Do you think that it is wrong how we treat the Wraith in the series?

[the fifth man]

At times, things we have done to "helpless" Wraith in Atlantis has made us look bad IMO. But most of the time, we do what we have to against them. They are still the enemy.

[Wrath Of Odin]

I think we all need to ask ourselves here, would we hang out with Hannibal Lecter? okay he's kicked his Cannibalism habit but he's still not a good guy.

The wraith had their chance in this episode after Woolsey ordered Shep and team on board Todds ship. They were perfectly peaceful till Lt. Red Shirt was killed and then they did what they had to, to survive and fair enough too.

I realise the wraith are hardly a faceless evil enemy and that they need to feed on humans to survive, but ask yourself how come they havent come up with a way to live in harmony with the other sentient species of the galaxy, for over 10,000 years they havent had a real enemy to waste resources fighting with. I mean humanity is smart but the wraith are just as smart if not smarter as a species, i'm sure its not a case of there not smart enough. Its only right now Todd wants an edge to win a war just like anyone else in his position. He doesnt want to change, he wants to win, he wants to survive simple as that.

Saying that though, he is an honourable being, giving back shepard his life in his first encounter with him, but that doesnt make him any less evil, just more complicated.

[Ouroboros]

The contrast between the right/wrongness of how they've treated the Wraith actually gets shown fairly well in the ending here. Comparing how Shep treated Todd, (honorably) to how he treated Michael after no mans land (the opposite of honorably).

With Todd they've now got/preserved a potential future ally. With Michael their cruelty to him, even after he'd helped them,turned him back into an enemy and convinced him he was truely alone in the universe, likely playing a huge role in what he eventually became. More importantly though it's something that they never could have justified doing to him had they not treated him as sub-human. If they'd looked at him as deserving of the same sort of respect as a human in his position, like they did Todd, they would have been forced to think through to some sort of solution to the potential security issue other than "lets just try to murder him again".

[Briangate78]

The contrast between the right/wrongness of how they've treated the Wraith actually gets shown fairly well in the ending here. Comparing how Shep treated Todd, (honorably) to how he treated Michael after no mans land (the opposite of honorably).

With Todd they've now got/preserved a potential future ally. With Michael their cruelty to him, even after he'd helped them,turned him back into an enemy and convinced him he was truely alone in the universe, likely playing a huge role in what he eventually became. More importantly though it's something that they never could have justified doing to him had they not treated him as sub-human. If they'd looked at him as deserving of the same sort of respect as a human in his position, like they did Todd, they would have been forced to think through to some sort of solution to the potential security issue other than "lets just try to murder him again".

I think Sheppard learned his lesson with Michael, so he willing to keep up his end of the deal with Todd. OMG, did we just get some character development for Sheppard?

[Mitchell82]

I can see both point of view on this being former military. The Wraith are a technologically advanced Wraith bent on our destruction. SO yes lets kill them all before they can kill us! Very logical response right?

However I can also agree with this pov. The Wraith do not simply kill for killings sake. They kill because they have to do so to survive. Now we get drawn into a huge philosophical and moral issue here. Personally I see the way they have gone with us actually allying with them from time to time a good way to explore both aspects. So do I feel that the way we treat them is wrong? Yes and no. Unfortunately things like this are never black and white.

[Briangate78]

I can see both point of view on this being former military. The Wraith are a technologically advanced Wraith bent on our destruction. SO yes lets kill them all before they can kill us! Very logical response right?

However I can also agree with this pov. The Wraith do not simply kill for killings sake. They kill because they have to do so to survive. Now we get drawn into a huge philosophical and moral issue here. Personally I see the way they have gone with us actually allying with them from time to time a good way to explore both aspects. So do I feel that the way we treat them is wrong? Yes and no. Unfortunately things like this are never black and white.

Reminds me a little of the Cylon war in BSG. Yet Marty G says they cannot write those kind of shows. Hmmm maybe they can since they sorta did.

