Where is Destiny heading? (Speculation thread)

[major davis]

First off, this is not my theory. I read it in one tiny post on one thread that I cannot find now so I am sending my love and appreciation for that person through subspace.

Also I reference something from the episode Faith, but the thread is not entirely about that, so please if you haven't seen at least that far, look away NOW!!

Still reading? Ok you've only got yourself to blame....

The theory that Destiny was launched originally because a probe or something detected something way way out into the unexplored universe, something that the Ancients felt needed to be investigated.

The implication (which I really like) is that this something was evidence of the race that built the planet and star found in the episode Faith. I am calling them the Planet Builders (like the Ancients used to be The Gate Builders - or should it be Star Builders, since they made that as well. What do you think?).

Anyway, the problem with SGA for me was that it pretty much demystified the Ancients. They used to be omniscient and benevolent, then we found out that pre-ascension they were simply humans and made all kinds of mind bogglingly huge mistakes that had galaxy wide repercussions (creating the Replicators for example, not to mention the Wraith) just like we would. They certainly had better toys than us, but as a collective they were only slightly more responsible, and their toys were so could that when they did screw up they could cause a lot more damage.

Also the Ori storyline taught us that even when they ascended they weren't exactly benevolent, that you don't have to be good to ascend, and even those that apparently were didn't seem to care about us specifically (whole other debate so I'll leave that one there).

We need new all-powerful super aliens to strive for and I think that the StarBuilders are they (I think I prefer that name now).

The Kardashev scale refers to a theoretical level of advancement of a species, where Type 1 can harness ALL the power of a single planet, Type 2 can harness all the power of a single star and type 3 can harness all the power of a single galaxy. I think that these aliens have demonstrated they are Type 1 and possibly 2 by making a solar system and the Faith planet (this bit is not mine) was the first indicator that the Destiny is getting close to their neighbourhood.

As it turned out though the Ancients ascended before they could meet these aliens in corporeal form. As ascended Daniel revealed, when you ascend you have access to all the knowledge of the universe, so meeting them as originally intended was no longer necessary.

Hell, it could have been the StarBuilders who put the Ancients on the path to ascension in the first place.

Another excellent theory I saw (if you steal from more than one person then they cancel each other out - what d'you mean it doesn't work like that?) is that if Destiny goes far enough they will come out on the other side of the space/time continuum and the humans on board will end up founding the race that becomes the ancients, before the Alterran's split from the Ori.

The only problem I have with that is that it may be too close to how BSG wrapped up (oh s~%$ Spoiler alert!).

I personally hope that we get to see these Kardashev aliens, if only so I can settle on a name for them.

It has been stated that

Spoiler:

We will learn more about and possible see the aliens from Faith in season 2

[droid327]

Well, for one: if Destiny was supposed to be a first-contact ship or probe, then why take such a circuitous route and bother charting and seeding gates through the galaxies? Seems just a ship of exploration and gateseeding is the most simple explanation.

For two: if Destiny hasnt reached its destination yet, how long were the Ancients really expecting to have to wait to make contact with whatever they saw out there?

For three: ZPMs throw the Kardashev scale out the window. You dont need to keep scaling up your energy collection capacity to stellar or galactic scales when you have as much subspace energy as you need in the palm of your hand, limited only by how many you can build.

For four: as I mentioned in another thread, the Ancients showed the technical wherewithal necessary to construct a planet or a star, if they ever had the inclination to. It would just be an engineering question to them.

For five: from a story-telling persepective, I dont want to see the planet builders becomes a new race of "super-ancients". The Asgard were super-Goa'uld, then the Ancients were super-Asgard. Eventually every race becomes demystified the more you have them in your scripts. You'll have to keep revealing more about them to keep them interesting, and so eventually we figure them out, adopt their technology, etc., and then you'll have to invent an even BIGGER and more advanced civilization then them. If you follow that path of power inflation, you'll eventually write yourself into a corner or over a cliff; see: the DragonBall series. The only solution is to just turn your back and leave them hanging, but then you're in a situation like with the Nox, or worse the Furlings, in that everyone keeps asking what happened with them.

[g.o.d]

there's always a bigger fish in a pond

[bobsuncorp]

These are all great points but since I've got nothing better to do I'll try and respond to them:

Well, for one: if Destiny was supposed to be a first-contact ship or probe, then why take such a circuitous route and bother charting and seeding gates through the galaxies? Seems just a ship of exploration and gateseeding is the most simple explanation.

Maybe they were trying to combine their penchant for spreading gates as far as possible (I've always felt that providing planets with the ability to reach each other easily was a huge boost to whatever civilisations evolved on those planets, in fact I've wondered why they didn't seed as many in those galaxies as they did in MW and P - probably a time factor) with the need to reach this species, or maybe they had to go from Galaxy to galaxy because they needed the resources to continue on.

