Original Airdate: May 25, 1994 Written by Larry DiTillio Directed by John Flinn Episode #: 14 Production #: 119
Guest stars: Theodore Bikel as Rabbi Koslov. Greg McKinney as Walker Smith. Soon-Teck Oh as The Muta-Do. Don Stroud as Caliban.
Garibaldi must help a longtime friend regain his honor.
Walker Smith (GREG McKINNEY), a brawny prizefighter from Earth, arrives on Babylon 5 and visits his longtime friends, the station's security chief, Michael Garibaldi (JERRY DOYLE). As they eat dinner together, the two friends reminisce about their past. Walker explains how he lost his chance at a world-championship boxing match on Earth.
Walker had a reputation as an honest, drug-free athlete until he refused to cooperate with the gamblers of a crime syndicate who wanted him to purposely lose the championship fight. They altered his medical records to show the news media that Walker used illegal drugs. Disgraced and unable to box professionally, Walker reveals that he came to Babylon 5 to reclaim his honor by becoming the first human to fight in the Mutai, a fierce sporting event hosted by the alien minority races aboard the space station.
Meanwhile, Rabbi Yossel Koslov (THEODORE BIKEL), representing the ancient Jewish religion that still flourishes on Earth, arrives on Babylon 5 to console Lieutenant Commander Susan Ivanova (CLAUDIA CHRISTIAN) due to the recent death of her father, Andrei (ROBERT PHALEN). Koslov is a longtime friend of the Ivanov family. Even though Andrei disowned Susan for joining the Earthforce military service several years ago, he asked Koslov to give her a treasured heirloom upon his death. Koslov also helps Susan release her emotional grief and anger from lifetime of conflict with Andrei and joins her in an overdue "shivah," a Jewish mourning ritual.
Walker is rejected by the Muta-Do (SOON-TECK OH), the Mutai trainer, who insists that humans aren't allowed to compete against aliens. Caliban (DON STROUD), an old and battered Mutai fighter, secretly tells Walker how to circumvent the Muta-Do's authority. Walker and Garibaldi attend a Mutai event featuring the Sho-Rin Gyor (JAMES JUDE COURTNEY), the greatest Mutai champion, and watch him defeat his challengers in a sport that is similar to but much more brutal than the boxing matches on Earth.
As part of the regular event, Gyor challenges amateurs from the crowd to fight him. With the proper insults learned from Caliban, Walker provokes Gyor. Forbidden to oppose the champion's decision when he accepts a challenge, the Muta-Do reluctantly announces a date for the match between Walker and Gyor. Caliban, eager to avenge his championship defeat against Gyor years ago, helps Walker train for his event and assists Garibaldi as Walker's ringside assistant during the actual match.
After several bloody and violent rounds of combat, the Muta-Do declares the fighters evenly matched and stops the fight. As the predominantly alien crowd cheers equally for Gyor and Walker, the champion offers his handshake to the human out of respect for his strength and endurance. The Muta-Do proclaims that humans may now legally compete in the Mutai. Walker thanks Garibaldi and Caliban for helping him regain his honor as a professional athlete and retires to an agricultural planet to become a farmer.
