Miscellaneous SGU questions and thoughts (spoilers) - opinions welcome!

[Metallica93]

After finally watching SGU all the way through (only watched half of the first season when it originally aired) I've completed my journey of watching the Stargate franchise from start to finish. SGU's first season was pretty tough to put up with (curiosity with Rush was probably the only reason I stuck with it), but luckily the second season picked up the slack a bit, especially during its mid-section. All in all, it was OK. If they would have reduced the amount of drama and change of pace from the other shows I'm sure it would have done a lot better. Now, a few questions and some thoughts:

- Rush mentioned there being no "ultimate destination" for the Destiny. Eli proposed skipping over the galaxy that they were currently in (to avoid all of the drones), but Rush said that they could potentially miss out on vital information. How is that possible? You'd think that Rush would have mentioned more "pieces of the puzzle" being found in the time that they were on the ship or even before that. But no, all we got was "there's a fingerprint in the background radiation." Sounds like the closer they got to the 'center' of the universe, the more they were going to find. I fail to see the big issue. Billions of light years and hundreds if not thousands of galaxies later and all Destiny could say was "Oh hey, I found some noise with a pattern?"

- How long was SGU supposed to last for? 'SyFy' obviously has a knack for not paying for shows past five seasons so I assumed four at most.

- Your thoughts on Destiny's beak-shaped bow? The whole ship was reminiscent of a falcon, I thought.

- Does an SG timeline exist because I was going to ask whether or not the Destiny launched from the Alteran home galaxy, but in "Air, Part 1" I forgot there's a map which states that Earth was the original point of departure. I also can't recall if she was launched a million years ago or millions of years ago.

- What happened to Franklin's body? Ginn and Amanda Perry (couple o' cuties) had no bodies, but their consciousnesses were uploaded to Destiny's memory banks. Franklin, obviously, had a body. Last thing we knew was that he was frozen. Thought he ascended, but that didn't make too much sense. Plus, he wasn't mentioned when Eli transferred Ginn and Perry's consciousnesses to an isolated part of the ship.

- Originally, I thought Rush's ultimate goal was Ascension this whole time, but I don't think the Ancients knew about it that early (the ship being built about a million years ago). Or did they as I can't remember?

- What was the shaking in the Kino "episode" Variety (#13)?

[Energizer_Vs_ZPM]

I'll mark my thoughts inside your quote in blue.

- Rush mentioned there being no "ultimate destination" for the Destiny. Eli proposed skipping over the galaxy that they were currently in (to avoid all of the drones), but Rush said that they could potentially miss out on vital information. How is that possible? You'd think that Rush would have mentioned more "pieces of the puzzle" being found in the time that they were on the ship or even before that. But no, all we got was "there's a fingerprint in the background radiation." Sounds like the closer they got to the 'center' of the universe, the more they were going to find. I fail to see the big issue. Billions of light years and hundreds if not thousands of galaxies later and all Destiny could say was "Oh hey, I found some noise with a pattern?"

I am still really curious what the entire mission was about in the first place. I can only speculate that it must of had something to do with the creation of the universe itself.

- Your thoughts on Destiny's beak-shaped bow? The whole ship was reminiscent of a falcon, I thought.

A point I have asked about many times myself actually. See this thead.

- Does an SG timeline exist because I was going to ask whether or not the Destiny launched from the Alteran home galaxy, but in "Air, Part 1" I forgot there's a map which states that Earth was the original point of departure. I also can't recall if she was launched a million years ago or millions of years ago.

It's always been accepted that Rush got it right when he said it launched from Earth. In reality, how many people could recognise an entire galaxy (yet alone planet) from the size of the galaxy displayed on Destinys screen? I don't recall there being any text on it either (though it's been a while since I've seen it). I don't think 1 million or several million years ago will make much difference to anything to be honest but it must be several. Atlantis left earth "Several million years ago" taking the Ancients with it (or most of them anyway). On that understanding, if Destiny was launched from Earth then it would of been when Atlantis was around - especially as the Atlantis database had the 9 symbol address.

- What happened to Franklin's body? Ginn and Amanda Perry (couple o' cuties) had no bodies, but their consciousnesses were uploaded to Destiny's memory banks. Franklin, obviously, had a body. Last thing we knew was that he was frozen. Thought he ascended, but that didn't make too much sense. Plus, he wasn't mentioned when Eli transferred Ginn and Perry's consciousnesses to an isolated part of the ship.

Not a clue. I slept and worked through many episodes of season 1 and don't remember Franklin yet alone what happened to him.

- Originally, I thought Rush's ultimate goal was Ascension this whole time, but I don't think the Ancients knew about it that early (the ship being built about a million years ago). Or did they as I can't remember?

