Arguably, the greatest quote in the history of science fiction TV is from the 30-year-old show, Babylon 5:
“The war we fight is not against powers and principalities, it is against chaos and despair. Greater than the death of flesh is the death of hope, the death of dreams. Against this peril we can never surrender.”
Sci-fi fans who got to watch Babylon 5 when it aired back in the 90s and the ones who ended up binging it later would know how epic the space opera is in terms of cosmic storytelling. Considering how brilliantly Babylon 5 ends its story in its five-season runtime, it is not surprising that J. Michael Straczynski looked far ahead into the future and developed a solid five-part outline for the show even before it aired.
Apart from delivering a highly satisfying, well-rounded sci-fi story, Babylon 5 also leaves viewers with some incredible quotes, which stay long after the show’s credits start rolling. One of these quotes is the one mentioned above.
Babylon 5’s Most Epic Quote Removes Its “Sci-Fi” & Makes It Deeply Human
J. Michael Straczynski had a grand vision for Babylon 5. He noticed that, back then, most sci-fi shows either offered good sci-fi or good television but struggled to combine both. His motive was to create something in the genre that viewers had hardly seen before. Moreover, he wanted to approach sci-fi with a more serious lens by ensuring that it not only incorporated real science but also told character-driven stories that appealed to adults.
Since Babylon 5 remains more of a cult show with less of a mainstream following, its genius writing and unforgettable quotes may not be instantly recognizable.
However, what makes the above-mentioned quote the best in sci-fi history is how brilliantly it strips Babylon 5‘s “sci-fi” and makes it a hard-hitting human story.
In its 5-season runtime, Babylon 5 never shies away from dabbling in hard sci-fi concepts like the Doppler Effect, Spin Gravity, and Newtonian Flight Mechanics. The show always manages to balance these moments, though, with sequences that hold universal truths, exploring faith, power, war PTSD, and fascism.
For instance, in the show’s season 3 finale, Andreas Katsulas delivers a chilling monologue as G’Kar when he and his grieving station crew start losing their last speck of hope and anticipating a war. Even for a viewer, it is hard not to see how all hope is lost after Babylon 5 kills off one of its main characters.
However, G’Kar’s words bring a new sense of clarity and defiance when, even in the gravest moments, he reminds us that:
“There is a greater darkness than the one we fight. It is the darkness of the soul that has lost its way. The war we fight is not against powers and principalities, it is against chaos and despair. Greater than the death of flesh is the death of hope, the death of dreams. Against this peril we can never surrender.”
Babylon 5 Was Ahead Of Its Time
The ones who were fortunate enough to watch Babylon 5 still remember it as one of the best sci-fi shows of all time. Some viewers even argue sci-fi peaked with the series, and the genre has never been the same since the show ended. However, somewhere among the Star Treks and Star Wars, Babylon 5 was quietly overlooked even though it, arguably, had a far greater vision and storytelling scope.
J. Michael Straczynski’s pre-planned narrative for the entire show almost made it feel like a novel that perfectly paid off every story beat and quote. Throwaway lines that appeared in the series’ season 1 ended up getting full-fledged resolutions much late in season 4.
Although B5‘s visuals may seem a little dated now, its CGI was incredible for its time. Even from a political standpoint, the show’s portrayal of the fall of a democracy from within through propaganda and manufactured fear feels disturbingly relevant even to this day.
While it is unfortunate that Babylon 5 is not as widely celebrated or culturally omnipresent as many of its sci-fi contemporaries, its influence still lingers in the sci-fi genre and can especially be found in shows like The Expanse and Game of Thrones.
This story originally appeared on Screenrant
