While Point of No Return shares its name with the whole season, and represents the increasingly desperate measures the main crew are taking to keep the conflict from erupting, Severed Dreams is all about not shying from that fight once it reaches you.  This episode would go on to win the Hugo award back in 1996, and put simply this is probably one of the best space battles ever to grace the small screen.  I would argue that it gives big movie space battles a run for their money as well.  I also think it manages to do so in a way that does not shy away from the cost of the conflict, which gives it a leg up on similar stories. 

As is tradition for the past few episodes we start off with a silly scene.  Londo is complaining about a line at customs to another passenger, and he loudly and proudly blames the new Narns on the security force for all of the delays, just in time for him to round the corner and be confronted with a Narn security officer.  The Narn officer is nothing but polite and professional, but by golly there seems to be a computer glitch and Londo will have to wait for another 2 or 3 hours while the rest of the line is processed without him.  Londo complains some more before blaming all of this on the recent eruption of the Earth Civil War.

We then smash cut to an exciting chase sequence,where a ship identified as the Clarkstown is chasing down the Alexander which is General Hague’s ship that was mentioned on ISN last episode.  Two officers on the Alexander debate on how to get out of the situation, with the younger officer insisting that they can punch right through the Clarkstown and escape, while the older officer is hesitant.  Eventually he agrees and the Alexander quickly destroys their pursuer.  While they make their preparations to jump the older officer inquires if the younger had ever met the captain of their opposing ship. He then shares that he knew him, and that he and General Hague were old friends.  He laments that in the war they find themselves in they know everyone they have to kill, before causally mentioning the death of General Hague, and ordering the ship to jump to Babylon 5.  

Back on the station Sheridan shares the news that Hague’s ship is on the way.  Ivanova and Garibaldi point out the obvious problems with this, and Sheridan orders them to put a kill switch in the communications system to shut down outgoing messages, hoping that it will keep things secret for longer.  

Franklin and Delenn meanwhile are trying to figure out the best way to smuggle a comatose Ranger onto the station, when they are interrupted by a lurking G’Kar that assures them he knows the best way past the other Narn. Franklin just shrugs and goes along with it.  They get the ranger situated in Medlab where he reveals that the Shadows and their allies are on the move starting small conflicts all across the galaxy.  He further informs Delenn that the Grey Council has said that it is none of their business if this is happening, which pretty well infuriates her.  The reminder of the looming Shadow War is a great move here, showing that while the Earth characters may feel like this is the end of the world, there are things building in the galaxy that have the potential to be far far worse than one nation’s civil war.  
Back with Sheridan we get a bit of ISN exposition explaining that Mars has refused to enact martial law.  It is interrupted pretty quickly by the arrival of the Alexander and Sheridan gives a nice quiet pep talk to the crew.  I like him asking the crew to think about the situation calmly and rationally and to keep in mind that they are all human.  Once Major Ryan arrives on the station he tells a crestfallen Sheridan that Hague is dead, and that he is in command and trying to keep things together.  He also fills everyone in on what is going on back on Earth.  The military have occupied most of the world’s major cities, and only a few senators have escaped the president’s men.  He also pins his hopes on the fact that Mars has rejected martial law, and that it might spur the other colonies to do the same. Garibaldi is doubtful that this will work, but Sheridan seems confident that Earth cant really afford to push back against their colonies.  The show immediately undercuts him when they receive word that Earthforce has begun bombing Martian cities.

We get some nice economy of movement as Delenn leaves to confront the Grey Council, another Earthforce ship arrives.  The Churchill and its captain are there to meet up with Major Ryan, but Captain Hiroshi has some bad news for the station she wants to deliver in person. While they wait we get some more ISN exposition about Mars, before things take a weird shift that I think is pretty great.  We have gotten so used to this plot device, that when it switches from the little TV to being inside the ISN studio, it is jarring.  Another reporter jumps in to the desk to announce that two Earth colonies Orion 7 and Proxima 3 have declared independence in protest of the bombing of Mars.  ISN was ordered to not broadcast this information, but decided to do so anyway when they saw Earthforce troops moving toward their broadcast center.  It turns out they have been censoring coverage of the president for the past year at the government’s request and they are going to try and release as much of it as they can before they get arrested.  However he gets cut off. 

Captain Hiroshi delivers the news about the other colonies to Sheridan, before letting him know the really bad news.  Clark is now paranoid about every colony trying to break away, and he is sending a fleet of ships to arrest Sheridan and his command staff and directly administer the station on behalf of the president.  The main four discuss their options amongst themselves and end up resolving to fight.  The show then decides to contrast this stirring moment by showing the ships that are on their way to kill them.  The fact that they are still in hyperspace just makes them seem even more sinister with the heavy red hue.    

Delenn arrives at the Grey Council, and she is still royally pissed off.  She wont take no for an answer and barges into the council chamber and begins a tirade against the members, shaming them for their inaction while the galaxy goes to shit. She then reveals that the military is actually split among all the castes, and that the religious and worker castes can move with ⅔ of the military forces, even if the warrior caste refuses. She dissolves the Grey Council, which has ruled the Minbari for over a thousand years, and takes everyone but the warriors with her.  

