'''Season 2, Episode 5''':
!The Way We Weren't

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/farscape_s2e05_78.jpg]]
Searching through junk aboard ''Moya'' and '''definitely not''' looking for valuables nobody had noticed, Chiana finds a recording device that carries a recording showing Crais having a firing squad murder the first, female, Pilot of ''Moya''; apparently, she had refused to take part in a mysterious "project", and Crais ordered her death despite the protests of a junior officer, Lieutenant Velorek. At the end of the recording, one of the members of the helmeted firing squad unmasks, revealing Aeryn. Back in the present, Aeryn admits that the person is her and the recording is true but claims that she didn't previously realise that the Leviathan the event took place on was ''Moya''. Somewhat understandably, the crew are infuriated, Crichton attempts to defend her from the others, and Chiana remains neutral.

From here on the episode consists of lengthy flashbacks interspersed with current events: we see Aeryn and Velorek arriving on ''Moya'', with Pilot as the cargo of their ship. Velorek is a technical specialist in charge of bonding the new Pilot to ''Moya'', while Aeryn has been pulled off Prowler duty to act as Velorek's personal chauffeur, which she is unhappy about. To add insult to injury, just seconds after Crais ignores her attempts to get herself reassigned, she's accosted by two other members of the firing squad, who mock "the high and mighty little Prowler pilot" for not helping them dig the Old Pilot's corpse out, and smear guts across her cheek for good measure.

In the present, Crichton finds Aeryn savagely beating a punching bag until her knuckles bleed. She breaks down in his arms and confides to him that she and Velorek were lovers. Normal Peacekeeper etiquette allows casual sex to fulfil physical needs, but strongly disapproves of emotional links; nevertheless, Aeryn felt something for Velorek that she now recognises as love.

And then, as if the situation couldn't get worse, Rygel gives Pilot the recording despite having previously agreed with everybody else that it should be hidden from him; Rygel claims that he felt morally obligated to do so, but the others suspect that he was looking to get one up on the rest with Pilot. Aeryn insists on going alone to speak to Pilot- and ends up getting half-throttled to death; D'Argo and Crichton come to her rescue and Pilot eventually calms down a bit, but refuses to move the ship any further until she leaves. With her relationship with Pilot in tatters and very little sympathy to be found among the crew, Aeryn is already packing her bags.

In flashback, we discover that Velorek, who'd been ordered to bond Pilot to ''Moya'' quickly by Crais, did so surgically rather than naturally, which has caused Pilot constant pain ever since. After making love to Aeryn, Velorek tries to get her to let him have them permanently posted together, and tells her that Crais is a maniac and that his project must be prevented; Aeryn accuses him of insubordination, and he again implores her to leave with him and unknowingly prefigures Crichton's later words to her: "You can be so much more".

Crichton goes to Pilot to plead on Aeryn's behalf. However, rather than carrying on with his accusations, Pilot reveals to him that ''Moya'' only accepted him because the Peacekeepers used the control collar to torture her into it, and in a fit of suicidal despair, he physically severs his connection with her, sending Moya's life-support systems into gradual shutdown and ensuring a slow death for himself. Aeryn insists on talking to Pilot again, but he has locked himself in the den and set the [=DRDs=] to fight off anyone who tries to enter. Aeryn and Crichton sneak in through the maintenance passages, but along the way, Crichton realises that Aeryn still hasn't told him the whole truth, and insists on it.

Aeryn reveals that Velorek and some of his men were plotting to sabotage Crais's "project," and though she didn't know what this project was at the time, she used this information to betray Velorek to Crais in exchange for being returned to Prowler duty, resulting in Velorek's execution. She explains that she now realises that the project was to breed a Peacekeeper-Leviathan hybrid battleship on ''Moya'', and to prevent it, Velorek probably installed the contraceptive shield that D'Argo [[Recap/FarscapeS01E10TheyveGotASecret later accidentally broke]]- unknowingly completing Crais's plan and causing Talyn's conception.

Back in the present, Crichton and Aeryn arrive in the den: after a shootout with the [=DRDs=] and an angry standoff, Aeryn offers her life to Pilot, acknowledging that she deserves to die for what she did. However Pilot admits that he believes that he should be the one to die: he reveals that the elders of his people considered him too young to be bonded to a Leviathan, but that Velorek offered him the chance to do so without their authority. Desperate to see the stars and the universe beyond his home planet, he accepted it, even though he knew full well that it would mean the death of another Pilot. In the present, he believes that had he refused, Velorek would never have found a Pilot willing to accept his offer and that Moya's original Pilot might still be alive.

Aeryn remembers Velorek's compassion to Pilot when he first came aboard, which she didn't understand at the time and does now; stroking Pilot's cheek in much the same way Velorek did, she tells him that both of them have come a long way, but still have a long way to go together. Finally broken out of his suicidal depression, Pilot instructs D'Argo and the others on how to create a new link between him and ''Moya''; this time, he will allow it to form naturally and painlessly, although it will take up to a cycle for him to regain full connection and control.

