Series overview
Episodes
Season 1 (2000–2001)
Season one of the series shows Dylan Hunt assembling the crew and adjusting to the new universe, while pursuing the creation of the New Systems Commonwealth. The idea of the new Commonwealth proves unpopular; only six worlds actually sign the Commonwealth charter in this season. Major powers like the Than Hegemony or the Nietzschean ''Sabra'' and ''Jaguar'' prides are not really interested in the new Commonwealth; Dylan also manages to make quite a few enemies himself (including the most powerful of all Nietzschean Prides, Drago-Kazov). Dylan also encounters several dysfunctional remnants of the old High Guard and witnesses the consequences of some of his own actions 300 years before. He realizes that the old Commonwealth had made some mistakes, the repetition of which he has to avoid. The unification of ''Andromeda''s crew is a major theme of season one. Dylan's new crew does not really believe in the idea of the Commonwealth, and joins him only for personal gain. To their surprise they find that having something to fight for is not a bad thing. In the season finale, Beka, Dylan's First Officer, even promises to continue his mission if he dies. Initially Trance seems to be a ditzy naive girl, warm and compassionate but serving little actual purpose on the ship. She quickly demonstrates she is more than she seems. Trance has a strong ability to gauge probabilities in the fabric of space-time, which seems to others as if she could see the future. She describes it as seeing "all possible futures". She uses this ability several times to help her friends, but her true goals remain unknown. The show hints that she engineered the Battle of Witchhead, where the last remains of the old Commonwealth fleet were destroyed, taking most of the Nietzschean forces with them, by "accidentally" sending the ''Andromeda'' back in time and pulling various members of the crew by the right strings. Dylan himself has a difficult time accepting the fact that the universe he lived in no longer exists and all his friends are long dead. In a bizarre accident he actually manages to contact his fiancée, Sara Riley, 300 years before and even to teleport onto her ship – but returns alone, deciding the new Commonwealth is more important than his own life. In the season finale, ''Andromeda'' encounters the Magog World ship, a huge structure of twenty connected planets and an artificial sun. The World ship contains trillions of Magog and is equipped with a powerful weapon – a ''point singularity projector'', which creates miniature black holes. ''Andromeda'' is heavily damaged; Tyr and Harper are abducted to the World ship. Trying to rescue them, Rev Bem follows them to the World ship. The rest of the crew are badly injured.Season 2 (2001–2002)
Season two begins with the crew of ''Andromeda'' in a seemingly hopeless situation. Dylan and Trance are revived by Beka, and Dylan goes to the Magog World ship with Rommie (the android avatar of ''Andromeda''s AI) to recover Tyr, Harper and Rev. Harper is infested with Magog eggs, and Rev's loyalty is strained when he encounters the being the Magog call the ''Spirit of the Abyss''. They believe it to be their creator and god. Although Dylan and Rommie rescue Tyr and Harper, ''Andromeda'' is badly damaged, Rev has a spiritual crisis, and there seems to be no possible way to extract the Magog larvae from Harper. A powerful drug will keep them dormant for a time, but it only delays the inevitable. The season shows the crew reacting to the sudden necessity of the New Commonwealth after the discovery of the World ship (which will arrive at the Known Worlds in a few years), as they continue to make sure the dream comes true. Many worlds became more willing to sign the charter after learning of the World ship. Dylan becomes more ruthless in his actions as well. The episode "Ouroboros" (2:12) in the middle of this season became a major turning point for the whole series. "Ouroboros" was the last episode written ''solely'' by Robert Hewitt Wolfe, the show's original developer and head writer, though he returned a few episodes later to finish the writing job on "Dance of the Mayflies". The producers allegedly felt that the series was becoming too intellectual and complicated. One immediately visible change was Trance's transformation, she exchanged places with her own future version; the new Trance had a different (golden-skinned) appearance and a much more serious personality. Brent Stait (Rev Bem) also left ''Andromeda'' in "Ouroboros" due to exhaustion, he clarified in an interview said: He reprises his role twice later, in seasons three and four. Ethlie Ann Vare, another writer, rounds out the list of people who departed the show this season. In the second half of season two, the restoration of the Systems Commonwealth becomes a much less significant theme. The show mostly concentrated on ''Season 3 (2002–2003)
For season three, Bob Engels was brought on the writing staff to fill the hole in that had been left by the departure of Robert Hewitt Wolfe and Ethlie Ann Vare. This season had the most episodic format of all. The Systems Commonwealth is already reunited, but there is not much progress in the fight with the Magog and the ''Abyss''. Several episodes of season three explore Trance and her actual role. One episode ("The Dark Backward") is filmed completely from Trance's viewpoint, showing that she indeed "lives" through all possible alternate futures before choosing the right one. Nietzschean crewman Tyr Anasazi makes his move at the end of the season. He implants his son Tamerlane Anasazi's DNA into his own cells, and goes on to reunite the various Nietzschean Prides and separate them from the Systems Commonwealth again. The season ends with Nietzscheans withdrawing from the Commonwealth and Tyr Anasazi formally leaving the ''Andromeda''.Season 4 (2003–2004)
