Telepath War

The Telepath War is a conflict in the fictional Babylon 5 universe. This conflict occurs a few years after the events of the television series, and before the events of the Crusade television series. Although the war was set up in the last few episodes of Babylon 5, and the after effects shown in Crusade, the events of the Telepath War have not been shown either on screen or in spin-off novels, though there is a flashback episode set towards the end of the war in one episode of Crusade.

The Conflict

The war pits non-telepathic humans ("mundanes") and rogue telepaths against the Psi Corps. The Psi Corps attempts to take over the Earth Alliance government, a chain of events set in motion by President Clark's positioning of telepaths in stations of authority they would not have otherwise achieved. The Psi Corps also runs a number of concentration camps to "re-educate" the rogues they capture, and kills civilians who have sheltered rogue telepaths. John Sheridan and the Interstellar Alliance intervene in the situation. The normal humans and rogue telepaths win this war, although there are many casualties (including Lyta Alexander and Lennier).

Aftermath

Following the war, the Psi Corps is disbanded, and a new Psionic Monitoring Commission founded to replace the corps. A number of Psi Corps members are charged with war crimes. Many serve time in prison for their crimes. Others escape justice, and the commission dedicates itself to hunting down these war criminals. Alfred Bester is one such fugitive from justice. He manages to remain at large for several years. Michael Garibaldi finally removes the mental blocks Bester had planted to prevent Garibaldi from harming him, and vigorously pursues Bester.

Eventually, Bester reaches Paris. He lives for a time under an assumed name, Claude Kaufmann, and begins a relationship with a local businesswoman. Garibaldi is instrumental in apprehending Bester. Bester is tried and convicted of crimes against humanity, sentenced to life in prison, and forced to take telepathy-inhibiting drugs. He dies more than ten years later.

The producers of Babylon 5: The Lost Tales had hoped to eventually cover some aspects of the war in that series, but in the end only very little was covered regarding the telepath wars in the Lost Tales. Rumors have since been floating around that there may be a future DVD release covering the telepath wars in detail. To date though, only part of an episode of Crusade has covered it.