Due to the change in the production staff, Andromeda contains several plotholes and some interesting beginnings for a story arc have not been pursued. Although the studio changed back to a more complex and mysterious storyline after one season of action and discontinuity, many fans were dissatisfied after Robert Hewitt Wolfe left the show. As the series continued, many fans asked him how his version of Andromeda would have continued. So, in 2005 after the last episode was filmed, Robert Hewitt Wolfe decided to release a script that portraits his original ideas for Andromeda. This script, carrying the name "Coda" does not only tell how the seasons would have continued, but also gives a lot of valuable insight on who Trance actually is, what the Abyss really is and what their intentions are. Although the actually filmed series revealed much of the real nature of Trance Gemini, it never got as far as Robert Hewitt Wolfe's Coda.
"Coda" is written as a fictional episode that takes place during Ouroboros (episode 212) and does not contradict the actually filmed continuation of the series. The entire story is told as a conversation between Trance Gemini and Seamus Harper.
Harper finds Trance on the Observation Lounge of the Andromeda Ascendant - suddenly purple with blonde hair and tail again. Amazed and shocked as he is, the draws his gun, aims at Trance and aks her to finally tell him who she is and what's going on. Surprisingly, she agrees to tell him everything, since he is not the real harper, rather a probability wave from the future - a possible future harper who has experienced all the events that lead to the Seefra system.
In the following conversation, Trance tells Harper everything about the perfect future she was looking forward to and which is very different from what this Harper experienced. Mentioning that Seefra is just a very unlikely possible future, she reveals what would happen to every crew member and also reveals the true nature and intentions of the Abyss and also her race of Avatars. She unfolds an epic story about forces that are older than time itself and how they influence the fate of every living being.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. OBS LOUNGE - NIGHT
Harper enters the Obs Lounge and finds Trance standing by the
railing, looking out at the stars. She’s backlit, a little
shadowed.
HARPER
Oh. Hey. Sorry. I was just...
TRANCE
Looking for a place to think?
Trance turns around. But to Harper’s shock and amazement...
IT’S PURPLE TRANCE
Blonde hair. Purple skin. Pointy prehensile tail.
HARPER
Trance?
TRANCE
Guilty.
HARPER
But what... I mean... you’re
purple.
TRANCE
Am I?
Harper draws his sidearm and aims it at Trance.
HARPER
Okay! That’s it. I’m done.
You’re going to explain everything
to me. Right now. Or so help
me...
TRANCE
You’ll shoot? Go ahead. If it’ll
make you feel better. I don’t
mind.
HARPER
No freaking way. You are not doing
this again. You owe me. Spill.
Trance gets a thoughtful look, then...
TRANCE
Why not? What harm would it do?
HARPER
Seriously? You’re going to tell me
everything? Who you are? What the
hell has been happening for the
past couple years?
TRANCE
Don’t talk me out of it.
HARPER
Okay, okay. Talk. I’m listening.
Harper holsters his gun.
TRANCE
First... can you answer a question
for me?
HARPER
(guarded)
Maybe.
TRANCE
What’s the last thing you remember?
HARPER
Err... what do you mean?
TRANCE
What’s going on right now? With
Dylan and Tyr and Rev and Beka and
Rommie. What is the exact
situation in which this
conversation is taking place?
Harper looks confused.
HARPER
Well Dylan is... uh...
(starts over)
Okay. Tyr. Tyr is...
(crap)
Beka? Rev Bem? What the hell? I
don’t really... I have no idea. I
mean, it’s like... freaking hazy.
TRANCE
I was afraid of that.
HARPER
What’s wrong with me?
TRANCE
Nothing. Except you’re not real.
HARPER
I’m not?
TRANCE
No. You’re a probability wave. A
possible future Harper.
HARPER
Oh. Errr... so does that mean I
don’t get an explanation?
TRANCE
No. But I’ll have to make it a bit
more general. Since I’m not sure
which Harper you are.
(serious)
Okay. The first thing you have to
understand is that I don’t see
reality like you do.
HARPER
I know that. You can see the
future or whatever.
TRANCE
No. I see possible futures. Even
ones that are incredibly,
unbelievably unlikely.
