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==Source==
 
==Source==
* {{fws synopsis|10317}}
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* {{fsw synopsis|10317}}
 
* Trivia notes taken from “Cool Farscape Facts” on the Farscape: Starburst Edition, Season Three, Collection Three DVD
 
* Trivia notes taken from “Cool Farscape Facts” on the Farscape: Starburst Edition, Season Three, Collection Three DVD
   

Revision as of 13:30, 21 February 2010

Farscape episode
“The Choice”
Choice
Episode no. Season 3
Episode 17
Guest star(s) Linda Cropper (Xhalax Sun), John Gregg (Talyn Lyczac), Stephen Shanahan (Tenek), Raj Ryan (Hotel Owner)
Writer(s) Justin Monjo
Director Rowan Woods
Production no. 10317
Original airdate 17 August 2001 (US); 7 January 2002(UK)
Episode chronology
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"Revenging Angel; Farscape 12: D'Argo's Lament, Part 4" "Fractures"

A grieving Aeryn just wants to be left alone on a dismal planet. When Stark and Rygel spot an old enemy, however, they realize nothing is as it seems.

Synopsis

Aeryn Sun is on Valldon, a planet of mystics and seers, walking through a town square and past an image of John Crichton. A man with bloody eyes approaches her saying he can talk to the dead, but she ushers him away. As she walks up some steps, she looks over her shoulder, but doesn't see Crichton.

On Talyn, Crais blames Stark for Aeryn's being on Valldon. They argue, with Stark saying that Aeryn wants him, until Rygel intervenes. Stark then tells the others that Valldon is filled with mystics and frauds and Aeryn's gone to talk to Crichton.

Aeryn sits on the balcony of her hotel room in regular street clothes. She studies her knife and glances at her pulse pistol, before calling someone via a comms, asking him to raise a man called Talyn Lyczak... her father.

Lying on her bed, confronted by a hidden memory of the old Crichton, and begins to remember the alternate life she lived, in which she and Crichton grew old together. Particularly, she remembers the pain she felt when she was older. She receives a knock at the door from a strange looking man. She says that he found her and told her he could contact her dead father, Talyn Lyczak, so she wants him to show her. He says that he can do more than just contact him... he is Talyn Lyczak!

Stark and Rygel arrive on Valldon and Stark hears Zhaan's voice. Rygel complains to Crais over the comms that Stark is going mad and begs him to come down. The blood-eyed man comes up to Rygel and as Rygel laughs at him, the man speaks of Kellor, whom he says forgives Rygel and knows a Dominar could not go against his own family. Rygel hovers back to Stark, wanting to leave. As they go to speak to the hotel owner, a familiar face looks on...

Talyn tells Aeryn that he had his face altered to hide. Using a Peacekeeper blood spectrometer, Aeryn discovers that their blood matches – he is Talyn. He goes to leave, knowing he is not what she wants, but she tells him to wait.

Stark and Rygel ask the hotel owner about Aeryn. Stark describes her as beautiful and says they are very close. The owner says that no Sebaceans are staying in his hotel and tells them to try a rival across town. As the owner and Rygel continue to talk, Stark hears Zhaan's voice and starts to walk away. He notices someone and quickly retreats, telling Rygel to not let her see them. He points her out to Rygel – it's Xhalax Sun! They watch as she executes the blood-eyed man for talking to Rygel.

On Talyn, Stark holds Crais at gunpoint for not killing Xhalax. Crais tells them that he knew that if they killed Xhalax, Peacekeeper High Command would send another squad, and another, so he offered Xhalax her life in return for telling High Command that they were all dead. Stark doesn't believe, and wants to kill him, but Rygel won't let him because Crais is the only one to pilot Talyn in Aeryn's absence.

Talyn asks Aeryn whom she really wanted to find and she tells him that it was a man who died. Talyn says that he will return later with a being that may be able to contact her loved one. When he leaves, Aeryn asks the hotel owner of his origins, but the owner is not forthcoming.

Crais, Rygel, and Stark all arrive, and Stark contacts a dead woman to locate Aeryn. On the way back to her room, Aeryn notices a number of couples kissing and is reminded of times when she and Crichton did the same.

Stark and Crais knock on her door, but she refuses to speak, so Stark forces Crais to his knees at gunpoint. Aeryn steps out and Stark tells her that Xhalax is alive and on Valldon. She brushes it off, saying that she's seen Crichton and her father and that any minute he will see Zhaan. Stark tells Aeryn that Crais never killed Xhalax and says that he wants to look after her. She tells him not to touch her, and then brushes up against Crais, saying he always wanted her and tries to force him to give it to her right then. Stark pulls her up, but she gets him up against a wall at knifepoint and says that she will spear the last eye he has left; what makes him worse than Crais is that he thinks he's so much better and then sends them both away.

Meanwhile, Talyn has got the thing that he wanted in a box and lets Xhalax know. In her hotel room, Aeryn steps out on her balcony and calls out for Crichton. She recalls a moment back on the Ancients' Earth simulation, and starts to kiss a vision of him, the same way he kissed her then. When he vanishes, she gets up, but Rygel hovers up to the balcony and tells her of Kellor, whom he says was important in his life. He missed her for a long time, but he knew that self-sacrifice was not the answer. He says that unlike Crais and Stark, he doesn't want to get with her, but Crichton loved her and wouldn't have wanted his death to lead her here. When she gets a knock from Talyn, she tells him to go.

