Temporal or Time Slipstream


 * For other uses, see Slipstream (disambiguation).

"Slipstream" is a science fiction term for a fictional method of faster-than-light space travel, similar to hyperspace travel, warp drive, or "transfer points" from David Brin's Uplift series.

Usage in Star Trek
Quantum slipstream was a starship drive used in two episodes of the science fiction television series Star Trek: Voyager. It first appeared in the season 4 finale, "Hope and Fear". Similar to the Borg transwarp conduits, the slipstream is a narrowly-focused, directed field that is initiated by manipulating the fabric of the space-time continuum at the quantum level using the starship's navigational deflector array. It works by focusing a quantum field through a deflector dish to generate massive changes in local space curvature. This creates a subspace tunnel, which is projected ahead of the vessel. Once a ship has entered this tunnel, the forces inside propel it at incredible speed. In order to maintain the slipstream, a ship has to constantly modify the quantum field with its deflector dish; however, the calculations involved are too complicated, and the time available too short for 24th century Starfleet computer technology. When this technology was discovered by the crew of the lost and stranded USS Voyager, it was hoped this could be used to allow the starship to travel at even greater speeds: the first test of this drive allowed the ship to travel 300 light years in minutes.

However, in the episode "Timeless", the technology proved to be dangerously unstable, resulting in the loss of all hands (save for Harry Kim and Chakotay) of the Voyager in an alternate timeline. With the shipboard computer unable to map the phase variance in the slipstream fast enough to calculate deflector corrections, Harry Kim and Chakotay offered to take the Delta Flyer ahead to map the slipstream and send the data in advance to Voyager. A miscalculation caused Voyager to fall violently out of slipstream, resulting in the starship's deadly crash-landing onto the surface of an ice planet on the outskirts of the Alpha Quadrant. Fifteen years later, after the remains of Voyager are finally discovered, Harry Kim and Chakotay, who survived the trip home onboard the Delta Flyer, sends calculations back in time to Seven of Nine, by using a Borg temporal transmitter, which they believe will allow the slipstream to hold and Voyager to return to Earth. They are unsuccessful, but with no chance to correct their mistake, Harry takes the advice of The Doctor, whose program had been recovered from the wreckage and re-activated, and instead sends new calculations which collapse the slipstream field before the accident occurred in the primary timeline. Seven of Nine stated that she would continue studying it in hopes of someday reacquiring slipstream travel.

Quantum slipstream technology was one of the items requested in the "Think Tank" episode, despite Captain Janeway's admission they never got it to work properly.

Usage in Andromeda
Slipstream travel is also used in the science fiction television series Andromeda.

Slipstream, also known as Streaming, "Riding the rails" and FTL, is the only known way of traveling faster than light in the Known Universe. It is currently the sole means of faster than light transit and every race in the known worlds depends upon it for their economies and way of life in every social and political aspect. As such, it can be argued that slipstream is the most important discovery ever made. It was originally discovered approximately 10,000 years before the current era by Vedran scientist Rochinda. The technology that made it possible to utilize the slipstream was invented during the same period and the first Vedran Empress was crowned a mere 112 years later as the Vedrans began to spread throughout the Known Worlds.

Slipstream Mechanics
"Slipstream is our method of going faster than the speed of light, without going faster than the speed of light."

- Seamus Harper

A Gravity Field Generator drastically reduces the mass of the ship and then a slipstream drive opens a slippoint which the ship enters. The ship then catches onto the strings by means of slipstream runners. Once hooked onto the strings the pilot then navigates the series of slipstream "strings" until they reach the desired slippoint where they exit the slipstream. (Simple formula for slipstream navigaton: $$i = 1-(Omega^2/r^3)$$ Since its discovery nearly 10,000 years ago by the Vedrans, the slipstream has connected the galaxies together. Slipstream is an extension of our reality, an additional dimension that's integrally intertwined with our own. The slipstream is a place where quantum connections are visible as cords, especially the large and strong connections like those between huge concentrations of matter such as planets or suns. A spaceship that enters the slipstream can harness the energy of these cords and ride them from one star system to another. One interesting thing about moving through the slipstream is that travel time between points has very little to do with the distance actually traveled. If a pilot is lucky, and the stream unfolds just right, the ship could transit between galaxies in minutes. But put an unlucky pilot at the helm and the same trip could take weeks or even months.

Luckily for the cause of interstellar commerce and communication, the more frequently a certain path is traveled, the faster, easier and more predictable the journey becomes. As a result, frequently-traveled routes between major Commonwealth worlds -- Tarn-Vedra to San-Ska-Re, for example -- are safe and convenient.

At an intersection of pathways in slipstream space, both paths manifest the potentiality of being correct and incorrect. It's only when the pilot chooses a specific direction that this potentiality collapses and one path becomes right, and the other wrong. For reasons still not completely understood, organic beings tend to choose the correct paths, or more precisely, the very act of choosing makes the path they have chosen the correct one.

It was thought that, computers -- even ones with artificial intelligence -- were incapable of this reality-altering guesswork. Even the most sophisticated starship in the Systems Commonwealth has an organic sentient to pilot through the starlanes -- a prospect some sentients regard as deeply disturbing but others find comforting. However, machines with organic neural components (ie- cyborgs, in this case) have the intuition required to do so. VX, for example of the Consensus of Parts was able to navigate the slipstream because he had these components and thus the intuition required. Thus, an organic brain is required, though the organism itself need not be wholly organic. However, it appears even a full AI is capable of navigating the slipstream to some extent, albeit in a very haphazard and dangerous way. When the entire original organic crew of the Andromeda Ascendant was killed by the Magog from the Magog Worldship, the Andromeda's AI made the journey from the galaxy M82 to Triangulum by wandering the slipstream pilotless for 13 months.

Slipstream Core

 * See main article: Slipstream Core.

Slipstream Runners

 * See main article: Slipstream Runner.

Slipstream Runners are very large, smooth, rails that are used to help ride the quantum strings which make up the Slipstream. They are not completely essential for using slipstream as FTL travel, but they do make precision steering possible and make the ride a whole lot smoother. Smaller ships, such as Drones, slipfighters, and cargo vessels like the Eureka Maru cannot be designed with slipstream runners because they need to be a certain size in order to be effective. However, larger vessels such as Righteous Fist of Heaven class use slipstream runners because they actually use the runners for practical purposes, as well as to show off the Commonwealths prowess in ship design.

