Why Wraith Are Insane

[Asgard Flu]

What the heck do they do to pass the time on their hive ships? When they're not busy sucking the life out of someone what do they do? there doesn't seem to be any recreational rooms onboard.
So Earth/SGC were trying to alter the wraith so they couldn't or needn't feed on Humans anymore, that would make the lives of the wraith even MORE boring and irrelevant. At least they get to do something when it comes to feeding time.

No wonder wraith are so happy to make kamikaze runs in their darts, they're happy to extinguish their boring lives.

[ComtessedeBussy]

Well, I do recall on of the Wraith (maybe it was Todd?) asking what the Wraith would do with their lives once Keller had injected them with the retrovirus that makes them not need to feed. I got the feeling that humans were their form of recreation. Sucking the life out of humans, dominating humans, dominating the galaxy, plotting...that just seems to be their way of life. I agree, it sounds boring (and I have this theory about how cultures that didn't have any art or entertainment or recreation ended up going very very wrong, and that includes the Ancients). But it seems to be their way of life, and we're also judging it from a human perspective. There's lots of species (animals and the like) that don't have a concept of boredom. Perhaps Wraith minds are also wired differently.

[Gormagon]

Their entire culture was based around culling and feeding, fighting for their very survival. As of such the Wraith would pass the time ether by hibernating, making more Wraith, looking for new resources, feeding, culling, fighting, or doing research and development in order to be better then other Hives at culling and fighting. However, it has been pointed out by the Wraith themselves that some do have an interest in the "finer things of life", such as gourmet food, vintage wine, perhaps by extension art, organic sculpture, bio engineering turned into an art form. Wraith music, bio-engineering new living instruments. The commander from the episode "Queen" had a strong sense of duty and honor and a loyalty to his Hive and the Primary. But as it was cut off at the 5th season it was never really expanded, it the fifth season we were learning so much more about the Wraith, just like with the Goa'uld. How much less would we know about the Goa'uld if SG-1 had cut off at season 5?

[WraithTech]

For the most part, unfortunately, we only got to see them at war and did not get to see every room in the hives. An outsider looking at humanity during a war might draw similar conclusions. But, there were signs and hints of Wraith recreation.

-From "Instinct," we learned they only need to feed every 2-3 months and the Wraith who gave Teyla's ancestors the Gift had his own secret lab for a long time, as did Michael, which suggests plenty of vacation time and off-world trips where one's absence would not be questioned.

-Many of them seemed to enjoy keeping their hair and uniforms immaculate, and especially the Queens had complicated hairstyles and dresses.

-They seemed to enjoy stargazing: Todd commented on how his escape was worth it just to see the stars again and Michael's personal quarters had a picturesque, panoramic window for such viewing.

-Like the Ancients, their everyday objects and architecture were both functional and beautiful. Someone had to design the colorful blue and green arch above platform John stood on in "The Hive."

-I also think they loved their children and enjoyed one another's company, as Ellia made the switch to letting Zaddik take the fatherly role with ease.

[ComtessedeBussy]

I think both of the above posters made really good points. The Wraith are a pretty technologically advanced society; they have ships with hyperdrives and do a lot of biology experiments and whatnot, so definitely they have things to occupy themselves with in addition to focusing on culling. And the point about the hair and dresses of the queens is actually really interesting - I wonder, are there Wraith fashion designers? We know the Wraith don't reproduce sexually, so dressing for the queens is obviously not for sexual appeal and yet in a weird way they look sexy. How much time, I wonder, do they spend focusing on appearance?

[The Flyattractor]

Wasn't it mentioned that they also liked to play games somewhere in the series as well. And they enjoyed 'hunting" like they did with Ronan.

[ComtessedeBussy]

Wasn't it mentioned that they also liked to play games somewhere in the series as well. And they enjoyed 'hunting" like they did with Ronan.

oh yeah, there's that too. I always wondered why they had runners, since that was never really explicitly explained, but I guess they do it for entertainment and practice. Kinda like how humans go hunting for recreation, actually.

[WraithTech]

oh yeah, there's that too. I always wondered why they had runners, since that was never really explicitly explained, but I guess they do it for entertainment and practice. Kinda like how humans go hunting for recreation, actually.

The ratio of humans who hunt vs Wraith who hunt runners might also be similar: out of 60 some hives, there were only 7 runners. I wish it was explained, too, because Kyryk and Ronon were two of the toughest guys in Pegasus. Unless the other Wraith in the hive can give the Gift of Life to the others killed in the hunt, the mortality rate is staggering.

On the flip side, there is also meditation, perhaps as a standalone activity for self-reflection and/or tied to martial arts practices, such as the fluid fight between Teyla and Steve. They also keep historical records (at least 10,000 years worth) and Rodney was good at getting some of the Wraith to open up and start talking about the war with the Ancients, especially Todd and the "Allies" scientist.

