List of Defiance episodes

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Defiance is an American science fiction television series developed for television by Rockne S. O'Bannon, Kevin Murphy, and Michael Taylor. The series is produced by Universal Cable Productions, in transmedia collaboration with Trion Worlds, who are producing an MMORPG video game of the same name which will be tied into the series. Defiance stars Grant Bowler as Joshua Nolan, the local lawman in a border town known as Defiance, as well as Julie Benz, who plays the newly appointed mayor of Defiance, Amanda Rosewater. Also starring are Stephanie Leonidas, Tony Curran, Jaime Murray, Graham Greene, Mia Kirshner, Jesse Rath and James Murray.

The series is broadcast in the United States on the cable channel Syfy and in various international markets. It premiered on Monday, April 15, 2013, in the United States, and that same week in most countries that picked up the series.

On May 10, 2013, Syfy renewed Defiance for a 13 episode second season, which began on June 19, 2014. As of August 28, 2014, 25 episodes of Defiance have aired, concluding the second season. It was renewed for a 13 episode third season on September 25, 2014 to air a double episode premiere on Friday June 12th 2015.

Series overview

Seasons of Defiance

Season		Episodes	Originally aired
			First aired	Last aired
	1	12	April 15, 2013 (2013-04-15)	July 8, 2013 (2013-07-08)
	2	13	June 19, 2014 (2014-06-19)	August 28, 2014 (2014-08-28)

Episodes

Season 1 (2013)

No. in series	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	U.S. viewers (million)
1	1	"Pilot"	Scott Stewart	Rockne S. O'Bannon and Kevin Murphy & Michael Taylor	April 15, 2013 (2013-04-15)	2.73
Nolan and Irisa scavenge an Arkfall impact site and recover a powerful power source. They end up in the town of Defiance – built on the ruins of St. Louis, Missouri, and populated by Human and Votan survivors of the wars. Nolan is asked to track down a murderer after the town's lawkeeper is killed. The killer is found, but not before the town's shield generator is destroyed, rendering it vulnerable to attack by the Volge. Nolan and Irisa use the power source they discovered to destroy the Volge attacking force, and Nolan remains in Defiance as the new lawkeeper.
2	2	"Down In the Ground Where the Dead Men Go"	Michael Nankin	Kevin Murphy & Anupam Nigam	April 22, 2013 (2013-04-22)	2.40
A Castithan willingly undergoes torture to compensate for his cowardice in the defense of the town, but Irisa stops the ritual. A traitor who destroyed the town's field generator flees to a series of underground caverns in the ruins of Old St. Louis and attempts to force a nuclear reactor to explode, destroying the town above.
3	3	"The Devil In the Dark"	Omar Madha	Michael Taylor	April 29, 2013 (2013-04-29)	2.29
Two humans are attacked and killed by Hellbugs; Nolan, Irisa, and Yewll discover that they were actually murdered by an Irathient whose parents were murdered by the victims many years earlier in order to steal their land for mining. One of the Irathient Riders, Sukar, learns that Irisa has "The Sight" (an extrasensory ability to see the past, present and future without actually being present for the events seen) and helps her to tap into its potential to discover the murderer, another Spirit Rider named Rynn. Nolan, Irisa, Deputy LaSalle, and Sukar follow her into the hellbug nest, capture her, and destroy the nest. McCawley deeds the stolen land back to the Irathient Spirit Riders.
4	4	"A Well Respected Man"	Michael Nankin	Craig Gore & Tim Walsh	May 6, 2013 (2013-05-06)	2.15
Nolan rescues Kenya and one of her employees from having their adrenaline harvested for a drug. Meanwhile, Datak's wife Stahma maneuvers her husband into a seat on the town council, and Rafe and Quentin discover a set of disturbing cave paintings featuring an object that Rafe's late son had in his possession.
5	5	"The Serpent's Egg"	Omar Madha	David Weddle & Bradley Thompson	May 13, 2013 (2013-05-13)	1.98
While Nolan escorts Rynn to prison via land coach, Amanda also comes along, carrying investment money raised by the town to pay for a new rail spur to Defiance. Bandits attempt to attack the coach but Nolan, Amanda, and – to their surprise – Rynn foil the attempt. Meanwhile, back in Defiance, Irisa runs into the Castithan who ritualistically tortured her as a child and is intent on killing him before realizing that the man wants her to do so to fulfill a prophecy. She releases him and begins a relationship with Deputy LaSalle.
6	6	"Brothers in Arms"	Andy Wolk	Todd Slavkin & Darren Swimmer	May 20, 2013 (2013-05-20)	1.95
A bounty hunter arrives in Defiance to apprehend a Castithan fugitive and take him to the Earth Republic. Quentin is advised to destroy the book and artifact left behind by his brother.
7	7	"Goodbye Blue Sky"	Andy Wolk	Anupam Nigam & Amanda Alpert Muscat	June 3, 2013 (2013-06-03)	1.69
Irisa sets out during a Razor Rain storm to find Sukar after receiving a premonition of his death. Nicky searches for the artifact. Stahma attempts to hire Kenya to provide Alak with experience before his marriage. Alak and Christie argue over a proposed marriage ceremony.
8	8	"I Just Wasn't Made for These Times"	Allan Kroeker	Clark Perry	June 10, 2013 (2013-06-10)	1.91
In the aftermath of the Razor Rain, an American astronaut is found in the wreckage of an Ark who was supposedly dead since 2013.
9	9	"If I Ever Leave This World Alive"	Allan Kroeker	Bryan Gracia	June 17, 2013 (2013-06-17)	1.60
The disease infecting Defiance appears to be carried by the Irathients; all Votans appear to be immune. The town council overrules Amanda and imposes a quarantine on the Irathients, holding them in a tunnel at McCawley Mines. A cure is sent from San Francisco, but lands beyond the quarantine zone imposed by the Earth Republic. Datak announces his intent to oppose Amanda for the position of mayor. Nicky reveals to Quentin that he has been lied to by his father.
10	10	"The Bride Wore Black"	Todd Slavkin	Todd Slavkin & Darren Swimmer	June 24, 2013 (2013-06-24)	1.66
Things get heated as the discovery of the remains of a rich businessman leads Tommy to launch a murder investigation, with Datak as a potential suspect. The wedding between Alak and Christie is almost ruined when the future of the McCawley Mine is discussed.
11	11	"Past is Prologue"	Michael Nankin	Michael Taylor	July 1, 2013 (2013-07-01)	1.94
During a public debate between Datak and Amanda, Nolan kills a young Castithan aiming a gun at the stage. Datak asks for Earth Republic's support in exchange for the town's mines. Doc Yewll experiments on the gold artifact that seems to be linked to Irisa.
12	12	"Everything is Broken"	Michael Nankin	Kevin Murphy	July 8, 2013 (2013-07-08)	2.17
Nolan looks for Irisa after she escapes from Yewll's office. When Datak is named the new mayor of Defiance, Earth Republic troops take control of the mines. The two artifacts are revealed to be keys to an ancient weaponized Votan ship found in the mines. The Earth Republic captures Irisa; Nolan sets her free, but is shot in the process and dies. Irisa is able to bring him back to life after an agreement she makes with Irzu. The Earth Republic takes over Defiance.