[Mitchell82]

Reminds me a little of the Cylon war in BSG. Yet Marty G says they cannot write those kind of shows. Hmmm maybe they can since they sorta did.

[Briangate78]

Seriously, SGA has always been darker than SG-1, SG-1 was great for the explortation and the finding of new technologies. There was always a constant battle going on of some sort. With SGA you got the wars and battles but there is more depth to the situation. There are more Moral and ethical aspects of SGA. It really makes you think, is this the right call or what? I think SGA has proven to be a very dynamic show and produce some serious dark eps, but they can also produce those comic relief eps like BrainStorm. To me a show with Variety is going to be more successful. Well 5 Seasons is a success.

[Mitchell82]

Seriously, SGA has always been darker than SG-1, SG-1 was great for the explortation and the finding of new technologies. There was always a constant battle going on of some sort. With SGA you got the wars and battles but there is more depth to the situation. There are more Moral and ethical aspects of SGA. It really makes you think, is this the right call or what? I think SGA has proven to be a very dynamic show and produce some serious dark eps, but they can also produce those comic relief eps like BrainStorm. To me a show with Variety is going to be more successful. Well 5 Seasons is a success.

Agreed. I loved SG-1 for the way it incorperated many types of shows into 1, drama, action, comedy, even horror from time to time. I love SGA for it having a darker tone, more character development, and having a more dynamic show.

[FallenAngelII]

Stuff.

The actions of a few (or many) should condemn the entire race?

Just because one or a few hives have gone after the expedition, all Wraith must die?

[Raeth]

Some of them? Reality check! Most of the Wraith act that way. To say that the wraith as a whole are less than malevolent because of the actions of only one Wraith is also unfair.

If the issue was the Wraith dependency on humans, I'm sure they and the Ancients would have worked out some sort of agreement. The Ancients with their intelligence could have come up with something.

Actually, if you compare the amount of Wraith we've seen in the show vs. the amount there are in total, then really, we haven't seen that many. So we don't know if most of the Wraith act that way. It's just most of the ones we've seen up close. Also, just because the leaders of certain hives take certain actions, does not mean all of that group agree with the decision.

[Pandora's_Box]

The actions of a few (or many) should condemn the entire race?

Just because one or a few hives have gone after the expedition, all Wraith must die?

Yes.

Either that or they die because living would mean thousands upon thousands of human lives lost, humanity in Pegasus continuing to live in fear, and with barely a chance to grow as a species.

Take your pick.

[TheRandomOne]

Yes, totally wrong. They are an intelligent species, with untold knowledge and skills. Instead of trying to learn about them - understand them - the Lanteans are always looking for ways to kill them. What makes the Lanteans any different from Wraith? Oh, right...the Wraith kill/killed humans in order to EAT - a necessity

If you came face to face with a Wraith would you just let a Wraith kill you just because your his dinner ? Humans have the same amount of rights to defend themselves just like the Wraith have the rights to eat

[Pitry]

*raises hand* I think it's wrong how humans are treated.

I think humans, especially the highly-educated, highly-trained individuals we see on SGA, are more complex than thinking it's always either kill or be killed and that the only problem with throwing a biological weapon of mass destruction on the wraith is that they don't currently have the means.

[jenks]

It really is a case of kill or be killed though, as every Wraith killed means 1 or more Humans saved. So even if you value Wraith and Human life equally, killing Wraith is still the most humane option. I mean hypothetically, if a Human were born on Earth that couldn't survive on anyother food than Human flesh, what would we do? We sure as hell wouldn't feed it, we sure as hell wouldn't let it go free to kill someone. What we'd do is either lock them and they'd starve to death, or we'd euthanise them. Of course there'd be people trying to cure it, but in the mean time that doesn't mean we'd allow them to kill to survive, and it would be shameful if we did. The situation the expedition are facing is really no different, it's imperative they kill Wraith, it would be unethical not to.