Anti-Proton Storage Tanks

 * See main article: Anti-Proton Storage Tank.

Anti-Proton Storage Tanks are specifically designed holding tanks that are supposed to exculsively hold Anti-Protons, a form of antimatter. As AP's are used to fuel fusion reactors in all spaceships all over the known universe, highly advanced and durable storage tanks are needed to safely store the AP's.

Anti-Proton Containment Rods

 * See main article: Anti-Proton Containment Rods.

Anti-Proton Containment Rods are small rods that serve the purpose of storing and buffering Anti-Protons right before they are bled into the MagnetoplasmaDynamic Drive, which are the main sources of propulsion and power for the Slipstream Cores of many vessels.

Gravity Field Generator

 * See main article: Gravity Field Generator.

A Gravitic Field Generator is an extremely critical component of FTL enabled spaceship. A GFG reduces the effective mass of vessels like the Andromeda, Maru, Garuda Class fighters, and even Drones to just under one kilogram, which makes it a critical part of the ship's mobility system and allows it to be pulled into the slipstream.

Limits of Slipstream
"While the Slipstream may not be alive, it feels like it is. It changes, it shifts. As pilot, all you have to do is anticipate those shifts."

- Tyr Anasazi

"Early Vedran physicists believe it has something to do with the presence of an organic observer and collapsing probability waves"

- Rommie



Due to the complex nature of slipstream probability and difficulty in mapping slipstream, only biological entities are capable of successfully navigating it. Exiting slipstream near the edge of a galaxy or in certain regions of space could be dangerous because it is difficult to find a slippoint in these areas. If a slippoint cannot be found, or a slipstream drive is damaged, the ship is stranded and limited to slower than light speed.

It is unknown whether slipstream runners give ships an advantage at riding the superstrings while in slipstream, because while almost every larger Commonwealth ship has slipstream runners that allow them to ride the strings, other ships used by species such as the Magog and Nietzcheans do not have runners but appear to operate in slipstream just as well. The same goes for smaller ships such as the Eureka Maru, which does not have runners.

Slipstream also has "decision points," which are basically intersections or natural branchings of the quantum strings that are ridden. Speed in slipstream, although relative, can be used to judge how fast one is going compaired to the median times. The Andromeda Ascendant was once piloted by Beka Valentine about 12 times the normal decision point speed.

It was once stated by Andromeda that an A.I. attempting slipstream travel has a 50% chance of selecting the correct route at each intersection encountered, owing to organic 'intuition' a living pilot has a greater than 99% chance of guessing the correct route to take.

Usually one has to enter and exit slipstream several times before reaching their final destination. Slipstream travel almost always results in very little or no time dilation.

Solid objects can be release in slipstream, where they behave as if they were in hard vacuum.

If the gravity is high enough, a slipstream portal cannot be opened because a GFG lens cannot compete with the stronger gravities and rip open a hole in spacetime.



Excerpt from Directors Bible
''While humans were still playing with fun new inventions like the wheel, the Vedra made a startling discovery. The Slipstream. The Slipstream is an extension of our reality, an additional dimension that's integrally intertwined with our own. According to an application of quantum physics called string theory, everything in our Universe is connected to everything else. And the Slipstream is a place where those connections are visible.''

''In the Slipstream, small and weak connections (those linking small and weak concentrations of matter, such as the link between you and your jelly donut) look like strings, gauzy bits of cotton candy fluff. But large and complex and strong connections, like those between huge concentrations of matter, say planets or suns, form gigantic, pulsing ropes, writhing monstrous tendrils with the diameter of a skyscraper and the length of the universe.''

''The Vedrans also discovered something even more exciting. If you enter the Slipstream, you can harness the energy of these cords and ride them from one star system to another, like the Universe's largest and most unbelievably convenient rollercoaster.''

''The only problem is that the strings are in constant motion, crossing and recrossing each other in a hundred different places. So to get from one star to another, the pilot of a ship in Slipstream has to constantly choose between divergent paths in the stream. And the right path changes from moment to moment. Faced with such randomness, all a pilot can really do when it's time to choose is guess.''

''So, here's what happens when a pilot reaches an intersection. Before the pilot chooses, according to the physicist Erwin Shrödinger (you can skip this part if you want, we'll meet up in a few sentences), both paths are simultaneously right and wrong. In other words, they both manifest the potentiality of being correct and incorrect. It's only when the pilot chooses a specific direction that this potentiality collapses and one path becomes right, and the other wrong. But the cool thing about being an observer in a quantum reality like the Slipstream is that THE ACT OF MAKING A DECISION ALTERS REALITY. So when you guess that a certain path is right, in Slipstream space, 99.9% of the time, you guess correctly.''

In other words (start back here if you skipped that last part), human pilots in Slipstream have to guess where they're going, but because of the nature of Slipstream space, they're mostly always right.

''Unfortunately, Artificial Intelligences don't guess the way we do. They don't follow their guts. They don't hope they've made the right decision. They really do just pick randomly. In Slipstream, this is not a good thing. It means they're only right 50% of the time. Thus, computers can't pilot ships through Slipstream. Even the Andromeda, a sentient ship, can't pull it off. She requires an organic pilot, or she can never travel between the stars.''

''Okay, nice theory, but what does it look like? Good question. What we see when the Andromeda travels through Slipstream is this: The Andromeda reaches a point in normal space where the Slipstream is accessible (as far from gravitational sources like suns as possible). Then she shifts, distorts, and suddenly she's someplace else, riding along a bunch of gigantic glowing ropes like an out-of-control roller coaster on a rail. When the ropes twist and wind, the Andromeda rotates and spins on her axis. When she reaches an intersection, she whips off at wild angles along new tracks, whizzing along to her destination. Finally, thanks to a series of monumentally lucky guesses by her pilot, the Andromeda arrives at her destination and shifts back into normal space. It's like Mr. Toad's Wild Ride on fast forward.''

''One interesting thing about moving through the Slipstream is that travel time has almost nothing to do with the distance between stars. If you're lucky and the Stream unfolds just right, you could get from here to the next galaxy in minutes. But if you're not lucky, and things get hairy, the same trip could take weeks or even months. About the only rule is that the more frequently a certain path is traveled, the easier and more predictable the journey becomes.''

''Most of the time. Unless it's not.''

