Great Machine

In the television series Babylon 5, The Great Machine is an enormous technological complex of networked machines beneath the surface of the planet Epsilon III. It first appears in season 1 two-part episode "A Voice in the Wilderness".

The Great Machine was constructed sometime around the earth year 1758, 500 years prior to the establishment of Babylon 5. The identity of the race who built it is unknown, although the race that formerly inhabited the planet did play a part in its maintenance and supervision. Eventually, the offensive potential of the machine provoked a schism in the custodial species between those who sought to use it with restraint against those who sought to use it for conquest. The violent faction was eventually expunged, and knowledge of the planet's location had been lost to them in the process.

Following the exodus, the inhabiting species eventually died off or left Epsilon III, leaving only one member of their race, a being named Varn (Curt Lowens), to function as the custodian of the Great Machine. Varn himself had a series of ten assistants named Zathras to perform the physical repairs and maintenance of the Machine itself, although this was not known to anyone until the year 2260. Varn continued to operate the Great Machine until his health finally began to wane in 2258, and the Machine began to malfunction as a result, destabilizing the planet. An expedition by Babylon 5 personnel brought him back to the station where he informed them of his identity and his function. Unfortunately, the Great Machine also broadcast an emergency beacon that was detected by the expunged faction, who traced the signal back to its location. There was a resulting standoff between Babylon 5 and the fleet of faction ships over custody of the Machine. A member of the Minbari religious caste named Draal (played first by Louis Turenne, then by John Schuck), facing retirement and exile, offered to take Varn's place as custodian of the Great Machine and to protect it against those who would abuse it. With the assistance of Londo Mollari, Draal returned with Varn and assumed control of the machine. Draal then warned Babylon 5 station personnel that the Machine and the planet were off limits to everyone until the time was right. Subsequently he used its weapons systems to destroy the faction fleet when it attempted to land. Varn then began to train Draal about the machine's workings until his death in 2259.

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