Severed Dreams
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| Babylon 5 episode | |
| "Severed Dreams" | |
| Season | 3 |
|---|---|
| Episode no. | 10 |
| Prod. code | 310 |
| Airdate | 1 April 1996 |
| Writer(s) | J. Michael Straczynski |
| Director | Jim Johnston |
| Guest star(s) | Kim Miyori (Capt. Sandra Hiroshi) Rance Howard (David Sheridan) Phil Morris (Bill Trainor) Bruce McGill (Major Ryan) |
| Year | 2260 |
| Episode chronology | |
| Previous episode | Point of No Return |
| Next episode | Ceremonies of Light and Dark |
"Severed Dreams" is an episode from the third season of the science fiction television series Babylon 5. It won the 1997 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation.
Contents |
[edit] Plot synopsis
After the removal of Nightwatch personnel from active duty, the station is still adjusting to the new Narn security forces. The recent declaration of martial law by Earth Alliance President Morgan Clark has also led to increased activity at Babylon 5. As a result Londo Mollari is forced to wait for several hours to gain admission to the station, and the Narn at the checkpoint won't let him in until his ID can be verified.
Meanwhile, the EAS Alexander is locked in combat with the EAS Clarkstown. During the attack the Alexander suffers severe damage, and General William Hague dies when the Alexander is hit. Major Ryan takes command of the Alexander. They manage to destroy the Clarkstown. Ryan decides that they need time to rest and make repairs. Knowing that Babylon 5 is the only safe harbor, he orders the ship to proceed to the station.
Captain John Sheridan learns that the Alexander is heading towards the station. He has Michael Garibaldi install a cutoff switch to disable the radio so that word of this can't be sent back to Earth. Major Ryan comes onboard the station as soon as the Alexander arrives. He informs Captain Sheridan, Commander Ivanova, and Mr. Garibaldi that General Hague had died. Ryan tells them that Xavier Montoya, head of Mars Provisional Government, had refused to implement martial law. They are soon interrupted by a transmission to Major Ryan announcing that Earth Force had begun bombing Mars.
A Ranger arrives at Babylon 5. Although seriously injured by agents of the Shadows, he manages to tell Delenn that the Shadows are moving. The Ranger tells her that the Shadows have encouraged a number of races in the League of Non-Aligned Worlds to go to war with their neighbors, which they have done in fear of being attacked by the Centauri. When Delenn asks if the Grey Council is aware of this, the Ranger tells her that the Minbari government has said that, "The problems of others are not our concern." Angered by this, Delenn soon leaves the station to confront the Grey Council about their apathy.
An ISN reporter interrupts the anchor Jane, and announces that the colonies at Proxima III and Orion VII just declared independence from the Earth Alliance in protest over the bombings. Realizing that ISN will not remain silent, Clark has his troops take custody of the ISN broadcast center in Geneva, Switzerland, and ISN stops transmitting.
When Delenn leaves, the EAS Churchill opens a jump point and enters Babylon 5 space. Captain Sandra Hiroshi meets with the Babylon 5 command staff and Major Ryan. She tells them that her ship had intercepted orders relayed from Earth to a task force led by Captain Dexter Smith of the EAS Agrippa. Hiroshi tells them that the task force is on its way to seize the station and put the station under control of Clark and the Nightwatch. Ryan offers to jump, but Hiroshi tells him that it wouldn't matter: the task force was ordered to seize control of the station even before the Alexander arrived. Sheridan decides to make their stand there. He asks Dr. Stephen Franklin, Mr. Garibaldi, and Commander Ivanova if they're willing to fight. They all are.
Captain Sheridan orders fighters deployed, and for all available security forces to be prepared for Clark's forces in case the station is boarded. He asks Ivanova to see if they can access Draal's holographic system so that he can make an announcement. He goes and makes a private call to his father. David Sheridan knows what is happening. He asks his son what the first lesson he taught him was. The younger Sheridan replies that it was to never start a fight, but always finish it. David Sheridan tells his son not to worry about his parents; they could take care of themselves, and their neighbors would protect them.
