| Waking The Tyrant's Device | |
|---|---|
| |
| Production | |
| Episode |
4.03 |
| Production # |
403 |
| Original air date |
October 13, 2003 |
| Written by | |
| Directed by |
Andrew Potter |
| Developed by | |
| Producer | |
| Executive Producer |
Allan Eastman |
| Production Designer | |
| Cast | |
| Guest stars |
Nicholas Lea as Tri-Lorn |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | |
| Followed by | |
You will find dread among the galaxies.
You will find horror in the heart of a star.
You will find your fate in a heap of dust."
The Diktat of Septa Parisis,
CY 9015
"Waking The Tyrant's Device" is episode 3 of Season 4.
Synopsis[]
The crew of the Andromeda are testing out the new systems from their retrofit, and the systems are performing well. They emerge from Slipstream near a ringed planet, Perliss Mott with a moon, Septa Parisis.
Andromeda detects the launch of an attack drone from the moon. It withstands a shot from the Andromeda, and hits the ship with something that starts to drain its power. A Gravity Field Generator from the moon also starts to affect the ship, and their orbit starts degrading. Andromeda says that she can hold them in orbit for a while, but they will soon crash into the moon.
The moon is littered with wreckage from other ships. Harper also locates a Point Singularity Projector, similar to the ones on the Magog World Ship, although Andromeda says that it is not currently operational.
Although Andromeda is able to locate both the Gravity Field Generator (on the surface) and the source of the power drain (deep underground), her power problems prevent her from attacking them directly. Dylan Hunt decides to take the Eureka Maru the surface of the moon in order to destroy them.
Beka Valentine and Seamus Harper recall legends of Septa Parisis, that there are vast treasures on its surface. They plan to retrieve some of this treasure after saving the Andromeda.
Dylan receives an Systems Commonwealth Security Coded Communication System message from one of the Triumvirs, Tri-Lorn. He orders Dylan to destroy Septa Parisis. Dylan insists that they need as much intelligence as they can gather first. Tri-Lorn tells him that the moon was created by Kroton, "The Great Engineer", who is half-human, half-android. Kroton is rumored to be the designer of the Magog World Ship, and the source of many other technical problems (such as an entire planet's androids going berserk) over the past 400 years.
Beka and Harper discuss what they will do with their wealth from the treasure, but Dylan reminds them that the primary purpose of the mission is to save Andromeda. He does allow that they can collect some treasure afterwards, if there is time and opportunity.
Trance warns Dylan that what his is looking for is also looking for him.
Dylan, Beka, Harper, and Rommie take the Maru to the moon's surface. On the way down, they pick up a distress signal, from a Commonwealth ship, so they land near its source. The moon's surface is covered with the metal rust of previous crashes. As they start to explore the area, someone starts shooting at them. Dylan sends Rommie at the shooter from the front, and she absorbs several shots as Dylan circles around behind the shooter's position. He confronts the shooter: Molly Noguchi.
Molly tells Dylan that 3 of the 7 crew members on her ship survived their crash on the moon, but the other 2 have died in the meantime, and she feels responsible. She explains that the objective of their mission was the Point Singularity Projector, to study and destroy it. She also tells them that she has been attacked frequently, by 1 man, but he sometimes seems to be everywhere at once.
Suddenly, the crew is attacked by a group of android clones and a single human (whom Molly identifies as her attacker). They retreat to the Maru, but the Maru is now trapped by the power drain.
Harper explains that he made some modifications to the Maru during the recent retrofit, but he needs some extra power. Rommie volunteers to tap the Maru into her internal power plant, and Harper activates his modifications. The cockpit section of the Maru seals itself off, and separates from the rest of the ship as a shuttle vehicle.
Molly sets up some radio controlled explosives, for use against the gravity field generator and the power drain device. She tells Dylan that she (as a Lieutenant) acknowledges the chain of command, but also takes him to task for not keeping in touch with her after their last experience with the Ogami.
Dylan takes Molly with him to attack the gravity field generator on the surface, and sends the rest to take out the power drain device under the surface.
Rommie identifies the Red Federov, a wrecked Ogami ship lost for 316 years, cargo was listed as serial quantum chips, the fastest, smallest micro-processors ever built, which were virtually unobtainable since the First Systems Commonwealth Civil War.
Dylan and Molly are attacked by Kroton and several "android clones" of him. Kroton sets off an explosive, and Dylan and Molly fall into a cave complex, but he pursues. They hear lots of footsteps approaching, and turn to run, but Molly wonders if it might be a trick. Dylan turns back to look, and is shot at, so they run, until they are pinned down by a defense system.
Harper, Beka, and Rommie lose contact with Dylan, Molly, and the Andromeda, but they use a pulse laser which creates a local vacuum tunnel and squirt Anti-Protons (AP) right down the middle of it one microgram at a time. The laser is mounted on the Maru's shuttle and they dig into the surface of the moon. Rommie's power is quickly fading, and Harper is worried, then Harper is alerted to a major shift in the moon's density. They smash into something causing Harper to hit the floor. A few seconds later, Rommie recovers and launches a flare into the cave opening only to reveal a gigantic structure inside the moon which appears to be a mini World Ship.
