lurkers-guide/guide/114

<!-- TITLE The River of Souls -->

<h2><a name="OV">Overview</a></h2>

<blockquote><cite>
A group of Soul Hunters come to the station demanding the return of something
that was stolen from them.
</cite>

<a href="http://us.imdb.com/Name?McShane,+Ian">Ian McShane</a>.
<a href="http://us.imdb.com/Name?Sheen,+Martin">Martin Sheen</a> as Soul Hunter.
</blockquote>

<pre><a href="/lurk/p5/intro.html">P5 Rating</a>: <a href="/lurk/p5/114">7.77</a>

Production number: TNT MoW3
Original air date: November 8, 1998
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0002B15UQ/thelurkersguidet">DVD release date</a>: August 17, 2004

Written by J. Michael Straczynski
Directed by Janet Greek
Novelization by Yvonne Navarro
</pre>

<p>
<hr size=3>

<h2><a name="BP">Plot Points</a></h2>
<ul>

   <li>@@@910698649 Ten thousand years ago, the Soul Hunters were drawn to
	Ralga, a world whose inhabitants were apparently about to die en masse.
	Deviating from their usual practice of capturing individual souls,
	the Soul Hunters placed all 1 billion Ralgans in a soul globe.
	But they were wrong about the impending mass extinction, and
	inadvertently captured the race as it was about to transcend its
	physical form and become pure energy.  Over the course of the ten
	thousand years they've been in captivity, half have gone insane.

   <li>@@@910698649 The Minbari are the only race to have stopped the Soul
	Hunters from collecting a soul
	(<a href="002.html">"Soul Hunter"</a>).

   <li>@@@910698649 Soul Hunters never capture each other's souls; they
	believe themselves unworthy of preservation.

   <li>@@@910698649 Soul Hunters store their captured souls in "whisper
	galleries," immense halls in which the souls can communicate with
	one another.

</ul>

<h2><a name="UQ">Unanswered Questions</a></h2>
<ul>

   <li>@@@910698649 Which other two races did the Soul Hunters capture
	en masse?  Were those legitimate extinctions, or have the Soul Hunters
	made the same mistake twice?

</ul>

<h2><a name="AN">Analysis</a></h2>
<ul>

   <li>@@@910698649 The two storylines shared a thematic link: both the
	brothel operator and the Soul Hunters captured some aspect of people
	without permission and used the simulacra for their own purposes.

<p>
   <li>@@@910698649 <a href="004.html">"Infection"</a>
	and
	<a href="112.html">"Thirdspace"</a>
	shared several plot elements with this story: an ancient artifact is
	probed by a scientist funded by a major corporation; it's brought
	to Babylon 5 and activated with deadly results.  The scientist is
	motivated by greed or power.  The artifact was created by a powerful
	race due to their belief that they were the most pure, the smartest,
	or knew better than others.

<p>
   <li>@@@910698649 Transcending of physical bodies seems to be a common
	evolutionary path for races who survive long enough; even humanity is
	destined to take that step sometime in the next million years
	(<a href="088.html">"The Deconstruction of Falling Stars"</a>).
	Other examples of transcendence: Lorien
	(<a href="072.html">"Into the Fire"</a>),
	Ironheart
	(<a href="006.html">"Mind War"</a>),
	and arguably the Vorlons
	(<a href="070.html">"Falling Toward Apotheosis"</a>)
	though they retained at least some physical form and could be poisoned
	(<a href="000.html">"The Gathering"</a>).

<p>
   <li>@@@915470841 One of the other two races captured by the Soul Hunters
	might have been the Markab, who died suddenly from a virulent disease
	(<a href="040.html">"Confessions and Lamentations"</a>).

</ul>

<h2><a name="NO">Notes</a></h2>
<ul>

   <li>@@@910696690 Soul Hunters are very long-lived; a four-thousand-year-old
	is considered young and naive.

<p>
   <li>@@@910859445 Soul Hunter ships all have the ability to attach to
	other ships and burn through, a capability they need since they're
	rarely welcomed by other races.

<p>
   <li>@@@890719726 The following press release is dated March 23, 1998.
	It contains some spoilers.

	<p>
	RIVER OF SOULS -- The Next TNT Movie!

