Well, that's the first.
It's gonna take a long time to get the level of trade
back to where it was before we broke away from Earth.
Right now we need the docking fees
more than ever,
but we just can't seem to catch a break.
One thing's sure-- we can't keep relying
on the Minbari for protection.
We have to create a broader base of support.
Yeah, and you have an idea.
Always, Commander. Always.
What do you mean, 100 credits?
I mean more than 99, less than 101.
What, you got a hearing problem
or a math problem?
Look, i--i can't get
into conceptual arguments with you.
I--I got people waiting.
That's 3 times the delivery charge
for a package this size.
That was before we had a revolution around here.
Now, in my little corner of Earthforce,
the mail still gets delivered.
If I got to use trap doors, alien transports,
and back channels to get the mail in and out of here,
then that's what I'll do, because that's my job.
Neither rain nor snow nor meteors
nor alien invasion nor--
look, this is extortion!
It's business!
You see, when my costs go up,
I have to pass that along to the consumer.
That's you, just in case
that's another one of those concepts
you got a problem with.
That's my box.
No, it's the-- it's the property
of Earth Alliance postal service.
You pony up 100 credits,
then it's your box.
All right, look.
It's the last package I'm gonna get from Earth
for a long time.
Now, it's got mozzarella, anchovies,
garlic cloves,
pepperoni.
Well, what, uh...
What kind of pepperoni is it,
the big sticks or the small ones?
Oh, ho ho. We're talking
big sticks like this--
[whistling]
Give me the box.
And break my oath to the post office?
I'd die first. Next.
P.A.: All passengers debarking at Babylon 5,
please report to shuttle bay 7.
All passengers debarking at Babylon 5,
please report to shuttle bay 7.
♪ Ah, ah ♪
♪ ah, ah ♪
[Wind howling]
♪ Ah, ah, ah ♪
♪ ah, ah ♪
♪ ah ♪♪
Ivanova: The Babylon project was our last best hope for peace.
It failed.
But in the year of the Shadow War,
it became something greater.
Our last best hope...
For victory.
The year is 2260.
The place...
You're right. Looks like banta flu.
All right, I want everyone on this level inoculated.
I think we caught it early enough
to keep it from spreading into the general population.
But these two are gonna have to go into isolab
until I know they're past the contagious point.
Mind if I come along?
They're nervous around strangers.
Yeah, no problem.
How'd you catch this so fast anyway, Marcus?
Normally, the signs of banta flu don't show up
until you're already contagious.
Most of these symptoms
wouldn't have been visible yesterday.
Banta flu is normally contracted
by eating alien food that's been mixed in
with human food and fermented.
I saw some of them eating out of a waste bin
and recognized the nastier bits
from the year I spent on a Drazi colony.
It's bad enough they have to live that way
in the first place
without it making them sick.
Lot of folks around here seem to think
that lurkers deserve what they get.
They figure it's better to let them die and--
and thus deplete the surplus population.
Dickens.
You know, I used to think it was awful
that life was so unfair.
Then I thought...
Wouldn't it be much worse if life were fair
and all the terrible things that happen to us
come because we actually deserve them?
So now I take great comfort
in the general hostility
and unfairness of the universe.
Man: Confirmed, shuttle 1. You're cleared for docking.
Don't worry. They'll be fine.
You know,
I was noticing that pin you wear.
All the other Rangers wear one just like it,
but I don't know what it means.
The 2 figures on either side--
one human, the other Minbari.
They blend together in the middle
to signify the 2 halves of our souls
uniting against a common enemy.
This Jewel?
Minbari call that isil-zha.
Means the future, birth, beginnings.
Dawn of a new age.
Isil-zha.
I like it.
It's a subtle language for subtle people.
Took me a year of studying
to get the fundamentals down.
The Minbari say
the only way to understand the battle
is to understand the language.
War is as much concept as execution.
What else did they teach you?
Delight.
Respect, compassion.
That for your actions to be pure,
they must proceed from direction,
determination,
Patience, and strength.
I'm afraid I'm still working on Patience.
Heh.
They taught me how to live,
how to breathe,
how to fight,
and how to die.
And they taught me terror.
How to use it...
And how to face it.
I think I'd like to hear more about that.
No...you wouldn't.
[Indistinct chatter]
[Beep beep beep beep beep]
I'm sorry, sir.
Our scanners just picked up a weapons violation.
Would you step back, please?
[Weapon powers up]
What the hell?
Look, we don't want to hurt you.
Just give us the sword, mister.
Mister.
Mister?
Have I been gone that long?
