Scion 2
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Director: Jeff Nichols
Writer: John Malone & Chad Taylor
Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jovan Adepo, Taron Egerton, Vera Farmiga, Harris Dickinson, Liv Tyler, Kelsey Asbille
Plot: 10 years after the execution of the Achilles crew.
Agoran chieftain Creon (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is the most respected man on Agora, renown for both his valor in the protection of the planet and diplomacy in ruling it. Of the children of Creon and wife Jocasta (Vera Farmiga), Aras (Jovan Adepo) is the oldest and already making a name for himself as a noble warrior – although he is much more introverted than his father and more interested in science and learning than in fighting. While he has many younger siblings, the person nearest his age in the household is human Phoebe (Saoirse Ronan).
For the past ten years, Phoebe has stayed scrictly within Creon’s Royal Acropolis and is still kept secret from the general population. Creon and Jocasta have raised her as neither family nor slave, instead her role falling somewhere in between. Although clearly an outsider, she has developed a cordial bond with the both of them. While he started out as younger than her (Agorans age faster and live longer than humans), Aras still thought he deserved the most attention as the oldest of Creon’s Agoran children and was jealous of the attention Phoebe stole from him growing up. After being tasked with teaching her their language and customs, he became more sympathetic towards her situation and has become protective of her from his rude younger siblings.
Aras goes on a hunting trip with his best Luqan (Taron Egerton), who is also a skilled fighter but actually enjoys the art of war unlike Aras. Luqan tells Aras he has recently started a group of Agorans who are proud of their people’s past war victories and are worried that Agora may be losing some its advantage in that regard. He offers Aras membership but Aras tells him he can’t join because he is a member of the royal family (which Luqan is understanding of). Luqan asks Aras about his love life and Aras is coy in his answer. Luqan tells him that he has heard rumors that Creon will be announcing Aras’s betrothment ceremony soon.
During their latest learning session, Aras teaches Phoebe about Agora’s history. Because of their plentiful natural resources, they have often been a planet primed for invasion by nearby species but over time, they have developed into the most skilled fighting species in the galaxy (especially when it comes to defense). While his father has successfully kept the country safe during his years of ruling, things have been tough recently as the worst drought in centuries as weakened Agoran’s population (she is unaware of the drought because it hasn’t had an impact on a family of Creon’s status). Aras can tell she is bored and he asks her what’s wrong. She admits that she has recently started to wonder about her own race and is frustrated that Creon never wants to tell her about what happened ten years ago. She has vague memories from her childhood but she wants to know more about humans. She asks Aras if he knows anything about her past but he lets her down by saying he must keep his word to his father that he would not tell.
Sensing her irritation, he offers to to end the learning session early and take her out to explore the Grand Forest behind their compound. Although still on royal property, she points out the danger if they are caught. He looks her in the eyes and says he’ll protect her if so. She wants him to promise and he does. They gallivant through the forest, playing games and clearly having fun. When they are playing tag and Aras trips, Phoebe falls to the ground in exhaustion beside him and rolls into his arms. There is clearly a romantic connection hinted at but Aras pulls away and says it’s time they go back. Upon returning, they are scolded and punished by Jocasta.
Creon and Jocasta plan Aras’s mate selection ceremony – a customary rite of passage for Agoran citizens – even though Aras insists he is “not ready”. Creon is eager to secure his line of succession but Jocasta believes that he is “not ready” because he has feelings for Phoebe. While Creon agrees that a happy marriage is key to a successful ruler, he says they both know an Agoran-Human relationship could never be compatible. Phoebe overhears their conversation from the room next door and is defeated – knowing there is at least some truth into what they are saying.
Phoebe begs that he hold it off, to give them time to figure “this” out. He makes it obvious that he wants to but he has no real say in the matter. When she tries to object, he tells her that it would never work because of something her father learned years ago - their respective physiology would prevent them from being able to consummate a relationship. She tries to explain that her feelings would go beyond that limitation but he tells her the decision is final and storms off.