	<p>
	An ancient vault filled with relics believed to hold the secret
	to eternal life is the centerpiece of the Turner Network
	Television (TNT) Original Film BABYLON 5: The River of Souls.
	Julie Weitz, executive vice president of original programming
	for TNT, today confirmed that series stars Tracy Scoggins,
	Jerry Doyle, Richard Biggs and Jeff Conaway will headline TNT's
	next BABYLON 5 full-length movie. Douglas Netter and series
	creator J.  Michael Straczynski will executive-produce the
	two-hour film from the script by Straczynski. The film is a
	co-production of TNT and Babylonian Productions.

	<p>
	After a brief absence from Babylon 5, Michael Garibaldi (Doyle)
	returns to the station as a harbinger of doom. An archeologist
	in his employ has stolen an ancient relic he believes to be the
	key to eternal life from the Soul Hunters, immortal creatures
	who capture and preserve souls throughout the galaxy. With the
	station under siege from the Soul Hunters, the explorer
	releases thousands of enraged souls from the relic who merge
	with others, attempting to taste life one more time. Captain
	Elizabeth Lochley (Scoggins) must save Babylon 5 from an
	impending attack of the Soul Hunters and the wrathful entities
	looking for retribution.

	<p>
	TNT is the exclusive home of the BABYLON 5 franchise, featuring
	the eagerly anticipated fifth season of 22 all-new episodes
	(Wednesday at 10 PM ET)and a Monday-through-Friday airing of
	the series' award-winning first four seasons. Building on the
	success of BABYLON 5: In the Beginning, TNT's first full-length
	BABYLON 5 movie, the network will premiere BABYLON 5:
	Thirdspace this summer.

	<p>
	Turner Network Television, the number one-rated cable network
	in prime time and currently seen in more than 72 million homes,
	is Turner Broadcasting System, Inc's 24-hour,
	advertiser-supported service offering original motion pictures
	and miniseries; contemporary films from the world's largest
	film library, the combined Turner and Warner Bros. film
	libraries; exciting NBA sports action; popular television
	series; and timeless cartoons.

	<p>
	Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a subsidiary of Time Warner
	Inc., is a major producer of news and entertainment product
	around the world and the leading provider of programming for
	the basic cable industry.

</ul>


<h2><a name="JS">jms speaks</a></h2>
<ul>

<p>
   <li>@@@886335088 <em>Is there a title yet?</em><br>
	Yes.

	<p>
	<em>Is there an air date yet?</em><br>
	Under discussion.

	<p>
	<em>Who will be in it?</em><br>
	Ditto.

	<p>
	<em>Will it involve the Telepath War?</em><br>
	Negative.

<p>
   <li>@@@886335088 Actually, no, it isn't written yet.  I won't be able to
	have a clear field to write it until after I've finished writing the
	5th season.  I know in general what I want to do with it, have fleshed
	out a lot, but until I've run the premise past TNT and WB officially,
	I can't comment.

<p>
   <li>@@@889490633 Just got clarification and verification: 
	Thirdspace does indeed air July 19th, and another B5 TV movie airs
	November 23rd, and one more on January 3rd.

<p>
   <li>@@@895441655 TNT has moved up the airdate for "The River of Souls" to
	November 8th (from November 22nd) so that a) B5 fans won't have so long
	to wait, and b) to make sure both that and Sleeping in Light both get
	equal promotion, and one doesn't get lost in the other.

<p>
   <li>@@@890717935 "River" is a heck of a movie, I think...now we just have
	to film the darned thing.  (Janet Greek is directing.)

<p>
   <li>@@@896746067 <em>When does it take place?</em><br>
	It takes place six months into 2263.

<p>
   <li>@@@898571834 Because we have only $3 million on which to make these movies,
	we have to rotate the cast because we can't afford to have them all in
	any one of them. Bruce and Mira were in the first two, so we gave Tracy
	a shot and put in Jerry as well as Corwin (his first), Zack and
	Franklin.

	<p>
	We're just looking for ways to be fair to the maximum number of cast
	with the resources we have.

<p>
   <li>@@@911284786 <em>Why did Martin Sheen's soul hunter
          speak so oddly at first?</em><br>
	What we had discussed (actor, director and me) was that soul
	hunters don't generally get much chance to hang out and talk to people;
	they can empathically sense the language, however, when they encounter
	others.  At first, he didn't know the language very well, and gradually
	became more able to express himself.

</ul>