Allies (220)

[FallenAngelII]

I'm reposting this as I accidentally put it within spoiler-tags before forgetting that they are unnecessary in this part of the forum:

About Michael, he seems quite human still. He spoke to Teyla and was trying to tell her something. And then when the Queen (I assume she was the queen) fed on the humanized Wraith, he looked saddened and slightly sickened and said "I've seen enough" and left abruptly.

He might prove useful in season 3. Maybe he will actually betray the Wraith and help Rodney and Ronon escape and defeat his own people. Maybe he will be like the Tok'ra, infiltrating the Wraith and helping us destroy them. Or he might die in the process of helping us defeat his own Hive.

[Wraith_Hunter]

I don't really think that's gonna happen... But if it does: Wouldn't it be funny if Sheppard (not Caldwell) is the new overall commander? Roles would just be reversed and it'd be interesting to see how Weir'd handle Shep givin her ordes (although, I have to say: Shep has been pretty good with the whole chain of command- thing the last few episodes. He had a different opinion once or twice and didn't even argue when Weir made the decision. Tells me that he finally trusts her all the way.)

However, as I said: That's not going to happen!

I can not wait for July!!!

I wasn't actually meaning it that way, Shep was the military commander, so technically he being in charge of all military decisions. This would make him just as culpable. If they wanted to go for total realism, then Weir & Shep would have their asses dragged back to the MW. However that ain't ginna happen. So the next best thing is to bring in a new military commander to Atlantis. Just to make sure none of this ever happens again in the future. So basically Weir would still be in charge of the day to day runnings of the city, just when a military aspect was involved would it then become a military operation & he assume control of all decision making. Bascially like what Col.Everett did when he arrived in 'The Siege II'. It was a military situation then & so he took command, yet told her that in the day to day runnings she would be the boss.

Just something like that. Weir in command of the day to day running of the city & civillian population. A new military commander taking charge of the the military aspect of Atlantis. Caldwell seems to fit the bill to me & so would be a good choice to replace Shep. He takes up the same role that he had in 'Rising' before Sumner got sucked! He still in charge of the main team etc, just all military decisions have to go through the new boss first, which Shep like all the other soldiers have to take orders from.

Yes, McKay told Ronon "activate the beamer thingo" (not exact words).

Are you sure, I don't think that happened if I remember correctly. Didn't Ronon get hit, then McKay fumbled for his locator, then pressed it but it wouldn't work. So don't think he got a chance to even speak to Ronon before he got stunned.

"Previously on Stargate". He was in that part.

Does that even count as an appearance? Especially since he wasn't in the actual scripted episode itself. I know they got another guy to fill in for him because he wasn't available to reprise the role. So am a bit confused of why they would even credit that when it was a brief glimpse of a past episode.

I don't think either of you actually understandstand computers. If I take a copy of the Wrath data and burn it to a DVD-R, how in the world is a worm going to delete it? Especially if that DVD-R is tucked nicely away in some case that's completely disconnected from any computer system? No code on Earth is going to make a program that's been burned on DVD-R delete itself. Not physically possible.

As for stopping the program from executing itself, the program is just code. The situation is roughly equivalent to a human being who reads a recipe in a cookbook. Just because the person reads the recipe, doesn't mean that the person has to follow it. I mean, hell, keep in mind that not all operating systems are the same to begin with. Just because something will run on a Mac, for instance, doesn't mean that it will run on a PC. So they could load it up on a different system, isolate the worm, delete the worm, and load it back up.

If they copied the data then they copy the worm as well. Once it's on the disc, then it can be wiped if it's on a re-writable disc. So could easily be wiped when inserted on another computer.

However, so say your burn it to DVD-R. Okay then you put it somewhere safe. Now to get this data, it's no use lying in a case somewhere. It needs to be accessed. Therefore it has to be placed in a computer & intergrated through some sort of translation software etc to make it compatible to them. Once this has been done, it can simply infect this program. Which if it were an installer, then you have the option of not clicking on it. However the worm is in the data itself. Therefore if you want to see the info then you need to run the data. Even to isolate the worm, it has to be run on a system. So either way, the system will get re-infected.