At the public ceremony in front of a gathered audience in the capitol, Jocasta hands her son off to the royal shaman. After an intense grilling of Aras in front of the audience, the shaman gets his vision and searches through the crowd until he finds Selene (Kelsey Asbille). She and Aras go through a handfasting ceremony and she officially becomes his betrothed.
Phoebe, watching from afar, becomes frustrated and decides to finally venture outside of the Acropolis and seek out the ship her family arrived with years earlier. She closely studies the map of the world, building off the the information Aras has taught her. She puts on a disguise, successfully eludes the staff of the compound and escapes. She at first travels on foot through the city, staying in the shadows but is in awe of the new sights and sounds stimulating her senses. In order to make it to her destination quicker, she attempts to steal a coleo sitting idle on the street. Coleos are beetles the size of Agorans that are the Agorans use as their primary form of transportation. She thinks she escapes without being seen but the Agoran who owns the coleo notices it riding off and hitches a ride with nearby stranger to track it down.
With the Agorans quickly gaining ground on her, Phoebe learns on the fly how to stear the coleo. They race down on a narrow road which cuts through a barren wasteland that used to be farmland. She finally loses control and the creature kicks her off his its back. The Agorans disembark their vehicles and make their way towards her but someone comes speeding in on his bike and kills the inquisitive Agorans. He helps Phoebe onto the back of his high-speed motorbike and speeds off.
It becomes immediately obvious to Phoebe that the person is a mixture between a human and Agoran - partially scaled skin with blue reptilian eyes, but otherwise human features. She is stunned – assuming she was the only one of her kind on the planet. He introduces himself as Kayn (Harris Dickinson)– the firstborn spawn from a series of experiments to infuse human DNA with Agoran. He explains that he was sent by his people to track down Phoebe and finally confirm her existence. He has been scoping out the Acropolis for weeks but found it to be impenetrable and was relieved when Phoebe left on her own. The drought has hit their colony the worst as their space for growing food is limited as is and they have little alternatives. He was tasked with trying to make contact with Phoebe to see if she could convince Creon of mercy for their colony. Because she is being hunted, he explains that he must take her to a place she will be safe – his home colony.
After the betrothment ceremony, Aras still feels guilty about how he responded to Phoebe before the ceremony and goes to check on her. It becomes immediately clear that she is nowhere to be found and he starts to panic. He alerts his father of this and Creon becomes upset. On one hand, he knows the backlash that will ensue if the people discover he’s let a human live on their planet for all these years. On the other, he is scared for the girl’s life – knowing the high likelihood of her death if discovered.
When Phoebe and Kayn arrive at the underground colony, Phoebe is stunned by the dozens of crossbreed children on their hands and knees bowing down to her. Kayn says he forgot to mention that she is something of a messianic figure around these parts – although no one knew if she was actually alive since she’s never been seen in public. Kayn takes her to see his mother Caieta (Liv Tyler) – the head matriarch and de facto leader of the colony.
Caieta explains to Phoebe what went on behind closed doors during when Phoebe was a child on Agora. She recollects her being captured from her family by Phoebe’s father, put into a coma, and had a medically-induced pregnancy while she was out. After the slaughter of Agrippa and crew, Caieta made the life-altering decision to remain living in secrecy and help the other captured Agorans through their pregnancies. She knew that if she went back to her family on the surface – her crossbreed children would likely be executed. Phoebe is visibly shaken by this, now aware of the desperate acts of her father’s crew to extend human life and the effects that had on some Agoran communities.
Creon debates with Jocasta about whether or not he should discuss this situation with his military council. He decides to instead propose to them another raid on the colony to ensure of no human life on Agora (without revealing the existence of Phoebe). Aras interjects and offers to lead this covert mission with a smaller group of soldiers to eliminate any potential beings in the colony and rescue Phoebe (but not tell his fellow soldiers about her). Creon sees this as an opportunity to publicly tout Aras as a military hero if successful and that public favor will pay off when he inherent the role of Chieftain. Creon approves of Aras’s proposal and decides not to tell his council.
