Babylon 5 Shows The Danger Of Scientific Advancement Without Morals

By Jonathan Klotz
| Published 19 seconds ago

A large part of Babylon 5’s success is that episodes typically exist in a world of grey, forcing everyone to make a compromising moral choice along the way to getting what they want. “Deathwalker” spells it out with the introduction of the titular war criminal, who is both wanted for her crimes, and wanted for her knowledge. Turns out that dangling the secret to immortality will make every government quickly forget about all the murders. There’s no unified stance among the different species, and at the end of the day, it’s everyone for themselves. 

Too Important To Die

“Deathwalker” starts off with G’Kar’s assistant Na’toth assaulting a woman who just arrived at Babylon 5. The show cuts right through the mystery of her identity in the first act, confirming that yes, this is Deathwalker, a Dilger war criminal, despite being middle-aged when she should be an elder by now. Her real name is Jha’dur, and she’s played to slimy perfection by Sarah Douglas (Ursa from Superman II), since as we learn, she’s holding all the cards. 

Commander Sinclair (Michael O’Hare) is in the middle of a complex web of political and ethical motivations that touch every race in the galaxy. Jha’dur is happy to give up the secret to immortality, which incidentally, involves killing another. Her wish is to spread discord as far as she can across the galaxy. That’s why, when Sinclair and Garibaldi (Jerry Doyle) arrive to escort her to trial, she knows how it’s going to end, and cruelly, she spells it out for both men. What she knows is too important and none of the governments will let her die. 

The bickering between the non-aligned worlds, the Minbari, Earth, and the Narn means no one is happy with the outcome. Jha’dur, found innocent, is to head to Earth and share the immortality formula. That’s when the race everyone forgot about, the Vorlons, blow up her ship. Ambassador Kosh calmly says to everyone that they are not ready for immortality. It’s a reminder of where the Vorlon stand in the world of Babylon 5: above everyone else. 

No One Is Perfect Onboard Babylon 5

Fans of Babylon 5 gravitated to the political machinations and in “Deathwalker” alone you have the Earth government again putting morals aside, while G’kar is revealed to have been the mastermind behind bringing Deathwalker to the station, and yet, it was the Minbari Warrior Caste who kept her hidden for all of these years. For once, the person with the cleanest hands in all of this is Londo. It’s another early sign that the future shown in Babylon 5 is far, far removed from Star Trek’s utopian outlook. 

“Deathwalker” is a standalone episode but as with most of Babylon 5 it’s still required viewing. Watching all of the ambassadors and governments butt heads after throwing away their morals, or not in the case of the non-aligned worlds, lets you know where everyone stands before the Shadow War heats up. There’s no real allies in the world of Babylon 5, and there’s no perfect hero coming to save the day. Sinclair, and later Sheridan, is the closest we get, and even those two men have their flaws. It’s all because in order to survive in this galaxy, choices have to be made, and often, there’s no good choice available.