Stargate Atlantis Legacy: Allegiance
SGA #18
ISBN: 9781905586561
Ronon and Radek are a very interesting friendship.
We saw way back in the between episode posts how they got along when stranded together or working together a few times. Their differences were something to work with and around but they always managed to do so. The differences are pretty obvious to spot.
Ronon is a tall outdoorsy soldier kind of a person while Radek is short, a scientist and definitely doesn’t like leaving Atlantis.
Watching the show and reading the books it’s hard to remember that they actually have a pretty big something in common.
They’ve both seen their homes destroyed. Seen the aftermath. People scattered.
What I like about the friendship between these two, which isn’t like their friendships with anyone else, is that it doesn’t rely on them hanging out. they both understand what the other has gone through in a way that even Shepard wouldn’t be able to understand because as an American he never would have experienced his home being bombed (and thank God for that! It should never happen to anyone).
In ‘Allegiance’, there is a scene on the second trip to Sateda where they’re going to investigate the museum and look for Alteran tech. They stop for a quick break, due to Radek’s leg acting up (not that Teyla so much as hints that’s the reason) and William (a new peep who knew Radek way back when and is now in Atlantis to help out) makes a comment about the square they’d stopped in having been residential.
Ronon confirms it, in a short way as it’s painful, and Teyla, trying to be polite with William, mentions that she may have been there before, then she sees Ronon’s face and drops it but the awkwardness has set in.
It’s obviously not a topic Ronon wants to get into. Talking isn’t his strongest suit to begin with, but when you add in the topic of Sateda and what happened the conversation is pretty much over before it begins.
It’s not easy for Ronon to come back and find people living there again. Rebuilding for the future. It’s not that he wishes them ill or anything, but he can’t seem to find enough hope to see what the other Satedan’s are fighting for. He wants it to work but can’t see how it will ever go back to normal.
Radek comes to the rescue!
Radek recounts what happened to his own hometown. It was bombed because of a German manufacturing plant having been built there. He tells them about how, a little before he was born but was told stories, the Old Square was completely destroyed and by the time he came along it was being rebuilt. As he grew up he saw it being rebuilt a little at a time. It wasn’t the same, at all, but it was still there.
They were still there.
As the only one present (possibly in all of Atlantis as he’s one of the oldest members I think) who understands what Ronon is going through, Radek does what he can to ease his pain.
It had to have taken a lot to talk about it, but he did because he saw a friend in need and thought perhaps he could help.
There’s a moment where he doubts whether it did help or instead made things worse, but then Ronon helps him up and, in the way of these men, they were okay.
I like it.
I think Ronon was alone for so long and then was betrayed by his people one too many times and is still dealing with all that. Not hard to see since it really wasn’t that long ago. He’s about as much of a loner as you can get and forgets that others may actually have gone through something similar.
The other Satedan civilians he wouldn’t have much in common with, in his mind, and really doesn’t have much in common with Radek, but I like that Radek doesn’t just ignore what Ronon is going through and instead brings up memories to try and help.
Ronon isn’t big on asking for help so it’s a good thing he’s friends with Radek.
This post honestly wasn’t planned at all. I didn’t think I would write about these two again, but this book reminded me about their other encounters and how much, I personally believe, they’ve helped each other heal a little bit from their pasts.
I’ve bookmarked a couple of interesting places in the book I want to do posts about, but I sat down and this is what a happened.
Hope ya’ll enjoyed it and I hope you also find the friendship between Ronon and Radek as heartfelt, if a little strange, as I do!
See ya!
The Dark Library 