This week on StALeR our fabulous peeps arrive back home!
Atlantis is finally back in the Pegasus Galaxy and everything is going as it usually does.
As in, lots of chaos and uncertainty.
The new planet they land on is mostly ice and Shepard does a fantastic job of landing them just shy of the equator (which is the only place remotely habitable for humans).
ZPM’s are down to 9 percent and they not only need more but they also need to see what’s been happening since they’ve been gone.
So off they go!
It doesn’t take long for them to realize something has gone seriously wrong. And it isn’t the Genii or the Alteran’s this time either.
A new Wraith Queen has appeared seemingly out of nowhere and declared open season on the humans. Presumably, she knows where Earth is and is promising that any Wraith that follow her will be rewarded with the bounty.
Problem is, she isn’t the best choice and most of the Wraith know that. She advocates the destruction of entire worlds with no consideration for the future. Her promises of a better feeding ground is one thing, the other Wraith know about Earth, but it’s extremely stupid to destroy their only food source before guaranteeing they can reach Earth.
Oh yeah, and she calls herself Queen Death.
Yeah.
Little drama queen is what she is.
Anyways, our peeps end up on a world that’s been devastated, and they help the survivors before trying to find out more information. This particular planet had developed far enough to have computers and McKay wants at ‘em.
Unfortunately, the Wraith left booby traps behind and it’s taking forever to find them. And time is not something they have a lot of and certainly the resources they’re expending could be used for other pursuits.
So what do they do?
Call in reinforcements!
In the form of our favorite Wraith, Guide!!
High Commander Guide does his thing and gets them inside the building where the main computer is.
And where the drama queen left a message (along with a bomb, but McKay wasn’t impressed with how easy it was to find it).
Her message is what you’d expect from a young and full of herself queen so we won’t get into that (seriously, it sounds like a B rated supervillain rant).
What we want to focus on (and that I alluded to several weeks ago) is Guide’s reaction.
Apparently, this little queen is something of a looker by Wraith standards and he isn’t immune. We get to hear Shepard’s thoughts on the subject and I had a really good laugh at this point!
Even though she’s beautiful, Guide has better sense than that. Not only does he seriously not approve of what she’s advocating, but he isn’t about to let some little upstart usurp him. (okay, so this was my thinking and nothing in the book suggests it, but come on. Guide has been doing all the hard work and he doesn’t seem the type to just throw it away for a pretty face)
Anyways!
That funny bit aside, the next part is almost as hilarious as Shepard’s thoughts. Guide is being Guide and has somehow made himself a transmitter and his peeps arrive to pick him up.
Shepard, of course, doesn’t want to let him go, but also doesn’t want him to continue to starve. Add in the bonus of Guide being more useful out there gathering information and he let’s the Wraith go.
Can he truly trust Guide will keep his end of the deal and relay information?
We’ll find out next week!
(well, you guys will if you haven’t already read the books).
With that I shall sign off, because I have an important interview tomorrow and I need to be well rested.
I have been doing quite a bit of crafty things the last few weeks and thought y’all might like to see some of those things.
And thus, this weeks post shall be crafty and not Stargatey.
Hopefully this won’t disappoint peeps too much. I’m really excited about the UV resin and polymer clay crafts I’ve gotten into and wanted to share cause it’s fun!
Here are some pics of my work!!
Some bezels
UV resin is epic!
I have 2 more diamonds cooking, they’ll take way longer than the pictured ones did because I used an obscene amount of black acrylic paint to color the resin (it came out faster than I thought it would).
I’m not so keen on the bezels though it might be because of the type I used. I’ll be trying open backed ones soon to see if I like that better.
The diamond mold I bought makes 3 at a time and is by far my favorite thing at this point! Some of my creations have glow in the dark pieces in them and are amazing!
Unpainted Christmas buildings/started with yellow!
Added some black and red here
A little green
Various shades of gray
Some brown
Some blues
Some more blues
Finished product!
The plaster for these was the EXACT same color as my white paint so I really only painted over mistakes instead. Why waste the paint ya know?
Polymer clayke! (See what I did there?)
I made this from a kit my sister bought me from Barnes and Noble. It’s part of the ‘Tiny World’ craft series by Odd Dot and its great!
8 slices where only 6 were called for.
As you no doubt can see, there are specks in my clayke. I didn’t know the rules when I did this and so I didn’t have anything between my clay and table. Apparently there are certain materials (glass and tiles were mentioned on YouTube) that should be used to keep dust and such out of the clay.
I have several other things I’ve done that I’ll share later. There’s (supposedly, I haven’t tried yet) a way to make molds using a hot glue gun that work with both resin and polymer clay.
We shall see.
I’ll see everyone next week when Atlantis heads back to Pegasus!
More character development, but a little more subtle cause two of these peeps are dancing around each other like you wouldn’t believe.
