"Sleeping in Light" Babylon 5 episode
Season	5
Episode no.	22
Prod. code	523
Airdate	25 November 1998
Writer(s)	J. Michael Straczynski
Director	J. Michael Straczynski
Guest star(s)	Wayne Alexander (Lorien) Romy Rosemont (Publicist) David Wells (Commander Nils)

"Sleeping in Light" is the final episode of the science-fiction television series Babylon 5. This is a list of Babylon 5 episodes. ... Image File history File links B5_Sleeping_in_Light_1. ... November 25 is the 329th (in leap years the 330th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... Screenwriters, scenarists or script writers, are authors who write the screenplays from which movies are made. ... J. Michael Straczynski Joseph Michael Straczynski (born July 17, 1954) is an award-winning American writer/producer of television series, novels, short stories, comic books, and radio dramas. ... A television director is usually responsible for directing the actors and other taped aspects of a television production. ... J. Michael Straczynski Joseph Michael Straczynski (born July 17, 1954) is an award-winning American writer/producer of television series, novels, short stories, comic books, and radio dramas. ... Wayne Alexander is an American actor who grew up in San Joaquin Valley in California. ... David Lee Wells (born May 20, 1963 in Torrance, California) is a Major League Baseball player who has been one of the games top left-handed pitchers for the past several years. ... Objects at Rest is an episode from the fifth season of the science-fiction television series Babylon 5. ... A year is the time between two recurrences of an event related to the orbit of the Earth around the Sun. ... Babylon 5 is an epic science fiction television series created, produced, and largely written by J. Michael Straczynski. ...

Plot synopsis

Twenty years after the end of the Shadow War, the Babylon 5 crew gather one last time before Sheridan's death. Sheridan realizes that he has very little time left. After finding that in all his time on Minbar he never watched the sun rise, Sheridan goes outside and sees the sun rise for the first time. Bruce Boxleitner as John Sheridan in Babylon 5 John David Sheridan1(?? - 2281), played by Bruce Boxleitner, is a fictional character in the universe of the science-fiction television series Babylon 5. ...

This episode starts off showing what the main characters were doing nineteen years after the events in the series. Michael Garibaldi is still the head of the Edgars-Garibaldi company. Dr. Stephen Franklin is still the head of Xeno-biological research on Earth, Ivanova is now a General, and Vir Cotto is Emperor of the Centauri. Garibaldi is shown sitting at his home on Mars chatting with Dr. Franklin, who is on vacation from his job. Ivanova is unhappy in her job - feeling that she is little more than a tired warhorse brought out so kids can point at it. Vir is in the royal palace on Centauri Prime, enjoying the company of a couple Centauri females. All of them receive invitations to come to Minbar, Sheridan is dying and he wants one last meal with them. Michael Garibaldi, played by Jerry Doyle, is a fictional character in the universe of the science-fiction television series Babylon 5. ... Categories: Stub | Babylon 5 characters ... Vir Cotto is a character from the fictional Babylon 5 universe, played on screen by Stephen Furst. ... Peter Jurasik as Londo Mollari in Babylon 5 The Centauri are a humanoid species in the fictional Babylon 5 universe. ... Claudia Christian as Susan Ivanova in Babylon 5 Susan Ivanova, played by Claudia Christian, is a fictional character in the universe of the science-fiction television series Babylon 5. ... A Minbar (Arabic: منبر) is a pulpit in the mosque where the Imam (leader of prayer) stands to deliver sermons (khutbah خطبه ). The minbar is usually shaped as a small tower with a pointed roof and with a stair leading up to it. ...

