Premise: Kevin Sorbo heads up this sci-fi hour as Dylan Hunt, captain of a peace-keeping starship, the Andromeda. Among his crew: a philosophical alien; a carnivorous holy man; a repair guru; an enigmatic femalien; and a cyborg version of the ship itself. Based on an idea by the late Star Trek creator, Gene Roddenberry.

-- tvguide.com

The Commonwealth spanned three galaxies and a myriad of cultures. Dylan Hunt, captain of the starship Andromeda, betrayed by his allies was frozen in time and awoke three centuries later to find the commonwealth had fallen. To fight back the chaos among the stars, Hunt must use the Andromeda to restore the Commonwealth and bring unity to the galaxy once again.

-- www.tvtome.com

When they are dying tell them a riddle.
And when they laugh,
Let the Gods of Nature
finish what we have started.

-- Segma Te: Director, Cultural Archives;
University Library -
CY 760

Dylan must escape two cruel gamblers' virtual game of death.

The crew is watching a battle between the Commonwealth ship, Lancers’ Hope and a Nietzschean attack fleet. The ship is quickly succumbing to the brutal assault and manages to get one distress call out before exploding. Antwon Sabo (Aaron Dudley), the Commonwealth courier that brought the footage and sole eyewitness to the attack, is telling the crew what happened. The battle occurred over Almagest, a Nietzschean-controlled world that is home to the greatest shipyards in the three galaxies. The planet lies closest to its sun, and even as it is shielded by a powerful magnetic field that blocks the worst of the solar radiation, most living and working goes on underneath the surface. They set a course and the Andromeda arrives to find no evidence that there was ever a fight here. Sabo swears by his story as the crew is hailed from the planet. Two Nietzscheans, Shig (Colin Cunningham) and Lipp-Sett (Andrew Jackson), appear on the display. They claim to be from the Office of Visitors and Tourism and seem friendly for Nietzscheans, but they deny there was any battle. Their communiqué dissolves into static in mid-conversation, and Rommie (Lexa Doig) explains that the proximity to such solar radiation makes communication difficult to maintain. Dylan takes Sabo and a few slipfighters down to the surface. They are threatened en route by an enormous solar flare. Andromeda moves around to the safe side of the planet but the slipfighters are all knocked out of commission and plummet helplessly towards the planet’s surface. Dylan is able to recover from the blast but Sabo and three others don’t make it.

 Meanwhile, the Andromeda has been mildly affected by the flare. The result is that the auto-defense system has emitted hallucinogenic gas into the ship's atmosphere and Beka and other crew members have inhaled it. She begins to lose it and shout at people that aren’t there.

 On the surface, Dylan finds a cave entrance to the underground workings of Almagest. Shig and Lipp-Sett arrive with guards and lead Dylan to a control room of sorts. They continue to deny any battle above the planet and side step any attempt of Dylan’s to gain information. The ground suddenly shakes from an attack Shig claims came from the Andromeda. Dylan tries to contact the ship but communication is disrupted by radiation. He convinces the Nietzscheans to let him use one of their ships to return to orbit and find the cause of this. Once he leaves the atmosphere, fighters attack him. He manages to destroy them but then finds no trace of destruction in his wake. Rommie’s sensors read it, but Dylan sees nothing.

 Below on the planet, Shig and Lipp-Sett watch the show on monitors, while other displays show betting odds. This is their gambling parlor where they’ve created these seemingly real scenarios. Once Dylan is back in the atmosphere, they create a problem in Dylan’s fighter, forcing him to eject and taking bets on his chances.

 The Andromeda is weathering another flare when, under cover of the radiation, Dylan’s slipfighter lands in the hanger and thousands of simulant bots slip off and into the Andromeda. Back on the surface, Dylan tries to get a report from Beka (Lisa Ryder) but is recaptured. They charge him with the wrongful deaths of people they claim died in the attacks from the Andromeda. They bind his hands and threaten to execute him in a pool of digestive enzymes. As Shig, Lipp-Sett, and the gamblers are wagering on his death, Dylan breaks free of his bonds. He grabs Lipp-Sett and they both fall, but instead of a pool of enzymes, they fall onto a hard floor.

 Dylan drags Lipp-Sett with him and fights his way through several scenarios. Because he is caught in a loop of different artificial scenarios, he decides the only way to keep surprise on his side is to call the shots, so he shoots himself.

 He wakes up on a medical table aboard the Andromeda. Trance (Laura Bertram) and Rommie are there, asking him what happened. He tells them his story but they think he was exposed to the hallucinogens on the way to his slipfighter and dreamed the whole thing. Suddenly the alarms sound because the simulant bots have been detected. After they split up to destroy them all, Dylan hears Harper (Gordon Michael Woolvett) scream. He finds him cornered by Bloodmist (Gerard Plunkett), leader of the Magog. Dylan chases them both around a corner but finds a mortally wounded Harper who dies in his arms.

 The crew is on the Med Deck standing with Harper’s corpse. Beka is mad with grief and instead of leaving Harper’s body, she pulls her gun, but Dylan outmaneuvers her with the help of Rommie, who takes Beka's weapon. Dylan then grabs Beka and throws her at the wall--which turns out not to be aboard the Andromeda, but the side of the stage in the Almagest caves. Dylan is in the Virtual Reality chair with Shig and Lipp-Sett, where they offer him his greatest wager yet.

