Defiance Episode 3.09 When Twilight Dims the Sky Above

Nolan has an imaginary friend who's a pretty bad influence, taunting him into alcoholism and violence. Stahma's very real friend, T'evgin, has just invited her to move to Australia with him and his bloodthirsty, soon-to-wake hoard. As she stammers to find an excuse not to go with the man who now loves her and may soon eat her, an envoy from the Votanis Collective arrives; they requested parley with Amanda, and given the non-existent stasis net, she could hardly refuse.

Vice Chancellor Silora Voske greets Amanda like an old friend, then cues the smoke machine, slo-mo effects and extra bass as the Escalade with 27-inch rims rolls up and out steps Datak Tarr. Amanda's like, "Wuuuuut???" And Nolan and Irisa are all like, "Wuuuuut???" But Stahma is straight up like, "Wuuuuuut!!!" She runs for him and embraces him, leaving T'evgin and his offer of undying love (and possibly cannibalism) in a little puddle in the dirt.

Once she and Voske are off the streets and in her office, Amanda makes it plain that she's not happy to see Datak or the entity responsible for the massacre by Rahm Tak. Voske realizes that Amanda still doesn't know that Tak was rogue and quickly explains that she's here to thank Defiance for solving the problem of how to squash his rebellion. She's authorized to give them the better end of whatever deal they wish to broker regarding gulanite, trade arrangements or anything else Amanda may wish for. As for Datak, he gave her the impression he'd be received as a hero.

In return for their goodwill deals, Voske would like Amanda to deliver T'evgin to a reception in town; her people are scared out of their minds at the thought of two Omecs with a harvesting ship in orbit, and she needs to broker a peace with them in order to keep those Votans who celebrated Rahm Tak from revolting and continuing the massacre. This is where Stahma comes in, given her favor with the big purple guy. The trouble is, the odds of him eating her will go up precipitously when she declines his offer to move to Australia, so Stahma's not keen on being anywhere near him anytime soon. Amanda sweetens the prospect for Stahma by offering not to have her husband shot in the head if she convinces T'evgin to come party with Voske. So generous.

Stahma appeals to T'evgin's wisdom, and given his soft heart for her, he yields to her argument. Much as he hates the people who decimated his race, he realizes that he must deal with them if his family is ever to live peacefully on Earth. Stahma and T'evgin arrive at Voske's party in style, but before the Omec has a chance to talk shop with Voske, Kindzi - woken from her stasis sleep by the puppetted Doc Yewll - arrives, and boy is she hungry. She wants T'evgin to prove how much he loves her by eating all these people with her, but before her jaw can all the way unhinge, Nolan shows up in full dementia, claiming he found a bomb in Voske's room. He shows Amanda the "proof": a hallucination of a bomb that is actually just a purse. Voske raises an arm in protest and Nolan, believing he sees a gun, fires and kills her.

Irisa hustles Nolan out of there as the VC guards pursue, but when it's clear they won't get away this time, Irisa jabs her father in the neck with a syringe full of Votan narcotics. She visited Doc Yewll earlier, worried that Nolan might be losing his mind, and Yewll confirmed that the ark tech could in fact be giving him freaky waking dreams. With Nolan incapacitated, she falls on the mercy of Voske's guards. They lock him in the jail cell for the night.

The next morning, Amanda informs Nolan that he will have to face trial for assassination, and he's sure to be convicted. Because his life is still linked to Irisa's via the ark tech, she has to go with him. Amanda muscles a stack of cash into Irisa's palm and pleads with her to bribe a guard and escape to Antarctica. Irisa promises she will... but knows this could be the end for both of them. We're certain that Amanda's grief will soon be overshadowed by the fact that Kindzi has trapped her father in stasis and plans to wake her people and reap her dread harvest.