The Tower (215)

[Anubis-]

Are Tower ancients city ship? Atlantis was hundred years attacted by wraith and when Weir and hers ground arrige, city was undamaged.

Spoiler:

I just watch this episode again and I think, was that "The Tower" Asunrans city ship, witch destroyed / damaged by Ancients? (maybe asurans do that with our permission and because of that it was damaged?

[PG15]

Well, Atlantis had its shields and was underwater; we don't know what happened to The Tower; it's on the surface, so the Wraith weapons would've been at their normal strength.

Chances are its shields just failed after so many years of being pummeled and was blasted to the ground by the Wraith.

[rosey_angel]

well that ep was....

it'll be interesting to see if they mention more about the multiple "atlantis's". maybe we'll find one with some ancients?

[MmmmMcKAy]

A pretty cheesy episode. Sheppard with the girl again, even though it was more because of his Ancient gene. The whole divine protector and his court was stupid.

Best part - Rodney and Ronan awkwardly joining hands during the blessing at dinner. Hilarious.



Interesting that there is another city just like Atlantis. Those Ancients got around.


Ronan is a killing machine. You don't want to tick him off, do you?

[Trek_Girl42]

I agree, this ep was dumb, dumb, dumb, though it was cool to see that guy from 4400.

I really was not expecting those court scenes to be so.....cringing-worthy. Ugh.

[First]

I love how they cut immediately from the peasant dinner to the royal dinner--showing the contrast.

That was a good view of the contrast of the different lifestyles!

Overall I liked this ep. Yes there were a few "ugh!" moments in there which have been discussed enough, but overall it is probably a good decription of what a primitive society could be like if they found a powerful weapon beyond their understanding. Those who possessed the weapon would at first protect the planet from external threats, but with such power could then degrade into bullying the locals, unfair taxing and a life of extravagance.

One of those bad moments: When you arrive on a strange planet, don't pick a fight with the local constabulary who appear to be bullying the peasants. You don't know how their society works. Imagine if someone from another place came to your land and started preaching about how wrong your laws are! It's a good way to make enemies.

And then don't give them your weapons! Whatever happened to "we wont cause trouble if we can keep our weapons" Couldn't hurt to ask could it?
At least Rodney picked up on that one "What! You *let* them take your weapons?!"

[Jeff O'Connor]

I've never understood how hated this episode has become overall when compared to much of the rest of the series. It was by no means the high point of SGA's run thusfar, but there are definitely several episodes I thought were a lot worse. A few somewhat cringe-worthy moments didn't make this a terrible hour of my life, and I've rewatched it a few times, since. It wasn't all that bad to me.

[Suzieb]

Personally, I liked The Tower. Sure, they had Sheppard acting like a horn dog but what the heck? Joe Flanigan seems to have a good sense of humor. He'd would have had to to get through most of this one. LOL

Some parts of it were kind of funny and yes, it is not exactly the most brillant of episodes but it had its moments. I've been a fan of Peter Woodward's since Crusade anyway so to me it was an enjoyable bit of time.

[Anda]

Hi folks. Kaibosh here. Just finished watching "The Tower" on TMN. Overall not a bad episode but by far not the best.

SPOILERS:























The tower is basically a bit of filler episode that from what I can tell only serves as a plot mechanism to re-supply Atlantis with new Puddle Jumpers and Drones. You see the tower in question is an exact replica of the central spire of Atlantis. But more than that: buried in the ground overgrown by vegetation is a second Atlantis complete with a full Jumper bay and a healthy supply of Drones that the Lord Protector uses to defend the planet form the Wraith while also keeping the peasants in line by demonstrating his power every once in while.

When the Lord Protector demonstates his power by bringing a single Drone down on the villiage Sheppard agrees to be taken to the Tower to meet with the Lord Protector and the royal court in order to avoid bloodshed in the villiage. Once there Sheppard finds that the interior of the Tower is identical to Atlantis (good way to save money by not having to build new sets..just use the one you have and add a bunch of curtains and Baroque furniture...if ain't Baroque don't fix it....thats awful I know)

It turns out that the society is feudal where the peasants live in poverty and the royal court indulges in the finer things in life. While Sheppard is attending a lavish dinner with the royal court where noone uses cutlery and eat with their hands belching and laughing; Teyla, Ronan and Rodney are invited to a very modest dinner in the villiage where Teyla muses out load about how unjust the society appears to be. Rodney can't be too quick to agree because despite the apparant inequities; this is after all a society that has managed to avoid a Wraith culling in several hundred years.

And quicker than you can say Prime Directive, Sheppard is getting some Kirk action when Mara, the Lord Protector's daughter comes into Sheppard's room later that night to seduce him. This was one of the funnier moments of the show. It went something like this:

Mara: Maybe there is something I could do to make you more comfortable.