Gallery
Andromeda is a Canadian-American science fiction television series, based on unused material by the late Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, developed by Robert Hewitt Wolfe, and produced by Roddenberry's widow, Majel Barrett Roddenberry. It starred Kevin Sorbo as High Guard Captain Dylan Hunt. The series premiered on October 2, 2000 and ended on May 13, 2005.

Andromeda was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and produced by Tribune Entertainment and Fireworks Entertainment. It was distributed by Global TV (Fireworks' parent company) in Canada and syndicated in the United States on WGN and other channels. It was picked up by the Sci-Fi Channel in the U.S. halfway through season four. Andromeda is one of two TV series (to date) based upon concepts Roddenberry had created as early as the 1960s and 1970s. The name Dylan Hunt had also been used for the hero of two TV movie pilots Roddenberry had produced in the mid-1970s, Genesis II and Planet Earth, which had a similar premise. The other series posthumously created from Roddenberry's notes is Earth: Final Conflict.

Plot and production
The series is set thousands of years in the future, and revolves around the Systems Commonwealth, a constitutional monarchy based in a distant star system called Tarn-Vedra. Humankind is a part of The Commonwealth, having been discovered by its members thousands of years prior. The Commonwealth is based in three galaxies; The Milky Way, Triangulum Galaxy, and the Andromeda Galaxy, located 2.7 million light-years from the Milky Way Galaxy. Ships travel from one end of the Commonwealth to the other through slipstreams, following pre-guided roller coaster-like pathways through the cosmos to and from their destination.

The Commonwealth claims to be a utopian society, but it is actually in a state of war with the Magog, a humanoid species with bat-like faces that is dedicated to war. A few years earlier, to show good faith as a result of peace talks, the Commonwealth ceded to the Magog a key home world. This home world is a key planet of one of the Commonwealth's member species, the genetically engineered Nietzscheans. The Nietzscheans, displeased with this peace agreement with the Magog, secretly attempt to usurp control of the Commonwealth. This is also the embodiment of their basic beliefs, as they see themselves as the race described as the "Übermensch" by philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche.

The Commonwealth is defended by the High Guard, an armada of many ships. The protagonist of the series, Dylan Hunt, is the captain of a Commonwealth ship, the Andromeda Ascendant. The ship's computer, a powerful AI (Artificial Intelligence), is a key character in the series.

The entire High Guard, including Captain Hunt, is caught by surprise in the first engagement of the Nietzschean uprising. He is forced to evacuate his crew, but Andromeda gets caught on the edge of an event horizon of a black hole, freezing him in time.

303 years later, the crew of the salvage ship Eureka Maru locates Hunt's ship. The Systems Commonwealth and the High Guard have fallen in the centuries since he was frozen in time, beginning an era known as The Long Night. Hunt recruits the salvage crew to join him in an attempt to restore the Systems Commonwealth and "rekindle the light of civilization."

The salvage crew comprises its leader, Beka Valentine, a con-artist and expert pilot; a super-genius engineer named Seamus Harper (rescued from Nietzschean-enslaved Earth by Beka) who can plug his mind directly into computer systems; Trance Gemini, and Rev Bem. "Rev" is short for Reverend; although he is a Magog and thus violent by nature, he has discovered a non-violent, Taoist-like religious order called The Way and become a Wayist priest. As for Trance, little is known at first about this pixie-like purple female alien other than that she has a tail and seems somewhat distant. The salvage crew's beneficiary also brought along an insurance policy in the form of a Nietzschean mercenary named Tyr Anasazi ("out of Victoria by Barbarossa", of the nearly extinct Kodiak pride). Tyr is the leader of a group of mercenaries, of which he is the only one to be left on board after the opening episodes. Tyr's propensity for self-preservation leads him to also join Dylan's crew until better opportunities arise.

Season one
The long night has come. The Systems Commonwealth, the greatest civilization in history, has fallen. But now, one ship, one crew have vowed to drive back the night and rekindle the light of civilization. On the starship Andromeda, hope lives again. Season one of the series shows Dylan Hunt assembling the crew and adjusting to the new universe, while pursuing the creation of the New Systems Commonwealth. The idea of the new Commonwealth proves unpopular; only 6 worlds actually sign the Commonwealth charter in this season. Major powers like the Than Hegemony or the Nietzschean Sabra and Jaguar prides are not really interested in the new Commonwealth; Dylan also manages to make quite a few enemies himself (including the most powerful of all Nietzschean Prides, Drago-Kazov).

Dylan also encounters several dysfunctional remnants of the old High Guard and witnesses the consequences of some of his own actions 300 years before. He realizes that the old Commonwealth had made some mistakes, the repetition of which he has to avoid.

The unification of Andromeda ' s crew is a major theme of season one. Dylan's new crew does not really believe in the idea of the Commonwealth, and joins him only for personal gain. To their surprise they find that having something to fight for is not a bad thing. In the season finale, Beka, Dylan's First Officer, even promises to continue his mission if he dies.

Initially Trance seems to be a ditzy, naive girl, warm and compassionate but serving little actual purpose on the ship. She quickly demonstrates she is more than she seems. Trance has a strong ability to gauge probabilities in the fabric of space-time, which seems to others as if she could see the future. She describes it as seeing "all possible futures". She uses this ability several times to help her friends, but her true goals remain unknown. The show hints that she engineered the Battle of Witchhead, where the last remains of the old Commonwealth fleet were destroyed, taking most of the Nietzschean forces with them, by "accidentally" sending the Andromeda back in time and pulling various members of the crew by the right strings.

Dylan himself has a difficult time accepting the fact that the universe he lived in no longer exists and all his friends are long dead. In a bizarre accident he actually manages to contact his fiancée, Sara Riley, 300 years before and even to teleport onto her ship – but returns alone, deciding the new Commonwealth is more important than his own life.

In the season finale Andromeda encounters the Magog World ship, a huge structure of twenty connected planets and an artificial sun. The World ship contains trillions of Magog and is equipped with a powerful weapon – a point singularity projector, which creates miniature black holes. Andromeda is heavily damaged; Tyr and Harper are abducted to the World ship. Trying to rescue them, Rev Bem follows them to the World ship. The rest of the crew are badly injured.