[ComtessedeBussy]

The ratio of humans who hunt vs Wraith who hunt runners might also be similar: out of 60 some hives, there were only 7 runners. I wish it was explained, too, because Kyryk and Ronon were two of the toughest guys in Pegasus. Unless the other Wraith in the hive can give the Gift of Life to the others killed in the hunt, the mortality rate is staggering.

On the flip side, there is also meditation, perhaps as a standalone activity for self-reflection and/or tied to martial arts practices, such as the fluid fight between Teyla and Steve. They also keep historical records (at least 10,000 years worth) and Rodney was good at getting some of the Wraith to open up and start talking about the war with the Ancients, especially Todd and the "Allies" scientist.

Ooh, you know what would be really interesting is to hear about the war from the Wraith perspective. We learned a bit about it from the Ancients' perspective (from their database, etc..) but it'd be really fascinating to see how that differs from the Wraith point of view. History-writing is really interesting in general and I'm sure Daniel would actually have a field day with Wraith culture (that is, after he got over being horrified and disgusted by their need to feed).

[Gormagon]

I would guess the Wraith have around 800,000-1,000,000 years of recorded history, as the Ancients went to Pegasis several million years B.C. And I would love to see the entire Lantian/Wraith war.

Well I am not saying its all gumdrops and sunshine the Wraith need to feed does not bother me as much as Humans killing each other in wars over territory and such or murdering each other. Humans have a choice, the Wraith did/do not.

[WraithTech]

I would guess the Wraith have around 800,000-1,000,000 years of recorded history, as the Ancients went to Pegasis several million years B.C. And I would love to see the entire Lantian/Wraith war.

Well I am not saying its all gumdrops and sunshine the Wraith need to feed does not bother me as much as Humans killing each other in wars over territory and such or murdering each other. Humans have a choice, the Wraith did/do not.

There's always a dystopic catch, isn't there? I also had the impression their society was stable for all those millennia. Until starvation hit, they shared data bases and maintenance staff to fix their ships. They seemed to have it all: spaceflight, environmentally sustainable technology, longevity, regeneration and ability to heal others, telepathy... But, there is that one thing of being dependent on a single food source doing them in.

If some alien species came to our planet, randomly destroyed half of our cities, wiped out most of our food and randomly poisoned the food that was left, I'm not sure we would be able to cope as well as the Wraith. I mean, look what happens when one hurricane goes through one city in the US-- looting and lawlessness ensues.

[Dr. D.]

What the heck do they do to pass the time on their hive ships?

My take on what they do: Queens continue bossing Wraith around. Wraith continue being bossed around, continue their science projects, and continue their hunting games. Warriors hibernate.

When they're not busy sucking the life out of someone what do they do?

Or, they could play Wraith-based board games, sports, and various crafts and arts. Okay, doubt it but who knows? It would've been nice to find out. Had there been more seasons, we probably would've seen a little bit further into their lives. However, I doubt it would be extremely exciting.

there doesn't seem to be any recreational rooms onboard.
So Earth/SGC were trying to alter the wraith so they couldn't or needn't feed on Humans anymore, that would make the lives of the wraith even MORE boring and irrelevant. At least they get to do something when it comes to feeding time.

No wonder wraith are so happy to make kamikaze runs in their darts, they're happy to extinguish their boring lives.

I'd like to see what the Wraith versions of chess, monopoly, tennis, arm wrestling, etc. would be like.

[The Flyattractor]

I'd like to see what the Wraith versions of chess, monopoly, tennis, arm wrestling, etc. would be like.

Maybe they dress up the drones in funny costumes and make them act out the moves....or maybe that is a different kind of ....game.

[WraithTech]

I'd like to see what the Wraith versions of chess, monopoly, tennis, arm wrestling, etc. would be like.

Someone did think of some: one of the authors at Fandemonium books. There are pilots' lounges and game rooms, with board-based games (like chess) and computer-based games (like Towers).

Here is a description of a Wraith game with dice:

"I was thinking of craps and hazard, and also the Roman game of knucklebones, which seems to have evolved into more of a dice game than the jacks-like game that wikipedia describes. Both craps and knucklebones name the various combinations; in craps you can bet on specific ways of getting a number, and I was thinking that any Wraith dice game would have that feature, because they'd love the side bets. I was also imagining both 6 and 12-sided dice, used in various combinations for different games, and some of the throws' names came from that.

Double-4 is the human throw because the square 4-dot pattern looks like a human house.

On 6-sided dice, 6s are hives, double or triple sixes are a fleet, and a 6-plus-1 is a hive and dart.

On 12-sided dice, 10 is the Ring (and 5 is the little Ring); 8 is a star. A combination of two 1s, two 4s, and a 10 (darts, humans, and a stargate) is a Culling, and sweeps the pot.

I only got to use one of them so far, but I'm hoping to fit more of them into the later books."

http://mescott.livejournal.com/2727.html#comments

[escyos]

I imagine that the drones would just kind of stand around with no one controlling them (or at least controlling them to stand around).

The commanders would oversee repairs, maintenance, upgrades, research, smiling at hostages, controlling the ship.