Sheridan proceeds to the dome, where he addresses everyone on Babylon 5. He tells them that Clark has committed a number of crimes, including ordering the deaths of innocent civilians when Mars was bombed. Sheridan goes on to say that Orion VII and Proxima III have left the Earth Alliance because of this, and Babylon 5 was now joining them. He declares that Babylon 5 is seceding from the Alliance, and would remain independent until Clark was removed from power. Sheridan asks all non-essential persons to remain in their quarters until the fighting is over, and promises that anyone who wants to leave will be allowed to do so. He tells anyone in the dome if they want to leave to do it right away before they violate regulations. One person takes him up on the offer, but the rest of the crew remains. Ivanova persuades Sheridan to let her lead the fighter attack since the fighter pilots were being asked to go against their training and fire on other Earth vessels.
Soon, the Agrippa, the Roanoke, another cruiser, scores of fighters, and a breaching pod all jump into Babylon 5 space. Captain Smith orders Babylon 5 and the renegade ships to stand down. Sheridan refuses and tries to reason with Dexter. But Smith refuses to listen to Sheridan, and has his forces close in for attack. Sheridan tells his forces not to fire the first shot but to let the other side do so first. He says that they didn't start the fight but they would finish it.
The battle soon begins. Fighters from both sides engage each other. Clark's fighters begin making strafing runs on the station and the renegade ships. Meanwhile, the breeching pod attaches itself to the station, and the Marines on the pod burn through the hull. They are met by station security forces led by Garibaldi. Unfortunately, the Narn troopers disobey his orders about taking defensive positions and recklessly charge the invaders. The security personnel are forced to back them up, starting a deadly hand to hand struggle. The Churchill is soon severely damaged by enemy fire. The inside of the ship is ablaze. Knowing that her ship is dead, Hiroshi has her ship ram an enemy Omega class cruiser, destroying both ships in the process. Ivanova's ship collides with another fighter and she has to eject from her out-of-control vessel before it hits the Agrippa. The Agrippa and the Roanoke fall under the combined firepower of Babylon 5 and the Alexander.
With the space battle apparently over, Sheridan asks for a status report. The hull of the station is in poor shape. The deadly melee between station security and the Marines is still taking place in Brown sector. Sheridan orders Lt. Corwin to get more troops down there. A few seconds later the jump-gate opens and the destroyers Olympic and Nimrod arrive to reveal that the station had only faced the first wave of the assault forces. Captain Drake orders Babylon 5 and the Alexander to surrender. Sheridan knows he has no way of defeating these fresh reinforcements.
At that moment, however, four jump points form above the station. Three Minbari Sharlin class warcruisers and the White Star jump into Babylon 5 space. In command of the White Star, Ambassador Delenn tells Captain Drake that the station is now under the protection of the Minbari. Drake tries to assert his authority, but Delenn tells him that the Minbari are quite willing to destroy his forces. When the Earthforce squadron attempted to assert its authority at the scene and warned the Minbari not to force an engagement, Delenn had this response: "Why not? Only one human captain has ever survived battle with a Minbari fleet. He is behind me. You are in front of me. If you value your lives, be somewhere else." Realizing that an attack would be suicidal, the second wave of Earthforce ships withdrew from the area.
The casualties are quite high. About 30% of the Starfury fighters have been destroyed or disabled in the attack. A large number of Narns and humans on both sides of the hand to hand battle in Brown sector have been injured or killed. Garibaldi, Sheridan, and Ivanova had all been injured during the battle, but their injuries are not serious, and they will recover.
Major Ryan decides to withdraw from the area, knowing that it would help keep Clark's forces from concentrating on the station. Ryan says that there are others in Earth Force who would be willing to help them, and says that he needed to find them. He says that he has no room for the fighter pilots from the Churchill and offers to assign the fighters and pilots to Babylon 5 in order to bring the station's squadrons up to full strength. Sheridan agrees to take care of Hiroshi's crew in light of her ship's sacrifice. Upon leaving the conference room, Ryan asks Sheridan why he is leaving his uniform jacket behind. Sheridan replies that he could no longer wear the uniform and maintain a clear conscience.
Sheridan meets up with Garibaldi, and they observe the Nightwatch people being put off the station, as well as others who wanted to leave. Delenn arrives, and Sheridan expresses his gratitude for what she has done for them. Ivanova arrives and takes them to the Zocalo, where a large number of people applaud Sheridan for taking a stand against Clark.