Season two
He is the last guardian of a fallen civilization, a hero from another time. Faced with a universe in chaos, Dylan Hunt recruits an unlikely crew and sets out to reunite the galaxies. On the starship Andromeda hope lives again. Season two begins with the crew of Andromeda in a seemingly hopeless situation. Dylan and Trance are revived by Beka, and Dylan goes to the Magog World ship with Rommie (the android avatar of Andromeda's AI) to recover Tyr, Harper and Rev. Harper is infested with Magog eggs, and Rev's loyalty is strained when he encounters the being the Magog call the Spirit of the Abyss. They believe it to be their creator and god. Although Dylan and Rommie rescue Tyr and Harper, Andromeda is badly damaged, Rev has a spiritual crisis, and there seems to be no possible way to extract the Magog larvae from Harper. A powerful drug will keep them dormant for a time, but it only delays the inevitable.

The season shows the crew reacting to the sudden necessity of the New Commonwealth after the discovery of the Worldship (which will arrive to the Known Worlds in a few years), as they continue to make sure the dream comes true. Many worlds became more willing to sign the charter after learning of the Worldship. Dylan becomes more ruthless in his actions as well.

The episode "Ouroboros" (2:12) in the middle of this season became a major turning point for the whole series. "Ouroboros" was the last episode by Robert Hewitt Wolfe, the show's original developer and head writer. The producers allegedly felt that the series was becoming too intellectual and complicated (see Controversy over Robert Hewitt Wolfe's departure). One immediately visible change was Trance's transformation. She exchanged places with her own future version; New Trance had a different (golden-skinned) appearance and much more serious personality.

"Behind the scenes", Brent Stait (Rev Bem) also left Andromeda in "Ouroboros" because of his developing allergy to Magog make-up. He reprises his role twice later, in seasons three and four.

In the second half of season two, restoration of the Systems Commonwealth becomes a much less significant theme. The show mostly concentrated on Star Trek-style standalone adventures. However, by the end of the season, the new Commonwealth had gained a new powerful war fleet and a total of fifty worlds. This period also saw Kevin Sorbo reunited with his Hercules co-star Michael Hurst for one episode.

Andromeda's Nietzschean crewman, Tyr Anasazi, is revealed to have a son, Tamerlane Anasazi, who is a genetic reincarnation of Drago Museveni, Founder and Progenitor of the entire Nietzschean Race. Since all the Nietzschean Prides believe that Drago Museveni's genetic reincarnation will necessarily be a great leader, the Nietzschean Messiah, Tyr Anasazi gets a unique opportunity to unite all the Nietzschean Prides. He does not use it yet, biding his time.

In the season finale the Systems Commonwealth is finally reinstated. A ceremony is held on board of the Andromeda, but interrupted by the attack of unknown extra-dimensional aliens.

Season three
The Universe is a dangerous place. But in our future my crew and I fight to make it safe. I am Dylan Hunt, Captain of the Andromeda Ascendant, and these are our adventures. Season three had the most episodic format of all. The Systems Commonwealth is already reunited, but there is not much progress in the fight with the Magog and the Abyss.

Several episodes of season three explore Trance and her actual role. One episode (The Dark Backward) is filmed completely from Trance's viewpoint, showing that she indeed "lives" through all possible alternate futures before choosing the right one.

This season shows several confusing additions, refits, and changes to the Andromeda, its crew and the Commonwealth.

The Andromeda gains a highly trained High Guard crew in some episodes only to have them disappear in the next, leaving the core command crew to deal with problems on the ship without help. An example is the appearance of multiple squadrons of slip fighters who fight under Beka's staunch leadership in Point of the Spear, when in the previous episode, where a squadron of slipfighters would have been handy, they are not used.

The capabilities of the ship increase and decrease as well. Throughout Season 3 a recurring undertone suggest the Andromeda is "the most powerful ship in the Galaxy", which is contradictory to the first two seasons. Despite this new angle of writing the Andromeda as the ultimate warship, she is outmatched more than once (if only temporarily) by unlikely foes; examples are the lone Nietzschean vessel firing gamma rays in Vault of the Heavens and the garbage-spewing ships shown in Illusion of Majesty.

Also in Season 3 the characters often react in ways which are contrary to their established personalities. Many of the plots and story structures appear strained and inconsistent.

Nietzschean crewman Tyr Anasazi makes his move at the end of the season. He implants his son Tamerlane Anasazi 's DNA into his own cells, and goes on to reunite the various Nietzschean Prides and separate them from the Systems Commonwealth again. The season ends with Nietzscheans withdrawing from the Commonwealth and Tyr Anasazi formally leaving the Andromeda.

Season four
In season four, Dylan is nearly outlawed by the Systems Commonwealth he himself had restored. The Collectors (originally keepers of historical information unknown to anyone else), allied with the Spirit of the Abyss, manipulate the fragile government of the New Commonwealth to show him in a bad light. The Abyss infiltrates the Commonwealth using many other agents as well.

Eventually the Collectors unite with Tyr Anasazi and his newly united Nietzschean Prides. Tyr mistrusts the Spirit of the Abyss, but hopes to defeat it. He tries to find a map to the Route of Ages — a portal connecting all galaxies together. It is possible to weaken the Abyss by passing through it. Dylan gets the map instead, but he allows Tyr to follow Andromeda through the Route of Ages, as Tyr knows more about the Abyss. Andromeda is transported into a weird universe where thoughts manifest as reality. With Trance's help, Dylan defeats and kills Tyr Anasazi who tried to make a deal with the Abyss.

Since the Route of Ages closes before the Andromeda can get back, Dylan has to use Trance's help. She reveals that she is the Avatar of the Sun, with "the power to create and destroy". Trance destroys Andromeda and re-creates it in the right universe.

In this season, Dylan also finds a new crew member — Nietzschean Telemachus Rhade, who does not accept his race's betrayal of the Commonwealth and agrees to join Dylan. Rhade proves to be more manageable than Tyr Anasazi, whom he helped Dylan defeat.

The Magog evolve and become more intelligent and cunning. In the season finale their Worldship is rediscovered. It is heading towards the Arkology, an old space station with very pacifist population. Dylan frantically tries to convince them that they have to defend themselves, but the people of the Arkology hope to make peace with the Magog.

They pay dearly for that mistake, as the Magog never make peace with anyone. Andromeda tries to defend the Arkology against the Worldship, but is horribly outnumbered. The Arkology is destroyed with all its inhabitants. Rhade, Beka and Harper are left in absolutely hopeless situations. Rommie explodes after being shot through her stomach while saving Harper from the Magog.

