38 Minutes plothole question (possible spoilers)

[asher_cross]

To whomever watched the episode, I'd like to hear some ideas on this question:

McKay inadvertently activated the drive pods for a fraction of a second, sending the puddle-jumper forward enough to pass through the gate. If so, couldn't he just keep doing what he did until they were *through* the gate and back on Atlantis? Just a thought.

[DownFallAngel]

The wings weren't retracted at the time he did it. So there was no way to continue to keep making them fire. But when he had retracted the wings, there was like 1 minute left, and that was not enough time to keep firing the wings.

[mjef]

Because he did that by accident when the Major freaked out and did not know which ones he had accidently jumpered to make that happen. If you go back you will notice he stumbles against the panel before recovering his balance.

[Metonic]

question.. How do they know that the Stargate can only be open for 38 minutes max? maybe the ancients fixed it so it can go a whole hour.

[nomadtw]

question.. How do they know that the Stargate can only be open for 38 minutes max? maybe the ancients fixed it so it can go a whole hour.

better safe than sorry

[Pdixie]

Perhaps to find out they've already experimented with the Atlantis gate. It would be a sensible thing to do...

[GShans]

question.. How do they know that the Stargate can only be open for 38 minutes max? maybe the ancients fixed it so it can go a whole hour.

As McKay said, basic wormhole theory, it is one of the biggest rules there is to Stargate travel.

[Ar-Pharazon]

question.. How do they know that the Stargate can only be open for 38 minutes max? maybe the ancients fixed it so it can go a whole hour.

It was determined in SG-1, can't remember which episode, that a wormhole can only be open for 38 minutes. The only time the 38 minute window was broken was in the SG-1 episode where they accidentally gated to a world that was being eaten by a black hole, hence McKays whole spiel about it being 38 minutes in relativistic time.

[Metonic]

yes but these arnt the same gates, they are difrent possibly more advanced than the ones we have in sg1. I mean come on their blue with lights. lol isnt it possible that they made it so it can stay open longer? I mean its the ancients they know alot more than Mckay.

[GShans]

It was determined in SG-1, can't remember which episode, that a wormhole can only be open for 38 minutes. The only time the 38 minute window was broken was in the SG-1 episode where they accidentally gated to a world that was being eaten by a black hole, hence McKays whole spiel about it being 38 minutes in relativistic time.

Technically not true, while that is correct, that did happen, it also happened 2 other times. Once when The Russians activated the gate to the Waterworld, it stayed on for quite some time, due to some mix of the water it was in and the extremely powerful signal being sent through by the Russian version of the MALP.

The Second was in the season 6 premiere when Anubis tried to use the Stargate to destory the earth, this time staying open due to the energy transfer in process by an Ancient-designed Stargate-Destroyer. (that thing had to of used a ZPM, wonder if it survived the destruction?)

[Metonic]

this time staying open due to the energy transfer in process by an Ancient-designed Stargate-Destroyer. (that thing had to of used a ZPM, wonder if it survived the destruction?)

Ancient-designed Stargate-destroyer? why would the ancients design that? lol I thought Anubis made it with the tech he had from the ancients.?

Spoiler sg1 zero hour


also why didnt we see the ancient device in the SG1 episode zero hour with the screwy zpm, who would od that to a zpm?

[Beatrice Otter]

It was determined in SG-1, can't remember which episode, that a wormhole can only be open for 38 minutes. The only time the 38 minute window was broken was in the SG-1 episode where they accidentally gated to a world that was being eaten by a black hole, hence McKays whole spiel about it being 38 minutes in relativistic time.

Spoilers for "A Matter of Time" (216), "Watergate" (407), and "Chain Reaction" (415).







Actually, the thirty-eight minute rule wasn't broken that time because of relativity; even with relativity, the gate was open for a lot longer than thirty-eight minutes. And then there was "Watergate," where the gate was open for a couple of _days_. The thing is, in those instances the gate was drawing power from an outside source on the receiving end of the gate (the black hole in the first case, the alien water-beings in the second), which allowed it to remain open past the 38-minute timeline. The same thing happened in "Chain Reaction" when they tested that naquadah bomb, though that only extended the wormhole's life by a couple of minutes (which is an indication of just how _huge_ the energy requirements have gotta be--that one explosion was enough to destroy the whole planet, Carter figured). I know nobody suggested this in "38 Minutes" even though Atlantis was the receiving end of the wormhole. I would say that was because 1) it requires a _lot_ of power, more than they could supply, and 2) the only times it's happened have been by accident--they have no idea how to do it on purpose.

Speaking of plot holes, the whole episode is supposed to take place over the course of 38 minutes. But it's an hour long episode! Even taking out commercial breaks, it's like 45 or something.

[GuyFromOH]

To whomever watched the episode, I'd like to hear some ideas on this question:

McKay inadvertently activated the drive pods for a fraction of a second, sending the puddle-jumper forward enough to pass through the gate. If so, couldn't he just keep doing what he did until they were *through* the gate and back on Atlantis? Just a thought.

After he activates the pods for those few milliseconds, you can see the event horizon only coming through the bottom of the bulk-head doors, this may mean that the pods didn't actually push it forward as much as they may have slightly rotated the jumper, pushing the bottom part in a bit, pulling the top out. The doors seemed parallel with the event horizon at first, but afterwards, they were not. If he had actually "really" moved forward, the doors would have been entirely behind the event horizon.

[Metonic]

lol I think they dont include the parts where their explaing what happened lol also they had a few minutes at the end

[kadosho]

At least safe to say, they made it back in "one piece".