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"I Almost Prayed" is the 13th episode of Season Two of Defiance and the 25th episode overall. It aired on August 28th, 2014 on Syfy.

Synopsis[]

The fate of Defiance and the world hang in the balance and Irisa is enemy number one forcing Nolan into a deadly race against time, fighting both the Earth Republic and old friends to stop Irisa’s destructive plan and save her from the Kaziri forces that have been possessing her before his own friends kill her.

Syfy's Fun Facts[2][]

  • Hanya tavo is the Castithan equivalent of a daughter-in-law. It literally translates to "heart daughter," and conveys a much deeper bond.
  • The scene in the jail cell is an echo of Irisa and Tommy's first meeting way back in the first episode. The Kaziri is playing on Irisa's deepest emotions. Ultimately, the Kaziri is nothing more than a machine. It must adhere to strict logic. A promise is a promise, which is why the Kaziri was unable to force Irisa to kill Nolan. The Kaziri might be able to resurrect Tommy, but that would almost certainly mean the end of all life on Earth.
  • The Kaziri has had a strong effect on Irisa ever since she was a little girl. Daigo's snake cult implanted the silver artifact within her body, which opened a weak channel of communication between Irisa and the Kaziri. This connection caused the visions Irisa suffered as a child, which Nolan chalked up to post-traumatic stress. The closer Irisa got to the Kaziri, the more powerful these visions became. Once Irisa possessed both artifacts and used the terrasphere to "charge them up," it allowed the Kaziri to take full possession of her. Now that the keys are separated, Irisa is free... condemned to suffer the consequences of her actions while under the Kaziri's influence.
  • Three thousand years ago, two Irathients named Ashi and Reimlu successfully disabled the Kaziri by removing its silver and gold control tendrils. They escaped the ship using escape pods, and never saw each other again. Their descendents took great pains to keep the keys apart. Several generations later, the tendrils re-formed into the silver and gold artifacts -- the Kelovan. At some point in history, the artifacts were lost. One of them ended up in the hands of a Votan snake cult, who implanted the artifact inside Irisa. The artifacts were reunited last year when Doc Yewll brought Irisa into her office, where Yewll was keeping the golden artifact.
  • In 2030, a mysterious force caused the alien fleet to simultaneously explode in space. Many of the ships fell to Earth, releasing their cargo of terraspheres when they crashed. The result was a haphazard reshaping of planet Earth into a half-human, half-alien wasteland. What you see now is how terraforming was supposed to work -- a precise grid of orbital platforms that would painstakingly transform the planet to make it suitable for Votan habitation.
  • Amanda's decision to kill Irisa may seem harsh, but Amanda is a pragmatist. She's got nothing personal against Irisa, but the life of one Irathient doesn't outweigh the lives of countless others. According to showrunner Kevin Murphy, Amanda will always do the smart thing, even if it isn't right. Conversely, Nolan will do the right thing, even if it isn't always smart.
  • Shortly after the Votans' arrival in 2013, a series of plagues swept the planet. Hundreds of species, including horses and several beloved Votan animals, succumbed to these illnesses.
  • When the Votans first arrived on Earth in 2013, religious scholars attempted to find commonalities in human and alien religion. This resulted in the Church of Harmony, an attempt to reconcile a number of different belief systems. Sy Preston, one of the men who hijacked the land coach back in episode #5, was disguised as a Harmony preacher. The most famous Harmony commune was located in Yosemite Valley. It was wiped out during the war when soldiers from both sides mistook the settlers as enemy sympathizers. This resulted in the infamous Yosemite Massacre.
  • The Votans' original plan was to convert planet Earth into a replica of their homeworlds. The seven continents would be divided among the seven races, creating microcosms of the different alien ecosystems. The jungle you see in this episode is a perfect replica of the ones found on planet Irath.
  • Terraforming is the pinnacle of Indogene technology. Matter is rewritten on a molecular level, converting not just the terrain but all plant and animal life to patterns encoded within the terraspheres. The landscape is reshaped, new alien species are reborn, and all existing creatures are eradicated.
  • "I got to do some fun work this season with Anna Hopkins (Berlin). She's a great girl! We spent quite a few days shooting outside in the freezing cold singing cheesy 80s love songs while trying to stay warm right before the cameras would roll. Hard to keep a straight face around her!" - Julie Benz (Amanda)
  • In real life, Tony Curran is quite the soccer fan. During season one, he surprised patrons of a local Toronto bar by showing up in full Datak Tarr makeup to watch the Celtic Football Club play!
  • "In my first professional acting gig I played Detroit in January. Toronto in December is Paris. Trust me." - William Atherton (Viceroy Mercado)
  • "I loved shooting the scene where Berlin attempts to stop the firing squad at Camp Reverie. The staging and lighting of the scene were so powerful, and horrifying. It was shot in a large field, and the cameras were so far away that doing the scene felt very real, and gave me such a vivid motivation to do everything in my power to stop this horrific event from occurring. Unfortunately, I get wacked in the head with a baseball bat pretty early on in my attempt. Berlin really doesn’t shy away from taking a few beatings in this season of <em>Defiance</em>, that’s for sure." - Anna Hopkins (Berlin)

