Star Trek: 11 Huge Comparisons Between Deep Space 9 And Babylon 5

Straczynski was interested in what led to war, the effects of war, and the aftermath of war. Deathwalker explored the moral and practical challenges of punishing a war criminal. A Late Delivery From Avalon examined how cultural misunderstandings could spark a war. The Narn-Centauri War arc depicted how old grudges could lead to fresh hostilities.

The Shadow War explored the effect of powerful factions such as the Vorlons and Shadows using less powerful societies as puppets in ideological wars. Although this arc underpinned the first three seasons, Straczynski ended it in the fourth to focus on the aftermath such as the Earth Alliance Civil War, the creation of an Interstellar Alliance, and the telepath War.

During the Dominion War arc, Ronald D. Moore and the other writers created a grittier depiction of war than Babylon 5 or the previous Star Trek series. They fought Rick Berman over depicting the violence, moral ambiguity, and long-term consequences of warfare.

The Siege of AR-558, focused on war's brutality, depicting haunted Starfleet personnel holding off a Jem'Hadar attack. It's Only a Paper Moon focused on Nog's struggles with PTSD as he recovered from a grievous wound. In In The Pale Moonlight, Sisko wrestled with the morality of deceiving the Romulans to draw them into the war.