Have you forgotten everything?
I am Arthur, son of uther pendragon
and king of the britons!
No man takes excaliber from me
and lives!
Wait!
Leave him to me.
It's all right. Let him try.
It's all right.
Apologies, my Lord.
We weren't, uh, notified of your return.
These men mean you no harm.
Your accent... You're a briton.
Yes, my Lord, several generations
removed from our splendid island,
but the roots run deep nonetheless.
Please...
Come with us.
We'll send word to galahad and Lancelot--
galahad is dead.
Lancelot is dead.
Guinevere, perceval, even mordred--
all of them are dead!
I have been gone a long time,
a very, very long time,
but I am not mad!
Then set aside your sword.
You're among friends here, Arthur.
It's all right.
I'll take it from here.
You're sure.
I assume full responsibility.
Who is this?
A doctor.
I am in no need of a doctor,
so take your leeches elsewhere.
I'm...
I'm just a little late, that's all.
Your journey has been a long one.
He just wishes to ensure that you are in good health.
Our Captain requires this of him,
in deference and honor to your position.
If you refuse,
my friend will be penalized harshly
for failing to obey orders.
Very well.
I've been treated and prodded and healed
by the 9 sisters
since the year of our Lord 515.
What is another healer after that?
Lead on. I will follow you.
You had a chance to go over his stuff?
Yes, doctor.
No identification, no travel papers.
Nothing that could tell us
who he really is.
He must have ditched his I.D. Before the Asimov docked.
Why don't you run his fingerprints and DNA,
and maybe we'll get lucky.
Yes, doctor.
Is there a problem?
No. No problem.
You don't believe I am who I say I am,
do you?
Well, it's not for me to say.
Yes, it is. Speak plainly.
All right.
If you are who you say you are,
how did you get here...
1700 years after you supposedly died?
I'm not sure.
The last thing I remember
is lying on the field of battle at camlan.
My brother sir bedivere
had pulled me away from these peasants
who were looting the bodies of my fallen knights.
It was all king maelgwn's fault.
If he hadn't sided with mordred,
with Lancelot out of the country
and sir gawain dead...
The old wound...
Reopened.
[Sighs]
I was dying.
3 times, I asked bedivere
to return excaliber to the lady of the lake.
I could not be taken till then.
By the time he finally did as I asked,
it was almost too late.
Then...
A barge appeared offshore with...
3 queens and the 9 sisters.
They took me to the island of avalon to heal.
They said that I would...
Sleep for a time,
but that I would return when I was most needed.
I'm not sure how I came here,
but if I am here, now,
it's because I am most needed here and now.
Sheridan: He thinks he's who?
Arthur. King of the britons...
Son of uther pendragon,
heir to the throne of england,
and the only man allowed to wield excaliber.
There was no king Arthur.
It's a story, that's all.
Well, not exactly.
There's enough historical evidence
to suggest that there may have been
a real person behind those stories.
Well, either way, it's pretty obvious
this guy is not Arthur.
So, as interesting a diversion
as this might be,
our first concern right now
has to be getting this treaty worked out.
Now Michael--
you know, the Vorlons have been to Earth.
And from time to time,
they have taken someone out of their time,
preserved him until he was needed,
and revived him.
Your recent encounter with a Mr. Sebastian,
for instance.
You're not serious.
A ship appeared and took Arthur to a place
where he would be healed and preserved,
a place from which he would return
when he was most needed.
Legends are legends
because they have a certain power over us.
The idea of a legend walking in the front door,
it's, uh...No. No.
He is not Arthur.
His speech patterns are too contemporary.
His vocabulary is all wrong.
The question we should be asking
is what made him tip over?
I've scanned his neural system.
It's fully intact.
So whatever's wrong is functional,
it's not organic.
Maybe the result of a trauma or a...
Breakdown.
What terrible thing could have happened
to drive him 1,700 years into the past
to find peace and meaning?
[Beep beep]
Franklin.
Nurse: Doctor,
the patient you were holding in isolab 1--
I don't know what happened to him,
but he's escaped.
[Indistinct chatter]
[Crying]
What troubles you, old mother?
Oh, they took it.
I suppose I should have known they would,
sooner or later.
They're always taking from us.
They know security won't get involved.
It was a picture of my husband.
He died just after we came here
looking for something better.
When they took the rest,
they found it.
Why would they take a picture?
Oh, for the frame. It's very expensive.
He told me to sell it,
but i--i couldn't.
It's the last of him
I had left.
[Sobs]
Eyes as lovely as yours
were never meant for tears, dear lady.
