Babylon XX (1979) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Synytsia, a Red Navy sailor and native of Babylon, returns with a mission to reshape the village along communist lines. By destroying the faded statues of Tsar Nicholas II and his family, he makes a dramatic public statement against the old Tsarist regime, shouting the battle cry of Soviet marines, 'Polundra!' This act signals the arrival of the new Soviet order and sets the village on a path of political transformation.

• synytsia
• statues
• grenades
• soviet
• revolution
• babylon

Fabian, the village's gravedigger and self-styled philosopher, returns to Babylon after the political upheaval caused by Synytsia's arrival. Unlike the other characters, Fabian's goal is not to take sides in the emerging conflict between communists and kulaks, but to serve as a mediator, using his philosophical outlook to try to prevent bloodshed in the divided village.

• fabian
• philosopher
• return
• babylon
• mediator

While both brothers initially plan their futures together and entrust Darynka with caring for their ailing mother, their loyalties diverge as the conflict intensifies. Danko, driven by jealousy over Malva's affection for Yavorskyi and Synytsia, sides with Bubela and the kulaks. Lukian, however, aligns with the communists, reflecting a genuine ideological conviction. The brothers' split represents how the civil war tears families apart.

• danko
• lukian
• brothers
• split
• sides
• kulaks
• communists

The violence erupts when the kulaks, led by Bubela, move to seize the communists on Epiphany night. This planned assault triggers a broader clash that spreads through Babylon. The tensions had been building: Darynka had warned of Bubela's weapons cache, Malva's pregnancy with Yavorskyi created new alliances, and the discovery of buried Cossack weapons shifted the power balance. When Bubela stirs the peasants to riot, the situation spirals beyond control.

Foreshadowing: Bubela's earlier commissioning of his own grave foreshadows the deadly confrontation to come.

• epiphany
• violence
• night
• kulaks
• communists
• bubela
• attack

During the chaos of the Epiphany night riot, Danko attempts to kill Malva, likely to end the turmoil and eliminate his romantic rival's unborn child, but his shot inadvertently strikes Fabian instead. This tragic moment underscores the senseless violence tearing the community apart: Fabian, who sought only to mediate and prevent bloodshed, becomes the unintended victim of factional hatred. Both he and Danko meet their fates in this single moment.

• fabian
• death
• shot
• danko
• malva
• tragic

Malva visits Synytsia's former manor because she hopes to join the communist commune and be accepted into the new order. Danko courts her, but she is more interested in the revolutionary cause and the possibility of belonging to the commune than in his affection. However, Synytsia distrusts her motives and rejects her request, sending her home with the poet Volodia Yavorskyi instead.

• malva
• synytsia
• manor
• commune
• rejected

After the brothers' mother dies and they hold an elaborate funeral, it is revealed that a treasure lies buried under a pear tree in Babylon. When they dig it up, they discover not gold or money, but a cache of hidden Cossack weapons. This discovery reshapes the power dynamics in the village, giving the brothers access to military resources that significantly alter the balance of power between the communist and kulak factions.

Foreshadowing: The discovery of weapons foreshadows the violent armed conflict that will later consume the village.

• treasure
• pear tree
• weapons
• cossack
• brothers
• discovery

On the eve of Epiphany, as Bubela prepares his assault against Synytsia and the communists, he commissions Fabian, the village gravedigger, to dig his own grave. This grim, symbolic act demonstrates Bubela's readiness to face death and his belief that the coming conflict will be fatal. It serves as a ominous foreshadowing of the violence to come and the ultimate failure of his kulak resistance.

Foreshadowing: The grave preparation directly foreshadows the deadly confrontation that occurs on Epiphany night.

• bubela
• grave
• fabian
• epiphany
• death
• symbolic

Bubela is a wealthy kulak, a prosperous farmer who represents the old order of land ownership and wealth in Babylon. He opposes the commune because the new communist regime threatens to confiscate his property and redistribute it. Darynka discovers that Bubela is quietly amassing weapons to resist this potential confiscation and to eliminate Synytsia, the driving force behind the commune.

• bubela
• kulak
• oppose
• commune
• wealth
• weapons

Bubela and his kulak militia ambush and kill Volodia Yavorskyi, the poet who has become romantically involved with Malva. Yavorskyi's relationship with Malva, who is pregnant with his child, ties him to the communist side and makes him a target. His murder eliminates a romantic rival while simultaneously striking at the emerging new order, and it serves as a warning to those who would align with the communists.

• yavorskyi
• bubela
• killed
• militia
• malva
• pregnancy

Danko sides with the kulaks primarily because of personal resentment and jealousy. When Malva is sent away from Synytsia's manor, she returns with Yavorskyi, which sparks Danko's jealousy and hunger for revenge. His romantic pursuit of Malva has failed, and he sees the kulak faction as a path to power and retribution. This personal grievance, combined with the broader political conflict, leads him to align with Bubela against the communists.

• danko
• kulaks
• jealousy
• revenge
• malva
• yavorskyi

Fabian serves as the philosophical mediator in Babylon's conflict, attempting to hold the community together despite the factional violence. He is a witness to the changing power dynamics, a gravedigger who must bury the dead from both sides, and a target of Malva's affection. His futile attempt to maintain order ultimately fails, the violence overwhelms him, and he dies as a tragic victim of the ideological warfare tearing his village apart.

• fabian
• mediator
• philosopher
• conflict
• death
• village