JMS' Viewing Order

This viewing order was taken from J Michael Straczynski's interviews, notes, and discussions. Not everything is meant to make sense but this is how he wants it to be viewed. Some episodes have flashbacks and visions of things and cannot be separated the episode.

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The Gathering (PTEN Movie / Babylon 5 Pilot)

Babylon 5 - Season One
Midnight on the Firing Line
Soul Hunter
Born to the Purple
Infection
The Parliament of Dreams
Mind War
The War Prayer
And The Sky Full Of Stars
Deathwalker
Believers
Survivors
By Any Means Necessary
Signs and Portents
Grail
Eyes
A Voice in the Wilderness - Part 1
A Voice in the Wilderness - Part 2
Babylon Squared
The Quality of Mercy
TKO
Legacies
Chrysalis

Babylon 5 - Season Two
Points of Departure
Revelations
The Geometry of Shadows
A Distant Star
The Long Dark
A Spider in the Web
A Race Through Dark Places
Soul Mates
The Coming of Shadows
GROPOS
All Alone in the Night
Acts of Sacrifice
Hunter, Prey
There All the Honor Lies
And Now For a Word
Knives
In the Shadow of Z'ha'dum
Confessions and Lamentations
Divided Loyalties
The Long, Twilight Struggle
Comes the Inquisitor
The Fall of Night

Babylon 5 - Season Three
Matters of Honor
Convictions
A Day in the Strife
Passing Through Gethsemane
Voices of Authority
Dust to Dust
Exogenesis
Messages from Earth
Point of No Return
Severed Dreams
Ceremonies of Light and Dark
A Late Delivery From Avalon
Sic Transit Vir
Ship of Tears
Interludes and Examinations
Walkabout
War Without End, Part One
War Without End, Part Two
Grey 17 Is Missing
And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place
Shadow Dancing
Z'ha'dum

Babylon 5 - Season Four
The Hour of the Wolf
Whatever Happened to Mr. Garibaldi?
The Summoning
Falling Toward Apotheosis
The Long Night
Into the Fire
Epiphanies
The Illusion of Truth

Thirdspace (TNT TV Movie)

Babylon 5 - Season Four continued...
Atonement
Racing Mars
Lines of Communication
Conflicts of Interest
Rumors, Bargains and Lies
Moments of Transition
No Surrender, No Retreat
The Exercise of Vital Powers
The Face of the Enemy
Intersections in Real Time
Between the Darkness and the Light
Endgame
Rising Star

Babylon 5 - Season Five
No Compromises
The Very Long Night of Londo Mollari
The Paragon of Animals
A View from the Gallery
Learning Curve
Strange Relations
Secrets of the Soul
In the Kingdom of the Blind
A Tragedy of Telepaths
Phoenix Rising
The Ragged Edge
Day of the Dead
The Corps is Mother, The Corps is Father
Meditations on the Abyss
Darkness Ascending
And All My Dreams, Torn Asunder
Movements of Fire and Shadow
The Fall of Centauri Prime
Wheel of Fire
Objects in Motion
Objects at Rest

River of Souls (TNT TV Movie)

The Legend of the Rangers - To Live and Die in Starlight (SciFi Channel TV Movie / Failed Pilot)

A Call to Arms (TNT TV Movie)

Crusade - Season 1
Racing the Night
The Needs of Earth
The Memory of War
The Long Road
Visitors from Down the Street
The Well of Forever
Each Night I Dream of Home
Patterns of the Soul
The Path of Sorrows
Ruling from the Tomb
The Rules of the Game
War Zone
Appearances and Other Deceits

The Memory of Shadows (Failed, Shelved Theatrical Movie)


The Lost Tales - Voices in the Dark (WB DVD Movie)
Over Here
Over There

In the Beginning (TNT TV Movie)

Babylon 5 - Season Five concluded…
Sleeping in Light

Babylon 5 - Season Four concluded…
The Deconstruction of Falling Stars


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Crusade has three official ways to be seen but only one that is sanctioned.

