Favourite Babylon 5 Story Arc?

[Truth66]

I was watching a few random episodes of B5 last week and I got thinking (sometimes not a good thing), with so many different story arcs in the series, which is the best one?

For me this question was really hard as the various story arcs obviously merge with other story arcs creating the bigger story line. Then there's the different categories of story arcs like character story arcs and political/world story arcs.

If I had to choose one story arc it would be a toss up between Garibaldi or Dr. Franklin as both had to confront their inner demons in order to come out the other end.

Curious what others think their favourite story arc(s) was and why.

[Jan]

Ooh, intriguing question! I think I'm going to go with Londo. It was just such a complex story and he struggled so hard to undo what he'd set into motion. Second would be the Londo/G'Kar arc of going from enemies to friends.

[Looney]

Two I would also add would be Lyta and Bester.

Lyta spends most of the series being used intentionally and unintentionally by everyone. Motives aside one of the more interesting arcs of the series is how people get her to help them through manipulation. Often good intentions leave her out to dry. One of the best parts of Season 5 is the consequences of what has come before with how she has been treated throughout the series. Does Sheridan pay the price for leaning on her so heavily and then tending to forget she exists when she isn't needed. I think it is fantastic.

The great thing about Bester's arc is that he basically has none. For all intents and purposes the Alfred Bester we meet in Season One is the same Alfred Bester we always get. Sure he learns things, but we don't see him change or grow and this is his arc. He experiences these things, but is always locked into himself. There is no growth or real enlightenment, no arc.

[Ubik]

Hands down Londo and G'Kar, they are the beating heart of the series (for me at least).

[Truth66]

Very Interesting comments so far. Yes I was leaning towards the Londo and G'Kar arcs as well. I think in the way of tragedy, these characters experienced the most.

Intersting about the reference about Bester. He defintely doesn't really grow or change much over the course of the series. I think if Crusade continued, Bester's character would have continued as JMS indicated in the special features of Crusade that more information about the telepath war would have eventually been told. It's hard to imagine anything regarding a telepath war without Bester in there somewhere.

[Nahuris]

Londo has always been my favorite, as he actually starts his descent with good intentions... you see it start to color him... and then he works to undo it. In himself, he was never the aggressively dark person that the Shadows wanted...... and when he realized where his path led, he tried to fight it... and when he realized he would not escape the keeper, he accepted it to protect his people.... and he sent away those it would harm...

Oddly, the other one is Kosh -- in the beginning, he was just moving the plan and serving the Vorlon side.. but, as he went through his death, he let Sheridan know that he had been right.... which meant he was recognizing in Sheridan, the value in the younger races as more than just the next batch of pawns in the debate... and at the end, that piece of himself he left with Sheridan came out to defend against another Vorlon...... he saw the rising of the next legacy of races, and saw them as capable.

[Jan]

Oddly, the other one is Kosh -- in the beginning, he was just moving the plan and serving the Vorlon side.. but, as he went through his death, he let Sheridan know that he had been right.... which meant he was recognizing in Sheridan, the value in the younger races as more than just the next batch of pawns in the debate... and at the end, that piece of himself he left with Sheridan came out to defend against another Vorlon...... he saw the rising of the next legacy of races, and saw them as capable.

I've got to admit, you've shown me a side of Kosh that I'd never really recognized. I think somehow I never thought of his avatars (Sheridan's father, the various Narns who appeared to G'Kar) all that seriously, only as parts of the ways that Kosh/Vorlons manipulated people. And I still think that's true when it comes to how Kosh appeared to G'Kar, but not so much the way he appeared as Sheridan's dad in his dream. Thanks for that!

[LateArrival]

I've got to admit, you've shown me a side of Kosh that I'd never really recognized. I think somehow I never thought of his avatars (Sheridan's father, the various Narns who appeared to G'Kar) all that seriously, only as parts of the ways that Kosh/Vorlons manipulated people. And I still think that's true when it comes to how Kosh appeared to G'Kar, but not so much the way he appeared as Sheridan's dad in his dream. Thanks for that!

When Ivanova and Co flew by Z'ha'dum, both she and Delenn were spoken to In The Voice Of Their Fathers. Similar methods with different intentions?

[Looney]

When Ivanova and Co flew by Z'ha'dum, both she and Delenn were spoken to In The Voice Of Their Fathers. Similar methods with different intentions?

Yeah I can see that as being the case.

[G'Quan]

Probably the dynamic between G'Kar and Londo. From animosity, to outright hatred, to a sort of friendship built on mutual need. I also really love Bester and the whole Psi Corps arc, including some great episodes with Lyta in the last couple of seasons.

[Satai with Punsch]

It is hard not to say G'kar and Londo as their arc is more or less smack in the middle of the plot for several seasons, and is very well portrayed.

But I also want to give Zacks arc some praise. JMS manages with a few moments, in a few episodes, to convey how an ordinary person can end up in a very sinister organisation and participate in just as sinister acts.