Babylon 5, What If They'd Never Replaced Sinclair?

[DrNewGod]

I loved B5. If you enjoy serialized TV storytelling, you owe a small thanks to the team behind that show.

I've always wondered what the series would have been if they'd hired an actor whose circumstances would have allowed JMS to keep it's leading man all they way thru. Of course there's two answers to that, one acknowledging the truncation necessitated by the WB cancellation, and one assuming it got to its five-year end without interruption.

[Jokerz79]

I loved B5. If you enjoy serialized TV storytelling, you owe a small thanks to the team behind that show.

I've always wondered what the series would have been if they'd hired an actor whose circumstances would have allowed JMS to keep it's leading man all they way thru. Of course there's two answers to that, one acknowledging the truncation necessitated by the WB cancellation, and one assuming it got to its five-year end without interruption.

Laurel Takashima was going to shoot Michael and be the Psi-Corp Sleeper but the actress left after the Gathering

Also the Babylon Prime plan with Sinclair

SEASONS 1 & 2

Much of the stuff on the first two seasons matches what we actually saw on screen, including:

-Sinclair trying to figure out the hole in his mind from the Battle of the Line
-The “Babylon Squared” story
-Santiago assassination and Clark taking over
-Delenn undergoing transformation
-The Shadows slowly making their presence felt, and Londo allying with them, and Londo using them to gain influence with the Centauri
-Kosh revealing himself to all when he saves Sinclair's life at the end of Season 2

Main divergences from what we saw on screen:

-Sinclair stays on, and remains commander of the station throughout the series
-Unclear exactly when this is revealed, but the secret behind Sinclair & the Battle of the Line is not that he becomes Valen (Valen is never mentioned in this outline), but that he is the person who has been prophesied to save the Minbari from dying off. In order to fulfill the prophesy, Delenn must transform to become human and mate with Sinclair. Their son will be some kind of chosen one who will save the Minbari race from extinction(???). Some of the Minbari (warrior caste?) interpret prophesy differently, and think that Sinclair will actually lead the Minbari to doom.
-Not 100% certain on this, but it looks like the Centauri conquest of the Narn doesn't happen until early/mid-Season 3. It's also not completely clear whether there is even a Narn/Centauri war as such. The Shadows aid Londo's ascension by secretly staging a number of incidents, but does this involve a full blown Narn/Centauri war that lasts a season? Not clear. Rather, some time by mid-Season 3, the Shadows help the Centauri conquer the Narn homeworld and decapitate their empire, but I'm not sure if that's actually the culmination of a lengthy war.

SEASONS 3 & 4

-The Centauri conquer the Narn Empire with the help of the Shadows.
-After the Narn surrender, G'Kar briefly stays on B5 and tries to rally allies against the Centauri, but it doesn't work. So he returns to the Narn homeworld to join the resistance.
-Catherine Sakai is “mind-raped”, and all memory of her relationship with Sinclair is erased, and this crushes Sinclair. [This seems like some early iteration of the Anna Sheridan / Z'ha'dum story, but there's no explicit indication of how this happens to Sakai, or who's responsible.]
-Sinclair & Delenn become romantically involved, and Delenn is pregnant by the end of Season 4.
-Garibaldi returns to drinking, and resigns as chief of security. During Season 4, he's a mercenary operating out of B5, but there's no mention of the Psi Corps sleeper / William Edgars / Lise Hampton story.
-There is no mention of an overt war between the Shadows & Vorlons. But they are fighting each other by manipulating the younger races. There is no mention of an order vs. chaos ideological conflict between the two. Just that the Vorlons manipulated the younger races throughout history, and the Shadows rebel against that, and try to set themselves up as rulers of the galaxy.

SEASON 5

-The Minbari warrior caste overthrows the Grey Council, and orders the resumption of hostilities with Earth. They also want Sinclair and Delenn dead.
-The Centauri try to move in on B5's sector of space.
-Londo & the Centauri's longtime involvement with the Shadows is publicly revealed.
-The Shadows destroy a huge Vorlon ship (hundreds of miles long) which contains a large segment of their population.
-The series ends with the Minbari attacking B5 and destroying it. Sinclair & Delenn escape with their newborn baby. Everyone in the galaxy is after them for one reason or another....including Earth, which has been given info which makes them believe Sinclair is a traitor.

