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13 episodes of Crusade were produced before TNT canceled the series.

Completed episodes[]

# Title Written by Directed by Original air date P/N
1 "War Zone" J. Michael Straczynski Janet Greek 9 June 1999 108
After the Drakh infect Earth with a plague, Captain Gideon is recalled home and given a new mission. Using the Interstellar Alliance's newest and most advanced ship, the Excalibur, he and his crew must search uncharted space for a cure for the plague within five years before it wipes out all life on Earth.
2 "The Long Road" J. Michael Straczynski Michael Vejar 16 June 1999 107
Galen reunites with an old friend when Excalibur comes to the aid of an Earthforce strip mining operation on the isolated agrarian world of Regula IV. Earth's efforts to obtain a mineral that may help in the search for a cure to the plague are hampered by a mysterious saboteur and the appearance of a gigantic golden dragon...
3 "The Well of Forever" Fiona Avery Janet Greek 23 June 1999 106
Galen takes control of the Excalibur to go in search of the mysterious 'Well of Forever', an ancient and hidden place within hyperspace where powerful energies intersect; though his motivations prove to be very personal.
4 "The Path of Sorrows" J. Michael Straczynski Michael Vejar 30 June 1999 109
On a deserted world, rumoured to be a place of healing the crew of the Excalibur find a strange empathic alien that offers forgiveness to passing travellers.
5 "Patterns of the Soul" Fiona Avery Tony Dow 7 July 1999 110
The Excalibur is ordered to Theta 49 where a small colony of human refugees may have spread the Drakh plague beyond Earth while Dureena Nafeel makes an shocking discovery about the fate of her race.
6 "Ruling from the Tomb" Peter David John Copeland 14 July 1999 111
The Excalibur is recalled to Mars to participate in a conference of Earth Alliance Doctors hoping to co-ordinate the search for a plague, however a doomsday cult called "Sacred Omega" plans to take matters into their own hands to ensure the arrival of Earth's judgement without interference.
7 "The Rules of the Game" J. Michael Straczynski Jesus Trevino 21 July 1999 112
On Babylon 5, Captains Gideon and Lochley must try to negotiate a deal with the residents of Lorka VII, a world known to posses a wealth of ancient technology that could aid in the search for a cure to the plague.
8 "Appearances and Other Deceits" J. Michael Straczynski Stephen Furst 28 July 1999 113
Mr. Welles and a team of designers arrive from Earthdome to help improve the ship's public image while a mysterious derelict causes an alien consciousness to begin to take over the crew.
9 "Racing the Night" J. Michael Straczynski Michael Vejar 4 August 1999 103
The Excalibur visits dead and deserted world that was once home to a race that was wiped out by the same plague that infected Earth, yet the cities and building appear untouched by the passage of time. The mystery deepens when one of the survey team meets a grisly end.
10 "The Memory of War" J. Michael Straczynski Tony Dow 11 August 1999 102
The Excalibur arrives at a planet where techno-mages are forbidden to venture and where the inhabitants were mysteriously wiped out 100 years ago.
11 "The Needs of Earth" J. Michael Straczynski Michael Vejar 18 August 1999 101
Gideon must violate interstellar law and aid a wanted fugitive when the Rangers discover he has stolen all the important information of his race on six data crystals.
12 "Visitors from Down the Street" J. Michael Straczynski Jerry Apoian 25 August 1999 104
Gideon responds to a distress call from a stranded escape pod and is surprised when the two individuals inside claim that humans are behind a sinister government conspiracy on their homeworld.
13 "Each Night I Dream of Home" J. Michael Straczynski Stephen Furst 1 September 1999 105
The Excalibur is ordered to a secret rendezvous where a Warlock class destroyer drops off a mismatched pair of passengers with instructions to take them to Earth where they must take on lifepod containing an infected individual; Doctor Stephen Franklin, who intends to gain a greater understanding of the plague. While en route, Gideon rescues a stricken Captain Elizabeth Lochley and her damaged Starfury.


Unfilmed episodes[]

Of the remaining nine episodes of the season, three made it to the production script stage but were left unfilmed, whilst "Tried and True" and "War Story" had completed writer's draft scripts. "The Walls of Hell" had been partially outlined but not scripted. The remaining three episodes of the intended 22 episode order (Darkness of the Soul, the third part of the 'sword trilogy' and episode 122) were due to be scripted by J. Michael Straczynski but did not start the scripting phase.

