Farscape Episode 3.17: “The Choice”
Nov. 24th, 2017 11:47 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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scifi_rewatchSeason four is undoubtedly the darkest season of “Farscape,” but I think that that shift started here. This is basically an entire episode dedicated to one character’s grief. OK, it’s a liiitle more complicated than that. Mainly, the show is probing its biggest theme, that of multiple possibilities of reality. Often it’s an astrophysical question revolving around John, but in this one its more spiritual and emotional with Aeryn at the forefont. Everyone has a choice, especially in his or her darkest hour…which choice will he or she make?
Aeryn, after grieving John, makes hers at the end of the hour (spoiler alert. :P) These others are less central but still pertinent—Talyn must choose whether or not to return to his mother, Crais must choose whether or not to remain Talyn’s captain, and on a planet of mystics Stark must choose whether or not to follow Zhaan’s voice, and even Rygel remembers a choice from his younger years concerning a lost love.
There’s also a little bit of a family drama plot, and I admit, when I was younger I fell for a ridiculous ploy. I was pretty gullible. :P I’m also a sucker for said family drama (thanks, Star Wars) but now I agree with the members of the ScapeCast—it didn’t really work on a logical level. I rather wish that everything, other than her interactions with the boys, was happening in her own head. But that’s not the way that things went down; I’ll go into the specifics under the cut.
But other than that small quibble, this was a very moving hour, worthy of any drama, not just science fiction. Even watching it now, years later, it made me cry! /feklempt And one of the most poignant things about it is looking back on it now and realizing that some foreshadowing was put in place! :o Thanks again to the ScapeCast for expanding my love of this show.
Episode summary is here, courtesy of the John and Aeryn Fansite.
Aeryn, in her grief for John, goes down to Valldon, a planet of seers and mystics. The boys argue, possessively, over who is to blame for this predicament. Ultimately Stark and Rygel go to the planet to try and find her. Things go awry for them from the start, with Stak hearing Zhaan’s voice and Rygel getting touched by someone who reminds him of a lost love. Meanwhile, Aeryn is seeing visions of John, largely from their time on the fake Earth during “A Human Reaction” and even their forgotten elderly scenes from “The Locket.” Aeryn decides that she wants to contact the ghost of her dead father, Talyn. A man with a fish face comes in to help her and claims that he is Talyn, even offering DNA proof! :0 Downstairs the boys see another ghost from the past—Xhalax! They confront Crais who confirms that he didn’t kill the Peacekeeper because if he did High Command would have just sent another retrieval squad. Xhalax is plotting with “Talyn,” who is bringing Aeryn a seer to contact John. The fetus-like seer asks Aeryn to touch him, leading to a hallucination of John suggesting that he could become corporeal. But Aeryn’s own visions of John tell her otherwise. Crais and Stark finally find her and attempt to talk her back to the ship, but Aeryn calls them out for their creepy, possessive behavior. Rygel, actually, is the most altruistic, and reminds her that John would have wanted her to go on with her life. Meanwhile, Xhalax busts the party and kills “Talyn” in front of her daughter! Except that Aeryn knew all along that the Talyn was a fake and that her mother just wanted to hurt her. Xhalax confirms how much her life went off the rails after killing the real Talyn, and that she basically draws all of her pain back to Aeryn. Now she wants Aeryn to suffer. Aeryn attempts to goad her mother into killing her, but Crais bursts in and shoots Xhalax. Xhalax, falling into her daughter’s arms on a high window ledge, encourages Aeryn to let her go. Aeryn does. Later, Stark has decided to stay on Valldon, following Zhaan’s voice, but he’s left his mask as a message for Moya John. Ship Talyn has located Moya, hinting at a long-awaited reunion, and Crais says he hopes to find a way to free himself of the neural bond. Meanwhile, Aeryn, dressed in dark clothes and a tight, repressive braid, makes the choice to revert to her Peacekeeper aloofness and to leave memories of John here, even when the fetus-like seer reaches out to her again.
So what is Aeryn doing on that planet anyway? Because the obvious answer is that she wants to talk to John, and she certainly does end up doing that. But when it comes to her asking for help to raise a spirit, as it were, she asks for her father. Of course, when I first saw this as a teenager I was overjoyed. :P Family drama and a reunion with the first Talyn! But more important to me now is why she’d want to talk to someone she’s never met. Perhaps “Talyn,” when meeting her as the psychic, put the idea in her head. One of the ScapeCast “newbies” gave an answer that I think applies to her mother, too—Aeryn is in so much pain after her loss that she wants to talk with other Peacekeepers who have had her unusual experience. How do you deal with love and then the loss of it? Why did you even chose (choice again) to bring me into this world, this Peacekeeper world where recreation is usually proscribed? I’m reaching into spoilery territory here, territory that the newb couldn’t even guess at, but suddenly the old timers on the podcast had a new appreciation for this storyline. But even on its surface, just dealing with John’s loss, there is a lot that Aeryn wants to interrogate as she goes through this process of grieving. Maybe, also, she would rather start by talking to someone who she doesn’t know, rather than beelining directly to the most painful option. Seems like “John”—whoever this John is and wherever he comes from—had different ideas, though. Anywho, after she talks to her “parents”—mostly her mother; more on that later—Aeryn chooses a new path for herself. Really, it’s an old path for herself, where she decides that because John is dead she can’t “be more” anymore, but reverts to “what I was bred to be.” Maybe I’m being too cynical about her choice. The ScapeCast newbies feel like her emotional repression, complete with the tight hair braid, mean she’s moving on, and that’s certainly more healthy than drinking herself to death in that dingy and oddly beautiful hotel room! (Or maybe Claudia Black is just overly beautiful in all of that lighting and cinematography but anyway.) I guess I think to myself that emotional repression is never a good way to actually heal. But Aeryn has some strange extenuating circumstances with the man that she can’t even acknowledge in this episode…Moya John. How do you grieve someone who has a slightly altered twin somewhere else? Repression suddenly sounds twice as good. :P
Then there is the weak part of this episode. Not that the first Talyn is alive, because thank goodness he isn’t, despite the wishes of my past self. :P Not even that perhaps Xhalax, with all of her vengeful thoughts, tracks Aeryn down to this place. Though it makes me wonder, had Talyn John lived and Aeryn was happy for awhile, what would Xhalax have done for her revenge? I guess that woman can play the long game. :P Anywho. The big thing on the planet is why make up a fake Talyn anyway? Why would it even make sense for Aeryn to want to contact her father? I mean, I just explained why, lol, but, given that Aeryn never knew that man, wouldn’t it make more sense to hurt her over John? What was her plan, anyway? Have “Talyn” gain Aeryn’s trust, bring in the seer to suggest they raise John from the dead for real, have him leave and THEN break the door down? I guess it all comes down to Xhalax wanting to kill “Talyn” in front of Aeryn, and we can all agree that Xhalax is probably not in her right mind. She’s been more twisted by having love and having lost it than we ever knew. The scary thing is how similar her life was to Aeryn’s, first bred to be a pilot and all. In fact, that confrontation pretty answers all of Aeryn’s questions about what could happen to her, post-grief, if she doesn’t hold tight to her emotions. (Again, I think that Aeryn went too far in the other direction, but boy does it make sense why she did! :P) Xhalax wanted to cause Aeryn pain, and suddenly this storyline, despite some clunkiness, is very very powerful. Aeryn even gets to “let her mother go,” physically and figuratively! I still rather wish that she was a hallucination (or maybe spirit), that Aeryn was conjuring her to deal with these issues rather than her actually being there. But that’s the way the show crumbles. :P As for Linda Cropper on her final “Farscape” appearance, she loved this episode called it her favorite, and with good reason! According to the wikia, she praised it for its tragic Greek elements. It certainly does seem like an actor’s dream role!