 The real Dylan knows he’s only got one chance at this so he taunts Shig and Lipp-Sett by saying they’ve never really risked anything. Nothing they wagered amounts to him risking his life each time, so he suggests that they risk their livelihood, i.e., a fleet of slipfighters for the Commonwealth and the freedom of all the slaves they employ.

They agree and set him free to tackle his last challenge. Back aboard the Andromeda, Dylan is telling Rommie what happened to him. He tells her he missed her, and putting his hand on her waist, leans in for a kiss. She pushes him away and then another Dylan appears in the doorway. They launch at each other and start pounding away. Both tell Rommie to shoot them and end it, and she does. She knew the correct Dylan because she read his pulse when he touched her waist. The simulant bot Dylan dissolves into vapor and disappears. The crew makes the necessary repairs on the ship and they set a course for Tarazed with the new slipfighters--and freed slaves--in tow.

-- www.andromedatv.com (THE OFFICIAL ANDROMEDA WEBSITE)

"All military, rank and file,
are subject to the word and intent
of the Commonwealth Triumvirs.

There is no exception.

There is punishment accordingly."

-- Commonwealth Charter, 0957

Dylan is arrested and tried by the Collectors and Triumvirs for high crimes against the Commonwealth

Tri-Lorn (Nicholas Lea) and a massive Commonwealth fleet corner the Andromeda, demanding Dylan surrender himself for trial. They want him to turn over Rhade (Steve Bacic), who they consider a criminal. He refuses to give up Rhade, and in fact refuses to surrender himself unless he can first have an audience with Tri-Jema (Carmen Moore). Tri-Lorn finally agrees and the fleet accompanies the Andromeda to Tarazed where the whole crew is put under surveillance. Dylan is waiting in the courtroom when the Triumvirs arrive, including the newest, Tri-Camille (Kim Hawthorne). Next arrives Pish (Ivar Brogger), the Collector who is acting as the prosecutor in the proceedings. Pish begins by accusing Dylan of being allies with the Magog. He then accuses him of attempting to undermine the Commonwealth, citing Dylan’s rescue of Rhade as an example. Dylan scoffs at this example of so called high treason and again asks to speak alone to Tri-Jema. She agrees and once they are alone, she explains why she has helped bring these charges against him. The Commonwealth is changing and in order to survive and avoid civil war, she must demonstrate her loyalty, no matter the cost to Dylan.

Rommie (Lexa Doig) is next to be brought before the court. She is plugged into a special machine that accesses her memory files and displays them on a screen. She is concerned that, taken out of context, the information will be damning to Dylan so she resists, blurring the images. She ceases resistance when Pish threatens her with de-activation. Dylan is brought back in and shown specific clips of him hiding information and lying to the Commonwealth leaders. Dylan’s continued defiance causes Pish to lose his patience and forgets himself, yelling that he is the Commonwealth, not Dylan. He regains his composure and addresses the Triumvirs.

Harper (Gordon Michael Woolvett) is next to face the court alone and is accused of being a co-conspirator. As Pish asks specific questions, Harper defies him by spouting random information worth nothing to Pish’s case against Dylan and his crew. This continues until Pish is sufficiently disgusted and gives up. Gaining no ground with Harper’s testimony, Pish has Dylan brought back in and shows images of him killing Citizen Eight (Maury Chaykin) and Paroo (Nigel Bennett), men he calls great citizens and assets of the Commonwealth.

Pish attempts to question Trance (Laura Bertram) next, only to have questions fired right back at him.

Back aboard the Andromeda, Rhade dispatches four guards and takes over the command deck while Beka (Lisa Ryder) and Rommie conspire to break the ship out of the blockade. They burst into Dylan’s office to rally him but he regretfully declines. He doesn’t enjoy his position but feels he must set a lawful example for others to follow as well as determine if there is anyone left in the Commonwealth leadership on his side. He goes before the court a final time and labels himself a patriot of the Commonwealth, with every effort spent on returning it to its former glory as a free and righteous institution. Pish dismisses him, telling him he will receive his verdict directly. When Dylan returns to his office, he finds Tri-Lorn waiting for him. To Dylan’s surprise, Tri-Lorn understands the real threat that the Magog present and aligns himself with the crew of the Andromeda. He also informs Dylan that he has been found guilty but that he has given Harper codes to the Collector ships that are guarding the Andromeda. They both know a civil war is inevitable now but they must stop the corrupt Collectors from taking over the Commonwealth.

Dylan takes command and addresses the entire crew, giving them the opportunity to leave or be labeled traitors. Nobody moves so Beka pilots the ship out of orbit and they are immediately fired upon by the Collector’s ships. Andromeda returns fire, destroying every enemy vessel and Tri-Lorn’s Commonwealth ships move in. Instead of attacking, they escort the Andromeda to the nearest slipstream portal and line up in a salute. Knowing a civil war is on the horizon and that they can count on each other as allies, they part ways.

-- www.andromedatv.com (THE OFFICIAL ANDROMEDA WEBSITE)