Alright, everybody ready for Dark Matter: Sometimes in Life You Don’t Get to Choose, the second to last episode of the season? Seatbelts buckled? Popcorn popped? Here we go!
“Surrender or die.” | Episode 12 opens on an unfamiliar ship bearing the Zairon crest. It is coming under fire from a ship that, based on its behavior, is the Raza. The Raza uses the blink drive to outmaneuver the Zairon ship, bringing it to the brink of destruction. Then, the Raza hails the other ship, and Four (Alex Mallari, Jr.) announces himself as Ishida Ryo, the rightful heir to the throne of Zairon. He boards the other ship and tells the crew and captain that they have just experienced firsthand the technology that will allow them to turn the tide in the war against Pyr. He tells them that he can win the war for them in return for the throne of Zairon. The ship’s captain (albeit reluctantly), General Drago (Paulino Nunes), swears loyalty to Four, but one of the colonels refuses. Remember, it is thought by the general public that Four killed his father, the Emperor, in order to claim his throne. But in reality, it was the Emperor’s wife, Four’s stepmother, who killed him, framing Four so that her son, Hiro (Karl Ang), could claim the throne. Four beheads the colonel, and the rest of the crew wastes no time in swearing loyalty to him.
On the Raza, Four talks to Nyx (Melanie Liburd) about his plan. Nyx asks how he knows that none of them will betray him, and he tells her that it’s because he knows them. Nyx is hurt that Four restored his memories without talking to her. He tells her that he couldn’t take the risk that she would tell the others, who might have tried to stop him. He tells her that his feelings for her haven’t changed, but she tells him that he has.
Android (Zoie Palmer) is drinking hot chocolate in the mess hall. She asks Two (Melissa O’Neil) if she’s upset that she didn’t consult the rest of the crew before restoring Four’s memories, but Two says that she would have done the same thing in her position.
“Everything I’ve been through since the mind wipe—everything we’ve all been through together—has made me a better person.” | Six (Roger Cross) finds Five (Jodelle Ferland) eating her lunch in the cargo bay. She tells him that she doesn’t want to be around Four. She saw what he was like when the crew got their memories reset in episode 2×03, and doesn’t want to see that again. Six tells her that this time is different, because Four didn’t lose any of his memories of the ship and their experiences. Six thinks those experiences have made the whole crew better people than they were before the initial memory wipe, and encourages Five to give Four a chance.
Four tells Two and Three (Anthony Lemke) that if he can get his half-brother, Hiro, to abdicate the throne, the rest of the council will have no choice but to let Four take the throne. Four thinks that Hiro will see reason, and know that the only way to win the war is to let Four lead. He plans to ambush Hiro using the Ishida shuttle they used to escape Hyperion-8, which has apparently been rattling around in the cargo hold, as bait. General Drago has told him Hiro’s traveling plans. Once the Raza has crippled the ship Hiro is on, Four boards it. Just then, four Zairon destroyers drop out of FTL and surround the Raza. They’ve been set up! Hiro plans to take Four back to Zairon. Four tells Hiro that he wants to take the throne, and that he didn’t kill their father. He says that he could have killed Hiro by opening fire on their ship, but he didn’t. He wants to speak to Hiro in private, so Hiro sends everyone out of the bridge. The Raza gives a demonstration of the blink drive, and Four tells him that they can win the war with it. Hiro tells Four that he never even wanted the throne.
“Too many terrible memories, or too much of father’s blood?” | On Zairon, Empress Ishida (Mung-Ling Tsui) confronts Hiro about Four. Hiro, in turn, confronts her about the murder of his father. The Empress finally comes clean about it, but still blames Four for being his father’s favorite.
Hiro plots with Four about handing the throne over. He plans to give an address about the war with Pyr, then abdicate. Four will come down and claim the throne after Hiro has secured the court.
Three wonders if Hiro can be trusted. He points out that their ambush of Hiro suddenly turned into a reverse ambush of them, when General Drago had said that he was travelling alone. Three thinks that either General Drago is giving them bad information, or they’re being played.
