Captain Sheridan is missing at Z'ha'dum, but his sacrifice has put the shadow war into a pause for the moment. Susan Ivanova is left looking after the station, but she can barely keep herself together. Ambassador Delenn is also shattered by the loss, but is determined to fight on, if she can get the Vorlon ambassador to engage in the conflict.

9 days since Garibaldi disappeared on a patrol mission around the station but at least his ship turns up. G'Kar and Marcus team up accidentally and reluctantly, to try and find out where he may be. At great personal risk for G'Kar. He is wanted, dead or alive, and being caught would make it worth somebody's while. Sheridan realizes to his horror, that he is quite dead. And still he is trapped in the underground maze, together with the mysterious Lorien. Delenn, still overcome by her loss and refusing to let go - throws herself into her duty as Ranger One.

Ivanova uses he White Star to find more people to help attack Z'ha'dum. Annoyingly to her, Marcus comes with, in order to help her translate which gives him more opportunities to pursue her. Not that she notices. G'Kar paid a high price to go look for Garibaldi. Now a prisoner and the source of entertainment to the insane emperor of Centaur. Londo asks him to take it in stride until he can find a way to rescue him from his shackles and they strike a deal. Garibaldi is alive - but held prisoner somewhere. He does not know by whome or where. Lyta Alexander is having difficulty with her new employer - the Vorlon ambassador, who seems to have a rather cold attitude towards humans. Lyta has been modified in various way to be able to serve them. She suspects that the Vorlorn are up to something, that they've let go of their support for the lesser species.

The Vorlons having destroyed an entire planet in order to root out Shadows - puts all remaining races in grave jeopordy. Thousands of refugees finding themselves homeless trusts Sheridan to help out in the plight. His miracle return from death, offers some solace to the seriousness of the matter. Garibaldi is not himself since his abduction and his friends are concerned. His normal not trusting anybody attitude, has gone beyond his usual borders. On Centauri Londo is working on having the insane emperor assassinated - by the help from G'Kar, in return he has promised to free the Narns. Time is of the essence, having hundreds of Shadow ships on the planet puts the entire Centauri population at risk, due to the latest actions by the Vorlons.

The fleet is gathering, and the battle expected is drawing near. Unknown weapons are used by the Vorlons to eradicate whole planets of life and the war council doesn't know what to expect. Ivanova is sent to find the other race, belonging to the First Ones, she once approached in order to procure some more help. Londo is collecting like-minded to try and get rid of the Shadow ships hiding on Centauri. The death of the emperor is the key to the whole plan. The emperor plucked out an eye of G'Kar, because he didn't like the way the Narn looked at him. But G'Kar stays as proud as ever, despite endless torture and humiliation and does what Londo asks of him.

The plan to lure the Shadows to come to where the battle with the Vorlons will take place, at Coriana Six, succeeded. With the Vorlons on one side and the Shadows on the other, they are caught inbetween. Ivanova brings members of the First Ones into the battle, to even out the odds somewhat. Londo was, to his surprise, appointed Prime Minister while the Centauri search for the next emperor. He intends to send Mr Morden on his merry way - and has already freed the Narns from their reign of terror. Londo finds out the truth behind his love Adira's death, having been withheld from him as long as the emperor was alive.

The Shadow war has been won, the Vorlon and Shadows are forever gone from known universe. But the problem with Earth government remains - and attention needs to be given to the problem. Especially since the government wishes to see Babylon 5 down, permanently. Bester at the Psi Corps is one choosen to perform a task among other plans. Londo feels that he should leave Centauri - as his time as Prime Minister has come to an end. A regent has been choosen to do the job of leading the country, until an emperor can be appointed. Garibaldi is suffering from strange flash-backs from the two weeks that he was missing. He makes the radical decision to resign his position - despite the attempt from his friends to make him reconsider.

Sheridan is worried about his family back home on earth - since the embargo took effect news are difficult to send and receive. Zack is doing a good job as the new security chief as Garibaldi starts up his own business venture. Things are visibly frosty between Sheridan and Garibaldi. A self-proclaimed unbiased news crew has arrived to the station. They are allowed to make a report, chaperoned by Lennier - but the outcome may not be as unbiased as they had wished for.

Delenn is recalled to Minbar to explain her actions in becoming genetically compatible with humans and taking a non-minbari as a mate. To prepare for the inquisition she enters into a ceremony known as The Dreaming, which reveals sequences from her past and secrets that she would not wish to become public knowledge.

