Stargate Atlantis: Spoils of War
Star TrekStargate:AtlantisFireflyby Wolfen Moondaughter
Before I begin, I’d just like apologize for my lateness with the column last week, and to thanks the readers who have been so vocal and supportive about that review (of “Be All My Sins Remember’d”). It’s nice to know people actually like reading my ramblings — especially when the last one clocked in at just under seventeen pages! I’ll try to keep the page count down on this one. (But really? I’m finding that harder and harder to do each ep!) Thankfully, the game “mission” for this episode was up on MGM’s site before the episode aired (as opposed to being a couple of days late, like last week’s), so I was able to play it before the episode aired, and not be distracted by it for the writing of this — this way, if this review is long again, I stand a better chance of getting it in on time. (I sometimes wonder if my name shouldn’t be Magpie instead of Wolfie, I’m so easily distracted by “shiny” things!) Aaaanyway ….
Like “Lifeline” after “Adrift”, I think this episode was a great team-centered adventure that helped us wind down from the tension of its post-break predecessor (affectionately known as “BAMSR”). Not that it was without tension or action itself, but it worked on a smaller scale, acting as a sort of stepping stone into the rest of the season, It’s a tough trick to work, retaining the audience’s interest in a story after such a blockbuster — let’s face it, Gero is pretty much always a tough act to follow — but Alan McCullough pulled it off beautifully!
4.12: “Spoils of War”
This episode starts, interestingly, by rewinding time a bit. (It also starts with the Wraith instead of our leads! Really, how often does that happen?) On Todd’s ship, one of his minions tells him that the humans’ plan worked. (I love how surprised the minion sounds by this — go, Homo Sapiens!) We learn that Todd has dispatched some darts to the planet; despite the warning that the planet is about to blow, he refuses to leave without them. (As much as I would like it to be out of a sense of loyalty to his people, it is not — Todd is a practical man.) The darts return; the Wrath hive jumps out of there just in time. And then we learn just what was so important that Todd wasn’t willing to leave without his darts: three ZPMs! He smiles, saying that they now have all they need to complete their mission. (Oooh, that doesn’t sound good, I’m thinking. Perhaps he’s planning on betraying the human allies after all? I’m slightly spoiled, so I have some idea of what they’re using it for — a Wraith-making factory of some sort. But I’m baffled at this point as to how ZPMs would help them — wouldn’t that be akin to using the wrong battery? And well, I can’t help but think that it would be cool storywise if it had turned out that the Wraith had found an Ancient city. Of course, they would need humans with the ATA gene to run it ….)
Cut to the present day. Rodney, Sheppard and Ronon talk in the control room. Through them, we learn that, in the week since the battle, the Wraith have been dividing up into factions; there’s too many of space vampires and not enough human-kibble to go around. Rodney tells his companions that there’s one ship out there that’s all by its lonesome, not near any planet and an hour out from any gate. The ship is giving off the same signal as the transmitter Todd had used to call in his people. Rodney figures Todd knew that they would be monitoring that frequency and using it to contact them, but has no idea why the Wraith would do that. (And, as much as I adore Todd, part of me wonders if this is some sort of trap, since our Wraith buddy seems to have been planning something all along.)
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Teyla pedals hard on an exercise bike in the training room. Ronon questions whether she should be working out so hard. (Hell, for Rachel Luttrell’s sake, I’m wondering the same thing ….) Teyla assures him that Keller says it’s good for her to exercise, adding that she needs to keep in shape, if she’s to keep up with the rest of them. “Who says you have to keep up?” Ronon asks, scowling. She laughs him off, in an Isn’t it obvious? way. (So she’s determined to prove to Sheppard that she will not be a detriment to the team. Interesting, since she’s usually the level-headed one. Even if she can keep up physically, the fact that she’s pregnant would be significant leverage if she were to be captured by someone, which, in turn, makes her a liability ….)
Nearly twenty-four hours after the first discussion, Sheppard, Rodney, and Zelenka converse about the Wraith ship. It hasn’t moved; they conjecture that the ship is probably damaged, and that Todd activated his transmitter as a distress beacon. Rodney questions whether they really ought to answer it; sure, Todd’s helped them, but he is still a Wraith. (I’m a little disappointed in his attitude, especially since Todd helped him save Jeannie, but I can’t deny that there’s a practical side to it. Todd helped them mostly — maybe even entirely — because it was in his best interest to do so; he pretty much admitted that the truce would be over when the war with the Replicators was ended. And I can’t dismiss the niggling fear that, despite how honorable and reasonable as he’s been, this could be a trap, something he’s intended all along, and that I’ve been lulled into complacency in regard to him.) John decides that it’s worth the risk to check it out.