Trance asks Dylan to escape on a slip fighter through the Route of Ages, claiming that now there is nothing more important than saving his life; Marlowe, Arkology's leader (who had disappeared several hours before the battle) tells Dylan that they both are Paradine, two of the few ancient beings with incredible powers. Dylan reluctantly leaves through the Route (in a strange sequence where he finds himself in a large dark room and seemingly meets another version of himself). Trance turns into a sun and crashes into the Worldship on the Andromeda.

Season five
Season five starts with an unusual premise. Dylan finds himself transported into the Seefra system — nine identical barren worlds with a superstitious population and two dim suns. Technology (especially spaceflight) is shunned, and water is treasured because of constant drought. Flavin, a Paradine, meets Dylan here, giving him cryptic hints about Dylan's destiny and what Seefra is before disappearing.

Dylan eventually finds Nietzschean warrior Telemachus Rhade, pilot Beka Valentine and super-genius engineer Seamus Harper on Seefra, and to his amazement, they all arrived in Seefra at different times and locations. Harper, in particular, arrived three years earlier with the remains of the android Rommie. He tried to repair her but failed, eventually building another android, Doyle, with some of Rommie's memories. Initially he convinces her that she is human, but later her true identity is revealed by a rebel android. (The "behind the scenes" reason for replacing Rommie with Doyle is Lexa Doig's pregnancy. Rommie was rebuilt by Doyle late in this season.)

Trance is also found, but she is weakened by her attempt to transport Andromeda and its crew to Seefra. She does not quite remember who she is and what she is supposed to do. Trance underwent a metamorphosis yet again; she is still golden-skinned but appears younger, and her personality resembles her first purple incarnation.

Andromeda itself is transported to Seefra as well, but it has no power and no way to restore it. Trance partially recharges the ships generators, but Andromeda still cannot move (apparently it needs 100 percent power), and its AI behavior is erratic.

The first half of the season deals with three main themes: Dylan's conflict with his crew, his attempts to restore Andromeda's power and eventual discovery of the true role of Trance and the Seefra system.

Rhade, Beka and Harper are all angry at Dylan for leaving them behind in the Battle of Arkology and for throwing them to Seefra without any way to return back to the Known Worlds. Their loyalty is strained several times, but seems finally reaffirmed after the intervention by Stranger, a Paradine sent by Dylan from an alternate future.

Andromeda ' s power is eventually restored with ancient Vedran artifacts, but it is still unable to leave Seefra. Seefra seems to be located in a "pocket universe," and the only way out is the Route of Ages. Although some characters come and leave through it, Dylan cannot use it.

Seefra turns out to be Tarn-Vedra, long lost capital of the Commonwealth, but the Vedrans themselves left it long ago, disillusioned with humans. Seefra-1 is the original Tarn-Vedra and Seefra-2 to 9 are copies of it. Tarn-Vedra's original sun was somehow replaced by two artificial constructs, Methus-1 and Methus-2. Methus-2 is now damaged and emits deadly flares, which are the reason for Seefra's drought.

Methus Diagram — a blueprint for Seefra system, recovered with the help of the mysterious DJ Virgil Vox — also reveals the purpose of the eight extra planets. The Vedran sun will return someday, and destroy Seefra-2 through 9 to slow down and take its position. But because of the damage to Methus-2 this mechanism is not working, and the sun threatens to devastate the system completely.

Trance remembers her identity when she meets Ione, avatar of the Tarn-Vedra moon. She is the Tarn-Vedra sun. When she realizes this, her sun enters the Seefra system, and Dylan has to find a way to fix Methus-2 and evacuate eight doomed planets to Seefra-1.

Trance's "sisters" (who call themselves "the Nebula"), however, try to persuade her to join them. In their opinion the fate of Dylan, Seefra, or the Known Worlds is irrelevant. Trance stubbornly refuses, and the Nebula attempts to replace her (all Avatars of the Suns look alike). Real Trance is imprisoned inside Methus-2, and it takes some time for Dylan to realize the deception and rescue her.

Dylan proceeds with the evacuation of the Seefra planets, although his plans are hindered by General Burma, a religious leader from Seefra-5. Burma is later revealed to be under the control of the Abyss. In a confrontation with Burma and Evil Trance, Dylan and Beka kill Burma and Trance drives off her evil counterpart.

In the series finale, the Vedran sun is back in place and people are safe on Seefra-1. Trance then contacts the Nebula — the Lambent Kith Nebula, supreme council of the galaxies which includes fifty Avatars. Trance was once the oldest member of the Nebula, but disagreed with their views of organic life as something insignificant and left long ago. Together with Dylan she appeals to the Nebula and its leader Maura, who plans to destroy the Abyss by expanding the All Forces Nullification Point until it consumes all galaxies. This incidentally will destroy everything alive in existence; only Seefra will survive.

Maura refuses to reconsider their plans, but allows Dylan and the Andromeda to return to the Known Worlds. When the Andromeda slipstreams to Tarazed, Dylan finds out that only four days have passed since the Battle of Arkology, and the Magog Worldship is crippled but still operational. Rhade reunites with his wife (only to return to the Andromeda shortly).

Andromeda visits Earth (where Harper secretly plans to stay), but as soon as the ship arrives in the system, the planet is promptly destroyed by the Abyss. A huge Nietzschean fleet emerges from behind the debris, and Andromeda barely escapes.

Dylan begins to suspect Maura's motives and soon realizes she is the avatar of the Abyss and that all of the Nebula were under its control. Maura had destroyed all Paradines (except Dylan). Trance has Dylan take Andromeda back to Seefra and the Abyss destroys Maura for her failure. At Seefra, Evil Trance returns and reveals herself to be the mysterious Virgil Vox, but Dylan is able to distinguish the real Trance from her counterpart and kills Vox.

After a massive battle with the Nietzscheans of the Drago-Kazov Pride, Dylan checks the Methus Diagram once again and discovers that Trance's sun is capable of destroying the Abyss. Andromeda returns to Seefra through the Route of Ages, followed by the Abyss. Trance manages to pull her sun closer and plunge it into the Abyss, burning it.

The Abyss is finally destroyed, and Dylan's battle is over. The Route of Ages transforms into a slipstream portal, allowing the Commonwealth fleet to return to Tarn-Vedra.

