Defiance

Text-only Version: Click HERE to see this thread with all of the graphics, features, and links.



Surtur
Third season recently began, anyone watching this? I find it to be one of the best series ever made by the SyFy channel.

I think it is definitely one of the best shows on the air right now. It started out slow in the first season, but it eventually picked up steam and never slowed down.

TheVaultDweller
Started watching this a while back, and I enjoy it quite a lot. Nolan is a ***** badass. I do feel sorry for poor poor Alak though. That guy can never seem to catch a break. But I haven't watched the very latest episode yet, so will see what happens.

KingD19
I'm surprised Defiance just now got a thread. It's been pretty boss since episode 1 where Nolan defeats a Bioman by kicking him in the balls.

TheVaultDweller
So watched the latest episode and glad Alak finally took some action and stopped being everyone's victim. Of course he is probably going to murder his mother now, unless someone intervenes. And someone should really shoot Berlin in her stupid face already. Her beef with Irisa about Tommy is getting really old now. Interesting development with the mental connection between Nolan and Irisa, especially considering the fact that she doesn't want to be anywhere near Defiance anymore.

Surtur
I don't see Stahma being killed off, I actually know she won't be killed off because SyFy already told us that with their previews for the next episode. We see that Defiance is hunting down Stahma and Datak once Alak tells them they were the ones who blew up the arch. So we know she somehow gets out of that predicament alive.

Though the memories we saw in this latest episode of Nolan and Irisa create an entirely different picture of who Nolan is. I mean they had an alien tied up to a wall in a bar and were stabbing it randomly just for fun.

As for Berlin, on one hand I can see why she is angry. Irisa wasn't punished for what she did. I know it wasn't truly her, but Berlin still has to see her walking around free..not to mention deal with that book that has come out painting Irisa as some kind of hero. On the other hand Berlin dumped Tommy for trying to help Irisa and essentially called him a loser, then she went on to bang Nolan a bunch of times just to get back at Tommy. I'm guessing maybe she is mad at herself for being such a total b*tch to the guy.

KingD19
What you have to realize is that for 3 seasons we've been seeing and hearing just how vicious and f*cked up the Votanis Collective and just Votan's in general can be. Rahm Tahk is a perfect example. And he's probably not the worst one, just the most famous.

The Pale Wars had been going on for a year after Nolan's parents got vaporized, then he and his sister fought against the VC. Notice war changed him. An Irath killed his sister in cold blood after he showed him mercy. And he basically witnessed every atrocity the VC could throw at Earth. Basically he started treating them like the animals they were acting like and decided that mercy would get him killed.

While I was a little disturbed at the living dartboard, it's no worse than what most people seemed to be doing when the wars were over. And we've seen Rahm Tahk forcing Alak to chop up bodies just cuz. So maybe after almost a decade of atrocities he had enough and wasn't so sympathetic.

Even with his raising of Irisa, while he wasn't the most loving father, he did train her very well and she most certainly would have died or gotten killed without his guidance.

TheVaultDweller
Well, guess I should have phrased that differently. I know Alak won't actually kill her (hell, we see her in the promo for the next episode), but I feel confident in saying that he wants her dead, given his current mindset. But what is probably going to happen is all the noise will wake up the baby and it will start crying, Alak will hear it and totally forget about everything else. Which will probably save Stahma's ass. Either that or Datak or one of the servants will make a timely intervention.

As to the whole memory/flashback bits, nothing shown there is that much different to how people start to act in RL when war drags on for several years, and the soldiers who were in the thick of it start to develop a genuine hate for their enemies. Not condoning it in anyway, but the scene didn't shock me as much as it seemed to have shocked others. KingD actually summed it up well. You start seeing all your friends and family murdered by what is essentially a horde of alien invaders, it will eventually change you.

And as for Berlin, I think that the guilt thing might be true. She is projecting at Irisa because she really treated Tommy like shit towards the end and never got to really make amends I guess. Because Irisa wasn't anything other than a pawn in the whole thing, and she very strongly condemns the book that was written as trash. I think being tortured and experimented on by some weird cult as a child, forced to murder countless people by an evil space ship, and then having to live with all of that is a pretty bad punishment already. Especially now that her true feelings towards all of this has finally come out. She hates all the violence and the world she is forced in, but now because of the arc tech in her head, she is trapped in it. And Berlin should be more professional. She is supposed to be the Lawkeeper, yet was willing to potentially let Irisa freeze to death in the snow because of her personal feelings.