Alone with Crichton, Aeryn tells him that Velorek said exactly the same thing to her that he did: "You can be so much more." Crichton asks her again if she loved Velorek, and she agrees- with the heavy implication that she now has similar feelings for Crichton.
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!Tropes present in this episode include:
* AbuseMistake: The audience experiences this when Velorek appears to be attacking Aeryn but it's revealed that they are actually lovers.
* AndIMustScream: The articifical graft between Pilot and Moya has left him in ''agonising'' pain for three cycles but despite some initial fear he's never complained.
* TheAtoner: Both Aeryn and Pilot try their best to be this
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Aeryn's rather cold-blooded decision to barter her love in exchange for thirty pieces of silver - namely, to get back into space where she belonged. By her expression when Velorek is arrested, it's clear she regrets that decision. Ironically, Pilot was guilty of the exact same sin.
** Even more ironically, had Aeryn gone with Velorek she never would have been accidentally captured by Moya, meaning in all likelihood she'd still be a Peacekeeper
* BoundAndGagged: In the second flashback in the episode, Pilot is transported aboard ''Moya'' wearing the Pilot equivalent of this- a covering of black netting and a steel gag.
* CallBack: Aeryn deduces that Crais' ambition was to conceive Talyn, and that Velorek installed a [[SpannerInTheWorks Contraceptive Shield]] to thwart him. Since Velorek never broke under interrogation, and Crais could find no trace of sabotage, the counter-plot went off without a hitch... that is until D'Argo bungled his way into [[{{Recap/FarscapeS01E10TheyveGotASecret}} puncturing the shield]] last season.
* CallForward / MeaningfulEcho: "You can be so much more"
* ContinuityNod:
** Aeryn undergoes another SamusIsAGirl moment.
** Zhaan taking Aeryn to task for her murder of a "defenseless creature." Aeryn responds by throwing the whole [[{{Recap/FarscapeS01E09DNAMadScientist}} arm-cutting-off thing]] back in Zhaan's face.
** Aeryn recalls being [[{{Recap/FarscapeS01E09DNAMadScientist}} implanted with Pilot's DNA]].
** As congratulations for foiling Velorek's sabotage, Crais tells Aeryn to get in touch with Lieutenant Teeg (neck still unsnapped at this point, of course) for her new assignment.
* CutTheJuice: Inverted by Pilot, who ''yanks out his own guts'' to sever his connection with Moya, thus (in his own mind) "freeing" her.
* DealWithTheDevil: The last flashback shows Velorek holding a conference with Pilot on his home planet of Doien. Velorek offers him a Leviathan, saying that the old Pilot will be killed no matter what he does; Velorek will just find someone else if he doesn't cooperate. Ergo, Pilot was voluntarily working with the Peacekeepers all along. He lived to regret his decision following the painful grafting process...
* DefectorFromDecadence: Velorek, unsuccessfully.
* DefiantToTheEnd:
** According to Aeryn, Velorek never broke under his torture. Hence, Crais didn't know about the giant condom he installed.
** Also, the original Pilot refused to cooperate even when faced with a firing squad.
* DrJerk: Following Pilot's near-strangulation of Aeryn, Zhaan is shown dabbing her neck with some tincture. When Aeryn flinches from its sting, Zhaan asks bitingly, "Did I ''hurt'' you, my dear?" Aeryn slaps her hand away and [[SarcasmMode thanks Zhaan for her compassion]].
* EtTuBrute:
** Aeryn confesses that she feels closer to Pilot than anyone else on the ship, not least because the pair of them share DNA. Pilot sneers, "That's why your betrayal cuts so deep."
** {{Subverted}} with Velorek. [[YourApprovalFillsMeWithShame He's proud of her for having the initiative to make a deal with Crais]], while most Peacekeepers would have evidently kept their heads down.
* EveryoneHasStandards: Rygel is disgusted that Peacekeepers mercilessly shot Moya's previous Pilot to death.
* EveryoneIsRelated: With the exception of Crichton, each of the principals were aboard Moya at the time of Velorek's hijacking three years ago. Aeryn momentarily crossed paths with a hooded Zhaan in the corridors, but took little notice of her.
* FlashbackEffects: The film itself for the flashback scenes was processed using a technique known as "bleach bypass" to give them an aged look.
* {{Hypocrite}}: Zhaan spends the episode making snide remarks to Aeryn over killing a Pilot, despite the fact Zhaan once cut off Pilot’s arm and is the only one of the crew to be imprisoned for murder (that she ''actually'' committed).
* InMediasRes: The ColdOpen implies that the Peacekeeper jackboots have just seized Moya. In fact, they ''did'' -- except it's in the past.
* InvulnerableKnuckles: Averted. Aeryn smacks her punching bag so hard, she knocks it off its pedestal, leaving her knuckles raw and bloodied.
-->'''Crichton:''' You're making hamburger there.
* ItsAllMyFault: Pilot's re-evaluation ends up inverting this trope. Pilot's twinge of hate toward Aeryn was, in truth, directed at himself.