Controversy over Robert Hewitt Wolfe's departure
Controversy erupted during the midst of the second season when series developer and executive producer Robert Hewitt Wolfe announced he had been released from the show's production, although his influence was felt until the completion of the second season; at that point, Bob Engels was brought on to be an executive producer of the series. The reason for the change was purportedly to make the show more episodic and open to casual viewing  since Wolfe's version — although episodic — had many continuing plotlines and story arcs. After the show's final episode aired, Wolfe wrote and published a one-act play entitled "Coda" that explained his intended plans for the show without contradicting the already aired episodes.

In discussion on his web site's forums and various interviews, Wolfe has elaborated that he was released from the production staff after he refused to shift the show's focus more heavily onto Kevin Sorbo's character, Dylan Hunt, by essentially making all of the show's episodes Hunt-centric. The events of the episode "Ouroboros", the final episode written by Wolfe, introduced the last major changes that Wolfe was willing to make to the series.

Recurring and notable guest characters

 * Gaheris Rhade, a Nietzschean; Dylan's previous First Officer who had betrayed him at the Battle of Hephaistos, accidentally causing the Andromeda to move at the event horizon of a black hole and freeze in time. The episode The Unconquerable Man, where he manages to kill Hunt and tries to restore the Commonwealth himself, portrays him in a more sympathetic light, explaining his primary reason for betraying the Commonwealth was a desire to protect his people from the Abyss and becoming disillusioned with them when they turned on each other after the Fall. Feeling remorseful at killing his best friend Hunt, he goes back in time to allow Hunt to kill him instead, thus guaranteeing a new Commonwealth. (Steve Bacic)
 * Gerentex, a Nightsider who had employed Eureka Maru ' s crew to salvage the Andromeda. (John Tench)
 * Freya, a beautiful and wealthy Nietzschean of the Orca pride, briefly married to Tyr Anasazi. (Dylan Bierk)
 * Sid Barry ("Uncle Sid", "Sam Profit"), a rich and amoral businessman, Beka's father's former partner. (John de Lancie)
 * Höhne, a genius Perseid scientist. (Alex Diakun)


 * Elsbett Mossadim, a First Daughter of Nietzschean Sabra pride, married to Charlemagne Bolivar of the Jaguar Pride to form the Sabra-Jaguar alliance. (Kimberly Huie)
 * Gabriel/Remiel, an android avatar of the Balance of Judgement, a powerful warship of the Old Commonwealth which went insane after the Fall. (Michael Shanks)
 * Spirit of the Abyss, a malevolent entity which commands the Magog and appears to be the mastermind of many sabotages and attacks on the New Commonwealth. (Robert Saunders)
 * Professor Logitch, an Inari scientist who tried to interrogate Trance. (William B. Davis)
 * Telemachus Rhade, Gaheris Rhade's genetic reincarnation, Admiral of Tarazed Home Guard (in season two; became a regular in season four). (Steve Bacic)
 * Charlemagne Bolivar, a wealthy and powerful Nietzschean, leader of the extremely powerful Sabra-Jaguar pride. (James Marsters)
 * Ryan, an avatar of the former Commonwealth ship Clarion's Call. (Michael Hurst)
 * Rev Bem was a guest character in seasons three and four. (Brent Stait)
 * Captain Metis of an ancient human relativistic ship, the Bellerophon. (Tony Todd)
 * The Patriarch, leader of the behind-the-scenes group known as the Templars, founded by Admiral Stark after the Fall. (Michael Ironside)
 * Achilles/Hector, avatars of the New Commonwealth flagships Wrath of Achilles and Resolution of Hector, respectively. (Christopher Judge)
 * Tri-Jema, one of the Triumvirs of the New Commonwealth. (Carmen Moore)
 * Tri-Lorn, another Triumvir (Nicholas Lea)
 * Flavin, a Paradine from Seefra. (Alan Scarfe)
 * Virgil Vox, a mysterious DJ from Seefra system. (Dena Ashbaugh)
 * Avineri, father of Beka's "alternate version" from Seefra. (Don S. Davis)
 * Orlund, keeper of Seefra's underground Vedran chambers. (Rob Daly)
 * General Burma, a sect leader from Seefra-5. (Hiro Kanagawa)
 * Maura, Avatar of the Sun, leader of the Lambent Kith Nebula. (Emmanuelle Vaugier)
 * Bobby Jensen, Beka Valentine's former crewmate and old flame. (Costas Mandylor)
 * Roxe Nava, Captain of a Smuggle ship, found during Season 4 Episode 12 "Spiders Stratagem"

Slipstream
Slipstream is the primary mode of travel for ships in the Andromeda universe, and the only known method of traveling faster than the speed of light. The Vedran discovery of the Slipstream was instrumental in the formation of their intergalatic empire, which became the precursor of the Systems Commonwealth.

Curiously, slipstream cannot be navigated by AIs (they have a 50% chance of choosing the correct path). Only organic pilots can "sense" a way to their destination (they have a 99% chance to choose the correct path), and although AIs are fitted on all large ships, they always require an organic pilot for interstellar travel. It is thought to be the process of choosing a path that makes the chosen path the correct one.

A function of slipstream is that apparent objective velocities are extremely variable, as it enables travel across millions of lightyears seemingly as swiftly as traveling between neighboring stars only a tens of lightyears apart. Further, slipstream is a non-linear method of travel; the best and swiftest way to get from Point A to Point B (though they might be in the same galaxy) may very well involve hopping to another galaxy entirely. Also, the more frequently used routes are often easier, faster and more predictable.

Systems Commonwealth
The Systems Commonwealth was a huge Utopian civilization, spanning three major galaxies of the Local Group. It was founded by Vedrans, the first race to discover slipstream. Initially the Vedran Empire, it lasted for over 10,000 years until the Nietzschean revolt.

Dylan eventually managed to restore the Commonwealth (though not to its former glory; initially it had only 50 members while the Old Commonwealth had included more than a million worlds). However, the New Commonwealth soon fell victim to internal corruption masterminded by the group known as the Collectors, allied with the Abyss.