Okay, so last week we got to see what Rodney and Jennifer were up to right? Because I wanted to set the next book up and give ya’ll an idea of where these two’s relationship was going and if it would last.
This week however, we’re looking at the rest of the team.
Rodney and Jennifer aren’t the only ones dealing with relationship issues. Even though they aren’t officially a couple, we all know that Shepard and Teyla have had chemistry for quite some time.
I know, I know.
Teyla had a child with another guy and was interested in this dude a few seasons back.
However! Turns out that she and Kanaan were lovers, but not in love.
Teyla talks to Rodney about it and explains how and why she and Kanaan got together and that it was about comfort. When she found out she was pregnant it changed things because of course Torren should know his father, but they weren’t like that so…
Awkwardness ensues.
As in cringeworthy.
But that’s later, for now-
We get to see scenes where Shepard is taking care of Torren while Teyla is working with Mr. Woolsey, and just generally being around when she needs anything.
There is awkwardness here too because, just like with Rodney and Jennifer, they believe they’re stuck on Earth for good. And if that’s true than there’s no reason they shouldn’t be together right?
Except that neither of them is sure what the other wants and, even though Teyla isn’t afraid to share her feelings, she is hesitant now because of how she thinks people view her because she isn’t actually married to Kanaan but has his son.
I think that she has reason to be concerned that people would judge her, but I don’t think it would be anyone who actually matters. As in the IOA may try to use it against her, but her team and the majority of SGC peeps wouldn’t have a problem. I know there’s a stigma to being a single parent and it’s worse in some ways for women but her fears on this matter seem more like an excuse.
Just a me thing!
She’s so confident and sure of herself the majority of the time, but now that she and Shepard could actually be a couple the sudden awkwardness and weirdness gives it a more realistic feel.
Shepard, of course, is dealing with issues that are making it easy to not talk about what could be. His situation is different from the rest of the team because Ronon and Teyla can go back to Pegasus via the George Hammond, Rodney and Jennifer were very much welcomed to Area 51’s team and the other Marines and personnel are seamlessly integrating with SGC.
Shepard, unfortunately, has had a few run ins with General Landry (remember when he stole a Jumper and disobeyed direct orders?), General O’Neill isn’t talking to him at all and he can’t join the Hammond’s crew because he outranks Colonel Carter’s second but is just shy of being her equal.
So dealing with his feelings isn’t the most important thing (and Teyla understands but she isn’t one to put up with stupid for long without calling you out on it) but he definitely used it as an excuse too because there were times that they could have talked and dealt with things but didn’t.
Those two. I swear!
Anyways, we have one more peep to mention quickly cause he didn’t get too much face time in the first part of the book when they were on Earth.
Having said that, Colonel Carter asks him if he’d like to join her crew as an independent contractor. It would get him back to Pegasus, and fighting the Wraith, and no one else has offered him another option yet.
The scene is fantastic because Carter asks him what he was before he was a soldier. Apparently, Ronon was in school to be some kind of scholar? Maybe a teacher is the better translation, but the Wraith attacked and we know the rest. Ronon respects Carter and appreciates that she sees there’s more to him than just muscle and agrees to join her crew.
Relationship wise, the end scene of season 5 has our peeps standing on a balcony looking out at the water of San Francisco Bay and we see Ronon standing with a woman.
We have met her before, don’t worry. The writers didn’t just randomly throw some woman into the mix so the team was all paired up.
Amelia Banks has been around for a bit and in a particular episode she does a round-house kick (I think that’s what it is) and takes out a bad guy. Ronon sees this and is impressed (pretty sure it’s because he hasn’t seen that fighting style before) and thus the ‘possibility’ of a relationship is set forth especially after the whole Jennifer thing doesn’t work out.
I’ve seen where people weren’t too happy about this supposed ‘sudden’ relationship but you have to remember that there was still a chance for a movie at the time and possibly even more than one if not another season. The writers could have easily meant for those to be the pairings.
Since they couldn’t, we have this absolutely lovely Legacy series!
Amelia shows up a bit more in the series and there’s stuff I want to mention, but it’s later and I don’t want to ruin anything so we’ll just call it good right here.
Just shy of a thousand words again, thank you all for reading another review and I shall see everyone next week!
(I may be interrupting the regular posts to add crafty ones as I’ve been quite busy on that front and have almost completely emptied my ‘in-progress’ craft box. Much success!)
A wonderful thing, character development, it gives us a chance to see people at their worst, best and everything in between. All so we can decide whether we like them or not. All so we can change our minds about people we didn’t like in season 1, but end up adoring because of that one episode in season 3.
The character development the authors get to do is nothing short of amazing. Staying true to the established characters and who they were, while also thinking of who they would choose to become is hard to do but its been done here.
First.
Rodney McKay.
We all know he was a pain in the butt, know-it-all at first, but we got to see him grow throughout the series and the authors keep it going here and in the rest of the books (I REALLY want to tell you guys about the next book and what happens but I can’t because book one is so full of amazingness that you can’t miss it either. Just know that it’s amazing and epic and you will love it when I get to it…or before if you’ve already read it).
