This "episode" was fully written, but ultimately unable to be filmed due to a variety of issues (largely surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic). Seth MacFarlane instead reworked it into a novella, which was released in e-book and audiobook format on July 19, 2022.note It is considered canon.
When Captain Mercer and the crew of the U.S.S. Orville come face-to-face with one of humanity's most vile ideologies, they are faced with the moral conundrum of who, if anyone, to hold accountable for evil deeds both real and imagined.
Tropes:
- Alternate-History Nazi Victory: In-Universe, Otto orders the simulator to put him in a future where he's with his family again after the Nazis had won. On the TV in the simulation it's mentioned that the Nazis conquered the US and are stamping out the last resistance in South America.
- Bait-and-Switch Character Intro: The first quarter of the book is spent entirely observing Adam's early life and rise through the ranks of the Third Reich, with naught so much as a single hint of the actual sci-fi setting or any of the show's characters.
- Break the Haughty: Mercer eventually loses his temper and decks Otto/Adam for being, well, a Nazi. It is the most pain he's ever felt in his life and shatters his illusion of superiority as well as forces him to feel empathy as a result.
- Continuity Nod: Several events and characters from prior episodes are referenced by the narration. This includes the existence of Ed and Teleya's daughter, so it is heavily advised to read this story in the order of its release relative to the other episodes.
- Did Not Think This Through: Adam's biological parents leaving him in the care of a simulator as an infant. Despite it being a happy, sanitized version of the turn of the 20th century in which they often sought comfort and assumed he would be well-cared for, its unchecked natural programming to realistically follow the input of the current user led to some pretty devastating consequences.
- Distant Finale: The final chapter takes place decades later as a now-95-year-old, but still spry Adam meets an aged Ty and mentions how Ty's mother "helped me through a difficult time," showing that he's outgrown his bigotry for a better life.
- Expendable Alternate Universe: The characters wrestle with the issue of Adam's moral responsibility for his actions within the simulation — he didn't actually oppress or murder anyone, but he chose to do so believing it all to be real, and his simulated life as a loyal Nazi has shaped his present personality.
- First Injury Reaction: Ed sends Adam to the floor with one swift punch to the jaw in order to demonstrate that (due to the safety protocols of the simulator) he's never once actually felt pain or known real danger in his entire life, hoping to make him accept that what he's experiencing now is real and his former life was an illusion.
- Fish out of Temporal Water: Otto/Adam, who spent his entire life from infancy in a simulation of early 20th century Earth and is brought into the world of the 25th century.
- Former Bigot: It seems Adam has outgrown his upbringing by the time of the several-decades-flash-forward, in which he has a pleasant interaction with a now middle-aged Ty Finn.
- Godzilla Threshold: Adam's parents left him in the simulator's care as a desperation measure to keep a Krill invasion force from finding him.
- Late-Arrival Spoiler: The narration outright mentions Ed's daughter even though she is not present whatsoever.
- Lotus-Eater Machine: Otto/Adam has literally lived his entire life inside a simulator. Absolutely nothing, from his adoptive parents, career path within the Third Reich, or even his own wife and child are real.
- Nazi Protagonist: Otto spends most of the story as one, having grown up into an enthusiastic Nazi and loyal SS member after German parents had adopted him as a baby. He ends up commandant of a concentration camp and participates willing in atrocties against Jews, including personally murdering one older man as an example to the rest. He's completely shocked to learn it was all just a simulation he had been trapped in throughout his life, but eventually his worldview is changed so the Distant Finale shows him as a kindly baker. It helps that nothing he did was real.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: As is befitting of a Nazi. Among other things, he dismissively refers to Dr. Finn as a 'Schwarze' and is puzzled/disgusted by not only her presence on the crew, but a position as prestigious as the ship's Chief Medical Officer.
- Rewatch Bonus: Certain things become obvious upon a second reading, including the fact that "Otto" never seems to feel any pain or suffer injuries when he should, or the fact that he gets certain things basically just handed to him, including marriage to a beautiful woman, a gorgeous home and a series of promotions.
- Translator Microbes: Otto speaks German, naturally. The ship's "translation matrix" instantly translates it for the crew of The Orville.
- Trapped in the Past: Of a variety. Adam was born in the 25th century, but was raised from infancy inside a simulation of the early 20th century. Once the truth is revealed, he has difficulty accepting that it isn't some kind of trick.
