Forgive me if this topic has been talked about already, but there are just so many old threads. I'm curious to see what people think about the episode "A Last Time for Everything", as this is my favorite one in the series. Out of all of them I think it reveals the most about Aeon's character, and the relationship between she and Trevor. Also, like all of the ep's, this one brings up fascinating issues about the human psyche that would take pages to cover completely.

The part that interests me the most about this ep is the ending. Aeon told Trevor that "It's because she's out there that I'm here with you!". To me this says that there's a part of her that has always wanted to love Trevor, but she could never allow herself to do so before because it would be a betrayal of her ideals and dedication to her cause. Now the existance of her duplicate allows her the freedom to love him and know the rest is still being taken care of. However, at the end she is forced to make a choice about where her loyalties really lie... with her love for another or with her own sense of self. She chooses herself... unlike the many people in the real world who alter their behavior or lifestyle in order to please their partners. All in all, this ending is very tragic. Trevor is left knowing that there is a part of Aeon capable of letting go and truly loving him, but that it cannot coexist with her individualistic warrior self.

What does this episode mean to you? What interests you most about it? What questions does it leave you with, and what answers does it provide for you?

-- Abbit (coca2@umbc.edu), February 02, 2003

Answers

I agree that this episode is one of the best and hey, I may be a grown man but that final scene where Trevor, heartbroken, says "Let her go..." as the real Aeon lies dead in his arms... whoah... it brings a tear to my eye every time.

You're right too, that a lot of what is driving Aeon is tied up in the line "It's because she's out there that I'm here with you". We know there is a side to Aeon that would dearly love to love Trevor but, what with being busy saving the world (frequently with Trevor as antagonist), she just can't let everything go. Trevor has to come second; she has to put herself, and everything she believes in first.

It's probably a fantasy question we all ask ourselves: if we could divide ourselves into two people, what would we do? It's sort of a metaphor for what we would want to be if we were free of our current circumstances; if we didn't have responsibilities. Aeon knows that with a clone of herself out there, she can have a rest and let herself do something she's always wanted to do but hasn't been able to because of circumstances.

The thing that really gets me about this episode though is that doing this must have been something Aeon has wanted for a long time; it's as if she's imagined this situation and knows what she would do. She learns that Trevor is able to clone humans. She sees him take a (DNA?) sample from Scafandra and she knows instantly what to do. Everything that then happens in the episode is planned when she makes that tear in her clothing so that Trevor can take a sample, so she can become two people, spend time with Trevor and then... die. Right in that split second, she decides that taking her life is worth it.

There's one question I still ask myself though: "You'd kill me! That was the plan..." "Yes, yours to begin with... to make him hurt." Was this really the plan? Or when Aeon reveals that Trevor's desire is not his alone, is she revealing what the truth was all along, and is the plan to make Trevor hurt just a way to rationalise being with him when she already knows how the story has to end?

What it does tell us is that Aeon, like everyone, is vulnerable. This is why AF is so good: the characters are 3 Dimensional. Aeon isn't the epitome of good and neither is Trevor all evil. They both have strong beliefs and human frailties. They could be us (if we lived in an alternative universe, had sexy voices, were much taller than we are and wore cool clothes).

-- Drew (bully72au@yahoo.com.au), February 03, 2003.

I have to admit, this is my favorite episode as well. The contrast between Aeon as an institution, the premiere Monican Enforcer, and epitome of individuality, and Aeon as an emotional being, vulnerable by choice, no longer needing perfection, is the driving drama of the episode.

I think that she intended to go through with her plan, to kill the "real" Aeon to hurt Trevor. That's why "fake" accuses "real," "The stars in your eyes, they're stolen." She's given up on their mission, their eternal game/war between authoritarian and libertarian ideals, and more personally, Trevor and Aeon.

And when Aeon knows that Trevor DOES just want her, not the game, she knows she can't refuse to play anymore. She returns to her twin, now the "real" Aeon, and realizes that she can't live as the "fake." When forced to choose between remaining a danger to her ideals and dying, she chooses to die for her ideals.

Trevor must sit there, alone in the realization that she not only loves her ideals more than him, but that he's lost his only chance to be with her by loving his own ideals more than her.

skye

-- skye (skyknyt@aol.com), February 04, 2003.

Mmm. one the best episodes. (In Aeon Flux, there are no 'average' episodes, thus I feel guilty calling any of them 'better'.)

In fact, I think it might be my favorite storyline in the series. I find something extremely touching about Aeon externalizing her love-life to the point that romantic Aeon becomes, literally, a separate person. Are we not all guilty of this to a lesser degree?

Plus, Last Time ranks high on the ‘cool extras’ scale, if not so high on the ‘gratuitous weirdness’ scale. You’ve got that little fan-service nude lesbian clone kiss, of course – sexy. And Scafandra is one of the best incidental characters in the series – dig that prehensility! (It’s been ages since I’ve been able to watch the series – Scafandra was the one with the vertical scar in her forehead, right?)

Of course, there’s also Trevor’s derringer cigarette case. I’ve always thought, if I could possess one gadget from the series, I’d want that one…

-- Charles Martin (bebop432@earthlink.net), March 06, 2003.

i love skye's observation about the conflict of love vs ideals. i never looked at it that way before, and it reinforces my love for that episode. by far the best episode, and that is to say it is far beyond other episodes that were far beyond anything on tv today.

i had always been facinated by the way that aeon thought up that entire plan on-the-fly right before she made the hole in her armpit. i suppose that would explain the moment of weakness at the end, with the whole idea being rushed in the first place.

this episode was great mainly because of the extra attention to character development. this episode was almost ALL character development, and that is what made it great.

i wish more programs on television would explore inner conflict as much as this one did.

-- Joshua Klessig (statik001@yahoo.com), March 08, 2003.