Original Order
1. War Zone (108)
2. The Long Road (107)
3. The Well of Forever (106)
4. The Path of Sorrows (109)
5. Patterns of the Soul (110)
6. Ruling from the Tomb (111)
7. The Rules of the Game (112)
8. Appearances and Other Deceits (113)
9. Racing the Night (103)
10. The Memory of War (102)
11. The Needs of Earth (101)
12. Visitors from Down the Street (104)
13. Each Night I Dream of Home (105)

Chronological Order
1. War Zone (108)
2. The Long Road (107)
3. Ruling From the Tomb (111)
4. Appearances and Other Deceits (113)
5. The Memory of War (102)
6. The Needs of Earth (101)
7. Racing the Night (103)
8. Visitors From Down the Street (104)
9. Each Night I Dream of Home (105)
10. The Path of Sorrows (109)
11. Patterns of the Soul (110)
12. The Well of Forever (106)
13. The Rules of the Game (112)

J Michael Straczynski's Order
1. Racing the Night (103)
2. The Needs of Earth (101)
3. The Memory of War (102)
4. The Long Road (107)
5. Visitors from Down the Street (104)
6. The Well of Forever (106)
7. Each Night I Dream of Home (105)
8. Patterns of the Soul (110)
9. The Path of Sorrows (109)
10. Ruling from the Tomb (111)
11. The Rules of the Game (112)
12. War Zone (108)
13. Appearances and Other Deceits (113)

The crusade order problem drives me nuts.

I moved this as the first obvious entry in the new FAQ forum.

So which Lochley episode does everyone think came first? I used to think it was the final aired episode, but now I'm thinking it's the Mars one...

just started watching the complete box set and i didn't know where to start because unlike most TV shows the viewing order is all over the place along with movies and spinoffs that all need fitting in somewhere..... if this is the way JMS says it should be viewed then this should be the master viewing guide right?

my first time round i watched the "in the beginning" before anything and it was full of spoilers :brickwall:

love the show seasons 3-4 are amazing
1,5 are alittle blah imo

now i have a guide that works i will watch it for the second time but before i start i need to know that this is really the true agreed viewing order by JMS because i don't really care what Joe Blogs down the street has to say about the order because Ive been burned already on how to watch it..........

( this is my first post and im happy to see there's still a lot of love for B5 so many years later )

blu-ray plz *wink* *wink* if ST:TNG can do it then B5 shouldn't be that hard, WB pay up redo the ships in HD res so they match the lost tales and clean up the prints and i will pay out for it, if any show is crying out for a HD master its B5 hell its even already in 16.9 so it will not put the youngsters off by having black bars on the sides

(OAR is very important to me i would take 4.3 on any show if that's how it was shoot)

i KNOW the fx are on on video tape but even if 80% of the ep is in full HD that's a big thumbs up from me

HD might not be that important to most people but when you have a 50" 1080p tv dvds tend to look ugly, dont care too much about seeing new things in the image but would like the added sharpness that HD brings

thoughts?

p.s sorry about my spelling kinda stoned at the mo

Welcome to the site, yes, that is JMS' actual preferred order, however, he sees no problem with In The Beginning being watcheded first. Me personally, I suggest watching it later on, if you are watching for the first time, in order to preserve you from Spoilers, but, if, you've already seen the whole Series, In The Beginning is great to start with.

Regarding HD Remastering for Babylon 5, very unlikely to happen, there just isn't believed to be a wide enough fanbase to justify the expense. TNG had a very large audience in it's day, and still gets pretty decent ratings in Reruns after all these years, so, it's a much more viable candidate then B5 is (I am looking forward to the the TNG remastering, though, BTW. I want to do a full rewatch, which I have never done, I've only watched original airing and catch reruns here and there. I am holding off on watching or purchasing TNG until the TNG-R sets are released)

I decided to watch 'In the Beginning' right after Season 4.... is Crusade still available out there for order? I found the Legend of the Rangers and the movie collection of The Gathering, In the Beginning, Thirdspace, River of Souls, and Call To Arms. With the five seasons on DVD that's the extent of what I have. Saw the Lost Tales, missed a chance to get it when I went back for it.


PS my profile picture isn't showing? (it appears in the User CP but not here on the forum)

Crusade seems to be still available new on Amazon.com. If that's not suitable, I guess your best bet is either Amazon.co.uk marketplace (there appear to be copies available) or eBay.

Regarding the picture, it's a little confusing as "Profile picture" and "Avatar" are not the same thing and you can set them separately. If you go to User CP, you should also see an option called Edit Avatar (under Settings and Options) - that's where you can set the avatar that actually appears next to your posts on the forum, not on your profile.

Also, welcome to B5TV!

Kribu said:

Crusade seems to be still available new on Amazon.com. If that's not suitable, I guess your best bet is either Amazon.co.uk marketplace (there appear to be copies available) or eBay.

Regarding the picture, it's a little confusing as "Profile picture" and "Avatar" are not the same thing and you can set them separately. If you go to User CP, you should also see an option called Edit Avatar (under Settings and Options) - that's where you can set the avatar that actually appears next to your posts on the forum, not on your profile.

Also, welcome to B5TV!