Withdraw them
and tell me where I might find these men.
Everything you asked for...
Right in there.
How can I be sure you've contacted everyone?
I'm a man of my word.
You wanna pay half now,
half when you've looked it over,
that's fine.
Look, I ain't gonna mess this up.
I bring messages back and forth
from your people on Narn,
and none of it's secret info or anything.
That's a sweet deal.
I should think so, given the price we pay
to get this past the Centauri.
[Thud] I--
[groan]
I told you,
100 credits by yesterday,
or we'd beat the crap out of you.
Now why do you make me do this?
Huh? Why do you make me do what we both know
I'm gonna do? Huh?
[Sword unsheathed]
Release that man!
What manner of men
prey on the weak and the poor, hmm?
Stealing from old women!
Cowards, I think!
You better put that pig sticker away
before you end up eating it.
You have something that does not belong to you.
Actually, I suspect that you have quite a few things
that do not belong to you.
But let's start with a picture and a frame.
I command you to hand that over
or face the consequences.
Heh, consequences?
Yeah. I got your consequences...
Right here.
Ooh!
Aah!
Thug: Ohh!
Yield...
Or die.
Not a chance.
I got friends.
See?
That's all right!
So does he!
Haah!
I want every level checked.
He may be trying to find his way off the station,
so we need to cover all our bases.
He's armed, so consider him dangerous.
Don't get too close.
If you find anything, you let me know.
I got something to do.
By G'Quan, I can't recall the last time
I was in a fight like that!
No moral ambiguity,
no hopeless battle
against ancient and overwhelming forces!
They were the bad guys, as you say,
and we were the good guys.
And they made a very satisfying thump
when they hit the floor!
It's wrong for the strong to prey on the weak.
That idea was at the very heart of the round table--
to correct injustice,
to promote a society of laws, not arms.
Well said!
That is the purpose
which god and the crown have set before me.
I cannot achieve that locked away in some room.
No, of course not! What room?
I sense in you a... Warrior born.
But a priestly manner and refined education.
Oh, well...
My knights were such men as you.
[Laughs] Well...
Well, not exactly such as you.
Well, the eyes were not--
ha ha ha.
Oh, it matters not.
You were the first
to lend your good arm to my defense,
and you shall sit at my right hand
at the new round table.
And...
You shall be known as sir G'Kar...
The red knight.
I don't know, chief. I don't know
if we should be doing this.
It's my stuff.
Don't worry, I'll leave the money behind
for what it should have cost.
What are you so nervous about?
We went up against the entire Earth Alliance
and 2 carrier groups.
Yeah, but this is the post office.
This could get us in real trouble!
That'll be another 20 credits for the lock.
And I am reporting this to the postmaster general.
Oh, yeah! Ho ho!
Told you.
Do you mind if I ask you a--
[belches] Question?
Not at all, my good comrade in arms.
You seemed to take our battle quite personally,
as if what they had done offended you.
It did.
At camlan field,
my knights lay dying or dead.
As dawn spread across the bloody ground,
I saw others moving among them
like specters risen from some unholy grave,
stealing their swords,
their jewels, their crests,
their rings.
My knights were there because of me.
I was responsible.
I...
Was responsible.
Are you all right?
Oh, yes. Ha.
Yes. I--i--wa--
it was a dream, that's all.
[Sniffs]
Battle was not intended.
With our forces halved,
we could not stand against mordred, so...
I met with mordred at camlan
to arrange a truce, and buy time
for Lancelot to return with reinforcements.
We stood there... Out in the open.
Each of us had 14 knights at his side.
Our armies had been told to watch
and attack if someone drew a sword.
We just finished our negotiations
when one of mordred's knights
saw an adder about to strike,
so he--he drew his sword.
The others s-saw it, and...
The killing started.
Ohh...
It was a misunderstanding,
a misinterpretation.
And see what it cost us.
Arthur?
We've been looking for you.
Mr. Garibaldi is quite put out.
Mr. Garibaldi is always...Put out.
I heard what you did, and I respect it.
But if you don't come with me,
there will be trouble.
I will vouch for his character!
I saw the entire thing!
Because I was there!
I was in it! I was...
And they made a very agreeable thump.
Or did I mention that?
Arthur, it's the only way.
Very well.
I am somewhat tired anyway.
I could do with some rest.
Will you come with us,
sir G'Kar?
Of course. Lead on!
Sir gawain had the same problem,
you know.
Did he?
Oh, yes. Come the morning,
we'd often take one look at him
and call him the green knight.
Come. Let's to it.
