OPERATION RETURN.
In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Operation Return was the final chapter in the multi-part arc
that presented the opening months of the Dominion War.
This is one of my very favourite arcs in Sci-fi TV, the building tension toward the final
attack on the station is executed perfectly, and the fantastic visuals are reinforced by
the emotionally charged stakes of the battle.
When Benjamin Sisko arrived on Deep Space Nine, all he wanted to do was leave, and over
five years we watched the man come to see the station as his home, the show’s writers
not only put that home in danger, but actually had the courage to take it away from our protagonist’s
control for the length of a story arc, after six or seven episodes of Dominion Occupation,
we’re ready and eager to see the Federation finally strike back, and the battle certainly
delivers.
THE BATTLE OF P3Y-229 Sometimes referred to by fans as Stargate’s
Wolf 359, the Battle of P3Y-229 served one purpose in the plot and one purpose only,
to show the viewer that the Ori were unstoppable, and it did so spectacularly.
In this battle we see four Ori vessels come up against a combined fleet of Tau’ri, Asgard,
Tok’ra, Free Jaffa and Lucian Alliance warships, and across the course of the engagement we
see the allied fleet trying every desperate scheme and tactic it can come up with to slow
these ships down, only to have every attempt fail one after the other.
Watching Lucian and Jaffa Ha’taks destroyed is one thing, but after years of seeing how
powerful and impressive Asgard vessels are, to watch one of their newest warships defeated
really sells us on the fear factor of the Ori.
In a final tragedy, the battle also sees the destruction of the RFS Korolev, the only Daedalus
Class Battlecruiser to be lost with all hands in Stargate history.
THE BATTLE OF SCARIF From a purely visual standpoint, the Battle
of Scarif is perhaps the greatest contribution Disney have made to the Star Wars property,
featuring all of the classic ship designs, as well as some fantastic new ones like the
U-Wing, the Battle provides us with a perfect explanation for the Alliance’s tiny force
at the Battle of Yavin, whilst also charging the classic film with even greater emotion
upon rewatching, as we remember the countless acts of individual heroism on display in Rogue
One.
The big epic conclusion with the sacrifice of the corvette Lightmaker raises some confusion
about thrust-to-mass ratios and the like, but you’ll be quick to forget all of that
because of how simply spectacular it is to watch unfold.
My personal favourite aspect of this battle is the return of Red and Gold Leaders to the
cockpit after forty years of absence, their arrival on screen was definitely the best
moment for me in the cinema when I first saw the film.
THE BATTLE OF NEW CAPRICA Taking place early in the show’s third season,
the Battle of New Caprica is without a doubt the apex of storytelling in Battlestar Galactica,
where all the running plots and tensions come to a head and the stage is set for a seriously
high-stakes battle.
The grand majority of the human race is trapped on the planet of New Caprica, and only the
Battlestars Galactica and Pegasus are available to save them, any loss suffered by the Colonials
is gone forever and as a viewer you can feel the scarcity of resources and personnel starting
to strangle the human’s ability to fight back.
Early in the battle we get the famous Adama Maneuver, one of the coolest and most innovative
sequences ever depicted in Sci-fi, and later on we get my favourite sequence in the whole
show, where for a brief moment the music, performances and VFX manage to convince you
that the Battlestar Galactica might actually go down in flames, only to bring the Pegasus
tearing into shot for an awesome self-sacrificial rescue to the sound of beating war drums.
THE BATTLE OF THOTH STATION The Battle of Thoth Station is the best space
battle I have ever seen.
Where the attack on the MCRN Donnager had given us our first look at The Expanse’s
high-realism space combat on screen, this battle in early Season 2 gives us our first
major engagement in the story of the Rocinante.
The Expanse’s typically excellent VFX is firing on all cylinders for this battle, and
I’m continually impressed by wonderful little details, such as dust from projectile trails
falling downward when the ship accelerates, reminding us of the orientation of the Rocinante’s
interior.
Performances from the main cast are brilliant and the use of Amos’ attempted repairs to
give the battle a greater sense of threat to individual characters was inspired.
When the Roci is finally free to lay into that Protogen stealth ship with a PDC broadside,
the moment of triumph resonates perfectly with the viewer.
Though the engagement focuses on only two ships, the Battle of Thoth Station communicates
greater tension and excitement than many Endor-scale battles with vast armadas can hope to achieve,
and I wait with great excitement for future battle sequences in coming seasons.