I don't think Ascension was his goal. He clearly stated that the cosmic radiation from the creation of the universe was being studied by destiny for some reason. I can only conclude that it must have been something to do with the creation of the universe / timeline (eg actually sending destiny back to create it) or even refuelling the universe somehow to keep it alive and expanding.

[hedwig]

How long was SGU supposed to last for? 'SyFy' obviously has a knack for not paying for shows past five seasons so I assumed four at most.

I read that Brad Wright and Robert Cooper had intended for SGU to be a 5-year journey. Alas, not enough fans to support that, plus Syfy cancelled it three years too early.

[Metallica93]

I'll mark my thoughts inside your quote in blue.

For some reason I couldn't quote your response -__- But to break it down:

- They repeatedly stated in the opening that Destiny's mission was never about going home; it was about getting to where it was going. That, to me, sounds like a destination, a point in space. Rush then backed up and said that there was no "final destination" and that the journey was more of a puzzle piece collecting trip. Either way, the Destiny's mission (or at least what the Ancients wanted to find out) was to determine the origin of the universe and how it was created. That much I can say is 100% true. It just sucks that a repeating noise is all they have to show for it as of now...

- I'll have a look at that thread in a little bit. I'm curious now!

- Totally forgot to use Atlantis as a reference in terms of how many millions of years ago the ship launched. Also, doesn't the Destiny predate Atlantis by quite a few years? That tech, obviously, looks much more advanced (especially considering the Pegasus Stargates are the most advanced known to us).

- The whole "Franklin's body" thing seems quite odd. The ship absorbed him, put him in stasis, or he ascended. Only things I can think of.

- I only thought Rush's sole intent was Ascension for the first 2/3 of the first season or so. There were some other things that pointed at it, but most were just me thinking too much. And I have no idea how you came to that last conclusion (about Destiny 'refueling' the universe).

I read that Brad Wright and Robert Cooper had intended for SGU to be a 5-year journey. Alas, not enough fans to support that, plus Syfy cancelled it three years too early.

Figured it would either be four or five seasons max. Especially with SyFy because five is the most they do.



Also, I need to find some massive Stargate 'wiki' or something to sort out this timeline issue...

[YceQueen]

Destiny was definitely build at first to collect as much information as possible, so it's understandable that Rush, who has been obsessed with Destiny long before he even knew what Destiny was, was hestitant to skip an entire universe that could provide them with information that could be necessary for Destiny's database. However, I also believed that when the Ancients left Destiny for good, and put her on automatic pilot, the mission was lost. Sure, Destiny kept going from galaxy to galaxy, recharging herself in a star, possibly still gathering information, but the Ancients didn't care anymore (then). They left, and had no intention of coming back.
I think the reason it was never really mentioned before (pieces of the puzzle, as you say), is because they had only managed to enter, say 15% of the ship's corridors (and later ont he bridge was added), and they were still trying to work through the entire database. Maybe they hadn't sutmbled yet on what it was Destiny had been collecting since she was launched.
Or, which might also be entirely possible; Rush knew, but simply chose to never tell anyone, since he never feels obligated to tell anyone anything that could be vital information.

As for the timeline; in the pilot, Rush said Destiny was laucnhed 'hundreds of thousands of years ago', but I think it was established after that (though maybe not on the show, but defintely by Joseph Mallozzi), that Destiny is much older than Atlantis AND the Gate network in the Milky Way; the Milky Way gates were build at least 50 million years ago, and the Destiny gate preceeds them. So Destiny was launched over 50 million years ago, and possibly long before that, even.

Franklin was completely "absorbed" by the Control Interface Chair. Whether that means he ascended, or that Destiny has some tricks up her sleeve, was never really determined. All we know is that by that time, Franklin's mind underwent the same process O'Neill's did when the Ancient knowledge was downloaded into his brain; the brain couldn't take it anymore.
But we don't know if he ascended in some form, or if this was completely Destiny's doing..

I don't think Rush ever wanted to ascend. He was just his messed up, lonely man who'd lost everything, and discovering the meaning behind the 9th chevron address was his only purpose, and it took him billions of lightyears away from earth, and all the people who, to him, were so annoying and belittleling (sp?) all the time. Destiny was "his" place, where he felt most comfortable and at home. It's why the other version of him went down with the ship when she burned up in the star.

[Nikki Alexander]

I'm not sure what happened to Franklin's body, but Ginn's body was buried on the nearest planet, it was explained by Eli in ep 14 Hope. And correct me if I'm wrong but Amanda Perry was in Ginn's body wasn't she, anyway it was explained that they'd had confirmation from Earth that Amanda Perry had died, or rather her body with Ginn in it.