Rodney doesn’t like a lot of what’s been happening since they landed in San Francisco Bay. It seems that the IOA doesn’t want Atlantis to return to the Pegasus Galaxy at all and that won’t do for our resident genius.
Unfortunately, its not McKay’s decision to make and when the IOA decrees that Atlantis is to be dismantled, it’s the last straw and he walks.
His girlfriend Dr. Keller leaves as well.
Since Atlantis won’t be going anywhere, there isn’t a need for medical personnel anymore and Area 51 has a position open. Being in a relationship is hard enough with the usual problems, but Rodney and Jennifer have had to deal with galactic issues and life or death problems as well.
(I know that some people don’t like this pairing because they claim it ‘just happened’ but ya’ll need to remember that it was established that they started seeing each other in the episode where they, and Carter, fall into the mine. The one where Rodney proves to them he’s more than just an egotistical and self-absorbed person.)
Since the two of them have been dating for months now, they decide to get an apartment together and end up getting a kitten as well.
Cute right?
Well…
Nothing is perfect. Getting an apartment together and even the kitten was all really a bad idea. In my opinion, and it’s alluded to in the book, even they aren’t sure why they did any of it except that it was what was expected of them to do (or what they thought was expected of them in any case).
When the call comes that Atlantis is leaving Earth immediately (months later) Rodney is ready and completely willing. Keller on the other hand isn’t so sure. They left for a reason. A very good one too and now Rodney is ready to just let things go?
Keller isn’t so sure she wants to go back to working for people who would be okay with experimenting on a person. Even if that person is an alien that has to kill humans to survive. There’s also the fact that she’s never felt like she’s been enough for the people who call Atlantis home.
Rodney just assumes she’s as happy about Atlantis returning to Pegasus as he is and it causes a little bit of tension when he realizes she’s not as gung-ho as he is.
Keller does decide to go back, but you can kind of see that things between them is tense and not as stable as they’d like to make themselves believe.
I think that they both jumped into the moving in together thing too quickly as a way to cope with their lives changing so drastically in such a short amount of time.
In Pegasus there was danger, but a lot of it was on a bigger scale so why decide to move in together when they were already happy with their own rooms and could meet up whenever they wanted?
On Earth, there’s a sense of finality and I think it contributed greatly to their jumping into things. The further away from any decision they’d make in Pegasus the better.
It was time to move on with their lives and they’d do it if they had to fight every inch of the way.
We can all see that things are not going to go as planned with these two.
And it’s great!
That’s the end for this week’s review. I like that I got to talk about both Rodney and Keller and their relationship here because it’s super important to their character development. They’re cute together, but are they a forever kind of thing?
We shall see.
Before I say goodbye for now, a note to give you hope on Atlantis returning to Pegasus (even though we know already it’s a fun bit tossed in to make things exciting and let us know O’Neill has our back!)
An interesting moment, before Keller leaves Atlantis, is when Dr. Beckett asks for some of the supplies and machines from the infirmary. Since he’s planning on returning to Pegasus with the George Hammond and Colonel Carter, he’d like some items to help him with medical needs in the galaxy.
The list has almost every piece of Alteran machinery and the majority of other supplies too.
This is a sneaky thing and you can thank General O’Neill for it.
Alrighty, so last weeks review was bad. Even I know it was a rushed and nonsensical mess, so I am here to correct that mistake.
The problem (and I’ve been thinking about it all week) is that I thought I should review in the book order. That won’t work however because I like Guide (Todd for those who missed last week) and will rant about him for WAY too long.
Thus, until Atlantis actually gets to Pegasus again in the book it will make more sense to stick to one side or the other.
This week will be Guide and next week (possibly more depending on how long they end up) will be Shepard and crew and what they have to deal with all up until Guide makes his next appearance.
Sound good?
Excellent!
Stargate Atlantis Legacy: Homecoming
SGA #16
ISBN: 9781905586509
I have several more thoughts about Guide (you’re not surprised so don’t lie) that I didn’t get to cover last week, but a recap with additional thoughts should work to keep things from getting out of hand (probably I should just write a book about that Wraith and get it over with).
Todd is actually known as Guide and if you think about it, it makes a massive amount of sense.
From what we know, the Wraith don’t have names like us, but more of a feeling or sense of who or what each individual is (no one forgot they’re telepathic right?). Translated, we would get a name to call them, but in the eyes of the Wraith being called something at birth is ridiculous because you don’t know who that person will be so how could you know what to call them?
Guide isn’t really his name either, I don’t think (I’m almost positive later books talk about it), or it’s not his first name. Wraith live so long that their names would no doubt change as they did to reflect who they become.
Guide is an appropriate name for him now from what we can see of who he is, because he’s leading the way for others to follow in an alliance that’s beneficial to both Wraith and humans.