Meanwhile, one of the “ScapeCasters” called Crais, Stark and Rygel “the three stooges,” something that I think that John would have appreciated. :P The three of them are mostly on the periphery, not dealing too much with their own issues, and mostly focusing on their desires for Aeryn. For Crais and Stark, that desire can be rather possessive. Both men have expressed romantic inklings for her in the past, and those feelings come to a head in this episode, where Aeryn so obviously needs to be saved. When the two of them ultimately find Aeryn and try to convince her to come back to the ship Talyn with them, she does something that I appreciate all the more years later as men are starting to get called out publicly for their culture of sexual harassment. She calls them out on their BS. She gets a little down and dirty, sitting on Crais’s lap and taunting him about getting down to sexual business, right here, right now, which interferes with his more calm and collected approach to stalking. :P She has a lot less patience with Stark, whom she physically threatens, and then, in essence, disses him for being “the nice guy” stereotype. I mean, both Crais and Stark are kinda “nice guys”—the ones who expect sexual favors and romantic attentions from a woman because they treat her like a sentient being. :P But Stark has more of a leg to stand on while claiming that he’s less villainous than Crais. Still, that doesn’t entitle him more to a relationship with Aeryn that she doesn’t want. Anywho. Finally, we have Rygel who is the voice of reason this episode! :o As the ScapeCasters say, something has gone terribly wrong when Rygel is your voice of reason. :P But from the beginning he understands why Aeryn went to Valldon and why Stark can’t kill Crais after it’s learned that he betrayed them. When he goes to see Aeryn, rising precariously on his throne sled so high up in the air, lol, he invokes John’s love for her as a reason to go on. Completely altruistic, as he is with all of the women on the show during many of their times of need. “Farscape” also gives him a parallel backstory in this episode, where a mystic brings up his feelings for a long lost love, which Rygel can then mention to Aeryn. It’s a plot device, sure, but it’s believable enough.
Speaking of the men who were and were not there for Aeryn this episode, man this is a bad transition. :P You almost have to feel bad for Ben Browder, because if there was any part of this season where he could perhaps get some time off, like everyone else has, this would be it! :P But nope—of course its important for John to have a presence on the mystics planet. Karen, the host from the ScapeCast, facilitated this interesting discussion where people debated whether or not they thought that John’s spirit was actually there. I think I’m on the side where it was all in Aeryn’s mind (because really, this is Aeryn’s journey) but I agree that the writers leave room for both interpretations. Anywho. The first time that we (and kinda she) see John is in the lobby of the seedy hotel; he’s wearing blue in a sea of people in darker, more indistinct colors. He’s also wet, because, I believe, Aeryn is remembering him from “A Human Reaction” where it was raining. Later, she talks to him about her memories of his fake planet, which is pertinent since before he died, she was ready to give up everything and go there with him. Then she replicates a head to shoulder resting pose, which makes all the shippers swoon. :P At another time, she remembers him from “The Locket;” huge shocker because that little interlude was supposed to be erased from both of their minds! So I suppose that it is easy to take John’s words at face value—that he died and remembered growing old with her. But I still think that deep down, maybe aided by drugs, grief and/or fellip nectar, Aeryn can access some of those memories. Because it fits into the tenant about the show that I recently mentioned; that “Farscape” probes what it means to travel alternate realities. Maybe it’s a long shot to conflate that treatise with Aeeryn’s predicament here, but that’s what I’m going with. :P Finally, after the trick with the seer’s John begging for help and Aeryn’s more corporeal and calm John reminding her that he can’t be brought back to life, Aeryn remembers some of the sexy times. :P But I found it moving that she went to some of the romantic stuff first. This was a real relationship that she lost, not just someone to frell. But meanwhile…she has a spare on Moya! :P Most of her remembrances of John even happened before the twinning! Why can’t she just move on with Moya John, as some of the ScapeCasters suggested? Meh…no. Once the two Johns started on two alternate realities, they became different people because their experiences were different. Aeryn can’t just discount all of the memories that she built up with Talyn John. That’s just weird. There was a man, a real man who literally died in her arms, and Moya John isn’t him. So it makes sense to me that she is ignoring his presence throughout this episode, and now, of course, she’s emotionally repressing herself…we’ll have to see where things go from here. :P
And finally, some odds and ends! I kinda wish that I had the time to listen to Claudia Black’s, and then writer Justin Monjo and director Rowan Wood’s commentaries, but maybe it’s for the best that I don’t. Can spare you another rambling paragraph, hopefully! :P Anywho, according to the “Farscape” wikia and the Starburst DVD edition, Claudia wanted an episode that she could “sink her teeth into” and Monjo wanted to write about the aftermath of John’s death. (And man, she’s always an incredible actor but here… *feklempt again*) Apparently they all worked closely together on this one. Thank you, guys!!! Mario Halouvas, who had worked on the show as a puppeteer, did his first voice acting as the creepy seer. (And talk about some great concept design with that fetus head!) Thomas Holesgrove, who played various “Farscape” aliens throughout the years, including the diagnosan Tacot, had a brief cameo as another diagnosan searing for dead bodies here. Woods focused on a “Bladerunner” design for Valldun, giving it a gothic, decaying atmosphere. I do like how it was half about contacting the dead and half about dead bodies themselves. Yeeesh. Stark left the Talyn crew to chase Zhaan, in part because Paul Goddard had to leave in order to prepare for a role at the Sydney Opera House. But meanwhile, his mask will continue to carry the plot forward, starting very soon. Stark may be out of sight but he’s not out of mind! :P Except perhaps his own mind, teehee. I’ll miss him…though I’m also glad that the two crews are reuniting again. They’d had a good run of “adventures” apart, but now it’s time for a change. And the season finale is in sight! :D
Favorite Chrichtonism: I think I have to give good ol’ John a pass here! Let him rest in peace :(
Favorite Quotes:
*the boys set the tone for their part in this episode :P*
Crais: IT'S YOUR FAULT AERYN'S DOWN ON VALLDON!
Stark: (T'S NOT MY FAULT! TRYING TO HELP!
Crais: Trying to help? SHE'S IN MOURNING FOR CRICHTON! HOW are you helping her by filling her head with crazy tales about - SPIRIT CHANNELERS?