As all of Aras’s focus is on this Phoebe situation, Selene feels she is getting the cold shoulder after having just moved into the royal Acropolis and becomes depressed as he preps for the mission. She laments to Luqan, who also feels Aras is starting to mysteriously isolate himself. As Luqan becomes more inquisitive about the situation, Selene leaks her knowledge of the mission to annihilate the colony. Luqan’s ears perk up, as his Agoran nationalist faction still annually celebrate Creon’s original mission from ten years ago. He becomes excited and says he has to talk to Aras.
In conversation with Caieta, Phoebe says she believes that Creon would be sympathetic towards the colony if he knew full-blooded Agorans lived down there. She then opens up about the kind of man he is – one that she admires more since coming down here. She realizes that he didn’t tell her about the crimes of her father because he did not want her to be ashamed of her parents – just as he wants Aras to respect him. She goes on a walk with Kayn who gives her a tour of the underground colony. Some of the children are severely malnourished, which breaks her heart. As they walk, the two of them start to form a playful chemistry as they both bond over the experience of being a strangers in a strange land.
They finally arrive at the rustic Achilles, sending goosebumps up and down Phoebe’s arms as she remembers her childhood. He shows her the rover he de-constructed to build his motorbike (there’s a lot of downtime down here). She cracks a smile when finding a photograph of her on top of her father’s shoulders fixated on the mantle. Phoebe puts two and two together and realizes that the crossbreeds must have seen this and thought she was the leader of their kind. Kayn tells her there is one last thing he wants to show her and turns on the ship’s video display. A video of Agrippa (Russell Crowe) plays that he recorded for when she got older. Phoebe starts to cry by seeing this.
Just before Aras is about to lead his soldiers on their mission, Luqan approaches him. Obviously unaware of the true goal of the mission, Luqan begs that Creon reveal this raid to the public. Because of the drought, public morale is exceedingly low and this could be an opportunity to boost the public’s confidence in Agora again. Aras is torn up about lying to his friend but sticks to his guns and is adamant that the mission must remain a secret. Luqan, a decorated warrior in his own right, is willing to compromise if Aras lets him join the mission to help. Aras is adamant that is better if he stays here in the capitol. Luqan leaves bitterly disappointed.
Creon sends his son off and tells him he hopes Phoebe is safe. He admits that he was finally ready to talk to her about what had transpired during the raid of the Achilles. He wanted to apologize for killing her family but that it was necessary given the circumstances. And that even though she was a human, a child is a child no matter the species and saving her was the only thing he thought to do. Aras hugs his father and promises that he will bring her back and he can tell her this herself. They hug as Creon tells Aras he believes his son is already ready to be a leader and this will let the world know that. He provides him with a flare-like device that will turn a portion of the violet sky into orange and indicate the mission was successful.
While his fellow soldiers discuss tactical information, Aras is zoned out with his eyes closed. We then see Luqan, trailing the covert mission in his vehicle from some ways back, in his warrior attire ready to join if need be. They arrive at the ship and start to look for entryways into the potential colony. After some looking, they discover a garden patch with a hatch leading to an underground tunnel. As they prepare to go down, Aras turns to his fellow comrades and in an instant kills all five of them. Luqan, spying from afar, is horrified by this act as Aras enters the hatch.
Kayn hears a commotion from above the colony and warns the others. Aras arrives, no weapons drawn, solo into the underground colony with all of the crossbred humanoids staring at him. There is an eerie silence as he walks through the crowd, no one saying a word. Finally he encounters Caieta, a full-bred Agoran like himself. He pleads with her that he is here to do no harm, but only retrieve Phoebe. Before Caieta can answer, Kayn comes running at Aras full speed and takes him down. They get into a scuffle with Aras quickly gaining the upper hand. He remains adamant that he is here to do no harm but he will kill him if he has to. The fighting reaches an abrupt stop when Phoebe makes her entrance.
She pleads with Aras to let go of Kayn and he does so immediately, nearly in tears by discovering that she is still alive. He rises from his knees and embraces her, telling her how worried he was about her safety. Luqan, now undergound and still spying, has a look of disgust on his face and hurriedly exits the colony. Aras vows to bring her back to the Acropolis safely. Phoebe looks at Kayn, Caieta and then back at Aras. She tells him that these are her people here – people whom around she doesn’t have to worry about being what she is. As much as she respects Aras’s family back at the Acropolis, it is ultimately a life of isolation and exclusion.
