Babylon 5 and The Lord of the Rings

Crossing Over is basically me playing with popular culture. What I intend to do here is build a big, big chain of crossovers, snaking here and there across popular culture – and even occasionally looping back through itself. I’ll understand if it doesn’t appeal to all of you as much as it does to me.

To start with, I’m crossing over Babylon 5 and The Lord of the Rings. This is an arbitrarily chosen starting point, and so I’ll be moving off from it in an equally arbitrary fashion: I’m going to toss a coin to see which of these two to cross over with some other source next week. After that, each successive week will follow the newer element into another crossover, while the older element will drop out.

But enough preamble. On with the show: Babylon 5 and The Lord of the Rings

According to Lorien, in Babylon 5, he’s the oldest living being, the first of the First Ones. And he spends his days in meditation and dreaming. He’s drawn to those who dream, and capable of reviving them from even the most death like of states.

All of which sounds not a million miles away from his namesake in The Silmarillion. That Lorien is basically the god of dreams – and shares many of the same powers and interests as the First One.

So what if they were the same entity?

That would mean that, somewhere in the deep, deep past of the Babylon 5 universe, the history of Middle Earth occurred. That the very first of the First Ones were the Ainur, followed by the Elves, Dwarves, Ents and finally, by Humanity. It would also imply that Z’ha’dum, the home of Lorien, was once, many millenia ago, Middle Earth.

Of course, the forces of Light are not the only ones who can reach out in this fashion. The forces of Darkness are also represented in the galaxy. What is the gift of Shadow technology if not an updated version of the knowledge Annatar taught to the smiths of Eregion? And are the Shadows themselves descendants of the hideous Ungoliant?

Why did Lorien choose to leave the Undying Lands (which are no doubt located somewhere ‘beyond the Rim’) to dwell among mortals? It doesn’t seem at all unlikely that this course of action was somehow inspired by Lorien’s servant, Olorin – better known as Gandalf. Although the Valar and the other elder races had largely withdrawn from contact with the races of Middle Earth (and other planets), they still hoped that other races would find their destiny – who better to leave behind to shepherd them than a being whose very nature is dreams and inspiration?

Just this simple idea goes a long way toward explaining a lot of the recurring themes and ideas that occur in both – the Rangers, the sinister aspects of combining technology and magick, the clash between traditional ways of life and unification into a larger political whole, and so on.

This raises a number of interesting questions. For instance, what is the role of the Vorlons in all this. Were they Maiar all along – or are they a race that has evolved into a Maiar-like form? The latter seems the more playable option, but your mileage may vary.

And what of the Soul Hunters? Their mission seems to run directly counter to that of Lorien (and even moreso to that of his brother Mandos), but they do not seem to be actively evil.

And at long last, does this mean that, on the day of Dagor Dagorath, all those who have sailed west across the rim will return to the galaxy to fight one last battle against the threatening Shadow?