Click to expand...

deepdiscount.com has Crusade included in TV Buy One Get One Free (Enter Code BOGOTV) deal at:

http://www.deepdiscount.com/index.c...ype=list&sortType=titleAsc&resultsPerPage=250

Crusade
http://www.deepdiscount.com/dvd/crusade-complete-series/
List Price:$59.98
Price: $26.70
You Save: $33.28 (55%)

It's $13.87 on Amazon.com. Plus deepdiscount.com has very limited international delivery, so without knowing the poster's country of residence, I'd hesitate to recommend that.

Thanks for the responses Kribu and KoshN, now I shall also try to fix my avatar...

Interesting. I have a feeling I'll be doing a series rewatch by Christmas, at least of the major arc related episodes. I always thought that I'd watch "in the Beginning" right after Atonement as I believe that's the last regular season episode to reveal everything that ITB spoils. Watching it before the series seems like a big mistake for first time viewers.

TKO and Legacies right before Chrysalis seems to really weaken the end of the season to me.

JonFrain said:

Interesting. I have a feeling I'll be doing a series rewatch by Christmas, at least of the major arc related episodes. I always thought that I'd watch "in the Beginning" right after Atonement as I believe that's the last regular season episode to reveal everything that ITB spoils. Watching it before the series seems like a big mistake for first time viewers.

TKO and Legacies right before Chrysalis seems to really weaken the end of the season to me.

Click to expand...

I agree. IttB works better as a flashback than an introduction.

It really depends on whether it's a first run view or whether you've watched B5 more than once.In a Re-viewing, I'd place ITB first, for chronalogical reasons, because I know the secrets. As an introduction, it's not bad. Not good, mind you, but doesn't really spoil the suprises to come.

fisheggs said:

It really depends on whether it's a first run view or whether you've watched B5 more than once.In a Re-viewing, I'd place ITB first, for chronalogical reasons, because I know the secrets. As an introduction, it's not bad. Not good, mind you, but doesn't really spoil the suprises to come.

Click to expand...

It spoils Sinclair, the earth minbari war cause and the role of the vorlons. That's way too much to spoil for first time viewers. Up until the Coming of shadows we really don't know what the Vorlons role is or plans for us are.

I'm trying to see B5 for the first time. Before I begin, I'm trying to find the right order, but it seems it's not that simple, a situation worst than The Prisoner episodes order.
In your experience, (and without giving me too many explanations because of spoilers ) do you reckon the JMS' one is the right viewing order to follow?
It seems very odd to me to see the season finale of 4th season as the series finale... Too timey-wimey, if you allow me :klingon:

Sorry for the english and thanks

Really, don't worry about it in the slightest. Watch 'The Gathering' and then the episodes in the order they come on the DVDs and simply get immersed in the story for the first time. You won't really appreciate the nuances until the second time, anyway so just concentrate on it as presented in the simplest way possible - which is how those of us who watched it in its first run saw it.

Enjoy. I envy you your first two viewings!

Jan

The Gathering is for me really the movie to look at the first and then I just go how the dvd's are in the box.
I'm rewatching B5 and i Think I will do it this time by the list.

Jan said:

Really, don't worry about it in the slightest. Watch 'The Gathering' and then the episodes in the order they come on the DVDs and simply get immersed in the story for the first time. You won't really appreciate the nuances until the second time, anyway so just concentrate on it as presented in the simplest way possible - which is how those of us who watched it in its first run saw it.

Enjoy. I envy you your first two viewings!

Jan

Click to expand...

So, there is no need to watch the movies in the order JMS himself advices, between the episodes of the series?
Just out of curiosity, does it make sense the suggestion to watch the season 4 finale as series finale? (no spoilers, of course... just be vague )

AlanMoore said:

Jan said:

Really, don't worry about it in the slightest. Watch 'The Gathering' and then the episodes in the order they come on the DVDs and simply get immersed in the story for the first time. You won't really appreciate the nuances until the second time, anyway so just concentrate on it as presented in the simplest way possible - which is how those of us who watched it in its first run saw it.

Enjoy. I envy you your first two viewings!

Jan

Click to expand...

So, there is no need to watch the movies in the order JMS himself advices, between the episodes of the series?
Just out of curiosity, does it make sense the suggestion to watch the season 4 finale as series finale? (no spoilers, of course... just be vague )

Click to expand...

I stand by this....

http://www.b5tv.com/showpost.php?p=349849&postcount=3

....order. If you do not watch the TV movies where they are supposed to go chronologically, keep in mind when watching them where they are supposed to go, i.e. what timeframe they're from.. HOWEVER, watch The Gathering FIRST.