However even on a burned disc there is a simple way of destroying the data. Simply make an attempt to erase the disc & it'll destroy the data on it. If you don't believe me, simply take a finalized disc, put it in your drive. Then load up your burning program such as Nero etc. Erase the disc & when it's finished the data that was originally on it will be unuseable itself. So while it may not be physically possible to delete the data on the disc, it is still very easy to deliberately corrupt the disc & so you still get the same effect. Data that is of no use.

The worm & virus weren't designed for any one system, otherwise it would not have been able to corrupt & take over Human & Asgard systems in 'Intruder'. The same goes for Ancient computers. So simply putting it on a Mac wouldn't really do any good either, as the original worm wasn't just designedf for Windows, Linux operation systems etc. So a Mac would just suffer the same fate.

Quite simply they should have as before isolated the lab from the rest of the networked computers, firewalled or not. Then it will not have had access to anything outside that & so no Earth addresses or mission reports. It could concievably affect only what was on the computers in the lab. So even although the Wraith were willing to send everything, it should have been still sent to an isolated computer or part of the lab. Where it didn't have the ability to access outside the chosen system/systems.

This way at least since it was busy poking around, it might not have been designed to destroy if it didn't find anything. That might have been a small oversight that the Wraith might not have thought about. They probably expected it to get what they wanted & might not have prepared for it to get nothing.

With all the mistakes that these people have made in the past year, are we still to believe that they are the smartest people that Earth has to offer.

Isolate a laptop or a few away from all the main systems. Network them only between each other in the lab. Create a 'Sandbox' in the system & run the data in it. Okay it would probably only be a matter of time before it broke through but it couldn't delete anything until then. So it will have given them more time to study everything. Then when it eventually broke out, it still didn't have access to anything outside the network of the lab computers.

Of course going down this route, will have meant the Wraith won't have got anything & so wouldn't be heading to Earth in the S3 premiere.

[T'saria]

I'm reposting this as I accidentally put it within spoiler-tags before forgetting that they are unnecessary in this part of the forum:

About Michael, he seems quite human still. He spoke to Teyla and was trying to tell her something. And then when the Queen (I assume she was the queen) fed on the humanized Wraith, he looked saddened and slightly sickened and said "I've seen enough" and left abruptly.

He might prove useful in season 3. Maybe he will actually betray the Wraith and help Rodney and Ronon escape and defeat his own people. Maybe he will be like the Tok'ra, infiltrating the Wraith and helping us destroy them. Or he might die in the process of helping us defeat his own Hive.

sounds like Michael has some series conflicts to resolve.
haven't seen the episode yet. but I did wonder what
Michael would think of the feeding, etc.

[Mio]

How could the Wraith have gotten intergalactic hyperdrive technology? Is it possible they've had it for a while, but haven't been able to find a use for it? But that doesn't make sense. They seem to have very few people with really good technical knowledge about their ships, modification would seem difficult. Hmm...

[Wraith_Hunter]

you know what.. everyone is at fault.. some of you are blaming weir. when facts are that caldwell and sheppard (both military leaders) gave there ok and is therefore at fault. as for the scientific view, mckay is at fault as well because he let his obsession with wraith technology take the best of him, they basically lured him from taking safety precautions to all the info you can get just like that.. even though she is the leader and made the deals, she gathered and listened to everyone's opinions.. that makes a good leader.. now let me ask some of you guys.. how would you feel if your leader didn't care about your opinions and expertise. its the same thing with the jobs you all have, if employers don't listen to employees, you lose communication, and everyone wouldn't like where they are.

It doesn't matter who agreed to what!

Caldwell is commander of the Daedalus & so doesn't have an official say in the matter.

Weir IS to blame, because she is the leader of the expedition. Sheppard is also equally as responsible because he is the senior military man on Atlantis. Communication isn't the issue, while it's important to listen to the team members opinions & respect them. That doesn't mean because the majority want something then your outvoted. She was chosen as the leader for a reason, even after they tried to get Caldwell in at the beginning of S2, she held out. Shep is the same, he is responsible for all military decisions & some have been piss poor lately.

