Through an "accident" the crew gets shot 300 years back in time. They find themselves at the battleground of a pivitol battle between the neitchiens and Commonwealth.
Aside from the normal question of fate this raises (and it raises a few) the really good part is the characterization.
Every character has their own agenda and point of view.
Trance - She seems to know much more than she let on. It's more than possible that she arranged the trip back in time.
Dylan - Sees his opprotunity to help save the Commonwealth, or at least a friend.
Rommie - as a warship wants to stand and fight.
Harper - Attempts to kill the neitchien fleet and make himself a historical hero.
Tyr - tries to convince Dylan to help the neitchiens, thereby letting the neitchiens rule eath rather than let it be devoured by the magog. He even threatens Trance in one very good scene.
This is one of the best time travel stories which are very hard to pull off (Voyager, anyone?) but RHW manages to do it well, making this a classic.
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Episode Summary
EDIT
A slipstream error throws the Andromeda back in time 300 years, two days before the final battle in the Nietzschean rebellion.
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GUEST STAR
Jo BatesCaptain Borotep 'Oroto' Yeshgar
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Kevin Sorbo
Captain Dylan Hunt
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Lisa Ryder
Beka Valentine
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Keith Hamilton Cobb
Tyr Anasazi
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Laura Bertram
Trance Gemini
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Brent Stait
Rev Bem
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Gordon Michael Woolvett
Seamus Harper
Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions
See All-
TRIVIA (6)
ADD TRIVIA-
Yazgar: You always were a stickler for that kind of thing. Hell, it's been years, and you still haven't told me how you got that stomach wound. The cause of Dylan's stomach wound is explained in flashbacks in the episode "Forced Perspective."
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The final battle of the Nietzschean Rebellion took place at the Witch Head Nebula. A Nietzschean force of 500 ships ambushed a Commonwealth fleet of 100 vessels on their way to attack the Nietzschean homeworld of Fountainhead. The Nietzscheans won, but at a terrible cost, since the ruling Drago-Kazov Pride was weakened enough that Pride Jaguar and several allies attacked them. This is the reason that the Nietzscheans did not take over after the fall of the Commonwealth. During the ensuing Nietzschean Civil War, the Magog Horde attacked, and no one was strong enough to oppose them.
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It is revealed that Artificial Intelligences cannot navigate the slipstream. Only an organic sentient can do it, and no one knows quite why. Rommie says that it is thought that it might have something to do with the way organic brains interact with quantum possibilities. AI guess correctly at a 50% ratio when organics guess at a 99% ratio.
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Borotep Yeshgar mentions Dylan's fiancee, Sarah, is trying to mount a rescue expedition to retrieve the Andromeda from the edge of the black hole. This would come into play in the episode "The Banks of the Lethe".
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According to Dylan, this episode takes place a "few months" after "Under the Night (1)".
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The year is established as CY 10087 in this episode.
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QUOTES (13)
ADD QUOTES-
Dylan: Do you believe in Fate? Rommie: The idea that the universe is a vast, preprogrammed machine does have a certain appeal.
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Dylan: Trance, I know you're in here. Trance: (popping up out of hiding) You do? How? Dylan: Actually, I was bluffing. Trance: (sadly) I always fall for that one.
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Tyr: I can field strip a Gauss rifle blind and one handed. I imagine I can calibrate your lens. Beka: (wincing at Tyr's sarcasm) All right. Down, boy!
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Harper: So, to summarize: genius, young, somewhat good looking engineer sets trap. Nietzscheans arrive. Nietzscheans go boom! And everybody lives happily ever after. Harper out.
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(Trance runs into Command) Trance: Save me! Save me! (she runs up to Dylan who is extremely confused) He's trying to kill me! Dylan: Who? (Harper runs onto Command out of breath with a weapon in his hand, but he's sees Dylan and hides it and puts on a fake-sincere smile. Trance hides behind Dylan)
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Harper: You know, these slipdrives are a lot easier to break than they are to fix.
Dylan: My old engineer called it 'job security'.
Harper: Smart lady! I've been reading her manuals. -
(Andromeda breaks out of Slipstream and sustains severe damage) Dylan: What the hell are you people doing to my ship?! (Trance gets out of the chair and starts to cry while running toward the doors) Trance: I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! (she leaves Command and heads for the Maru) I'm sorry!