HARPER
You know... I can vaguely remember
some pretty freaky, crazy stuff
happening the last few years. Some
place called Seefra?
TRANCE
Yeah. That was unlikely.
HARPER
A little. Are you saying that it
never really happened?
TRANCE
I’m saying that it may happen.
It’s a possibility. There are lots
and lots of possibilities. That’s
what’s great about the future. You
can change it. Not like the past.
HARPER
So where are you? Right now?
TRANCE
The same place I always am. In the
present.
(frowns)
At this moment, I’m trying to
decide whether to save you... or
let you die and save Hohne.
HARPER
The tesseracting thing.
TRANCE
Yeah.
HARPER
But... you have a tail.
TRANCE
I’ve always had a tail.
HARPER
Until it got shot off.
TRANCE
Harper, I’ve come back to life
after being dead. You really think
I can’t regrow a tail?
HARPER
You know, you kinda scare me
sometimes.
TRANCE
Sorry.
HARPER
So everything I remember after that
mess with the tesseract... or
everything I don’t remember... it’s
all just your imagination?
TRANCE
No. It exists. But only in
theory. Like I said... probability
waves. Although... well, the truth
is... I have kinda been...
daydreaming. Letting myself dwell
on more and more unlikely scenarios
in an effort to get an outcome that
was... I don’t know... more
appealing than the one I knew
was... well... best.
HARPER
Shouldn’t the best future be the
most appealing?
TRANCE
It should. But it wasn’t.
Trance reaches up with her tail and strokes Harper’s cheek.
TRANCE
Because some people I cared about
were going to get very hurt.
HARPER
Including me?
TRANCE
I’ve been trying to find a happy
ending where that won’t happen.
HARPER
And have you?
TRANCE
No, not really.
Trance looks back out at the stars.
TRANCE
I suppose I should start at the
beginning.
HARPER
You, me, Beka, and Rev on the Maru?
I can remember that part.
TRANCE
No. The real beginning. The “In
the beginning” beginning. Once
upon a time, there was matter. And
energy. And Love. And Love meant
that all the matter and all the
energy were all bound very tightly
together in one place.
HARPER
Errr... like before the Big Bang?
TRANCE
Exactly. And then something new
came along. Something that wasn’t
Love.
HARPER
Hate?
TRANCE
Worse. Boredom. Some parts of the
matter and energy wanted something
new. Something different. They
became... distinct. Adversarial.
In reaction, other individuals
arose. Those who wanted Love to
continue. Two factions. Who
fought a war in Heaven.
HARPER
A war in Heaven? Like angels and
devils and stuff?
TRANCE
Exactly.
Harper’s got a sneaking suspicion. One he’s afraid to
confirm, but he can’t help himself.
HARPER
Which side were you on?
Trance waves her pointy prehensile tail in front of Harper’s
face.
TRANCE
The tail is a dead giveaway.
That’s why I let them shoot it off.
Harper still can’t believe it.
HARPER
A real live devil? Horns?
Pitchfork?
TRANCE
We called ourselves... well, the
best translation is
“Lightbringers.” But maybe it’s
more accurate to use the Latin.
You know any Latin?
Harper feels his data port.
HARPER
I think I left that chip back in my
quarters.
TRANCE
In Latin, the word for
“Lightbringer” is “Lucifer.”
Harper is seriously freaked out.
HARPER
My best friend is the devil.
Trance looks moved.
TRANCE
I’m your best friend? Harper,
that’s so sweet.
HARPER
Uh... you’re welcome?
TRANCE
So. We fought a war. Against
Love. We won. And when it was
done... we blew up Heaven.
HARPER
The Big Bang?
TRANCE
The Lucifers caused everything to
explode. Energy. Life.
Excitement. The end to boredom.
As the Lucifers blasted the
universe into existence, we
gathered matter and energy around
ourselves. And we burned. Oh, how
we burned.
Trance looks out at the stars. Revealing her tattoo. A sun
with a face.
TRANCE
And we’re still burning. Today.
HARPER
Suns.
TRANCE
Suns. Lucifers. Devils.
(a beat)
But Love didn’t die in the War.
Love still existed. And Love
wanted to restore Heaven. By
collapsing existence back into
itself.