A lot's happened since the last time we met here.
We declared independence from Earth,
and many of you were at war with one another.
So the question becomes...
Can this place continue to serve its purpose?
Well, the answer is... Yes.
But only with your assistance.
Commander?
We're willing to put a deal on the table.
Babylon 5 still has a lot to offer.
We're a hub for travel, commerce, finance.
We're still considered neutral territory.
As your wars continue,
some of you may even want to use us
for peace negotiations.
We'd be happy to do that.
In exchange for our cooperation,
we ask that your governments
take part in the ongoing defense
of Babylon 5.
Obviously, we'll do all we can
to make sure that ships from 2 sides
actively engaged in hostilities are not
providing defense at the same time.
The Babylon treaty serves your interests
as well as ours.
The details are all spelled out
in the folders I've just given you.
We hope that you'll take a look at them
and think it over.
Thank you very much.
I think I've managed to calm Mr. Garibaldi
about our friend.
G'Kar confirms he didn't commit any crimes.
Actually, he, uh, solved one
and prevented another.
Something wrong?
I took some DNA samples from...Arthur,
in case we might find something
in the genetic record files.
You see, everyone who joins Earthforce
has his unique DNA sequence mapped and logged
for identification purposes.
He was in Earthforce? Doing what?
Take a look.
You can't show him this.
Marcus, it's who he is.
I don't care. It would kill him.
Wait now, wait now. Let's be sensible, all right.
This is the first step towards healing him.
We can't just let him wander around
the rest of his life
thinking that he's king Arthur.
Why not?
Because this is the truth.
"Better the illusions that exalt us
than 10,000 truths."
Alexander pushkin, yes.
Let this one truth die, Stephen.
Let him be Arthur.
Let him be anyone he wants!
I have an obligation to help.
Now, if I confront him with this,
it may be enough to snap him out of this delusion.
Your hippocratic oath says, "do no harm."
If you do this,
you'll be doing great harm, Stephen!
Stephen!
I'm sorry! I have to.
[Groaning]
Ohh! Ohh!
[Sighs]
Dr. Franklin: Arthur?
Hmm?
Oh, I'm sorry.
I didn't sleep well last night.
The dreams again.
Oh, terrible dreams.
The old wounds are not as well-healed as I thought.
I asked you about the picture.
Well, he seems a decent and honorable man,
but...i don't know him.
It's you.
No. I...I...
Don't think so.
"David...mcintyre.
"Age--52.
"Serial number-- r27a59.
"Honorable discharge from Earthforce--
February 9, 2253."
Silver star for valor.
You were at the battle of the line.
20,000 of our best went in,
and a little over 200 survived.
It also shows you were
gunnery sergeant on the prometheus.
Prometheus?
There were romans still living in my country
whose family married britons,
and they carried with them legends from Greece.
Prometheus brought fire from the gods--
this prometheus was the first ship
to encounter the Minbari...
15 years ago today.
Now, there was a misunderstanding.
The Minbari approached
with their gun ports open.
It's a sign of respect.
The Captain,
he interpreted this as a threat.
He panicked.
Captain: 8,000 clicks...
7,000...
They're coming in. Gun ports are open.
Repeat--gun ports are open.
Presume attack vector.
Because of this misinterpretation,
he ordered his crew to attack.
Forward batteries, open fire!
[Explosion]
This has nothing to do with me!
The attack destroyed 2 Minbari vessels
and killed their leader Dukhat,
which started the Earth-Minbari war.
Now, if you were gunnery sergeant
on the prometheus, you fired those shots.
No! It was the sword that struck the adder
that started the battle.
No, it was not a sword. It was a ship.
A sword!
The light shining off it!
Ohh!
The review board absolved you
of all responsibility for following the orders
of your commanding officer.
Despite bouts of depression
that continue to get longer and more intense,
you were put back into active duty.
We needed everyone we could get back then.
And you made it all the way.
You volunteered for the battle of the line,
even though you knew it was a suicide mission.
This...man you describe,
he had no business surviving.
A quarter of a million men and women
dead on the battlefield.
At...camlan.
No, no, not camlan.
No, not camlan.
They died in the Minbari war.
I was responsible.
No.
Responsible for my knights
and for those who followed me into battle.
Their armor was not strong enough to protect them.
Their horses...
Their horses were on fire!
Ohh!
[Sobbing]
The old wound.
The old wound, yes.
The pain of memory.
It's all right now.
You can face it-- we can face it together.
No. I can never rest.
The pain will never go away.
I must return Excalibur
to the lady of the lake.
I didn't...