[Metallica93]

Destiny was definitely build at first to collect as much information as possible, so it's understandable that Rush, who has been obsessed with Destiny long before he even knew what Destiny was, was hesitant to skip an entire (galaxy, not universe lol) that could provide them with information that could be necessary for Destiny's database. However, I also believed that when the Ancients left Destiny for good, and put her on automatic pilot, the mission was lost. Sure, Destiny kept going from galaxy to galaxy, recharging herself in a star, possibly still gathering information, but the Ancients didn't care anymore (then). They left, and had no intention of coming back.
I think the reason it was never really mentioned before (pieces of the puzzle, as you say), is because they had only managed to enter, say 15% of the ship's corridors (and later on he bridge was added), and they were still trying to work through the entire database. Maybe they hadn't stumbled yet on what it was Destiny had been collecting since she was launched.
Or, which might also be entirely possible; Rush knew, but simply chose to never tell anyone, since he never feels obligated to tell anyone anything that could be vital information.

I find it hard to believe the Ancients gave up on her. It's definitely a possibility, but even if they came across major advancements in their technology (hyperspace, ZPMs, granted both of these most likely came way later) why completely give up? This is why I need to look up a timeline, lol. Luckily, a lot of the Ancients' history was revealed during the Ori saga of SG-1 including a good deal about how pretty much everything came to be.

As for the "pieces of the puzzle" issue, I just don't know. I doubt Rush would withhold more information about the nature of Destiny's mission especially considering that he already got people to stay on board during "Twin Destinies" (assuming the mission was to find out where this "fingerprint" originated). He has reason to lie, yes, but I don't think this is one of those times. Plus, Amanda Perry would have mentioned something to him by now (e.g. "Aren't you going to tell them?") and we already put up with that when everyone found out about the bridge.

As for the timeline; in the pilot, Rush said Destiny was launched 'hundreds of thousands of years ago', but I think it was established after that (though maybe not on the show, but definitely by Joseph Mallozzi), that Destiny is much older than Atlantis AND the Gate network in the Milky Way; the Milky Way gates were build at least 50 million years ago, and the Destiny gate precedes them. So Destiny was launched over 50 million years ago, and possibly long before that, even.

See, stuff like this would be perfect to create an SG franchise timeline. Granted, I wish these things could have fit into the shows themselves to clear things up for us rather picky fans Sure, there will be some holes because it's 17 seasons and 3 movies worth of storyline, but I wouldn't be surprised if everything flowed pretty damn well. The shows were well written (for the most part) and didn't have that many continuity errors.

Franklin was completely "absorbed" by the Control Interface Chair. Whether that means he ascended, or that Destiny has some tricks up her sleeve, was never really determined. All we know is that by that time, Franklin's mind underwent the same process O'Neill's did when the Ancient knowledge was downloaded into his brain; the brain couldn't take it anymore.
But we don't know if he ascended in some form, or if this was completely Destiny's doing..

Well then that brings the other issue up of how similar the downloading processes were. I believe O'Neill went through a much more refined version, but that A LOT more information had to be downloaded. Destiny's chair seemed much more rudimentary (relatively speaking), but probably contained a considerably lesser amount of knowledge. And yet, I don't think Ascension plays any part in SGU the more I think about it. Ascension came much later for the Ancients.

I don't think Rush ever wanted to ascend. He was just his messed up, lonely man who'd lost everything, and discovering the meaning behind the 9th chevron address was his only purpose, and it took him billions of light years away from earth, and all the people who, to him, were so annoying and belittling all the time. Destiny was "his" place, where he felt most comfortable and at home. It's why the other version of him went down with the ship when she burned up in the star.

I agree with you 100% on this. The further into the show I got the more I decided that this summed up Rush's character and dropped the whole "he wants to Ascend" notion. Granted, from Rush's perspective, is Ascension perceived as giving up (ignoring the challenge that is obtaining information in a corporeal form) or is it the ultimate end? Highly doubt this pertains to anything, but I've always been curious.

I'm not sure what happened to Franklin's body, but Ginn's body was buried on the nearest planet, it was explained by Eli in ep 14 Hope. And correct me if I'm wrong but Amanda Perry was in Ginn's body wasn't she, anyway it was explained that they'd had confirmation from Earth that Amanda Perry had died, or rather her body with Ginn in it.

I know I was only talking about Franklin's body. I said that Ginn and Amanda Perry "had no bodies" because I was referencing after "Hope" where both of their consciousnesses invaded Chloe.

EDIT: Oh! How could I forget about Eli, too!? Man, and here I was thinking he was going to sit in the neural interface chair at the end, but he just kind of stood there -__- It's a possibility that would could fix the stasis pod in 1.5-2 weeks, but I honestly thought he was going to pull a Franklin/Rush (consciousness uploaded into Destiny, but no body).