John, Rodney, Ronon, Lorne (yay!), and a few others are gearing up in the locker room (yay for new sets!) when Teyla comes in, insisting that she’s still capable and useful. John makes a gesture at Lorne with his head; the major tells the rest of the men that it’s time to go and all of them, sans Rodney, leave the room. Ronon comes back on-screen to drag a protesting McKay with him. (*Snicker* And I am reminded now of the fact that we didn’t see Rodney finally being told about the pregnancy — I have to wonder if he has been told yet. Maybe he’s sitting there going, Hey, maybe I will finally find out what Teyla wasn’t coming with us! If he indeed had been told, I suspect he put his foot in his mouth at the revelation by saying something along the lines of, “Now that you mention it, I thought you seemed a little thick around the middle these days, but I thought you were just stress-eating ….”) Alone with Teyla now, John tells her, “We’re not having this conversation again.” “We have not had it yet,” Teyla counters angrily, adding that he’s barely spoken to her in a week. (Wow, I don’t think I’ve seen her this mad at him since “Letters from Pegasus”, when he was going to leave her friends behind to be culled because he didn’t think they would actually have enough time to escape if they stopped for them. And the only other times I recall seeing her as angry at anyone else was in “Missing” — and, well, anytime she’s had to deal with Sergeant Bates in the first season. ) John says that they’ve been busy. (With what, pray tell?) She insists that this situation is different than the battle against the Replicators; he points out that any op can be dangerous. (Hey, they did have this conversation already! *Wink*) She says she accepts that, to which John says, a little incredulously, “You think it’s that simple?” (And again, I’m wondering here if she really wants the child.) She asks him if he’s really concerned for her, or if he’s just mad because she didn’t tell him sooner. (Wow, a petty, probably hormone-crazy Teyla! This is certainly an interesting development!) He tells her this is about the fact that her people and the father of her child are missing, how she’s angry and wants to “tear it up” but she’s got to understand that she can’t. He leaves — and she still looks pretty angry.
Our guys arrive at the hive ship in a ‘jumper. The readings indicate that the ship is extensively damaged — and at least some of it is from Wraith fire, not just that of the Replicators. (Rodney’s a little condescending to Lorne here about it.) There also aren’t any life-signs. John suggests that they’re hibernating; Rodney counters that that’s an odd thing to do after being attacked, adding that they usually land the ship in order to do that. Either way, John figures that, since they’re already there, they might as well give it a look. They search the hive ship (with me expecting a trap to be sprung any moment, as well as wondering why hive ships are so foggy), but find nothing but dead Wraith (who apparently have been fed upon by their own kind) and Todd’s transmitter. (Rodney looks sympathetic when he finds the thing, which begs the question, was the transmitter cut out by Todd’s enemies, or did Todd himself cut it out? I’m actually thinking the latter; if the enemy had done it, they would have either lain in wait to see who turned up to help Todd, or they would have just shut it off. Anyway, aside from the fact that obviously the boyos don’t die, I was half expecting something would explode when they found the transmitter, that they would have tripped something, a la an action film.)
Lorne comes in while Rodney fusses with the control panel; the major says that there are no other Wraith on the ship, and figures that they were taken prisoner. “Including our friend,” Rodney tells him. Sheppard says not to call the Wraith that, “it’s weird.” He decides that they will call him Todd, after a tall, pale guy he knew in college. (Yaaay, it’s official finally! I wonder if the parallel with The Fox and the Hound is intentional: Todd the Wraith is as wily as a fox, and his friendship with them is as odd as a fox being pals with a hound, don’t you think?) Rodney protests (conversationally, rather than with his usual obnoxiousness, which I think goes to show how good his friendship with his teammates has been for him) that that’s a terrible name. John asks if he has a better one, but when Rodney starts to say that he does, John tells him firmly to forget he asked. (So here we have John getting territorial with the naming thing again. Think he will insist on naming Teyla’s baby as well, when the time comes?) John asks Rodney how extensive the damage is; Rodney tells him that 30% of the ship is sealed off due to exposure to space, but other than that, he thinks that, with a bit of work, he can bring the systems back online. John declares that they have themselves a new ship. (And considering how much he and Rodney salivated over the prospect back in “The Defiant One” but ultimately did not end up getting that hive, this must be really exciting for them!)
Back in Atlantis, John fills Radek in on their status, adding that fixing the ship is the easy part but not elaborating on what the hard part is. As if in answer, the next scene shows him talking to Teyla in the mess. Now that the ship is secured, he considers it safe enough for Teyla to go out there — especially seeing as, with her Wraith DNA, she’s the only one who can fly it! He concedes that he was a little hard on her, and she concedes that he was right, that she was just trying to figure out her “position”. “You’re still a member of my team,” he says, scowling, as if it were never in doubt. “Am I?” she asks in a tone that says she’s not really asking, and that the answer based on how he’s treated her is no. (So again, like last week, we come to semantics: to her, being a member of the team means participating; to him, it means doing what one is told, and just because she can’t go on all the missions doesn’t mean he’s actually kicked her off. I can understand why she feels as she does, but really, the times Rodney has had to stay behind hadn’t made him any less of a member, right?) “You always were,” John insists, adding that it’s his call as to whether or not she goes on a mission, and she needs to accept that, take it or leave it. (Just like I said in the last review: it’s ultimately her choice to be on the team, but she needs to actually choose and accept his command if she stay.) There’s a moment of silence. “When do we go?” she asks. (I think this is a really great scene all around, no matter whether one sees them as, be they just friends or something more! See, non-sci-fi fans? Sci-fi still has great drama, as good as anything in any of the more mainstream shows, and it’s got a whole lot more!)
