Babylon 5's Best Trick Was Hiding The Show's Real Villain In Plain Sight

Babylon 5 was able to hide the show's true ultimate villain in plain sight thanks to a deceptively simple trick. Babylon 5 was a compelling sci-fi show that proved ahead of its time in terms. Set on a massive space station designed for intergalactic peace, Babylon 5 featured a robust cast of characters who frequently crossed moral lines in the name of their principals. This became especially pronounced during Babylon 5's Shadow War storyline, which was an epic conflict that spanned the entire galaxy. However, the massive Shadow War didn't end up actually being the main threat of the show.

Instead, an early episode of season 4 surprisingly concluded the Shadow War with an unexpected twist. This didn't resolve all the conflicts in the show, however, as a more insidious enemy had been growing powerful while the heroes were distracted by the Shadows. This swerve was a particularly effective way to turn an underlying threat and theme of the show into one of the most important aspects of its endgame. Here's how Babylon 5 took multiple seasons to reveal its true final threat and why it gives the story a more lasting impact than a battle between good and evil.

Babylon 5's Epic War Wasn't The Actual Endgame Of The Show

Babylon 5's "Shadow War" Led Directly To The Liberation Of Earth

Babylon 5's "Shadow War" storyline may have been a major thematic arc for the show, but it actually subverted expectations by not being the endgame for Babylon 5's overarching plotline. For four seasons on Babylon 5, the conflict between the ancient Vorlons and the Shadows served as a grandiose threat. The various civilizations of the cosmos were recruited and manipulated by both sides, with the heroes eventually taking charge to disrupt those plans to save countless lives. However, that plotline was suddenly resolved early in season 4, with the Vorlons and Shadows abandoning the galaxy after a confrontation with Sheridan.

While the Shadows may have been overwhelming and terrifying, Clark was the real threat all along.

This revealed that the true threat in season 4 was actually an Earth-based government that had become corrupted during the course of the conflict. Led by the increasingly totalitarian President Clark, the Earth Alliance shifted from a largely unseen bureaucracy into a major threat. The Earth-based conspiracies to bring down Sheridan and his allies served as the primary plotline for season 4, and would have carried on into season 5 if the show hadn't been forced to change their plans due to external complications. While the Shadows may have been overwhelming and terrifying, Clark was the real threat all along.

Babylon 5 Had Been Seeding The Danger Of Humanity For Seasons

How President Clark Changed From A Man Into A Nightmare

Introduced as Vice-President of the Earth Alliance, William Clark took the office of President after his predecessor Luis Santiago was killed in an assassination carried out by Mr. Morden. Revealed to be in league with Morden, Clark quickly revealed a fear of extraterrestrial races curtailing human expansion. As a result, Clark helped spearhead the fascist organization Nightwatch as a means of combating alien influence. Although Clark's steady take-over of the Earth Alliance and transformation of the republic into a fascist state happened largely in the background of the Shadow War, this unexpected turn became the central conflict of the show.

Played by Gary McGurk throughout the first four seasons of Babylon 5, William Clark was initially introduced as a minor character before developing into a major threat.

While the Shadows were a powerful and threatening force, the moral lines that Clark soon proved willing to cross even while portraying the heroes of Babylon 5 as monsters to citizens of Earth transformed him into the show's biggest threat. Clark came to represent the true danger of humanity in Babylon 5's universe, a race that's adaptable and unyielding that could easily be turned towards fury instead of cooperation. Clark and his plans to leave behind a "scorched Earth" proved ot be a major element of season 4's storyline, which was originally meant to be the endgame for the show.

Babylon 5's Final Season Didn't Make The World Easy To Fix

Season 5 Of Babylon 5 Focused On An Earth Trying To Rebuild Itself

While the fifth season of Babylon 5 isn't as celebrated as the earlier years of the show, it does explore some very intriguing plot threads in the aftermath of Clark's death at the end of season 4. The Earth Alliance doesn't simply brush off the results of Clark's rule. Season 5 explores the tricky fallout that Sheridan is faced with, especially as the rule of law insists that he face consequences for turning against his government. Multiple high-ranking members of the military and the Earth government are still initally aligned with Clark's morals, even as they publicly denounce his actions.

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This creates a particularly grey morality space for season 5, especially as the show tackles plotlines like saving telepathic refugees and facing terrorist demands. Humanity and the heroes of Babylon 5 aren't able to simply bounce back from the effects of Earth becoming a fascist state. There are multiple instances of characters backsliding, turning on one another, and getting innocents hurt in the crosshairs. As opposed to the far cleaner conclusion of the Shadow War, the aftermath of freeing the Earth forces the remaining heroes to return to reluctant diplomacy with rivals instead of fighting a grandiose and ancient threat.

Why Babylon 5's Real Villain Mattered

Babylon 5's Earth Plotline Became The Final Danger Of The Show

Babylon 5's real villains being something more complex than an ancient dark evil is an important aspect of Babylon 5's views on the universe. Throughout the show, Babylon 5 subverted standard sci-fi tropes by revealing each race was full of contradictory morals and complex characters. The Vorlons weren't the amazing elders of the cosmos they were introduced as, eventually revealing plenty of unique flaws. Humanity was no different, with the show lionizing some attributes while condemning others. With Clark, ideas like feckless ambition and blunt xenophobia are portrayed as human failings that become catastrophic when given a powerful enough outlet.

Babylon 5 explores concepts like the definition of duty in its Earth-Alliance plot, with Sheridan reflecting on whether he is betraying his oaths by fighting against an unlawful leader. It's a storyline that has only become more prescient with time, especially as the state of the world forces citizens to consider how they would respond to their government becoming unlawfully aggressive. The show never backs away from its critical view of fascism and totalitarianism, but acknowledges the human complexities that come with it. It's one of the most compelling ways Babylon 5 explores deeply human questions on a cosmic scale.