Major star systems

 * Tarn-Vedra, the capital of the Old Systems Commonwealth and Vedran homeworld. All slipstream routes to Tarn-Vedra vanished soon after the Nietzschean rebellion, contributing to the ensuing chaos. Dylan was born on Tarn-Vedra. One of his motivations for restoring the Commonwealth is the search for his own lost home. In the final episode, after the Abyss is destroyed, the Route of Ages turns into a Slipstream portal to Tarn-Vedra, finally reuniting it with the Known Worlds.
 * Hephaistos, a system with significant Nietzschean population devastated by a rogue black hole in the pilot episode and the place of Dylan's imprisonment in time for 300 years. It turned out in season five that the Andromeda still somehow retained a connection to this black hole.
 * Earth was ravaged by Nietzschean occupation and Magog assaults during the Long Night. Harper was born and acquired his notable survival skills there. It was destroyed in the penultimate episode.
 * Tarazed, a world with significant human and loyalist Nietzschean populations which survived the Long Night largely unscathed. It became the first capital of the New Commonwealth. Birthplace of Telemachus Rhade. Tarazed was described in the series as being located in another galaxy and therefore is not intended to be equivalent to Tarazed, a non-fictional star of the same name.
 * San-Ska-Re, a Than homeworld and a major power in post-Fall Known Worlds. Did not actually appear on screen.
 * Mobius, a barren world with underground cities. Mobius was ruled by ruthless dictators for many centuries but joined the New Commonwealth when its leader, the "Great Compass" Venetri resigned.
 * Arkology, a huge space station with pacifist population and the site of the Andromeda ' s final confrontation with Magog Worldship. The Andromeda lost and the Arkology was destroyed, but Trance still managed to cripple the Worldship with her powers.
 * Seefra, a mysterious artificial system of nine planets and two suns where Dylan and his crew were transported after the Battle of Arkology. Seefra-One is revealed to actually be Tarn-Vedra.

Major races

 * Vedrans, the first intelligent race to discover slipstream that connects the entire universe. The Vedrans went on to conquer the Known Worlds, building the Vedran Empire. The Empire was plagued by internal conflicts and eventually was peacefully transformed into the Systems Commonwealth.
 * Nietzscheans, a group of superior humans who believed in self-improvement via genetic engineering and intense competition. They left the planet Earth thousands of years ago and evolved into a separate subspecies (Homo sapiens invictus) which colonized many worlds throughout the galaxies. Nietzscheans are responsible for the Fall of the Systems Commonwealth; however, they failed to replace it with the Nietzschean Empire (as they had originally planned) because of constant betrayals and conflicts between different Nietzschean Prides.
 * Humans make up about 70% of the Known Worlds population. Subspecies with minor genetic enhancements (like the Inari) are common.
 * Magog, a race of savage semi-intelligent alien killers, feared throughout the Known Worlds. The Magog have to kill and eat fresh meat to sustain themselves and to lay eggs into sentient beings to procreate. Magog Worldship is a structure of 20 planets and an artificial sun, home to trillions of Magog and a grave threat to the Known Worlds.
 * Perseids, a highly intelligent race of alien scientists and bureaucrats.
 * Than-Thre-Kull (Than), a tough and highly intelligent and civilized insectoid race divided into various function-specific castes.
 * Kalderans, a xenophobic reptilian race which once rivaled the Vedrans. They managed to reverse engineer their own Slipstream drive.
 * Paradine, a highly evolved form of the Vedrans, which looks like ordinary humans. The Paradine apparently had a special role in dealing with the Avatars of the Suns and the Route of Ages, but they are all but extinct now. Dylan Hunt is the last.
 * Avatars of the Suns, humanoid forms of stars with great powers. They are immortal and can travel through time and space, affecting events and people as they wish.
 * Pyrian, a grotesque, tentacled orb like species who are one of the most powerful enemies of the Commonwealth.
 * Nightsiders, rat-like humanoids with poor vision, but highly developed hearing. Their reproductive cycle is very damaging to the environment, as their early larvel stage is an aquatic creature which eats anything it comes across.

Other races

 * Ogami, a race of brutish pirates and mercenaries.
 * Bokor, dangerous parasites that possess other species in order to survive, spreading through physical contact. Inside their shells, the Bokor are practically invulnerable to any type of weapon, ranging to energy, melee or bullets. However, they are vulnerable to electricity. Their existence in the Known Worlds is abhorred by the Than who attack any vessel carrying them. For normal humanoids, it takes a while for the Bokor to destroy their neural functions and take over. But for Trance Gemini, it just took a few seconds.

Organizations

 * Genites, a high-tech, numerous and well-organized intergalactic group whose aim is to rid the Universe of genetically engineered beings, especially the Nietzschean Prides, who brought about the downfall of humanity.
 * Templar, a group of men and women who sought to restore order after the Fall. They were founded by High Guard Admiral Constanza Stark.
 * Collectors, The Commonwealth's keepers of secret history. They are agents of the Abyss.
 * Tech Police, The brutish anti-tech enforcement on Seefra-1.
 * High Guard, Main military force of the Systems Commonwealth.

DVD releases
ADV Films released the entire series on DVD in Region 1 between 2003-2006. On October 3, 2006, they released a complete series DVD box set known as Andromeda: The Slipstream Collection.

Alliance Home Entertainment has released all five seasons on DVD in Canada only.

In Region 4, Beyond Home Entertainment has released all 5 seasons on DVD in Australia. In 2007/2008 they re-released all 5 seasons in new collector's editions that featured new packaging and all episodes were digitally re-mastered in wide screen format.

Spin-offs
During the filming of the final season of Andromeda, several cast members were intensely involved in attempting to pitch a spin-off of the series that would feature the surviving core cast members, with the exception of Dylan Hunt. In 2005, Kevin Sorbo signed a development deal with ABC/Touchstone Television, resulting in the creation of the pilot for Bobby Cannon, a half hour sitcom that was never picked up by the network. Details as to the nature and premise and even the title of the Andromeda spin-off are unknown.

Function
Slipstream is a series of "strings" connected between solar systems by gravity. A Gravity Field Generator drastically reduces the mass of the ship and then a slipstream drive opens a slippoint which the ship enters. The pilot then navigates the series of slipstream "tunnels" until they exit via the desired slip point. Usually one has to enter and exit slipstream several times before reaching their final destination. An A.I. attempting slipstream travel has a 50% chance of selecting the correct route at each intersection encountered. Owing to organic "intuition", a living pilot has a 99.97% chance of guessing the correct route to take.

While travellers approaching faster than light speeds will encounter time dilation, slipstream travel does not.

