"This Woman's Work" is the 6th episode of Season Two of Defiance and the 18th episode overall. It is scheduled to air on July 24th, 2014 on Syfy.
Synopsis[]
After an Arkfall crash, Pottinger recruits Nolan to lead their salvage mission but his secret agenda puts them in grave danger against an alien race they've never encountered before. Meanwhile Stahma, rebuked by church elders for her growing sense of female empowerment, makes a shocking power play, while Irisa begins confiding her dark secrets to Tommy.
Syfy's Fun Facts[2][]
- If you'll recall, Belutok Kurr was the preist who oversaw the coward Elah Bandik's punishment on the shaming rack back in the second episode. He and his wife Vanitso lost their son Kupak in Episode #11. Nolan shot and killed Kupak, believing that he was about to assassinate Amanda.
- The Gulanee were first discovered by Indogene scientists, who were scouring their solar system for an energy source powerful enough to fuel the Ark fleet. The Gulanee lived on a gaseous planet. Being comprised mainly of energy, they were only beings who could survive the extreme pressure near the planet's core, where powerful energy crystals called Gulanite were formed. Gulanee offered to harvest the gulanite in exchange for passage aboard the Arks.
- This particular Arkfall was no accident. Recently, players in the Defiance video game inadvertently triggered a series of arkfalls across the country, including this one.
- "William Atherton took my breath away. He has the ability to totally unnerve me in every scene. Working with him is an honor and often times I would become so enthralled by what he was doing I would forget I was in the scene with him!" - Julie Benz (Amanda)
- The Copenhagen Slaughter was one of the most one-sided battles of the Pale Wars. An Earth Military Coalition force of over a thousand ships set sail from England to break the siege of Copenhagen. Advanced Votan artillery sank the fleet within hours. The survivors swam ashore and fled west, pursused by Irathient death squads. Over the next two weeks, they made it over 150 miles west across the Great Bridge Belt and along Kongeaen Creek. Less than five percent of the EMC's forces survived.
- Biomen were designed to be the ultimate killing machine, unburdened by feelings of doubt or remorse. Their creators estimated that most Biomen would perish in the war and they weren't intended to live this long. Their stunted sense of morality, coupled with erratic behavior due to their age, means that Biomen in the modern world have the emotional range of a child.
- Indogenes created Caeruleum by re-crystallizing raw gulanite at an atomic level. The highly advanced technology resides in the core of every terrasphere. A tiny amount of Caeruleum generates enough energy to transform an entire city.
- Indogene scientists built Gulanee battle suits in order to allow the Gulanee to move about freely on Earth. Being creatures of pure energy, Gulanee are neither male nor female. Some people think the addition of gender specific details like breasts to the battle suits is just the Indogenes showing their sense of humor.
- With war looming between the Earth Republic and the Votanis Collective, Mercado's superiors have become desperate to get their hands on anything that might give them an advantage. The Viceroy hoped to capture a Gulanee intact, bring it back to New York for study and perhaps develop new weapons based on Gulanee technology.
- The landscape of Northern Texas was radically altered by terraforming. Some of the prettiest beachfront property in the country can be found in Amarillo. That doesn't make it a resort town, however. A series of border skirmishes have broken out over the past few months, as Votan forces continue moving north into Earth Republic territory.
- Exploring Arks is dangerous business. Due to their weakened hulls, they may collapse at any moment. But many Ark Hunters are willing to take the risk for the spoils that could wait inside.
- Very few Gulanee made the voyage to Earth, making them the rarest of all Votan species. The radiation produced by Gulanee interferes with electronic devices, making them unwelcome visitors in most towns, human and Votan alike. This has caused many Gulanee to shun civilization, wandering the Badlands alone. The most notorious Gulanee is a criminal named Dy'Dekuso. Players can confront Dy'Dekuso in the Defiance game.
- "When Simonetta [the costume designer] first fitted the alien costume on me I shivered. It was so wonderous, so brilliant. It made for the 'drama of otherness' that as an actor you always hope for but rarely get." - William Atherton (Viceroy Mercado)
- Arkfall destroyed most of the world's communication grid, tearing up landlines and fiber optic cables. The atmosphere was irradiated, preventing most radio and cell phone communications. While the Earth Republic strives to bring technology back to North America, there ARE a few side benefits to a world without internet....anonymity being one of them.
- Though many Votan ships have crashed to Earth over the past 17 years, the majority of the fleet still remains in space. Most Arks are nothing more than burnt out wreckage, though a few have survived more or less intact. The Earth Republic uses the Rutherford Observatory in New York to track many of these objects. They maintain their own teams of professional ark hunters, like the one stations at Fort Adams, to recover valuable military tech before scavengers can get their hands on it first.
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 206.
Highlighted Quote[]
HIGH PRIEST KURR
Witness the agent of this heresy.
TRANSLATION
Jemya yazuvano zofta ksa banu je.