Aras, his hand in hers, says that when they arrive back at the capitol, he will convince his father to both spare this colony and give them aid with supplies. He explains that he doesn’t care about the political consequences this will bring, the thing he most cares about is her. When she asks him to promise, he pulls her closer and kisses her. Aras ensures the colony members that he will be back to help them. As they leave, Kayn looks on in defeat but his mother convinces him that it is for the best since they will get the assistance they are in need of. She does not realize that he is really in pain over seeing a girl he admires leave with another man.
Back in the captiol, Creon frantically awaits news and is very relieved when he spots the orange signal in the sky. After seeing this, he makes a public speech announcing the successful clearing of the human colony once again. He vows that this will be an honorable day on Creon for centuries to come, as well as the day Aras proved himself a fearless leader. As he says this, Luqan approaches from behind and slits Creon’s throat, letting the body fall in front of his feet. The crowd panics as Luqan’s faction mates prevent Jocasta and her children from escaping.
Luqan takes center stage and begins to make his speech. He explains that Creon lied originally about exterminating all humans on Agora and he lied today about Aras’s mission. He reveals there is a thriving community of crossbreeds living underground that pose a major threat to full-blooded Agorans everywhere. When he announces this as a military takeover, the crowd starts to cheer. Aras and Phoebe are approaching the city and can start to hear Luqan’s speech.
Luqan promises that because Creon is now dead, they can finally eliminate the human species that committed heinous crimes against Agora. He announces the primary goal will be eliminating colony’s most valuable asset – a full-blooded human that is currently in the company of Aras. The crowd is shocked to hear a human is living on their planet. Luqan ensures that once he and his men complete their goals, Agora will regain its reputation as the most fearless and impenetrable planet in the galaxy. The crowd erupts in cheers. Phoebe takes Aras’s hand and tightly grabs it as they look at each other with fear in their eyes.
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Director: Jeff Nichols
Writer: John Malone & Chad Taylor
Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jovan Adepo, Taron Egerton, Vera Farmiga, Harris Dickinson, Liv Tyler, Kelsey Asbille
Plot: 10 years after the execution of the Achilles crew.
Agoran chieftain Creon (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is the most respected man on Agora, renown for both his valor in the protection of the planet and diplomacy in ruling it. Of the children of Creon and wife Jocasta (Vera Farmiga), Aras (Jovan Adepo) is the oldest and already making a name for himself as a noble warrior – although he is much more introverted than his father and more interested in science and learning than in fighting. While he has many younger siblings, the person nearest his age in the household is human Phoebe (Saoirse Ronan).
For the past ten years, Phoebe has stayed scrictly within Creon’s Royal Acropolis and is still kept secret from the general population. Creon and Jocasta have raised her as neither family nor slave, instead her role falling somewhere in between. Although clearly an outsider, she has developed a cordial bond with the both of them. While he started out as younger than her (Agorans age faster and live longer than humans), Aras still thought he deserved the most attention as the oldest of Creon’s Agoran children and was jealous of the attention Phoebe stole from him growing up. After being tasked with teaching her their language and customs, he became more sympathetic towards her situation and has become protective of her from his rude younger siblings.
Aras goes on a hunting trip with his best Luqan (Taron Egerton), who is also a skilled fighter but actually enjoys the art of war unlike Aras. Luqan tells Aras he has recently started a group of Agorans who are proud of their people’s past war victories and are worried that Agora may be losing some its advantage in that regard. He offers Aras membership but Aras tells him he can’t join because he is a member of the royal family (which Luqan is understanding of). Luqan asks Aras about his love life and Aras is coy in his answer. Luqan tells him that he has heard rumors that Creon will be announcing Aras’s betrothment ceremony soon.