Season four marked an extreme change in the writing staff. The writing team of Zack Stentz and Ashley Edward Miller, who had been with the show from the beginning and written more episodes of season three than anyone else, did not return for season four. The writing team of Matt Kiene and Joe Reinkemeyer, who had also been with the show from the beginning and who had written almost as many seasons three episodes as Zack and Ash, also did not return for season four, though Kiene did write a single episode on his own. The weight was mostly taken up by new writers: Larry and Paul Barber, who had no previous involvement with the show, wrote the bulk of season four. Other newcomers included Ted Mann, Scott Frost, John Kirk, Lawrence Meyers, and the team of Lu Abbott and Stacey Berman-Woodward, none of whom contributed more than one episode. Naomi Janzen, who had only written a single episode in the show's first three seasons put together, wrote four episodes in this season. Dylan is nearly outlawed by the Systems Commonwealth he restored. The Collectors (originally keepers of historical information unknown to anyone else), allied with the ''Spirit of the Abyss'', manipulate the fragile government of the New Commonwealth to show him in a bad light. The ''Abyss'' infiltrates the Commonwealth using many other agents as well. Eventually, the Collectors unite with Tyr Anasazi and his newly united Nietzschean Prides. Tyr mistrusts the ''Spirit of the Abyss'' and hopes to defeat it. He tries to find a map to the Route of Ages, a portal connecting all galaxies together. It is possible to weaken the ''Abyss'' by passing through it. Dylan gets the map instead but he allows Tyr to follow ''Andromeda'' through the Route of Ages as Tyr knows more about the ''Abyss''. ''Andromeda'' is transported into a weird universe where thoughts manifest as reality. With Trance's help, Dylan defeats and kills Tyr who tried to make a deal with the ''Abyss''. Since the Route of Ages closes before the ''Andromeda'' can return, Dylan has to use Trance's help. She reveals that she is the Avatar of the Sun, with "the power to create and destroy". Trance destroys ''Andromeda'' and recreates it in the right universe. In this season, Dylan also finds a new crew member — Nietzschean Telemachus Rhade, who does not accept his race's betrayal of the Commonwealth and agrees to join Dylan. Rhade proves to be more manageable than Tyr Anasazi, whom he helped Dylan defeat. The Magog evolve and become more intelligent and cunning. In the season finale, their World ship is rediscovered. It is heading towards the Arkology, an old space station with a pacifist population. Dylan frantically tries to convince them that they have to defend themselves but the people of the Arkology hope to make peace with the Magog. They pay dearly for that mistake, as the Magog never makes peace with anyone. ''Andromeda'' tries to defend the Arkology against the World ship, but is horribly outnumbered. The Arkology is destroyed by all its inhabitants. Rhade, Beka and Harper are left in absolutely hopeless situations. Rommie explodes after being shot through her stomach while saving Harper from the Magog. Trance asks Dylan to escape on a slip fighter through the Route of Ages, claiming that now there is nothing more important than saving his life; Marlowe, Arkology's leader (who had disappeared several hours before the battle) tells Dylan that they both are Paradine, two of the few ancient beings with incredible powers. Dylan reluctantly leaves through the Route (in a strange sequence where he finds himself in a large dark room and seemingly meets another version of himself). Trance turns into a sun and crashes into the World ship on the ''Andromeda''.Season 5 (2004–2005)
Season five of the series shows Dylan Hunt re-assembling the crew and adjusting the Seefra system and his newly discovered role as a Paradine, finds himself transported into the Seefra system — nine identical barren worlds with a superstitious population and two dim suns. Technology (especially spaceflight) is shunned, and water is treasured because of constant drought. Flavin, a Paradine, meets Dylan here, giving him cryptic hints about Dylan's destiny and what Seefra is before disappearing. Dylan eventually finds Nietzschean warrior Telemachus Rhade, pilot Beka Valentine and super-genius engineer Seamus Harper on Seefra, and to his amazement, they all arrived in Seefra at different times and locations. Harper, in particular, arrived three years earlier with the remains of the android Rommie. He tried to repair her but failed, eventually building another android, Doyle, with some of Rommie's memories. Initially, he convinces her that she is human, but later her true identity is revealed by a rebel android. The reason for replacing Rommie with Doyle isReferences
External links
* * * Includes detailed episode guide. {{Andromeda (TV series), state=expanded List of episodes Andromeda