Plotline change?

[Aragon101]

So i was strolling through ff.net as well as generally online, and i couldn't help but notice the almost countless "virtual series" vontinuations, or rewrites, or divergences of SGA.

I myself wrote a new finale that's based on the Asurans. But i wonder, if there was a main plot line yo ucould change in SGA, what would it be?

Personally i would have kept the Wraith ultra strong, and kept Atlantis away from Earth for at least three- four years. Alas, i don't think SGA was planned at all as evidenced by Season 4-5. Michael would be more consistent and evil, and Todd would be Machiavellian

So i ask, what story arc would you have changed or extended?

[Pharaoh Atem]

i would have made the pegasus galaxy more lively and do more exploring. less silly eps and had tried to tell a story like in SG=1

[Flyboy]

No Medieval villages!

[Replicator Todd]

Less Asurans, they should of stayed dead in "First Strike" and only of been in Season 3(IMO). That very event would of kept Weir in Season 4 and caused numerous changes to season 4. (but maybe no Carter as the leader ). Carter could still join the team and go on missions with Sheppard and the gang. More Wraith and Genii episodes as without the Asurans the Wraith could once again start being the lovely annoyance that they were, I wish the Genii grew into one of the biggest threats to the Atlantis expedition (with Koyla at the lead).

[WraithGoauldOri]

I would of liked to have seen something in the show about how zero point modules where created and maybe something along the line of a drone factory of some sort, As atlantis seems to have endless supplies of drones apart from one episode in season 2 i believe where they find another atlantis model ship with a fully stocked bay of Drones. I believe the episode is called "The Tower".

[WraithGoauldOri]

Less Asurans, they should of stayed dead in "First Strike" and only of been in Season 3(IMO). That very event would of kept Weir in Season 4 and caused numerous changes to season 4. (but maybe no Carter as the leader ). Carter could still join the team and go on missions with Sheppard and the gang. More Wraith and Genii episodes as without the Asurans the Wraith could once again start being the lovely annoyance that they were, I wish the Genii grew into one of the biggest threats to the Atlantis expedition (with Koyla at the lead).

I like your idea of the Genii becoming one of the biggest threats but i think the only way that could happen is if they happend to stumble upon some amazing alien tech that evened the odds a bit.

[Stargate Atlantis Girl]

Less Asurans, they should of stayed dead in "First Strike" and only of been in Season 3(IMO). That very event would of kept Weir in Season 4 and caused numerous changes to season 4. (but maybe no Carter as the leader ). Carter could still join the team and go on missions with Sheppard and the gang. More Wraith and Genii episodes as without the Asurans the Wraith could once again start being the lovely annoyance that they were, I wish the Genii grew into one of the biggest threats to the Atlantis expedition (with Koyla at the lead).

I agree with that

[Starrtom]

No retro virus, no michael, no replicators and yes no Asgard. I know a lot liked the Asgard episodes, but I didn't, I thought they were silly.

[Karhedron]

No Asgard-beams-of-pwnage and no let-them-shoot-at-the-ship-we-go-to-sleep-and-think-about-something-tomorrow-shields.

[Replicator Todd]

No retro virus, no michael, no replicators and yes no Asgard. I know a lot liked the Asgard episodes, but I didn't, I thought they were silly.

Well everyone is entitled to their opinions, but I thought the retrovirus, Michael, and the return of the Asgard made the show even better! But the replicators on the other hand......I loved the SG1 Replicators but the SGA ones were just boring. (and ridiculously overpowered IMO) I liked them in season 3 but they were too much of the main enemy in season 4 instead of the Wraith.

[Ltcolshepjumper]

ditto to about half of what was said. In general, more season 1 Wraith (not the Wraith of seasons 4 and 5). More Atlantis discovery, no villages, more alien races.

The Genii would have been like SG-1's Russians, except not an ally. More of a power-seeking rival.

Much more of the Wraith-Lantean War background.

IOA would have played a larger role in the Atlantis Expedition's affairs rather than the SGC in season 2.

The Asurans would NOT have been anything like the Milky Way Replicators, only that they were nanite-based and capable of assimilating organic tissue. they would have been a controlling factor for the Wraith.

Michael would have been an underlying threat to the Expedition rather than the Wraith.

Atlantis would definitely be cut off from Earth, at least physically. If necessary, use the stones to communicate, but no quick and easy returns to Earth. It was the key premise of the show in Season 1, and should have been kept.

No Carter. She didn't add anything new to the show, so she really wasn't necessary.

A continuing plot that I would keep up would be the slow awakening of the Wraith. So, while the Expedition thinks they are making significant gains, they really aren't.