During their latest learning session, Aras teaches Phoebe about Agora’s history. Because of their plentiful natural resources, they have often been a planet primed for invasion by nearby species but over time, they have developed into the most skilled fighting species in the galaxy (especially when it comes to defense). While his father has successfully kept the country safe during his years of ruling, things have been tough recently as the worst drought in centuries as weakened Agoran’s population (she is unaware of the drought because it hasn’t had an impact on a family of Creon’s status). Aras can tell she is bored and he asks her what’s wrong. She admits that she has recently started to wonder about her own race and is frustrated that Creon never wants to tell her about what happened ten years ago. She has vague memories from her childhood but she wants to know more about humans. She asks Aras if he knows anything about her past but he lets her down by saying he must keep his word to his father that he would not tell.
Sensing her irritation, he offers to to end the learning session early and take her out to explore the Grand Forest behind their compound. Although still on royal property, she points out the danger if they are caught. He looks her in the eyes and says he’ll protect her if so. She wants him to promise and he does. They gallivant through the forest, playing games and clearly having fun. When they are playing tag and Aras trips, Phoebe falls to the ground in exhaustion beside him and rolls into his arms. There is clearly a romantic connection hinted at but Aras pulls away and says it’s time they go back. Upon returning, they are scolded and punished by Jocasta.
Creon and Jocasta plan Aras’s mate selection ceremony – a customary rite of passage for Agoran citizens – even though Aras insists he is “not ready”. Creon is eager to secure his line of succession but Jocasta believes that he is “not ready” because he has feelings for Phoebe. While Creon agrees that a happy marriage is key to a successful ruler, he says they both know an Agoran-Human relationship could never be compatible. Phoebe overhears their conversation from the room next door and is defeated – knowing there is at least some truth into what they are saying.
Phoebe begs that he hold it off, to give them time to figure “this” out. He makes it obvious that he wants to but he has no real say in the matter. When she tries to object, he tells her that it would never work because of something her father learned years ago - their respective physiology would prevent them from being able to consummate a relationship. She tries to explain that her feelings would go beyond that limitation but he tells her the decision is final and storms off.
At the public ceremony in front of a gathered audience in the capitol, Jocasta hands her son off to the royal shaman. After an intense grilling of Aras in front of the audience, the shaman gets his vision and searches through the crowd until he finds Selene (Kelsey Asbille). She and Aras go through a handfasting ceremony and she officially becomes his betrothed.
Phoebe, watching from afar, becomes frustrated and decides to finally venture outside of the Acropolis and seek out the ship her family arrived with years earlier. She closely studies the map of the world, building off the the information Aras has taught her. She puts on a disguise, successfully eludes the staff of the compound and escapes. She at first travels on foot through the city, staying in the shadows but is in awe of the new sights and sounds stimulating her senses. In order to make it to her destination quicker, she attempts to steal a coleo sitting idle on the street. Coleos are beetles the size of Agorans that are the Agorans use as their primary form of transportation. She thinks she escapes without being seen but the Agoran who owns the coleo notices it riding off and hitches a ride with nearby stranger to track it down.
With the Agorans quickly gaining ground on her, Phoebe learns on the fly how to stear the coleo. They race down on a narrow road which cuts through a barren wasteland that used to be farmland. She finally loses control and the creature kicks her off his its back. The Agorans disembark their vehicles and make their way towards her but someone comes speeding in on his bike and kills the inquisitive Agorans. He helps Phoebe onto the back of his high-speed motorbike and speeds off.
It becomes immediately obvious to Phoebe that the person is a mixture between a human and Agoran - partially scaled skin with blue reptilian eyes, but otherwise human features. She is stunned – assuming she was the only one of her kind on the planet. He introduces himself as Kayn (Harris Dickinson)– the firstborn spawn from a series of experiments to infuse human DNA with Agoran. He explains that he was sent by his people to track down Phoebe and finally confirm her existence. He has been scoping out the Acropolis for weeks but found it to be impenetrable and was relieved when Phoebe left on her own. The drought has hit their colony the worst as their space for growing food is limited as is and they have little alternatives. He was tasked with trying to make contact with Phoebe to see if she could convince Creon of mercy for their colony. Because she is being hunted, he explains that he must take her to a place she will be safe – his home colony.
