Teyla's Choice (no, not THAT one)

[Orion Antreas]

The point is not what we would've done. The point is that this is Teyla we're talking about. I liked that act of darkness coming from her. I just wanted to generate discussion over the fact that the writers chose to have Teyla be the one to end Michael's life, Teyla of all people.

Makes perfect sense in my opinion. Michael threatened her friends, herself, and her son multiple times. Like some say, "Never threaten a mother's baby because she will kick your ass."

So much anger and pain was building up in Teyla because of how Michael sinisterly treated her son and herself. It seems perfectly logical for her to end his life. She wanted to make sure that he would really be dead and best way of knowing that is doing it yourself. She did that allowing her to have closure and a clean conscious. Clean conscious as in she won't have to fear that he will threaten her child ever again.

I would have hated to have Shepard kill an enemy again. It was worth due to have Teyla kill one of her worst enemies (to herself and her son), show more of her dark side, and even develop her character further. As shown, we know Teyla isn't an angel and is a human who does have a dark side and will use it if her life or her son's is in danger.

The writers were right in having her kill of Michael. No one else could measure up to the dramatic effect she had when she did so.

[Orion Antreas]

The point is not what we would've done. The point is that this is Teyla we're talking about. I liked that act of darkness coming from her. I just wanted to generate discussion over the fact that the writers chose to have Teyla be the one to end Michael's life, Teyla of all people.

Makes perfect sense in my opinion. Michael threatened her friends, herself, and her son multiple times. Like some say, "Never threaten a mother's baby because she will kick your ass."

So much anger and pain was building up in Teyla because of how Michael sinisterly treated her son and herself. It seems perfectly logical for her to end his life. She wanted to make sure that he would really be dead and best way of knowing that is doing it yourself. She did that allowing her to have closure and a sound mind. Sound mind as in she won't have to fear that he will threaten her child ever again.

I would have hated to have Shepard kill an enemy again. It was worth due to have Teyla kill one of her worst enemies (to herself and her son), show more of her dark side, and even develop her character further. As shown, we know Teyla isn't an angel and is a human who does have a dark side and will use it if her life or her son's is in danger.

The writers were right in having her kill of Michael. No one else could measure up to the dramatic effect she had when she did so.

[Orange Crush]

I don't see it as being "dark" per se. That was pure mama bear, right there. He's obsessed with kidnapping her son and nearly blew up everyone she knows in an attempt to do so. If I were her, I'd do the same damn thing--"Let's not take any chances. I'm just gonna squish you."

[FallenAngelII]

Makes perfect sense in my opinion. Michael threatened her friends, herself, and her son multiple times. Like some say, "Never threaten a mother's baby because she will kick your ass."

Actually, he didn't threaten her baby, not even once. He always reassured her the baby wouldn't be harmed (nor would she if she came with him). It was only by the end there that he abandoned them to their fate with the self-destruct.

He's still evil and stuff, but he didn't threaten the baby.

[Ikaros]

I'm amazing no one's created a thread for this yet. What do you think about Teyla's choice? No, not her choice between giving up Torren and not giving him up. If she'd given him up, I'd totally lost respect for her. Saving herself and her friends or just saving herself and him or just saving him at the cost of the entire galaxy (she knew what would happen from "The Last Man"). If she'd done it, I would've hated her forever, especially since she knows better (which she did).

No, the choice I'm talking about is the fact that at the end of the episode, she chose to forcibly end Michael's life. Now, I'm not saying what she did was wrong (although it probably was by legal standards; not extending a hand to help, not murder, kicking someone's hands off, murder (possibly)), I'm just saying that it was very dark and un-Teyla-y.

I'm glad they finally gave her stuff to do (even if she spent most of the episode just standing/sitting/lying still either unconscious or being terrified. She got to kick ass, she got character development and she got to commit an act of uncharacteristic darkness that I'm sure is going to haunt her for a while (at least I hope so).

I'm not saying she shouldn't have killed him. But that she chose to kill him herself instead of just waiting for him to fall down on his own (possible) or have John or someone else do it shows how much she hated him in that very instant.

And I'm not saying she shouldn't have killed him. But that she chose to kill him herself instead of just waiting for him to fall down on his own (possible) or have John or someone else do it shows how much she hated him in that very instant.

The point is not what we would've done. The point is that this is Teyla we're talking about. I liked that act of darkness coming from her. I just wanted to generate discussion over the fact that the writers chose to have Teyla be the one to end Michael's life, Teyla of all people, not John, not anyone else on Atlantis, but Teyla herself.

Never Get Between a Baby and it's MOTHER.
Yes it was dark, especially after the fact that Michael had almost desperatelly admitted(in his way) that he wanted/loved her.
But he was still half a Wraith, she couldn't possibly trust him with her baby's life. And she couldn't take that chance to let him go. He would be a permanent danger for her son.

[ZOMG!b_cs]

She was absolutely protecting her family from future attempts by Michael to move forward with his evil plans.
She hesitated, sure. It's not something that's typically in her character to do, but she was strong enough to say "hey, I'll wrestle with my conscience later, I'll be ok".

[Pic]

Not sure I'm ready to label it her "dark" side. After all, she's been a warrior all her life. She's been a leader of a people decimated time and time again by an all-powerful enemy. She's obviously had to make tough decisions in her life before Atlantis. By our cultural standards, they may seem "dark" but I would think to her, they're more practical and pragmatic.