Stark: IT'S NOT CRAZY! She wanted to get away from you - she sees you following her!
Crais: I'm following her? (ou're the one that's following her!
Stark: ME? Aeryn wants me around - she wants me to watch over her! She - she wants me to protect her from people like YOU!
Rygel: You stupid, selfish nak-noks! Aeryn has made it clear she wants nothing to do with any of us! She wants no part of your plan to find Moya-
Stark: Can't leave her on Valldon - it's dangerous - it's filled with mystics and criminals.
Rygel: Then it's just like here! You're a mystic - and we're criminals. But Aeryn doesn't want to be here.
*Wait, what??*
Psychic: Is it you?
Aeryn: Yes it's Aeryn Sun. I've changed my mind. I want you to raise that man.
Psychic: Which one do you seek?
Aeryn: Talyn Lyczac - my father.
*old John from “The Locket” visits Aeryn*
John: Do you remember?
Aeryn: Who the frell are you?
John: I remember it all now.
Aeryn: What are you talking about?
John: Touch me. Don't be afraid girl. Ah- Ah ain't gonna bite. Touch me. Remember it all.
*dun dun DUUUUN!*
Aeryn: You found me, you told me - that you could contact my dead father. So - show me.
Psychic: You don't believe I can reach him?
Aeryn: Look you're here - I'm willing to pay and that is all that should concern you. Will you show me your face?
Psychic: If I may ask - what business have you with Talyn Lyczac?
Aeryn: I was his daughter. So-? Can you contact him.
Psychic: I can do more than that. I am - Talyn Lyczac.
*Zhaan’s voice enters the equation as Stark and Rygel go looking for Aeryn*
Stark: Rygel! Rygel! There-
Rygel: What? Do you see Aeryn?
Stark: No - for a moment I thought I heard Zhaan’s voice.
Rygel: Oohh- Frelling brazma! Tell me you're joking. Right?
Stark: No. No...
Rygel: Crais - Cra-ais!
Crais: Yes Rygel - have you located Aeryn’s signal yet?
Rygel: No she's masked it. We've been all over this stinking city! Now we're in some kind of nakky hotel! Stark's meeting every cousin and fahrbot he ever knew - it's a planet of Stark's down here!
*Rygel receives a disturbing vision*
Tenek: I talk to the dead. I-I see!
Rygel: Oh stop! Just stop! That blood's so fake it's laughable
Tenek: Kellor - Kellor - She misses you.
Rygel: Kellor?
Tenek: She forgives you. She knows that you couldn't go against your parents.
Rygel: How do you know her name?
Tenek: She knows that a Dominar cannot just-
Rygel: NOOO! Get away from me!
*then Rygel and Stark come across a living ghost!*
Stark: By the goddess! Rygel-!
Rygel: What is it? It better not be Zhaan again.
Stark: Don't let her see us! Don't let her see us! Oh don't let her see us!
Rygel: Fekik! Let go of me!
Stark: Shut up! It can't be...
Rygel: Who? Aeryn?
Stark: Nonono! No!
Rygel: Is that - Aeryn’s mother?
Xhalax: I told you to leave them alone! You were talking to that slug! Were you telling him about me?
Tenek: No! No! No!
Xhalax: I paid you a lot of money! I paid all of you a lot of money!
Tenek: I would never betray you Xhalax! I never would!
Xhalax: Not any more. *guts him, then to passing ghoulish creature* Get rid of the body.
*the boys confront Crais*
Stark: Crichton was right! You never killed Xhalax!
Crais: Get him off me! Let me up!
Rygel: The only time we're letting you up, is when we flush you out the airlock.
Stark: What happened to Xhalax? Tell us!
Crais: Let me up!
Stark: Tell us - YOU TELL US!
Crais: When you left me to kill Xhalax - I saw instantly - the end.
Rygel: For you!
Crais: For all of us! I knew that if I killed her - High Command would send another retrieval squad after us. And if they failed - another - and another!
Rygel: *sarcastic* You made a deal to save us all.
Crais: I offered Xhalax her life.
Rygel: And what did you get in return?
Crais: She would inform High Command that we were all dead.
Stark: Do I look like an idiot? Huh? Does he look like an idiot? Do I look like an idiot? YEAH? Well I'm not! And we're not fooled by you! If you've got a deity you'd better make your peace with it now. Because I'm going to lead you to the other side real quick!
Rygel: No.
Stark: No-O? What - No-O?
Crais: Rygel understands our predicament. Talyn has part of my psyche - can you fly him?
Stark: No - but Aeryn can.
Rygel: And she's not here.
*“Talyn” lays a trap…*
Talyn: Why did you come to this planet? You said at first it was not to contact me. Who were you seeking?
Aeryn: I lost someone. He died.
Talyn: Were you in love with him? Aeryn - on this planet - I have seen things I never dreamed possible. At the full of the moon I will come back with a being who might be able to help contact the one you loved. Wait for me please - I want to try to do this for you.
*Crais and Stark attempt to “save” Aeryn…doesn’t exactly go to plan*
Crais: This is serious. We need to talk. Can I come in?
Aeryn: No.
Stark: All right! That does it! Get down on you knees! Face the wall!
Crais: I AM NOT GETTING ON MY KNEES!
Stark: GET DOOOWN!
Crais: YOU TOLD RYGEL YOU'D BE CALM!
Stark: I AM CALM! YOU GET DOWN NOW! *Aeryn draws nearer* Aeryn - you must return to Talyn. We- we saw Xhalax here on Valldon.
Aeryn: It's this place - you should see who I've seen.
Stark: Nono - your mother is really really here.
Aeryn: No - guess who I've seen? Crichton. And guess who else? My father. Any microt now Stark, you're going to see Zhaan.
Stark: You stop! You listen to me! He -- he never killed Xhalax! He was preparing to betray us!
Crais: That is not true. I made a deal for all of us.
Stark: LIAR! LIAR! *back to Aeryn* Now you must come back with us. I will look after you. I want to look after you.
Aeryn: That would be really nice.
Stark: Oh - please-
Aeryn: Don't touch me.
Crais: Aeryn - Xhalax is alive.
Aeryn: Come on! *starts getting a bit handsy with the man* Come on. Come on Crais - you can tell the truth. Mm?
Stark: You get up! Get away from him!
Aeryn: No that's all right. He wants me. Isn't that right? You always wanted to take me from Crichton and now here's your chance. And you know what Bialar? If I squeeze my eyes closed -- tightly enough - you could be someone else. *Crais tries to pull away* No! Come on! Right here! Right now! Give it to me. Give me what you've got!
Stark: *dragging Aeryn off of Crais* You're coming with me! I'm taking you now!
Aeryn: DON'T - YOU - TOUCH - ME! I swear I will spear the last eye you have left! Do you know what makes you so much worse - is the fact that you think you're so much better than him. Always pressing - against me. Stealing looks- Get out of here. Both of you GET OUT!
