Episode 3.16: War Without End (Part 1)

It doesn't even seem fair to analyze this one without analyzing Part 2 at the same time. Babylon 5 has done a lot of de facto multi-part episodes, but they were still individual episodes that told a complete story. This is the first official multi-part episode, and it literally ends halfway through a scene where the characters make plans and then run off in separate directions to carry them out. I want to talk about how the time travel elements set up in BABYLON SQUARED are not paying off the way I wanted them to, but I've only seen half the episode so maybe they totally are? I don't know.

What I CAN talk about is Sinclair, and holy crap is it good to have him back again. Even looking weirdly younger than he used to (I assume as an artifact of his mental health and corresponding treatment), he has a sense of gravitas and leadership that Sheridan, as much as I love him, simply doesn't have. When he walks into the room, you can tell he's in charge. The moment when Sheridan disappears and Sinclair takes over and sits in the White Star's captain's chair is just so right. I assume this two-parter is the last we're going to see of him, as he'll end up sacrificing himself in Part 2 to bring Sheridan back from the Emperor Londo future, but however he goes out, it'll almost certainly be permanent this time.

Speaking of beloved characters returning, Zathras is back! And I'm not 100% convinced that the time travel wonkiness is all going to resolve satisfactorily, but I have to admit that the "You are not the One" thing looks like it's going to be beautifully retconned to be a comment about Sheridan, and I have to give props to JMS for pulling that off. There's no way that could have been planned from the beginning, but if it goes the way I think it's going to go they will have pulled off a pretty impressive continuity miracle. We'll see.

On the other hand, the episode is relying once again on some pretty clunky black-and-white flashbacks, and I have to believe there was a better way to do that. The two they used in this episode worked better than the ones they used in INTERLUDES AND EXAMINATIONS, but together they set the worrying precedent that the show is going to start using them as a crutch every time it wants to pay off an old storyline. Maybe this is the show's way of saying "look! We set this up two whole years ago, and here are all the receipts to prove it!" I'd rather that they just tell an effective story, but on the other hand I'm binge-watching the series over the course of a few months, and people watching the original run might very well have needed the reminders.

In the end, even without seeing the rest of the episode, we can be happy for a number of things:
1) Draal is active in this episode but never appears or speaks. Woohoo!
2) Marcus is here for some reason but never does anything important and can mostly be ignored.
3) Sinclair Back-To-The-Futured himself a letter! The letter's definitely from him, right? That's why they call him Ranger One even though the Rangers are (apparently) 900 years old?
4) Old Emperor Londo is full of rage and vengeance, which is the only kind of Londo I ever enjoy.
5) Sinclair sent Garibaldi a message! They've been friends for way too long for the writers to have let that one slide through the cracks.
6) Hooray time travel shenanigans. We'll see if they can pull it off in Part 2.

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  2. Well I believe they call him Ranger One because he is in charge of the Rangers. Which of course raises the question, are they ALL numbered?

    When Marcus delivers official Ranger reports does he go "Ranger 6451 reporting in"

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