Hi Everyone,
I started watching Game of Thrones earlier this year. From the outset I knew that GoT might be a contender for my all-time favorite series, which at the time was Babylon 5. Now that the series is over, I can reflect on the characters and their arcs in their entirety to answer that question – which do I prefer, Game of Thrones or Babylon 5?
Clearly, Game of Thrones has the upper hand in special effects. Game of Thrones had $15 million per episode, while Babylon 5 had $800,000 to work with. Even adjusting for inflation, the numbers are not comparable. Despite that, the series were alike in their epic ambitions, their serial storytelling (a rarity in TV sci-fi before the 1990s) and overall length. They also explore similar themes of ambition, loyalty, and purpose in the context of a great war (and an assortment of little ones.)
It is hard to compare the series head-to-head as a whole because they are both sprawling epics that defy easy characterization. To clarify my choice, I’ll focus on 20 elements that strike me as analogues between the two series. My preferences in each of these head-to-head comparisons will help me identify strong and weak points for each show. At the end, I’ll give a final tally, but the number isn’t as important as what each contest reveals about the show.
I don’t expect everyone to agree with my perspective. If you’ve seen both shows, feel free to share your preference. If you’ve only seen one, why not give the other a try? You might get hooked like I was.
Ready? Here goes. I will try to be cryptic enough to avoid spoilers, but some discussion of the general story arc is inevitable.
#1) The Old Ruler with a Mysterious Past: Ned Stark vs. Jeffrey Sinclair
Both Stark and Sinclair show in Season 1 that the old order has fallen apart. Both are honorable and willing to make sacrifices, but honor and sacrifice are not rewarded as a new, rougher order takes hold and the descent into chaos begins. Both characters had their merits, but I preferred Sinclair’s analytical approach. I also liked the way in which Sinclair’s arc developed in new directions after his first-season exit from B5.
Victor: Jeffrey Sinclair
#2) The Chaser of Lost Glory: Daenerys Targaryen vs. Londo Mollari
The glory of old empires, with tales of fire and swords, exerts a powerful pull on characters who feel that the current world owes them something more. Both Daenerys and Londo see themselves as having an unrealized birthright. That feeling leads them to dark places. I preferred Londo’s story arc because it gave time to his rise and fall, allowing the character to develop. Daenerys was allowed to fixate on the Iron Throne for almost the entire series, which robbed her arc of some depth.
Victor: Londo Mollari
#3) The Vengeful Exile: Arya Stark vs. G’Kar
Political violence robbed both Arya and G’Kar of their home and their standing in the world. In Arya’s case, this creates a need for vengeance. In G’Kar’s case, this hones and challenges his existing need. Both characters use this to grow, and to put their abilities to the service of a cause greater than themselves. Arya’s vengeance was pragmatic, while G’Kar developed a principled view of the world. As impressed as I was with Arya, I preferred G’Kar’s ethical evolution.
Victor: G’Kar
#4) The Agent of Chaos: Petyr Baelish (Littlefinger) vs. Morden
Both Littlefinger and Morden ushered in an age of chaos and attempt to use it to their advantage. I initially expected to prefer Morden, as the character is both creepy and crafty. However, Littlefinger was given more chances to act on his own and to develop a deeper personal stake in the conflict. This made his character arc more satisfying.
Victor: Littlefinger
#5) The Master of Secrets: Varys vs. Michael Garibaldi
Both Varys and Garibaldi find themselves on the periphery of circles of power, but privy to secrets and whispers. As a counterpoint to Arya and G’Kar (#3) Varys is more principled and Garibaldi more pragmatic. Ultimately, Garibaldi evolved more as a character, but Varys gets points for maintaining a principled worldview that, in some ways, became crucial to the resolution of the series’ central conflict.
Draw
#6) The Put-Upon Second in Command: Tyrion Lannister vs. Susan Ivanova
I liked both of these characters greatly, but Tyrion was hard to beat. If Claudia Christian had been able to continue playing Ivanova throughout Season 5, who knows how things might have turned out?
Victor: Tyrion Lannister
#7) The Resurrected Leader: Jon Snow vs. John Sheridan
Both Snow and Sheridan faced and overcame death as part of their rise to a position of power. Both were dedicated soldiers with keen senses of honor, and both found their loyalties tested by war, politics and love. Jon Snow was a bit too quiet and brooding throughout, while John Sheridan started out happy-go-lucky and changed as the series progressed. Ultimately, Jon Snow was in the right place at the right time, but his heart wasn’t in it.
Victor: John Sheridan
#8) The Dark Mentor: Jaqen H’ghar vs. Alfred Bester
Both Jaqen and Bester train people with special abilities to do despicable tasks. I liked both characters, but Walter Koenig’s performance as Bester, and the character’s deeper investment in Babylon 5’s central conflict made Bester the stronger character.
Victor: Alfred Bester
#9) The Keeper of the Past: The Three-Eyed Raven vs. The Keeper of the Great Machine
Both Babylon 5 and Game of Thrones draw upon sources of ancient power that protect the main characters and provide access to hidden knowledge at crucial times. I liked how they added a sense of wonder and mystery to their shows without defusing the tension.
