Anthony - I thought that Zathras being part of the case was one of the rumours / ideas thrown around at the time that Crusade was in development. I think the general concept then (although possibly only one held amongst fans due to lack of concrete information) was that it would be about a group of Rangers aboard a White Star following the establishment of the Interstellar Alliance. Hey! ... That sounds kinda like ...
I speculated in another thread about Lochley's possible role - why have a show with two captains on it? But I think that her character arc depends on Gideon remaining with the show, at least for a while ...
Eilerson would seem to be expendable once the conspiracy plot kicks in, except that they may still be searching for a definitive cure, and his family are supposed to be wealthy / important business people, who would presumably have useful connections. And who's to say what IPX's role would be in the long run?
Matheson didn't seem to be so clearly defined. While I liked the character, he is possibly the one that appears most expendable, which probably means that he has a core role to play in the full story.
Galen's a possibility. He has a mentor role, and mentors often are killed (or die) to provide added momentum or power to their students. Think Kosh I, Yoda, Obi Wan, Qui Gonn Jinn.
Added characters could have included Ranger support, but it would depend on how much the Excalibur ended up out on its own. I would actually suspect that it became more of a Blake's 7 style rag-tag crew of individuals, like Dureena, Max and Galen, rather than being an official thing, like crew reassignments or Rangers. Okay, so Max was assigned to the Excalibur, but he's pretty much a free agent. Well, enough to help make my pint, anyway!
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