*“Talyn” is in on the plan for Xhalax to shoot him…*
Talyn: Oh I think Aeryn's buying it all. When she sees this bastard - *seer box* - she'll suffer the way you want her to. *box rattles* O-oh- someone's getting restless. I better get up there.
Xhalax: You're all set?
Talyn: Under here - *taps chest* - solid krank! Don't - miss.
Xhalax: I won't.
*Aeryn talks to John and then gets another visitor*
Aeryn: This is my world now. I think I liked yours better. *flashbacks to “A Human Reaction” and tries to put her head on “John’s” shoulder before Rygel arrives* Let me guess - you're my long-lost sister.
Rygel: Look - Aeryn - I know you're upset. I too had someone important in my life. Kellor was her name -- I missed her for a long time. But I knew - as I'm sure you do - that self-sacrifice is not the answer. Look - I'm not like Crais or Stark. I'm not trying to save you or recreate with you. You can do whatever you like. But - Crichton loved you Aeryn. He wouldn't want his death to lead you here.
*the seer, Cressus, is a bit of a creep*
Cresus: Come here. Closer. I won't bite... much.
Talyn: Trust him. Don't be afraid.
Cresus: Touch me - I must feel you - to reach him. Soofft - touch me - soofft... Tell me about this Crich-ton.
Aeryn: Uh... he... uh...
Cresus: Did he - looove you? Hoooold you? Touch you - sooofft?
Aeryn: Yes he loved me. He was very... He made me better.
Cresus: *channeling John* Aeryn - Help me. Bring me back.
*Aeryn talks to her John*
Aeryn: I returned from the dead. Why can't he?
John: This is where it hurts?
Aeryn: Yeah.
John: Right here. *massaging shoulder* You can't bring me back you know.
Aeryn: Mm... They said that on this planet there's a... I've forgotten his name...
John: No.
Aeryn: No?
John: No.
Aeryn: Was it easy to be a hero? Leave me behind?
John: You never think - you're gonna die. I didn't know.
Aeryn: *teasing* You - you did!
John: No.
Aeryn: *playful* Yes! You did!
John: *small laugh* No.
*Xhalax’s entrance!*
Xhalax: Hello soldier! What's the matter? Surprised to see your old mum? This isn't quite the - family reunion you'd imagined. Sit down! Soldier without her weapon. That's against regulations. *Aeryn stares at something* My leg huh? After you left me on that planet - it got infected. And I had to amputate it myself! Now that - that hurt. You thought you could get it all. Get away. Be safe.
Talyn: *re-entering* Xhalax!
Xhalax: Hello - dear! *pistol whips him*
Aeryn: NO! DON'T!
Xhalax: You've only just met and already you're trying to protect your father!
Talyn: Xhalax stop! 20 cycles ago we made a pact to survive for - for our daughter. You couldn't hurt her then. You couldn't hurt me.
Xhalax: I can hurt you now old man! So get ready to die!
Talyn: Remember when Aeryn was born? I snuck into the medchamber - you had just woken-
Xhalax: Lie down!
Aeryn: Listen he's not the one that you-
Xhalax: Shut up!
Aeryn: Just leave him alone!
Talyn & Xhalax: SHUTUP!
Talyn: Oh go on! Shoot me! I'm not scared of you! Shoot me and leave Aeryn alone!
Xhalax: You know - I think I've changed my mind. You're too ugly to kill - look at that face - now lie down! Lie down and roll over!
Talyn: *genuine surprise* Xhalax w-what?
Xhalax: TURN AROUND! NOW!
Aeryn: Xhalax don't!
Xhalax: SHUTUP! *to “Talyn”* LIE DOWN!
Talyn: Xhalax-?
Xhalax: ROLL OVER!
Talyn: No-no-no!
Aeryn: XHALAX! STOP!
Talyn: Xhalax don't-!
Xhalax: ROLL OVER! *shoots him in the back, killing him for real*
*Xhalax’s true agenda coming out*
Xhalax: You did everything. After your birth High Command said I could redeem myself if- But they lied. The damage was done. And no matter what I did I was never - truly - reinstated.
Aeryn: And now you want my pity.
Xhalax: Oh no I want your pain. To know how close I was - to love. So close... And then to lose it all in an instant. I've heard - loved ones leave you in pieces. That little by little you start to forget things about them. But that's not true. You lose them - everything - instantly. And suddenly nothing can replace them. Nothing. And now you - have nothing. How does it feel?
*Aeryn knew about the lie all along!*
Aeryn: Wasn't killing Talyn once enough? But did you have to kill him in front of me? Is that what was missing? When I first met him - I knew he wasn't my father - but he knew all these details about you and me.
Xhalax: You're lying. You didn't know.
Aeryn: Of course I hoped - that he might be Talyn. Just as I hoped that I might see Crichton again. But in my heart - I knew that that -- was not my father. And then you walked in. You know - we Peacekeepers think that we are so remarkable. Soldiers without -- equal. Precise tacticians. Purebloods. But I've realized - we're not remarkable. We do nothing for love. Not one thing.
Xhalax: You're wrong. Cycles ago - after your birth - I was given an order. They called it a choice. "One of you must die." they said. I killed your father so you could live. *spitefully* I did that - for love.
*Xhalax’s goodbye*
Aeryn: So. This is it? Kill me now. Destroy the last piece of your life... and leave nothing.
Xhalax: I wasn't an assassin until I killed your father. I was a pilot... I was bred to be a pilot. But they made me kill again and again - and finally I stopped caring. But I knew your suffering would ease my pain. And it has. It has.
Aeryn: The battle's over Xhalax. You don't want to kill me.
Xhalax: No.
Aeryn: Why don't you come out here a bit closer? It might make it easier for you. *faces her at point blank range* Here - you can't miss from here. Unless you want to. Drop the gun Xhalax. *she slowly does*
Crais: *bursting in* AERYN!
Aeryn: NO! *Crais shoots Xhalax* NO!
Xhalax: Let me fall Aeryn.
Aeryn: No.
Xhalax: Do it. Let me go. I died a long time ago. You live - for me.
*Stark says goodbye and the other boys prep for the future*
Stark: Zhaan’s voice keeps getting stronger. I know she's trying to reach me and I must discover what she needs to communicate. Please do not waste time trying to look for me. It is vital you take what I have left you to the Crichton on Moya. He - and only he - will know what to do with it. Good-bye my friends. Take care of Aeryn. I will find you again.
Rygel: Crais? Why would Stark leave this? What d'you think the other Crichton wants with it?
Crais: I have no idea. Talyn believes he's located Moya. His long-range scans have detected Leviathan transmissions from the - Manin Nebula.
Rygel: Well let's try to find them. It'll be good to get back to Moya.
Crais: Perhaps. As soon as our ships are reunited and - Talyn can find someone other than me to pilot him - I shall leave.
Rygel: I ah - hope Moya's done better than we have.
*Aeryn makes a choice*
Aeryn: Maybe... I could have become something different. If you'd lived I could have truly changed. But you are gone. And I am - *holstering gun* - what I was bred to be.
John: Aeryn -- come here.