BABYLON PRIME

-Sinclair, Delenn, and their allies go back in time to steal Babylon 4, pulling it into the future in order to use it as a base to build a new alliance (army of light?). B4 is renamed Babylon Prime. B Prime can move through space like a starship, and they go off on a mission to clear their names and build the alliance to bring peace to the galaxy.
-The time traveling causes Sinclair, Delenn, and their baby to age rapidly. (I'll call the baby David, even though his name is never mentioned here.) David grows all the way to adulthood within a few years.
-Londo is Emperor, but controlled by a Keeper, as in the actual show.
-Londo & the Centauri capture Sinclair & Delenn, and are supposed to turn them over to the Shadows, but Londo rebels against the Keeper & the Shadows “at terrible personal cost” (doesn't say exactly what that cost is).
-David becomes a revered religious symbol.
-Conclusion of the story: B Prime and the Army of Light defeat the Shadows (but there's nothing about the Shadows leaving the galaxy). No mention of what happens to the Vorlons. Earth defeats the Minbari, and Sinclair's name is cleared. Delenn leaves Sinclair, in order to return to the Grey Council. David becomes the leader of a new interstellar alliance. Final scene is Sinclair, retired, alone on an otherwise uninhabited world....fishing.

[DrNewGod]

Laurel Takashima was going to shoot Michael and be the Psi-Corp Sleeper but the actress left after the Gathering

Also the Babylon Prime plan with Sinclair

SEASONS 1 & 2

Much of the stuff on the first two seasons matches what we actually saw on screen, including:

-Sinclair trying to figure out the hole in his mind from the Battle of the Line
-The “Babylon Squared” story
-Santiago assassination and Clark taking over
-Delenn undergoing transformation
-The Shadows slowly making their presence felt, and Londo allying with them, and Londo using them to gain influence with the Centauri
-Kosh revealing himself to all when he saves Sinclair's life at the end of Season 2

Main divergences from what we saw on screen:

-Sinclair stays on, and remains commander of the station throughout the series
-Unclear exactly when this is revealed, but the secret behind Sinclair & the Battle of the Line is not that he becomes Valen (Valen is never mentioned in this outline), but that he is the person who has been prophesied to save the Minbari from dying off. In order to fulfill the prophesy, Delenn must transform to become human and mate with Sinclair. Their son will be some kind of chosen one who will save the Minbari race from extinction(???). Some of the Minbari (warrior caste?) interpret prophesy differently, and think that Sinclair will actually lead the Minbari to doom.
-Not 100% certain on this, but it looks like the Centauri conquest of the Narn doesn't happen until early/mid-Season 3. It's also not completely clear whether there is even a Narn/Centauri war as such. The Shadows aid Londo's ascension by secretly staging a number of incidents, but does this involve a full blown Narn/Centauri war that lasts a season? Not clear. Rather, some time by mid-Season 3, the Shadows help the Centauri conquer the Narn homeworld and decapitate their empire, but I'm not sure if that's actually the culmination of a lengthy war.

SEASONS 3 & 4

-The Centauri conquer the Narn Empire with the help of the Shadows.
-After the Narn surrender, G'Kar briefly stays on B5 and tries to rally allies against the Centauri, but it doesn't work. So he returns to the Narn homeworld to join the resistance.
-Catherine Sakai is “mind-raped”, and all memory of her relationship with Sinclair is erased, and this crushes Sinclair. [This seems like some early iteration of the Anna Sheridan / Z'ha'dum story, but there's no explicit indication of how this happens to Sakai, or who's responsible.]
-Sinclair & Delenn become romantically involved, and Delenn is pregnant by the end of Season 4.
-Garibaldi returns to drinking, and resigns as chief of security. During Season 4, he's a mercenary operating out of B5, but there's no mention of the Psi Corps sleeper / William Edgars / Lise Hampton story.
-There is no mention of an overt war between the Shadows & Vorlons. But they are fighting each other by manipulating the younger races. There is no mention of an order vs. chaos ideological conflict between the two. Just that the Vorlons manipulated the younger races throughout history, and the Shadows rebel against that, and try to set themselves up as rulers of the galaxy.

SEASON 5

-The Minbari warrior caste overthrows the Grey Council, and orders the resumption of hostilities with Earth. They also want Sinclair and Delenn dead.
-The Centauri try to move in on B5's sector of space.
-Londo & the Centauri's longtime involvement with the Shadows is publicly revealed.
-The Shadows destroy a huge Vorlon ship (hundreds of miles long) which contains a large segment of their population.
-The series ends with the Minbari attacking B5 and destroying it. Sinclair & Delenn escape with their newborn baby. Everyone in the galaxy is after them for one reason or another....including Earth, which has been given info which makes them believe Sinclair is a traitor.

