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Ouroboros
Ouroboros
Production
Episode

2.12

Production #

212

Original air date

January 28, 2002

Written by

Robert Hewitt Wolfe

Directed by

Jorge Montesi

Developed by

Robert Hewitt Wolfe

Producer

Sherry Gorval

Executive Producer

Allan Eastman
Majel Roddenberry
Robert Hewitt Wolfe
Josanne B. Lovick
Jay Firestone
Adam Haight
Kevin Sorbo

Production Designer

Richard B. Lewis

Cast
Guest stars

Alex Diakun as Hohne
Rik Kiviaho as Rakeeb
Kristina Copeland as Major Kylie Vance
Emy Aneke as Thompson

Chronology
Preceded by

Bunker Hill

Followed by

Lava and Rockets


"Spiral, spin, ride the whirlwind.
Knowing when the drumming stops,
There'll be no second dance."
Ulatempa Poetess,
"Rhythms"
CY 9825

"Ouroboros" is episode 12 of Season 2.

Season2Cast

The Regular Cast of Andromeda Season 2

Synopsis[]

The crew receives a message from Rev Bem. He has been having a spiritual-crisis since the encounter with the Magog World Ship, and he will not be returning to the Andromeda Ascendant. The crew is upset by this, especially Seamus Harper, because Rev promised to help him figure-out how to remove the Magog larvae.

Suddenly, Seamus Harper collapses in pain, having strange hallucinations or visions. Trance Gemini's examination reveals that his medication is no longer working, and the Magog larvae are hatching. She estimates that Harper has a week to live. Harper suggests they go to Xinti, because, if anyone can help, the Perseids can. He also makes Dylan Hunt promise that he will not let the Magog hatch, but he will kill Harper first.

Trance tries to convince Harper to rest, but he insists on working on the problem, since his time is limited. She kisses him on the cheek and leaves him to his work.

Hohne and his assistant, Rakeeb, board the Andromeda. They are impressed with Harper's plan to use Alice strings and Tesseracts, technology he took from the allies of the Spirit of the Abyss, to remove the larvae. He recognizes the inherent risks, but feels he has nothing to lose. Rommie is genuinely concerned about him, and, despite what he says, Harper is also worried.

Dylan is walking out of the slipstream core when there is a flash of light. He hears Rommie calling battle stations, and sees his old crew running through the corridors. Confused, he drops down a ladder, and there is another flash. He finds himself 10 decks lower than he should have been, and there is no longer any sign of the old crew. Andromeda wonders how he managed to jump across 10 decks, and he tells her what happened. She notes that Thompson, one of the crew-members he saw, was only with them for one battle, Hephaistos IV. Dylan wonders if he might be losing his sanity, but the fact that he moved 10 decks away indicates that there really is something strange happening.

Andromeda asks Harper if his machine might be causing the problems, but Harper says that they have just started building the machine and it is not in operation yet.

Harper and the Perseids are working in a machine shop when there is a flash, and Tyr Anasazi walks in, apparently expecting his quarters. Tyr accuses Harper of deliberately including him in the experiment, but Harper denies it. Hohne re-opens the door, trying to determine what happened, and it opens to empty space. They all grab onto something in order to avoid being sucked out.

Andromeda calls an alert about the hull breach in the machine shop, which comes as a surprise, because it is 50 meters from an outside bulkhead. Dylan and Rommie try to go to investigate, but as they walk through the door, there is a flash, and they end up back in the room.

Harper, Tyr, and the Perseids are trying to avoid being sucked into space, and Harper realizes that this is the scene he was seeing in his visions/hallucinations earlier. Tyr manages to get the door closed, but there is another flash, and they all find themselves on the Observation Deck.

Trance is on the Eureka Maru, tending to her plants, when there is a flash and she is attacked by one of the Androids from the Pax Magellanic. Beka rescues her, then asks her what she did to cause these strange occurrences. Trance claims she did not do anything, so Beka asks her for a theory about what is happening. Trance speculates that space and time are "very messed up".

Dylan and Rommie are trying to move around the ship, but it seems that every time they go through a door, they find themselves in some other random place on the ship. They compare notes with the rest of the crew over the radio, and theorize that Harper's device is somehow affecting time and space from the future, when it is completed. Tyr proposes that they disassemble the device, but the problem is that they cannot get to the machine shop, and Hohne programmed some of the robots to work on it, so it is still being assembled. Andromeda discovers that similar problems are happening, on a larger scale, on Xinti. They split up, hoping that at least one of them can get to either the machine shop to destroy the device, or to Command where they can at least move the ship away from Xinti.

Tyr, Harper, and the Perseids are confronted by Major Kylie Vance, one of the people from Dylan's old crew, and some Lancers.

Beka and Trance try to leave the Maru, but the outer hatch opens on a different, hostile planet. Suddenly, Kalderans appear on the Maru and attack them. Beka protests that there have never been Kalderans on the Maru, but Trance speculates that they might be from the future.

To his frustration, Dylan ends up back in his own quarters, where he started. Tyr comes running around the corner, chased by Kylie Vance. Dylan stops her from shooting at Tyr, when they are attacked by more Kalderans. Dylan orders Kylie and her Lancers to hold off the Kalderans.

Harper and the Perseids are crawling through the conduits. Hohne starts to go down a ladder when there is another flash, and he falls into the slipstream engine, just barely holding on to the catwalk railing, but hanging over the edge. Harper and Rakeeb fall onto the catwalk itself, and Harper tries to pull Hohne back up, but Hohne slips, falling to his death. Rakeeb tries to say that it was fate or destiny, but Harper does not accept that. Harper says that he is going to find the machine shop and make sure no one else dies.

