History Awesome / Defiance

* A moment of awesome for Amanda Rosewater when she has to make a statement to the town, who are worried and have lost any hope for it as the Volge are on their way to wipe it off the map. Finally, she tells it how it is.

* YMMV, but the fact that some great Earth music -- including Music/TheCure -- has survived the apocalypse to be enjoyed by a brand [[KlingonsLoveShakespeare new generation of humans and aliens,]] is an awesome thing indeed.

* The battle against the Volge. From [[spoiler:The Spirit Riders BigDamnHeroes moment, to nuking the Volge with a super bomb]], and everything in between, it is straight awesome. And that's all from ''the first episode.''

* Nolan [[spoiler: putting a bullet in Pol Madis, so neither the [=ER=]ep or the Votanis Collective can make use of his WMD's.]]
* [[spoiler: Quentin killing Birch with his bare hands after getting tazed by him.]]

* [[spoiler:Even though Datak [[DyingMomentOfAwesome kills her right afterwards,]]]] [[CoolOldLady the old Spirit Rider woman]] choking Datak, forcing him to beg for his life, and then insulting him for shaming his liro by doing so.

* Nolan and Berlin saving [[spoiler: Stahma]] from the second bomb, Nolan managing to disarm it at literally the last second. This is enough that the town, which for the most part was still holding a grudge against him for accidentally killing that Castithan kid last season, welcomes him back with open arms and cheers.

* Datak [[spoiler:waltzing back into his house like a boss, hopping in the bath and attempting to drown Stahma for leaving him to rot in jail.]]
* Rafe, after finding out [[spoiler:he's gonna be a grandpa]], drags Alak aside for another awesome installment of "Rafe intimidates Alak Tarr".

* After Datak [[spoiler:scars Alak to teach him a lesson]], [[MamaBear Stahma]] gathers the boys to beat the ever-loving crap out of him and throw him in the street.

* Stahma crusading for women's rights in her own, special way. Namely, by [[spoiler:poisoning the wife and friends of religious bigshot Favi Kurr, and framing him.]]
* Churchill fearlessly taking on the Gulanee with nothing a stick and a pistol. He fights well, [[spoiler:but goes down in the end.]]

* Datak taking [[EyeForAnEye "An eye for an eye"]] to its logical extreme when [[spoiler:he gouges out the bodypart-jacking doctor's eyes with his thumbs.]]

* [[spoiler:Kenya]] going [[Film/ReturnOfTheJedi Slave Leia]] on her captor by strangling him with her chains, and bashing his head in with a car hood. [[spoiler:She doesn't get away, but props anyway.]]

* The real killer of [[spoiler:Deidre Lamb. ''Christie''. When she sniffs out the fetus killing poison in her drink, she beats Deidre's ass and throws her from the top of the Arch]]. ''Stahma'' bursts out laughing when she deduces the truth, especially since she was planning on doing it herself.

* After [[spoiler:Tommy is stabbed by Irisa]], despite all their griping, Nolan takes the cargo sled off of his now-nonfunctioning car, straps the barely-alive [[spoiler:Tommy]] on, and starts DRAGGING him back to town. Whether [[spoiler:Tommy]] lives or not, Nolan's attempt is EXTREMELY admirable.

* Datak and Stahma taking revenge on their treacherous lieutenants by [[spoiler: poisoning them, leaving them [[AndIMustScream completely paralyzed]], and then hiding them where no one will find them]].

* The Kaziri tries to retake control of Irisa by sticking her in a LotusEaterMachine where [[spoiler: a vision of Tommy tries to convince her to make a deal to revive him]]. With some [[IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight encouragement]] from Nolan, Irisa refuses the temptation and breaks free. We then get this:

* Irisa and Cai [[spoiler: seizing control of the Kaziri and turning the terraformers back into orbit, obliterating the Ark debris field in orbit]].

* Later, Alak ups both his Badass and Crazy quotas by [[spoiler: making it back home by himself...and promptly pulling a knife on Stahma, fully prepared to murder his own mother for everything she's done.]]

* Stahma and Amanda finally throwing down is a thing of beauty. [[spoiler: Although Stahma wins the brawl, it's a very close call, that ends with her possibly being mortally wounded...with [[RunningGag that letter opener again]]...]]

* Datak, [[spoiler: on a suicide mission to take out Rahm Tak, has a homing beacon implanted in his arm. He pretends he wants to defect for real, and when Rahm Tak challenges his loyalty, he chops off the arm with the beacon and runs for his life. The episode ends with a pan over the wrecked Votanis Collective camp, to Datak hiding behind a wall, still alive with a GrinOfAudacity.]]
** Related to the above, [[spoiler: General Rahm Tak's literal LaserGuidedKarma. After so many episodes of casual mass murder and grandiose posturing, he's ultimately taken out by the stasis net explosion before he even toes the border of Defiance. The last thing he sees is the wave of incinerating energy barreling toward his camp.]]