The group arrives on Minbar, and they have one last meal together. Sheridan gives a toast to all those who had died: "To absent friends—in memory still bright." Garibaldi remembers G'Kar, Vir remembers Londo, Delenn remembers Lennier, and Ivanova remembers Marcus. They later spend the evening together in the garden. Ivanova finds she is unable to stay, and goes to bed by herself. Delenn follows her, and says that since she became President of the Alliance two years ago, Sheridan took over leadership of the Rangers. Delenn wants Ivanova to take over that role when Sheridan leaves, knowing that she is no longer happy in Earth Force. GKar, played by Andreas Katsulas, is a fictional character in the universe of the science-fiction television series Babylon 5. ... Mira Furlan as Delenn in Babylon 5 Delenn, played by Mira Furlan, is a fictional character in the universe of the science-fiction television series Babylon 5. ... Categories: Babylon 5 characters | Science fiction stubs ... Marcus is a Roman name that can refer to: Pope Marcus Marcus a usurper emperor from Roman Britain in AD 406. ...

Sheridan and Delenn spend one final night together. Sheridan decides to leave Minbar, and go for "a Sunday drive" in space. He doesn't want to die on Minbar, but wants to die in space. Sheridan feels that doing that would mean that he would be remembered longer, and that it would be an important symbol to the Alliance. The next morning, the couple says their goodbyes to each other, and Sheridan departs Minbar for the last time.

Sheridan first goes to Babylon 5. He learns that the Earth Alliance is shutting down the station since no one went there anymore, and were going to destroy it once the shutdown was complete. Sheridan meets Zack Allen at the station, who had come back from Earth to help with the shutdown. Sheridan begins to feel his body shutting down, and decides to leave the station. When the ship's computer asks him what course to set, he recalls a message relayed to him twenty years before from Vorlon Ambassador Kosh: "When the long night comes, return to the end of the beginning." He realizes now that this must mean the Coriana system - the site of the final battle of the Shadow War, where all the remaining First Ones left the galaxy. In the fictional Babylon 5 universe of the science-fiction television series Zack Allen was a security officer. ... Vorlon ambassador Kosh in Babylon 5 Kosh is a fictional character in the universe of the science fiction television series Babylon 5. ...

When Sheridan arrives at the Coriana system, he is very tired, and he knows the end is near. The computer warns him that his life signs are fading away, Sheridan tells the computer to shut down all the systems. As the ship shuts down, Lorien appears to him. Lorien tells him that his old life was over, and that it was time for him to go beyond the rim with him. Lorien then takes Sheridan from his ship and departs the galaxy for the final time.

Sheridan's ship is found a few days later, but the airlocks are sealed and there is no trace of Sheridan. Sheridan's friends go to Babylon 5 for the decommisioning ceremony, and the station is destroyed. His friends return to their lives, and Zack Allen becomes the assistant of Vir on Centauri Prime.

Arc significance

This episode takes place 19 years after the events depicted in the fifth season of the series. At the beginning of the fourth season, Sheridan was saved by Lorien when he went to Z'ha'dum. But as a consequence, Sheridan would only have an additional twenty years left to live. This episode depicts the final days of Sheridan's life, and of the Babylon 5 station. Wayne Alexander as Lorien in Babylon 5 Lorien, played by Wayne Alexander, is a fictional character from from the television science fiction drama Babylon 5. ... In the fictional Babylon 5 universe, Zhadum was the homeworld of the ancient, mysterious race known as the Shadows. ...

Production details

The show was actually filmed at the end of the fourth season. Because of uncertainty at the time of whether or not there would be a fifth season, it was intended originally to show this as the final show of the fourth season. When it was confirmed that TNT had picked up the show, and there would be a fifth season, it was decided to push the show back to the end of the fifth season. The Deconstruction of Falling Stars was filmed and it replaced Sleeping in Light as the fourth season ender. The Deconstruction of Falling Stars is the final episode of the fourth season of the science-fiction television series Babylon 5. ...

Trivia

Series creator J. Michael Straczynski made a cameo appearance in this episode when he appeared as the crew member who shut down all the lights on the station. J. Michael Straczynski Joseph Michael Straczynski (born July 17, 1954) is an award-winning American writer/producer of television series, novels, short stories, comic books, and radio dramas. ...

External link

• Lurker's Guide Episode Page