Limits of slipstream
Due to the complex nature of slipstream probability and difficulty in mapping slipstream, only biological entities are capable of successfully navigating it. Exiting slipstream near the edge of a galaxy or in certain regions of space could be dangerous because it is difficult to find a slippoint in these areas. If a slippoint cannot be found, or a slipstream drive is damaged, the ship is stranded and limited to slower than light speed.

Usage in Doctor Who
In the episode "World War Three" we find out that the Slitheen family from Raxacoricofallapatorius uses a Slipstream drive as a form of travel.

Usage in Halo
In the Microsoft video game series Halo, slipspace (also known as slipstream space) is the general method of faster-than-light travel. Both the Covenant and their human opponents, the United Nations Space Command forces, use slipspace to travel between systems, the UNSC using the human-developed Shaw-Fujikawa translight engine.

Slipspace
According to The Halo Library:

"This...engine allowed ships to tunnel into...slipspace... Slipspace is a domain with alternate physical laws, allowing faster-than-light travel without relativistic side-effects. Faster-than-light travel is not instantaneous; 'short' jumps routinely take up to two months, and 'long' jumps can last six months or more. Entire crews of some ships have been reported to disappear with no damage to the ship what so ever. ...scientists noted an odd 'flexibility' to temporal flow while inside the Slipstream. Though no human scientist is sure why travel time between stars is not constant, many theorize that there are 'eddies' or 'currents' within the Slipstream—there is generally a five to ten percent variance in travel times between stars. This temporal inconsistency has given military tacticians and strategists fits—hampering many coordinated attacks. The Covenant have a very finely tuned version of this technology, and it is far superior to the UNSC's. Instead of simply tearing a hole into Slipspace, it cuts a very fine slit and slips into Slipspace with precision. It exits the same way, and can have pinpoint accuracy. It can even do so to Slipspace within planetary atmospheres, though this is highly damaging to the surface of the planet."

To continue the previous metaphor, the Shaw-Fujikawa drive is described as violently punching a hole through to Slipspace next to the Covenant and Forerunner surgical precision of travel. The possible method behind this precision is shown in Halo: First Strike, when the AI Cortana takes control of a Covenant ship. When attempting to jump inside of the gas giant Threshold's atmosphere, she was able to 'see' the bends and distortions of real space, and 'picked' her way through them into Slipspace.

It has also been stated that Slipspace is a misnomer since "there is nothing to slip across, and no space to travel through."

Slipspace has a strange property where the special relativity becomes an incomplete concept. Space-time disintegrates into two separate groups. Spatial dimensions distant from an observer in close proximity of the Slipspace source appear to be randomly erratic, whereas dimensions close to the observer appear to be constant at all points in time. The same effect can be said for time, A clock, also distant from the observer, appears to be running at randomly erratic rates and even temporal direction, whereas a clock close to the observer appear to be always constant. The effect on time is more pronounced than for spatial dimensions moreover, the effect on dimensions are reversible and will disappear when they are brought back to the observer. The effect on time however, is not completely reversible - The rate of the clock will synchronize, but the difference between the observer's clock and the synchronized clock will remain. A prime example of erraticity of time can be seen in Section 4: Gambit of the novel Halo: First Strike, when the Covenant fleet opened fire, and the plasma behaved erratically - doing loops, curving, teleporting, etc. The erraticity of the dimensions and time is a measure of the stability of the encapsulating Slipspace. If the field becomes erratic enough, the Slipspace collapses. The conclusion of this is that definitions of space and time become arbitrary and somewhat meaningless, hence the speed of light also becomes meaningless.

Function
The workings of the drive are described in more detail in Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, on page 53.

"'Shaw-Fujikawa engines allowed UNSC ships to leave normal space and plow through a dimensional subdomain colloquially known as 'Slipstream space.' ... The drive used particle accelerators to rip apart normal space-time by generating micro black holes. Those holes evaporated via Hawking radiation in a nanosecond. The real quantum mechanical 'magic' of the drive was how it manipulated those holes in space-time, squeezing a hundred-thousand-ton cruiser into Slipspace.'"

Limitations
As aforementioned, slipspace travel is, when measured by Faster Than Light standards, slow. It can take weeks or months to travel from system to system, the inefficiencies of the Shaw-Fujikawa engine compounding the problems. A craft that travels through slipspace appears to travel faster than light to an outside observer, but the velocity is undefined for the craft relative to the slipspace field as in dv/0x. The craft does not travel through normal space, but around it.

The Shaw-Fujikawa drive also requires ships to enter and exit slipspace as far away from other masses as possible, as even the gravity of another ship can make slipspace calculations impossible. Because of this, an organized fleet of ships entering slipstream will exit into normal space haphazardly. The Covenant also seem able to read the slipstream currents better than the UNSC, allowing them to move faster, more precisely, and within a gravity well. This also allows them to move their entire fleets in battle-ready formations, giving them an advantage in conflicts against the UNSC.

The slipspace ruptures caused by large ships, such as Covenant Assault Carriers create a massive detonation if used inside an atmosphere, due to the annihilation of antimatter produced by the rupture closing. One of these detonations is the one that damaged New Mombasa and caused an EMP that shut down the ODST drop pods at the beginning of Halo 3: ODST.

Another limitation of slipspace travel as stated in the Halo universe, is that whenever a ship carrying plutonium for use in nuclear weapons enters normal space a large amount of Cherenkov Radiation is released which can alert any nearby forces of the slipspace re-entry.

Ships in Slipspace are not immune to detection from vessels in the normal plane, as hinted at by Cortana at the start of Halo 2; she informs Lord Hood, OC the MAC Platform Cairo, that "whispers" had been detected near Io, immediately before the confirmed arrival of a small Covenant Battlegroup. If the battlegroup made no detour before arrival, no kind of signal, not even "whispers" traversing outside of Slipspace, could have been detected before the battlegroup's arrival, as it would be subject to the speed of light. As well as humans are able to send "drones" into slip space to loosely monitor currents and objects traveling through them, obtaining rough, and often unrecognizable images (as mentioned in the books). Though this may be explained not by monitoring it from normal space, but because the Covenant's tactics often involved periodically dropping out of slipspace for an unknown reason(shown in Halo:Fall of Reach), possibly to observe the enemy before choosing to attack, and they dropped out by the UNSC base on Io.