DNA Mad Scientist

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“DNA Mad Scientist”
Farscape episode

Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 9
Guest stars	Adrian Getley as NamTar Sarah Burns Julian Garner as Voice of NamTar
Written by	Tom Blomquist
Directed by	Andrew Prowse
Production no.	10109
Original airdate	June 18, 1999
Episode chronology
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"That Old Black Magic"	"They've Got a Secret"
List of Farscape episodes

"DNA Mad Scientist" is the ninth episode of the television program Farscape from the first season, written by Tom Blomquist and directed by Andrew Prowse.

Original airdate: June 18, 1999

1 Synopsis
2 Guest stars
3 Notes
4 Unanswered Questions
5 External links

[edit] Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Moya's crew pay a visit to geneticist NamTar, and, with the exception of Aeryn, they donate samples of their DNA—collected via a needle through the eye—in order that NamTar may show them the locations of their homeworlds. Aeryn declines because she can't go home. Crichton learns that NamTar's database has no useful information for him, and he and Aeryn get drunk together and Crichton invites her to come home with him when he does find out a way to earth. NamTar then tells the other Moyans the price for the information they need: they must give him one of Pilot's arms (which grow back). Without hesitation, Rygel, D'Argo, and Zhaan attack Pilot and amputate an arm.

Zhaan, Rygel, and D'Argo receive the necessary information in a data crystal, but then discover that opening the map to one planet will destroy the remaining information, rendering it unusable, which prompts fierce arguments and strategic manipulations--lies, seductions, and imprisonments--among D'Argo, Zhaan and Rygel over which of them will be able to use the crystal's information. Crichton and Aeryn are furious at what was done to Pilot, and Crichton is further surprised to learn that Aeryn, after his boozy talk with her, visited NamTar in the hopes of learning of a Sebacean colony separate from the Peacekeepers that she can make into her home. Aeryn and Crichton soon realize that NamTar has double-crossed them; rather than sampling Aeryn's DNA, he instead injected her with a mixture of Pilot's DNA in order to use her body as an incubator as part of his goal of giving himself all of the best genetic features of all species he encounters. He covets Pilot's ability to multi-task in his thinking. John quickly acts to save Aeryn, while Aeryn, who has always seen herself as one piece of a large military group, for the first time learns a sense of individuality as her body is destroyed and she realizes that what is left of her after that destruction is that which makes her uniquely Aeryn.

John teams up with NamTar's hideously deformed assistant and learns that the "assistant" was once in charge of the lab, and NamTar was an experimental lab animal who was given advanced intelligence and who then was able to turn the tables on his captors and make all of them into the subjects of his experiments. He also learns that the data crystal NamTar gave the Moyans is a Trojan Horse that will instead destroy Moya's data systems and trap them all on NamTar's asteroid. He destroys the crystal and Rygel, Zhaan, and D'Argo are left to reflect on their perfidy and greed.

She then concocts a brew that will restore Aeryn and NamTar to their original states, and NamTar devolves into a rabbit-like creature. While Aeryn is cured, she now shares some of Pilot's DNA, advancing the bond between the two of them and causing her to be able to sense some of Moya's feelings.

[edit] Guest stars

Adrian Getley as NamTar
Julian Garner as Voice of NamTar
Sarah Burns as Kornata

[edit] Notes

Aeryn is implanted with some of Pilot's DNA, which she will keep for the rest of her life.
John invites Aeryn to earth.
Raslak is drunk for the first time.
D'Argo plays a song for Pilot on the Shinquin, which he has been seen creating for several episodes.
The budong makes its first appearance in this episode—can you find it?