AUT: Empire in Space

[pvh@xxxxxxxxxxxx (Peter van Heusden)]

I watched the 2nd-last episode of the 4th season of Babylon 5 last night, and was
struck how the metaphors involved seem to concur with the langauge of Empire.

A bit of background for non B5-heads: there was a great war against the Shadows
and the Vorlons, two forces of tremendous power who represent on the one side
(Shadows) chaos as a push towards evolution, and on the other (Vorlons) frozen
stability as an ideal. These two sides had been using everyone else as pawns in a
Great Game across the galaxy, but with the help of other 'First Ones', the pawns
(under the ambit of the League of Non-Aligned Worlds) rebelled, and forced the
Shadows and the Vorlons out of the galaxy.

Then attention turned from this great galactic war back towards Earth, which was in
the hands of an evil dictator (President Clark). The forces of Babylon 5 (a space
station which had broken away from Earth), alongside the Rangers, a fighting force
whose orgins were originally with the humans of Babylon 5 and the Minbari (another
alien race), but whose operation ultimately ended up not being tide to any particular
planet/race - anyway, Bab5 and the Rangers, later with the help fo all the Non-
Aligned Worlds, attacked and defeat the dictator on Earth.

At the end of this battle, the Rangers, who over the last several months have
become a interplanetary peacekeeper corps, fighting raiders and all sorts of other
disruptive elements, are set up as an overall authority over all the Non-Aligned
worlds, mediating their disputes, ensuring peace and 'free trade' (actual words used
by Ambassador Delen). Under the humanitarian guidance of the Rangers, a New
Age of Hope opens up.

Am I crazy, or does this sound a hell of a lot like a representation of a transition
from a bipolar world of imperialist antagonisms to an Imperial order, where war is a
constant 'humanitarian' policing action (and where individual nation-states / planets
might have more or less power - e.g. Earth is a powerful force in its own right - but
all agree to submit to a common order of transplanetary mediation). I know there
are other B5 watchers on this list - has anyone else noticed this?

Peter
hoping that Season 5 will be shown in South Africa sometime soon....


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