Viewing Order

The most popular Babylon 5 Viewing Orders for all TV Episodes and Movies are listed below. You can click the column headers to sort the chart as desired. Descriptions and comparisons for each order are below the chart. Unfortunately the assigned episode numbers, release dates, and production numbers do not match the intended viewing orders of the show's creator, J Michael Straczynski (JMS). Hence multiple viewing orders have emerged.

Episode Name	Ideal Intended Order	Ideal Chrono-logical Order	Historical Database Chrono-logical Order	Historical Database Story Dates	Episode #	Release Date	Production #
The Gathering (Movie) *A	1	1	1	2257-01-03 to 2257-01-08	N/A	1993-02-22	Pilot
Midnight on the Firing Line	2	2	2	2258-02-28	1x01	1994-01-26	103
Soul Hunter	3	3	3	2258-03-02 to 2258-03-03	1x02	1994-02-02	102
Born to the Purple	4	5	5	2258-03-22 to 2258-03-25	1x03	1994-02-09	104
Infection	5	4	4	2258-03-08 to 2258-03-09	1x04	1994-02-16	101
The Parliament of Dreams	6	6	6	2258-03-30 to 2258-04-03	1x05	1994-02-23	108
Mind War	7	9	9	2258-04-24 to 2258-04-26	1x06	1994-03-02	110
The War Prayer	8	7	7	2258-04-03 to 2258-04-07	1x07	1994-03-09	107
And the Sky Full of Stars	9	8	8	2258-04-11 to 2258-04-13	1x08	1994-03-16	106
Deathwalker	10	11	11	2258-05	1x09	1994-04-20	113
Believers	11	12	12	2258-06	1x10	1994-04-27	105
Survivors	12	13	13	2258-06	1x11	1994-05-04	111
By Any Means Necessary	13	10	10	2258-05	1x12	1994-05-11	114
Signs and Portents	14	19	19	2258-08-03 to 2258-08-05	1x13	1994-05-18	116
Grail	15	18	18	2258-07	1x15	1994-07-06	109
Eyes	16	21	21	2258-09	1x16	1994-07-13	122
A Voice in the Wilderness, Part I	17	14	14	2258-06	1x18	1994-07-27	120
A Voice in the Wilderness, Part II	18	15	15	2258-06	1x19	1994-08-03	121
Babylon Squared	19	16	16	2258-07-12 to 2258-07-13	1x20	1994-08-10	118
The Quality of Mercy	20	22	22	2258-09	1x21	1994-08-17	117
TKO	21	20	20	2258-08	1x14	1994-05-25	119
Legacies	22	17	17	2258-07	1x17	1994-07-20	115
Chrysalis	23	23	23	2258-12-30 to 2259-01-01	1x22	1994-10-26	112
Points of Departure	24	24	24	2259-01-08	2x01	1994-11-02	201
Revelations	25	25	25	2259-01-12 to 2259-01-19	2x02	1994-11-09	202
The Geometry of Shadows	26	26	26	2259-01-25 to 2259-02-05**	2x03	1994-11-16	203
A Distant Star	27	27	27	2259-01-30 to 2259-02-02**	2x04	1994-11-23	204
The Long Dark	28	31	31	2259-06	2x05	1994-11-30	205
A Spider in the Web	29	28	28	2259-03	2x06	1994-12-07	206
A Race Through Dark Places	30	29	29	2259-03-14 to 2259-03-17	2x08	1995-01-25	207
Soul Mates	31	30	30	2259-05	2x07	1994-12-14	208
The Coming of Shadows	32	32	32	2259-06-13 to 2259-06-17	2x09	1995-02-01	209
GROPOS	33	33	33	2259-06-20 to 2259-06-23	2x10	1995-02-08	210
All Alone in the Night	34	34	34	2259-07	2x11	1995-02-15	211
Acts of Sacrifice	35	35	35	2259-07	2x12	1995-02-22	212
Hunter, Prey	36	36	36	2259-07	2x13	1995-03-01	213
There All the Honor Lies	37	38	38	2259-08	2x14	1995-04-26	215
And Now For a Word	38	39	39	2259-09-16	2x15	1995-05-03	214
Knives	39	37	37	2259-08	2x17	1995-05-17	217
In the Shadow of Z'ha'dum	40	40	40	2259-09-24	2x16	1995-05-10	216
Confessions and Lamentations	41	41	41	2259-11	2x18	1995-05-24	218
Divided Loyalties	42	42	42	2259-11-24 to 2259-12-02	2x19	1995-10-11	220
The Long, Twilight Struggle	43	43	43	2259-12-03 to 2259-12-10	2x20	1995-10-18	219