After the betrothment ceremony, Aras still feels guilty about how he responded to Phoebe before the ceremony and goes to check on her. It becomes immediately clear that she is nowhere to be found and he starts to panic. He alerts his father of this and Creon becomes upset. On one hand, he knows the backlash that will ensue if the people discover he’s let a human live on their planet for all these years. On the other, he is scared for the girl’s life – knowing the high likelihood of her death if discovered.
When Phoebe and Kayn arrive at the underground colony, Phoebe is stunned by the dozens of crossbreed children on their hands and knees bowing down to her. Kayn says he forgot to mention that she is something of a messianic figure around these parts – although no one knew if she was actually alive since she’s never been seen in public. Kayn takes her to see his mother Caieta (Liv Tyler) – the head matriarch and de facto leader of the colony.
Caieta explains to Phoebe what went on behind closed doors during when Phoebe was a child on Agora. She recollects her being captured from her family by Phoebe’s father, put into a coma, and had a medically-induced pregnancy while she was out. After the slaughter of Agrippa and crew, Caieta made the life-altering decision to remain living in secrecy and help the other captured Agorans through their pregnancies. She knew that if she went back to her family on the surface – her crossbreed children would likely be executed. Phoebe is visibly shaken by this, now aware of the desperate acts of her father’s crew to extend human life and the effects that had on some Agoran communities.
Creon debates with Jocasta about whether or not he should discuss this situation with his military council. He decides to instead propose to them another raid on the colony to ensure of no human life on Agora (without revealing the existence of Phoebe). Aras interjects and offers to lead this covert mission with a smaller group of soldiers to eliminate any potential beings in the colony and rescue Phoebe (but not tell his fellow soldiers about her). Creon sees this as an opportunity to publicly tout Aras as a military hero if successful and that public favor will pay off when he inherent the role of Chieftain. Creon approves of Aras’s proposal and decides not to tell his council.
As all of Aras’s focus is on this Phoebe situation, Selene feels she is getting the cold shoulder after having just moved into the royal Acropolis and becomes depressed as he preps for the mission. She laments to Luqan, who also feels Aras is starting to mysteriously isolate himself. As Luqan becomes more inquisitive about the situation, Selene leaks her knowledge of the mission to annihilate the colony. Luqan’s ears perk up, as his Agoran nationalist faction still annually celebrate Creon’s original mission from ten years ago. He becomes excited and says he has to talk to Aras.
In conversation with Caieta, Phoebe says she believes that Creon would be sympathetic towards the colony if he knew full-blooded Agorans lived down there. She then opens up about the kind of man he is – one that she admires more since coming down here. She realizes that he didn’t tell her about the crimes of her father because he did not want her to be ashamed of her parents – just as he wants Aras to respect him. She goes on a walk with Kayn who gives her a tour of the underground colony. Some of the children are severely malnourished, which breaks her heart. As they walk, the two of them start to form a playful chemistry as they both bond over the experience of being a strangers in a strange land.
They finally arrive at the rustic Achilles, sending goosebumps up and down Phoebe’s arms as she remembers her childhood. He shows her the rover he de-constructed to build his motorbike (there’s a lot of downtime down here). She cracks a smile when finding a photograph of her on top of her father’s shoulders fixated on the mantle. Phoebe puts two and two together and realizes that the crossbreeds must have seen this and thought she was the leader of their kind. Kayn tells her there is one last thing he wants to show her and turns on the ship’s video display. A video of Agrippa (Russell Crowe) plays that he recorded for when she got older. Phoebe starts to cry by seeing this.
Just before Aras is about to lead his soldiers on their mission, Luqan approaches him. Obviously unaware of the true goal of the mission, Luqan begs that Creon reveal this raid to the public. Because of the drought, public morale is exceedingly low and this could be an opportunity to boost the public’s confidence in Agora again. Aras is torn up about lying to his friend but sticks to his guns and is adamant that the mission must remain a secret. Luqan, a decorated warrior in his own right, is willing to compromise if Aras lets him join the mission to help. Aras is adamant that is better if he stays here in the capitol. Luqan leaves bitterly disappointed.
