Guide Page: "The Memory of War"

Contents: Overview - Backplot - Questions - Analysis - Notes - JMS

Overview

While exploring the ruins of a long-dead planet, the crew discovers the remains of a terrible weapon.

Production number: 102
Original air date: August 11, 1999
DVD release date: December 7, 2004

Written by J. Michael Straczynski
Directed by Tony Dow

About a hundred years ago, one of two warring parties on a planet hired a technomage to build a weapon. He designed a virus using nanotechnology that infected the minds of its victims, causing them to murder each other.
The apocalypse box guided Gideon to the planet, claiming there was something of value there.
Galen and Dr. Chambers have adapted a quantity of the nanovirus to form a shield to line the insides of the lungs; the shield allows someone to enter an area infected with the Drakh plague for up to about 48 hours without becoming infected themselves.

Why did the apocalypse box recommend that Gideon not trust Galen? Is it lying to him? This may be a continuity glitch, a reference to "The Well of Forever." That episode was produced after this one and was probably originally supposed to take place later in the series' timeline.

The Pope's name in 2267 is Bernadette II. The first reference to a female Pope was made by Garibaldi in "Racing Mars."
Galen's staff is linked to him; he says it's like a part of him, and refers to it as a control mechanism.
Continuity glitch: the nanovirus shield invented in this episode was used in an earlier story, "Patterns of the Soul." That episode was produced after this one, so the shield was probably considered a piece of established background information at that point.
A similar continuity glitch occurred in "The Well of Forever." In that episode, Gideon referred to Galen's comment that the Excalibur crew is like his family now.

Was Gideon's PPG double-barrelled?
It's a targeting sight.
The nanovirus shield seems like a silly plot device.
Funny...the microbiology experts at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory who vetted the script thought it would be a) a useful thing indeed, and b) extremely useful as a template in attempting to understand how the Drakh virus works.
"'The Memory of War' by JMS brings a level of intensity to Crusade that is surprising for what would have originally been the second episode."
That's because we knew what the show was from the git-go.
Second one we shot, and we were already fully up to speed.