Season 2 (2014)

No. in series	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	U.S. viewers (million)
13	1	"The Opposite of Hallelujah"	Michael Nankin	Kevin Murphy	June 19, 2014 (2014-06-19)	2.01
The Earth Republic (E-Rep) has taken over Defiance and Niles Pottinger is the new mayor. Datak is imprisoned in E-Rep's prison camp, Camp Reverie, after having been found guilty of murdering Colonel Marsh. Alak now runs the family business, but when he proves weak at running it, Stahma takes over. Rafe McCawley, who previously owned the local gulanite mine, now is working there for E-Rep. After an accident, a man dies and his two sons, Josef and Hyatt, vandalize an E-Rep propaganda poster, and they get arrested. Niles orders his bio-man aide, Churchill, to "take care of them"; then, while they are being transferred to prison, Churchill leaves them and they escape into a forest infested with Hellbugs, where Hyatt gets killed. Amanda is running Kenya's business until Kenya comes back, not realizing Stahma has murdered Kenya. Meanwhile, Nolan keeps searching for Irisa and he finds her in the Angel Arc. The two of them reunite and Irisa tells him that he has to go back to Defiance, but she will not mention any of her visions or her actions to him.
14	2	"In My Secret Life"	Michael Nankin	Michael Taylor	June 26, 2014 (2014-06-26)	1.43
Nolan and Irisa return to Defiance, but Irisa ends up in jail after attacking Berlin, an E-Rep officer. Nolan tries to get her out by talking to Niles. They are interrupted by a bomb attack in the marketplace and Amanda convinces Niles to let Irisa go if Nolan finds the bomber in the next 24 hours. Nolan's investigation leads him to Skevur, who admits that there is a second bomb ready to explode in Stahma's car. Nolan gets there in time to save Stahma and disarm the bomb in front of everyone, which persuades the populace to accept him back. Niles frees Irisa and also gives Nolan his job as Lawkeeper back. Stahma accuses Alak for Skevur's attempt to kill her because he could not handle him right, leading Alak to kill Skevur. In the meantime, Datak and Doc Yewll plan their escape from the camp.
15	3	"The Cord and the Ax"	Michael Nankin	Allison Miller	July 3, 2014 (2014-07-03)	1.49
Irisa tries to step away from Irzu because she does not want to kill more people, but fails. After killing Bertie and Sukar, Irisa tries to kill herself, but Irzu stops her, telling her that she is not killing anyone. Bertie shows up alive and well, as does Sukar. Nolan knows that something is wrong and tries to find out, but Irisa refuses to tell him anything. Amanda suffers from withdrawal symptoms and goes to Niles asking for adreno. Alak visits Datak in prison to tell him about Christie's pregnancy and ask his permission to leave the family business. Datak is furious with him, since he realizes that Stahma is the one who runs the business and that she is keeping him in prison on purpose. Yewll makes a deal with Niles to help him with something he needs, and in return she asks him to also release Datak to be her assistant. Datak comes back home and attacks Stahma, but Alak fights him; and in the end, Datak stops before he kills her.
16	4	"Beasts of Burden"	Allan Kroeker	Todd Slavkin & Darren Swimmer	July 10, 2014 (2014-07-10)	1.65
Niles and Berlin are attacked by a group of masked raiders while transferring mining equipment to Defiance. The raiders steal the equipment and Niles asks Nolan to find them as soon as he gets back to town. Evidence indicates that Rafe is probably behind it, and Nolan goes to ask him if he knows anything, despite the fact that he believes Rafe is innocent. It is revealed that Josef was the one who did it and Nolan arrests him. Rafe asks Nolan to give Josef a second chance and Nolan accepts, asking Josef to leave town. Instead of leaving, Josef kidnaps Berlin because she saw his face. This time, Nolan arrests Josef when he finds him, only for Rafe to let him go free and then kill him. Stahma asks Datak to make her a partner, but he declines and he burns Alak's hand in a record press as punishment for not being able to control Stahma and run the business properly. Stahma is furious with Datak for what he did to their own son, and has Datak beaten up and thrown out of the business and their house.
17	5	"Put the Damage On"	Allan Kroeker	Nevin Densham	July 17, 2014 (2014-07-17)	1.64
