Ideal Viewing Order

Unfortunately the release dates, assigned episode numbers, and production numbers did not match the intentions of the show's creator, J Michael Straczynski (JMS). Hence multiple viewing orders have emerged from the fan community. Two community created Babylon 5 Viewing Orders for all TV Episodes and Movies are described below. Many additional viewing orders are also on the main Viewing Order page.

Ideal Intended Order

The Ideal Intended Order is a viewing order assembled by the Babylon 5 fan community. It matches the very popular Lurker's Guide; but adds three personal preference decision points and uses an improved Crusade order. Decision points aside, this is the order that J Michael Straczynski (JMS) appears to have intended the show to be viewed in for full dramatic impact. This viewing order was taken from JMS's interviews, notes, and discussions and JMS has given the contentious seasons one and two order his blessing. This is not a chronological order of events, and not everything is meant to make sense at first as some episodes have flashbacks and visions of things.

• For the Crusade spin-off this Chronological Order option was leveraged as it is enjoyable and popular among devoted fans without continuity issues or jarring inconsistencies. This Crusade order is from the Babylon 5 Historical Database as authorized by JMS, with one adjustment for a continuity issue in "Ruling From the Tomb" as mentioned here.

There are three decision points indicated with asterisks (*) in the chart based on your personal viewing preference:

• *A. The order of the Movie "In The Beginning". Some devoted fans suggest watching it 3rd to last just before "Sleeping in Light", as a summary flashback. However other fans prefer to simply watch this before season 5's "No Compromises" as originally broadcast or just after Season 4's "Atonement" as it ties in really well with this episode and you wont get any spoilers. Alternatively JMS has suggested watching it first, before "The Gathering" as an interesting prequel with spoilers. If someone is on the fence about watching Babylon 5, it can be recommend to watch In The Beginning first because it gives them a taste of what will come and may push them over the edge into watching the show.
• *B. The order of Season 4's "The Deconstruction of Falling Stars". Some devoted fans suggest watching it last, as it jumps into the distant future and wraps up the entire Babylon 5 universe. However other fans prefer to simply watch this after "Rising Star" as originally broadcast to conclude Season 4.
• *C. The order of Season 5's "Sleeping in Light". Some devoted fans suggest watching it 2nd to last, just before "The Deconstruction of Falling Stars", as it wraps up the show. However other fans prefer to simply watch this after "Objects at Rest" as originally broadcast to conclude Season 5, before moving on to watch the spin-off movies/episodes.

Ideal Chronological Order

The Ideal Chronological Order is a chronological order of events assembled by the Babylon 5 fan community. It matches the Historical Database Chronological Order as authorized by JMS; but with four community-made adjustments for continuity issues and to align to JMS's original public comments. It takes into consideration everything there is to know about Babylon 5 including JMS's comments and most importantly the audio/video continuity of the shows themselves.

This is significantly different than the order that J Michael Straczynski (JMS) appears to have originally intended the show to be viewed in for full dramatic impact. Compared to the Ideal Intended Order; the first 40 shows are re-arranged, however the last 90 shows are in the same order other than "Walkabout". Compared to the Historical Database Chronological Order, the only four differences are listed below.

1. "Sic Transit Vir" appears to go after "A Late Delivery from Avalon" per JMS here: http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/guide/056.html
2. "Thirdspace" appears to go after "The Illusion of Truth" based on the Lurker's analysis here: http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/guide/112.html
3. "Day of the Dead" appears to go after "The Ragged Edge" based on discussion in this thread, the Lurker's analysis, and per JMS here: http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/guide/096.html
4. "Ruling From the Tomb" appears to best go after "The Long Road" based on the order of Gideon/Lochley meetings and per JMS's later publications as described here: http://www.b5tv.com/showthread.php?t=45810

Viewing Order Chart

Click the column headers to sort the chart as desired.