BABYLON PRIME

-Sinclair, Delenn, and their allies go back in time to steal Babylon 4, pulling it into the future in order to use it as a base to build a new alliance (army of light?). B4 is renamed Babylon Prime. B Prime can move through space like a starship, and they go off on a mission to clear their names and build the alliance to bring peace to the galaxy.
-The time traveling causes Sinclair, Delenn, and their baby to age rapidly. (I'll call the baby David, even though his name is never mentioned here.) David grows all the way to adulthood within a few years.
-Londo is Emperor, but controlled by a Keeper, as in the actual show.
-Londo & the Centauri capture Sinclair & Delenn, and are supposed to turn them over to the Shadows, but Londo rebels against the Keeper & the Shadows “at terrible personal cost” (doesn't say exactly what that cost is).
-David becomes a revered religious symbol.
-Conclusion of the story: B Prime and the Army of Light defeat the Shadows (but there's nothing about the Shadows leaving the galaxy). No mention of what happens to the Vorlons. Earth defeats the Minbari, and Sinclair's name is cleared. Delenn leaves Sinclair, in order to return to the Grey Council. David becomes the leader of a new interstellar alliance. Final scene is Sinclair, retired, alone on an otherwise uninhabited world....fishing.

That's what was planned. I wonder what would have happened as things went along.

[Jokerz79]

That's what was planned. I wonder what would have happened as things went along.

Just things always seemed to happened with actors leaving and uncertainty of how long they'd continue take Season 5 a lot of changes were made because they thought season 4 would be their last and Claudia Christian left after 4 Sleeping in Light was filmed in Season 4 even. Originally season 4 would end with Sheridan being taken prisoner and the Earth Civil War would end in the first 5 or 7 episodes of Season 5. Ivannova would be made Commanding Officer of B5 and having lost Marcus take a chance on love with Byron while exploring her telepath powers but still lose the person she loves Lyta would had been a follower of Byron and had a unrequited love for him very much a theme in B5 with Marcus and Lennier.

Even Lyta and Talia's were swapped back forth with actresses leaving and returning it's why they had Ironheart give Talia a power boost it was meant to replace the arc with Lyta if Tallman never came back.

Some of that stuff sounds interesting but outside of losing Ivannova in Season 5 I'm very happy with what we got over most of that.

Another interesting story note Delenn was originally going to be male and change gender with her transformation it's why her original make up in the gathering had a strong jaw line but it changed before filming but after the character designs for the pilot were done.

[XPac]

Just things always seemed to happened with actors leaving and uncertainty of how long they'd continue take Season 5 a lot of changes were made because they thought season 4 would be their last and Claudia Christian left after 4 Sleeping in Light was filmed in Season 4 even. Originally season 4 would end with Sheridan being taken prisoner and the Earth Civil War would end in the first 5 or 7 episodes of Season 5. Ivannova would be made Commanding Officer of B5 and having lost Marcus take a chance on love with Byron while exploring her telepath powers but still lose the person she loves Lyta would had been a follower of Byron and had a unrequited love for him very much a theme in B5 with Marcus and Lennier.

Even Lyta and Talia's were swapped back forth with actresses leaving and returning it's why they had Ironheart give Talia a power boost it was meant to replace the arc with Lyta if Tallman never came back.

Some of that stuff sounds interesting but outside of losing Ivannova in Season 5 I'm very happy with what we got over most of that.

Another interesting story note Delenn was originally going to be male and change gender with her transformation it's why her original make up in the gathering had a strong jaw line but it changed before filming but after the character designs for the pilot were done.

Yeah .. as interesting as a lot of that sounds, I can't help but think overall what we got was better.

[nx01a]

Thanks for the rundown, Jokerz79.

Yeah .. as interesting as a lot of that sounds, I can't help but think overall what we got was better.

I have to agree. B5 being as magnificent as it was [first 1/2 of season 5 notwithstanding] is partially due to wonderful creative changes necessitated by real life changes that would have destroyed a show with lesser people behind the scenes. Sinclair as Valen just feels right, and I can't imagine the Shadow/Vorlon conflict stemming from a more satisfactory premise than an ideological difference made manifest on the younger races of the galaxy across a million years... or a more satisfactory ending than said younger races being tired of the First Ones' manipulation.

[DrNewGod]

-David becomes a revered religious symbol.

I have sometimes wondered if, anywhere along the way, it was intended that David be the one to ride B4 back in time, and become Valen, leaving Sinclaire/Sheridan to complete the story journey to "Sleeping In The Light."