Comes the Inquisitor	44	44	44	2259-12-19 to 2259-12-20	2x21	1995-10-25	221
The Fall of Night	45	45	45	2259-12-18 to 2259-12-24	2x22	1995-11-01	222
Matters of Honor	46	46	46	2259-12-27 to 2260-01-09	3x01	1995-11-06	301
Convictions	47	47	47	2260-01-13 to 2260-01-14	3x02	1995-11-13	302
A Day in the Strife	48	48	48	2260-01-15 to 2260-01-16	3x03	1995-11-20	303
Passing Through Gethsemane	49	49	49	2260-01-18 to 2260-02-04	3x04	1995-11-27	305
Voices of Authority	50	50	50	2260-02-05 to 2260-02-07	3x05	1996-01-29	304
Dust to Dust	51	51	51	2260-02-28 to 2260-03-01	3x06	1996-02-05	306
Exogenesis	52	52	52	2260-03-10 to 2260-03-13	3x07	1996-02-12	307
Messages from Earth	53	53	53	2260-03-18 to 2260-04-08	3x08	1996-02-19	308
Point of No Return	54	54	54	2260-04-08 to 2260-04-10	3x09	1996-02-26	309
Severed Dreams	55	55	55	2260-04-14 to 2260-04-15	3x10	1996-04-01	310
Ceremonies of Light and Dark	56	56	56	2260-04-16 to 2260-04-18	3x11	1996-04-08	311
A Late Delivery from Avalon	57	57	58	2260-07-11 to 2260-07-12	3x13	1996-04-22	312
Sic Transit Vir	58	58	57	2260-06-30 to 2260-07-05	3x12	1996-04-15	313
Ship of Tears	59	59	59	2260-07-24	3x14	1996-04-29	314
Interludes and Examinations	60	60	60	2260-08-03 to 2260-08-05	3x15	1996-05-06	315
Walkabout	61	61	63	2260-08-16	3x18	1996-09-30	318
War Without End, Part I	62	62	61	2260-08-09	3x16	1996-05-13	316
War Without End, Part II	63	63	62	2260-08-12	3x17	1996-05-20	317
Grey 17 is Missing	64	64	64	2260-11-26 to 2260-11-30	3x19	1996-10-07	319
And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place	65	65	65	2260-12-07 to 2260-12-11	3x20	1996-10-14	320
Shadow Dancing	66	66	66	2260-12-14 to 2260-12-19	3x21	1996-10-21	321
Z'ha'dum	67	67	67	2260-12-19 to 2260-12-25	3x22	1996-10-28	322
The Hour of the Wolf	68	68	68	2260-12-28 to 2261-01-06	4x01	1996-11-04	401
Whatever Happened to Mr. Garibaldi?	69	69	69	2261-01-08 to 2261-01-14	4x02	1996-11-11	402
The Summoning	70	70	70	2261-01-11 to 2261-01-18	4x03	1996-11-18	403
Falling Toward Apotheosis	71	71	71	2261-01-19 to 2261-01-20	4x04	1996-11-25	404
The Long Night	72	72	72	2261-01-22 to 2261-01-24	4x05	1997-01-27	405
Into the Fire	73	73	73	2261-01-23 to 2261-01-30	4x06	1997-02-03	406
Epiphanies	74	74	74	2261-02-01 to 2261-02-15	4x07	1997-02-10	407
The Illusion of Truth	75	75	75	2261-04-03 to 2261-04-12	4x08	1997-02-17	408
Thirdspace (Movie)	76	76	82	2261-06**	N/A	1998-07-19	TNTCF1
Atonement *A	77	77	76	2261-04-26 to 2261-05-05	4x09	1997-02-24	409
Racing Mars	78	78	77	2261-05-11 to 2261-05-13	4x10	1997-04-21	410
Lines of Communication	79	79	78	2261-05-13 to 2261-05-16	4x11	1997-04-28	411
Conflicts of Interest	80	80	79	2261-05-17 to 2261-05-19	4x12	1997-05-05	412
Rumors, Bargains and Lies	81	81	80	2261-05-19 to 2261-05-21	4x13	1997-05-12	413
Moments of Transition	82	82	81	2261-05-20 to 2261-09-01**	4x14	1997-05-19	414
No Surrender, No Retreat	83	83	83	2261-09-02 to 2261-09-04	4x15	1997-05-26	415
The Exercise of Vital Powers	84	84	84	2261-09-06 to 2261-09-08	4x16	1997-06-02	416
The Face of the Enemy	85	85	85	2261-10-17 to 2261-10-22	4x17	1997-06-09	417
Intersections in Real Time	86	86	86	2261-10-23 to 2261-10-27	4x18	1997-06-16	418
Between the Darkness and the Light	87	87	87	2261-10-27 to 2261-10-31	4x19	1997-10-06	419