For two: if Destiny hasnt reached its destination yet, how long were the Ancients really expecting to have to wait to make contact with whatever they saw out there?

I guess they thought long term. Like really long term. Don't play a game of chess with these guys.

For three: ZPMs throw the Kardashev scale out the window. You dont need to keep scaling up your energy collection capacity to stellar or galactic scales when you have as much subspace energy as you need in the palm of your hand, limited only by how many you can build.

True that, I think the Kardashev scale was theorised before zero point energy was. However the scale regards being able to siphon off 100% of the energy of those 3 celestial bodies as the pinnacle of control over them. And while the energy gained from a star may not equal 1 (or more likely a dozen or so) ZPM's maybe the point is to be able to move or create them rather than use them as a battery.

For four: as I mentioned in another thread, the Ancients showed the technical wherewithal necessary to construct a planet or a star, if they ever had the inclination to. It would just be an engineering question to them.

Really? I didn't know they could do that! I know they re-created life in the Milky Way after Darkseid released the anti-life equation or whatever it was but I didn't think they actually made a planet (pre-ascension). I know that the Ori and the Asgard can make black holes and I know that the Ashen (and the monolth) can make a star, but both of those were transformed from other celestial bodies, not moved existing ones or created new ones out of no significant "ingredients".

For five: from a story-telling persepective, I dont want to see the planet builders becomes a new race of "super-ancients". The Asgard were super-Goa'uld, then the Ancients were super-Asgard. Eventually every race becomes demystified the more you have them in your scripts. You'll have to keep revealing more about them to keep them interesting, and so eventually we figure them out, adopt their technology, etc., and then you'll have to invent an even BIGGER and more advanced civilization then them. If you follow that path of power inflation, you'll eventually write yourself into a corner or over a cliff; see: the DragonBall series. The only solution is to just turn your back and leave them hanging, but then you're in a situation like with the Nox, or worse the Furlings, in that everyone keeps asking what happened with them.

Well if you're going to be logical about it...

[Quadhelix]

I guess they thought long term. Like really long term. Don't play a game of chess with these guys.

Alternatively, the Destiny has already completed its mission, or passed its destination, and just kept going because nobody told it to stop.

True that, I think the Kardashev scale was theorised before zero point energy was.

Well, it is important to note that, pretty much by definition, you cannot tap ZPE, so it's kind of irrelevant to the actual Kardashev scale.

[bobsuncorp]

Well, it is important to note that, pretty much by definition, you cannot tap ZPE, so it's kind of irrelevant to the actual Kardashev scale.

True, it creates exotic particles. Which are like normal particles only much cooler. Or in other words like looking through a microscope and seeing a thousand dancing monkeys. Aah Meredith, where would we be without your quotes.

[Quadhelix]

True, it creates exotic particles.

I was talking about in real life. By definition, there is no way to tap zero point energy (that is, the minimum energy of a system). In Stargate, they use "zero point energy" to refer to vacuum energy. However, there is no way to tap vacuum energy without altering the large-scale structure of the universe, which would almost certainly require more energy than you would get back out.

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

droid,

Well, for one: if Destiny was supposed to be a first-contact ship or probe, then why take such a circuitous route and bother charting and seeding gates through the galaxies? Seems just a ship of exploration and gateseeding is the most simple explanation.

I disagree. If you are going to send a ship for such an extremely long range targeted exploration mission why not use it for several different purposes along the way like seeding galaxies with Stargates and garnering information about the distant universe among other things?

[reddevil18]

No.
Personally, I subscribe to the theory that the Ancients just came up with random crap every 42 minutes and proceeded to royally screw up the universe by implementing said demented dreams into horrible reality.

I think the Destiny is just something some dude came up with while staring at a monitor in the midle of the night, after going 72 hours without sleep.
He'd be IMing his best friend, and he'd be like...