Back on the hive ship, Lorne brings Ronon and Rodney powerbars. Rodney’s not terribly enthusiastic about his — apricot jubilee (yeah, I wouldn’t either) — but is quick to say it’s fine when Lorne suggests he’ll just take it himself, then. (*Snicker* I wonder if Lorne is getting back at Rodney a little for how he was in the ‘jumper.) We see Ronon leaning over something in the background while Lorne asks Rodney how it’s going. Rodney says he’s “got the hyperdrive working, but that’s not going to help much if I can’t get the neural interface to work.” And just then, a screen lights up behind him. He immediately asks Ronon what he did. “Nothing ….” Ronon hedges. “You touched something, didn’t you?” Rodney insists. “No! … Maybe just a little,” Ronon concedes. (*Snicker* Rodney’s rubbing off on him — that denial is pure McKay! And I bet that he touched whatever he did because he’s still trying to learn “some science”. I’m glad they’re still running with that, and hope they do more with it — the McKay/Sheppard moments may be my favourite aspect of the show, but the Ronon/Rodney buddy-buddy moments is a close second ….) Ronon says that the stuff on the screen looks like a map. “Thank-you, Captain Obvious; of course it’s a map!” Rodney snarks. (I love that bit — not just because it’s funny, but because it also shows how at-ease Rodney has gotten around Ronon, that he’s not worried about suffering repercussions for insulting the man. And I think that speaks as much for Ronon’s character growth as it does Rodney’s!) Rodney points out that the question is, what is the map to?
In a ‘jumper, on their way to the hive ship, Teyla and John have a heart-to-heart. The thought that her child may be the last of her people weighs heavily on Teyla. (She sure hasn’t been showing it, with how reckless she’s been, though!) “We don’t know that yet,” John tells her firmly in his That’s just quitter-talk! tone. She explains that this is why she has been so insistent on going on missions: her best hope of finding them is being out and about, among the worlds.
They arrive at the hive. Sheppard asks McKay for an update; the man chattily obliges, saying that he thinks he’s got the neural interface fixed but can’t test it himself, and adding that he’s repaired the weapons array. “Weapons array?” John asks. Rodney explains that he thought it would come in handy for when they go after the other Wraith ship — of course forgetting that he hasn’t actually informed John about the map yet. He tells John that he’s figured out where Todd’s ship was headed. “We figured it out,” Ronon interjects. Rodney scoffs, saying all Ronon did was touch something, whereas he’s the one who actually went through the ships log and found the info about a top-secret base. (Well, as much as his ego could use some checking, he has a point. And that was an amusing way to give Rodney an excuse to explain that very fact to us!) John asks what Wraith outpost; Rodney points out his use of the words “Top Secret”. (They’re so very Laurel and Hardy sometimes, aren’t they? Well, smarter, but still.) “In other words, he doesn’t know,” Ronon says dryly. Rodney does theorise that the place has something to do with how the Wraith defeated the Ancients so long ago, though, and thinks they should go check it out. John starts to tell them to slow down, pointing out that they don’t even know if the ship can fly — and then, like Ronon with the map, Teyla’s touch awakens the ship. (Does this mean that Ronon has Wraith DNA, or might anyone have brought that map up?) Teyla’s powers are stronger, to the point where systems that Rodney couldn’t bring online now are, but she doesn’t know why. What she once had to work for comes effortlessly to her now, including flying the ship. At the expression on John’s face regarding this new development, Rodney says, “Hey, don’t look at me; I didn’t do anything!” (Heh, nice echo of Ronon’s response to John in “BAMSR”!) Teyla tells John that she can take them to the Wraith outpost. “That’s not why I brought you here,” John tells her clearly wishing now that he hadn’t brought her at all. He says they’ll wait for the Daedalus; she points out (with her former reasonableness) that the other hive already has a head start, and that, if the outpost really is so important, they need to catch up as quickly as possible. John grudgingly agrees, telling her to keep them out of sensor range; they’ll take a ‘jumper the rest of the way in. The hive makes the jump to hyperspace.
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On the way to the outpost, a puzzled Rodney reveals that there are no records anywhere, in the ten-thousand years that the log covers, of the Wraith going to this supposedly important outpost. Before they can think about that, though, they arrive at their destination. As Teyla turns to go to the jumper, she wavers a little; John catches her, and Ronon hurries up to her. (Rodney was looking down at the equipment he was gathering, but he looked up when he heard John cry out, “Whoa!”) Teyla assures them that she is fine. John gives Rodney the same head gesture he gave Lorne in the locker-room when he wanted a moment alone with Teyla; this time, Rodney gets it and leaves, Ronon following. John tells Teyla that this is exactly the kind of position he hadn’t wanted to put her in. She sighs, saying she knows. He tells her that he wants her to stay to fly the ship; she agrees. He adds that he’s leaving Lorne and his guys with her; she sighs again, but nods, telling him good luck. (I feel for her, now that she’s being reasonable; it’s so frustrating to feel powerless, and she’s usually more powerful than most. And hey, do they frequently wish each other luck in the show and I just never noticed? ‘Cause that was oddly reminiscent of that Fran/Rodney scene in “BAMSR” ….)