Endgame	88	88	88	2261-11-01 to 2261-11-04	4x20	1997-10-13	420
Rising Star *B	89	89	89	2261-11-03 to 2261-12-31	4x21	1997-10-20	421
No Compromises	90	90	90	2262-01-13 to 2262-01-17	5x01	1998-01-21	501
The Very Long Night of Londo Mollari	91	91	91	2262-01-20 to 2262-01-21	5x02	1998-01-28	502
The Paragon of Animals	92	92	92	2262-01-30 to 2262-01-31	5x03	1998-02-04	503
A View from the Gallery	93	93	93	2262-02-12 to 2262-02-13	5x04	1998-02-11	504
Learning Curve	94	94	95	2262-05-17 to 2262-05-22	5x05	1998-02-18	505
Strange Relations	95	95	96	2262-05-23 to 2262-05-24	5x06	1998-02-25	506
Secrets of the Soul	96	96	97	2262-05-25 to 2262-05-28	5x07	1998-03-04	507
In the Kingdom of the Blind	97	97	98	2262-05-27 to 2262-05-31	5x08	1998-03-18	508
A Tragedy of Telepaths	98	98	99	2262-06-16 to 2262-06-18	5x09	1998-03-25	509
Phoenix Rising	99	99	100	2262-06-19	5x11	1998-04-01	511
The Ragged Edge	100	100	101	2262-06-20 to 2262-06-23	5x12	1998-04-08	512
Day of the Dead	101	101	94	2262-02	5x10	1998-03-11	510
The Corps is Mother, the Corps is Father	102	102	102	2262-06-24 to 2262-06-29	5x13	1998-04-15	513
Meditations on the Abyss	103	103	103	2262-07-13 to 2262-07-15	5x14	1998-05-27	514
Darkness Ascending	104	104	104	2262-07-23 to 2262-07-30	5x15	1998-06-03	515
And All My Dreams, Torn Asunder	105	105	105	2262-07-31 to 2262-08-06	5x16	1998-06-10	516
Movements of Fire and Shadow	106	106	106	2262-08-09 to 2262-08-14	5x17	1998-06-17	517
The Fall of Centauri Prime	107	107	107	2262-08-14 to 2262-08-18	5x18	1998-10-28	518
Wheel of Fire	108	108	108	2262-08-19 to 2262-08-21	5x19	1998-11-04	519
Objects in Motion	109	109	109	2262-09-01 to 2262-09-05	5x20	1998-11-11	520
Objects at Rest *C	110	110	110	2262-09-06 to 2262-09-11	5x21	1998-11-18	521
The River of Souls (Movie)	111	111	111	2263-06-08 to 2263-06-13	N/A	1998-11-08	TNTCF3
Legend of the Rangers: To Live and Die in Starlight (Movie)	112	112	112	2265-03	N/A	2002-01-19	296737
A Call to Arms (Movie)	113	113	113	2266-12-17 to 2266-12-30	N/A	1999-01-03	TNTCF4
War Zone	114	114	114	2267-01-01 to 2267-01-05	C1x01	1999-06-09	C108
The Long Road	115	115	115	2267-02-27 to 2267-03-02	C1x02	1999-06-16	C107
Ruling from the Tomb	116	116	123	2267-06-15 to 2267-06-16	C1x06	1999-07-14	C111
Appearances and Other Deceits	117	117	116	2267-03	C1x08	1999-07-28	C113
The Memory of War	118	118	117	2267-03-30 to 2267-04-01	C1x10	1999-08-11	C102
The Needs of Earth	119	119	118	2267-04	C1x11	1999-08-18	C101
Racing the Night	120	120	119	2267-05	C1x09	1999-08-04	C103
Visitors from Down the Street	121	121	120	2267-05-13 to 2267-05-14	C1x12	1999-08-25	C104
Each Night I Dream of Home	122	122	121	2267-05	C1x13	1999-09-01	C105
The Path of Sorrows	123	123	122	2267-06	C1x04	1999-06-30	C109
Patterns of the Soul	124	124	124	2267-06	C1x05	1999-07-07	C110
The Well of Forever	125	125	125	2267-07	C1x03	1999-06-23	C106
The Rules of the Game	126	126	126	2267-07	C1x07	1999-07-21	C112
The Lost Tales - Voices in the Dark (Movie)	127	127	127	2271-12-24 to 2271-12-30	N/A	2007-07-27	235024
In the Beginning (Movie) *A	128	128	128	2245-2249 [Flashbacks] 2278-12-24 [Prologue/ epilogue]**	N/A	1998-01-04	TNTCF2
Sleeping in Light *C	129	129	129	2280-12-28 to 2281-01-20	5x22	1998-11-25	522
The Deconstruction of Falling Stars *B	130	130	130	2262-01-02 to 1,002,262**	4x22	1997-10-27	422

