3.01 - Season of Death

I shouldn't be here.
This is exactly where you should be. (pause) I love you.
I love you too. - Aeryn Sun, John Crichton

On Moya, the crew is pestering Pilot for information on John but he tells them in annoyance that he has heard nothing yet. Jothee comments on Pilot's temper and Chiana tells him that he took Aeryn's death fairly hard. Jothee observes that everyone did.

On the planet, Braca and Scorpius are questioning Grunchlk as to why he hid from them. He says it was because he didn't trust them when they arrived with weapons drawn and demands to be paid since he informed them the moment John arrived. Scorpius suggests that he come up with something to demonstrate that he is still of use to them.

Scorpius examines the neural chip that was removed from John's brain and comments that John will be lonely. He then pulls a small bit of brain matter that is still attached to the chip free and pops it into his mouth.

John is still strapped to the table, screaming incoherently. Tocot is lying on the floor and moaning.

Mindscape: John still sees himself at Sawyer's Mill. The Neural Clone (which John now calls "Harvey") appears and John yells at him in disbelief, saying that he should be gone. Harvey agrees and says that since he does not wish to be trapped there, then John must die. John walks off but Harvey calls after him.
"Aeryn Sun is dead!" he yells. "Your power of speech is gone. The only one you'll ever talk to again is me!"

A Peacekeeper trooper approaches Scorpius and tells him that their Command Carrier has been delayed for several arns. Scorpius is concerned that the others will not leave them alone for that long. The trooper suggests leaving in their Marauder but Scorpius says he would not be able to get away from Talyn. Grunchlk offers to show them a place they can stay.

Rygel arrives in the complex and goes looking for Grunchlk. He arrives in the operating room and finds John and Tocot. He notifies the others and D'Argo, Zhaan and Stark immediately head for the planet. Chiana and Jothee want to go to the planet with them but D'Argo orders them to remain behind. Both are annoyed.

Arriving on the planet, they manage to revive Tocot by turning the sterile field back on. Tocot tells them about Scorpius. Crais takes Talyn into a higher orbit to scan for Scorpius' ships.

Meanwhile, the Peacekeepers have detected the arrival of the transport pod and realize that Moya's crew is becoming suspicious since they did not attempt to contact Grunchlk. Grunchlk tells them that he will tell the others anything they want him to in order to get them to leave. Scorpius agrees.

Scorpius then stabs Grunchlk in the back of the neck with one of the pointed instruments he has used previously. He places a headset upon his head and seems to be able to control Grunchlk. He even has Braca give his pulse pistol to Grunchlk who then shoots himself in the arm.

Stark and Zhaan, searching the facility, come across Grunchlk lying against the wall with the wound in his arm. "Grunchlk" tells them that Scorpius shot him then left with the chip several arns before.

Everyone returns to the operating room where they examine several cryogenic tubes each containing a frozen humanoid known as an "Interon". Stark is saying that their being there is barbaric but Grunchlk insists that they are "effectively dead" since they were frozen a microt before death and could not be revived without dying. By using tissue from one of the frozen bodies Tocot believes that he can restore John's speech.

Stark points out that John did not want to kill one of the donors and Tocot admits that even by using tissue from one he may not be able to succeed. D'Argo asks Zhaan to share Unity with John to see what he wants done. She is reluctant to do so after her last encounter but finally agrees.

When she does, she is able to contact John who says he wants to die. She also realizes that the neural clone is still within John. She breaks free in horror and tells the others what she has found.

Tocot speculates that the neural chip had been inside of John's brain for so long that "neural bleed" had occurred and that the neural clone was now a permanent part of John's mind. "Grunchlk" finds this very interesting.

Zhaan insists that John wants to die but D'Argo and Stark will not consider it. While they discuss options with Tocot, Grunchlk approaches Zhaan and says that she knows what needs to be done. She asks for a particular drug but he gives her an injector containing another, pointing out that it was just as fast and painless. She approaches John with the injector.

Stark sees her in time and manages to prevent her from killing John, taking the injector from her. She and "Grunchlk" argue with them but D'Argo eventually throws both of them out of the operating room.

He then asks Tocot to operate. Tocot is uncertain, pointing out that John did not want to kill a donor. Stark responds to this by releasing one of the Interons and using the injector on it, killing it. He then tells Tocot to proceed.

Zhaan contacts Crais to inform him of the latest events. "Grunchlk" attempts to get him to leave but Crais says he is waiting on Aeryn's body. "Grunchlk" offers to send it up but Zhaan says they will wait and take it with them when they leave.