Surtur
Originally posted by KingD19
What you have to realize is that for 3 seasons we've been seeing and hearing just how vicious and f*cked up the Votanis Collective and just Votan's in general can be. Rahm Tahk is a perfect example. And he's probably not the worst one, just the most famous.

The Pale Wars had been going on for a year after Nolan's parents got vaporized, then he and his sister fought against the VC. Notice war changed him. An Irath killed his sister in cold blood after he showed him mercy. And he basically witnessed every atrocity the VC could throw at Earth. Basically he started treating them like the animals they were acting like and decided that mercy would get him killed.

While I was a little disturbed at the living dartboard, it's no worse than what most people seemed to be doing when the wars were over. And we've seen Rahm Tahk forcing Alak to chop up bodies just cuz. So maybe after almost a decade of atrocities he had enough and wasn't so sympathetic.

Even with his raising of Irisa, while he wasn't the most loving father, he did train her very well and she most certainly would have died or gotten killed without his guidance.

Can someone really be said to of been killed in "cold blood" if they die during a war? War is about death.

But I guess my issue was more with..acting that way in front of kids and even saying "aliens don't belong here" with an alien child you adopted literally sitting 3 feet away from you. I get the mentality, but it is still kind of dickish. I'd also think the way people treat captured enemy soldiers is indicative of the type of people they are.

Though it also makes sense now why Nolan reacted the way he did to Irisa being unable to kill: it reminds him of his failure with his sister.

Surtur
This show keeps improving in quality, also started to actually like the character of Alak.

TheVaultDweller
I don't think he was ever really a bad character, but came across as very one-dimensional (arrogant rich kid with gangster parents). But this season (and the 2nd half of season 2 to a degree) has done a much better job of fleshing out his character. I do have some respect for Datak too, for owning up to his mistakes and trying to go out with some semblance of honour. I don't see him being killed off though, so the VC attack will probably somehow result in him getting free.

Based on the promo for the next episode, T'evgin is going to go full on scifi vampire and bite/chew on some people.

Surtur
Yeah the other day I re-watched the pilot and Alak has come a long way since then. See I don't know if Datak is truly going out with honor though. I don't think he requested the torture thing due to wanting to regain his honor. Rather I think he requested it in an attempt to delay death as LONG as possible. Remember, he knows the VC is coming, and he has a better shot at escaping if they begin their attack during his torture rite..as opposed to if they just quickly hung him.

So I think it was a really clever move on his part, because even discounting the VC by requesting the slow death gives Stahma either: potentially time to somehow rescue him..or it gives her time to escape by getting the town to focus on him. He might of even been banking on the fact that since Stahma is close with the Omec now...maybe if she insisted on trying to save Datak the Omec would help. But just something tells me this wasn't about honor. Or at the very least it was about giving himself the best chance of survival, while still covering his bases so if he did die it would be with honor.

So he once again played them because he knew someone like Amanda would of been all too eager to grant him a slow painful death. She let her emotions cloud the fact that really putting him down quickly would of been the best thing. Not because he doesn't deserve to suffer, but because he doesn't stop being a dangerous threat until dead, so drawing it out isn't what is best for the town.

So he played the town beautifully, using the town and Amanda's hatred of him to actually increase his chances of getting out of this alive.

TheVaultDweller
Yeah, that's probably right actually. Datak is one cunning, slippery bastard after all. I still like him as a character though.

I am still really amped to see T'evgin cut loose. We keep hearing about how dangerous the Omec are, and we see hints of what a beast T'evgin is (like when he smashed that bar counter in half like it was a twig), but haven't seen what he can really do.

Surtur
I get the feeling sooner or later T'evgin will be forced into killing his daughter.

Surtur
Holy crap what an ending to the latest episode. Datak once again shows why he is the best character. Also the show seems to be hinting at an Alak/Arissa romance.