Since he’s so put out about being called Todd, I’m guessing he’s been going by Guide for some time now. Possibly since his Queen died and he had to lead the Hive without her but also possibly before that.
I brought up his kids last week too and considered why he only mentioned having two. To be fair, he only mentioned having two with Queen Snow, so it’s possible he had other kids with other female Wraith (I still don’t know if all female Wraith are Queens or not).
I feel like having an entire re-read of the series now…
Anyways, there are probably multiple reasons why we don’t see more Wraith children and one of the bigger ones would be to protect them. From other Wraith and definitely from the humans.
I covered my thoughts and feelings about his choosing to be without a Queen quite well last week so don’t feel that I need to go over it again…because there’s this thing that happens later in the book that will let me cover it again and more.
Yeah.
Its an ENTIRE thing that’s a little disturbing and vastly hilarious at the same time.
More on that later.
For now, we continue with what happens in the rest of chapter two.
While Guide is trying to keep his mind off starving, Shepard is talking to Dr. Beckett. Beckett isn’t happy with a ‘request’ from the IOA about handing Guide over to another group. The request is full of language and insinuations that if Guide cooperates with experiments they want to do, he may have better opportunities that Atlantis isn’t willing to give. If he doesn’t cooperate, well we all know he won’t really have a choice.
Beckett refuses to be part of it and needs Shepard’s help. Because Guide likes Shepard and respects him enough to listen to Beckett’s idea.
Stasis.
They have a chamber available and Beckett is pretty sure he can get it to work for Guide. It gets Guide out of a cell that he could conceivably escape from and keeps him from starving. A win-win.
Except they need to convince him that’s the best option.
Enter Shepard.
We get to see Shepard’s thoughts concerning Guide here and it’s really fantastic that the authors didn’t mind head-jumping to give us a broader view of our favorite characters. Not only how they think but their emotional state too.
Shepard catalogues the changes in Guide and can’t argue that he’s close to the edge already. A few barbs before getting to business, the assurance that he won’t be handing anyone else over to be fed on, and we come to a crucial point.
Guide is ready to ask Shepard for mercy before the end. To ask that Shepard kill him before he actually starves to death.
Shepard recognizes the moment (a look on Guide’s face) and refuses to let Guide say anything. Instead, he immediately mentions the stasis and Guide, amused, agrees and asks what the chances are of getting his clothes back.
He doesn’t promise of course, but Shepard comes through in the end and Guide is once more in his own clothes before heading to the stasis chamber.
Dr. Keller is there with Beckett (some time has passed of course and the book itself gives us other snippets of what’s going on) and she’s not keen on the idea. She isn’t sure if it’ll actually work for a Wraith and thinks that he’s being coerced.
Shepard isn’t about to let anyone stop them at this point though because he won’t let Guide be experimented on, can’t send him home and refuses to feed him.
Stasis is the only option.
Guide steps into the chamber, asks about the restraints being removed because why not, and settles in.
And that is that for this week peeps!
Guide will stay in stasis for a time before they need him and that interesting thing happens that I talked about earlier. The whole Queen thing?
Yeah. It’s gonna be good ya’ll.
Hope you enjoyed a more concise and none rushed review this week. Next week will be all about our favorite humans and the stuff they have to go through before heading back to Pegasus.
I know everyone is as excited as I am to get to the first in the Legacy series (especially considering last week), but first a note from the writer (that’s me! Feeling much better, thank you).
(two notes because I feel that this review is somewhat disjointed but I’m not sure how to fix it so I’ll most likely go over things again in Part 2)
Since I am now the proud owner of the entire Stargate Atlantis Blu-Ray/DVD set a shout out to my sister for that fabulous Christmas present!), I feel that I should share the goodies inside it cause, ya’ll, it has special features!!
Thus, after this review, I think I’ll do a book review then a review of a special feature/s depending on how long they are and what not. I totally plan to watch the entire thing again because from comments other fans have made it seems that the TV episodes didn’t show everything?
If that’s true than I’ll do posts of what was left out in case any of you don’t have the set yet (but you should totally get one cause it’s that amazing and don’t tell me you won’t watch it over and over again like me).
Also, before I forget once more, this review and others may be sliced into multiple posts because the new information and absolute amazingness that is the Legacy series will have me ranting way more than even Common Ground… and you all know how much I love Todd! (who, by the way, is even more awesome in the books!!)
Now that we are caught up with what’s gonna happen and all that good stuff, onto the review! (and there will be a TON of personal ranting and fangirling in these ones because of the WOW things that happen…you’ve now been warned.)
Stargate Atlantis Legacy: Homecoming
SGA #16
ISBN: 9781905586509
Many kudos to the authors, Jo Graham and Melissa Scott, for how they wrote this book. Its not chronological in reference to the events in the book, but the decision to start the book where Atlantis is en route to the Pegasus Galaxy instead of picking up where the last episode ended was a brilliant move.