Back on Moya, Jothee and Chiana are in the galley and bored. A bit of horseplay ensues which ends with them very close and holding each other.
"You'd better let go." Chiana says to Jothee. "Otherwise, I'm going to have to try something else."
"You'll lose an arm!" He warns her.
"Well," she says, somewhat seductively, "you'll lose something worse than an arm."
"You wouldn't do that!" exclaims Jothee.
"Don't tell me what I would or wouldn't do." she responds. "I do as I please."
"OK then..." says Jothee. "Do whatever you want."

After a pause, the two appear to begin a kiss.

Tocot finishes the operation and D'Argo attempts to determine John's status. John tells him that he wants to die and that the neural clone is still in his head. D'Argo tells him that Aeryn would have wanted him to live and Stark tells him that the neural clone is only a fraction of what it once was.

Mindscape: John is back at Sawyer's Mill and finds Harvey, who insists that John should leave him alone. John disagrees and shoves him into an empty warehouse. The two have a rather comical fistfight which ends with John beating Harvey. He then picks Harvey up and throws him across the room into a large trash container. He slams the lid on the container and sits on it as an unseen crowd cheers wildly.

John sits up and tells Stark he was right and asks how he knew. Stark admits it was just a guess. Since John is back, Stark goes to find the others so they can leave.

On Moya, Chiana and Jothee are finishing getting redressed. Jothee comments that if his father finds out he will kill them but Chiana says he will never find out.

Rygel enters and is surprised by the state of the galley. They tell him one of the cook pots exploded and offer him some food. He leaves and they, somewhat embarrassed, start to clean up the galley.

Back on the planet, Stark finds Zhaan who is looking at the cryogenic chamber holding Aeryn's body. She points out that the chamber is maintaining her life functions but Stark says he cannot contact her spirit even though he can sense those of the beings in the other chambers. Zhaan seems to accept this but as they turn to leave she knocks Stark out.

Grunchlk is with Scorpius, Braca and the others when he gets a call from Tocot saying that one of the cryogenic chambers is opening. Grunchlk at first tries to dismiss it as a malfunction then tries to get Tocot to leave the area. Tocot does not and the chamber opens, revealing a Scarran. The Scarran turns his heat beam on Tocot and kills him.

Scorpius demands to know what the Scarran is doing there. Grunchlk at first refuses to tell him anything but Scorpius uses the headset to take control of him and forces him to bite one of his own fingers off. He releases Grunchlk who admits that the Scarrans paid him to leave one of their agents in the facility. They knew that Scorpius' cooling unit had been installed there and wanted to be notified when he returned. Grunchlk had set the controls to activate after a delay because he did not trust the Peacekeepers when they arrived.

One of the Peacekeepers offers to go after the Scarran and Grunchlk laughs at the idea. Scorpius then takes control of Grunchlk again.

Grunchlk, under Scorpius' control, goes to meet the Scarran. The Scarran demands to know where Scorpius is but "Grunchlk" tells him that Scorpius isn't there. Instead, John Crichton is. The Scarran admits that they know John is someone Scorpius is very interested in and want to know why. "Grunchlk" suggests the Scarran ask him himself and says that John is in the operating room. The Scarran shoves Grunchlk into a cryogenic chamber and activates it, freezing him instantly. He then heads for the operating room.

Scorpius notes that the Scarran is leaving the area but that Zhaan and Stark are between them and the Marauder. He sends several Peacekeeper commandos to take care of them.

D'Argo is attempting to contact Zhaan and Stark without success. Zhaan has propped Stark up against the wall and moves his mask slightly to one side, allowing the energy contained behind it to shine on Aeryn's cryogenic chamber. She then moves to the chamber and enters Unity in an attempt to contact Aeryn.

She manages to do so though at first Aeryn does not recognize her. Zhaan enters full Unity with Aeryn and says that she needs to come back because she loves her but mostly because John loves her. Aeryn says that she can't because she knows what this will cost Zhaan. She shoves Zhaan away. Unity is broken and Zhaan collapses to the floor. She looks up to see one of the Peacekeeper commandos standing over her and is knocked unconscious.

D'Argo gives up on his attempt to contact the others and goes to leave the room. He opens the door just as the Scarran starts to open it from the other side. He and John are surprised but slam the door and lock it. The Scarran starts to burn through the door. John and D'Argo find another door but it leads outside to the frozen surface of the planet. They decide it is still better than facing the Scarran and leave.

The commandos have contacted Scorpius who tells them to kill Zhaan but to take Stark prisoner. They are about to do so when both are hit by blasts from an energy weapon and collapse. Zhaan and Stark look up to see Aeryn step from the cryogenic chamber, D'Argo's Qualta Blade in her hands. She asks where the others are then heads off.

Scorpius notes that the commandos have been killed and that their presence there is no longer a secret. Another Peacekeeper, who has been identified as the pilot of the Marauder, says that he thinks he can make it to the Command Carrier safely. Scorpius agrees to try.

