Listen. Captain John Sheridan has become unstuck in time. In 1996, during the weeks of May 13 and May 20, Babylon 5 delivered a time-travel epic unlike anything the show had attempted before. And in doing so, this two-part story, “War Without End,” created a closed-looped predestination paradox that fixed the nagging plot question from Season 1, and created all new questions that fans still debate to this day. And, as far as time-travel episodes go, “War Without End” stands among the best ever in sci-fi TV, arguably as good, if not better, than specific time-travel stories in other series and franchises. Am I saying “War Without End” is as good as 1990’s “Yesterday’s Enterprise” in Star Trek: The Next Generation? Yes, it’s on par. It’s also, structurally and in terms of stakes, way better than “Little Green Men” from Deep Space Nine and “Future’s End’ from Voyager, two Star Trek time travel stories that aired the same year.
With “War Without End,” Babylon 5 delivered an episode that neatly wrapped up its past, made its present tense even more explosive, and hinted at haunting mysteries for its future. And, all of this even managed to repair a strange incongruity that the show had experienced since Season 2.