Decision Points

*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". JMS suggested watching it 3rd to last, just before "Sleeping in Light", as a summary flashback. However some fans prefer to watch this just after Season 4's "Atonement" as it ties in really well with this episode and you wont get any spoilers. Alternatively you can watch it first, before "The Gathering" as an interesting prequel with spoilers. If someone is on the fence about watching Babylon 5, its recommend to watch In The Beginning first because it gives them a taste of what will come will push them over the edge into watching the show.
• *B. The order of Season 4's "The Deconstruction of Falling Stars". JMS suggested watching it last, as it wraps up the entire B5 universe. However some fans prefer to watch this after "Objects at Rest" at the end of Season 4 as originally broadcasted to conclude Season 4. During production of Season 4 it appeared B5 would not be renewed for Season 5, so "The Deconstruction of Falling Stars" was created to conclude the entire B5 universe.
• *C. The order of Season 5's "Sleeping in Light". JMS suggested watching it 2nd to last, just before "The Deconstruction of Falling Stars", as it wraps up the show. However some fans prefer to watch this after "Rising Star" at the end of Season 5 as originally broadcasted to conclude Season 5, before moving on to watch the spin-off movies/episodes.

Ideal Intended Order

The Ideal Intended Order is the order that J Michael Straczynski (JMS) originally intended the show to be viewed in for full dramatic impact. This viewing order was taken from JMS's interviews, notes, and discussions. 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. This order (including the very similar Lurker's Guide as described below) is popular among devoted fans.

Source: http://www.b5tv.com/showthread.php?t=11675

• For the Crusade spin-off the 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".

Ideal Chronological Order

The Ideal Chronological Order assembled by the B5 fan community based on logical general consensus. This is a chronological order of events, which is significantly different than the order JMS originally intended the show to be viewed in for full dramatic impact. It takes into consideration everything there is to know about B5, including JMS's comments, and most importantly the audio/video continuity of the shows themselves.

