"Take good care of the forests, Dewey."
As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked. You have been warned.
- The moment when the order is given to abandon and destroy the domes. Lowell, who had dedicated his life to preserving what little remains of the natural environment, looks utterly devastated by this turn of events. Immediately afterwards, he is seen wandering the ship in a depressive state to the strains of Joan Baez's haunting ballad "Rejoice in the Sun". The whole thing is made worse by the way his Jerkass shipmates legitimately don't give a crap about the fact that they are destroying the last surviving traces of plant life on Earth.
- Lowell's rant about humanity's collective apathy and his subsequent pleading with his shipmates not to blow up the domes. It's sad to think that the human race has become so uncaring that they've completely given up trying to preserve the natural world, which is neither disposable nor replaceable. A point which is driven home by this quote in particular:Lowell: Look on the wall behind you. Look at that little girl's face. I know you've seen it. But do you know what she is never going to be able to see? She's never going to be able to see the simple wonder of a leaf in her hand. Because there is not going to be any trees. Now, you think about that.
- The destruction of Drone #3 (Louie) as the Valley Forge is passing through Saturn's rings. Lowell can do nothing but curse in frustration as the little robot gets stuck and is blasted into the depths of space by a piece of ring material.
- The burial scene, both in-universe and out. Lowell is so wracked with guilt over his impulsive decision to mutiny against and kill his fellow crewmembers, whom he ultimately respected despite the fact that they weren't exactly his friends, that he's reduced to tears.
- Lowell finding the forest dying from lack of sunlight. By this point, the isolation has severely compromised his mental state, and his regrets over his actions have so overtaken him that he can't even properly take care of the forest he had sworn to protect.
- Lowell attempting in vain to repair Huey after accidentally running him over with one of the service buggies. Despite his best efforts, there is simply nothing he can do to fix the damage done to the robot's systems, leaving Huey unfit for all but the most simple tasks.
- The goddamn ending. Lowell, unable to live with the guilt anymore and not wanting to see the forests destroyed, wistfully confesses that things have not gone the way he had planned. He relays his final instructions to Dewey, telling him to take care of the forests, before jettisoning the last remaining dome. With Huey by his side, he arms one of the nuclear charges and presses the button, destroying the Valley Forge. The final shot of the film (pictured) shows Dewey tenderly caring for the plants in the last dome as it drifts into deep space, to a reprise of "Rejoice in the Sun".