Aeryn: No. You have to go now.
Cresus: Wait! Most of the time - Aeryn - what we do is a distortion - a hoax. But - with you - Aeryn Sun - it may - have been - real. Shall we try? One - more - time? *Aeryn pauses, but ultimately makes her exit*
Aeryn, after grieving John, makes hers at the end of the hour (spoiler alert. :P) These others are less central but still pertinent—Talyn must choose whether or not to return to his mother, Crais must choose whether or not to remain Talyn’s captain, and on a planet of mystics Stark must choose whether or not to follow Zhaan’s voice, and even Rygel remembers a choice from his younger years concerning a lost love.
There’s also a little bit of a family drama plot, and I admit, when I was younger I fell for a ridiculous ploy. I was pretty gullible. :P I’m also a sucker for said family drama (thanks, Star Wars) but now I agree with the members of the ScapeCast—it didn’t really work on a logical level. I rather wish that everything, other than her interactions with the boys, was happening in her own head. But that’s not the way that things went down; I’ll go into the specifics under the cut.
But other than that small quibble, this was a very moving hour, worthy of any drama, not just science fiction. Even watching it now, years later, it made me cry! /feklempt And one of the most poignant things about it is looking back on it now and realizing that some foreshadowing was put in place! :o Thanks again to the ScapeCast for expanding my love of this show.
Episode summary is here, courtesy of the John and Aeryn Fansite.
Aeryn, in her grief for John, goes down to Valldon, a planet of seers and mystics. The boys argue, possessively, over who is to blame for this predicament. Ultimately Stark and Rygel go to the planet to try and find her. Things go awry for them from the start, with Stak hearing Zhaan’s voice and Rygel getting touched by someone who reminds him of a lost love. Meanwhile, Aeryn is seeing visions of John, largely from their time on the fake Earth during “A Human Reaction” and even their forgotten elderly scenes from “The Locket.” Aeryn decides that she wants to contact the ghost of her dead father, Talyn. A man with a fish face comes in to help her and claims that he is Talyn, even offering DNA proof! :0 Downstairs the boys see another ghost from the past—Xhalax! They confront Crais who confirms that he didn’t kill the Peacekeeper because if he did High Command would have just sent another retrieval squad. Xhalax is plotting with “Talyn,” who is bringing Aeryn a seer to contact John. The fetus-like seer asks Aeryn to touch him, leading to a hallucination of John suggesting that he could become corporeal. But Aeryn’s own visions of John tell her otherwise. Crais and Stark finally find her and attempt to talk her back to the ship, but Aeryn calls them out for their creepy, possessive behavior. Rygel, actually, is the most altruistic, and reminds her that John would have wanted her to go on with her life. Meanwhile, Xhalax busts the party and kills “Talyn” in front of her daughter! Except that Aeryn knew all along that the Talyn was a fake and that her mother just wanted to hurt her. Xhalax confirms how much her life went off the rails after killing the real Talyn, and that she basically draws all of her pain back to Aeryn. Now she wants Aeryn to suffer. Aeryn attempts to goad her mother into killing her, but Crais bursts in and shoots Xhalax. Xhalax, falling into her daughter’s arms on a high window ledge, encourages Aeryn to let her go. Aeryn does. Later, Stark has decided to stay on Valldon, following Zhaan’s voice, but he’s left his mask as a message for Moya John. Ship Talyn has located Moya, hinting at a long-awaited reunion, and Crais says he hopes to find a way to free himself of the neural bond. Meanwhile, Aeryn, dressed in dark clothes and a tight, repressive braid, makes the choice to revert to her Peacekeeper aloofness and to leave memories of John here, even when the fetus-like seer reaches out to her again.
So what is Aeryn doing on that planet anyway? Because the obvious answer is that she wants to talk to John, and she certainly does end up doing that. But when it comes to her asking for help to raise a spirit, as it were, she asks for her father. Of course, when I first saw this as a teenager I was overjoyed. :P Family drama and a reunion with the first Talyn! But more important to me now is why she’d want to talk to someone she’s never met. Perhaps “Talyn,” when meeting her as the psychic, put the idea in her head. One of the ScapeCast “newbies” gave an answer that I think applies to her mother, too—Aeryn is in so much pain after her loss that she wants to talk with other Peacekeepers who have had her unusual experience. How do you deal with love and then the loss of it? Why did you even chose (choice again) to bring me into this world, this Peacekeeper world where recreation is usually proscribed? I’m reaching into spoilery territory here, territory that the newb couldn’t even guess at, but suddenly the old timers on the podcast had a new appreciation for this storyline. But even on its surface, just dealing with John’s loss, there is a lot that Aeryn wants to interrogate as she goes through this process of grieving. Maybe, also, she would rather start by talking to someone who she doesn’t know, rather than beelining directly to the most painful option. Seems like “John”—whoever this John is and wherever he comes from—had different ideas, though. Anywho, after she talks to her “parents”—mostly her mother; more on that later—Aeryn chooses a new path for herself. Really, it’s an old path for herself, where she decides that because John is dead she can’t “be more” anymore, but reverts to “what I was bred to be.” Maybe I’m being too cynical about her choice. The ScapeCast newbies feel like her emotional repression, complete with the tight hair braid, mean she’s moving on, and that’s certainly more healthy than drinking herself to death in that dingy and oddly beautiful hotel room! (Or maybe Claudia Black is just overly beautiful in all of that lighting and cinematography but anyway.) I guess I think to myself that emotional repression is never a good way to actually heal. But Aeryn has some strange extenuating circumstances with the man that she can’t even acknowledge in this episode…Moya John. How do you grieve someone who has a slightly altered twin somewhere else? Repression suddenly sounds twice as good. :P
Then there is the weak part of this episode. Not that the first Talyn is alive, because thank goodness he isn’t, despite the wishes of my past self. :P Not even that perhaps Xhalax, with all of her vengeful thoughts, tracks Aeryn down to this place. Though it makes me wonder, had Talyn John lived and Aeryn was happy for awhile, what would Xhalax have done for her revenge? I guess that woman can play the long game. :P Anywho. The big thing on the planet is why make up a fake Talyn anyway? Why would it even make sense for Aeryn to want to contact her father? I mean, I just explained why, lol, but, given that Aeryn never knew that man, wouldn’t it make more sense to hurt her over John? What was her plan, anyway? Have “Talyn” gain Aeryn’s trust, bring in the seer to suggest they raise John from the dead for real, have him leave and THEN break the door down? I guess it all comes down to Xhalax wanting to kill “Talyn” in front of Aeryn, and we can all agree that Xhalax is probably not in her right mind. She’s been more twisted by having love and having lost it than we ever knew. The scary thing is how similar her life was to Aeryn’s, first bred to be a pilot and all. In fact, that confrontation pretty answers all of Aeryn’s questions about what could happen to her, post-grief, if she doesn’t hold tight to her emotions. (Again, I think that Aeryn went too far in the other direction, but boy does it make sense why she did! :P) Xhalax wanted to cause Aeryn pain, and suddenly this storyline, despite some clunkiness, is very very powerful. Aeryn even gets to “let her mother go,” physically and figuratively! I still rather wish that she was a hallucination (or maybe spirit), that Aeryn was conjuring her to deal with these issues rather than her actually being there. But that’s the way the show crumbles. :P As for Linda Cropper on her final “Farscape” appearance, she loved this episode called it her favorite, and with good reason! According to the wikia, she praised it for its tragic Greek elements. It certainly does seem like an actor’s dream role!