Basically it all comes down to this, she is the leader & so bears the final responsibility for all decisions. If it goes well then she'll get the plaudits, if it goes belly up, then she'll carry the can herself.

The same goes for real life, say sports. Let's take Football or Soccer, the manger picks the tactics, buys players & does the training, team talks, meetings etc. If things go wrong on the field, who do the chairman & fans look too to take responsibility. Even though the players may be underperforming, it's the manager who is in control & so he gets the sack & some more 'qualified' gets brought in as a replacement to sort out the mess. If Shep or anybody else screws up, it falls on her head. So she along with Shep would be held accountible for what has transpired, as they are the two heads of the expedition, military & civillians respectively. Thus they have the final say of what happens. That's why she is responsible for it all, if she can't control the people who work under her, then she should replace them or let someone else who can come in & do a better job.

We all know nothing will happen though, because she's a main character. If McKay didn't get suspended for the 'Trinity' fiasco & have his ass sent back to the SGC. Then nothing will happen to Weir either.

Has there ever been any indication that Ancient warships (or ships of any kinds) have ZPMs powering them?

None, other than Daedalus in 'The Siege II & III', partly because 'Orion' is the only other working ship that they've come accross since then. However being that they can intergrate it into Asgard & Human tech, and also use Naquadah genny's to power the Sat weapons platform & Atlantis itself. Then there really won't be any doubt that a ZPM could be used to boost an Ancient ship. Being that they didn't even use the ship in this ep, then the fact that it may seem that the Wraith might have the ability to upgrade their drives via the Aurora reports, then they have the advantage, Daedalus probably could catch them, however can't really do anything to take them out any longer. So I can see them using the Atlantis ZPM to boost the Orion's systems to allow it to go after them.

Whether they are powered exclusively by ZPM's then, No I don't think they are. Like the PJ's & weapons sat. I think it'll have it's own power source, however think that it should have some station to insert a ZPM to either be used as a backup or morelikely as a systems booster. It makes the ship much faster, it makes the shields stronger & also energy weapons more powerful (if it has them of course). So being that the ship was seen in the last two eps but not used, then I see it being saved for the S3 premiere where it will be sent to catch up & take them out before they get to the MW.

Even if it doesn't have the ZPM consoles, if they could do it with Daedalus, then intergrating an ancient power source into an ancient ship, shouldn't pose any problems at all. Especially given the fact that Hermy is still there as well, he was probably the one that done it to allow Daedalus to make the trip within 4 days. So integrating it into the ship should be a walk in the park for him.

[#1SomeGuy]

Has there ever been any indication that Ancient warships (or ships of any kinds) have ZPMs powering them?

The Daedalus can use ZPM's to power it's engine and shields. IIRC it cuts the trip from 18 days down to 4 days from earth to atlantis.

Ancient on the other hand, it's speculation. I'd assume they could be...well the city of atlantis is a ship and it is ZPM powered

My thoughts on the episode...sheppard is going to free ronan and mckay and they will try to escape while the orion (which wasn't even in the episode really) will be ready to go kick hive ship butt. You know it's kind of dissapointing watching the daedalus, a battle cruiser, that isn't even able to do damage to a hive ship.

[ToasterOnFire]

Damn. Overall the episode was exciting but I'm upset at how most of the Atlantis team continue to confirm themselves as idiots. It's really dragging down the show for me.

If somebody doesn't get fired by the SGC next season, I'll genuinely be in shock... that is, if I put aside the fact that I know nothing bad or permanent is going to happen to a leading character without kicking him/her off the show because of TBTP's inane love for bottled episodes.

My thoughts exactly. Gads, the Atlantis team has made so many stupid mistakes this season, cumulating in Allies. In all reality heads should roll, starting with Weir, Shep, and Caldwell and working its way down from there. But of course the main characters aren't going to be booted off the show, so undoubtedly we'll see something like the ridiculous slap on the wrist and promotion of Shep in Intruder. I've been asking myself "And these people are leading this exploration?" more and more on this show and it's becoming a severe distraction. Worse, no one on Atlantis seems to call them on their poor decisions and the SGC hasn't said a damn thing. It's just not realistic and I've developed severe apathy toward the characters as a result.