Dylan meets Rommie again. Rommie says that she has determined that, if they move at right angles to their goal, they have a much better chance of getting there.

While Beka Valentine is fighting the Kalderans, a stranger appears, helping her out. Beka is shocked to see that the stranger is herself, but with short, red hair, and a cybernetic-eye and hand, apparently from the future. Trance yells for help, and the "future Beka" answers the call. Beka follows. She finds Trance, now safe, and another stranger appears, fighting the Kalderans hand-to-hand. This stranger is a "future Trance", with long, red dreadlocks, gold-colored skin, and bronze-colored clothing.

"Purple Trance" and "Gold Trance" talk. Gold Trance says that she made some mistakes, and, as a result, things got very bad. Purple Trance asks if this means that they are going to lose, and Gold Trance says that, at best, they are not going to win. The 2 of them agree that they know what has to be done, and, in a flash, Purple Trance leaves and Gold Trance stays.

Beka demands an explanation. Trance (now the Gold Trance) says that she cannot explain now. She says that she cannot guarantee to make things go right, but she knows how things can go wrong. Beka is reluctant to trust her. They leave the Maru.

Dylan and Rommie finally get to Command, and start to move the ship away from Xinti.

Harper and Rakeeb appear on the Maru, and start to fight off the Kalderans. Harper gives Rakeeb a gun, although he seems unsure about how to use it. Rakeeb claims to have found a pattern to the "jumps", and Harper attempts to use it to get to the machine shop, but they end up in a corridor. They meet Beka and Trance, but Harper is immediately suspicious of the Gold Trance, saying he does not know her. Trance protests that she is still Trance.

Everyone except Tyr arrives in the machine shop at the same time. Harper's larvae are hatching, and he only has a few minutes left. They realize that they have to choose: if they activate the machine, they get the larvae out of Harper, Hohne stays dead, and Gold Trance stays - or should they destroy the machine, the tesseracts will not have happened, Hohne will be alive and Purple Trance will be back, but Harper will die. As they are debating this, Rakeeb awkwardly points his gun and demands that the machine be destroyed to save Hohne.

Suddenly the ship shudders, and they recognize the sound of Magog Swarm Ships attaching themselves to the hull. Tyr bursts into the machine shop, fighting Magog. The crew kill the Magog at the door, and turn back to the machine. Dylan asks Harper to choose whether they will use the machine or not. Harper starts to talk as if he will destroy the machine, because Hohne is more valuable. Dylan reminds Harper that that means he will have to kill him, and Tyr says that he made the same promise to Harper. While they are discussing this, Trance reaches out and turns the machine on, which successfully removes the larvae from Harper.

The disruptions on Xinti cease, and there are no longer any signs of Kalderans, Magog, or the old crew on the ship.

Dylan confronts Gold Trance on the Observation Deck. He says that he is not sure he can trust her, but Trance reassures him that her goals have not changed. Dylan asks how saving Harper and killing Hohne helps, but Trance says that she does not know if it does help, she did it because Harper is a friend. Dylan agrees to give her a chance.

Trivia[]

  • The Ouroboros refers to the concept of eternal cycles.
  • This marks Brent Stait's departure from the series, due to exhaustion from the Magog outfit. He did the voice work for Rev in this episode, but another actor was in the suit. In an interview with Republibot:
    • "I left the show because I was exhausted. I never had any reaction to the make up other than I was in it for hours and hours on end. I don't know where that allergy idea popped up. I was chemically burned once but that was not due to allergy. The suit was combination of Yak hair and synthetic I believe and it was very very hot, the Latex was thick. Covered my head and neck completely and the days on set were very long. So...well you know the rest."

Memorable Quotes[]

Rommie: Harper, are you sure this is wise? You barely understand this technology. If it doesn't work
Harper: I know, I know It'll twist me into an abstract-painting. (poses) "Harper, Descending Staircase"

Harper: All right, all right, look, the 2 of you at least pretend you're not having so much fun, OK? Remember, my life is hangin' by a thread here.
Rekeeb: An Alice-string? (He and Hohne giggle)
Harper: Exactly what I'm talking about science jokes!

Beka: Ummh, I'm sensing freakiness.

Tyr: All right, we need a plan. (to Hohne) You! Come up with one! Now!

Harper: I don't believe in destiny. I don't even believe in density, except in the heads of Perseids it's a compliment I believe in Seamus Zelazny Harper. I cogito, therefore I sum, and I sum to cogito that damn machine right out of existence. Capice?

Rekeeb: Your human tendency towards violence...
Harper: ...pales in comparison to my human tendency not to give up!

Beka: Trance! You will never guess who I just met!
Trance: A scary futuristic version of yourself? She went that way.

Dylan: What am I supposed to do with you?
Trance: I don't know. Keep me around, I hope.
Dylan: I'm trying to think of a persuasive reason to do that, but I'm having trouble.
Trance: Because you don't trust me.
Dylan: Trust is something you earn.
Trance: Then give me a chance.
Dylan: I always knew you had your own plans, but I also knew that your plans and mine were basically the same. Peace, order, a better universe.
Trance: My goals haven't changed.
Dylan: Beka says the future you came from was a bad one. One where things went wrong and you came back to set things right.
Trance: So?
Dylan: So tell me how saving Harper and losing Hohne does that. How does that set things right?
Trance: I don't know if it does. To tell you the truth, I didn't save Harper to change the past or the future. For all I know, I made things worse.
Dylan: Then why?
Trance: For the one reason that does matter. Because Hohne is a stranger and Harper is my friend.
Dylan: Huh. Well, that's a change, anyway.
Trance: What?
Dylan: Honesty.
Trance: But it doesn't answer your question, does it? About what to do with me.
Dylan: No, it doesn't. But it's a start. It's a start.

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