Written by J. Michael Straczynski
Directed by Michael Vejar

There are a few stories taking place in A Late Delivery From Avalon. What seems to be the main story stands on its own quite well, with a new visitor to the station who may or may not be an ancient Earth king. In the background, though, are two stories that deal with the ramifications of what’s happened between Babylon 5 and Earth government most recently. Having declared independence from Earth due to the corruption that’s been uncovered, Captain Sheridan (Bruce Boxleitner) is struggling to figure out what Babylon 5‘s mission is now. In addition, Security Chief Michael Garibaldi (Jerry Doyle) is learning that the postal service is something of its own entity.

Sheridan wants to create a broader base of support for an independent Babylon 5. They are experiencing inflation due to the war and breaking away from Earth Government. Mr. Garibaldi is trying to retrieve a box sent to him, but there are increased duties due on it that weren’t present before. He doesn’t think he should have to pay it, but the clerk won’t let him have the box unless he pays.

Dr. Stephen Franklin (Richard Biggs) is dealing with an outbreak of Banta Flu, first noticed by Marcus Cole (Jason Carter). He comments that most people don’t care about what happens to the lurkers on the station. My favorite quote in the world is from this episode. Marcus tells Stephen some of the things about his training for the Rangers on Minbar.

A man (Michael York) is on his way to Babylon 5, but has been plagued with prophetic nightmares while he travels. When he arrives on the station, he claims to be King Arthur and brandishes a sword he calls Excalibur. Marcus talks him down, and he allows Dr. Franklin to examine him.

This isn’t as crazy as it might seem. Back in the episode Comes the Inquisitor, a man appears on the Station who told a story of being plucked from Earth by the Vorlons back in 1888 London. Could this man, now claiming to be a legendary king, have gone through the same thing? Marcus sees the similarities in his story and believes the Vorlons could have taken Arthur from Earth. Dr. Franklin doesn’t think that’s the case, though.

The man claims that he was taken to the Island of Avalon to be treated after his battle, and he was to be returned when he was needed. “Arthur” escapes from MedLab and walks around the station. He locates a woman who has had things stolen from her and promises to return her items.

The former Narn ambassador, G’Kar (Andreas Katsulas) is making contact with a courier when he comes across ruffians beating up a man. Before he can do anything, “Arthur” appears and confronts them for stealing from the old lady. Arthur fares well, but G’Kar must join him when more ruffians show up. G’Kar and Arthur return the photograph that was stolen and then go and celebrate together. Arthur knights G’Kar. It becomes evident that something happened that Arthur feels responsible for.

Garibaldi tries to retrieve his box, but the postal worker catches him.

Dr. Franklin identifies Arthur as having been in EarthForce. Marcus begs him not to tell the man. He’d rather see him spend the rest of his life thinking he is Arthur.

When Dr. Franklin meets with Arthur, he tells the doctor about his dreams. Dr. Franklin tells him he was at the Battle of the Line. At first, Arthur has no memory of it. Later, he confesses that he was on the Prometheus, which misinterpreted the first encounter with the Minbari. He feels responsible for the war that killed so many and becomes catatonic. Marcus has Delenn visit the man as “the Lady of the Lake,” and it helps him.

At the end of the episode, G’Kar sends Arthur to help with the Narn Resistance.

What appears to be largely a filler episode sets in motion a number of things while at the same time addressing the concept of PTSD and how a person deals with trauma. The character of Arthur shows that even when dealing with space battles where you are not face-to-face with your enemy, there is the potential for trauma. He is dealing with a decision made out of fear that was the wrong decision. He wasn’t alone on the ship, and his higher-ups never countermanded firing on the Minbari until it was too late. Yet he is carrying a burden, believing himself responsible for a war that killed millions. To cope, his brain has embraced a personality that is considered a hero.

Dr, Franklin’s actions here are a bit troubling. He’s shown arrogance before when believing he knows better than anyone else. In the first-season episode Believers, that resulted in the death of the patient. That seemed to be a life-altering lesson for the good Doctor, but in A Late Delivery From Avalon he displays the same arrogance when it comes to “fixing” Arthur. Although Marcus isn’t completely correct in that letting him carry the delusion for the rest of his life is better than remembering what he did. For the sake of the one-hour show, Dr. Franklin has to press the issue rather than treat him over the course of a few months. It’s pretty obvious Dr. Franklin is a brilliant surgeon, but he fails when it comes to the psychological treatment of patients.

There’s some great set-up of Babylon 5 trying to establish what its role is in the universe now that it’s no longer being managed by Earth’s government. Sheridan is ambitious that it can stay neutral and be a place for beings to gather on neutral territory and work out disputes.

I would expect nothing more than the brilliant performance we get from Michael York. What could have been a ridiculous role ends up having deep meaning. It gives him the chance to do Shakespeare on television without actually doing Shakespeare on television. It’s a shame that they weren’t able to treat his illness over the course of a few episodes and have him popping up on the station for a number of shows. It would have been entertaining for a bit. His actions provide some comic relief, but also compassion towards the people who are largely forgotten on the station.

What could have been a laughable episode actually ends up pretty decent. We should be much further along in treating trauma in the future, but it doesn’t seem so. Enough time has passed that it feels like Dr. Franklin is just reverting back to the arrogance he displayed early on when it comes to deciding what’s best for his patients. Will he learn this time? Most likely not, but it will probably be in his mind for a while and influence his actions for a time.

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