Due to an ego implant device, Amanda, Niles and Doc Yewll are hallucinating. Amanda believes that a man broke into her house and attacked her and at first, since no evidence of the attack were found, Nolan believes that the hallucinations are a result of the adreno Amanda is using. He later finds out about the implant and takes Amanda to Doc Yewll to remove it before it kills Amanda. It is revealed later that Yewll implanted it in Amanda originally on Niles' orders, and did the same to herself and Niles. With the ego, they took Amanda's memories from the last three weeks for unknown reasons. Meanwhile, Datak makes efforts to persuade his family to accept him back, while he is also working with the Votanis Collective to provide him with weapons that will help him take Defiance back from the E-Rep. He asks Rafe's help by promising him that he will get ownership of the mines back when E-Rep leaves town.
18	6	"This Woman's Work"	Allan Arkush	Brian Allen Alexander	July 24, 2014 (2014-07-24)	1.61
Nolan and Niles investigate a fallen Ark along with Churchill and E-Rep soldiers, in the hopes of retrieving the ship's energy source. When they arrive, they realize that the Ark was in fact not a refueling ship, but a Gulanee transport vessel. One Gulanee survived the fall and kills the soldiers, but Nolan and Niles manage to improvise a weapon and, with Churchill sacrificing himself as a distraction, they kill the Gulanee. Meanwhile, Irisa reveals her secret to Tommy after he sees her being taken over by Irzu and attacking a man. He agrees to help her, but must remain in Defiance to do so. He tells Berlin he is staying, but not why as he has promised Irisa to keep her secret; this infuriates Berlin, who breaks up with him. Finally, Stahma must face a Castithan holy man, Favi Kurr, after infringing on the strict patriarchal rules of Castithan culture by exiling her husband. She tries to convince other Castithan women to stand by her, but fails. To keep her attempted rebellion secret, she poisons them all and frames Favi Kurr for the murders.
19	7	"If You Could See Her Through My Eyes"	Allan Arkush	Brusta Brown & John Mitchell Todd	July 31, 2014 (2014-07-31)	1.48
The hand-maiden of the Tarr family is found dead with her eyes missing after having had sexual intercourse with Datak the night before. Both Stahma and Datak want to find who is responsible—Stahma because of her affection for the girl, and Datak because he is afraid he will be blamed for her death. With Rafe's reluctant help, he gets rid of the girl's corpse by feeding it to a hellbug. Datak starts investigating along with Rafe and the clues lead them to Dr. Scheck, who has been stealing Votan eyes from their owners to sell on the black market. At the same time, Nolan and Irisa investigate the disappearance of Rynn, whom they find in the hands of Scheck after he has removed her right eye. Nolan and Irisa get there in time, before Scheck removes her left eye. Scheck injures Irisa and manages to escape, but runs into Datak and Rafe on their way to his place. Datak gouges out Scheck's eyes with his bare hands in rage, and Rafe covers for him when Nolan and Irisa find them standing over an agonized Scheck. Nolan sees that Irisa's wound is totally healed and cuts her hand to see her healing powers on his own, forcing Irisa to finally tell him what is going on. Meanwhile, Alak learns about Christie's visits to the Castithan club and the two of them have a fight about it, with Alak ending up at Need/Want with Deirdre.
20	8	"Slouching Towards Bethlehem"	Larry Shaw	Bryan Q. Miller	August 7, 2014 (2014-08-07)	1.62
E-Rep has information about a bomb and an Irathient member of the Votanis Collective, Mahsuvus Gorath, is arrested in hope he will tell them where the bomb is. At the same time, Amanda gets a call from a stranger asking her to help Mahsuvus escape, otherwise her sister will die. She tells Nolan about it and they try to locate where Kenya is held. Amanda, not having a choice, helps Mahsuvus escape but Nolan stops them before they leave town. Stahma asks Datak to kill Mahsuvus because he was working with him and if E-Rep learns about it they will kill them both. Datak takes the opportunity to shoot Mahsuvus when he and Amanda are stopped by Nolan. Nolan pretends to be Mahsuvus during the exchange so they can take Kenya back. Despite their plan does not have the result they wanted and the blackmailers escape, Kenya is left behind and reunites with Amanda. In the meantime, Irisa meets all the other people who were "attacked" and they are now like her and Irzu informs her that it is the time for the "Arkrise" to begin.
21	9	"Painted from Memory"	Larry Shaw	Kevin Murphy	August 14, 2014 (2014-08-14)	1.58