In the ‘jumper, they (John, Rodney, and Ronon) get close enough for their sensors to work; lo and behold, there’s a Space ‘Gate! (I wonder at the time what the purpose of that will be, but quickly forget about it.) John’s irritated that Rodney didn’t mention it before (probably thinking of how he could have let Teyla go back home, then); Rodney says he didn’t know about it, pointing out that the Wraith log’s “not exactly easy reading!” He also reports that there’s a strange energy reading coming from the planet’s surface — and a hive ship in orbit.
We see a strange, skeletal-looking building on the planet’s surface. Ronon charges in first (of course), and announces that there are no guards; Sheppard points out (to us) that the Wraith aren’t exactly expecting visitors (the place is supposed to be a secret, after all). Rodney guides them with the LSD. When Sheppard wonders aloud how big the place is, Rodney tells him not to worry, that he has “an excellent sense of direction.” “Didn’t you get lost in a garden maze?” John asks pointedly. Rodney protests that he was only ten, and that he was running from a bee. (*Snicker* Nice call-back to the scene in “Miller’s Crossing”, where Rodney insists that he has a great sense of direction and Jeannie reminds him of the time that he got lost in a mall. Not sure if it’s intended, but I like how that parallel suggests that Rodney and John have a sibling-like bond as well.) They stumble across a female Wraith sitting in a chair with her eyes closed, her body covered in tendrils. John asks what it is they’re looking at; “It’s a queen,” Rodney supplies, in an Isn’t it obvious? tone. “Nice work, Sherlock,” John says dryly. (This works nicely as both indirect payback for the “Captain Obvious” line, and another parallel: Jeannie called Rodney “Nancy Drew” in “Miller’s Crossing” for drawing a conclusion that wasn’t exactly hard to reach. Also, I like how Ronon’s looking around behind them, ever alert, while they stare at the queen. Although if I were them, I wouldn’t really be talking around a queen like that, in case she can hear them!) John asks what she’s doing; Rodney has no idea.
Ronon draws their attention to another chamber, where they find glowing green pillars with moving, opaque white sacks of varying sizes in their centers; the last one seems to hold a full-gown being within. Ronon alerts them to the approach of the Wraith; they hide as a commander and two drones arrive. Another drone hatches from the white sack, its face looking malformed. (I have to admit, though, the Urah Kai birth in Lord of the Rings: Return of the King was more repulsive, and effectively served to desensitise me to this one. I do feel sorry for the actor, though, first being in that sack, which was probably hard to breathe in, then having that mask put over his face! … To those who were thinking of Ellia, the female Wraith in “Instinct”, who started out as a child, and wondering where she fits into the Wraith means of reproduction: according to Joe Mallozzi, only the drones are produced this way.) The commander retrieves a mask from the sack and places it over the drone’s face; the other drones carry it off, sans any other armour. (That’s kind a weird that the face-plate is in the sack with them, but not the rest of the armour.) Rodney makes the remark that he’s going to have nightmares after seeing that. (Well, it will be a nice change of pace from the Moby Dick dreams then, won’t it? *Snicker*)
The boys go exploring again, John and Rodney talking as they go. John conjectures that the place is some sort of Wraith farm; Rodney agrees, saying that the queen’s genetic information must be sent through the building, into the pods, reminding us that the Wraith evolved from insects. He adds that they’d always assumed that the process happened on the hive ships; what’s this facility for? “I think I have an idea,” Ronon says, looking stunned (and oh, his expression is so priceless!) We’re shown what he’s looking at; Rodney tells us that it’s thousands of pods!
Patching into the Wraith computer, McKay discovers that the facility extends miles underground, with over a hundred more pod chambers. As they walk, a puzzled McKay points out that a single queen could not provide enough genetic material for all those pods. Ronon suggests that there’s more than one queen. (Thereby pointing out what the audience might be thinking — he makes almost as good of an exposition-instigator as Sheppard! And he shows us again that he can be very intelligent, especially when it comes to deductive reasoning). McKay insists that queens don’t work together like that — at least as far as they know. (Which actually means it is possible, but for the sake of this story, the writers want us to just accept right now that that is not what is going on.) Sheppard’s only interested in the fact that the facility was built to make a Wraith army — something that they can’t let happen. Rodney points it that they don’t exactly have enough C-4 to take the place out. Ronon suggests they fire on it from orbit. (See? Smart boy!) Rodney agrees that that’s an idea, but also points out (nicely, with no snark!) that doing so will reveal their presence to the other hive ship; he doubts that they could finish the job before the hive jumps on them. Sheppard suggests they cut the power supply, which Rodney agrees could work for at least a while; John is satisfied with that. Using the LSD, Rodney quickly discovers a problem with this plan as well — the energy readings are coming from all around, so he can’t pinpoint their source. (Ahhh, as I’ve said before, I love the planning pros-and-cons discussions!)
