BPP – The Lost Tales

The Babylon Project Podcast

NOTE: For this special 2-hour episode of the Babylon Project Podcast, we have a brand new intro using narration from the past 6 years of podcasts. It gives us chills so we hope you enjoy it and the rest of our discussion! Also, from now on we will be switching to the first Monday of every month for the next podcast releases as we go through each and every one of the Babylon 5 novels.

Remember we mentioned Call to Arms was our fifth and final movie review? Well, we added The Lost Tales into the mix. So welcome to our sixth and final review of the Babylon 5 movies! Keep in mind, it’s technically not a movie. Instead it’s a collection of two stories JMS intended for the B5 series, and a part of an anthology series. The rest were never produced. Consider them bonus, mini-episodes. This set went straight to DVD on July 31, 2007. The first DVD released should have contained three episodes, however, that plan was reduced to two that we have today, titled “Voices in the Dark: Over Here”; and “Voices in the Dark: Over There”.

An additional note about both tales: given the events we see unfold, it appears the Drakh plague that was released on Earth has been defeated. There’s no mention of it in either story, and it doesn’t seem to be a concern.

Tale 1: “Voices in the Dark: Over Here”.

The best part of this tale may vary well have been the introductory monolog from G’Kar. It warmed our hearts to hear his voice again. The tale features Colonel Elizabeth Lochley, still in command of B5. She’s been promoted to colonel at this point and is now called by her rank, rather than “Captain” as an identifier of her position. Still being Lochley though, there’s no doubt she’s in charge. As the story begins, a member of the B5 crew (Simon Burke) is suddenly and apparently possessed. He’s restrained and confined, and Lochley has called in a priest from Earth (Father Cassidy) to evaluate the situation and conduct an exorcism if necessary.

There are some pretty creepy scenes, but nothing truly scary. The drama builds as Burke’s possessor (a demon identifying itself as Asmodeus) is tag-teamed by Father Cassidy and Lochley, and we hear the demon explain he was cast out into space and left for others to find one day. God’s plan in this was to remind mankind that if the devil exists, then He does too. Now that he’s served his purpose, the insists Father Cassidy cast him out of Burke to remain bound in space. The arguments Asmodeus presents are weak though, and in a eureka moment, Lochley figures out that this demon was trapped on Earth with the others God had cast down during the Fall, possessed Burke while he was on leave back on Earth, then returned with him to B5 to escape. This constitutes what Lochley describes as an “ecclesiastical jailbreak”. Father Cassidy will exercise this demon from Burke, but not on B5. Instead, he’ll return with Burke to Earth and cast Asmodeus out there, to ensure he remains trapped where God put him. There were plenty of plot holes, but remember, this was an episode that was never fully fleshed out.

The tale wraps up with a beautiful closing monolog. None of us were really able to figure out what we were supposed to have taken from this tale, in the context of the greater B5 and Crusade series, but this might explain why it is one of the lost tales.

Tale 2: “Voices in the Dark: Over There”.

This tale really felt like a B5 episode and in terms of story, was easily a part of the broader storyline. Occurring on the tenth anniversary of the Interstellar Alliance, we join President Sheridan as he heads to B5 for the ceremony. Traveling with a reporter he doesn’t particularly like, he endures an interview—one of several that have annoyed him. Used as the way to set the stage for what’s going on though, we learn that Emperor Mollari will not be attending, however, the third in line for the throne (Prince Regent Dius Vintari) will attend on his behalf. In a sad moment of recounting, Sheridan explains to the reporter that Londo is in a bit of a dark place, and doesn’t laugh much any longer. Fans will remember why: he sits alone as the Emperor, under the sad control of a Keeper. She also asks about G’Kar, who we learn continues his adventures beyond the Rim, along with Dr. Franklin. The interview abruptly ends when the alert goes out letting everyone know they were about to jump into Quantum Space—a new form of travel that works differently and much faster than traveling through Hyperspace. It’s fast, and can be very disorienting to the mind and body. In a comical moment, the reporter gets nervous, the ship enters Quantum Space with the reporter in distress, and as the scene fades we hear Sheridan ask the reporter, “was that a new dress”? Apparently it didn’t go well for her.