[edit] Arc significance
- Before this episode, the opposition of the station's command crew had been covert. In this episode Sheridan and the others finally openly oppose President Clark.
- Delenn fulfills part of Minbari prophecy when she breaks the apathetic Grey Council, and the Minbari take a more active role in fighting the Shadows.
- Babylon 5 is now an independent state.
- The Minbari are now providing protection for the station.
- The Earth Civil War kicks into full swing, with Clark's forces besieging Mars and the outer colonies. Clark begins to openly turn Earth into a fascist police state, as highlighted by the storming of ISN, which will soon be re-instated as a twisted propaganda-tool version of its former self.
[edit] Production details
- Delenn's speech to the Grey Council had to be done in two takes. From the beginning of the speech up to the point where Delenn broke the staff was done in one long take. But after that point a second take was needed because Mira Furlan was unable to snap the leader's staff in two initially. The production crew needed to make a cut into the staff to enable her to break the staff. In the season three outtakes - which can be found on the last disc in the season 3 DVD set - Mira is shown struggling with the uncooperative staff.
- The episode was noted for the high number of special effects.
- Stephen Furst (Vir Cotto) and Jason Carter (Marcus Cole) do not appear in this episode. Peter Jurasik (Londo Mollari) only appeared briefly at the beginning of the episode.
[edit] Trivia
- Jerry Doyle was shown with an injured leg after the hand to hand combat with the Marines. But during the filming of the episode Doyle broke his arm, so in the next episode he was shown with his arm in a cast. Garibaldi explains it in that episode that he had injured his arm during the fight. Garibaldi goes on to say that he thought he'd be able to get by with the arm just being bandaged, but that Dr. Franklin insisted on putting the arm in a cast. If you look closely at the end when Zack is helping the injured Garibaldi up, his (really broken) arm is positioned in an impossible angle.
- After the end of the space-fight sequence, Sheridan watches with desperation and calls for survivors of the Roanoke to get to the life pods before their ship explodes. The Roanoke, however, had already been destroyed by a collision with the Churchill killing all hands aboard. Sheridan misspoke as he was watching the Agrippa deteriorate and finally explode as a result from the direct laser blasts from the Alexander. The names of the ships are clearly visible in the cutscenes. This was likely due to script error or a mistake by the CGI special effect department. This mistake was never clearly addressed and has led to some confusion over the years; in the later episode "Intersections In Real Time", a Clarkist interrogator will accuse Sheridan of being responsible for the destruction of the Roanoke.
- Actor Robert Foxworth was supposed to appear in this episode (as his recurring character, General Hague). However, Foxworth's agent had double-booked him on episodes of Babylon 5 and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine at the same time; the actor chose DS9, mostly because a two part episode ("Homefront" / "Paradise Lost") would net him a bigger salary. General Hague was subsequently killed off (offscreen) and the character of Major Ed Ryan was brought in as a last minute replacement. Ironically, while Hague was a loyalist fighting against a coup on Earth, his DS9 character (Admiral Leyton) was trying to instigate one; similarly, his character on Stargate SG-1 was also a victim of a coup, and his Star Trek: Enterprise character (Administrator V'Las) was attempting to score a Romulan coup within the Vulcan High Command. In the third season gag reel, a clip is included that shows Bruce McGill as Major Ryan answering "Where's General Hague?" with "General Hague...is doing Deep Space Nine."
- J. Michael Straczynski originally intended for Everett McGill (Twin Peaks, Dune) to play the role of Major Ryan. Straczynski didn't remember McGill's first name, however, so when he asked to have McGill contacted to set up a meeting about casting him, his assistant asked if he meant "Bruce", and Straczynski said yes. Bruce McGill was invited to meet with Straczynski, and it was only after the two met that Straczynski realized his mistake. Despite the confusion, Straczynski decided to use Bruce for the role of Major Ryan.
- This episode was scheduled to be at the exact midpoint of the series, to indicate a major change in the series' premise.
- This is the last time Sheridan is seen in a regular Earth Force uniform until the fifth season episode The Very Long Night of Londo Mollari.