The Wraith commander and his two drones wake the queen. The commander tells her that she has “done well; the second batch of warriors is flawless.” (Really?? Even with the deformed faces??) He goes on to says that they “now have a suitable genetic template with which to begin the next phase.” She asks about “the commander of the fallen hive” (Todd, obviously); he tells her (and us) that Todd is in a holding cell and has “completed the calibration” they required. (Poor Todd; he’s the Wraith equivalent of McKay! Everybody’s always capturing him and using him for his scientific abilities!) They have some final adjustments to make, and then they will bring the power online. (Ahh, maybe that’s why Rodney can’t track the ZPMs. But don’t they give off a power signature even when they aren’t plugged in? Isn’t that what he’s always looking for when they go to new worlds? Well, I guess the signature of just one, or even three, isn’t that strong, especially when not in use, or else he would have been able to find the ZPM in “The Brotherhood” without having to go through the treasure-hunt rigmarole ….) She orders Todd brought to her so that she can feed. The commander (her underling, not Todd) tries to talk her out of it, thinking they might still need Todd’s expertise, but quickly orders his drones to fetch Todd after she asks him if he is offering himself up in Todd’s place. (And isn’t it fascinating to see so much of the story from the Wraith perspective? I think that that’s my favourite aspect of this episode!)
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Todd is ready to face the music when the drones come to fetch him — which is to say he sounds ready to go down fighting. Happily for him, he doesn’t have to; our boys come to the rescue, guns blazing! It’s not really a friendly reunion, despite Todd’s sounding moderately pleased to see them; they have their weapons trained on him as he remarks that he wasn’t sure that they would follow his signal and come. (Okay, so not a trap, just a desperate plea for help. Yay!) John makes it clear that they rescued him for the information he can provide. Todd doesn’t look so happy now.
Biding their time back on the hive ship, Lorne and Teyla have a (very sweet) heart-to-heart, in which he congratulates her, and assures her that, while the first child is hard for everyone, he thinks that she will be a great mom. She’s appreciative; she’s not feeling all that certain about her pending motherhood herself. (I can’t shake the feeling that she wishes she weren’t pregnant, that she feels it’s her duty to keep it but doesn’t really want it — at least at the moment. And yay for more Lorne interaction — especially seeing him in a non-military-oriented context, like we did in “Sunday”. Wouldn’t it be sweet if he gave Teyla one of his paintings as a shower gift?)
Back in the Wraith facility, Todd tells us that McKay is right, a Queen couldn’t produce so many drones without the assistance of artificial means: they’re in a cloning facility. Excited, Rodney conjectures that this is how the Wraith defeated the Ancients with their “greater numbers”. John points out that there are too many Wraith already (”for the available food supply” goes unspoken), saying that he could see wanting to boost the numbers before the Replicator war was over, but why do it now (and not then)? Reluctantly, Todd admits that his people couldn’t use the facility during the war because they didn’t have the means to power it. Rodney realises that Todd’s talking about ZPMs. Todd admits to having snagged a few from the Replicator homeworld before it was destroyed, elaborating that his “intention was to create an army to wipe out the other Wraith.” (I believe him — better to replace the current drone population with drones that are loyal to him, right? Of course, that begs the question of what he intended to do after taking over. But hey, let’s give him the benefit of the doubt: maybe he would have been willing to work with human scientists to find a way to feed them via artificial means, or make mindless human clones for feeding on ….) Todd explains that he was betrayed by one of his own crew, hence his ship being attacked by another hive. McKay is excited: they can stop the cloning simply by stealing the ZPMs. Todd points out that he knows where they are, saying cheerfully, “I’m sure you didn’t come all this way to rescue me, but it would be in your best interest.” (I just love Heyerdahl’s delivery there!) John agrees, motioning for Todd to leave the cell.
Todd leads them to the chamber with the ZPMs, hanging back in the hall with McKay as Sheppard and Ronon go in to collect them. Rodney asks him how the Wraith got their hands on ZPMs in the first place, all those years ago. Todd explains that the Lanteans kept sending their ships deeper and deeper into Wraith territory; eventually, he Wraith managed to capture three ships and take the ZPMs. (Oh, that’s just typical: not only did the Ancients possibly create the Wraith in the first place, but in their overconfidence, they basically handed the Wraith the means to take over the galaxy! You know, it’s a wonder that they ever Ascended …. Anyway, I love the history lesson, particularly how conversational these two are being together. If it weren’t for the fact that Todd’s people need to feed on Rodney’s to live, I think they would be good friends; Todd seems to be one of the few beings Rodney can admit that he could learn something from, and Todd seems to enjoy teaching him. And now I have the song “The Best of Friends”, from The Fox and the Hound stuck in my head ….) John cuts the lesson short. (Awww! Spoilsport!) As they make their way to the exit, an alarm sounds; the Wraith now know that Todd is free. Todd leads the human men towards the exit, but they get separated when the drones find and attack them. Todd hurries on, expecting the men to follow, but drones stun them when they try. (It takes two shots to take Ronon down — yay for continuity!)