GateBldr113: DUUUUUUUDE!
TimeTrvlIsAbtch: Huh?
GateBldr113: I, like...have an idea?
TimeTrvlIsAbtch: Wat? Lyk teh other one? With da beer and da pump?
GateBldr113: Nah, man, lyk...Somethin good! Lyke, listen to dis...
TimeTrvlIsAbtch: ...
GateBldr113: Okay, so, we send these automated ships that seed the unexplored planets in the universe with gates.
TimeTrvlIsAbtch: Wat? Those stupid spiny things that supposedly transport poeple via wormholes?
GateBldr113: Yeah, dude! They might work! Wat? Just bcz Alastair has yet to rematerialize on any known world doesn't necessarily mean I, like...faild!
TimeTrvlIsAbtch: Watever. Get on with it.
GateBldr113: Okay, so...anyway...
GateBldr113: We, like, seed these planets.
GateBldr113: And then send an automated ship after them.
TimeTrvlIsAbtch: The point being?
GateBldr113: Lyke, I dunno, man. We're, like...scientists, explorer types, right?
TimeTrvlIsAbtch: Meh, I work in the mail room.
GateBldr113: Because you messed with da timeline.
GateBldr113: Anyway, we, like, send this ship, to potentially contact alien civilizations.
TimeTrvlIsAbtch: That's...not entirely retarded.
GateBldr113: I know, right? But, like...here's the kicker...
GateBldr113: Ready?
GateBldr113: Okay...We put like 12,578 guns on the ship, so it can blast anything it comes across right into oblivion
TimeTrvlIsAbtch: ...
GateBldr113: So, what do you think?
TimeTrvlIsAbtch: ...
GateBldr113: Dude?
TimeTrvlIsAbtch: Go to bed, man.

[major davis]

No.
Personally, I subscribe to the theory that the Ancients just came up with random crap every 42 minutes and proceeded to royally screw up the universe by implementing said demented dreams into horrible reality.

I think the Destiny is just something some dude came up with while staring at a monitor in the midle of the night, after going 72 hours without sleep.
He'd be IMing his best friend, and he'd be like...

GateBldr113: DUUUUUUUDE!
TimeTrvlIsAbtch: Huh?
GateBldr113: I, like...have an idea?
TimeTrvlIsAbtch: Wat? Lyk teh other one? With da beer and da pump?
GateBldr113: Nah, man, lyk...Somethin good! Lyke, listen to dis...
TimeTrvlIsAbtch: ...
GateBldr113: Okay, so, we send these automated ships that seed the unexplored planets in the universe with gates.
TimeTrvlIsAbtch: Wat? Those stupid spiny things that supposedly transport poeple via wormholes?
GateBldr113: Yeah, dude! They might work! Wat? Just bcz Alastair has yet to rematerialize on any known world doesn't necessarily mean I, like...faild!
TimeTrvlIsAbtch: Watever. Get on with it.
GateBldr113: Okay, so...anyway...
GateBldr113: We, like, seed these planets.
GateBldr113: And then send an automated ship after them.
TimeTrvlIsAbtch: The point being?
GateBldr113: Lyke, I dunno, man. We're, like...scientists, explorer types, right?
TimeTrvlIsAbtch: Meh, I work in the mail room.
GateBldr113: Because you messed with da timeline.
GateBldr113: Anyway, we, like, send this ship, to potentially contact alien civilizations.
TimeTrvlIsAbtch: That's...not entirely retarded.
GateBldr113: I know, right? But, like...here's the kicker...
GateBldr113: Ready?
GateBldr113: Okay...We put like 12,578 guns on the ship, so it can blast anything it comes across right into oblivion
TimeTrvlIsAbtch: ...
GateBldr113: So, what do you think?
TimeTrvlIsAbtch: ...
GateBldr113: Dude?
TimeTrvlIsAbtch: Go to bed, man.

lol...... Green!

[magictrick]

Another excellent theory I saw (if you steal from more than one person then they cancel each other out - what d'you mean it doesn't work like that?) is that if Destiny goes far enough they will come out on the other side of the space/time continuum and the humans on board will end up founding the race that becomes the ancients, before the Alterran's split from the Ori.

This one is a really interesting theory. I am positive there's something more to Destiny's true purpose and this would be cool. BSG was more religion based, this would be more scientific.

My personal favourite so far though

Spoiler:

Rush is actually an ancient who retook human form. He doesn't remember it because as we've seen, the human brain can't handle it and eventually they lose all their ancient memory. What his purpose for doing this was is unclear, maybe it was to guide the ship and accomplish the scenario above.

[jmoz]

Interesting theories. To answer the original thread question: Because the writers said so.

[bobsuncorp]

Interesting theories. To answer the original thread question: Because the writers said so.

Who is this "writer" of which you speak? Isn't SGU a documentary?

[Sami_]

Well, for one: if Destiny was supposed to be a first-contact ship or probe, then why take such a circuitous route and bother charting and seeding gates through the galaxies? Seems just a ship of exploration and gateseeding is the most simple explanation..

Perhaps they are searching for their homeworld, maybe they did try to contact them directly but they were too elusive. Yes Destiny is automated but it was intended to be boarded, perhaps the Ancients intended to analyze the information Destiny had gathered in order to solve the mystery of the Star Builders as the thread starter proposes.

The Ancients seemed almost obsessive with populating galaxies with life as indicated by the device at Dakara and Lanteans actions in Pegasus, I think this Star Builder race would have fascinated them - especially early in their history.

[garhkal]

That would make for a twist.. if rush

Spoiler:

was a decended ancient.