Stargate Atlantis Legacy: Allegiance
SGA #18
ISBN: 9781905586561
Remember when I talked about the zenana and how it would be interesting to know how old everyone was?
Well, later on Guide is chilling watching younger blades play a game when the Old One waves him over (not literally of course but same effect). Not necessarily wanting to be so close since he doesn’t know how strong the Old One is, Guide nonetheless sits down and they have a chat.
The Old One comments on how old Guide is and finds it funny that Guide agrees he’s not young but doesn’t give his actual age. Guide tells him that he was born at the beginning of the war with the Alteran’s. In fact, he was bred specifically for the war and says he came of age not long before they won.
Here’s the interesting thing (I mean, I find several things interesting about this conversation especially because I know what’s coming, but this is the first interesting thing)- Guide is over ten thousand years old. We know this because Atlantis was under the water for that long so if Guide not only fought in the war, but grew up during it, he’s pretty old.
Now, we don’t actually know how long it takes for a Wraith to come of age. It could be five hundred years or more, or less. We know they’re considered no longer children when they get their feeding-mouth, but they could still be considered ‘young adults’ instead of adults for a period of time. It would make sense since they would have to learn how to feed and whatnot (unless it’s instinctual?).
Taking that into consideration, the fact that the Old One is so old that’s his name, kind of tells you something doesn’t it?
Moving on-
The Old One snaps at Guide because Guide apparently doesn’t acknowledge (or know?) that the war with the Alteran’s had been going on for longer than that. As the Old One claims, it was ‘far older’ than Guide’s reckoning, since the very beginning of the Wraith.
Now, to be fair, Guide does make note that the Old One is so old that he doesn’t fit the usual Wraith types that were bred for the war around his own time. He compares the Old One instead to the foremost mother’ of Queen Snow’s Hive (which I take to mean several generations back and you know that’s saying something with the Wraith).
As an aside – does anyone else find it kind of sad that the Wraith, as a people were forced to intentionally breed certain types to survive? We know about the cloning of the Drones, but that doesn’t necessarily count because they’re brainless and, from what I’ve read and seen on the series, can’t operate without a Wraith commanding them. They have no will of their own so I’m not counting them for this, but the Blades and the Clevermen and the Queens? It would be interesting to know if any Wraith ever felt uncomfortable about that fact or if it’s such a part of their lives that it’s normal? Taking Guide as an example we know he’s a blade, but he’s also helped McKay with sciencey stuff so he obviously has a diverse set of skills. Does it come with age and a desire to survive or was it necessary for blades to know such things during the war?
We shall continue-
The Old One and Guide chat a little longer where Guide tries to figure out where the Old One stands when it comes to Death and her plans. The Old One is most definitely for her as, they can both agree, that when the war ended the last time there were far too many Wraith who had been bred because they were expected to die in the war (again, how incredibly sad!) and when they won there wasn’t enough food to go around.
Death’s plan is, technically speaking, a good one. Until you get down to the fact that the Alteran’s and Lanteans are extremely different from each other. The Alteran’s were willing to leave an entire galaxy to the mercy of the Wraith if it meant they personally would be safe. Our people don’t think that way and God help the Wraith if they actually ended up on Earth intending to take it over!
The plan is a good one, but doesn’t hold up once you start looking closer at it.
I find it interesting during this exchange that Guide didn’t bring up the fact that Death is to blame for the sudden lack of food with her attacks where they don’t cull, but then again that could have caused suspicion and the Old One is obviously a favorite of Death’s.
The Old One goes further though. It’s not just about finding new feeding grounds, it’s also about ending the Alteran’s once and for all.
Guide says that they’ve been dust for a thousand years.
The Old One says that their children live, in a tone that makes Guide shut up.
There is a history there that is heartbreaking ya’ll and I love that the series was written the way it was, but if you’ve ever liked the Alteran’s you won’t by the end of this series.
With that I end this review and hope to see ya’ll next week!
The Dark Library 