Our trio wake up in a holding cell; Rodney wants to know why he’s the last one to wake up (since he was the first stunned). He then asks where Todd is. (And I squee that, despite his earlier protest, he uses the name quite naturally. I wonder if Todd knows his own name yet ….) John says that Todd escaped. Rodney sees this as great news, figuring that, since they saved him, he would save them. John’s not so sure about that (probably figuring that Todd might feel the same way about rescuing humans without a good reason as they felt about saving a Wraith). The Wraith commander arrives with his drones, and opens the cell, ordering the drones to bring them along. Ronon follows the drones, scowling but not fussing. Rodney looks at John uncertainly; the colonel gestures with his head slightly for Rodney to go. (I love small, subtle details like that.) The scientist obeys, and an unhappy John brings up the rear. They’re brought before the queen, who uses her power to bring John to his knees. He’s got a Not this again! sort of pained look in his eyes as he quivers with the effort to resist her. (Poor guy; doubtless he’s remembering the agony of being fed on by Todd.) She gives the order for the hive to look for their ship while she questions them.
Teyla tells Lorne that a dart approaches. He asks if it’s contacted the other hive; she says no. He’s relieved: that means it hasn’t had a chance to tell the hive about them yet. He says to shoot it down, then; she points out that Sheppard has flown a dart before. Lorne insists that, if it were Sheppard, he would have radioed, adding that they can’t draw risk drawing attention by sending a signal themselves. Teyla powers up weapons (and I wonder at that, until I remember that they’re out of sensor range), but before she can fire, the dart contacts them: it’s Todd. (Now, if they couldn’t contact the dart without risking being discovered — I assume because radio transmissions are easier to detect from a distance than energy signatures — doesn’t the same hold true for Todd’s calling them?) Todd confirms that he’s seen their friends, and asks to be allowed on board.
Walking with them in the hive, he tells them that he saw our trio get stunned. Lorne snidely remarks on Todd’s having escaped. Todd says he was lucky; if they’d captured him, they would have killed him instantly. (And hey, he could have just ‘Gated straight out of there, right? The other hive probably wouldn’t have even considered the possibility that his dart wasn’t flying under the queen’s orders — at least, not immediately. Of course, he’s probably hoping that there’s a way he can regain control of the facility, or at least get the ZPMs back.) Teyla asks how they can rescue their friends. He tells her that they will have, by now, been brought before the queen. Lorne figures there’s still hope, that Todd can fly them down in the dart. Todd explains that the hive would have detected his dart leaving the planet and grown suspicious by now; they would be on the looking for it. He says that they need to leave (and maybe get some more help?) and come back later, undetected; they need to face the fact that they can’t do anything for their friends at the moment. (Well, at least he’s willing to come back, although, again, much as I like him, I suspect it’s as much because he wants to prevent his enemies from making their own army as out of any sense of honour. Like I said, he’s a practical guy; that’s a big part of what I like about him! But I do still think honour/obligation is in the equation — he returned Sheppard’s life to him in “Common Ground” for that reason, after all.) Teyla then gets an idea ….
The queen asks John how they found the facility, and is impressed by his ability to resist. She threatens to feed on one of his friends if he doesn’t talk. John is still silent. “Very well,” she says, and starts to choose a victim. Ronon tells her to take him (Awww, how sweet that he’d defend Rodney like that! Not like I ever doubted that, of course.) The queen chooses Rodney, who complains, “My entire life, I’ve never been chosen first—’” he lets out a cry of pain as he’s shoved to his knees, “—and now fate decides to restore the balance!” he finishes. (Hewlett’s delivery of the last half there is a bit odd, like an afterthought, as if Rodney just wants to make sure he gets the rest of his clever final words are heard and isn’t even really caring about the words themselves. Which could be exactly what he intended; I could see Rodney thinking that way.) The queen pauses, shaking her head and wavering a bit on her feet. The commander notices, but she shrugs off his concern, telling him to take the humans back to their cell.
