The biggest and most explosive battles of Babylon 5

The author Joshua Tyler
| Published 1 hour ago

Sci-fi movies and TV shows are full of big space battles, but rarely do you see them attempt realism. There are some recent exceptions. Distribution wowed audiences with its realistic depiction of future space battles. 2000s Battlestar Galactica used fundamental Newtonian physics to create some of the most incredible space slugfests ever captured on screen.

Long before any of these shows, one science fiction series innovated massive, more scientifically accurate space battles using new technology beyond what anyone had seen before. The show was also the first to use CGI on television. It changed the whole way science fiction is made.

You are about to discover what happens when the last, best hope for peace fails. These are the ultimate space battles Babylon 5ranked from great to greatest.

4. Battle of Proxima 3 (Season 4 No Surrender, No Retreat)

With the Shadow War over, Babylon 5 Captain John Sheridan is free to turn his attention to dealing with Earth. It's bad news for President Clark, the corrupt, totalitarian dictator who has taken over. Clark orders Earth Force ships to begin attacking civilian targets, and Sheridan can't let that happen.

A fleet of 6 Omega-class destroyers, led by Captain Trevor Hall aboard the EAS Heracles, is ordered to blockade Proxima 3, a human colony that has broken away from Earth. Sheridan decides that this is where he wants to make a statement.

The an alien allies who aided Sheridan during the Shadow War have signed neutrality treaties and will not be involved. Sheridan heads to Proxima with the White Starfleet and all the warships he can find.

The fight doesn't start right away. This is an Earth vs. Earth conflict, and neither side wants to kill their brothers and sisters. Sheridan begs the other side to get out, offering them amnesty, offering them anything if they stop supporting Earth's corrupt government.

Captain Hall is in charge, and he's not interested in Sheridan's talk. He is loyal to Clark, and while some other ships take advantage of Sheridan's offer, Hall launches an attack.

The ground forces are no match for Sheridan's White Star fleet, and with the support of Babylon 5's fighter squadrons, it is clear that Hall cannot win. Hall refuses to surrender, planning to fight to the last, but his crew mutinies. They surrender and the fight is over.

3. Land release (Season 4 Finale)

Since its inception, the Civil War of the Earth Alliance has been the backdrop to everything that happened with Babylon 5. It ends here.

To set the right signal, Captain John Sheridan moves his team to the Earth vessel EAS Agamemnon. Agamemnon was his previous master before he was transferred to Babylon 5.

Over Mars, he encounters a fleet of 36 Earth destroyers led by General Leftcourt, who is loyal to Earth's corrupt President Clark. Sheridan is ready for them. He has been smuggling Shadow-modified telepaths onto Earth ships for weeks.

Sheridan initiates a diversion, attacking the planetary bases with his White Stars. He orders the telepath Lyta to activate telepaths smuggled onto Earth ships. They wake up, disabling most of Earth's destroyers. The remaining 10 ships are effortlessly disabled by the White Star fleet.

Right now everything seems to be going well, but that will change soon. Earth is surrounded by a series of defense platforms, and realizing that everything is over, President Clark decides to turn them into his own planet. The fight becomes a race against time to destroy the platforms before they destroy the people of Earth.

Meanwhile, the other alien races that supported Sheridan during the Shadow War have stayed out of the fray at Sheridan's request. Despite not having been involved in human-to-human conflict before, G'Kar and Londo are determined to support their people. They had previously convinced the rest of Sheridan's Light Alliance to form and go help.

All come to Earth. Sheridan and the White Stars. Earth's allied ships. Minbari, Centaurs, Narni, and the League of Unaligned Worlds. Every race in the galaxy comes with one common goal: to save Earth.

They attack Earth's defense platforms in a desperate attempt to save the planet. It works but too slow. Sheridan's ship, the Agamemnon, is damaged and its weapons systems disabled. There is one platform left and it is about to fire at the planet. Sheridan orders speed up and sends his ship and her crew to their deaths.

Just then, at the very last second, General Leftcourt arrives. He has repaired his ship and after hearing what Clarke has done, decides to switch sides. A former enemy teams up with Sheridan in a final battle to save the human race, and the last platform is destroyed.

The land is freed. Clark commits suicide. The civil war is over.

2. Battle of Corian VI (Season 4 Into The Fire)

The shadow war is raging. To combat the threat of the Shadows, Captain Sheridan of Babylon 5 has formed an Alliance of Light consisting of the Narns, Minbari, and smaller discordant worlds of the galaxy.

The Vorlons they thought were their allies have revealed themselves to be villains no different from the shadows. They destroy entire planets to destroy all shadow influence. Not going well.