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(Trance does horribly in the Slipstream) Tyr: Don't fight the Stream! Trance: It started it!
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Rommie: I'm a warship. And I don't like walking away from a fight.
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Tyr: My people have a legend about the Battle of Witchhead. They say the Nietzschean fleet arrived with overwhelming numbers. Their victory seemed assured. But then, at the critical hour, the Angel of Death appeared and summoned forth the fires of Hell. The Nietzschean fleet was struck down, crippled, their glorious victory turned to ashes.
Beka: You knew all along?
Tyr: I've never seen an angel before. -
Dylan: Slipstream: it's not the best way to travel faster than light, it's just the only way.
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(Trance tells Dylan what Harper's up to and is confined to his quarters)
Harper: I can find my quarters on my own, you know.
Rommie: I'm guarding you, not guiding you. There's a difference.
Harper: Don't be like this! I was only trying to stop the Nietzscheans from conquering Earth.
Rommie: If I tried to re-arrange your internal organs - tried to force you to violate your most important moral imperatives - how would you feel?
Harper: I'd say that actually that sounds kind of fun.
Rommie: This isn't the time for humor. (They arrive at Harper's quarters and he steps inside) Seamus Harper, you are confined to quarters until further notice. Feel free to rearrange the furniture to your heart's content. But I recommend against making yourself invisible to me again. I might forget you even existed, and you'd starve to death. -
The heavens burned, the stars cried out, And under the ashes of infinity, Hope, scarred and bleeding, breathed its last. Ulatempa Poetess, Elegy for the Commonwealth, CY 9828.
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NOTES (3)
ADD NOTES-
International Airdates: -This episode aired in Canada on November 11, 2000 on Global. -This episode aired in the UK on November 13, 2000 on Sky One. -This episode aired in Australia on September 7, 2002 on Fox 8.
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Footage of Harper (Gordon Michael Woolvett), Trance (Laura Bertram) and the Andromeda from this episode were used in the opening credits.
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Dylan and Tyr's heart-to-heart was voted #6 in the Top Ten Scenes at the official site.
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ALLUSIONS (6)
ADD ALLUSIONS-
Rev: Tyger, Tyger burning bright. This is the first stanza of "The Tyger" by English poet William Blake.
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Borotep Yeshgar: ... In Dylan We Trust. A reference to the classic quote "In God We Trust".
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Dylan: I have become death, destroyer of worlds.
Following the first atomic bomb test, Robert J. Oppenheimer, chairman of the atomic energy commission repeated this quote from the Bhagavadgita. He was stunned by the awesome destructive power of the weapon, just as Dylan was stunned by the destruction he was about to cause.
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Rommie: ... the ship Thermopylae ... This ship manages (along with other Commonwealth ships), against overwhelming odds, to hold off the enemy hordes in the battle of Witch Head Nebula. It is still destroyed, but the battle is a Pyrrhic victory for the Nietzscheans. This is a reference to the battle of Thermopylae, where 7000 Greek soldiers, including 300 Spartans who all died, held off 150,000 to 200,000 Persians for several days before their defeat.
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Witch Head Nebula: IC 2118, or Witch Head Nebula, is a Reflection Nebula in the constellation of Eridanus about 1000 light-years from Earth, taking its name from its rather suggestive shape.
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Fountainhead: The Nietzschean homeworld is named for Ayn Rand's novel, a veritable scripture of enlightened self-interest.
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Plot holes you noticed
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Season 1 Episodes
See AllEp 22
... Its Hour Come Round at...
Ep 21
It Makes a Lovely Light
Ep 20
Star-Crossed
Ep 19
The Honey Offering
Ep 18
The Devil Take the Hindmost
Ep 17
Fear and Loathing in the M...
Ep 16
The Sum of Its Parts
Ep 15
Forced Perspective
Ep 14
Harper 2.0
Ep 13
Music of a Distant Drum
Ep 12
The Mathematics of Tears
Ep 11
The Pearls That Were His Eyes
Ep 10
All Great Neptune's Ocean
Ep 9
A Rose in the Ashes
Ep 8
The Banks of the Lethe
Ep 7
The Ties That Blind
Ep 6
Angel Dark, Demon Bright
Ep 5
Double Helix
Ep 4
D Minus Zero
Ep 3
To Loose the Fateful Light...
Ep 2
An Affirming Flame (2)
Ep 1
Under the Night (1)
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