* IJustWantToBeSpecial: Pilot agreed to the switch with Moya's original Pilot because it was the only way he'd get to travel after the elders of their species deemed him not ready to bond to a Leviathan.
-->'''Pilot:''' But I just so desperately wanted to see the stars.
* JitterCam: Used for the recording of the first Pilot's murder, as the cameras are meant to be attached to the Peacekeeper squad's helmets.
* KickedUpstairs: Aeryn chafes at being diverted from Prowler detail in order to participate in some hush-hush project.
* LetMeAtHim: Crichton has to hold Aeryn back from attacking Rygel after being called a "Peacekeeper murderer."
* MyGreatestFailure: Aeryn and Pilot both have blood on their hands. Aeryn's error is more poignant, as Velorek offered her the same chance as Crichton in the pilot episode; she made the opposite choice.
* NeckLift: Pilot performs this on Aeryn- justified considering that he's a much larger creature.
* NotSoDifferentRemark: As Aeryn gets hammered for her past actions by the others, Crichton steps in to point out that they all have moments in their past that they wouldn't want recorded on video.
* OhCrap: Crichton and Aeryn when they see that Pilot has gotten a hold of the recording.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: As noted by Crichton, Pilot would [[Recap/FarscapeS01E09DNAMadScientist only offer snotty remarks over having his arm cut off]], but he is positively pissed off here.
* ParodiesForDummies: When Pilot shuts off the power, Crichton laments that no one has a copy of ''Leviathans For Dummies''.
* PleaseKillMeIfItSatisfiesYou: Aeryn says that she deserves to die, and won't stop Pilot from taking her life, but asks him to spare the others and himself.
* PosthumousCharacter: Tam Velorek.
* PunchAWall: An actual punching bag, but with self-destructive intensity. The script originally called for Aeryn to punch a bulkhead, but Claudia Black reasoned that ''hitting Moya'' with her fists didn't play in the context of the scene.
* RapeAsDrama: Subverted. Aeryn is talking to John about Peacekeeper sexual relations: procreation is assigned, but you can have as much sex as you want, as often as you want, with as many different people as you want. Interspersed with this is Aeryn flashing back to her time with Velorek's unit, and him seizing her and hauling her into an empty room, his hand over her mouth. As Aeryn trails off about her experiences from that time, John guesses they were "Empty," to which Aeryn corrects him to "Painful." Back in the flashback, Velorek hauls Aeryn over to the bed, they fall with her on top... and Aeryn smiles and kisses him tenderly. What appeared to be setup for a rape scene was nothing of the sort. The experience was "Painful" because Aeryn wound up betraying Velorek to Crais to get back on Prowler detail.
* TheReveal: Aeryn suspects that the contraceptive shield that D'Argo broke last season is how Velorek sabotaged the project.
* {{Retcon}}: This episode conflicts with Crais's apparent surprise at and lack of interest in the existence of ''Talyn'' when first finding out about his existence at the end of S1, although he might have just been hiding his knowledge from Scorpius.
** Either that, or like Aeryn, Crais didn't realize that Moya was the same leviathan until after boarding Talyn the first time.
* ScottyTime: Velorek estimates that installing Pilot will take 83 arns. Crais gives him 60.
* SexFaceTurn: Subverted. Aeryn remained loyal to the Peacekeepers and turned Velorek in despite her feelings for him.
* ShoutOut:
** The title "The Way We Weren't" is a play on the 1974 film ''The Way We Were'', starring Music/BarbraStreisand and Creator/RobertRedford.
** Crichton learns from Zhaan that Aeryn is leaving Moya, so he goes to confront Pilot. "Let's hash this out right here, right now.", Crichton announces. "[[Franchise/{{Peanuts}} Five cents, the doctor is in.]]" Let's hope he doesn't try yanking away a football before Pilot can kick it.
* StarfishLanguage: Velorek notes that the native language of Pilot's species is so dense and complicated that translator microbes cannot process it. Members of the species have to make an effort to speak slowly enough for other species to understand them.
* TemporaryLoveInterest: Played with. Crichton almost seem envious, despite Velorek being dead. But then, Velorek got to experience a side of Aeryn that Crichton didn't know existed.
* VillainousDemotivator:
** Crais isn't happy with the slow pace of his project. When Velorek lists off a myriad of excuses for the delay, Crais advises him to "take a lesson from your new Pilot: ''Anyone'' can be replaced."
** Pilot struggles in his bonds as he's lowered into his new home -- Moya. Velorek gently reminds him of what they discussed and encourages him not to be afraid. Crais storms in, looking like he needs a vacation, and Velorek immediately [[InvertedTrope drops the "buddy-buddy" stuff]] and [[JerkassFacade tasers the heck out of Pilot]].
* YourApprovalFillsMeWithShame: As Velorek is being led away, he turns to Aeryn and remarks that he always knew she was "special." Aeryn, exalted and damned in one breath, can only stare ahead in self-disgust.
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