Creon sends his son off and tells him he hopes Phoebe is safe. He admits that he was finally ready to talk to her about what had transpired during the raid of the Achilles. He wanted to apologize for killing her family but that it was necessary given the circumstances. And that even though she was a human, a child is a child no matter the species and saving her was the only thing he thought to do. Aras hugs his father and promises that he will bring her back and he can tell her this herself. They hug as Creon tells Aras he believes his son is already ready to be a leader and this will let the world know that. He provides him with a flare-like device that will turn a portion of the violet sky into orange and indicate the mission was successful.
While his fellow soldiers discuss tactical information, Aras is zoned out with his eyes closed. We then see Luqan, trailing the covert mission in his vehicle from some ways back, in his warrior attire ready to join if need be. They arrive at the ship and start to look for entryways into the potential colony. After some looking, they discover a garden patch with a hatch leading to an underground tunnel. As they prepare to go down, Aras turns to his fellow comrades and in an instant kills all five of them. Luqan, spying from afar, is horrified by this act as Aras enters the hatch.
Kayn hears a commotion from above the colony and warns the others. Aras arrives, no weapons drawn, solo into the underground colony with all of the crossbred humanoids staring at him. There is an eerie silence as he walks through the crowd, no one saying a word. Finally he encounters Caieta, a full-bred Agoran like himself. He pleads with her that he is here to do no harm, but only retrieve Phoebe. Before Caieta can answer, Kayn comes running at Aras full speed and takes him down. They get into a scuffle with Aras quickly gaining the upper hand. He remains adamant that he is here to do no harm but he will kill him if he has to. The fighting reaches an abrupt stop when Phoebe makes her entrance.
She pleads with Aras to let go of Kayn and he does so immediately, nearly in tears by discovering that she is still alive. He rises from his knees and embraces her, telling her how worried he was about her safety. Luqan, now undergound and still spying, has a look of disgust on his face and hurriedly exits the colony. Aras vows to bring her back to the Acropolis safely. Phoebe looks at Kayn, Caieta and then back at Aras. She tells him that these are her people here – people whom around she doesn’t have to worry about being what she is. As much as she respects Aras’s family back at the Acropolis, it is ultimately a life of isolation and exclusion.
Aras, his hand in hers, says that when they arrive back at the capitol, he will convince his father to both spare this colony and give them aid with supplies. He explains that he doesn’t care about the political consequences this will bring, the thing he most cares about is her. When she asks him to promise, he pulls her closer and kisses her. Aras ensures the colony members that he will be back to help them. As they leave, Kayn looks on in defeat but his mother convinces him that it is for the best since they will get the assistance they are in need of. She does not realize that he is really in pain over seeing a girl he admires leave with another man.
Back in the captiol, Creon frantically awaits news and is very relieved when he spots the orange signal in the sky. After seeing this, he makes a public speech announcing the successful clearing of the human colony once again. He vows that this will be an honorable day on Creon for centuries to come, as well as the day Aras proved himself a fearless leader. As he says this, Luqan approaches from behind and slits Creon’s throat, letting the body fall in front of his feet. The crowd panics as Luqan’s faction mates prevent Jocasta and her children from escaping.
Luqan takes center stage and begins to make his speech. He explains that Creon lied originally about exterminating all humans on Agora and he lied today about Aras’s mission. He reveals there is a thriving community of crossbreeds living underground that pose a major threat to full-blooded Agorans everywhere. When he announces this as a military takeover, the crowd starts to cheer. Aras and Phoebe are approaching the city and can start to hear Luqan’s speech.
Luqan promises that because Creon is now dead, they can finally eliminate the human species that committed heinous crimes against Agora. He announces the primary goal will be eliminating colony’s most valuable asset – a full-blooded human that is currently in the company of Aras. The crowd is shocked to hear a human is living on their planet. Luqan ensures that once he and his men complete their goals, Agora will regain its reputation as the most fearless and impenetrable planet in the galaxy. The crowd erupts in cheers. Phoebe takes Aras’s hand and tightly grabs it as they look at each other with fear in their eyes.
No comments:
Post a Comment