I didn't know.
We didn't know.
You couldn't have known.
Bodies...
Slain...
The dying...
Bodies drifting...
Like stars.
My fault.
He deserves to die.
My fault.
Aah! Aah! Ah-ha-aaah!
David?
Can you hear me?
David.
David!
Anything yet?
I just got word from the Drazi Ambassador.
He's been appointed spokesman
for what's left of the league.
A number of them refuse to sign
the mutual defense treaty,
but the rest of them signed on.
Do we have enough to make it work?
With room to spare.
Oh, my god. It's almost enough
to make you start believing in miracles.
Isn't it? Yes, sir.
Almost.
Why?
What happened?
[Door opens]
You know,
you'd think I'd learn one of these days
that I can't fix everything,
but it never happens.
Now...
I gave him back the sword.
I--i figured maybe it'd help,
but it didn't.
One thing I don't understand.
Why did he come here?
It wasn't an accident.
He got onboard a transport. He bought a ticket.
There must have been a reason,
even if he couldn't admit it to himself.
Obviously,
it had something to do with the anniversary
of his attack on the Minbari ship.
I mean, that's where it all started.
According to you, yes.
He still thinks it was the sword.
Well, a ship, a sword-- what's the difference?
None, none at all.
Excalibur.
The symbol of the king.
Yeah, but in this case,
the symbol...Of the ship
and his pain.
Wh-what's the story of sir bedivere?
Arthur's journey began when
the lady of the lake gave him Excalibur.
As he lay dying, he asked bedivere
to return Excalibur to the lady of the lake.
The ladies couldn't take him to avalon,
couldn't heal him, until this was done.
He had to go full-circle,
right back to where he started.
Now, he said he couldn't know peace or rest...
Until the lady took back Excalibur...
The king's burden.
The king's pain.
That's why he came here.
To find someone willing to take away his pain.
But...if that's Excalibur,
and you're bedivere...
Who's the lady of the lake?
I knew you'd come to your senses
sooner or later.
100 credits ain't too much
when you stop to think about it,
now is it?
Yes, sir, first thing I learned is never mess
with the post office.
You'll come a-cropper every time.
Ok. Let's see.
Where's that, uh, where's that box?
There we are.
Whoops.
Ha ha ha!
Sorry. A little post office humor.
Hang on. I'll get yours.
Ha ha ha ha!
Here we go.
Uhh! Heh heh heh.
There we go. There you are.
Anything else I can do for you?
Some stamps?
Thanks. No.
Oh, um, before I forget,
you do realize that we've cut off
all contact with Earth, right?
Of course I realize that!
You're not dealing with a chimp here,
you know.
And if you hadn't done that,
all the prices wouldn't have gone up,
now, would they?
I was just thinking, before we broke away,
the rent on this place, your quarters,
all that was being paid for by Earth, right?
But since they're out of the picture,
who's paying for all this now?
Well, i--i--i, um, if, you know--
now, I might be inclined to overlook this,
in light of the morale boost it gives folks
to get mail from back home.
How much?
100...and 1 credits.
That ain't so much
when you stop to think about it.
Now is it?
I wish I could say this was a good idea.
It's what I want to do.
I think it's what I need to do.
My people will treat him well, doctor.
He will be welcomed and put in a position
of authority in the resistance.
He has good ideas
about raising up those in need,
about organizing others
into something better and nobler
than they had been before.
We are in great need of such ideas...
And such men.
A new roundtable, huh?
Well, I guess I've heard worse ideas in my time.
I just wish you could stay
just a little longer
until we can be sure you're ok.
Doctor, I'm healed.
Soul and body knitted together.
One journey has ended.
Another beckons.
P.A.: Transport bokalla is now boarding outbound passengers.
That's your ship. I'll walk you out.
Thank you, doctor.
Take care.
And you.
Ah...and you.
Where were you?
I hate good-byes.
Just wanted to watch him go,
remembering Arthur.
Where my people come from,
his story has great power.
I'll miss him.
Even if he wasn't Arthur?
Now, now.
Next thing you'll be saying
is he's not Merlin.
Merlin was a great teacher,
you know.
I'm not hearing this.
They say he aged backwards!
That was how he was able to foretell the future,
by remembering it,
which means he came from the future.
Maybe he had Arthur form the roundtable
by remembering us.
We're forming one of our own, after all.
Which makes you Percival.
I'm Galahad,
him being sinless and all.
Sheridan as Arthur.
Ivanova... Perhaps Gawain.
I think we both know who Mordred is.
So the question is...
Who is Morgana le Fay?