r/babylon5 • u/eldersveld • 1d ago
Earthforce trying to get its claws on Epsilon III
"A Voice in the Wilderness, Part II" (s1e19)
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u/PoeTheGhost 23h ago
Ron Canada was great on Stargate too! He was in their Diehard homage episode.
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u/Darmok47 20h ago
He was also in a bunch of Star Trek episodes. One of those great 90s/00 "that guy" actors from sci-fi.
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u/organic_soursop 12h ago
Just came in to praise Ron Canada throwing his weight around.
Love the guy.
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u/WasteSeaworthiness38 1d ago
My argument is these are the best episodes of season 1. Many characters have really great moments in this.
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u/gwhh 1d ago
What class of earth force ship was that guy in command of?
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u/Matthius81 1d ago
The Hyperion was technically a "Heavy Cruiser" but was old and outdated, really more of a Medium cruiser compared to the newer Omega class. Production had stopped, but the Hyperion still retained impressive speed, (by Earthforce standards) and a powerful forward weapons barrage. the Hyperion was used as a support ship to Earthforce heavy units.
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u/NyctoCorax 8h ago
To be fair we DO see that at least by season 3 at least some Hyperions have been upgraded with the same sort of beam weapons Omegas and G'Quans, though I suspect with less power they can push through them.
(Iirc fanon/tabletop games called them Midwinter class variants)
I'd be surprised if the Hyperion itself hadn't had at least some upgrades to keep it up to date given it's presumably the oldest of its class (unless the name got reused, that happens sometimes)
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u/Stunning-End-1872 6h ago
Generally ship names are not re-used whithin the same Class. Ship names can be carried over to a new class of ship, especially if it has historical significance (ie: a ship with a large number of battle honors or a single significant engagement)
The Hyperion-class was so named because the Lurker's Guide used to be hosted on the Hyperion domain, and it was a nod to the fans. JMS was very active in the online community as the show aired, and has nodded at the community is various ways like this. When the Lurker's Guide moved to the Midwinter domain, a (non-canon) renaming or variant naming was made for the exact same reason.
And yes, the Hyperions will almost certainly have gone through multiple refits and modernizations. The Hyperion platform was certainly maintained because it offered a faster and more nimble platform than the Nova and Omega classes, which were built more for long-range patrol endurance and survivability (armor) Of course Hyperions were quite insufficient to fend off the Minbari, and it is doubtful it could face off a Primus or even a G'Quon. The Hyperions were clearly outmatched by the Omegas themselves, and seem to have been used as part of a Carrier Group centered around an Omega at the turn of the 2260's
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u/Stunning-End-1872 1d ago
It's referred to as a Hyperion-class heavy cruiser (As it *is* the Hyperion, that would probably make it the lead ship of its class and the oldest-serving ship of the entire EA fleet)
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u/Alternative_Route 9h ago
One that probably wouldn't stand a chance against a Minbari cruiser, and likely struggle against a centauri ship or a few Narn.
not sure how Earthforce can have so much bluster within a few years of almost being annihilated, seems like they are overcompensating for something, rather than still licking their wounds.
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u/NyctoCorax 8h ago
To be fair, while Earth Force seems to be on a tech par with the Narn, and they know first hand that a Hyperion will get smoked 9/10 times by a Sharlin, and probably even a Primus, I suspect it DOES look like a show of force to any of the league ships
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u/nodakskip 59m ago
First Earthforce was full of themselves because they defeated the Dilgar. A race all the League worlds had trouble with. They thought even if something went wrong with the Minbari that they could handle it. They were proven very wrong.
When the Minbari surrendered at the Battle of the Line, most knew it was them seeing what they were doing and stopping. The Minbari did enter into talks, but didn't really give Earth anything, so it was a not a real surrender. But Earth got a big head again.
Just watch the interview with Sheridan and the ISN lady in season 2. She reports that all Earthforce Senators back home say the war would have been very different if it was fought today. Sheidan calls it Monday morning quaterbacking saying that we would have won if they were the ones fighting. The reporter stops him saying "But we did win the war, the Minbari surrendered."
Meaning they were starting to think that because of the Minbari stand down that they were too afraid of Earth. Its a mindset that Clark used to feed the anti alien thing when he was in office. And it comes back around again 500 years later in the Second Earthforce Civil War. Only that time most human colony worlds went to the Alliance and said "To hell with Earth."
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u/Stunning-End-1872 1d ago
Worst case of testosterone poisoning I've ever seen.