Maldis: "There are no exits! Save your energy for fighting Crais!" John registers as an objector and Maldis is like, "Cool, but he's playing." And in he comes, stupid ponytail all floppy, jaws all flappy, and then there is man-grappling. They discuss once again how John killed but did not murder Crais's brother. What's his name? (Tuvok? Turok? Heh. I am not a nerd! It is you who are the nerd!) I couldn't care less. John -- in a beautiful looking move -- gets Crais on his back, spear to his throat, and hisses about how it was an accident, one more time, and then they both breathe very hard for awhile, and then he pulls the spear back, and Maldis calls him a chump.

Speaking of which. Bizarre Bazaar, where the cute little bird-thing from Act I (the gun on the mantel) is chirping sweetly. Liko: "Your first lesson: inflicting pain." He urges her to stop petting the trelkez and hurt it with her mind powers. They discuss this at length and review all the super-powerful vampire stuff some more. She vibes the trelkez with some pain energy, and she starts crying, and he calls her a big baby. "You're right. I was once capable of cruelty, but now I have evolved past that." Evolved? Try repressed! You've choked off all your real emotions. Oh, that was Liko talking. Not me. No sir. Zhaan cries some more and says he's a liar. "You think you've smothered your inner fire and found enlightenment. All you've done is make yourself cold. Look at you. Struggling to contain what you're feeling, fighting to keep control. What is it you're so afraid of?" Um, the red eyes of doom, perhaps? I am. She protests that she's not afraid and he scoffs. "I am a Delvian Pa'u. Nothing can frighten me if I do not wish it." He tells her you can't wish fear away, you have to face it. Which is what she told Rygel last week, word for word, and everybody else in the whole show the weeks preceding. "Are you afraid of Maldis? You can destroy him!" And Zhaan admits that's what's terrifying her. Yeah, I feel that. The sympathy for Zhaan is rare, but strong when it comes. This storyline is pretty rough to watch from here on out. And it doesn't...actually get better, really. The second she stops being an asshole, you get Stark, and MAN is that a whole other flavor of annoying.