So.
Dr. Becket and Lt. Colonel Shepard are switching off on piloting Atlantis back home. They’re taking twelve hour shifts each since there isn’t a third pilot (apparently that’s how the Alterans did things when piloting the city).
Between the Milky Way and Pegasus Dr. Beckett detects a ‘wobble’. Shepard verifies and they continue on, keeping an eye on it, but as is par for the course for our beloved peeps, things go wrong.
The ‘wobble’ is a massive problem that forces them out of hyperspace at the very edge of the galaxy with only twenty percent power in the ZPM’s and only two systems close by that they aren’t even sure have habitable planets.
And this is where we jump back in time!
Five months earlier is when we see Teyla in a meeting with the IOA trying to convince them that it’s in everyone’s best interest to get Atlantis fixed and back to Pegasus (WE know this, but they’re still idiots).
A hilarious scene where Torren is being carried around in one of those baby slings by Shepard and we jump to a gathering/party thing where the IOA, high up people from around the world and military brass are rubbing elbows and such.
Chapter two starts with our absolute favorite person in existence.
Todd!
Well, actually, that’s not his name.
(side note! I’ve read a ton of fanfic because I have to get my fix somewhere right? And in several I found references where Todd is called Guide instead. I thought it was something that was started by one author and it slowly became a fanfic canon because it fits him so perfectly and the reasoning behind it is so Wraith. Turns out it is canon and I about died when I began chapter two so ya’ll need to be careful! Side note end)
Our dear, lovely, imprisoned-despite-being-the-one-sole-reason-they’re-all-alive, Guide is pacing.
Glamorous right?
This chapter, the scene, is the reason I will forever love the Legacy series. For the entire show we only ever got to see the Wraith as the villains. The books touched on the Wraith being more. As humans and Wraith being more alike than not, but we never truly got to see the Wraith as people and now we do.
Hitting us several times in two pages, the authors put us in Guide’s head as he tries to take himself away from the cell and his starvation.
His pacing is familiar, something he did while in the ‘care’ of the Genii, and it takes him into his memories.
(this is what I wanted from the Wraith in the show and I adore the authors for how they wrote this and for bringing it up so quickly)
We all know he’s something of an enigma. Considered to be ‘weird’ by Wraith and human standards because he controls a Hive without a Queen and has for some time.
However, that’s a recent thing (relatively speaking for a Wraith) because he had a Queen. In fact, he thinks of her as his true Queen.
Something that is based on love as is suggested throughout the Legacy series where he, his past and family is brought up (there are short stories that are ALL WRAITH and one where he proves himself to his true Queen and it is so fantastic I can’t wait for when I do that review!!).
I know that’s not shocking to ya’ll, but keep in mind that until this book we haven’t been given any firm idea of how their family structures work or how they interact with their children, consorts (I don’t remember them using the word ‘mates’ but I’ll correct myself later if they do) and Hive in more than general ‘how do we kill them’ terms.
He had a son and a daughter.
Kids.
Guide had kids.
You’d expect him to have had several considering how old he is, so this brings up a question about how they procreate. Do they have trouble with fertility? Is it something of a failsafe in their genetic code because they’re immortal? Are the children casualties of war amongst their kind? Or do they negotiate the equivalent of contracts between adults to keep the lines from inbreeding and it takes time and a vast amount of trust?
Before I end this rant (yes I have to, I’m over a thousand words again), I leave you with this to consider in the week to come.
Guide has been Queenless by choice. He had a true Queen (whose name was Snow by the way) and loved her so much that he willingly kept himself from that kind of relationship again.
And I’m not talking about the Queen and Consort relationship here either (that is a whole nother thing entirely). I’m talking about how their species is matriarchal and how he’s kept himself from that by choice.
And don’t try and say that he didn’t have a choice. He tricked Teyla into being a fake Queen because he knew she would never allow herself to stay like that and that he would have the protection of a Queen without having to actually be around one in the way their kind are essentially programed to be.
Does anyone really think he couldn’t have joined another Hive or another fleet with a Queen if he wanted to? We’ve been led to believe that it’s all about power with him and it is, to a certain extent (he cares for his crew and his species which is why he’s allied with Atlantis so often even after being burned), but it’s just a tad more complicated than that apparently.
I guess there’s more to the Wraith than we know.
Till next week!
(oh, don’t worry. I’ll finish book one review before I get into special features from the DVD’s)
Covid-19 has screwed with everyone (obviously) and so this weeks much anticipated Legacy review has been postponed for another week. Work has been far more stressful than I ever thought it could be and so I have been doing crafty things to relax and calm down.
I’ve already read through the Legacy series once and want to do it again for the reviews, but I kind of read myself out about a month ago when I read through an entire three shelf bookshelf, and then some, of backlogged TBR’s.