* The brief fight between Kindzi and [[spoiler: T'evgin]]. Granted, [[spoiler: T'evgin ultimately loses and gets KilledOffForReal for his trouble]], but it's nice to see someone finally lay the smackdown on her.

* Datak delivering one hell of a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to Kindzi while in captivity, and later [[spoiler: escaping by stabbing an Omec in the forehead with a hidden blade in his prosthetic arm]].
* After [[spoiler: Amanda overpowers her and rips out the Omec implant]], Yewll picks up a gun and [[spoiler: shoots the Omec she was caring for until the clip is empty.]]
-->'''Yewll''': [[spoiler: [[HesBack Looks like Mama got her groove back.]]]]
* [[spoiler: Nolan, Irisa, Amanda, and Yewll]] [[BigDamnHeroes appearing just as several Omec are about to eat Samir]] [[spoiler: and wiping them out in a hail of gunfire.]]

* [[spoiler:Just when it looks like Kindzi is going to eat Luke, Datak shows up, stabs her in the side of the neck, and ''impales her against a door frame''. You do ''not'' mess with his family.]]
* After Amanda has her guts slashed open and left to rest in the clinic, [[spoiler:the Omec come and kidnap everyone, leaving her behind as "spoiled meat." She gets up--bleeding and holding her guts in with one hand--and walks outside to kill all three kidnappers by herself. Then she collapses]].
* Yewll's [[spoiler: attempt at a HeroicSacrifice, putting herself through enormous physical pain with the likely eventuality of her death just to get Nolan to the ship's core. If she hadn't already redeemed herself for her actions under Kindzi's control, this was enough.]]
** She gets another one later [[spoiler: when she goes along with Nolan's plan and flies them out into deep space, without the least bit of worry for her own continued existence.]]
* [[spoiler: Kindzi's death: stabbed in the head by Nolan and thrown into a spinning engine. AntiClimax or not, it's a fittingly painful way for her to go.]]
* The utter childlike glee on Nolan's face as [[spoiler: he prepares to fly the Omec Arkship into deep space. He's about to boldly go....]]

* The ending montage is a huge TearJerker, but it contains at least one awesome moment. [[spoiler: Irisa sits alone somewhere in town, and just as the camera pans down to a very familiar badge in her hands, she gets a call and answers it:]]
-->'''Irisa''': [[spoiler: Lawkeeper.]]

--> '''Amanda''': "We all have our stories, and we've endured a lot: Raiders, epidemics, floods. We're still standing, just like that big-ass arch up there. We live in a great place, a town where human and Votan races live together as equals. We strive for the best, but sometimes we fall short. Sometimes we forget ourselves, and occasionally, this new world rears up and kicks us in the teeth, but we stay. We fight because this town is worth fighting for, and if necessary, it's worth dying for. Now, I'm going to stand up to what's coming, and I'm gonna drive them out, and I hope that each and every one of you stands with me because we are stronger together.

* Alak and Nolan completely owning Datak with their ReverseMole scheme is a fitting comeuppance for the smug bastard.

* The Hellbug Matron. VisualEffectsOfAwesome, incarnate.

** Also triples as a CrowningMomentOfFunny and CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming, which makes it even more awesome.

* Crossing over with [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming CMOH]], the usually [[DeadpanSnarker dry]] Doc Yewll is almost gentle when she assures Nolan and Irisa that she didn't tell [=ERep=] anything about their "Irathient godling," either under torture or as means of gaining a pardon. The fact that she's back to work and at least ''seems'' her old cheerfully-exasperated self again goes a long way toward making Defiance feel a little more... well, like home.

* Even the backstory has one: The Defiant Few. When armies on both sides saw that the collateral damage from their battle was endangering civilians--especially children--they temporarily set aside their differences to rescue the civilians from damaged buildings. Even when their respective superiors ordered them to fight, the Defiant Few [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight told their commanders where to stick it]]. Doubles as a HeartwarmingMoment, and the incident is credited for starting the peace process.

* Tommy, after learning what happened to Irisa and why, and after spending what looks like ''hours'' begging her to stop, finally learns that she's completely right about her prisoner's identity. She unlocks Tommy's handcuffs, and he promptly starts ''beating the living hell'' out of the bastard.

* On that note, the fact that Irisa finally stood down. The Castithan had wanted her to become an avenging angel--he wanted to torture her into a killer. She spares him so that he'll live the rest of his life knowing that he failed to turn her into a murderer.

* YMMV, but the fact that some great Earth music - including TheCure - has survived the apocalypse to be enjoyed by a brand [[KlingonsLoveShakespeare new generation of humans and aliens]], is an awesome thing indeed.

[[AC:"Brothers In Arms"]]
* Nolan [[spoiler:putting a bullet in Pol Madis, so neither the [=ERep=] or the Votanis Collective can make use of his [=WMDs=].]]

[[AC:"I Just Wasn't Made For These Times" ]]

--> "[[IfYouEverDoAnythingToHurtHer If you ever hurt my daughter]], your questions about God will be answered... [[ImpliedDeathThreat Personally]]."