Delenn was originally going to be male and change gender with her transformation it's why her original make up in the gathering had a strong jaw line but it changed before filming but after the character designs for the pilot were done.

I had actually liked the makeup in "The Gathering," and wished they'd stayed with an idea that Mimbari gender is very different than humans. Triads being required for reproduction, for example, would have made sense based on how the rest of their civilization revolved around the number three.

BTW: I'm impressed with the detail you had in the rundown Jokerz79.

[Jokerz79]

Here's a link to an old website not updated since 1999 so blast from the past it's early concept art and character bios for B5 characters.

http://www.zteamproductions.com/b5char.html

A lot of what I posted came straight from JMS he's been very open with fans through conventions, interviews, and blogs about the behind the scenes stuff that shaped B5. If you're an Real Ghostbusters fan look up his interviews on how the network meddled with that show its informative and depressing.

[Jokerz79]

Oh one side note about season 5 they lost a lot of their original storyline ideas for it by ending the Earth Civil War in season 4 again done because they feared cancellation and losing CC so they had a few filler episodes. But also we gained a subplot to Season 5 the fall of Centurai Prime which apparently wasn't either a major story or a story at all in the original outlines for Season 5 and I'm happy we got that as a fan of Londo and G'Kar.

Also I have no idea when the Babylon Prime stuff was dropped but Amazon Prime recently added B5 to Prime and while rewatching the series there is a heavy emphasis in that first season of B5 being destroyed with both Sinclair and the Centurai Clairvoyant seeing it.

[Stevenlore]

Thanks for all of this new info (to me) about B5. B5 was and still is my favorite Science Fiction show. I met Michael O'Hare a few times and never suspected that he had issues. He was always so nice. I'm glad JMS was able to finally tell the truth about Michael's mental illness and it was very brave and honorable for Michael to walk away when he did.

[Powerboy]

My assumption would be that Lando would have stayed on good terms with Sinclair and G'Kar would have been on the outs with him. Sheridan came in and immediately had a negative experience with Lando, forming his first impression of him which tends to almost always be the strongest while forming a much more positive first impression of G'Kar. It changed the whole dynamic as Lando went from having the ear of the commanding officer to being a pariah and G'Kar now had the commanding officer's confidence.

[DrNewGod]

My assumption would be that Lando would have stayed on good terms with Sinclair and G'Kar would have been on the outs with him. Sheridan came in and immediately had a negative experience with Lando, forming his first impression of him which tends to almost always be the strongest while forming a much more positive first impression of G'Kar. It changed the whole dynamic as Lando went from having the ear of the commanding officer to being a pariah and G'Kar now had the commanding officer's confidence.

I'm not so sure. It didn't take too long into S2 for the Centuri to get really scary, and for it to become clear that Mollari was up to something shifty. It might have taken longer for Sinclair to come around about G'Kar than it did for Sheridan, but not too much longer.

[Jokerz79]

I'm not so sure. It didn't take too long into S2 for the Centuri to get really scary, and for it to become clear that Mollari was up to something shifty. It might have taken longer for Sinclair to come around about G'Kar than it did for Sheridan, but not too much longer.

Sinclair and G'Kar seemed to bury some of their hostilities during the episode where Londo had the G'Quan Eth Plant.

Also I really like in the Beginning but it's strange Sheridan, Franklin, and G'Kar never mentioned a secret mission together during the war

[Scott Taylor]

When O'Hare left, the series could have just replaced the Sinclair character with another actor. That had been done previously in the show from Pilot to main series, of course, and other TV shows have taken that approach. Or a new actor comes along, gets a different name, but fulfills the same role. But it seems like anytime an actor left, JMS would use that as a way to introduce a new character all together and would also diverge the story.

It was a character-driven show with a character-driven storyline

[XPac]

When O'Hare left, the series could have just replaced the Sinclair character with another actor. That had been done previously in the show from Pilot to main series, of course, and other TV shows have taken that approach. Or a new actor comes along, gets a different name, but fulfills the same role. But it seems like anytime an actor left, JMS would use that as a way to introduce a new character all together and would also diverge the story.

It was a character-driven show with a character-driven storyline

I think by not recasting Sinclair, it gave a window to use the character again (which they did).

Honestly, I sort of liked the character Sheriden better anyways. Not to diss Sinclair or anything, but Sheriden just seemed more bad @$$. I think that's the Commander you want in the Shadow War.

But I might have a bit of a bias since I actually started watching the show the second season. So Sheriden was sort of my guy from the start.