Compared to the Ideal Intended Order; the first 40 shows are re-arranged, however the last 90 shows are in the same order. The Ideal Chronological Order is very similar to the Historical Database Chronological Order as authorized by JMS; with five community made adjustments for continuity issues and to align to JMS's original public comments.

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. "War Without End" appears to go after "Walkabout" per JMS here: http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/guide/062.html
3. "Thirdspace" appears to go after "The Illusion of Truth" based on the Lurker's analysis here: http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/guide/112.html
4. "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
5. "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

Historical Database Chronological Order/Story Dates

The Babylon 5 Historical Database Chronological Order as published in the 2008 book ACROSS TIME AND SPACE: The Chronologies of Babylon 5. Researched and created by devoted fan Terry Jones with the full input, cooperation, and authorization of JMS. This is excellent documentation that took a ton of effort to create. The Historical Database was used in house at Babylonian Productions (as confirmed by Reference editor Fiona Avery) and contains the only OFFICIAL running order of both Babylon 5 and Crusade directly authorized by JMS himself obsoleting previous versions.

Source: http://www.b5tv.com/showthread.php?t=45825

Ordering rationale notes: https://www.dropbox.com/s/9jqk568tcfkcesu/Chronological%20order%20of%20the%20B5%20canon.docx?dl=0

**The double asterisks in the chart indicate Story Dates overlap multiple shows.

Episode #

The number haphazardly assigned to the episodes. This order creates continuity issues and does not match the intended viewing order of the show's creator, JMS.

Release Date

The broadcasters original release dates. Similar to what happened to Firefly, Broadcasters re-arranged episodes to their liking and shuffled episodes around due to scheduling issues. This order creates continuity issues and does not match the intended viewing order of the show's creator, JMS.

Production #

The number assigned based on the order the shows were produced in. This order greatly varied due to production constraints such as cast availability and many other factors. This order creates continuity issues and does not match the intended viewing order of the show's creator, JMS.

Other Viewing Orders

Additional popular viewing orders are described below, however these are not included in the chart.

The Lurker's Guide

Source: http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/countries/master/eplist.html

This is the same as the Ideal Intended Order except:

• "In The Beginning" was placed at the very start.
• "The Deconstruction of Falling Stars" was placed at the end of Season 4 as originally broadcasted.
• "Sleeping in Light" was placed at the end of Season 5 as originally broadcasted.
• For Crusade, the order listed is one of several that JMS authorized. However many fans agree this is not the best watch order due to some jarring inconsistencies. Follow the Ideal Intended Order instead.

Alkibiades410's Preferred Continuity Order

Source: http://www.b5tv.com/showthread.php?t=45810

This is the same as the Ideal Intended Order except:

• "In The Beginning" was placed at the very start.
• For Crusade, many options are presented. The "Alternate Continuity Order" matches the Ideal Intended Order and the Ideal Chronological Order. The other orders have continuity issues and are not the best.

Alkibiades410's Chronological Order

Source: http://www.b5tv.com/showthread.php?t=45810

This is the same as the Ideal Chronological Order except:

• "In The Beginning" was placed at the very start.
• "Confessions and Lamentations" was placed after "Divided Loyalties". This appears to be an error by Alkibiades410 based on the Lurker's analysis here: http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/guide/041.html
• For Crusade, many options are presented. The "Alternate Continuity Order" matches the Ideal Intended Order and the Ideal Chronological Order. The other orders have continuity issues and are not the best.

I. Marc Carlson's Timeline of the Babylon 5/Crusade Universe

I. Marc Carlson's Timeline as published in the 2008 book ACROSS TIME AND SPACE: The Chronologies of Babylon 5. The book contained this timeline and the separate Terry Jones' Babylon 5 Historical Database chronology. In the introduction written by Reference editor Fiona Avery, she confirms that the two chronologies are different in tone and content (Jones’ particularly went to great lengths cross referencing all his entries and using only canon sources, including information from JMS) and while both have been used by fans, it is only Terry Jones’ Babylon 5 Historical Database that was used in house at Babylonian Productions.

Note: Before making any significant changes to this page, please be sure to discuss on the talk page first to ensure the changes reach a logical general consensus by other B5 Fans on Fandom.