“Grail” is episode fifteen of season one of Babylon 5.
A transport is docking with Babylon 5, carrying only passengers. Sinclair is about to join Garibaldi in eating when Ambassador Delenn, accompanied by Lennier, approaches them. Delenn is surprised that Sinclair is not going to greet their distinguished guest, whose ship is currently docking. Delenn wants to be among the first to offer reverence, and tells Sinclair that he has just got enough time to change. Garibaldi is happy to wait, but Sinclair says that, if the guest is as important as Delenn thinks, having an honour guard along wouldn’t hurt.
In another part of the station, a man, Jinxo, is greeted by another, Deuce. Deuce says that he has always been kind to Jinxo, but now needs his help. Security has been closing down his supply routes and, as Jinxo helped build the station, he can help with new supply corridors. Jinxo says that he can’t be a part of it, so Deuce says he will have to pay back what he owes. With interest. The amount is so high that Jinxo says that he can’t pay. Deuce says he can, and shows him a woman fastened to a chair. A tentacle with a palp on the end touches the woman on the forehead, and she stops screaming. The tentacle looks to have come from Ambassador Kosh.
An Ombuds (a judge) is hearing a court case. Mr. Flinn says that his great-grandfather was abducted by aliens. They experimented on him for several days, but no-one believed his great-grandfather. He was thought to be crazy. Now, Mr. Flinn has seen records saying that the great-grandfather of another individual – who looks rather like a Grey – abducted Flinn’s, and Flinn wants damages.
At the dock, a man with a staff enters the station and Delenn greets him as Aldous Gajic. Aldous says that he is seeking the sacred vessel of regeneration, the cup of the goddess. Or, as it is more commonly known, the Holy Grail. his order has been searching for the Grail for millennia, and they have searched everywhere on Earth, so now are seeking off planet. Aldous has the full funds of his order at his disposal – the order, at this point, is just him.
Sinclair is less than impressed, so Delenn asks why. He says that on Earth the Grail is just a myth, but Delenn says that in her culture, True Seekers, like Aldous, are treated with respect. It does not matter if what they seek does not exist – it seems to be the seeking that is the point. Sinclair says that Aldous is the only True Seeker Earth has, and Delenn’s comment in return seems to suggest that she might consider Sinclair to be one as well.
The woman from earlier has been taken to the Medlab, and her mind has been wiped, just like the others. Garibaldi catches Jinxo stealing from Aldous, and arrests him, asking Aldous to provide witness testimony. In med lab, Garibaldi knows the victim, as she was going to testify against Deuce.
At the court, run by the same Ombuds as earlier, the Ombuds says that he will deport Jinxo from the station. He has the skills to work many places, so transportation will be provided, but he can’t return for five years. Jinxo protests that he can’t leave, or the station will be destroyed. Aldous convinced the Ombuds to release Jinxo into his custody instead of deporting him.
Jinxo tells Aldous that he is the Babylon cure. He worked on the other stations. When he left Babylon 1 on leave, it was sabotaged and destroyed. The same with B2. And B3. Jinxo never took leave from B4, which was completed, but, as Jinxo left on a shuttle, it just disappeared.
Dr. Franklin has managed to identify what is causing the mind wipes. It is a creature called a Na’ka’leen Feeder, that comes from the Centauri region, and is quarantined. Sinclair goes to talk to Londo about the Feeder; when Londo finds out that there is one on the station, he promises to send Sinclair everything they have on the creatures. Then locks himself in his quarters under heavy security.
Aldous, accompanied by Jinxo, is meeting some of the ambassadors, looking for information on the Grail. Which gives them time to discuss the quest and how Aldous came to be doing it. Everything starts meeting up; Aldous, Deuce, Jinxo and the Feeder.