Episode Name	Ideal Intended Order	Ideal Chrono-logical Order	Historical Database Order	Original Broadcast Numbering	Original Broadcast Date	Historical Database Story Dates	Production #
The Gathering (Movie) *A	1	1	1	N/A	1993-02-22	2257-01-03 to 2257-01-08	Pilot
Midnight on the Firing Line	2	2	2	1x01	1994-01-26	2258-02-28	103
Soul Hunter	3	3	3	1x02	1994-02-02	2258-03-02 to 2258-03-03	102
Born to the Purple	4	5	5	1x03	1994-02-09	2258-03-22 to 2258-03-25	104
Infection	5	4	4	1x04	1994-02-16	2258-03-08 to 2258-03-09	101
The Parliament of Dreams	6	6	6	1x05	1994-02-23	2258-03-30 to 2258-04-03	108
Mind War	7	9	9	1x06	1994-03-02	2258-04-24 to 2258-04-26	110
The War Prayer	8	7	7	1x07	1994-03-09	2258-04-03 to 2258-04-07	107
And the Sky Full of Stars	9	8	8	1x08	1994-03-16	2258-04-11 to 2258-04-13	106
Deathwalker	10	11	11	1x09	1994-04-20	2258-05	113
Believers	11	12	12	1x10	1994-04-27	2258-06	105
Survivors	12	13	13	1x11	1994-05-04	2258-06	111
By Any Means Necessary	13	10	10	1x12	1994-05-11	2258-05	114
Signs and Portents	14	19	19	1x13	1994-05-18	2258-08-03 to 2258-08-05	116
Grail	15	18	18	1x15	1994-07-06	2258-07	109
Eyes	16	21	21	1x16	1994-07-13	2258-09	122
A Voice in the Wilderness, Part I	17	14	14	1x18	1994-07-27	2258-06	120
A Voice in the Wilderness, Part II	18	15	15	1x19	1994-08-03	2258-06	121
Babylon Squared	19	16	16	1x20	1994-08-10	2258-07-12 to 2258-07-13	118
The Quality of Mercy	20	22	22	1x21	1994-08-17	2258-09	117
TKO	21	20	20	1x14	1994-05-25	2258-08	119
Legacies	22	17	17	1x17	1994-07-20	2258-07	115
Chrysalis	23	23	23	1x22	1994-10-26	2258-12-30 to 2259-01-01	112
Points of Departure	24	24	24	2x01	1994-11-02	2259-01-08	201
Revelations	25	25	25	2x02	1994-11-09	2259-01-12 to 2259-01-19	202
The Geometry of Shadows	26	26	26	2x03	1994-11-16	2259-01-25 to 2259-02-05**	203
A Distant Star	27	27	27	2x04	1994-11-23	2259-01-30 to 2259-02-02**	204
The Long Dark	28	31	31	2x05	1994-11-30	2259-06	205
A Spider in the Web	29	28	28	2x06	1994-12-07	2259-03	206
A Race Through Dark Places	30	29	29	2x08	1995-01-25	2259-03-14 to 2259-03-17	207
Soul Mates	31	30	30	2x07	1994-12-14	2259-05	208
The Coming of Shadows	32	32	32	2x09	1995-02-01	2259-06-13 to 2259-06-17	209
GROPOS	33	33	33	2x10	1995-02-08	2259-06-20 to 2259-06-23	210
All Alone in the Night	34	34	34	2x11	1995-02-15	2259-07	211
Acts of Sacrifice	35	35	35	2x12	1995-02-22	2259-07	212
Hunter, Prey	36	36	36	2x13	1995-03-01	2259-07	213
There All the Honor Lies	37	38	38	2x14	1995-04-26	2259-08	215
And Now For a Word	38	39	39	2x15	1995-05-03	2259-09-16	214
Knives	39	37	37	2x17	1995-05-17	2259-08	216
In the Shadow of Z'ha'dum	40	40	40	2x16	1995-05-10	2259-09-24	217
Confessions and Lamentations	41	41	41	2x18	1995-05-24	2259-11	218
Divided Loyalties	42	42	42	2x19	1995-10-11	2259-11-24 to 2259-12-02	220
The Long, Twilight Struggle	43	43	43	2x20	1995-10-18	2259-12-03 to 2259-12-10	219
Comes the Inquisitor	44	44	44	2x21	1995-10-25	2259-12-19 to 2259-12-20	221
The Fall of Night	45	45	45	2x22	1995-11-01	2259-12-18 to 2259-12-24	222
Matters of Honor	46	46	46	3x01	1995-11-06	2259-12-27 to 2260-01-09	301
Convictions	47	47	47	3x02	1995-11-13	2260-01-13 to 2260-01-14	302