Sheridan is visited by Galen the Technomage, and sees a “dream” of the destruction of New York City (and Earth) thirty years in the future. Galen tells him this event is the result of the Centauri (specifically Vintari, once he takes the throne as Emperor) attacking Earth—the home of the one people who have ever been able to stop the Centauri Republic. Galen tells Sheridan that on this trip to B5, the way to prevent this future catastrophe is to kill Prince Vintari. It’s suggested that this is really the only way, creating a real moral dilemma for Sheridan as he considers the need to kill a boy in an “unfortunate accident” order to save Earth. As Galen says to him, “The fate of billions of lives is in your hands.”

Sheridan ponders this, just as Lochley had to ponder the presence and destructiveness of the demon in Tale 1, and in his own eureka moment, realizes there are other options. When we meet Vintari, we see he’s a very young man. He’s also very wary of the intentions of others around him, particularly due to others who are in line for the throne behind him who would love to see him die, improving their potential opportunity to gain the throne. As a result he lives a very sequestered and guarded life. Upon arrival at B5, the time comes to kill Vintari, as they each pilot a Star Fury between Sheridan’s ship and B5. Sheridan chooses not to kill him. After they land on B5, Sheridan instead invites Prince Vintari to return with him to Minbar after the ceremony. Vintar will live in safety, and can essentially be a big brother for John and Delenn’s son David. Sheridan can also serve as a father figure to Vintari. (We learned earlier in the episode his father had been killed.)

Your hosts speculated that if Sheridan had chosen to go through with the attempt to kill Vintari as Galen recommended, it might have failed and become the event that created his hatred of Earth (replacing an understandable suspicion of Earth) and resulted in the subsequent attack after he takes the throne. As we would hope, Sheridan took the moral high ground, saved Vintari and set him on a path to change his future—and the future of Earth. Maybe it was actually a test of sorts, and Sheridan was able to ensure the young Prince didn’t become the monster Galen saw.

There were at least two very deliberate connections between these tales:

Dius is an old Greek word meaning “divine”. In this tale, and as Emperor, he is a “divine” and will wield the power to destroy planets. The positive and loving intervention by Sheridan to welcome him into his home to live with his family will apparently eliminate the future Galen revealed that included the destruction of Earth. This plays agains the unwelcome possession of Burke in Tale 1, where Asmodeus has to be restrained, cast out, and rebound on Earth.

The two tales are deliberately linked when Sheridan is talking to Lochley while en route to B5. After Sheridan asks her how she’s doing, she comments that “until today, [she] didn’t know it [B5] was on the crossroads between Heaven and Hell.” She was clearly referring to the issue with Burke’s possession.

While all the TV and movie content is now behind us, please stay tuned as we begin to review many of the novels written in the B5 universe—some considered canon, and some that aren’t. Read along with us, but even if you don’t, please tune in and her our discussion of each of these books. They definitely continue and fill out the story we all know and love!

Overall Program Timeline

At the beginning of our podcast covering The Lost Tales, we provided a timeline summary of all the video content we’ve covered on the podcast:

2245-2248 – In the Beginning (Movie)
2257 – Babylon 5: Signs and Portends (TV, Season 1)
2258 – Babylon 5: The Coming of Shadows (TV, Season 2)
2259 – Babylon 5: Point of No Return (TV, Season 3)
2260 – Babylon 5: No Surrender, No Retreat (TV, Season 4)
2261 – Babylon 5: Wheel of Fire (TV, Season 5)
2261 – Thirdspace (Movie, occurs within the B5 series timeline)
2263 – River of Souls (Movie)
2265 – Legend of the Rangers (Movie)
2266 – A Call to Arms (Movie)
2267 – Crusade (TV)
2271 – Lost Tales (Movie, contains two mini episodes)
2278 – In the Beginning (Movie) *

* The movie “In the Beginning” also contained future scenes in the year 2278. For this reason it essentially began and ended the entire set of programming. Babylon 5: a place of beginnings and endings!

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