Sheppard: No. I don't think so.

Mara: Are you certain? (Undoes her robe and drops it to the floor. She stands in front of Sheppard naked.)

Sheppard: (looking her over) Oh...wow. I never see this coming.

Mara: You don't find me pleasing.

Sheppard: Oh no its not that. Its just that......(Mara quickly moves in to kiss him)

Sheppard stands somewhat bewildered while Mara is kissing him. She pulls away briefly and kisses him again. He kisses back. They kiss briefly and she pulls back again smiling and excited.

Mara: What you said at dinner. Did you mean it?

Sheppard: (leaning in to kiss her) Absolutley. (Kisses Mara then moves to her neck)

Sheppard: What did I say again?

Mara: About the villiagers. My brother thinks its a sign of weakness but I know it means you will make a great ruler some day.

Sheppard: (not really listening in a half whisper) Right.

Sheppard and Mara continue to kiss then it hits him and he pulls away looking confused.

Sheppard: RULER?!...wha...what are you talking about?

Mara: (beaming) My father has promised that if we are married, succession will fall to me.

Sheppard is still looking a little perplexed while Mara pushes him backwards onto the bed and happily moves in to join him.....end scene.

I know I described that scene in detail but I just thought it was a really funny scene. Basically the rest of the show has Rodney finding his way through the interior of the underground which is unstable and subject to cave ins looking for the ZPM for some means to disarm the Lord Protector who has been poisoned to death in an apparant plot by his son and the Chamberlain who has taken the Ancient Gene Therapy when Dr. Beckett reveals that they have the means to make many on the society's people capable of using the Ancient weapon. Beckett by they way was called in by Sheppard to see about helping the Lord Protector when he becomes really sick at the dinner party.

Long story short (too late I know) The Chamberlain sees this as a threat and locks up Sheppard, Beckett and the Lord Protector's son. He then makes plans to use the drones to wipe out the villiage that the others are in when Ronan kills one of the Constables defending a villiager that had a poor crop to offer. When the Constables are defeated the villiagers begin to rise up and speak openly of revolt.

Things look grim for our heros as The Chanberlain plans to marry Mara and use the Ancient weapon to destroy the villiage. Trapped by a cave in and unable to reach the ZPM. Rodney while communicating with Sheppard on the radio manages to power up the star drive engines and depletes the ZPM just in the nick of time. The villiage is saved and Sheppard confronts the Chamberlain in the throne room. The Chamberlain draws his knife and they scuffle briefly. As Sheppard disarms him he cuts the Chamberlain's hand. Because the knife was poisoned, the Chamberlain falls and dies.

Fade to the now very common shot of Weir standing on the deck looking over the water on Atlantis. Sheppard comes out to join her to report a job well done:

Sheppard: Got the Drones, got a few Jumpers... I even got the girl.

Weir: You got the girl?

Sheppard: (somewhat boastful and matter of fact) Well I mean I could have got the girl. I turned her down. (Weir narrows her eyes, smiles and nods)

Weir: What did you offer them in return for the Drones and the Jumpers?

Sheppard: Supply of medicines and an IDC if they need to reach us. We also offered to help them come up with a new way of running things when the time comes.

Weir: They didn't offer you King?

Sheppard: (smug) Turned that down too.

End Credits.

Well thats about it for me. Like I said. Not the best episode but still entertaining.


Cheers.

you are rit that scene is very good

[kache]

Plothole: a city ship is powered by 3 ZPM, which are used in sequence.
And I don't think those guys had the competence to manually switch them.
So there was at least one fully-charged ZPM in the city...

[Ziel]

Did anyone notice/find it strange that the Lord protecter and his bloodline even had the ATA gene?
I mean to only reason that Shep, O'Neill and Joe, etc. have the gene is because of when the ancients returned to MW.
Other humans of the PG don't appear to have the gene, including Ronan, Teyla and the Genii.

[gateship15]

this is a good episode i love that there is a replica of Atlantis

[Butlersgate]

this is a good episode i love that there is a replica of Atlantis

and seeing the drone storage was amazing ;D

[gateship15]

i agree that was amazing

[Lt. Col. John_Sheppard]

Well, Atlantis had its shields and was underwater; we don't know what happened to The Tower; it's on the surface, so the Wraith weapons would've been at their normal strength.

Chances are its shields just failed after so many years of being pummeled and was blasted to the ground by the Wraith.

I don't know about that... I mean, the tunnels were still pretty much intact; those tunnels being the hallways of that city-ship, and not much damage was shown. The only damage that was visible was due to the earthquakes that were already present on the planet. I think that the ancients simply landed the ship on that planet on their way somewhere, and something happened to them then, like an illness or cull.

The ship was saved because it most likely was cloaked. As time went by, the ship's power was used up, and the power was automatically turned off to maintain critical systems.