Babylon 5: The Gathering is the test pilot movie of the science fiction television series Babylon 5, aired on February 22, 1993. It is also the first of six feature-length films in the Babylon 5 media franchise. The Gathering covers events which take place roughly one year before those of the first-season episode "Midnight on the Firing Line," providing a framework of backstories, political agendas, and personal relationships for some of the series' major characters. Following the success of the movie, Warner Bros. Television commissioned the series for production in May 1993, as part of its Prime Time Entertainment Network (PTEN); the first season would premiere in the United States nearly a year later, on January 26, 1994. Synopsis In the Earth year 2257, a multitude of humans and non-humans gather deep in neutral space at a new station, Babylon 5, which has recently become operational. Babylon 5 was built as a neutral venue for discussing and resolving issues between the five major spacefaring races of the galaxy, the humans, Narn, Centauri, Minbari, and Vorlons. Commander Jeffrey Sinclair is in overall charge of the station. As the crew awaits the arrival of the fourth and final alien ambassador, Ambassador Kosh from the Vorlon Empire, a transport ship arrives from Earth, bearing Lyta Alexander, a human telepath who joins the station crew, and Del Varner, a civilian. Ambassador Kosh arrives two days ahead of schedule, and is on board the station less than a minute when he suddenly falls ill, apparently from poisoning. Babylon 5 chief medical officer, Dr. Kyle, conducts a medical investigation and seeks to prevent Kosh's death, while Security Chief Michael Garibaldi conducts a security investigation. Worried that, if Kosh dies, the Vorlons will attack and destroy the station, Dr. Kyle and Lt. Cmdr. Takashima persuade Lyta to perform an unauthorized mind scan on the unconscious Kosh. As she conducts the scan, Lyta sees Commander Sinclair poisoning the Ambassador. Lyta accuses Sinclair of attempted murder. A meeting of Babylon 5s Council, made up of delegates from all five races, resolves to extradite the Commander to the Vorlon homeworld for trial. Sinclair is told that he will be deported in twelve hours. Garibaldi comes to suspect Del Varner might have been involved in Kosh's poisoning. When he enters Varner's quarters, however, he discovers Varner dead in a fish tank. Lyta enters the medical lab, where she begins adjusting some