Crusade

On a un named alien world

gideon and co are fustrated at thier inability to open a door

Since gideon's "source" tells him this is a place of healing he is more than eager to get in.



Max and dureena both come up empty

until galen uses a cruel and unconventional way to open the vault.

Inside they find a transparent sphere with a mouthless alien inside.

They ship it back to excalibur

and leave it to the med staff to figure out.



But during the night

gideon goes to the sphere unable to sleep

telepathically it talks to him about his pain

then takes him back to the moment his life changed

As a junior officer aboard the EAS Cerberus

gideon was ordered to go EVA to asses the damage from an unidentified ship that attacked them.

While outside the Cerberus accelerates to jump away from the returning vessel.

One explosion later and gideon is alone in a space suit with no hope of rescue.

With his air low he is eventually picked up by a technomage

With a habit of interfering in other peoples affairs.



Matheson aslo comes to the sphere and it is revealed that during the final phase of the telepath war he helped a captured enemy leader send a message to the resistance

the result killed thousands of his fellow corp members



Galen recounts his pain also the day his lover died.

He is so insenced by the creature for pulling the thoughts to the front of his mind that he threatens to destroy the thing until gideon stops him.



A good episode

gideon and mathesons stories are good

they both concern various forms of guilt

They are both given more depth and expand on there emotional range.

We get to see the traumas that make them who they are today

and its fascinating.

Unfortunalty galen's was the weak link here

The dialogue and guest actress where both a bit ropey as was the message at the end



if you can ignore the galen bit its a fine addition

to the series

We learn of Galen's love and loss. Allusions to his past with the Captain are posed.



Captain Gideon's dark secret is revealed. His pain may be the source of many of his future decisions. The chess board in the episode may be a symbol of his situation. This episode also coined the famed title phrase, "Who do you serve and who do you trust?"



Fiona Avery's writing creatively makes the alien the center of the story without him being the center of attention. The spotlight is clearly on the crew.



The story line of "The Path of Sorrows" is a great vehicle to examine the crew.