Back on the station we get a very sweet quiet scene between Sheridan and his father.  Sheridan calls because he is worried about his father, and because he may not be able to call again in the near future which is a great nod towards the character’s humanity.  He is trying to be cagey about what he is saying on an open channel, but the elder Sheridan cuts through the bullshit and lets him know that he understands what is going on, and that he wants his son to do what he has to do, and not worry about them.  It is a lovely moment of his father having complete faith in him, and it is an interesting look of vulnerability for the Captain, as he even chokes up when ending the call, before steeling himself for what is coming.  

Sheridan leaves his call and uses Draal’s system to address the whole station at the same time.  I like that most of the station residents just roll with this new technology.  Sheridan outlines the situation and declares Babylon 5 to be independent from the Earth Alliance, joining Promixa 3 and Orion 7.  Doing this before the Earthforce ships arrive is a bold move, basically daring them to attack when they get to the station.  After his announcement he does the standard “anyone that wants to leave thing”, and we see one guy take off a headset and run off.  Ivanova then demands to lead the fighter squadrons.  Her and Sheridan share a look and she heads off as well.  Some interpret it as romantic, but to me it pretty much just reads as two friends that don’t know if they will see each other again. 

The Roanoke and the Agrippa arrive and demand the station’s surrender.  Sheridan refuses, and implores the enemy captain to leave.  Sheridan then gives an order to his fighters to not fire first, possibly hoping to bluff the enemy. This time it doesn’t work.  As the big ships start firing, the fighters start to meet in the middle with explosions all around.  During the battle a breaching pod full of marines manages to latch onto the station, and Garibaldi and his folks end up having to fight hand to hand with them, when the Narns charge into battle without waiting.  Having the ground battle is a smart move because it helps fight against that scifi tendency to have very sanitary outer space combat only.  Eventually Babylon 5 prevails though at the cost of the Churchill doing a suicide run.  Just as everyone is catching their breath more ships come and repeat the order to surrender. As Sheridan closes his eyes and prepares for another battle he gets informed that even more jump points open but this time Minbari ships pour out.

This leads to a top ten fan favorite exchange, when Delenn contacts the Earth ships and declares them under her protection, giving a curt order to withdraw or be destroyed.  The Earth captain tries to bluff her by threatening to engage her ships and she calmly points out that only Sheridan ever survived a fight with Minbari ships, and that he is with her.  The Earth ships quickly spin around and we get a triumphant Sheridan ordering everyone back to base.  The show immediately undercuts the triumph by showing an entire room full of humans and Narns either dead, or writhing on the ground in agony.  

We get a short few scenes for our denouement.  Major Ryan leaves to go and find more ships willing to fight in the war, and Sheridan declares that he cannot put his uniform back on, not with an easy conscience anyway.  Sheridan gets a tender moment with Delenn where he thanks her for her help, and kisses her hand, and then we get a small victory celebration where the denizens of the station applaud the captain.

As I mentioned this is one of the biggest and best Babylon 5 episodes, one that has high stakes and a situation that they have spent years building toward with restraint that makes the explosion all the more satisfying. It upends the status quo while freeing our characters to take a more active and visible role in the coming war against the Shadows.   

Next week we come down from the high with an episode about the consequences of our actions in “Ceremonies of Light and Dark”.

As always the series is available to stream on Tubi for free, with ads.    

Where do I know them from?

• Major Ryan is played by the venerable character actor Bruce McGill, whose list of credits are so long I will just go with one of my favorites and cite My Cousin Vinny, though he is perhaps more famous for Animal House.
• Rance Howard shows up to play David Sheridan, and again almost too many credits to even start, but lets go with Apollo 13. Or really any Ron Howard film.
• Phil Morris plays the younger officer that helps Major Ryan, another veteran with a deep resume, but I will go with Doom Patrol for something of his that I watched more recently. 
• Kim Miryori as Captain Hiroshi, I will be honest I have never really seen her in anything else but IMDB tells me she was in The Punisher with Dolph Lundgren.

The Good

• What else can I say? This was an epic episode that delivers a great pay off for a ton of buildup and introduces new avenues for the story.  
• Judging this episode on its merits in this day and age and it seems like an even stronger and eerily plausible scenario, albeit set in a scifi landscape. 

The Bad

• This one is pretty great start to finish, hard to find fault.  

Arc Points (Spoilers Ahead)

• G’Kar’s prophecy about the Narns having to sacrifice themselves sounded like a long term thing, but this episode involves the death of dozens of them.
• We get echoes of some of Sheridan’s schemes in the past, but none of them help him avoid the fight.  The beginning of Season 2 comes to mind when he was able to bluff the Minbari into retreating by refusing to fire first.  Turns out Fascist loyalists are more gung-ho than religious fanatics. 
• Famously Robert Foxworth was supposed to return as his recurring Season 2 character General Hague, but instead he decided to play a different treasonous flag officer on Deep Space Nine.  Thankfully it is solved with a line of dialogue. 
• Bruce McGill meanwhile is only in this episode because of a lack of clear communication.  JMS tells the story that he asked producers to offer the role to “McGill” but he had been thinking of Everett McGill.  In my opinion Bruce is a trade up.

• An infamous dialogue/CGI mismatch also occurs in this episode.  Sheridan addresses the Roanoke when the ship outside is clearly still the Agrippa.  
• The breaking of the Grey Council leads to the Minbari helping out in a big way during the course of the Shadow War, but as with most things in Babylon 5, there will be consequences, even if they are not felt right away.