Babylon 5, Season 4 Finale.
The Deconstruction of Falling Stars was, for a period of time preceding the announcement of the fifth (and truly final) season of Babylon 5, closure for fans who had so wisely invested their time and themselves in the epic storyline. Unfortunately, Babylon 5 has been off the air for quite some time, so what follows is recollected from memory and, as a disclaimer, subject to its vicissitudes. I suppose I should offer a spoiler warning, but honestly the show's been dead for ages.
The episode is written in four acts, each being introduced with a stylized GUI. The user of the interface is not visible. The four acts take place one hundred, five hundred, one thousand, and finally one million years after the death (or ascension, or whatever) of John Sheridan in "Sleeping in Light". Note that, when "The Deconstruction of Falling Stars" was first aired, it was still thought of as the series finale, and the fact that our main character's death was relegated to the status of unsolved mystery caused a small bit of drama on rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.
The first act takes place on a talk show or roundtable of a couple academics doing an educational piece on the history of Babylon 5. The discussion becomes heated after someone brings up the mysterious circumstances behind Sheridan's death. Then, out of nowhere, a Minbari contingent breaks into the studio, and Delenn herself speaks to the assembled group. She tells them, "John Sheridan was a good man." The cheeky fellow earlier attempts to ask Delenn a question, but she stares him down and leaves. Delenn is at least 140 years old at this point in the series, which is ancient even for a Minbari.
The second act takes place five hundred years later, inside a totalitarian government's secret research facility. The supporting crew — Garibaldi, Franklin, Ivanova, and Sheridan are resurrected as holographic puppets using advanced artificial intellegence to "fake" records of the crew doing things like making human-alien hybrids (something Clark's Earthforce did when B5 split from Earth, by and by). AI-Garibaldi, who seems to have retained his sense of justice and hacking ability, discreetly breaks the government's launch codes and causes their missiles to fire.
The third act takes place five hundred years after "The Great Burn", as Garibaldi's nuking spree is now called. Technology has progressed back to its level at the fifteenth century or so. A monk teaches his pupil about "Ivonova the Brave", "Delenn the Wise", and other characters from the series that are remembered as mythology. It is then revealed that the monk is a member of the Rangers, who have been using the church as a means to advance post-Burn Earth's society back to the stars. Many people have commented that this act resembles "A Canticle for Leibowitz", by Walter Miller, at least in so far as it's theocratic post-apocalyptic science fiction. I don't see the resemblance, myself.
The last act reveals the user behind the terminal. He appears to be human. Apparently his mission was to finish downloading the last records of humanity from Earth, and also to watch the sun go supernova. I remember people pointing out that the sun won't go supernova at all, nevermind in a million years, this supernova was artificially induced*. As he prepares to leave, we see him fade into an energy-being and enter an encounter suit — a trick that only the old races have the technology to perform. Humanity has finally reached the status of the "Ancient Ones."
To be honest I never really like these retrospective-from-the-future science fiction stories. But this episode (and its really cool title) was a fitting end to the best season of Babylon 5.
Thanks C-Dawg for setting me straight on act two.
*Kizor reminds us, "...you may want to know that the supernova is artifically induced, that JMS himself noticed the Leibowitz resemblance, went "oh, shit" and did it anyway, and that the Ancient Ones are First Ones (term's inaccuracy notwithstanding). Finally, coolest detail ever: the ship has the symbol of the Rangers."
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