Episode Guide: Year Two
Title: "Seed Of Destruction"
Within this page: Overview | Backplot | Plot Synopsis | Unanswered Questions | Analyses/Observations | Comments | Memorable Lines
Overview
Commander Koenig is imprisoned and replaced by a mirror, malevolent image of himself -- who proceeds to plot the destruction of Moonbase Alpha.
Production Number: 011 (Season Two)
Original U.K. airing week: 11 November 1976 (ATV Midlands)
Original U.S. airing week: 12 November 1976 (syndication)
Written by John Goldsmith
Directed by Kevin Connor
Backplot
- In the year 1999, lunar nuclear waste storage dumps have exploded, due to magnetic radiation, sending Earth's moon into interstellar space. The inhabitants of Moonbase Alpha, unable to escape, are seeking a new home.
Plot Synopsis
(From the original ITC Press Release.)
An ice-cold replica of Commander Koenig takes control of the Moon - and orders its destruction.
The asteroid is bizarre and jewel-like. Its effect on the Moon is alarming, causing a gradual power loss which is draining Alpha of energy. Disaster lies ahead unless the cause can be found, but there is a macabre turn of events when Commander Koenig (MARTIN LANDAU) carries out a reconnaissance with pilot Alan Carter (NICK TATE).
As their Eagle lands on the asteroid's crystallised surface, a malfunction alarm sounds. Koenig therefore explores alone, leaving Carter to trace the fault. Seeing a cave entrance, he enters and finds himself in what appears to be a vast hall of mirrors, confronted by reflected images of himself in every direction. Without warning, he is struck down by a living replica of himself which materializes from on reflection.
There is nothing to arouse Carter's suspicions when the duplicate Koenig joins him on the now functioning Eagle, carrying with him a chunk of crystal which, he says, is a sample he has collected. And back on the moon, no-one has any reason to suspect the identity of the man they believe to be Koenig. His behaviour, though, is puzzling. He is curt and unfriendly.
"Koenig" immediately announces that they are surrounded by an energy screen which must be neutralized by directing an energy beam at the heart of the asteroid. Helena Russell (BARBARA BAIN) is alarmed, realizing that this will drain power from their life support system and threaten their survival; and Maya (CATHERINE SCHELL), as Scientific Officer, is refused permission to analyse the crystal sample. Her persistence results in "Koenig" staggering everyone by ordering her to be confined to her quarters until further notice.
Helena becomes even more puzzled by his attitude. He is deliberately avoiding physical contact with her. When she does manage to touch him, she recoils. His flesh is icy cold.
Maya is convinced that the secret of whatever has happened to Koenig will be found in the crystal. Determined to analyse it, she changes herself into a duplicate of an armed guard and succeeds in obtaining a section of it. her analysis is startling. It is an unbelievably dense, complex type of living matter from which all energy has been drawn. But it is not dead... only dormant, like a seed.
On the asteroid, Koenig himself, recovering consciousness, is learning the real meaning behind Maya's discovery. It comes from a voice calling itself "The Voice of Kalthon," telling him that the Moon's proximity is a fortunate accident. A black Sun had killed the planet's civilization, absorbing its energy. All that remains is a seed created by scientists which now needs the Moon's store of energy to regenerate it and restore life to Kalthon. Koenig tries to escape, but is frozen in a mirror.
By now, the energy being sucked from the Moon is weakening the life support system more and more, and Tony Verdeschi (TONY ANHOLT) suggests that an attempt must be made to get the asteroid again. A guard bars the way as he and Maya try to board an Eagle, but Maya transforms herself into a space animal and overcomes him. "Koenig," realizing what has happened, orders the Eagle to be shot down.
The desperate race to reach the asteroid begins... a battle between new life for Kalthon of the end for Alpha...
"SPACE 1999" - SERIES II
CAST LIST
EPISODE NO. 11 - "SEED OF DESTRUCTION"
DIRECTOR: KEVIN CONNOR
KOENIG - MARTIN LANDAU
HELENA - BARBARA BAIN
MAYA - CATHERINE SCHELL
VERDESCHI - TONY ANHOLT
ALAN CARTER - NICK TATE
SAHN - ZIENEA MERTON
DR. BEN VINCENT - JEFFERY KISSOON
GUARD (Scene 53) - JACK KLAFF
GUARD (Scene 34 & 36) - JAMES LEITH
FEMALE OPERATIVE - MARTHA NAIRN
Script
View the script for "Seed of Destruction."
Unanswered Questions
Analyses/Observations
Comments
Memorable Lines
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