HARPER
You’re saying the Spirit of the
Abyss... is... God?
TRANCE
No. Harper, if there’s a God, It’s
greater than you or me or the
Abyss. It’s beyond all meaning.
All understanding. The Abyss is
just the other side of the coin.
The Lucifers want energy, chaos,
expansion. The Abyss wants
harmony, order, singularity.
HARPER
So on one side... Love. On the
other...
TRANCE
Blowing Things Up.
Trance puts on her best “school teacher” expression.
TRANCE
It’s the tension between these two
forces... Love on one side and
Blowing Things Up on the other that
makes everything possible. Except
there was a problem. In the end,
we knew... Love was going to win.
In the End, everything was going to
collapse back down into singularity
again.
HARPER
And you know that because you can
see the future?
TRANCE
No. Because it’s happened before.
Many times. The Universe explodes
into existence, thrives, then
collapses back on itself.
Everything ends. Eventually, the
Lucifers arise again. And
everything explodes. Again.
Expansion, contraction, expansion,
contraction. We even created a
device, a way of ensuring that the
explosion would always happen. We
called it the Engine of Creation.
(concerned)
Are you following all of this?
HARPER
I have no idea. But keep going.
TRANCE
Unfortunately, this time around,
Love wasn’t willing to wait for the
normal dance. Love tried to force
the end to come early. And to make
sure that there would never be
another explosion again. We
couldn’t have that. So we fought
back. We made a plan to annihilate
Love. To make sure that the
Universe never collapsed again. We
incarnated ourselves as avatars,
projecting our consciousnesses into
fabricated bodies connected to our
home suns through the Slipstream.
TRANCE
Then, as avatars, we used our
ability to foresee probabilities
and try to force existence to take
a different path. And that’s where
you come in [...]
After Coda was released, the fans of Andromeda were rather excited. While re-establishing the Commonwealth always seemed to be the primary motive of the series, Coda revealed how important the role of Trance Gemini really is and how much the fall and rebirth of the Commonwealth is a result of the war of the Abyss vs. the Lucifers. One thing impressed the fans most and that was the concept of chaos and dynamism against love, harmony and order. As an interpretation, this understanding of "love" stands for perfect harmony, but at the same time, the philosophy behind Coda shows that this cannot be achieved in life, since this perfect order would result in stillness. Life however means dynamism and energy, but as a result also conflicts. The ending of Andromeda in the shape of Beka becoming the Abyss shows that one of these forces cannot exist without the other. Robert Hewitt Wolfe particularly gained positive critics because he stepped away from the usual concept of good vs. evil. Portraying the ultimate love as the force that is responsible for the destruction of entire galaxies is a very striking and confusing motive at first, but comes clear in the above mentioned interpretation of Coda.
In Q/A sessions, Robert Hewitt Wolfe also revealed some additional backgrounds. For instance, the fact that the Pyrians were created by the Lucifers as a force against the Magog. This concept was even shown in the season 3 episode "Point of the Spear". Furthermore, he explained how the expression "Lucifer" (Lightbringer) became a term with negative associations on Earth. Basically, in the fiction of Andromeda, Earth was the only planet that would have a negative attitude against this name. This was caused by the avatar Sol who influenced the humans, so they would not trust any other Lucifers.
Although most of the fans see Coda as a masterpiece of science fiction, the concept would have been difficult to realize for a TV series. Many fans wouldn't have liked the fact that the entire crew would split up and form seperate empires. In the end, it was the great actors/characters and the way they harmonized that made Andromeda extraordinary. Splitting that crew up could have possibly lead to the death of the series. In the end, the majority of the fans agreed that the ending of Robert Engels was better (route of ages concept, the crew staying together), but that Robert Hewitt Wolfe's concept of the Abyss and the Lucifers would have made the show a lot richer and more epic.
No matter which version of Andromeda you prefer, Coda is definately a good source for a better understanding of the many hints that have been placed across season 1-3. All the story arcs about Trance (Pitiless as the Sun), her people (Point of the Spear), why Rev Bem sees love in the Abyss (The widening Gyre) and the engine of creation (In Heaven now are three) suddenly make sense once you have read Coda.