Meanwhile, one of the “ScapeCasters” called Crais, Stark and Rygel “the three stooges,” something that I think that John would have appreciated. :P The three of them are mostly on the periphery, not dealing too much with their own issues, and mostly focusing on their desires for Aeryn. For Crais and Stark, that desire can be rather possessive. Both men have expressed romantic inklings for her in the past, and those feelings come to a head in this episode, where Aeryn so obviously needs to be saved. When the two of them ultimately find Aeryn and try to convince her to come back to the ship Talyn with them, she does something that I appreciate all the more years later as men are starting to get called out publicly for their culture of sexual harassment. She calls them out on their BS. She gets a little down and dirty, sitting on Crais’s lap and taunting him about getting down to sexual business, right here, right now, which interferes with his more calm and collected approach to stalking. :P She has a lot less patience with Stark, whom she physically threatens, and then, in essence, disses him for being “the nice guy” stereotype. I mean, both Crais and Stark are kinda “nice guys”—the ones who expect sexual favors and romantic attentions from a woman because they treat her like a sentient being. :P But Stark has more of a leg to stand on while claiming that he’s less villainous than Crais. Still, that doesn’t entitle him more to a relationship with Aeryn that she doesn’t want. Anywho. Finally, we have Rygel who is the voice of reason this episode! :o As the ScapeCasters say, something has gone terribly wrong when Rygel is your voice of reason. :P But from the beginning he understands why Aeryn went to Valldon and why Stark can’t kill Crais after it’s learned that he betrayed them. When he goes to see Aeryn, rising precariously on his throne sled so high up in the air, lol, he invokes John’s love for her as a reason to go on. Completely altruistic, as he is with all of the women on the show during many of their times of need. “Farscape” also gives him a parallel backstory in this episode, where a mystic brings up his feelings for a long lost love, which Rygel can then mention to Aeryn. It’s a plot device, sure, but it’s believable enough.
Speaking of the men who were and were not there for Aeryn this episode, man this is a bad transition. :P You almost have to feel bad for Ben Browder, because if there was any part of this season where he could perhaps get some time off, like everyone else has, this would be it! :P But nope—of course its important for John to have a presence on the mystics planet. Karen, the host from the ScapeCast, facilitated this interesting discussion where people debated whether or not they thought that John’s spirit was actually there. I think I’m on the side where it was all in Aeryn’s mind (because really, this is Aeryn’s journey) but I agree that the writers leave room for both interpretations. Anywho. The first time that we (and kinda she) see John is in the lobby of the seedy hotel; he’s wearing blue in a sea of people in darker, more indistinct colors. He’s also wet, because, I believe, Aeryn is remembering him from “A Human Reaction” where it was raining. Later, she talks to him about her memories of his fake planet, which is pertinent since before he died, she was ready to give up everything and go there with him. Then she replicates a head to shoulder resting pose, which makes all the shippers swoon. :P At another time, she remembers him from “The Locket;” huge shocker because that little interlude was supposed to be erased from both of their minds! So I suppose that it is easy to take John’s words at face value—that he died and remembered growing old with her. But I still think that deep down, maybe aided by drugs, grief and/or fellip nectar, Aeryn can access some of those memories. Because it fits into the tenant about the show that I recently mentioned; that “Farscape” probes what it means to travel alternate realities. Maybe it’s a long shot to conflate that treatise with Aeeryn’s predicament here, but that’s what I’m going with. :P Finally, after the trick with the seer’s John begging for help and Aeryn’s more corporeal and calm John reminding her that he can’t be brought back to life, Aeryn remembers some of the sexy times. :P But I found it moving that she went to some of the romantic stuff first. This was a real relationship that she lost, not just someone to frell. But meanwhile…she has a spare on Moya! :P Most of her remembrances of John even happened before the twinning! Why can’t she just move on with Moya John, as some of the ScapeCasters suggested? Meh…no. Once the two Johns started on two alternate realities, they became different people because their experiences were different. Aeryn can’t just discount all of the memories that she built up with Talyn John. That’s just weird. There was a man, a real man who literally died in her arms, and Moya John isn’t him. So it makes sense to me that she is ignoring his presence throughout this episode, and now, of course, she’s emotionally repressing herself…we’ll have to see where things go from here. :P
And finally, some odds and ends! I kinda wish that I had the time to listen to Claudia Black’s, and then writer Justin Monjo and director Rowan Wood’s commentaries, but maybe it’s for the best that I don’t. Can spare you another rambling paragraph, hopefully! :P Anywho, according to the “Farscape” wikia and the Starburst DVD edition, Claudia wanted an episode that she could “sink her teeth into” and Monjo wanted to write about the aftermath of John’s death. (And man, she’s always an incredible actor but here… *feklempt again*) Apparently they all worked closely together on this one. Thank you, guys!!! Mario Halouvas, who had worked on the show as a puppeteer, did his first voice acting as the creepy seer. (And talk about some great concept design with that fetus head!) Thomas Holesgrove, who played various “Farscape” aliens throughout the years, including the diagnosan Tacot, had a brief cameo as another diagnosan searing for dead bodies here. Woods focused on a “Bladerunner” design for Valldun, giving it a gothic, decaying atmosphere. I do like how it was half about contacting the dead and half about dead bodies themselves. Yeeesh. Stark left the Talyn crew to chase Zhaan, in part because Paul Goddard had to leave in order to prepare for a role at the Sydney Opera House. But meanwhile, his mask will continue to carry the plot forward, starting very soon. Stark may be out of sight but he’s not out of mind! :P Except perhaps his own mind, teehee. I’ll miss him…though I’m also glad that the two crews are reuniting again. They’d had a good run of “adventures” apart, but now it’s time for a change. And the season finale is in sight! :D
Favorite Chrichtonism: I think I have to give good ol’ John a pass here! Let him rest in peace :(
Favorite Quotes:
*the boys set the tone for their part in this episode :P*
Crais: IT'S YOUR FAULT AERYN'S DOWN ON VALLDON!
Stark: (T'S NOT MY FAULT! TRYING TO HELP!
Crais: Trying to help? SHE'S IN MOURNING FOR CRICHTON! HOW are you helping her by filling her head with crazy tales about - SPIRIT CHANNELERS?
Stark: IT'S NOT CRAZY! She wanted to get away from you - she sees you following her!
Crais: I'm following her? (ou're the one that's following her!
Stark: ME? Aeryn wants me around - she wants me to watch over her! She - she wants me to protect her from people like YOU!