Nolan tries to help Kenya remember but she can only remember the last three weeks and random things from her past. Pottinger runs to Doc Yewll when he finds out that Kenya is alive and tells Yewll that she has to die so she will not remember. Instead, Yewll tries a chemical lobotomy but fails to complete it when Kenya runs away. In the meantime, Stahma tries to understand how Kenya can be alive and along with Datak, they dig out Kenya's body to ensure that she did kill her a year ago. Kenya finds out that something is not right and when she remembers Yewll being at the laboratory she goes to her asking for the truth. Yewll tells her that she is an Indogene and she has about three months to live. Pottinger arrives and tells her that everything was his plan to manage to be with Amanda. He tries to kill her but Kenya escapes. Nolan tells Amanda that the woman who is in Defiance is not Kenya but Amanda still tries to stop Kenya from leaving town with no luck. Amanda organizes a memorial for Kenya, while it is revealed that Quentin was the man who was keeping Kenya captive.
22	10	"Bottom of the World"	Andy Wolk	Anupam Nigam	August 21, 2014 (2014-08-21)	1.42
Ambassador Tennety arrives to inspect the mines and Pottinger takes her to the mines for a tour along with Amanda, Nolan, Irisa and Berlin. While being there, an explosion happens killing the Ambassador and trapping Amanda and Pottinger. Nolan asks Rafe to help him rescue them, something that they do before it is too late. Nolan finds a Votan weapon at the mines and realizes that the explosion was not an accident and asks Rafe if he knows anything about it. It is revealed that behind the explosion was Rafe's son, Quentin, who tells his father that he did it to help his mother. Quentin then claims to E-Rep and Nolan, that Rafe was the one who planned them bomb. Rafe takes the blame to protect his son and gets arrested. Alak ends his relationship with Deirdre and asks for Christie's apology for his behavior at the club. Irisa manages to get the terra sphere she needs with Tommy's help and she proceeds to the ritual for the Arkrise.
23	11	"Doll Parts"	Andy Wolk	Phoef Sutton	August 21, 2014 (2014-08-21)	1.50
Dierdre gets murdered and Amanda tries to find who the murderer is. The evidence leads her to arrest Alak, but a Castithan man shows up and turns himself in forcing Amanda to let Alak free. It is revealed later that Christie is the one who killed Dierdre since Deirdre tried to make her abort her fetus by poisoning her, so she can be with Alak. Nolan tries to find Irisa and bring her back home but when he finds her, Irisa does not want to go back with Nolan accusing Alak that he never loved her. Nolan manages with Tommy's help to activate a device that makes all the Votans around them to collapse, including Irisa. Nolan and Tommy take her away, but when Irisa wakes up, she knocks out Nolan, stabs Tommy and leaves. Nolan awakens to find Tommy bleeding and he tries to help him before he dies.
24	12	"All Things Must Pass"	Michael Nankin	Todd Slavkin & Darren Swimmer	August 28, 2014 (2014-08-28)	1.35
Nolan tries to get Tommy back in Defiance in time so someome takes care of his wound but till he gets there, Tommy dies. Stahma and Datak are being kidnapped by Pottinger after he found out that they were the ones who killed Kenya. He takes Amanda to them and tells her what they did, letting her with his gun to take revenge. Amanda wants to kill Stahma but she stops in the last minute. Doc Ywell realizes what Irisa is trying to do and decides to leave her hiding place and go to Defiance to warn them and help them stop Irisa before she destroys the planet. Pilar visits Rafe in prison just before she reunites with Christie. Nolan finds Cai, the only person who can stop Irisa, while Irisa controls the Arks in the space by using stones and dirt, and she leads them to New York where they destroy it and terraform it.
25	13	"I Almost Prayed"	Michael Nankin	Kevin Murphy	August 28, 2014 (2014-08-28)	1.48
Irisa continues with her plan to destroy the world and everyone tries to find a way to stop her. Nolan finds Cai and explains that they just have to separate the two keys that are inside Irisa, so Irzu will stop controlling her but Mercado decides to follow Doc Yewll's plan and kill Irisa. Nolan manages to escape and gets to Irisa in time before Amanda kills her and with Cai, they manage to stop Irzu and save the planet. Pilar kidnaps Christie and Alak and she runs away with them and Quentin. Datak and Stahma free Rafe from prison to help them find Pilar and the three of them leave town to find her. The episode ends with Amanda and Pottinger getting together while Nolan and Irisa are trapped inside the ship that is collapsing and to save themselves, they get into one of the capsules that keep alive all the people who Irisa "saved" before her attempt to destroy the world.