A Day in the Strife	48	48	48	3x03	1995-11-20	2260-01-15 to 2260-01-16	303
Passing Through Gethsemane	49	49	49	3x04	1995-11-27	2260-01-18 to 2260-02-04	305
Voices of Authority	50	50	50	3x05	1996-01-29	2260-02-05 to 2260-02-07	304
Dust to Dust	51	51	51	3x06	1996-02-05	2260-02-28 to 2260-03-01	306
Exogenesis	52	52	52	3x07	1996-02-12	2260-03-10 to 2260-03-13	307
Messages from Earth	53	53	53	3x08	1996-02-19	2260-03-18 to 2260-04-08	308
Point of No Return	54	54	54	3x09	1996-02-26	2260-04-08 to 2260-04-10	309
Severed Dreams	55	55	55	3x10	1996-04-01	2260-04-14 to 2260-04-15	310
Ceremonies of Light and Dark	56	56	56	3x11	1996-04-08	2260-04-16 to 2260-04-18	311
A Late Delivery from Avalon	57	57	58	3x13	1996-04-22	2260-07-11 to 2260-07-12	312
Sic Transit Vir	58	58	57	3x12	1996-04-15	2260-06-30 to 2260-07-05	313
Ship of Tears	59	59	59	3x14	1996-04-29	2260-07-24	314
Interludes and Examinations	60	60	60	3x15	1996-05-06	2260-08-03 to 2260-08-05	315
Walkabout	61	63	63	3x18	1996-09-30	2260-08-16	318
War Without End, Part I	62	61	61	3x16	1996-05-13	2260-08-09	316
War Without End, Part II	63	62	62	3x17	1996-05-20	2260-08-12	317
Grey 17 is Missing	64	64	64	3x19	1996-10-07	2260-11-26 to 2260-11-30	319
And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place	65	65	65	3x20	1996-10-14	2260-12-07 to 2260-12-11	320
Shadow Dancing	66	66	66	3x21	1996-10-21	2260-12-14 to 2260-12-19	321
Z'ha'dum	67	67	67	3x22	1996-10-28	2260-12-19 to 2260-12-25	322
The Hour of the Wolf	68	68	68	4x01	1996-11-04	2260-12-28 to 2261-01-06	401
Whatever Happened to Mr. Garibaldi?	69	69	69	4x02	1996-11-11	2261-01-08 to 2261-01-14	402
The Summoning	70	70	70	4x03	1996-11-18	2261-01-11 to 2261-01-18	403
Falling Toward Apotheosis	71	71	71	4x04	1996-11-25	2261-01-19 to 2261-01-20	404
The Long Night	72	72	72	4x05	1997-01-27	2261-01-22 to 2261-01-24	405
Into the Fire	73	73	73	4x06	1997-02-03	2261-01-23 to 2261-01-30	406
Epiphanies	74	74	74	4x07	1997-02-10	2261-02-01 to 2261-02-15	407
The Illusion of Truth	75	75	75	4x08	1997-02-17	2261-04-03 to 2261-04-12	408
Thirdspace (Movie)	76	76	82	N/A	1998-07-19	2261-06**	TNTCF1
Atonement *A	77	77	76	4x09	1997-02-24	2261-04-26 to 2261-05-05	409
Racing Mars	78	78	77	4x10	1997-04-21	2261-05-11 to 2261-05-13	410
Lines of Communication	79	79	78	4x11	1997-04-28	2261-05-13 to 2261-05-16	411
Conflicts of Interest	80	80	79	4x12	1997-05-05	2261-05-17 to 2261-05-19	412
Rumors, Bargains and Lies	81	81	80	4x13	1997-05-12	2261-05-19 to 2261-05-21	413
Moments of Transition	82	82	81	4x14	1997-05-19	2261-05-20 to 2261-09-01**	414
No Surrender, No Retreat	83	83	83	4x15	1997-05-26	2261-09-02 to 2261-09-04	415
The Exercise of Vital Powers	84	84	84	4x16	1997-06-02	2261-09-06 to 2261-09-08	416
The Face of the Enemy	85	85	85	4x17	1997-06-09	2261-10-17 to 2261-10-22	417
Intersections in Real Time	86	86	86	4x18	1997-06-16	2261-10-23 to 2261-10-27	418
Between the Darkness and the Light	87	87	87	4x19	1997-10-06	2261-10-27 to 2261-10-31	419
Endgame	88	88	88	4x20	1997-10-13	2261-11-01 to 2261-11-04	420
Rising Star *B	89	89	89	4x21	1997-10-20	2261-11-03 to 2261-12-31	421
No Compromises *A	90	90	90	5x01	1998-01-21	2262-01-13 to 2262-01-17	502
