questions as he just answered, from the mystery woman seen in Delenn's flash forward, to the creature seen on Londo's shoulder and the revelation about Sheridan and Delenn's child. Director Mike Vejar had the massive responsibility of handling the complex, two-part story, which constant- ly jumped backward and forward in time. Vejar tried to give each time period its own unique look in terms of lighting and different lenses. Vejar also had to match up with scenes from the first-season episode, 'Babylon Squared.' That posed its own production problems, in terms of booking original actors, Kent Broadhurst (who played Major Krantz) and Tim Choate (reprising his role as the eccentric alien, Zathras). Another personality making his B5 cameo was the legendary DJ, Bruce ('Cousin Brucie') Morrow as Babylon 4's first officer. For Michael O'Hare, 'War Without End' presented its own unique challenges, appearing as Jeffrey Sinclair, and in the final scene, as the Minbari leader, Valen.

Joe Nazzaro


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