"Innocent."
"Feed him to the Sharkticons!"
Seriously though: Do you think that the Atlantis Expedition was truly innocent or guilty of the crimes against he Galaxy. I think this episode was a very important one and I'm glad they brought it up. Many people have died indirectly as a result of the Atlantis contingent's encounter with the Wraith. And this wasn't something that should be glossed over. I thought it was smart to raise the issue but it didn't seem adequately covered. In fact I could have done without the clips.
Personally I'm inclined to think that they clearly aren't guilty except or one charge. The Replicators.
The issue here is that the writers have never seemed to make it clear what the Replicators are.
Yes they are machines, but they are sentient machines - capable of free will and their own choices. But they are also a Hive Mind but they are all directed by their base-code. Which they were capable of altering themselves by the end of though? Even if I were to concede that they were not guilty, why did the reasonable judge do so? The last thing I remember him saying on the subject was the analogy to the detonator. Now that's a faulty one, because a detonator can't choose to attack targets and not others but I don't remember them ever going back over that. And frankly I can't fault the emotional judge for being angry at them, but even as a fan who has the benefit of perspective of watching the entire show (something the characters don't have), I can't tell if the replicators themselves are at fault or if they weren't. Because their base-code's influence compared to their free will was never fully explored. Could they have simply turned it back off themselves? Did they want to? If they were content to fight the Wraith why didn't they turn it back on when it was turned off by the Wraith?
Sheppard was not doing the greatest job at defending himself alone, and Woolsey could have done better too I think. In fact one of their strongest defenses that could have been brought up was that they have two Pegasus natives with them who supported their actions. The Athosians suffered at the hands of Michael and the Wraith and Satedans were exterminate BEFORE Atlantis arrived. That would have been a effective defense in my mind (not to mention it would have given Ronon and Teyla something to do). Because the Wraith were still a significant presence in the Galaxy before being awakened. Enough that the Hoffans were preparing the drug for interplanetary dissemination, the Genii were planning a nuclear strike and Sateda was completely annihilated. Planets were being wiped out even before the Taur'i arrived, so if the crime is that more are being wiped out, then you could make the case that as a result of the Wraith being weakened like never before, more lives will be saved by defeating them now. Because whether the Wraith awakened now or later, millions of people will die it was only a question of when.
Its another of those interesting Stargate Atlantis issues where all options are morally wrong, but they chose one anyway. But either way, I don't think they expounded really fully the issue enough.
What do you vote?
You could even make a poll possibly.
"Feed him to the Sharkticons!"
Seriously though: Do you think that the Atlantis Expedition was truly innocent or guilty of the crimes against he Galaxy. I think this episode was a very important one and I'm glad they brought it up. Many people have died indirectly as a result of the Atlantis contingent's encounter with the Wraith. And this wasn't something that should be glossed over. I thought it was smart to raise the issue but it didn't seem adequately covered. In fact I could have done without the clips.
Personally I'm inclined to think that they clearly aren't guilty except or one charge. The Replicators.
The issue here is that the writers have never seemed to make it clear what the Replicators are.
Yes they are machines, but they are sentient machines - capable of free will and their own choices. But they are also a Hive Mind but they are all directed by their base-code. Which they were capable of altering themselves by the end of though? Even if I were to concede that they were not guilty, why did the reasonable judge do so? The last thing I remember him saying on the subject was the analogy to the detonator. Now that's a faulty one, because a detonator can't choose to attack targets and not others but I don't remember them ever going back over that. And frankly I can't fault the emotional judge for being angry at them, but even as a fan who has the benefit of perspective of watching the entire show (something the characters don't have), I can't tell if the replicators themselves are at fault or if they weren't. Because their base-code's influence compared to their free will was never fully explored. Could they have simply turned it back off themselves? Did they want to? If they were content to fight the Wraith why didn't they turn it back on when it was turned off by the Wraith?
Sheppard was not doing the greatest job at defending himself alone, and Woolsey could have done better too I think. In fact one of their strongest defenses that could have been brought up was that they have two Pegasus natives with them who supported their actions. The Athosians suffered at the hands of Michael and the Wraith and Satedans were exterminate BEFORE Atlantis arrived. That would have been a effective defense in my mind (not to mention it would have given Ronon and Teyla something to do). Because the Wraith were still a significant presence in the Galaxy before being awakened. Enough that the Hoffans were preparing the drug for interplanetary dissemination, the Genii were planning a nuclear strike and Sateda was completely annihilated. Planets were being wiped out even before the Taur'i arrived, so if the crime is that more are being wiped out, then you could make the case that as a result of the Wraith being weakened like never before, more lives will be saved by defeating them now. Because whether the Wraith awakened now or later, millions of people will die it was only a question of when.
Its another of those interesting Stargate Atlantis issues where all options are morally wrong, but they chose one anyway. But either way, I don't think they expounded really fully the issue enough.
What do you vote?
You could even make a poll possibly.
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