Talyn has brought the Seer, Cresus, and they tell it about Crichton. Aeryn tells it that he loved her and he made her better. A short image of Crichton appears above the Seer's head saying "help me, bring me back." The Seer says, through Talyn, that it's never felt a stronger vision and Talyn adds that sometimes it can raise the dead. He leaves to get something and Aeryn lies down. Crichton appears at her side, saying they can't bring him back. She asks him if it was easy to be a hero, leave her behind. They start kissing, when Aeryn suddenly realizes that she's alone.

Xhalax storms into her room and after a brief exchange of words, Talyn enters. Xhalax knocks him onto the bed and threatens to kill him. Aeryn tries to convince her that he's not the one she wants, but Xhalax gets Talyn to lie down and roll over, and shoots him. She says that things couldn't have worked out better and she's glad Aeryn and Talyn met. She blames Aeryn for everything that has happened and says she wants Aeryn's pain. She was so close to love and then lost it all in an instant. She says that Aeryn now has nothing and asks her how it feels.

Crais, Stark, and Rygel are trying to get information from the hotel owner, and after they threaten his life, he shows them an access tunnel they can use to get to Aeryn's room. Suddenly, the townspeople start shooting at them.

Aeryn tells Xhalax that she knew that "Talyn" was not her father; she hoped that he might be Talyn, like she'd hoped to see Crichton again, but in her heart she knew he wasn't her father, then Xhalax walked in. She says that the Peacekeepers aren't remarkable like she used to think – they do nothing for love. Xhalax says that she's wrong. After Aeryn's birth she was given an order that High Command called a "choice" – either Aeryn or Talyn had to die. She killed Talyn so that Aeryn could live, and she did that for love. Meanwhile, Stark fights back against the townsfolk as Crais goes to save Aeryn.

Xhalax has Aeryn out on the balcony and says that she was a pilot before she killed Talyn, but they made her kill again and again and eventually she stopped caring; she knew Aeryn's suffering would ease her pain and it has. Aeryn says that Xhalax doesn't want to kill her and Xhalax shoots twice but misses. Aeryn calls her out to the balcony and says that she can't miss up close, unless she wants to. She tells Xhalax to drop the gun, but as she is about to, Crais storms in and shoots her. Aeryn grabs Xhalax in her arms, but Xhalax tells her to let her go. She tells Aeryn that she died a long time ago and after they look into each other's eyes, Xhalax tells Aeryn to live for her, and Aeryn lets her go.

On Talyn, Crais and Rygel watch a recording from Stark, who says that Zhaan is communicating with him and he will look for her. He tells them not to follow and asks them to give the Crichton on Moya his mask, as he will know what to do with it. He asks them to take care of Aeryn, and says he will find them again. Crais says that Talyn has located Moya, and when they meet up, he will leave once Talyn has found another to pilot him.

In her room, Aeryn finishes dressing up in her old leather clothes, hair tied back. She tells a vision of Crichton that maybe if he had lived she could have become something different, but he is gone and she is what she was bred to be. Crichton calls her over, but she refuses, saying that he has to go now. Cresus tells her that what they do on Valldon is usually a fraud, but with Aeryn it may have been real and asks if she wants to try one more time. Without looking back, she walks away.

Trivia

  • D'argo, Chiana, Pilot, Jool and Scorpius/Harvey do not appear in this episode.
  • Thomas Holesgrove makes a brief cameo as a Diagnosan in the background on the planet's surface.
  • In her final appearance as Xhalax Sun, Linda Cropper considers this to be her favorite episode.
  • Rowan Woods fused design elements from Blade Runner with gothic design to create the decaying atmosphere of Valldon.
  • Stark was sent on his journey in this episode in order to allow for Paul Goddard to appear on stage at the Sydney Opera House.
  • This episode marks Zhaan's final appearence during this season.
  • This is the only episode in the entire series where a "real" Crichton does not make an appearance.

Quotes

Stark (To Crais): Do I look like an idiot? Huh? 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 better make your peace with it now, because I'm going to lead you to the other side, real quick.
Crais: You're not a child, like he is. How can I help you if I'm cuffed?
Rygel: Oh, you'll help. If someone starts shooting, you'll make a very good shield.
Aeryn: Was it easy to be a hero? Leave me behind?
John: You never think you're gonna die. I didn't know.
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: You know, we Peacekeepers think that we are so remarkable, soldiers without equal, precise tacticians, purebloods. But I've realized that 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. I did that for love.
Xhalax: 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.
Xhalax: Let me fall, Aeryn.
Aeryn: No.
Xhalax Do it. Let me go. I died a long time ago. You live for me.
Aeryn: Maybe, I could have become something different. If you'd lived, I could have truly changed. But you are gone. And I am... what I was bred to be.

Source

  • Farscape World Synopsis by Dani Moure
  • Trivia notes taken from “Cool Farscape Facts” on the Farscape: Starburst Edition, Season Three, Collection Three DVD