Killjoys - 'The Lion, the Witch and the Warlord'

It's Pree! With hair.

Johnny and Zeph are interrupted in their work of trying to open the remnant – Johnny with a blowtorch, Zeph by attaching electrodes to D'av's nipples, apparently – to celebrate Johnny's accession to Level 5 Killjoy. The party is tragically cut short when a group of out of town Killjoys show up to lock and serve him for the murder of Delle Sayah Kendry, forcing Dutch to take him on the lam.

While D'av tries to find out who set the warrant, and to find proof that Johnny did not kill Delle Sayah in cold bloo(1).) Dutch tries to talk him into joining the fight against the Hullen, but he decides that Dutch and johnny have to compete in a trial by ordeal. If Dutch wins, Pree lives; if Johnny wins, the Ferren join the war.

d, Pree takes the fugitives to hide out with the Ferren, a band of mercenary freedom fighters he used to run with, and when he says run with, he means lead. Johnny is excited to meet the Ferren, although Dutch has never heard of them, since – in her words – 'I grew up a slave princess in a harem, whereas you grew up reading comic books and building robot dogs.' The current leader of the Ferren, Lachlan, is pretty pissed at Pree, however, since leaving the Ferren is a betrayal (plus, they were an item

Dutch is all for saying screw the help, but Johnny is angry and eager to prove himself, having learned from Turin that Dutch previously blocked him from level 5. When the third challenge involves a truth serum, this all comes out, and Dutch admits that she never wanted him to be a killer. Then the out of towner captures them from under the Ferren's eyes and they work out most of their issues while tied to a chair, before Pree brings the Ferren to the rescue after confessing to Lachlan that he faked his death because he knew that Lachlan was going to get himself killed protecting him, where he should be leading himself.

New Nerd.

Meanwhile, having seen footage of Delle Sayah getting up after being shot, Zeph helps D'av to access the green and find the murder victim aboard the Black Root flagship. There, the aide is again warning her that being Aneela's favourite is dangerous, as well as telling her that he has cancelled the Black Warrant on Johnny as personal vendettas are beneath the Hullen. He follows her to Aneela's room, where Aneela is able to see the mental projection of D'av and dismiss it.

Later, Zeph uses plasma and Khlyen's blood to open the remnant... then closes it again. More mystery!

'The Lion, the Witch and the Warlord' wraps up Johnny's reasons for running, and exposes some cracks in the team. I'm glad he and Dutch made up, as I enjoy their partnership a lot, and also that th show feels able to have them argue and work through their problems like grownups, even when they often act like big kids in many ways. Also welcome was an episode with a bit of focus on Pree, and the fact that the wider team remains in play.

(1) And kiss on their reunion, which is good to see as an m/m kiss (or f/f for non-fanservice reasons) is still a mark of confidence in an SF show's staying power.