It started feeling like a chore to read and I never want that for the Legacy series, so I’ve been putting the reread off.
Also, I am currently car shopping because my car has no air conditioning or heat and last winter was just a tad chilly for the no heat and the summer heat is creeping up on the city as we speak. The heat and humidity are making me testy (as it does to many) and since masks are mandatory for workers and I have asthma to begin with, guess who’s on edge and miserable within an hour of being at work?
Pretty much everyone, let’s be honest.
So, this is all to say that the reviews for Stargate Atlantis Legacy will officially start next week and I am so sorry to make ya’ll wait.
I hope everyone stays safe and healthy, and never forget that there is always more hope than we see and far more good people in the world than bad.
Here we are. The last post for the Stargate Atlantis watch and read along reviews. It has been wild and I have enjoyed every moment of it.
Hopefully, ya’ll will stick around because of course, though the TV series ended at five seasons, the Legacy series continues the story and I am completely excited for it. Also dreading that it will be way different than what I want to happen, but that’s not stopping me at all.
Enjoy this last, for next week things change!
Episode 10: First Contact. This episode is pretty cool because Todd gains control of the Daedalus, yet doesn’t hurt anyone (that’s mentioned anyways, but I feel like they’d mention it as it would cause friction in the alliance with Todd).
Which just shows how devious he is. With the option of never having to rely on humans for food, it wouldn’t be advantageous to alienate his allies.
Now, another thing revolves around the destruction of his two Hive ships. As Commander, he would have to be in contact (mentally of course) or at least aware of the other Wraith at all times up until the moment they all die.
I can’t imagine that would be anything less than devastating. To have so many lives simply disappear. Blink out of existence.
The fact that he remained in control despite his hatred of the Attero Device (a monstrous creation of the Alteran Janus), and the hundreds if not thousands of Wraith who were just slaughtered, says a lot about him.
Also, this episode literally tells us that he was alive during the war with the Alteran’s which would make him older than ten thousand years old.
Season 5, Episode 15, Remnants
In the midst of a review by the IOA on how Mr. Woolsey is doing, a device is activated and the artificial intelligence begins to manipulate key members of Atlantis.
Including Mr. Woolsey.
While Sheppard is seeing Kolya and under the impression he’s being attacked and tortured by his hated enemy, Woolsey is seeing a beautiful woman who seems to just want to get to know him.
Between the two, the day is a not so good one.
The decision to be made is whether to divest the mysterious device of its information, or to send it on to its target so it can seed the world it was intended for all along.
On the one hand, the knowledge it possesses is immense and extremely valuable.
On the other, what’s contained inside is the last of a race. There is no other chance for the race to survive.
In the end, despite great pressure from the IOA representative, Woolsey does the right thing and gets Daedalus to drop the device off where it belongs.
The funniest, and best part, of this episode is at the end when we find out that Rodney was being manipulated as well. The AI was making him see Zelenka and using their natural banter and competitive attitudes to get Rodney to search for and work on the device.
If you’re squeamish you might want to be careful of this episode. At one-point Sheppard thinks his hand is cut off. There’s nothing graphic, but it is an ick thing.
And now, the last book review for Stargate Atlantis before the Legacy series (again, I threw this one in here at this point because it didn’t have a specific place to read it. It’s up to you where you read it, but this place works quite well because we are close to the season finale and things will heat up soon).
When a moon suddenly changes course towards the systems sun, the team go to investigate what’s happening when records show it used to be an Alteran city.
Sure enough, it’s the exact opposite of Atlantis in the sense that the people there decided not to pursue ascension, but to live as decadently as possible. With gladiator type battles, music, dancing, and other pursuits being found on Admah, who would want to leave?
Not that you have a choice.
Anyone who comes through the Stargate is trapped as the gate will no longer allow that address to be dialed again. Thanks to a change in the system itself done by the leader of Admah. The only choices are to join as a citizen or fight as ‘entertainment’.
Sheppard and the gang are not happy about this, especially since the people have been alive for so long that dying is the only thing they believe will alleviate their ennui.
The moon is heading straight for the sun by choice, not accident, and our team is stuck.
Rodney is able to get a message back through to Atlantis telling them to be ready to pick them up from one of very few addresses that isn’t locked out. Now all they have to do is survive and escape.
With a little help from a native, they manage, but not until both Teyla and Rodney are put in the ring and the others are led to believe they’d died.
(I mean, after defeating a dragon and being thrown through a wall I can understand why they’d think Rodney was dead)
Rodney manages to get Teyla free from where she was trapped under the corpse of the monster she defeated and gets her to the Gate in time for Sheppard to see them and keep it open.
They’re not out of the woods yet though because the planet they end up on is a Wraith controlled one and they have to get the Gate dialed while being shot at.
It’s a good thing they have so much practice at it ya know?
