Season 3, Episode 14:
Infinite Possibilities, part 1: Daedalus Demands
The crew of Talyn are contacted by "Jack" the Ancient, who has evidence that someone else has a module like Crichton's, along with a working phase stabiliser that allows for safe wormhole travel. Crichton realises that it's Furlow, the alien who took scans and data from Crichton's earlier wormhole experiments. With Jack aboard, Talyn heads to Furlow's planet, while Rygel identifies the alien flying the recorded module as a Charrid — a race that's recently allied with the Scarrans.
When the crew arrives, they discover that solar flares are occurring frequently and one of them blinds Crais and Talyn. Worse, an armed force of Charrids has taken control of Furlow's compound. Crichton, Aeryn, Jack and Rygel fight the Charrids off, capture one for interrogation and rescue Furlow, who admits that she copied the designs of Crichton's module and hired Charrid mercenaries to do the test flights. However, they turned on her after the Charrids allied themselves with the Scarrans — and under Rygel's interrogation, the Charrid prisoner reveals that a Scarran Dreadnought is on its way. Even if the crew destroy Furlow's module and her computers, the Dreadnought has a copy of the phase stabiliser plans.
While Aeryn and Rygel defend the compound, Jack comes up with a plan: he can unlock the wormhole knowledge in Crichton's brain, and together they can convert Furlow's phase stabiliser into a weapon capable of destroying the Dreadnought. Crichton reveals the presence of Harvey, who must be purged from Crichton's brain first to prevent the knowledge possibly getting back to Scorpius. Jack begins a process that should get rid of Harvey, and in Crichton's head, the pair fight on a rollercoaster before falling off. After Jack is finished, Crichton wakes up, only to reveal that Harvey is in control now...
Tropes present in this episode include:
- Battle in the Center of the Mind: How the conflict between Crichton (with a mental assist from Jack) and Harvey plays out, naturally. Except it starts out as a roller-coaster ride before turning into an actual struggle.
- Berserk Button: During the mental battle, Harvey tries to convince Crichton that Jack will eventually kill the crew, including Aeryn.Crichton: Do not play the Aeryn card, Scorp! You killed her!
Harvey: Aeryn is alive!
Crichton: Now Zhaan's gone! Who do I thank for that?! - Call-Back:
- The same wormhole trick from "A Human Reaction" is used to let Crichton know where to stop moving.
- Stark is selected to help Crais with Talyn due to his prior experience.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Rygel knifes the captured Charrid to death.
- Don't You Dare Pity Me!: A blinded Crais refuses Stark's help upon returning to Talyn, only to then trip and fall down. Afterwards, he swallows his pride and stops resisting Stark's help.
- The Dreaded: Charrids to Rygel. A thousand cycles ago, they invaded Hynerian space, slaughtered a billion Hynerians, and could only be repelled by suicide attacks.
-
Filming Location Cameo: While not identified as such, Crichton and Harvey's confrontation takes place on the Big Dipper rollercoaster at Luna Park Sydney. The Sydney Opera House and Harbor Bridge can be seen clearly in several shots. It was previously established that John spent time in Australia so it's possible the imagery was pulled from his memories of Sydney. - From Bad to Worse: Rygel dreads what could happen to his people if Charrids gain control of wormhole technology. Crais then uncovers Peacekeeper intelligence reports that say the Charrids have allied with the Scarrans.
- Hero of Another Story: Dominar Rygel IX, who led the climactic charge at the Battle of Katreen.Rygel: He was a moron! Dominar's are far too valuable for combat, much less front lines. But you know, strangely enough, I think I understand why he did it!
- Hoist by Their Own Petard: Rygel uses a Charrid torture device on one.
- Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: When the automatic turret is operating as intended under Charrid control it just peppers the general area the heroes are coming from and poses little threat. Then Rygel starts aiming it manually, and holds off the entire Charrid force singlehandedly.
- Meaningful Name: The episode title, via Classical Mythology, references Daedalus, the great inventor of (among other things) the Labyrinth of King Minos of Crete. The episode contains no less than three talented inventors: Furlow, who is able to not only recreate Crichton's module from the scans and data she took before but also invent a Phase Shifter to protect its occupant from the effects of a wormhole (something Scorpius and his various project leaders were unable to do); Crichton himself thanks to the information the Ancients put in his head (though this is only fully unlocked in the next episode); and "Jack", who is not only the source of the wormhole knowledge (and the one who argued it be given to Crichton) but comes up with the plan to turn the shifter into a Gravitational Displacer. He's also the one who sets the plot in motion and is determined to do whatever it takes (including threatening Crichton and Furlow's lives) to ensure the wormhole technology doesn't fall into the wrong hands.
- Noodle Incident: The Ancients actually did succeed in finding a new world and moved on.
- Predator Pastiche: The Charrids' armor makes them look much more like a Yajuta than they do unarmored.
- Shapeshifter Showoff Session: Furlow is immediately suspicious of "Jack Crichton", and when he informs her that the wormhole technology must be destroyed, she pulls a gun on him, demanding to know why she should listen to anything he says. Jack responds by reverting to his otherworldly true form unprompted, instantly shocking Furlow into silence.
- Temporary Blindness: Talyn is exposed to a solar flare, blinding both him and Crais (because he flew too close to the sun).
- That's Gotta Hurt: Charrids are pretty pain resistant, but Rygel explains that their torture devices are designed to be effective against even them.
- Transformation Discretion Shot: Harvey's Scary Symbolic Shapeshifting makes a reappearance at the end of the episode, with Crichton turning into Harvey in a cut.
- Weapons of Mass Destruction: The device Jack wants to create is so devastating that he's certain the other Ancients would kill him and Crichton on the spot.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Crichton vents his frustration over the Ancients giving him the wormhole knowledge but not allowing him to access it consciously.