I truly loved seeing hints of this depth in Teyla. Her attempting to balance motherhood with fighting ~ not only in her scenes with Michael, but in kicking the hybrid down the stairs & leaving her son with the gate-room tech ~ you could see the struggle in her face. Terrific job by RL.

[bcharley]

Something else to consider is that eairler in the episode Sheppard gave a general order that Michael would recieve "no quarter". Meaning, Michael was to be killed on the spot, even if he surrendered. So Teyla didn't really have a choice to make, she was simply following orders.


To give you an idea of how unusual such an order is, it'd actually be a war crime if Sheppard was to give a "no quarter" order in a war here on earth. Though in the case of Michael, I'd say it was deserved.

[BubblingOverWithIdeas]

I liked it. I was saying how the hero never just stands on the villain's hands in these situations, even when they really should. Then she did! It was like a deliberate subversion.

[kymeric]

Just cemented Teyla as a badass mofo in my opinion. And if this was the last epsidoe of the season i would feel satisfied with Teylas arc across the 5 yrs.

[FallenAngelII]

Not sure I'm ready to label it her "dark" side. After all, she's been a warrior all her life. She's been a leader of a people decimated time and time again by an all-powerful enemy. She's obviously had to make tough decisions in her life before Atlantis. By our cultural standards, they may seem "dark" but I would think to her, they're more practical and pragmatic.

But when someone is hanging on a ledge like that, helpless? To forcefully kick their hands off? I just don't see it as something she'd normally do.

She did it in this instance, for good reason. But it was still a bit extreme, because she's Teyla.

The point of discussion I was trying to raise is not the fact that she did it at all, but that she did it in that situation. Teyla forcefully ended the life of an already defeated enemy when she (IMO) would usually have saved their life and captured them in instances like that.

Michael had nowhere else to run. Even if he made out of that tower, short of defeating all of Atlantis, he was stuck on Atlantis, now a prisoner. Since he had no need to feed, they could lock him up permanently.

Yes, dangerous, yes, he's evil (and clearly nuts). But this is Teyla. This action for her was dark and extreme. For John, it would've been every day life. For Teyla, for Teyla, it was an interesting and powerful action, as demonstrated by John's reaction.

Some people seem to have missed that this is the issue I was trying to raise (not you, Pic), the fact that it was Teyla who did what she did in this very situation, not the fact that someone killed someone to protect their family.

If you stop to think about this, it was pretty dark and extreme, period. And I doubt Teyla's people make it a habit out of outright killing their opponents in situations like that.

Her people have a sense of "honor", after all.

[bcharley]

Teyla forcefully ended the life of an already defeated enemy when she (IMO) would usually have saved their life and captured them in instances like that.

Michael had nowhere else to run. Even if he made out of that tower, short of defeating all of Atlantis, he was stuck on Atlantis, now a prisoner. Since he had no need to feed, they could lock him up permanently.

You're forgetting that Sheppard already decided that they wern't going to take him prisoner.


Sheppard: All right, we're giving Michael no quarter. If you get a shot at him, take it. Make sure he's dead.

[FallenAngelII]

You're forgetting that Sheppard already decided that they wern't going to take him prisoner.

Sheppard: Allright, we're giving Michael no quarter. If you get a shot at him, take it. Make sure he's dead.

Irrelevant. Teyla's communicator was not tapped into the same channel. She didn't hear what John said, just as John didn't hear what she said into her communicator.

So it doesn't matter that John had decided what he and the rest of Atlantis going to do. Short of telepathy, Teyla did this entirely on her own.

[bcharley]

Irrelevant. Teyla's communicator was not tapped into the same channel. She didn't hear what John said, just as John didn't hear what she said into her communicator.

So it doesn't matter that John had decided what he and the rest of Atlantis going to do. Short of telepathy, Teyla did this entirely on her own.

It's not irrelevant at all. Ok, let's say Teyla would have reached down and saved Michael. John just would have went over and pushed him off the tower.

That'd just be bad TV considering Teyla's actions in "The Queen" when she started fireing at the other hive just so she could kill Wraith, for the hell of it. After all Michael's put her through the past couple seasons, she had more then enough reason to want to kill him too.

[Rosehawk]

If you stop to think about this, it was pretty dark and extreme, period. And I doubt Teyla's people make it a habit out of outright killing their opponents in situations like that.

Her people have a sense of "honor", after all.

Her people have a sense of "honor" however Michael was a Wraith and I doubt that "honor" would extend to the Wraith since the Wraith only bring death and destruction where ever they go. Michael may have been a hybrid but he was still seen primarily as a Wraith. Look what he did to all those people with his experiments. He killed alot of Teyla's people, people she cared about. Telya knew it would never end unless something more permenant was done.

You're forgetting that Sheppard already decided that they wern't going to take him prisoner.


Sheppard: All right, we're giving Michael no quarter. If you get a shot at him, take it. Make sure he's dead.

Remember, Sheppard already knew what Michael was capable of and what would happen to the Pegasus Galaxy if he got ahold of Teyla's child. He gave the order to "not quarter" in order to protect everyone in the Galaxy.