Dr Franklin and Marcus the Ranger head to Mars to make contact with the resistance there, but find that they are taken to be Earthgov assassins.The special effects are also suffering. When the CGI exteriors are on then everything is fine, but when humans and CGI are combined its like looking at the screen through serious soft focus and it's very offputting when there isn't enough story to keep your mind off it.

The Drakh are interesting aliens in the way that they are depicted, slightly out of phase with the rest of the world. It's a strange special effect, but certainly an effective one. This story also gives us a battle between the Drakh and the White Stars which makes up for the fact that the rest of the episode is so dull.

Garibaldi's business is blossoming - there seems to be a great demand for a private eye on the station. He is also working with the resistance group, the resistance against Sheridan that is, and he gets his first assignment. Zack is given the unpleasant task to take back the standard issue effects that Michael is still holding on to. The new Newscast station is ready to go, but power is lacking in order to be able to have the transmission reach Earth. They're going to need the planet below, Epsilon 3, to help out.

It does this by painting the background of the major races in such richness and depth that when politics rears its ugly head the audience is invested in the situation already and wants to follow the story. The civil war on Minbar between the warriors and the religious caste has been coming for a long time and now that it is here hints of it can be found all the way back to the start of the show.

Garibaldi is now on a retainer from Mr Edgar - who asks of Michael to protect a product before it being patented. Sheridan is worried about Delenn - he hasn't heard from her since the news about the civil war on Minbari broke through. The Warrior cast is holding Minbar hostage, and the situation is looking grim. Neroon, who seemingly fooled Delenn into cooperation with her, has returned to his leaders, although showing concern about the cost of the war. Lyta Alexander is desperate to find a paying job - not being with the Psi Corp any more makes her prospects slim. And as by mere coincidence - Bester turns up on the station.

Fully a third of this episode is dedicated to the space battle for the Proxima 3 earth colony and is another of this season's big space battles. Sure, it doesn't measure up to big one that ended the Shadow war in Into the Fire, but it has the added twist of hinging on the loyalties of those on the other side.

Filler, filler, filler. With the war against Earth underway it is a surprise to find the whole plot coming to a screeching halt to observe Michael Garibaldi having a chat with his new boss who is, surprise surprise, a bit dodgy to say the least. That and Dr Franklin being a bit upset about Sheridan wanting him to sort out the Shadow-altered telepaths in a hurry could easily have been dealt with in a few minutes rather than being stretched out to fill and entire episode.

Michael Garibaldi sets in motion the plan to trap Sheridan for Edgars, thus removing the figurehead from the fight to free Earth from President Clark's regime. His reward is to learn the truth about Edgars and his plan for all human telepaths. Edgars, however, is not the only one who is making plans.

After having fallen into the trap set up by Garibaldi, Sheridan is now in a poor state, inprisoned by the Earth government. A simple signature, and they will let him go, they say. Alone and vulnerable, Sheridan must try to endure the worst of situations. An earthforce inquisitor tortures and tricks Sheridan, plays with his mind, to make him sign a confession of treason.

Michael Garibaldi makes contact with the Mars resistance, who decide to kill him for betraying Sheridan. Telepath Lyta is there to verify his story, however, and he leads a small team into the place where Sheridan is being held in a desperate raid to get him back. Ivanova takes the White Star Fleet up against Earth ships modified with Shadow technology.

It's time to take the fight to Earth and that means nullifying the battle fleet in Mars orbit. It's the biggest challenge yet for Sheridan's fleet, but he has an ace up his sleeve that could mean the difference between success and failure. Meanwhile Marcus, the ranger in love with Ivanova, comes up with a desperate plan to save her life.

The politics are neither simple enough, nor complex enough to really engage and the woman playing the Earth President doesn't convince for a second. The more personal stories, such as Garibaldi searching for the woman who slipped through his fingers twice and Ivanova coming to terms with the sacrifice that Marcus has made for her are more satisfying in their brief moments than all the politicking.

And so the story has ended, but what will anyone remember of the station and the events that took place there in a hundred, a thousand, a million years? The story is over, finished and yet there's an episode left over so The Deconstruction of Falling Stars is an episodic coda of short stories that hope to illuminate the significance of the BABYLON 5 story arc. Thus we get ill-informed academics doubting the motives of the heroes and getting a telling off from a 140 year old Delenn, holographic recreations of the heroes manipulated into propaganda spokespeople, the far future of the Rangers and finally the possible truth about the Vorlons.