Minisodes

Defiance: The Lost Ones

A five part series of minisodes titled Defiance: The Lost Ones were released on March 28, 2014 on Syfy.com. The minisodes are each approximately 5 minutes long and they connect the first and second seasons while Nolan (Grant Bowler) searches for Irisa (Stephanie Leonidas).

No.	Title	Original air date
1	"No Man"	March 28, 2014 (2014-03-28)
Nolan searches for Irisa and gets into a bar asking a man sitting there if he has seen her. In flashbacks we see Nolan saving Irisa and their first moments together after the rescue, where the two of them are at the hospital. When the man insults Irisa, Nolan becomes violent and someone else points a gun in his head.
2	"Loose Ends Unravel"	March 28, 2014 (2014-03-28)
The owner of the bar, Lenny, stops Nolan who turns out that is an old friend of Nolan's. In flashbacks, Nolan takes Irisa with him because he doesn't want her to end up in the refugee camp. Back in the bar, Nolan thinks that Lenny can help him find Irisa and he asks for his help, but Lenny puts something in his drink and while Nolan walks away from the bar, he collapses.
3	"The Watchman"	March 28, 2014 (2014-03-28)
Lenny is revealed to have been paid by a Castithan to drug Nolan so he could ask him few questions about Irisa. When the Castithan prepares to kill Nolan, Lenny tries to stop him but he backs off to save his life.
4	"Black Eyes"	March 28, 2014 (2014-03-28)
Nolan wakes up and recognizes the Castithan being part of the people who tortured Irisa years back. The Castithan asks where Irisa is but Nolan doesn't tell him so he tortures him. In flashbacks, Irisa finds a knife and freaks out because it reminds her the ritual where she was tortured but Nolan calms her down and teaches her how to use it.
5	"The Searcher"	March 28, 2014 (2014-03-28)
Nolan tries to earn time by talking to the Castithan. In flashbacks, a soldier bursts into the place Nolan and Irisa hide and Irisa kills him to save Nolan. Back in the bar, Nolan manages to uncuff himself and get a clue of where Irisa might be. He knocks out the Castithan and leaves for Chicago.

External links

• Official website
• Defiance at IMDb