In "Enemy at the Gate," Atlantis gets fully powered and flies back to Earth. The super Wraith hive gets destroyed, Earth is saved. No one is left in jeopardy. The episode's story is closed. The series is left open, but the episode has a definite ending.
"Gauntlet" ends with the crew in stasis, Eli unable to fix his pod (for now), and the ship spending the next three years traveling through the galactic void before reaching the next galaxy. What happens to Eli? Will Destiny make it to the next galaxy in time? Will everyone wake up, will some perish? Will the SGC or Lucian Alliance try to gate back to the ship again? Will the drones follow Destiny to the next galaxy? What happened to Destiny's descendents? None of this is addressed before the end credits role. Hence, it is a massive cliffhanger.
It's not that bad that it ends on a cliffhanger, it was only on two years. That said, I think I just demonstrated why "Gauntlet" is a cliffhanger and "Enemy at the Gate" is not.
"Gauntlet" ends with the crew in stasis, Eli unable to fix his pod (for now), and the ship spending the next three years traveling through the galactic void before reaching the next galaxy. What happens to Eli? Will Destiny make it to the next galaxy in time? Will everyone wake up, will some perish? Will the SGC or Lucian Alliance try to gate back to the ship again? Will the drones follow Destiny to the next galaxy? What happened to Destiny's descendents? None of this is addressed before the end credits role. Hence, it is a massive cliffhanger.
It's not that bad that it ends on a cliffhanger, it was only on two years. That said, I think I just demonstrated why "Gauntlet" is a cliffhanger and "Enemy at the Gate" is not.
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