Back on the hive ship, Todd asks Lorne what Teyla’s said, sounding confused. We see her sitting down, facing everyone. Lorne explains that she’s not talking to them, she’s invading the queen’s mind. “Impossible!” Todd insists. Lorne tells him not to be too sure of that. The camera moves to face Teyla, and the lighting changes. We see the queen step out of the shadows behind her, asking who dares to enter her mind. Teyla tells the queen that her identity doesn’t matter; all that does is that she is the stronger one. As she speaks, the camera cuts to the view of her as her comrades see her, without the dramatic lighting or the queen at her side. Todd looks shocked, maybe even a bit frightened (not that I blame him). The queen is impressed with Teyla’s strength as Teyla takes over her body, but taunts her, saying that Teyla can’t maintain that level of concentration forever. Teyla points out that she doesn’t need forever, then orders her to stand. We see the queen’s body rise to her feet. (Is it wrong that I really like the dress the queen is wearing?) She orders the queen around. The Queen’s mind remarks that Teyla seems to be hiding something from her. A moment later, she’s figured it out: Teyla’s pregnant, and the child is augmenting her powers. She insists that though the two minds combined are very powerful, they can’t keep it up forever; all she has to do is distract Teyla for just a moment to get to the baby and kill it. (People are complaining about the fact that the baby couldn’t have a “mind” yet at 13-14 weeks, and they have a point. But the simple answer Joe Mallozzi gives works for me: this isn’t a typical pregnancy.)
Back in their cell, the boys are scratching their heads over the queen’s actions (and Rodney’s having a bit of a freak-out). The queen arrives just then, taking out the guards with Ronon’s blaster (and now I have the song “Killer Queen” in my head — not that I’m complaining). She opens their cell and throws them their weapons. “It’s me, John,” she tells the colonel; he realises that it’s really Teyla. (And the soft way he says he name is so sweet!) The boys gather the weapons their stuff; as Teyla starts to waver under the queen’s strength, she tells them to hurry. Rodney asks John to get the directions out of her, admitting that he’s gotten turned around. (*Snicker* So much for his sense of direction, but what bad timing for him to admit it!) John tells him to just go already. As John follows, he tells Teyla that she can let go — but it’s too late. She doubles over in agony. He stops, and tells her to let go again. She begs him to help her. Understanding, he shoots the queen. (That was scary-risky — I would have been afraid that doing so would kill Teyla too! But kudos to him for not hesitating, since there was nothing else that could be done.) On the hive ship, Teyla gasps for breath as she’s set free.
As the boys go through the halls, John says that they need to get the ZPMs. Rodney points out that they don’t know where the ZPMs are. John says that there were schematics in the pod-room. Rodney insists that the schematics didn’t actually say where the ZPMs were. “Well, you didn’t look hard enough!” John insists. (If he’d found that info the first time, you wouldn’t have needed Todd’s help, John ….) Elsewhere, we see the commander messing with a control panel. (It’s pretty!) Cut to the boys; Rodney’s going to try to looks up the location in the schematics again, but warns that there’s a lot of data to go through. Before he can even get hooked up, though, the pods light up. “We’re too late,” Rodney tells us; the cloning has started. John tells him to forget about that and just find the ZPMs. Rodney says he’s going to need more time. “Rodney” John snaps. Rodney snaps back that there are hundreds of pages of info, and it’s all in Wraith. (*Chuckle* Poor Rodney, always being expected to do the impossible. Well, you’ve spoiled John by pulling off so many impossible things, haven’t you?) The alarm goes off; Ronon says that the Wraith have found the queen. John gets an idea, which apparently involves them hightailing it.
Teyla is deeply shaken over the fact that the queen went after her baby. (Ahhhh, she finally realises how much the baby means to her as a person, not just as the leader of her people!) Lorne does his best to calm her. Todd notices a sound coming from the hive’s control panel, and announces that the other hive has found them. The boys, meanwhile, have discovered a bunch of drones blocking their exit. John asks if there’s another way out. Rodney snaps that it was hard enough to find this one. Ronon announces that there are more drones coming. John resigns himself to their path and opens fire, his companions following suit. They manage to escape. Todd, meanwhile, stands with his hands on the controls, saying that they need to leave. “Not without our people,” Lorne insists. Todd protests that their weapons are limited at best, the ship already damaged; they won’t be able to withstand an attack. Teyla says that their companions will be there soon — she has seen them — and reiterates that they will wait for them. Todd whirls around to face them, ready to argue, but is stopped short by an alarm. He tells his human companions, in an I told you so tone, that the other hive has entered weapons range. The other ship fires on them. Todd says that the other ship will target their hyperdrive and make it impossible escape if they don’t go now. (As much as I don’t want them to leave our guys behind, I can’t deny Todd’s being practical again; he was a leader among his people for a reason. It must frustrate the hell out of him to not be able to control his own ship — doubtless the humans would fire on him if he tried. I think it’s interesting that this is the closest we’ve seen him come to losing it since “Common Ground”.)
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We see the boys in the jumper; they radio their friends. Teyla tells them that the hive has found them. “Can you hold them off?” John asks. “Not for long,” Todd growls, turning back to the controls. (Well, at least he’s willing to make the effort!) The hives engage in a fire-fight as the ‘jumper gets inside their own hive. Lorne asks over the radio if they should jump to hyperspace; John says no, he’s got an idea. Rodney calls him crazy; John points out that they still have to destroy the facility. Rodney asks an incredulous “How?”, pointing out that they’re under attack. John responds by telling Teyla to set a new course. We see their hive fly off, still taking fire.