Deleted Scene[]

  • Picking up where the episode fades out, Amanda and Pottinger are about to sleep together, but are interrupted when Bailey comes to Amanda's room to report that Amanda has a visitor, and it can't wait. Amanda leaves Pottinger to see Colonel Marsh who reports Nolan the mines have collapsed and Nolan is likely dead.

Votan Translation[]

David J. Peterson, the creator of the Votan languages, has made translations available on his Archive of Our Own page.

Translations for the Votan spoken in this episode can be found at Conlang Dialogue: Defiance, Episode 213.

Highlighted Quote[]


DATAK
"When heaven falls to Earth, peace shall reign. So it shall be until Arkrise." Think this is what they meant?
TRANSLATION
Usha ksa farubawa re Urutha ike theku, laidizhiwa re shigozunda. Jidhohe yunda chame Arukolo goru ksa. Ji ksa aptho asali she?
STAHMA
I doubt this will bring peace.
TRANSLATION
Ji re laidizhiwa do vanonda kamerula.

Trivia[]

  • This episode is deliberately somewhat ambiguous about whether or not a god was speaking to Irisa in addition to the Kaziri[3], but season 3 continuously refers to Irisa as being controlled by a machine rather than a god.
  • Pottinger was originally supposed to commit suicide in this episode, but that plot line was deleted from the finale because Jim Murray was enjoying working on the show so much that the producers wanted to bring him back for season 3. [4]
  • The “Inside Defiance” feature for this episode reveals that Tommy was born in 2024, making him one year younger than Irisa and 23 years old at the time of his death.
  • Julie Benz does not believe Amanda would have gone through with shooting Irisa even if Nolan hadn’t stopped her. She wouldn’t have been able to pull the trigger. Meanwhile Grant Bowler believes Nolan would have killed Irisa to save the planet if his plan to save both Irisa and the planet had failed.[5]
Season 2
Episodes "The Opposite of Hallelujah" • "In My Secret Life" • "The Cord and the Ax" • "Beasts of Burden" • "Putting the Damage On" • "This Woman's Work" • "If You Could See Her Through My Eyes" • "Slouching Towards Bethlehem" • "Painted From Memory" • "Bottom of the World" • "Doll Parts" • "All Things Must Pass" • "I Almost Prayed"
Stars Grant Bowler as Joshua NolanJulie Benz as Amanda RosewaterTony Curran as Datak TarrJaime Murray as Stahma TarrGraham Greene as Rafe McCawleyJim Murray as Niles Pottinger
Guests Rob Archer as ChurchillLinda Hamilton as Pilar McCawleyMichael Dyson as SkevurKevin Shand as RaigaKatie Douglas as Young Irisa/IrzuMonica Parker as Bailey
Recurring Dewshane Williams as Tommy LasalleJesse Rath as Alak TarrNicole Muñoz as Christie McCawley
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