It all culminates in the heavily populated planet Coriana VI. Sheridan lures both Shadow and Vorlon forces to this one place.

So far the two elder races have avoided fighting each other. Instead, they use others as pawns in a perpetual argument against each other. Sheridan's plan is to force the Vorlons and Shadows to face off, even though he knows his forces will be caught in the middle.

He has an ace in the hole. The Vorlons and Shadows aren't the only Elder Races left in the Galaxy. Sheridan sends Ivanov to recruit the last remnants of the rest of the First. It is not known if they will appear when called.

The battle begins. Shadows and Vorlons fall into Sherdian's trap. The ancient enemies are so focused on each other that both powers ignore Sheridan's vastly inferior Army of Light.

Refusing to be ignored, Sheridan attacks using minus asteroids as a trap. Now the Vorlons and the Shadows are enraged. They turn to engage the Army of Light.

The battle quickly turns into a giant fireball of destruction where the three fleets tear each other apart. The Army of Light is not doing well; they are destroyed. Sheridan calls for help and then the First Ones show up. They only bring one ship, but one ship is enough.

Now there are four fleets involved instead of three, and the battle becomes even more chaotic. The first to destroy the Vorlon planet killer, saving Corian VI.

Shadows surround Sheridan's fleet in a cloud of death, halting the battle. Both the Vorlons and the shadows appear to Sheridan and Delenn, demanding that they choose one of them to be on their side. Babylon 5's power couple refuses.

Enraged, the Shadows begin firing missiles at Sheridan's command ship, the White Star 2. Each time they do so, the ships of the Light Alliance throw themselves into the path of the missiles, sacrificing themselves to save their leaders.

Troubled by Sheridan and his men's decision to commit suicide rather than take sides, the Vorlons and Shadows surrender. Lorien, the eldest of the first, convinces them to leave the Galaxy and move on. The Shadow War is finally over.

1. Battle of Babylon 5 (Divided Dreams Season 3)

The Battle of Babylon 5 is something the series spent three seasons building on. We watched the crew of Babylon 5, the Earth-based government, react to a turn that became increasingly authoritarian and corrupt.

Sometimes there are signs of Earth government rot lurking in the background. Sometimes they have been front and center in the story. It happens little by little. We know it, and the Babylon 5 team knows it.

Captain Sheridan has tried to remain neutral, but it won't last long. In the Season 3 episode “Severed Dreams,” he is forced to take a stand. This position causes immediate conflict.

Earth's corrupt president has ordered Earth's fleet to attack and destroy human ships disloyal to his regime. One of these ships, an Omega-class destroyer named EAS Alexander, is forced to fight. Hunted and on the run, the ship's commander, Ed Ryan, realizes that he and his crew have only one place of refuge left. This place is Babylon 5.

Alexander and another Omega-class destroyer, the Churchill, soon arrive at Babylon 5. Sheridan is ordered to hand them in or face the government and the planet he's sworn to protect. Sheridan and his team choose to fight.

He declares the independence of Babylon 5 and prepares for battle. Earth sends a task force to put him and everyone who supports him in prison. The battle begins.

The strike task force consists of two Omega-class destroyers and two Hyperion-class heavy cruisers. Babylon 5 has a defense grid, destroyers and two Omega class destroyers.

Sheridan and his captains hesitate to fire on other Earth Force ships. Until recently, the people on their opponents' ships were friends and colleagues. Their opponents aren't all that interested in holding back, and so the battle begins.

Babylon 5 launches its fighters and activates the defense network. The station and its allies return fire. Explosions are everywhere. The enemy launches bursts and they begin unloading troops on the station in an attempt to take it over. Babylon 5 is ready to fend off boarders, but Earth ships outnumber them.

One of Babylon 5's ships, Churchhill, is severely damaged. Her captain chooses to sacrifice himself and his crew by destroying the remaining attacker.

One Omega-class destroyer remains, but Captain Sheridan orders the station to focus its fire. She is badly damaged and Sheridan asks his commander to surrender. It's too late and the ship explodes.

The fight is over; Sheridan thinks they have survived. It isn't, and they haven't.

A new jump gate opens and more Earth Force ships appear. Two more Omega-class destroyers and a Hyperion-class destroyer battle the now depleted Babylon 5. Sheridan and his crew prepare for death.

Just then, the Minbari arrive, and Delenn gives perhaps the greatest speech in science fiction history.

“Only one captain has survived the battle with the Minbari fleet. He's behind me. You're in front of me. If you value your life, go somewhere else.

Terrified by the Minbari's superior ships, Earth's fleet runs to the jump gate and never returns. Babylon 5's independence is secured and the battle is over for now.