This episode felt more like a season finale, but we still have five more episodes. I did like General Rahm Tak, but I'm not sorry he died given the circumstances of his death. I'm guessing the big bad for the rest of the season will be Kindzi. I'm assuming she will go against her fathers wishes and attempt to release her people on her own, and the final battle will involve T'evgin having to battle her.

TheVaultDweller
Yeah, it seems like the Omec plotline is going to be the main focus from here on out, especially now with Kindzi revealing the true fate of the other Omec to Stahma. I loved this last episode though, especially that ending. I had a feeling that sneaky bastard Datak would worm his way out of being executed somehow, but the way it went down was not quite the way I expected (it was done much better). Great episode for a great season so far.

Surtur
Yeah and I had a reaction to his cutting his arm off that was very similar to Rahm Tak and his men. Mostly a "holy shit what the hell is this crazy a-hole doing doing?"

Surtur
So damn, every week this show gives you an example of how to do Science Fiction tv the correct way. The series really stepped up its game from the last season. Every episode seems more or less spot on, I don't have any episodes that really were sub par this season.

TheVaultDweller
Yes, season 3 has definitely been the strongest so far. They always keep you interested with every episode, and have plenty of unexpected twists and surprises.

As to this one, Nolan has totally lost his shit. Ark tech really likes making people hallucinate when it screws with their minds, assuming Yewll is correct and it is the ark tech putting pressure on other areas of his brain. Speaking of, wonder what is next for her and Kindzi now that she has fully betrayed T'evgin.

Also, gotta love Datak. Not only does he end up staying alive to enjoy his pardon, he gets a new arm. And not only that, it is much stronger than his regular one was.

Surtur
I'm thinking that however this plays out with the Omeks...I think Datak will use it as a reason to get rid of the mayor...thus allowing him to take power instead.

KingD19
I really wish Irisa would just nut up and do her f*cking job when it's necessary. If she had jabbed Nolan with the tranq needle when he first started acting really funky(and didn't tell him she wanted to jab him with a needle), the VC rep would still be alive and a lot of problems wouldn't be problems right now.

TheVaultDweller
Originally posted by KingD19
I really wish Irisa would just nut up and do her f*cking job when it's necessary. If she had jabbed Nolan with the tranq needle when he first started acting really funky(and didn't tell him she wanted to jab him with a needle), the VC rep would still be alive and a lot of problems wouldn't be problems right now.

Or killed Rahm Tak when she had him at her mercy... Defiance's population would be somewhat larger now still, the stasis net would still be in one piece, Nolan wouldn't have gotten driven off the deep end by that guy's suicide, and the whole mess would have been avoided. In her efforts to avoid all the violence she hates, she ended up causing a lot more damage in the long run.

KingD19
Originally posted by TheVaultDweller
Or killed Rahm Tak when she had him at her mercy... Defiance's population would be somewhat larger now still, the stasis net would still be in one piece, Nolan wouldn't have gotten driven off the deep end by that guy's suicide, and the whole mess would have been avoided. In her efforts to avoid all the violence she hates, she ended up causing a lot more damage in the long run.


Pretty much nail on the head. Hell, if she'd killed Rahm Tak, his children wouldn't be orphans as he killed their mother as well. Zero and those 26 other people wouldn't be vaporized. Which would be about 30 more people to deal with Kin'zi and the Omec showing up. Datak wouldn't have a freakish uber arm. Nolan wouldn't have a death sentence, etc, etc... And if they hadn't been running around worrying about Rahm, they might have been able to handle Kin'zi before she became a real threat.

Irisa basically screwed the pooch as much as possible. It's almost sort of impressive how her two f*ck ups caused a domino effect that ended up with dozens dead in a very short time.

And like you said, her trying to avoid the violence has caused far more than a simple act of ridding the world of a genocidal maniac.

It's like on Rick & Morty. He wanted to save one alien from getting assassinated, so he killed the assassin. And due to his actions probably 50+ people ended up dead...then he killed the alien anyway because it turned out it was going to destroy all carbon based life.

Surtur
I enjoyed the season finale, but it sure as hell felt like a series finale.

Text-only Version: Click HERE to see this thread with all of the graphics, features, and links.