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The weekly Babylon 5 series still had three episodes to go when TNT presented the two-hour "spinoff" movie Babylon 5: The River of Souls. Departing a bit from the established fifth-season chronology, the film finds Garibaldi returning to B5 after an 18-month tenure as CEO of Edgars Enterprise. The purpose of Garibaldi's arrival is a conference with archeologist Dr. Robert Bryson (Ian McShane), who claims to be on the verge of discovering the secret of eternal life. Alas, the immortality-granting alien artifact discovered by Bryson actually belongs to the Soul Hunters, who will stop at nothing to retrieve the sacred relic. In a lighter but no less significant development, the owners of a virtual-reality brothel bring legal action against Zack. Martin Sheen costars as the chief Soul Hunter. Written by J. Michael Straczynski, and subsequently novelized by Yvonne Navarro, Babylon 5: River of Souls was first broadcast on November 8, 1998.