We finally get the payoff for the beacon Neeyala stuck in Moya’s hull over a cycle ago, and what a payoff it is! We also learn what happened to Moya at the end of Season Three. 

The Interdimensional Being that John dubbed “Einstein” sensed Neeyala’s beacon and hauled Moya through the wormhole in Dog with Two Bones expecting to find the Pathfinders. Instead, he got a Leviathan. Those aboard spoke of John, so much so that Einstein decided he needed to meet John in person. So John, who’s floating in space dreaming of Aeryn, dreaming of wormholes, dreaming of home, gets his ass hauled through to intergalactic Siberia for a crash course in relativity.

Unrealized Reality is all about lessons. Lessons learned, lessons forgotten and lessons ignored.

We begin with Aeryn learning English from Talyn-John’s journal. I’m not sure how she does this, because any sound T-John made while teaching her would be microbe-translated into a Sebacean noise, but that doesn’t really matter. She’s not learning a science lesson, she’s learning John’s language to get closer to him. Chiana, however, doesn’t think that’s the language she needs to learn. So, is Chi going to coach her in relationships? Aeryn should listen closely for the first couple of classes, then branch out on her own. Chi doesn’t have that great a track record as far as long-term affairs go but she’s an expert at Relationships 101: “Attracting a Mate”, and 201: “Keeping Him Interested.” For 302: “Long Term Relationships” and 303: “Fidelity” Aeryn should probably enroll in a home-study program.

Meanwhile, John is floating in space, having learned more about wormholes than he thought possible a short while ago. His pal D'Argo is giving him a few very strong nudges toward the local Betty Ford center because of all the junk Granny’s been feeding him. D'Argo’s also trying to pass along a huge life lesson that he learned regarding lost causes from Chiana – let Aeryn go. Or rather, let his dreams of Aeryn go. This is one of those ignored lessons I mentioned earlier.  

John goes from floating in front of a wormhole in space to floating on an iceberg at the other end of that wormhole. He meets “Einstein” who learns that John has a few more aggressive species chasing him for the wormhole knowledge. In return, he teaches John about alternate realities, unrealized realities, could-have-beens, and might-yet-becomes. It’s all about time, not only where he goes but when he goes there. If he pops out of a wormhole at the wrong time it will become his reality, like it or not.

Einstein shows John several realities, any of which could become permanent if he takes a wrong turn in the wormhole. The more John sees, the more terror he feels and this seems to be what Einstein wants. When John finally admits to the fear, Einstein gives him some travel tips and sends him back to fight the Scarrans, the Peacekeepers, the Charrids and anyone else who's a threat to the universe.

John clicks his heels together and mutters, “There’s no place like home, there’s no place like home,” a few times, and plunges into the wormhole. He’s trying to get back to Moya, but when he senses something familiar he takes the exit ramp and…“Whoops!”  The pull of earth was stronger in John’s mind than the pull of Moya, but is it the earth John knew or an unrealized version of it? I don’t think there’s any doubt that it’s an alternate reality, one close to his own, and John’s going to need to put right the first (and probably the second third and forty-seventh) thing that goes wrong before the ripples spread.