I feel much less tension with this cliffhanger than Siege 2. No, Rodney, Ronon, and Shep are not going to die. No, the wraith are not going to destroy Earth and they're probably not even going to reach it. Yes, the Orion is probably going to fly in and save the day, but get blown up in the process. Hopefully the writers can deviate from this formula to come up with something less predictable.

And the wraith just get more and more ridiculous. Come on, the wraith queen wears HEELS?

[sgafansam]

cool episode...
we arent the brightest people are we?

[AutumnDream]

Yes, the Orion is probably going to fly in and save the day, but get blown up in the process. Hopefully the writers can deviate from this formula to come up with something less predictable.

Oh, geez. I hadn't even thought of that. Crap. That's really what's going to happen, you know. Just you watch. How irritating.

(I hate being cynical about this show. I used to defend it to the death. =/)

[Astrofighter]

One very importnat thing is that they dont know about the Orion, all they did was get all the info they wanted originally from the Aurora. They knew that would be the best way to go in sneaking some small info out of the database. Also it seems more like they broke into our database and not the main Atlantis one. I assume that we take info from it and put it on our computers and such and then transpose it to English etc. That would be much easier to get into.

Orion will for sure be used to take them out next season. However, looking at SG1's episodes for next season (at least what they have put out so far) i'm not really seeing a crossover. It sounds more like we will chase them to the Milky Way and take care of them ourselves in the Orion.

[xfkirsten]

Loved this one! Great season-ender!

Most of my thoughts have already been covered, but I kinda found this interesting: when they started working with the Wraith, they were really holed in by the "we can tell all the other Wraith about you" thread hanging over their heads. And indeed, that did come back to bite them - they were more or less forced into doing what the Wraith wanted towards the end (fixing the ship, coming up with a better deployment system, etc.). I just thought it coulda been an interesting pathway if the alliance turned on them differently, and they had ended up more like technological slaves to the Wraith plot for universal domination.

[GoldenSG-1]

i have a feeling shep pulled a star wars manuver and latched the F302 onto the under side of the hive and is waiting for the hive to jettison its garbage lol

[rhade]

After finally watching the episode I thought it was too predictable and that DO NOT TRUST THE WRATIH EVER!!! There should be consequences for their actions and until long term consequences are shown or acknowledged the show will not be able to move forward well. I think that while ships getting to Earth or the Milky Way galaxy is a big deal there are a hell of a lot more races with advanced technology than in Pegasus so while knowing where the planets are is helpful not knowing the technological capacity of all the players and where they are is a big question mark. Compared to the Orii the Wraith don't seem as dangerous, they don't kill in the battlefield as much as stun. So the end didn't seem as threatening as season one's final and as such not as good. Not bad it was a good episode and all but last year's was better.

[freyr's mother]

the answer about the aurora mission reports is that at this point we don't know much about the reports.. they are "reports"... also, we don't know how depleted the ZPM is on the orion.. perhaps the orion is just rusty.. to me, there are many possibilities.. i bet everyone at this point will be thrown off before any spoilers are released....

Wait!! The Orion has a ZPM?

[syyid]

With all the mistakes that these people have made in the past year, are we still to believe that they are the smartest people that Earth has to offer.

That summarizes the problem with the show, they act about as smart as grade school dropouts

Agree with the consequences, Weir should be fired post haste. Shep and McKay etc should die . did you guys notice the expression on Shep's face when Teyla goes if that is the extent of their plan. OK this guy is the head of a military expedition in another galaxy and it apparently didnt even cross his mind that they may not be completely upfront

Also Wraith_Hunter I agree with what you're saying, most everything is obviously firmware based which can easily be subverted by a super smart program but even then data and code are separate and they could've had a backup and use the backup ooh it failed, make another backup repeat ad nauseum. No way could it 'activate' itself without anything being done to it (i.e. viewing / execution), simply reading 0's n 1's from disc to disc wouldnt do anything.