"The Summoning" is an episode from the fourth season of the science fiction television series Babylon 5

Babylon 5

Babylon 5 is an American science fiction television series created, produced and largely written by J. Michael Straczynski. The show centers on a space station named Babylon 5: a focal point for politics, diplomacy, and conflict during the years 2257–2262...

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Synopsis

Zack

Zack Allan

Zack Allan is a character in the fictional universe of the science-fiction television series Babylon 5, played by Jeff Conaway. He regularly appeared in the show from season 2 onwards. During the second and third seasons of the series he was a security officer on the Babylon 5 station...

 finally locates Garibaldi

Michael Garibaldi

Michael Garibaldi is a lead fictional character in the universe of the science fiction television series Babylon 5, played by Jerry Doyle.-Overview:...

. Delenn faces opposition from the League of Non-Aligned Worlds

League of Non-Aligned Worlds

The League of Non-Aligned Worlds was a fictional collection of races in the Babylon 5 universe.The League of Non-Aligned Worlds was a loose confederation of independent worlds and minor species, most of whom had endured subjugation under the Centauri Republic at its height...

 in organizing a strike against the Shadows. Sheridan returns from Z'ha'dum

Z'ha'dum (planet)

In the fictional Babylon 5 universe, Z'ha'dum was the homeworld of the ancient, mysterious race known as the Shadows. The planet is near the galactic rim...

, to the shock of everyone aboard the station. The joy of reunion is, however, quickly overshadowed by the report of the vast Vorlon fleet that has just destroyed Arcata 7, an inhabited planet of millions of sentients because it had harbored a Shadow force. The Vorlons have decided that it's time to destroy everything that has been touched by the Shadows. Now the Army of Light must stop both the Shadows and the Vorlons if anyone hopes to survive this struggle.

Arc significance

• Garibaldi is "rescued".
• Sheridan returns, alive, and rallies the Non-Aligned worlds against the Shadows.
• Ivanova discovers a "pocket" in hyperspace being used by the Vorlons to hide their massive armada, replete with Star Dreadnoughts, Fighters, and their most powerful weapon, the Vorlon planet killer. Soon after, the Vorlons obliterated a planet in league with the Shadows.
• Initially, when the Vorlons and Shadows took on the task of looking after the younger races, they were equally balanced, obeyed rules of engagement, and respected each other's perspectives. But at some point, one of them grew tired of the arrangement and the two started fighting in earnest, with the younger races caught in the middle.

Production details

• Lyta's telepathic abilities were enhanced by the Vorlons to enable her to more easily carry one of them.
• The Vorlons, apparently determined to wipe the Shadows out once and for all, have begun destroying worlds that have had contact with the Shadows, and to that end have amassed a fleet of thousands of ships, as well as a planetkiller.