Outside, John and D'Argo note that the Scarran is following them. They reach another door into the facility but it is jammed and they cannot get in.

The Scarran reaches them and D'Argo attempts to attack him with a knife but the blade snaps off without even scratching the Scarran. The Scarran knocks D'Argo to the ground. He is stopped from attacking further when, to John and D'Argo's surprise, he is hit by several shots from the Qualta Blade.

Aeryn, now outside, fires several times more before the Qualta Blade runs out of power. By this point John has found a large icicle that has broken off the side of the facility. He charges the Scarran and jams the icicle into the wound made by the Qualta Blade. The Scarran knocks him to the ground then dies.

Talyn detects a Marauder leaving the planet and gives chase. Scorpius contacts Crais and tells him that countless Peacekeeper lives will be at risk if he does not return with the wormhole information. Crais tells him that he should think about one Peacekeeper he killed; Aeryn Sun.

Just as the Marauder reaches the Command Carrier Talyn deploys his main weapon and destroys it. Crais contacts Moya and tells everyone there that he has destroyed Scorpius and that he and Talyn will lead the Command Carrier away from them. Talyn leaves, the Command Carrier in pursuit.

John, Aeryn and D'Argo return to the facility. Aeryn tries to go to John but he backs away from her, repeating that she is dead. She tells him that Zhaan brought her back and, finally realizing that she really has returned, he collapses against her, sobbing in relief.

Later, everyone is preparing to leave. John hears that Scorpius is dead and regrets not being there to see it. Stark tells them that Tocot is also dead, as is Grunchlk... effectively. John says that they are taking the other two Interons with them. Aeryn asks why and John points out to her that she was brought back, maybe they could be as well.

Later still, somewhere in the facility, Braca tells Scorpius that both Moya and Talyn have left and that the Command Carrier is returning to pick them up. Scorpius observes that their pilot apparently wasn't as good as he thought he was. Braca speculates that maybe Talyn is more formidable than they thought but Scorpius tells him that High Command is already taking care of that problem. He then picks up the neural chip and says that a new Gammak Base is ready to apply the knowledge within it.

On Moya, John is standing in a storage room looking at one of the Interon cryogenic chambers. Aeryn enters and stands before the other.

"Finished making your rounds?" He asks finally, his back to her.
She acknowledges this, her back also to him. There is a pause.
"I shouldn't be here." she says.
John disagrees. "This is exactly where you should be." There is another pause.
"I love you." he says finally.
"I love you too." is her response.

He turns and steps to her, turning her to face him. They kiss and it rapidly becomes more intense as both of them sink to their knees. Suddenly, Aeryn pushes him away.
"We will not act on it." she says.

John is stunned and very confused. She tells him that her Peacekeeper training was correct; soldiers and emotional attachments do not go together because they cloud thinking in battle.

John, now upset, tells her that Scorpius is gone and that they aren't in battle. She disagrees, asking what happens the next time they are attacked by someone else.

"I will not be the cause of any more deaths because my judgment was faulty." she tells him sharply. "I will not permit anyone else to sacrifice their life for mine."
John freezes. "What do you mean 'anyone else'?"

Zhaan lies in her quarters, being held by Stark. John arrives and stands in the doorway, looking concerned.

"Aeryn just told me that... uh... whatever you did to bring her back..." he begins.
Zhaan interrupts him. "A gift of spiritual energy."
"Yeah." he says, then continues. "...that it took everything that you had."
She nods agreement, a slight smile on her face.
"Is there anything we can do to help?" asks John, in a subdued voice.
Zhaan shakes her head. "Nothing."
"I will not accept that." he says.
"I have, John." she says, her smile returning. "I'm dying."

This episode is a direct follow-up to events in Die Me, Dichotomy.

The neural chip was implanted in John's brain during the events of Nerve or The Hidden Memory. It was designed to retrieve the wormhole information hidden in his mind during the events of A Human Reaction.

The Scarrans first became aware of Scorpius' interest in John during the events of the Look at the Princess trilogy (A Kiss is But a Kiss, I Do, I Think and The Maltese Crichton). John was briefly their prisoner in Won't Get Fooled Again.

The headset device that Scorpius uses to control Grunchlk seems to be the same device that he used to enter John's mind with in the Liars, Guns and Money trilogy (A Not-So-Simple Plan, With Friends Like These... and Plan B). This is also where John first encounters Harvey within a "Mindscape", an imaginary mental environment.

Chiana has now started an affair with Jothee. How will D'Argo react upon finding out that the woman he is planning to ask to marry him (Die Me, Dichotomy) is now involved with his son?

How long before everyone learns that Scorpius is still alive?

What is the solution that High Command has come up with involving Talyn and Crais?