Nolan and crew are back in "Brothers In Arms." The show is continuing to improve with each subsequent week, and this episode was no exception.
The episode opens with a very suspicious looking Castathan being pursued by a human. Just as he's about to be caught, the Castathan drops what looks like a crystal. The crystal hits the ground and explodes with surprising force. Luckily, Nolan arrives out of nowhere, just in time to tackle the guy and arrest him before he can escape again.
It turns out the man chasing the Castathan is a bounty hunter; and not just any bounty hunter, he's an old war buddy of Nolan. Eddie the bounty hunter tries to convince Nolan to release the Castathan to him so he can collect on the reward. Before he can make up his mind, Nolan is informed that the Castathan is actually the infamous war criminal Pol Mads. Mads is a weapon designer, inventor of those crystal bombs, and also responsible for WMDs that were used in the war.
While in custody, Mads attempts to blackmail Doc Yewll with a hint that he knows of her involvement in the Pale Wars. This doesn't get immediately addressed, and so it seems like it may be a seed for a future episode.
Eddie continues to ask Nolan to give him Mads, saying he's gone through hell to find the man. Nolan refuses though once he learns that 15 people were injured in the blast, including one Defiance citizen who lost a limb. Nolan tries to make right with Eddie by giving him all the cash he has on him. Eddie decides to use it on alcohol, and unsurprisingly, a prostitute.
Said prostitute turns out to be Kenya, who finds that she can't go through with it, and makes up an excuse to leave. Amanda tells Kenya that this means she is in love, an idea that Kenya quickly shoots down.
Nolan meets with Amanda later, and attempts to get her to release Mads to Eddie. Amanda refuses saying she will use Mads to get the Earth Republic, who placed the bounty, to allow them to continue with their rail system. Nolan's not especially happy with turning his back on his friend, but before he can do anything else, he finds out that Mads broke out of prison using some explosive powder.
Nolan initially thinks Eddie may have done it so that he can recapture and turn in Mads, but the two soon join forces and go on the hunt. Mads it seems thinks Datak was the one who slipped him the powder, and goes to his home for refuge. Datak is none to pleased with that, and pulls a gun on him. Unfortunately, Mads poisoned Datak with some kind of bioweapon, and blackmails him into helping him escape.
Nolan and Eddie track the pair down and manage to subdue Mads. Unfortunately, it turns out Eddie is an even bigger liar than Nolan though. Mads isn't going back to the Earth Republic to face justice, he's going back to posh accommodations to continue to design weapons for them.
In a fit of moral rage, Nolan shoots Mads in the head. This obviously doesn't sit well with Eddie, who decides to turn Nolan into the Earth Republic in for his own outstanding bounty. Just as the Republic convoy arrives though, Eddie has a change of heart, and pretends he was responsible for Mads' death. He says Nolan has a kid to take care of, and that Nolan would have done the same for him.
In the wrap-up of the episode, we see that Quentin McCawley is beginning to have hallucinations of his dead brother, perhaps having something to do with the artifact that was dug up. Kenya breaks up with Nolan and tells him she can't see him anymore. And Eddie is seen with a packet of the explosive powder, perhaps confirming that it was him that broke Mads out of jail (and also revealing that he likely won't be going to prison either).
Defiance will return next Monday with Good Bye Blue Sky.