Rygel: You stupid, selfish nak-noks! Aeryn has made it clear she wants nothing to do with any of us! She wants no part of your plan to find Moya-
Stark: Can't leave her on Valldon - it's dangerous - it's filled with mystics and criminals.
Rygel: Then it's just like here! You're a mystic - and we're criminals. But Aeryn doesn't want to be here.
*Wait, what??*
Psychic: Is it you?
Aeryn: Yes it's Aeryn Sun. I've changed my mind. I want you to raise that man.
Psychic: Which one do you seek?
Aeryn: Talyn Lyczac - my father.
*old John from “The Locket” visits Aeryn*
John: Do you remember?
Aeryn: Who the frell are you?
John: I remember it all now.
Aeryn: What are you talking about?
John: Touch me. Don't be afraid girl. Ah- Ah ain't gonna bite. Touch me. Remember it all.
*dun dun DUUUUN!*
Aeryn: You found me, you told me - that you could contact my dead father. So - show me.
Psychic: You don't believe I can reach him?
Aeryn: Look you're here - I'm willing to pay and that is all that should concern you. Will you show me your face?
Psychic: If I may ask - what business have you with Talyn Lyczac?
Aeryn: I was his daughter. So-? Can you contact him.
Psychic: I can do more than that. I am - Talyn Lyczac.
*Zhaan’s voice enters the equation as Stark and Rygel go looking for Aeryn*
Stark: Rygel! Rygel! There-
Rygel: What? Do you see Aeryn?
Stark: No - for a moment I thought I heard Zhaan’s voice.
Rygel: Oohh- Frelling brazma! Tell me you're joking. Right?
Stark: No. No...
Rygel: Crais - Cra-ais!
Crais: Yes Rygel - have you located Aeryn’s signal yet?
Rygel: No she's masked it. We've been all over this stinking city! Now we're in some kind of nakky hotel! Stark's meeting every cousin and fahrbot he ever knew - it's a planet of Stark's down here!
*Rygel receives a disturbing vision*
Tenek: I talk to the dead. I-I see!
Rygel: Oh stop! Just stop! That blood's so fake it's laughable
Tenek: Kellor - Kellor - She misses you.
Rygel: Kellor?
Tenek: She forgives you. She knows that you couldn't go against your parents.
Rygel: How do you know her name?
Tenek: She knows that a Dominar cannot just-
Rygel: NOOO! Get away from me!
*then Rygel and Stark come across a living ghost!*
Stark: By the goddess! Rygel-!
Rygel: What is it? It better not be Zhaan again.
Stark: Don't let her see us! Don't let her see us! Oh don't let her see us!
Rygel: Fekik! Let go of me!
Stark: Shut up! It can't be...
Rygel: Who? Aeryn?
Stark: Nonono! No!
Rygel: Is that - Aeryn’s mother?
Xhalax: I told you to leave them alone! You were talking to that slug! Were you telling him about me?
Tenek: No! No! No!
Xhalax: I paid you a lot of money! I paid all of you a lot of money!
Tenek: I would never betray you Xhalax! I never would!
Xhalax: Not any more. *guts him, then to passing ghoulish creature* Get rid of the body.
*the boys confront Crais*
Stark: Crichton was right! You never killed Xhalax!
Crais: Get him off me! Let me up!
Rygel: The only time we're letting you up, is when we flush you out the airlock.
Stark: What happened to Xhalax? Tell us!
Crais: Let me up!
Stark: Tell us - YOU TELL US!
Crais: When you left me to kill Xhalax - I saw instantly - the end.
Rygel: For you!
Crais: For all of us! I knew that if I killed her - High Command would send another retrieval squad after us. And if they failed - another - and another!
Rygel: *sarcastic* You made a deal to save us all.
Crais: I offered Xhalax her life.
Rygel: And what did you get in return?
Crais: She would inform High Command that we were all dead.
Stark: Do I look like an idiot? Huh? Does he look like an idiot? Do I look like an idiot? YEAH? Well I'm not! And we're not fooled by you! If you've got a deity you'd better make your peace with it now. Because I'm going to lead you to the other side real quick!
Rygel: No.
Stark: No-O? What - No-O?
Crais: Rygel understands our predicament. Talyn has part of my psyche - can you fly him?
Stark: No - but Aeryn can.
Rygel: And she's not here.
*“Talyn” lays a trap…*
Talyn: Why did you come to this planet? You said at first it was not to contact me. Who were you seeking?
Aeryn: I lost someone. He died.
Talyn: Were you in love with him? Aeryn - on this planet - I have seen things I never dreamed possible. At the full of the moon I will come back with a being who might be able to help contact the one you loved. Wait for me please - I want to try to do this for you.
*Crais and Stark attempt to “save” Aeryn…doesn’t exactly go to plan*
Crais: This is serious. We need to talk. Can I come in?
Aeryn: No.
Stark: All right! That does it! Get down on you knees! Face the wall!
Crais: I AM NOT GETTING ON MY KNEES!
Stark: GET DOOOWN!
Crais: YOU TOLD RYGEL YOU'D BE CALM!
Stark: I AM CALM! YOU GET DOWN NOW! *Aeryn draws nearer* Aeryn - you must return to Talyn. We- we saw Xhalax here on Valldon.
Aeryn: It's this place - you should see who I've seen.
Stark: Nono - your mother is really really here.
Aeryn: No - guess who I've seen? Crichton. And guess who else? My father. Any microt now Stark, you're going to see Zhaan.
Stark: You stop! You listen to me! He -- he never killed Xhalax! He was preparing to betray us!
Crais: That is not true. I made a deal for all of us.
Stark: LIAR! LIAR! *back to Aeryn* Now you must come back with us. I will look after you. I want to look after you.
Aeryn: That would be really nice.
Stark: Oh - please-
Aeryn: Don't touch me.
Crais: Aeryn - Xhalax is alive.
Aeryn: Come on! *starts getting a bit handsy with the man* Come on. Come on Crais - you can tell the truth. Mm?
Stark: You get up! Get away from him!
Aeryn: No that's all right. He wants me. Isn't that right? You always wanted to take me from Crichton and now here's your chance. And you know what Bialar? If I squeeze my eyes closed -- tightly enough - you could be someone else. *Crais tries to pull away* No! Come on! Right here! Right now! Give it to me. Give me what you've got!
Stark: *dragging Aeryn off of Crais* You're coming with me! I'm taking you now!
Aeryn: DON'T - YOU - TOUCH - ME! I swear I will spear the last eye you have left! Do you know what makes you so much worse - is the fact that you think you're so much better than him. Always pressing - against me. Stealing looks- Get out of here. Both of you GET OUT!
*“Talyn” is in on the plan for Xhalax to shoot him…*
Talyn: Oh I think Aeryn's buying it all. When she sees this bastard - *seer box* - she'll suffer the way you want her to. *box rattles* O-oh- someone's getting restless. I better get up there.
Xhalax: You're all set?
Talyn: Under here - *taps chest* - solid krank! Don't - miss.