This was an interesting book. Plenty of action and moments of, ‘cool’, but there was a random character with our group that I honestly don’t understand why. He supposedly was a new technician with a photographic memory that used it to help, but in all honestly they would have been fine without him.
Not to be mean here, I enjoyed the book, but considering who is on the team and what they’ve been through up to this point, the dude was just awkwardly there. Not really doing anything and not important enough, I think, to have been on the mission in the first place. But that’s just my opinion.
Well, that’s it ya’ll. Next week will be the first of the StALeR (Stargate Atlantis Legacy Reviews. Pronounced more like ‘stellar’) posts and I can’t wait!!
Alrighty peeps, we are almost to the Legacy series which means we have 20 episodes and two books until then.
What I’ve decided to do since both ‘Hunt and Run’ and ‘Brimstone’ can be read anytime between Season 5 Episode 4 and Season 5 episode 16, is to randomly insert them into the middle of the last season as equally distanced as possible (this will also make it easier to catch ya’ll up without separate posts for it).
Both books are good reads and I wish I could be more specific in placement, but you’ll understand why that’s not possible once you’ve read my posts and the books.
The best information I can give for when to read them is based on the fact that Woolsey is in charge and Teyla has had the baby in the books. Also, considering what happens closer to the end of Season 5, there’s a point where I don’t believe they’d still be going on such missions which is how I chose the last episode to read them by.
I’ll be highlighting my favorite episodes between the books so the post won’t get out of control.
And now, the second to last post before the Legacy series!
Alrighty, so another catch-up post, but since there’s so many episodes left and only two books, I’ll try to keep them short this time.
Enjoy!
Season 4, Episode 9: Miller’s Crossing
When Jeanie is abducted from her home one night, McKay comes to Earth to find her.
Needing help with the nanite programming, McKay has been talking to his sister and blames himself for her abduction.
When he’s captured by the same man, the siblings are forced to work on the nanite program to save the man’s daughter who has terminal cancer.
Rodney, understandably, doesn’t believe the man will let them go when they’re done with the program and tries to get them out. The attempt fails and the father injects Jeanie with the malfunctioning nanites.
Things are far more than desperate when Sheppard finally saves the day. Rodney alone can’t fix the programming and needs some extra help.
Starving, Todd works on the program until he physically can’t stand anymore.
Sheppard is able to convince the grieving father to sacrifice himself so that Todd could complete the work.
And he does (not that he gets any actual points for that).
Jeanie is saved!
Season 4, Episode 10: This Mortal Coil
Replicators made faux humans?!
In this episode we find ourselves supposedly on Atlantis, but our team isn’t so happy with how people have been acting lately.
A group of replicators still believe they can ascend and recreated our team to try and find out how to make a soul. The one thing they don’t have that they think will let them ascend.
When Oberoth discovers their location, he destroys the city (which makes the Seer’s vision come true from a few episodes ago).
The replicator Sheppard’s team is able to get away and meet with the human Sheppard’s team to give them some very important information. The teams are weirded out, on both sides, but are determined to work together.
When the replicators track their location once more, the replicator Sheppard and his team sacrifice themselves to save the others.
Season 4, Episode 11: Be All My Sins Remember’d
Todd and Rodney are back at work on the nanite programming because things are much worse. Even though the Asuran ships can be tracked now, they still have the advantage of making countless more in a very short amount of time.
Both Apollo and Daedalus have new weapons that can destroy the ships quickly, but the Asuran’s fall back to their homeworld (strength in numbers and all that).
Rodney has an ingenious idea to end the replicators once and for all.
However, in order to complete his plan they need to take out about thirty Asuran ships.
They only have two which means they need extra help and the Travelers don’t have enough so guess who they ask for help?
The Wraith!
An alliance between Wraith, Atlantis and Travelers.
With the additional help of a new replicator android Rodney made to assist them, the new fleet goes to battle.
This ends with few casualties and Todd escapes.
All in all, a good day.
Season 4, Episode 12: Spoils of War
Uh oh.
So, remember last episode when Todd escaped? Yeah, well during the battle over the Asuran homeworld he sent Darts down to retrieve a few presents.
Three ZPM’s! (presumably fully charged too) and quite soon we find out what he stole them for.
Back during the war, the Wraith were losing. That is until they were able to steal ZPM’s from Alteran ships and use them to power a cloning facility.
Todd’s plan was to use the facility to make warriors so that he could get the upper hand on the other Wraith in the galaxy.
Unfortunately, Todd is betrayed by one of his crew and is taken prisoner by a rival Queen who plans to use the facility for her own purposes.
Our team must find a way to destroy the facility and get themselves out alive too.
Possibly, they should have been a little more careful because Teyla decides to take over the Queen’s mind and does so in front of Todd. Can you say ammunition for later?
(everyone is fine and they all escape, including Todd)
Season 4, Episode 13: Quarantine
The city goes into lockdown and we spend the episode following different people who are stuck as they try to find a way to make the city disengage the quarantine.
