Now he’s somebody that they use to know. Four is no longer. He is now known as Ishida Ryo, Emperor of Zairon. It turns out Five was right to be scared.
As this show has shown us time and time again, the crew that was once on this ship is drastically different than the one we’re use to seeing. Four tried to bend the rules and mix the two sides of himself, but he ultimately became the person he was originally, which is a powerful statement. It reveals not only to the crew, but the audience that their pasts are so dark that even with their current memories attached they could still lose themselves. Some habits can’t be broken.
A strong part of Four’s decisions in this episode was his determination. No matter what anyone was telling him he had to reclaim the throne, even though the scent of traps were all throughout the air. His violent actions also made this idea stronger with the way he easily and unemotionally cut off that guy’s head in the beginning for not being on his side, including when he took down the guards and went straight for the Empress with that knife. Ryo is here to get the job done. Nothing will get in his way, which is a problem for the crew as well. He revealed the blink drive’s capabilities. Not only that but he wants to make enough for an army. Not only will that make Zairon one of the most powerful places in the galaxy, but it could also fall into the wrong hands. Maybe it already did now that Ryo is back.
One good thing about this new Ryo though is that he still can be kind like Four. His talk with Two and the Android revealed that he can be nice when he wants to be. He even let the Android know that it was Five and Two that made her the way she is now. Not only that but she has internal recorders that contain information before their memories were wiped. It’s not clear yet what that information could be used for, but it has to help in some way.
A big part of Ryo’s plans was for Hiro to give him the throne. The demonstration of the blink drive made sense why Hiro would be interested in the deal, but the reveal of his mother’s actions did not. When he asked his mother if she was the killer, he said it as if he already knew the answer, which didn’t make sense since this was new information for him. Not only that but she easily confessed. Then Hiro did nothing but walk away. He should’ve had her arrested on the spot, then she could’ve turned the tables and had him put on house arrest. It would’ve made her claim of power in Zairon feel a lot more powerful.
The reveal of the Seers being the spies was a nice touch. Otherwise the story would’ve ended with a typical betrayal from somebody that Four trusted, which could’ve been General Drago. It also made sense why the crew seemed to be walking into multiple traps. Nyx finally got to hear what we’ve already known for several episodes now, which is the fact that her brother is dead. It had been assumed that she wasn’t aware, but this confirmed it. Not only that but the Seers put the cherry on top by revealing that Four was behind it, which he owned up to doing. There goes the end of that reveal and also Nyx and Four’s relationship. Not that he really cares at this point.
The huge surprise was at the end when Ryo ordered the kill command. It was surprising that most people that got killed deserved it, but he killed Hiro! There are a couple reasons why it makes sense for him to do it, but he was his younger brother who gladly helped Ryo take the throne. Talk about a knife in the back.
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It’s unclear what the new Emperor is going to do next, but I’m pretty sure the crew is not going to be on-board with it.
9/10
Dark Matter airs @ 10/9c on Syfy.
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