The Very Long Night of Londo Mollari	91	91	91	5x02	1998-01-28	2262-01-20 to 2262-01-21	503
The Paragon of Animals	92	92	92	5x03	1998-02-04	2262-01-30 to 2262-01-31	504
A View from the Gallery	93	93	93	5x04	1998-02-11	2262-02-12 to 2262-02-13	505
Learning Curve	94	94	95	5x05	1998-02-18	2262-05-17 to 2262-05-22	506
Strange Relations	95	95	96	5x06	1998-02-25	2262-05-23 to 2262-05-24	507
Secrets of the Soul	96	96	97	5x07	1998-03-04	2262-05-25 to 2262-05-28	508
In the Kingdom of the Blind	97	97	98	5x09	1998-03-18	2262-05-27 to 2262-05-31	509
A Tragedy of Telepaths	98	98	99	5x10	1998-03-25	2262-06-16 to 2262-06-18	510
Phoenix Rising	99	99	100	5x11	1998-04-01	2262-06-19	512
The Ragged Edge	100	100	101	5x12	1998-04-08	2262-06-20 to 2262-06-23	513
Day of the Dead	101	101	94	5x08	1998-03-11	2262-02	511
The Corps is Mother, the Corps is Father	102	102	102	5x13	1998-04-15	2262-06-24 to 2262-06-29	514
Meditations on the Abyss	103	103	103	5x14	1998-05-27	2262-07-13 to 2262-07-15	515
Darkness Ascending	104	104	104	5x15	1998-06-03	2262-07-23 to 2262-07-30	516
And All My Dreams, Torn Asunder	105	105	105	5x16	1998-06-10	2262-07-31 to 2262-08-06	517
Movements of Fire and Shadow	106	106	106	5x17	1998-06-17	2262-08-09 to 2262-08-14	518
The Fall of Centauri Prime	107	107	107	5x18	1998-10-28	2262-08-14 to 2262-08-18	519
Wheel of Fire	108	108	108	5x19	1998-11-04	2262-08-19 to 2262-08-21	520
Objects in Motion	109	109	109	5x20	1998-11-11	2262-09-01 to 2262-09-05	521
Objects at Rest *C	110	110	110	5x21	1998-11-18	2262-09-06 to 2262-09-11	522
The River of Souls (Movie)	111	111	111	N/A	1998-11-08	2263-06-08 to 2263-06-13	TNTCF3
Legend of the Rangers: To Live and Die in Starlight (Movie)	112	112	112	N/A	2002-01-19	2265-03	296737
A Call to Arms (Movie)	113	113	113	N/A	1999-01-03	2266-12-17 to 2266-12-30	TNTCF4
War Zone	114	114	114	C1x01	1999-06-09	2267-01-01 to 2267-01-05	C108
The Long Road	115	115	115	C1x02	1999-06-16	2267-02-27 to 2267-03-02	C107
Ruling from the Tomb	116	116	123	C1x06	1999-07-14	2267-06-15 to 2267-06-16	C111
Appearances and Other Deceits	117	117	116	C1x08	1999-07-28	2267-03	C113
The Memory of War	118	118	117	C1x10	1999-08-11	2267-03-30 to 2267-04-01	C102
The Needs of Earth	119	119	118	C1x11	1999-08-18	2267-04	C101
Racing the Night	120	120	119	C1x09	1999-08-04	2267-05	C103
Visitors from Down the Street	121	121	120	C1x12	1999-08-25	2267-05-13 to 2267-05-14	C104
Each Night I Dream of Home	122	122	121	C1x13	1999-09-01	2267-05	C105
The Path of Sorrows	123	123	122	C1x04	1999-06-30	2267-06	C109
Patterns of the Soul	124	124	124	C1x05	1999-07-07	2267-06	C110
The Well of Forever	125	125	125	C1x03	1999-06-23	2267-07	C106
The Rules of the Game	126	126	126	C1x07	1999-07-21	2267-07	C112
The Lost Tales - Voices in the Dark (Movie)	127	127	127	N/A	2007-07-27	2271-12-24 to 2271-12-30	235024
In the Beginning (Movie) *A	128	128	128	N/A	1998-01-04	2245-2249 [Flashbacks] 2278-12-24 [Prologue/ epilogue]**	TNTCF2
Sleeping in Light *C	129	129	129	5x22	1998-11-25	2280-12-28 to 2281-01-20	523
The Deconstruction of Falling Stars *B	130	130	130	4x22	1997-10-27	2262-01-02 to 1,002,262**	422

**Story dates which overlap multiple shows.

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