Lastly, the Travelers would be mroe like the Colonials from Battlestar Galactica, but would be a far more important ally to the Expedition. In SG-1, the team had many allies, and it oly makes since that Atlantis would have some allies as well.

[Emperor Tippy]

A massive rewrite of pretty much everything.

From the very first episode I found Atlantis to have some fundamental flaws, ones that were made even worse as the story progressed.

The Asurans would have been killed pretty much right after introduction, the Asgard would have sent a few ARG equipped O'Neill's and wiped them. The Expedition would have taken over the Asuran world and moved Atlantis back to the milky way then, while leaving the expedition in control of a fully built up Lantean world with it's own city ship.

That would have been the real beginning of the end for the Wraith. The fourth and fifth seasons would have been along the lines of all out war.

[Aragon101]

A massive rewrite of pretty much everything.

From the very first episode I found Atlantis to have some fundamental flaws, ones that were made even worse as the story progressed.

The Asurans would have been killed pretty much right after introduction, the Asgard would have sent a few ARG equipped O'Neill's and wiped them. The Expedition would have taken over the Asuran world and moved Atlantis back to the milky way then, while leaving the expedition in control of a fully built up Lantean world with it's own city ship.

That would have been the real beginning of the end for the Wraith. The fourth and fifth seasons would have been along the lines of all out war.

Alas, i think that would have made too much sense. also i'm pretty sure teh Asgard were gone by the point the Asurans were found. I still don't see why they couldn't have just used one of those Anti-Replicator satellites but again, i found the Asurans were really weakly developed and not thought out properly.

But one word for why the expedition didn't even try and capture anything from Asuras in the battle, Money, no not the expedition, the show. it was hemorraging money at this point and they were looking for ways to cut the costs down (up to and including cancelling the show)

I think the Genii and Wraith and Travelers would have been awesome to see more of, teh Asurans not so much, but it astounds me that these writers, knowing that they have such a great show with devout followers wouldn't come up with a long term story arc that doesn't even have to be a "serial" but one episode follows the next (sort of like the Ori seasons except less loosely paced)

Is it that hard to come up with a nice long story that can be shortened if need be? sigh.

[P-90_177]

Ok let's see......I'd start by making Shep the major character but still serving under sumner. Sumner therefore never dies. I'd also keep ford. Keep the Genii as an enemy for a lot longer. Keep alot more mystery about the wraith AND the Ancients. Make it so that McKay is the goto guy on base and not out in the field. The Athosians remain on atlantis as do occasional other small colonies who are fleeing the wraith. Not introduced the 304's or the asurans. More evil asgard.

also I'd write it so that you never even see what a wraith looks like until at least half way through season 1. you'd have the scene where shep shoots that crawling hand but that's the most we know at first other than the odd fleeting glimpses. Just have wraith worshippers involved alot sooner to do the wraiths bidding which leads to suspicions on the athosians and teyla....

[magictrick]

I think some of this has been mentioned already but here are a few things from me.

Keep the Wraith as strong as they were in the first few episodes. Remember when it took more than just one bullet to take down a Wraith? Yea, I would be consistent with the plot and keep it that way. It got silly when the Wraith became so easy to kill.

I would write less McKay. I mean I'm all for having him as a main character but when almost every episode has him as the center of attention it gets annoying.

To tie in with the previous point, I would make sure to not forget the other characters. Teyla and Ronon became nonexistent in the last season, so I would make sure to rectify that.

I would have held off on the contact with Earth for at least the first two seasons. And when contact is made, I'd make sure there'd only be limited contact. I would keep ZPM power as a major ongoing issue in Atlantis thus severely limiting their contact with Earth and the SGC.

Keep Carson and Weir on the show. Both were awful decisions. Consistency is what worked great for SG-1 for the first five seasons and that's what I would've liked to see on SGA as well. I'd still write out Ford and introduce Ronon though, but that's about it. I thought that part of the show was well done.

I'd write in more allies for the Atlantis team. In SG-1 it was always great to see Jaffa, Tok'ra, Tollan, Asgard; a nice variety of alien races that interacted with Earth. Who did we have on SGA? A bunch of medieval villages that never did anything. The Ethosians don't really count, and the Genii were more enemy than ally. The closest thing there was was the Travellers and those were only for a couple episodes and also poorly executed. I would've liked to see maybe a strained relationship with the rebel Asgard evolve into something. Maybe add in another advanced alien race as well. SGA could definitely have used some more variety in this regard.

A lot more but this is just what I can think of off the top of my head right now.