Molly and Dylan hear an army of android clones marching nearby. They flee using the tunnel system. Dylan and Molly use parts scrounged from the wrecked ships and Dylan's Force lance to devise an explosive device in order to destroy the tunnel. Dylan throws an object to force the defense system to destroy itself. They move further into the cave complex, and find an army of android clones standing in formation. Kroton is broadcasting anti-organic messages. They realize that the power being drained is being used to power up these android clones. Dylan asks Molly for ideas. She scrounges a thruster from a Breo Missile full of fuel. Dylan has an idea to let the fuel do the work and sets it on the ridge, Molly uses her force lance to ignite the booster which flies right into the middle of the android clones, which sets off a chain reaction among the android clones, and destroys them. They then head for their primary target.
Beka and Harper get their bomb placed, and head back for the surface.
As Dylan and Molly are setting their bomb, Kroton attacks them, with a few of his "copies". He threatens to lead an android revolt, and, between this and the Magog, the Commonwealth will fall. Kroton says Dylan was lured in so he could be assassinated. Kroton has Dylan pinned down, but Molly shoots him in the back, and he falls. They set the bomb and leave.
Harper and Beka salvage the serial quantum chips.
Lying on the floor, a red glow shines in Kroton's eyes. He has allied with the Spirit of the Abyss. He sounds like he is receiving orders, and says that it is "time for the Primary Event".
Harper and Beka have only eighteen minutes to rendezvous with Dylan and Molly and quit loading the serial quantum chip crates onboard the Maru shuttle.
As Dylan and Molly are fighting their way out, Trance contacts them from the Andromeda. She says that the moon is shaking to pieces, and they have to get out now. They manage to fight their way to the shuttle and launch. Harper tells Dylan of the hollow moon. Dylan tells Trance to activate the bombs, which destroy both devices. The shuttle re-joins with the Maru, and they return to the Andromeda.
Suddenly, the moon splits in half, revealing the mini World Ship inside and Kroton is attempting to escape with it. Dylan tells Rommie to open 5 slipstream portals in the area. Only 1 will be "real", and the disruption will be too much for another portal to be opened by Kroton. They must bluff, even at the risk of being destroyed by the shockwave of the explosion. Kroton chooses the wrong portal, and the ship explodes, but an escape capsule manages to get away through the real portal.
Harper examines the serial quantum chips, and discovers that they have all been rendered useless by prolonged exposure to cosmic radiation.
Dylan offers Molly a spot on Andromeda's crew, but she turns him down, telling him that she wants her own life and career.
Trivia[]
- The title comes from a W.H. Auden quote, "The tyrant’s device: Whatever Is Possible Is Necessary."
- The "Diktat of Septa Parisis" quotation which opens the show bears a marked resemblance to the 1922 T.S. Eliot poem, The Waste Land, particularly the famous lines,
- "And I will show you something different from either
- Your shadow at morning striding behind you
- Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you;
- I will show you fear in a handful of dust."
- Dylan uses or calls a bluff.
- ”Chaos and the Stillness of It”
- ”Harper/Delete”
- ”Pride Before the Fall”
- ”The Banks of the Lethe”
- ”Una Salus Victus”
- ”Vault of the Heavens”
- ”Waking The Tyrant's Device”
- The title refers to the storyline that Kroton activates (wakes) the device of the Spirit of the Abyss.
- The name Kroton is similar to the various names for Greek titans and gods such as: Chronos, Cronos, Cronus, Khronos, Kronos.
- The Magog World Ship is similar to the alien machine in “Kronos”. The alien machine is composed of stolen energy. Kroton’s ship is composed of stolen ships.
- The term "Mover of Worlds" is similar to the Fleet of Worlds in Larry Niven's stories.
- A septa is a female priest in the “Game of Thrones” universe. The word Parisis has several meanings in French. “Septa Parisis” can be literally translated as the “location” (moon) of “religious” (Kroton’s beliefs) “currency” (Kroton’s army).
- In “Star Wars” the Diktat was the ruler of Corellia. Diktat refers to harsh laws imposed by a hated enemy. The World Ship was created to impose a harsh defeat on the Systems Commonwealth.
- The name is a reference to the "Doctor Who" Cyberman villain of the same name, who appears in the comic book adaptation of SF's longest-running show.
Memorable Quotes[]
Dylan: Never bet against the little guy.
Harper: I've been telling people that!
Harper: If there is treasure, it logically follows that I deserve it.
Molly: Now on to Plan B?
Dylan: Well, I was a little further along in the alphabet, but yeah.
Harper: Speaking of this moon? The entire place is hollow. Built by a freaking genius.
Dylan: Yeah, he also happened to build the Magog Worldship.
Harper: Make that evil psychotic genius!
Harper: Yeah. Can you see me? Personal attendants clearing a path through throngs of adoring women throwing themselves at my feet. Make way, make way for Seamus Zelazny Harper, the universe's richest, most eligible bachelor.
Harper: Maybe I won't own an entire planet inhabited solely by women. It's unnecessary and too much responsibility. Besides, they'll be all over me anyway with that treasure.
Beka: If it's gems, I say we keep the best and sell the rest.
Harper: Now, that's thinking. What a kick, huh? Hidden treasure, power sucking moons, hungry Magog. It's like bedtime stories my Nana told me.
Gallery[]