Six asks Four about his plans for after he becomes Emperor. Four says that he’ll have Zairon’s greatest minds work on reverse-engineering the blink drive, so that he can outfit an entire fleet of ships with it. Six thinks this is a bad idea, as the blink drive is way too powerful to give to an army. He tells Four that he will never let that happen.
The Raza heads to Zairon, as planned, and find six Zairon destroyers orbiting the planet. Four tells the crew that they’re his brother’s ships, and are in on the plan. The Raza picks up a planet-wide broadcast, and we see Empress Ishida telling the country that her son, Hiro, has been the victim of an assassination attempt by Four. He survived serious harm, but has been taken to a safe location, so Empress Ishida will be ruling in his stead. She says that the traitors in the court will be dealt with, and the six destroyers begin to blow up.
“Hers was a ruthlessness born of insecurity. But you, you hold a strength drawn from confidence and compassion.” | The Raza leaves Zairon, and Four talks to General Drago. He says that other than himself, Four, and Hiro, everyone who knew about the plot was killed, so there can’t have been a traitor in their midst. He tells Four that Hiro is confined to his room in the palace, which is being guarded by the Empress’ loyalists. They have to get Hiro before he is moved off-world, so Four and Drago decide to rescue him that night. Two doesn’t think that Drago is trustworthy, as the Empress has been one step ahead of all their plans. She tells Four that she can’t ask the crew to go with him, and that his faith in General Drago will cost him everything.
Six asks Three if he’s going with Four, and Three says Four didn’t ask him to. Four plans to fly the Ishida shuttle down to the planet. Three tells Six that Four has been avoiding him since getting his memories back, and he thinks Four knows something about him that he doesn’t want to have to tell him. Three is curious, but he thinks that if someone like Four doesn’t want him to know, he’s probably better off not knowing.
“That’s very poetic. And ultimately, unhelpful.” | Four goes to the bridge to say goodbye to Android. He tells her that she’s come a long way from the factory model they purchased. He confirms that Two was the one to upload the emotive subroutine into her, with Five’s help. Android asks why they did it, and Four tells her that the answer is literally within her. Android possesses internal recorders that documented her time on the ship before she went into stasis, and when she was rebooted, she lost immediate access to the digital data. Four tells her that the data itself is still inside her, somewhere. She just has to find it.
Nyx stops Four in the hallway, asking why he won’t let any of the crew come with him. She thinks it’s because he doesn’t fully trust General Drago, and doesn’t want to take them into danger. But Four tells her that he’s not letting her come because he doesn’t need her.
“His closing argument could have gone better.” | Four sneaks into the palace through a door Drago had left unlocked for him, and finds Drago sitting in his chair, facing the fire. But when Four turns the chair, he sees that Drago’s throat has been slit. Empress Ishida and Misaki (Ellen Wong), the Commander of the Royal Imperial Guard, arrive. They put out a live broadcast of Four’s trial for the murder of his father. Four tells the judge, named Odo (Lorne Kennedy), that he is innocent, and was framed. He finally ends by accusing Empress Ishida of murdering her husband. Misaki seems uncertain of which side to believe. Four manages to break free of the guards around him and seizes a knife, but Misaki prevents him from killing the Empress. The guards grab him and drag him off to await a verdict.
The crew of the Raza has been watching the live broadcast, and know they must rescue Four. Five experienced some of Four’s memories in episode 1×06, and tells Two that she remembers the layout of the palace. Six points out that they have anticipated the Raza’s every move, and that they’ll surely see this coming, and Two realizes, “of course they will.”