Sheppard climbs the outside of the control tower, while Rodney is stuck in a botany lab because he’d planned on proposing to Katie.
Carter and Zelenka are stuck in a transporter together and Keller and Ronon are in the infirmary.
The system is messed up and starts the self-destruct thinking a disease has breached quarantine.
Zelenka saves the day by climbing through ventilation shafts to the power room and shutting everything off in the nick of time!
Everyone is fine, except for Rodney who realizes he isn’t actually ready for marriage. It’s the end of his relationship with Katie, though I believe they try to go back to the way things were before.
To his credit, Rodney realizes he has problems and I think he didn’t want to saddle Katie with them because he could end up destroying her.
Season 4, Episode 14: Harmony
Sheppard and Rodney are coerced into taking a young princess on a journey to ancient ruins where she will prove she’s worthy to rule.
The trip takes a turn when the Genii shows up and try to abduct the princess, but when Sheppard takes some of them out, they go from abduction to kill on sight.
And with a monster in the woods between them and the ruins, turning back is the best option.
Until it isn’t.
Going forward is the only way and reaching the ruins gives them hope when Rodney recognizes it as a testing site the Alteran’s used to create the Drones.
Mini Drones are unleashed, and the Genii are sent running.
The young princess is confirmed as Queen and all ends well.
(there’s even a painting done to commemorate the heroes actions!)
Season 4, Episode 15: Outcast
When Sheppard’s father dies, he goes home for the funeral and gets far more than he anticipates when a woman comes to him needing help.
Apparently, a scientist was working with nanites and created a replicator. Unable to control it, and not smart enough to have programmed it right, the replicator escapes. Killing people along the way.
Tracking the replicator takes time and along the way they find out that the woman who’s helping them is also a replicator.
In the end, they stop the one that’s killed and are able to trick the female replicator into an artificial environment where she will stay for as long as they can keep her there (hopefully forever).
Season 4, Episode 16: Trio
Rodney, Carter and Keller fall into a mining shaft on their way to convince a settlement to move to safer ground.
Finding a way out is not going to be easy and both Keller and Carter learn a few things about Rodney’s character that they never would have thought possible from the arrogant genius.
Also, Rodney gets pretty badly injured saving them which goes a long way to changing their view of him.
(I know it doesn’t sound exciting, but it’s really good and has humor and all the feels!)
Season 4, Episode 17: Midway
Interviews by the IOA to see if non-Earth members of SG teams can stay, go about as well as can be expected, until it’s Ronon’s turn.
Fearing Ronon won’t be able to get through the interviews without losing his temper, Carter calls on an old friend to come and coach him.
Teal’c arrives and is happy to help, but when he meets Ronon their personalities clash in a big way.
Being forced to travel to Earth together via the Midway station pushes them further until something more than their animosity makes them allies.
Wraith have found a way to infiltrate the gatebridge and use it to get to Earth.
Teal’c and Ronon must set their differences aside to defeat the Wraith and save Earth.
These two are so dang funny together because they’re so alike, but they do get along after this…well, they at least don’t dislike each other so much.
Season 4, Episode 18: The Kindred Part 1
First of all, Todd is back and ya’ll know how happy that makes me!
Todd wants Atlantis’ help with finding a cure for the Hoffan drug that’s made a reappearance.
The Athosian’s have been missing for close to six months now without any hint of their fate when Teyla begins to have visions of her baby’s father, Kanaan.
Tracking down clues takes time and puts Teyla in a dangerous position.
Michael is up to his old tricks again.
Or perhaps he never stopped?
In any case, Teyla is captured because Michael wants her baby. The baby is the product of two parents who come from the ones experimented on by the Wraith so long ago. They both have what they call ‘the gift’.
Baby is a special thing.
But not as special as the gift we get at the very end of the episode!
Season 4, Episode 19: The Kindred Part 2
Carson is back!
You’d think it’s a good thing but there’s something wrong and with Teyla still missing, our team is having a rough time.
Carson is a clone that Michael made to help him with his research. But with the memories of the real Carson Beckett, Atlantis is willing to trust him to a point.
Finding the planet where the Athosian’s are being kept almost gets them Teyla, but Michael manages to escape with Teyla.
Carson is put in stasis to keep his cells from degrading further until they can find out how Michael was keeping him alive.
Season 4, Episode 20: The Last Man
When going through the Stargate, Sheppard returns to Atlantis, just not the one he knows.
A solar flare interfered with the wormhole and sends him several thousand years into the future.
Atlantis is no longer in use and hasn’t been for a very long time.
A hologram of Rodney explains what’s happened and what it’ll take to get him back home. Along with information about Michael and what happened after he disappeared.
Sheppard has to stay in stasis a little longer until another flare occurs to send him back home.
Which happens and the episode ends in a cliffhanger as they go to the planet Teyla will be brought to have her child and inadvertently engage a self-destruct.
The Dark Library 