The Asimov arrives through the jump gate, the first ship in months to pay docking fees. Garibaldi (Jerry Doyle) is at war with the Earth Postal Service for having tripled the postage due on a package for him. A man on the ship (Michael York) is having nightmares. Doctor Franklin (Richard Biggs) has been brought to Downbelow by Ranger Marcus Cole (Jason Carter) because of an illness spreading among lurkers. They talk about Cole’s Ranger pin, with human and Minbari figures, and about studying the Minbari language. The man from the Asimov will not give up his weapon in Customs. He claims the sword is Excalibur and he is King Arthur. Cole offers to intercede. He kneels to the King and they bring him, mollified, to Medlab.
The man has no papers. All his memories are from the Arthurian legends. He claims to return at a time of need as prophesied. Though Garibaldi is sceptical, Cole begins to believe the man, pointing out that the Vorlons have taken humans from the past before. Franklin points out that the so-called King is not speaking Old English. Then they discover that he has escaped from Medlab.
He is wandering in Downbelow, offering to help people. He draws his sword against a man beating up another. He fights bravely but is overwhelmed with antagonists. G’Kar (Andreas Katsulas) comes to his aid. In a bar, he talks with G’Kar and they get along famously. He dubs G’Kar a Knight of the Round Table. Garibaldi tries to break into the Post Office to get his package and is discovered. Cole finds Arthur and G’Kar, quite drunk by this time.
In the Council Chamber, Sheridan (Bruce Boxleitner) makes his case to the Non-Aligned Worlds for financial support from them. Ivanova (Claudia Christian) presents a new Babylon Treaty. Franklin reveals he has discovered Arthur’s identity as a traumatized Earthforce soldier. The doctor maintains that the man cannot heal unless he learns the truth. Arthur has more nightmares, but now they include Minbari ships.
Franklin tells Arthur that he is really David McIntyre, a soldier in the Battle of the Line aboard the Prometheus 15 years ago—the first contact between human and Minbari. McIntyre started the Earth-Minbari War in a scene very similar to the tragic end of Arthur. Now that he knows the truth, he is going catatonic. He must offer his sword and his pain to the Lady of the Lake. Delenn plays that part, takes his sword, and forgives him. The next day, Garibaldi finally pays the postal costs, but now that the station has been severed from Earth, the Post Office has to pay rent. McIntyre is headed to the Narn home world to fight for their freedom. Kosh passes by and Cole wonders if he’s Merlin.
This was the third time Michael York played King Arthur. He did so in A Young Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1995) and A Knight in Camelot for Disney (1998). G’Kar, as is often the case, is the best thing in the story. Though Michael York is charming and the Camelot story intriguing, it was bit of a filler episode.