“You idiot.” | Misaki enters the cell in which Four is being held. Four tells her that Hiro will confirm his account, and Misaki says that he is resting after the assassination attempt. Four asks if she’s seen him or heard from him what happened, but she has only heard from the Empress. He points out that as Commander of the Royal Imperial Guard, her loyalty is to the Emperor, not his mother. Misaki reminds him of a time when they were both young. They snuck down to the kitchen and found a bowl of pudding. Four had snatched the spoon out of Misaki’s hand and taken the first bite. He told her it was delicious, and she trusted him and also took a bite. But it had turned out to be chicken fat. Back then she would have followed him to the ends of the universe. Misaki tells Four that she followed him because she had been in love with him. She then tells him that it’s time to face his sentence, and escorts him out of his cell.
Meanwhile, the crew of the Raza, dressed in Zairon robes, are making their way through the palace. Five separates from the others, telling them she’ll see them later.
“Exile, imprisonment, or death?” | Four stands before the judge and the Empress again, and Oso pronounces him guilty. Empress Ishida asks what his punishment will be. Oso votes death. Misaki votes death. And Empress Ishida votes death.
Two, Three, Six, and Nyx are walking down a hall when the floor suddenly becomes electrified, knocking them out. At the end of the hall is Hansmeed (Daniel Fathers), the captain of the seer ship from earlier this season. So that’s how the Empress has been one step ahead of them this whole time!
The guards drag Two, Three, Six, and Nyx into the throne room, where Four is. Hansmeed tells them that the seers allied themselves with the Empress in return for getting Nyx back. He also tells Nyx of how Milo slit his own throat shortly after returning to the seer ship. Nyx recognizes the knife Hansmeed shows her as belonging to Four. Four explains to her that he couldn’t risk Milo being turned to the seers’ side, and neither could Milo. The Empress then asks if this is the whole crew, and Hansmeed confirms that it is, except for Five, who is “of little consequence.” We’ll see about that.
Just then, a man runs into the throne room announcing that a ship has appeared over the palace. Android appears on a screen, telling the Empress and her men to let the crew of the Raza go, or else she will open fire on the capitol. Oso thinks that she is bluffing, since she is an Android and her programming is to maintain the wellbeing of her crew. Android says that she has been given orders that override that programming, and fires on the city.
Five shoots two guards with a stun gun, and bursts into Hiro’s quarters, announcing that she is there to rescue him.
Android tells the Empress that she is entirely logic-based, with no capacity for empathy, so the loss of her crew would be unfortunate, but ultimately acceptable. Empress Ishida calls her bluff, and orders Misaki to execute one of the prisoners. Misaki is about to behead Four when Hiro enters the throne room and orders her to stand down. He orders the guards to arrest the Empress and her allies for treason. The Empress orders them to take Hiro back to his room. Misaki is caught in a tug-of-war between the two, ultimately picking Hiro’s side. Hiro places the Empress under arrest for the murder of his father, and hands over the throne to Four.
Four then asks Hansmeed to predict what will happen next. Hansmeed thinks Four will banish Empress Ishida, and appoint Hiro to the court. The seers will leave without Nyx, but with an alliance with Zairon that will be fruitful for many years to come. Four tells Hansmeed, “You guessed wrong,” and gives an order in his native language. The guards kill all of the seers and supporters of the Empress, and one slits the Empress’ throat. Lastly, Misaki slits Hiro’s throat.
The crew of the Raza call out Four’s name, horrified. But Four says, “My name is not Four. I am Ishida Ryo, Emperor of Zairon.”
Hey, pick your jaws up off the floor! Didn’t your mother ever teach you that gawking is rude? Well, Four—er, Ryo—was pretty rude himself. Guess his mother didn’t teach him that killing his brother was rude. Looks like Five was right to be suspicious of Ryo after all. Now what? Ryo isn’t going to let the rest of them take the Raza and go, so they’ll probably have to stick around and help him win the war against Pyr, and simultaneously keep him from replicating the blink drive for his fleet! What does Ryo know about Three that he’s hiding? And what about the creepy demonic screeching ribbons from Dwarf Star Tech? And who hitchhiked to this universe from the parallel universe? Here’s hoping the finale will give us some answers!
I’ll see you all back here next week for the Dark Matter season finale: But First, We Save the Galaxy, Friday night at 10pm on Syfy.