Xhalax: I won't.
*Aeryn talks to John and then gets another visitor*
Aeryn: This is my world now. I think I liked yours better. *flashbacks to “A Human Reaction” and tries to put her head on “John’s” shoulder before Rygel arrives* Let me guess - you're my long-lost sister.
Rygel: Look - Aeryn - I know you're upset. I too had someone important in my life. Kellor was her name -- I missed her for a long time. But I knew - as I'm sure you do - that self-sacrifice is not the answer. Look - I'm not like Crais or Stark. I'm not trying to save you or recreate with you. You can do whatever you like. But - Crichton loved you Aeryn. He wouldn't want his death to lead you here.
*the seer, Cressus, is a bit of a creep*
Cresus: Come here. Closer. I won't bite... much.
Talyn: Trust him. Don't be afraid.
Cresus: Touch me - I must feel you - to reach him. Soofft - touch me - soofft... Tell me about this Crich-ton.
Aeryn: Uh... he... uh...
Cresus: Did he - looove you? Hoooold you? Touch you - sooofft?
Aeryn: Yes he loved me. He was very... He made me better.
Cresus: *channeling John* Aeryn - Help me. Bring me back.
*Aeryn talks to her John*
Aeryn: I returned from the dead. Why can't he?
John: This is where it hurts?
Aeryn: Yeah.
John: Right here. *massaging shoulder* You can't bring me back you know.
Aeryn: Mm... They said that on this planet there's a... I've forgotten his name...
John: No.
Aeryn: No?
John: No.
Aeryn: Was it easy to be a hero? Leave me behind?
John: You never think - you're gonna die. I didn't know.
Aeryn: *teasing* You - you did!
John: No.
Aeryn: *playful* Yes! You did!
John: *small laugh* No.
*Xhalax’s entrance!*
Xhalax: Hello soldier! What's the matter? Surprised to see your old mum? This isn't quite the - family reunion you'd imagined. Sit down! Soldier without her weapon. That's against regulations. *Aeryn stares at something* My leg huh? After you left me on that planet - it got infected. And I had to amputate it myself! Now that - that hurt. You thought you could get it all. Get away. Be safe.
Talyn: *re-entering* Xhalax!
Xhalax: Hello - dear! *pistol whips him*
Aeryn: NO! DON'T!
Xhalax: You've only just met and already you're trying to protect your father!
Talyn: Xhalax stop! 20 cycles ago we made a pact to survive for - for our daughter. You couldn't hurt her then. You couldn't hurt me.
Xhalax: I can hurt you now old man! So get ready to die!
Talyn: Remember when Aeryn was born? I snuck into the medchamber - you had just woken-
Xhalax: Lie down!
Aeryn: Listen he's not the one that you-
Xhalax: Shut up!
Aeryn: Just leave him alone!
Talyn & Xhalax: SHUTUP!
Talyn: Oh go on! Shoot me! I'm not scared of you! Shoot me and leave Aeryn alone!
Xhalax: You know - I think I've changed my mind. You're too ugly to kill - look at that face - now lie down! Lie down and roll over!
Talyn: *genuine surprise* Xhalax w-what?
Xhalax: TURN AROUND! NOW!
Aeryn: Xhalax don't!
Xhalax: SHUTUP! *to “Talyn”* LIE DOWN!
Talyn: Xhalax-?
Xhalax: ROLL OVER!
Talyn: No-no-no!
Aeryn: XHALAX! STOP!
Talyn: Xhalax don't-!
Xhalax: ROLL OVER! *shoots him in the back, killing him for real*
*Xhalax’s true agenda coming out*
Xhalax: You did everything. After your birth High Command said I could redeem myself if- But they lied. The damage was done. And no matter what I did I was never - truly - reinstated.
Aeryn: And now you want my pity.
Xhalax: Oh no I want your pain. To know how close I was - to love. So close... And then to lose it all in an instant. I've heard - loved ones leave you in pieces. That little by little you start to forget things about them. But that's not true. You lose them - everything - instantly. And suddenly nothing can replace them. Nothing. And now you - have nothing. How does it feel?
*Aeryn knew about the lie all along!*
Aeryn: Wasn't killing Talyn once enough? But did you have to kill him in front of me? Is that what was missing? When I first met him - I knew he wasn't my father - but he knew all these details about you and me.
Xhalax: You're lying. You didn't know.
Aeryn: Of course I hoped - that he might be Talyn. Just as I hoped that I might see Crichton again. But in my heart - I knew that that -- was not my father. And then you walked in. You know - we Peacekeepers think that we are so remarkable. Soldiers without -- equal. Precise tacticians. Purebloods. But I've realized - we're not remarkable. We do nothing for love. Not one thing.
Xhalax: You're wrong. Cycles ago - after your birth - I was given an order. They called it a choice. "One of you must die." they said. I killed your father so you could live. *spitefully* I did that - for love.
*Xhalax’s goodbye*
Aeryn: So. This is it? Kill me now. Destroy the last piece of your life... and leave nothing.
Xhalax: I wasn't an assassin until I killed your father. I was a pilot... I was bred to be a pilot. But they made me kill again and again - and finally I stopped caring. But I knew your suffering would ease my pain. And it has. It has.
Aeryn: The battle's over Xhalax. You don't want to kill me.
Xhalax: No.
Aeryn: Why don't you come out here a bit closer? It might make it easier for you. *faces her at point blank range* Here - you can't miss from here. Unless you want to. Drop the gun Xhalax. *she slowly does*
Crais: *bursting in* AERYN!
Aeryn: NO! *Crais shoots Xhalax* NO!
Xhalax: Let me fall Aeryn.
Aeryn: No.
Xhalax: Do it. Let me go. I died a long time ago. You live - for me.
*Stark says goodbye and the other boys prep for the future*
Stark: Zhaan’s voice keeps getting stronger. I know she's trying to reach me and I must discover what she needs to communicate. Please do not waste time trying to look for me. It is vital you take what I have left you to the Crichton on Moya. He - and only he - will know what to do with it. Good-bye my friends. Take care of Aeryn. I will find you again.
Rygel: Crais? Why would Stark leave this? What d'you think the other Crichton wants with it?
Crais: I have no idea. Talyn believes he's located Moya. His long-range scans have detected Leviathan transmissions from the - Manin Nebula.
Rygel: Well let's try to find them. It'll be good to get back to Moya.
Crais: Perhaps. As soon as our ships are reunited and - Talyn can find someone other than me to pilot him - I shall leave.
Rygel: I ah - hope Moya's done better than we have.
*Aeryn makes a choice*
Aeryn: Maybe... I could have become something different. If you'd lived I could have truly changed. But you are gone. And I am - *holstering gun* - what I was bred to be.
John: Aeryn -- come here.
Aeryn: No. You have to go now.
Cresus: Wait! Most of the time - Aeryn - what we do is a distortion - a hoax. But - with you - Aeryn Sun - it may - have been - real. Shall we try? One - more - time? *Aeryn pauses, but ultimately makes her exit*
