Babylon 5 Season 1, Episode 20. Written by
J. Michael Straczynski, directed by
Jim Johnston. Originally aired on
August 10, 1994.
Primary Plot: Babylon 4, which disappeared under
mysterious circumstances four years previously, reappears.
Secondary Plot: Delenn is offered
leadership of the
Grey Council.
Commentary: This was a very freaky episode. Many of the sequences, especially the flashbacks, aren't meant to be fully understood until the
War Without End episodes in Season 3.
My theory about Sinclair looking 20 years older is that the payoff to this episode was originally intended to be the series finale--which was always planned to be 20 years in the future. When Sinclair left the show, they altered the storyline to have him aging prematurely and then going back in time (as shown in
War Without End, Part II).
Also, if you watch closely, you can see
Delenn being given the
triluminary in this episode. (She uses it in
Chrysalis, just a few episodes later.)
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Babylon 5 Episode Guide.