Judge Shepard hands down his ruling: Guilty, Death by Execution
For crying out loud, I think Shepard went too far in this episode. Those guys surrendered peacefully to him, and he just used them to trap the wraith after being told by the leader of the village that they should bring the wraith to the cave to capture the others.
Talk about morally ambiguous, and almost downright criminal of him. Sure, the other guys weren't saints, but he knew that sending them to that cave was pretty much a death sentence.
Re: Judge Shepard hands down his ruling: Guilty, Death by Execution
In his defense, something had to be done to draw those Wraith away from the Gate.
Do I agree with the method? No.
Could they have lured them to the mines in some other fashion? I don't know. It's easy to think on it now and judge him for that decision. Maybe the only way to lure them was by using people.
But then, and I know there will be some to say this, shouldn't it have been Sheppard or someone on his team disguised as a villager? What right did they have to condemn others to death? To be judge, jury, and executioner?
The only defense against that would be that we need our main cast to have a show.
That said, why couldn't it have been the chief councilor?
I realize that sacrifice may have been necessary. But I do not agree with making the choice of sacrifice for someone else.
Re: Judge Shepard hands down his ruling: Guilty, Death by Execution
Ah, this is war, you know. You really think the wraith would pass on a free meal considering how many wraith are hungry??Originally Posted by The6thRace
Re: Judge Shepard hands down his ruling: Guilty, Death by Execution
Yeah I was kinda surprised at the method he used. usually they try not to go that kind of route. But then they are in a life or death situation, and a decision had to be made, they didn't have time to debate the morality of their decision.
Re: Judge Shepard hands down his ruling: Guilty, Death by Execution
Back to "Rising" ( first SA episode) John shot and killed Sumner as First Wraith Queen feed on him. which lead judges to believe that John committed a murder of Sumner. but that's not true, John knew that Sumner wanted him to kill him rather than get drained to death by the queen.
Re: Judge Shepard hands down his ruling: Guilty, Death by Execution
How does that relate to this? That was a mercy kill. Sumner wanted to die.
Those men didn't want to die. They also had no idea they were going to their deaths - that they were going to be sacrificed to save the others.
I realize it may have been necessary from a utilitarian standpoint, but it still leaves a sour taste in my mouth.
Makes me glad that the next episode is Inquisition.
Re: Judge Shepard hands down his ruling: Guilty, Death by Execution
The main thing that irks me is that the village leader specifically told them to bring the wraith to the cave. In other words, they are now following the orders of their village leader. And while the leader played a part in this, it was without a doubt Sheppard who planned it out. They were deliberately misled and USED and were murdered by John Sheppard. They were criminals who never had a trial. Criminals who surrendered without resistance. And Sheppard murdered them.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not getting worked up over this or anything, its just a television show. I just hope people see the moral implications of this. I wonder how many people will try to justify Sheppards criminal actions.
Re: Judge Shepard hands down his ruling: Guilty, Death by Execution
Sigh...
I'm not justifying his actions, so don't get me wrong on that front, but there are more shades to this than just black and white.
If Sheppard hadn't done something, then chances are everyone would have died.
Re: Judge Shepard hands down his ruling: Guilty, Death by Execution
Not to justify, but they would probably have died anyway had they not done something.
Re: Judge Shepard hands down his ruling: Guilty, Death by Execution
Oh, I'm pretty sure the village leader knew precisely what he was getting into and that there could be a death involved. Unfortunately the villager (Jervis?) fell for the bait. If he hadn't done that, he wouldn't have died. I think Jervis (and were there others?) are called, well, 'collateral damage.'
Re: Judge Shepard hands down his ruling: Guilty, Death by Execution
As I've said MANY times before, the humans are no better than Wraith - only, Wraith must 'feed in order to live'. Big difference between killing someone because you can, and killing because you have to.
Sheppard is also responsible for the blood on the hands of the village's leader, poor guy...you could see it in his eyes...his guilt will get the better of him.
I found this to be a very morally questionable episode, on many levels.
das
Last edited by dasNdanger; October 17th, 2008 at 07:23 PM.
Re: Judge Shepard hands down his ruling: Guilty, Death by Execution
Okay. Okay. Okay
We better wait until next Friday.
Re: Judge Shepard hands down his ruling: Guilty, Death by Execution
Oh, you KNOW he's going to be forgiven for everything next week! Held accountable? A HUMAN?? NEVAH!!
What should happen next week will not happen, I am sure of it. I think it will be a very disappointing ep.
das
Re: Judge Shepard hands down his ruling: Guilty, Death by Execution
What is starting to really disturb me is how many people think it was cool how Sheppard murdered those villagers in the explosion - villagers who were only doing what they thought was right to protect their families. I am really disturbed by this. We're those rogue villagers right? I cannot say - I believe they acted out of fear, not out of hatred. I just cannot believe that Sheppard just murdered them....
das
Re: Judge Shepard hands down his ruling: Guilty, Death by Execution
Actually, I think next week's episode should be very interesting. We will get to see just how the people of Pegasus feel about our Atlantis team.
MS - "Boy, wow that's a great question!"
"...phu...ah..."
"Anyone know what SENTIENT means???"
Thank You SPARTACUS For An Amazing Ride.
Re: Judge Shepard hands down his ruling: Guilty, Death by Execution
Cool? Who has said it was cool?
Sheppard made a call to save the villagers. Was he supposed to let everyone die?
Re: Judge Shepard hands down his ruling: Guilty, Death by Execution
It's definitely a new direction for the character, I'll grant you that. I don't think they'll just blow this off by never mentioning it again - if they do the writers will have either made a huge mistake (by not realizing what they just made Sheppard do), or missed an opportunity to take the character in a new direction. Either way though, can't look at Sheppard the same way after this episode any more.
Re: Judge Shepard hands down his ruling: Guilty, Death by Execution
It may very well be that Sheppard has choosen the lesser of two evils. But do the ends justify the means? After all the past experiences, I'm especially reminded of that episode where Sheppard helped to free a bunch of criminals condemned to the island as 'wraith food'. Although many weren't criminals, Sheppard made a choice that ultimately resulted in some people getting saved, and some people dying. Same scenario here, just the lesser of two evils once again. Its just that this time, Sheppard himself 'pulled the trigger', not the wraith.
Re: Judge Shepard hands down his ruling: Guilty, Death by Execution
Not really so new.
In Miller's Crossing, Sheppard talks Wallace into sacrificing himself to Todd so that Todd could feed and have the energy to save Jeannie.
Re: Judge Shepard hands down his ruling: Guilty, Death by Execution
Guess I never really considered that till now. Sheppard is becoming a real threat.
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