# Title Written by Directed by Original air date P/N
14 "To the Ends of The Earth" J. Michael Straczynski Janet Greek (assigned) N/A 114
The Excalibur gives chase to the ship that looks like the one that destroyed Gideon's ship, the Cerberus, many years ago. This episode would have seen the Excalibur crew return to using their black uniforms.
15 "Value Judgements" Fiona Avery Mike Vejar (assigned) N/A 115
The appearance of Alfred Bester, now on the run following the Telepath War, poses some difficult decisions for Lt. Matheson
16 "Darkness of the Soul" J. Michael Straczynski John Copeland (assigned) N/A 117
Episode was about to be scripted when the series was cancelled
17 "Tried and True" Fiona Avery Sandy Smolen (assigned) N/A 118
Dureena 'graduates' as a thief. But will her patron, Mafeek, let her continue aboard the Excalibur?[1]
18 "Untitled Script" J. Michael Straczynski J. Michael Straczynski (assigned) N/A 122
Episode hadn't reached scripting stage when the series was cancelled.
19 "War Story" Richard Mueller Jeff Woolnough (assigned) N/A 119
The first of a trilogy of loosely connected episodes that would have seen Dureena disappear for a time after being captured by a "huge, ethereal-looking ship" and taken away.[2]
20 "The Walls of Hell" Larry DiTillio Goran Gajic (assigned) N/A 121
The second part of the planned "sword trilogy" would have been a very contained story, mostly featuring Gideon and Matheson in a room, talking. Dureena would have still been missing and mention would be made of trying to find her.[2]
21 "Untitled Script" J. Michael Straczynski Mike Vejar (assigned) N/A 120
The third and final episode of the planned "sword trilogy" that would have seen Dureena inexplicably return and carrying with her a mysterious Sword.
22 "End of the Line" J. Michael Straczynski Janet Greek (assigned) N/A 116
The Excalibur finally tracks the hybrid's signal back to its home base and uncovers some shocking secrets about Earthforce, the techno-mages and their connection to the Shadows. This episode would have been the season finale, ending with a cliffhanger leaving a question-mark of whether Gideon is alive or dead.


Broadcast Orders[]

According to posts by J Michael Straczynski, which are archived on jmsnews.com, TNT broadcast the episodes out of the intended sequence. The order of the episodes was then revised when they were re-broadcasted on the Sci-Fi channel, the Sci-Fi channel actually contacted Straczynski and asked which order he would prefer the episodes were broadcast. A third order was formally endorsed by Straczynski as the "true" chronological sequence of events for the filmed episode, as it appeared in The Babylon 5 Historical Database, published in Across Time and Space: The Chronologies of Babylon 5. This particular ordering supersedes Straczynski's own "preferred" sequence from a strictly chronological and causal standpoint. The original broadcast order as set by TNT was used for the DVD releases.

Original broadcast order Revised broadcast order
(SciFi Channel broadcast order)
Chronological order
  1. War Zone
  2. The Long Road
  3. The Well of Forever
  4. The Path of Sorrows
  5. Patterns of the Soul
  6. Ruling from the Tomb
  7. The Rules of the Game
  8. Appearances and Other Deceits
  9. Racing the Night
  10. The Memory of War
  11. The Needs of Earth
  12. Visitors from Down the Street
  13. Each Night I Dream of Home
  1. Racing the Night
  2. The Needs of Earth
  3. The Memory of War
  4. The Long Road
  5. Visitors from Down the Street
  6. The Well of Forever
  7. Each Night I Dream of Home
  8. Patterns of the Soul
  9. The Path of Sorrows
  10. Ruling from the Tomb
  11. The Rules of the Game
  12. War Zone
  13. Appearances and Other Deceits
  1. War Zone
  2. The Long Road
  3. Appearances and Other Deceits
  4. The Memory of War
  5. The Needs of Earth
  6. Racing the Night
  7. Visitors from Down the Street
  8. Each Night I Dream of Home
  9. The Path of Sorrows
  10. Ruling from the Tomb
  11. Patterns of the Soul
  12. The Well of Forever
  13. The Rules of the Game

References[]

  1. The Official Babylon 5 Magazine: Issue #17 (November 1999) - p.51 & 57
  2. 2.0 2.1 The Official Babylon 5 Magazine: Issue #21 (March 2000) - Page 43 ('Larry's Touch: An Interview with Larry DiTillio')
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