Draw
#10) The Enfant Terrible: Joffrey vs. Cartagia
I found both these characters strikingly similar in their childishness, their mercurial humor, their viciousness and their personification of an empire in decline. By a small margin, I liked Joffrey better, maybe because he was more active in securing and maintaining his own power, and more theatrical in his decadence.
Victor: Joffrey
#11) The Spiritual Leader: The High Sparrow vs. Byron
At different points in each series, a charismatic leader arose to briefly challenge the existing order of things. Both the High Sparrow and Byron had a sense of principles and a willingness to fight for their cause. The High Sparrow was more deeply involved with the grittier aspects of politics, while Byron’s fight was more symbolic and tangential to the main conflict. Both series incorporate religion peripherally, but personal ideals and political pragmatism carry the day.
Draw
#12) The Weaponized Dead: White Walkers vs. Shadow Vessels
Both the Shadows and the Night King use humans as weapons supplies in their fight against the protagonists. Both are creepy at a primal level, but the sheer scale of the White Walker hordes puts them over the top for me.
Victor: White Walkers
#13) The Feared Conduit of Power: Melisandre vs. Lyta Alexander
The two red-haired powerful characters are exploited, but never fully trusted by the main characters. Lyta came into her own as an individual, rather than just a manifestation of a threat, and developed her own agenda as the series progressed.
Victor: Lyta Alexander
#14) The Loyal Soldier: Grey Worm vs. Marcus Cole
I liked both of these characters, but I preferred Marcus’s sense of humor and wit to Grey Worm’s dour discipline. I think the pervasive use of humor in B5 in general was a plus for me.
Victor: Marcus Cole
#15) The Matriarch: Cersei vs. Delenn
Cersei and Delenn are not strictly analogous, but they are both powerful women who exercise power in their own right and (in patriarchal environments) exercise power indirectly through personal and family ties. Both are alien to the center of power, but in different ways. Overall, I preferred Delenn’s arc because it allowed for a more complex portrait of a character who was capable of genocide but fiercely protective of the ones she loved. Cersei’s complexities, while present, did not run quite so deep.
Victor: Delenn
#16) The Youngster with Promise: Sansa Stark vs. Vir Cotto
Sansa and Vir are both rather unassuming at the outset but grow into their roles. The character arcs illustrate how one rises through the ranks in each universe, and the psychological toll that it takes. I can’t fault either character.
Draw
#17) The Star-Crossed Loyal Defender: Jaime Lannister vs. Lennier
Near the end of the list, the parallels are less clear, but Jaime and Lennier both found themselves drawn into inappropriate relationships that conflict with their strong sense of duty. They are both tragic figures, but each possesses an inner strength that proves to be the source of their redemption. This is a close call, but I am going with Jaime.
Victor: Jamie
#18) The Seeker and Healer: Samwell Tarly vs. Stephen Franklin
Tarly and Franklin don’t have similar story arcs, but both of them show the role that a healer can play in their respective universes. They work to save lives, uncover hidden truths and find peaceful solutions to conflicts. Babylon 5 is more hospitable to this sort of character than Westeros, but both characters have their place, and I can’t value one more highly than the other.
Draw
#19) The Wheel
Both stories use the metaphor of a wheel to describe the political forces that confine the main characters and perpetuate suffering and death. In each series, the wheel is broken. (I won’t say how.) I would have given GoT the edge for the depth of its political machinations and for the solution they arrived at, if the final season had fleshed it out a bit more. I felt that B5 did more to mount a philosophical argument against the cauldron of scheming and chaos that the series aspires to overcome.
Victor: B5’s “Wheel of Fire”
#20) The Controversial Final Season: It might not be fair to judge six episodes of GoT against 22 episodes of B5, but they illustrate contrasting approaches to wrapping up the series. Season 8 of GoT rushed through two climactic battles with only one episode for resolution. Babylon 5 wrapped up most of the central conflicts at the end of Season 4 (due in part to cancellation fears), leaving an entire season for denouement. I feel that both were imperfect, but I would have liked to see more resolution in GoT.
Victor: Babylon 5
Conclusion
By a score of 10-5, I favor Babylon 5. So, Game of Thrones has not unseated Babylon 5 from its place in my sci-fi/fantasy pantheon. However, I should point out that neither show won an outright majority of the contests. I think this sums up my feelings about Babylon 5 and Game of Thrones as a whole. I first watched B5 as a teenager. It was part of my life growing up. It provided an optimistic view of the world that was willing to test that optimism in a crucible and forge it into something new. In Game of Thrones, the optimism is muted, and sometimes harder to see amid the grimy, desperate politics.
Babylon 5 (the station) was founded as a last, best hope for peace. The Iron Throne memorialized war, but the glimmer of hope for peace remained. Without giving too much away, B5 ended on a melancholy, reverent note, as it reflected on a mission fulfilled. Game of Thrones started without a mission more lofty than survival and ambition. Its characters searched for an ethos in fits and starts, only discovering a path to peace at the final episode and leaving us uncertain whether that peace will be as fleeting as any other ambition in Westeros.
So, in conclusion, Babylon 5 is still my favorite TV series, but not definitively. At times, Game of Thrones has inspired, awed and moved me as much as Babylon 5 has. I look forward to the prequel and hope that spin-offs will build upon the foundation that George R. R. Martin and others have built.
I’m not sure when I will post next, but until then, happy reading and happy writing!
S. R. Algernon 