The Trial of Akmazian
He was acquitted with Ryan's help, but that was just the start of the story.
On this date 11 years ago in 2015, the season two premiere of EOS10, the Trial of Akmazian was released.
This episode, written and directed by Justin McLachlan, opens with a courtroom bombshell. Commander Ryan Dalias takes the stand at Akmazian's trial — a trial he agreed to testify in to avoid his own court martial — and declares, flatly, that Akmazian is innocent.
In a tense conference room exchange with his father, Admiral Dalias, Ryan lays out the evidence: Akmazian had kidnapped him (and an accidentally drugged Nurse Jane Johns) aboard the Silent Storm and flown them to the Adrarian sector — the site of the star Akmazian supposedly destroyed during the Fourth War. The star was still there. No destroyed civilization. The whole thing was fabricated.
Ryan points to the Adrarian Directive itself: unsigned, with no navigational correction for the gravitational shift that destroying a red giant would cause. Nobody noticed because a classified travel restriction ensured nobody could go verify it. The cover-up reaches high into Alliance command.
It’s also notable for one of the series most enduring lines, delivered by Natalie Cutcher as Jane in a way only she could: “I carry lots of things, mostly sunshine and happiness. Except on Tuesdays. Then I carry darkness.”
Revisit the Episode Now
The featured image for this post is from the POV of Justin McLachlan’s stand during recording of episode 201 The Trial of Akmazian in Silver Spring in late 2014. The papers are mostly from the script but there’s also a glimpse of the recording schedule underneath. Also pictured: the eyes and hat of Dan Barry, the voice of Dr. Urvidian and in this scene, Admiral Dalias.