screenshot from Bregna 2415 (resized) [dead link]
In the '90s, MTV, between the "shitty music video" era and the "spring breakers" era, briefly hosted some trippy animation. Aeon Flux emerged then, under the direction of Peter Chung, who was 30 at the time, with all imaginative pistons firing. Shortly thereafter MTV released the three seasons on VHS tape, and in 2005 Chung remastered the tapes and re-released them on DVD. To the annoyance of some fans, he added new dialog to four of the shows. He claimed this was to bring the characterizations of Aeon Flux and Trevor Goodchild "into better continuity with the series as a whole." New dialog was also written for the character "Clavius," former leader of Bregna. Three of the episodes he altered ("The Demiurge," "Reraizure," and this one, "End Sinister") were directed by Howard E. Baker, a fourth, "Utopia or Deuteranopia," was directed by Chung himself. Here are some belated notes on the changes to:
| End Sinister Peter Chung had no involvement in the original (1995) writing of this episode; he at least had "Story" credits for the other three episodes he later altered. So perhaps not surprisingly, this one got his most severe revisions ten years later. The main change is to make Trevor Goodchild more humanitarian and less of a eugenicist Hitler. |
|
| VHS | DVD |
| No opening title | Opening title: Trevor prepares to shoot a ray that will change the course of human evolution. |
| Trevor Goodchild: Strength is not an absolute value. To be strong is to evolve. Mutability is strength. Evolution is a stream of victories by the strong over the meek. The meek shall not inherit the earth. What is strength when a 200 pound man can be killed by a ray emanating from a satellite in space? Strength is within. Case in point: I make two men sick by exposing them to the same ray, Aldous B. One dies, horribly, with pain. The other one buries him without remorse. He is the winner. Who will the other winners be? Those who will be left once I use the ray. We have already evolved so much that our actions would be incomprehensible to a human from 1000 years ago. It's the evolution revolution. Tomorrow we speed up the process. All sectors. All species. Only the strong shall evolve. | Trevor: Go forth and multiply. Procreation is the fundamental act of faith. We divide even as we conquer. And is it losses on the field of battle? No, it is the battle of love. So I turn my weapons to the task of evolution. Case in point: I transform two men's semen into armies of conception by exposing them to the same ray, Aldous B. Sadly one dies. The other one buries him with honor. The ray is imperfect. Some will die but the alternative is the death of the entire human race. We have already evolved so much that our actions would be incomprehensible to a human from 1000 years ago. It's the evolution revolution. Tomorrow we speed up the process. All sectors. All species. Only the strong shall evolve. |
| Aeon Flux [arguing with Trevor]: And let you kill off half the planet? I don't think so. Trevor: You have nothing to be afraid of. The rays will only affect the meek. They'll strengthen the strong, like you and me. Aeon [to herself]: No one can make me be anything. [Aeon nuzzles up to Trevor, then kicks and handcuffs him] |
Aeon [arguing with Trevor]: And let you kill off half the planet? I don't think so. Trevor: The ray will be fatal only to a small minority at most. It will strengthen the strange, like you and me. If we're all doomed, what will you live for, Aeon? [Aeon nuzzles up to Trevor, then kicks and handcuffs him] |
| Aeon [talking to alien]: You can't stay here, it's not safe. You don't speak, do you? [Aeon pulls off cloth, revealing alien's weird body] Aeon: Come on! |
Aeon [talking to alien]: Where are you... All right, you don't have to answer that. I know someone who's just going to love you. [Aeon pulls off cloth, revealing alien's weird body] Aeon: Bit much... Let's go, I'm getting you out. |
| Trevor: These creatures have died from exposure to Aldous B. Somehow it shot from the satellite to their planet. They must have come to search for the source of the ray. But they failed. It wasn't enough. They're not different or adaptable enough. It will be your fault if the human race does not survive. Aeon: These creatures are dead and you're guilty as hell. Trevor: As a matter of fact I feel quite guilty. |
Trevor: These creatures have died from exposure to Aldous B. Somehow it shot from the satellite to their ship. They had to find the source of the ray but the ray killed them first. They lacked the resilience to survive. We need exposure to Aldous B. We must remain a virulent strain. Aeon: You've made your sickbed. Who else are you going to ask to die in it? Trevor: As a matter of fact I feel quite guilty. |
| [Aeon points at Trevor's stomach] Trevor: They don't have one of those, or one of these [tongue-kisses Aeon] [Trevor and Aeon begin making love as the alien watches] Aeon: Maybe they don't have sex. Trevor: Maybe they've found a better way. |
[Aeon points at Trevor's stomach] Trevor: They don't have one of those, or one of these [tongue-kisses Aeon] [Trevor and Aeon begin making love as the alien watches] |
| [Alien rejects Aeon's sex offer and leaves] Aeon: Please, stay. [Alien implants vision in Aeon's mind of the alien having "mental" sex with Trevor] Aeon: I don't think so, sweetheart. |
[Alien rejects Aeon's sex offer and leaves] Aeon: You'll be back. [Alien implants vision in Aeon's mind of the alien having "mental" sex with Trevor] Aeon: I don't think so, sweetheart. You'll definitely be back. |
| Trevor: Why am I bothering to save these people with their secret appetites and sorry needs? The alien - by contrast - is remarkable. She relies on no physical sustenance. No need for air, for food, for water. She does not defecate or perspire. She lives in the mind. Her feelings are real, more intense than our own. Her language of pictures is at once more poetic and more precise. She needs no one else [touches alien's face], but she wants someone else. That’s where I come in. I've got to stay with her. | Trevor: Why am I bothering to save these people with their secret appetites and sorry needs? The alien - by contrast - is remarkable. She relies on no physical sustenance. No need for air, for food, for water. She does not defecate or perspire. She lives in the mind. Her feelings are real, more intense than our own. Her language of pictures is at once more poetic and more precise. She needs no one else [touches alien's face], but she wants someone else. This will be my evolution. |
| Aeon [sending Trevor telepathic message]: Trevor, there's a bomb! Throw it off the rocket! | Aeon [sending Trevor telepathic message]: Trevor, there's a bomb! Eject the tube! |
| Aeon [talking to alien]: Don't... Don't try to... [Alien implants scene in Aeon's mind of alien ingesting floating energy cell] Aeon: No! |
Aeon [talking to alien]: Out! Get out of my head, you! [Alien implants scene in Aeon's mind of alien ingesting floating energy cell] Aeon: It's you or me now! |
| [Aeon sees new connective organ on sick alien's body] Aeon [thinking]: Trevor was right. They are human. |
[Aeon sees new connective organ on sick alien's body] Aeon [thinking]: They are us. I am alien. |
| Trevor: We are all winners, those who will be left once I use the ray. We have already evolved so much that our actions would be incomprehensible to a human from 1000 years ago. It's the evolution revolution. May the best man win. | Trevor: We are all winners, those who will be left once I use the ray. We have already evolved so much that our actions would be incomprehensible to a human from 1000 years ago. It's the evolution revolution. Go forth and multiply. |
previous comparisons: Utopia or Deutoranopia / The Demiurge / Reraizure
Update: This is my own comparison and transcription, based on review of the VHS and DVD versions of this episode. After posting (sigh) I found this tumblr post [dead link]. I made a few tweaks to my chart based on that transcription.