On the planet, the commander is told that their hive has sent them a message: the enemy is coming straight for the facility. And then we see our heroes’ hive plow right into it. (What an awesome explosion! I’m so blown away myself, I can’t wrap my brain around what’s happened just yet — my mother catches on before I do, and I feel a bit stupid ….) We see our people watching it all from the ‘jumper; Todd is conspicuously absent. (I’m half-afraid he was on the hive, driving, even as I couldn’t imagine them making him do it — or him volunteering, for that matter. It doesn’t help that Rodney seems both awed and depressed as they get ready to go home, but I realise now that the depression is probably over the loss of the ZPMs.)
Back in Atlantis, Radek asks what happened to Todd. Rodney says, “Don’t ask,” in defeated tones. John replies that Todd took a dart (instead of joining them in he jumper). Rodney elaborates that he either escaped through the gate like they did, or he was captured by the remaining hive. “I can’t imagine they would have given him a very warm welcome,” Radek remarks. “No,” Rodney agrees, not sounding at all happy. (Could it be? Does Rodney really feel bad about the fate of Todd?! Huzzah!)
John spots Teyla standing on a balcony and goes out to talk to her. Teyla tells him that Keller has confirmed that her baby is fine — physically. She is upset about having exposed her baby to “the mind of a killer”, though. Teyla also reveals that the child is a boy, hinting she’s learned of the sex through her connection to him. (Is anyone else a bit disappointed, like I am, that it’s not a girl? I just think it would be sweeter to see the guys go Three Men and a Baby over a little girl, I guess. That, and I’d like to see Teyla raise a daughter to be as ass-kicking as she is. Although, re: the spoiler-speculation I mentioned in the last column, there could be a good reason it’s a boy, rather than just an arbitrary choice on the part of the writers ….) Teyla confides that she thinks John was right before; she would, at one time, have laid down her life for any of her friends, but now she has to take her son’s life into consideration. Getting teary, she tells him that the queen had very nearly killed her child — would have, if he had hesitated even a little bit in taking the queen out. She hugs him; he returns it (somewhat awkwardly — awwwww).
It’s sooo good to see her finally acting protective towards her son — and therefore acting like she does truly accept, even want want him! And on that note, I’d like to address something else I’ve seen people complain about: that, somehow, the desire to protect a fetus that’s so young, and Teyla’s concern about exposing it to evil, preaches a pro-life message to the audience. Now, I am firmly pro-choice myself (as in, if it still even possible for me get pregnant, I would likely abort, as I have no desire to have children of my own), and I didn’t get the impression that I was being preached to by the pro-life contingent at all. Firstly, Teyla obviously believes in psychic energy impact, since she believed in the ability of the Seer, shares a telepathic bond with the Wraith, practices meditation, and knows of Ancient Ascension. Her baby does not need to have a developed brain for her to believe it can be touched by evil — she could as easily believe that a place or an inanimate object can be touched by an evil psychic impression as well! So that has nothing to do with an opinion on how “human” or “not human” a fetus is at a certain point in its development, much less make any sort of statement on a “right-to-life”. And the second, more important point, is that she has chosen to keep it! Pro-choice is about just that — choosing! Her choosing to keep the child does not inherently mean that the crew must be anti-abortion — it’s not making a statement about anything, one way or the other. It’s only a character deciding to carry the child of the man she loves, a child who may be the last of her people, a single instance with a special set of circumstances, not a sweeping generalisation. I do not see how there is any judgment call being made against people who would choose to abort. Now, since she has decided to keep the baby, doesn’t it make sense for her and her friends to, oh, I don’t know, do the best they can to make sure she carries it to term? Wouldn’t you expect her to be upset if, having chosen to keep the baby, she found out that she’d exposed him to radiation or poison? To her, the evil of the Wraith could be just as harmful! Why would she care any less now about the welfare of her child, whose development she has decided to go through with, than she would in her third trimester? Anything that happens to him now, regardless of his status as a human, will affect his existence later, when his status as a human will be inarguable! For that matter, why shouldn’t John assume she wants to have the baby, since she’s known for two months and hasn’t aborted, and therefore be protective of its life?
Yeah, yeah, okay, I’m off the soapbox now. See you next week, with the eagerly-awaited (at least by me) “Quarantine”!
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Wolfen Moondaughter is on the editorial board for the comics industry webzine Sequential Tart for which she has written since late 2001. She’s also written for Newtype USA, contributed to Andy Mangel’s book Animation on DVD, self-published a novel (Memory of the Brightwing). Writing as “Anastasia Witchhazel”, her fantasy short story, “Chase”, is the title story in a homoerotic anthology from Wapshott Press. She’s an artist, too, having done spot illustrations for Dragonlance, a few panels for Barb Lien-Cooper’s webcomic series Gun Street Girl, and private commissions. In her spare time, she’s a fanficcer/fanartist. See more of her work at her site, Wolfen’s Webworld.
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