Rise of the Aschen (107)

[Alex Rubit]

RISE OF THE ASCHEN

Episode: 1.07
Original Air Date: December 16, 2004
Written by Alex Rubit

While visiting a planet inhabited by a peaceful agricultural society Grant, Sivea, Chase, and Christine run into an old enemy: The Aschen.


Visit the Stargate: Horizon homepage to download the episode, then stop back here for discussion.

[SierraGulf1]

This was was okay, but there are certainly episodes I like better. For some reason I don't like the ones that revisit old species we've encountered. But the episode itself is well done and it gives us an ally in the future (that we do see again).

[Elite Anubis Guard]

I agree, I'm not a fan of the episodes where we revisit older species from SG1.

[greytop]

Just sounded like the typical Ashen.

[Alex Rubit]

Just sounded like the typical Ashen.

Really? I find that interesting because the intend was to see the Aschen from a slightly different side.

They're much more aggressive than the Aschen we've seen on SG-1, which sets up the whole story arc about the Aschen Rebellion. That's something I've always found quite interesting actually; the Aschen rebels (look out for their name in "Glory of Bre'nok") believe that the Aschen should be peaceful, that they must stop taking over other worlds, while the Aschen Confederation doesn't only firmly believe that they have "the right" to do that because they're this powerful group of people; they even think it's time to get rid of the "old ways", and that they need to become more aggressive. Meaning take over and invade other planets in a way which lets the victims know that they're being invaded. It's not really been established yet, but I personally believe their reasoning is fear. They're aware of the threats the galaxy has seen over the past (i.e. Goa'uld, Ori, etc.), and they're trying to expand their territory where they can. They think the only way to in the end not become a victim is to be agressive.

Now, I've always figured that some people might dislike the Aschen episodes because of the fact that we're setting up Aschen which are a bit different, and that they might be too different for some fans. So it's interesting to see that you think they still sound like the familiar Aschen. It's a thin line to walk, of course. I personally like the way they're developing, because it reflects in very subtle ways on things that have been and that are going on in the real world.

I think it's fun to take something which has been established in the Stargate universe, and develop it further; i.e. up until "Rise of the Aschen" we've never heard an explanation for why the Aschen do what they do. In this episode we find out what lead them to doing this in the first place. And let me just say, that mysterious alien species from the Triangulum Galaxy that was mentioned is something we haven't forgotten about. So, I'll leave this to you guys to take this as either a promise or as a threat: the Aschen will be back at some point! Where will that all be going...who knows?

[LordHart]

Was it just me, or was this episode extremely boring? I was expecting this to be really good, considering that 2001 and 2010 were two of my favourite episodes, but this just didn't excite me one bit.

Also, I believe the Aschen never had a highly advanced space program, as that is why they had only managed to travel a short distance from their home world and were aggresively trying to get Stargate addresses, and that is why they never sent anyone to attack Earth, and how we found out that P4C-970 was possibly their homeworld.

Oh, and why the hell didn't Molem have more to do?

[Erik Pasternak]

Was it just me, or was this episode extremely boring? I was expecting this to be really good, considering that 2001 and 2010 were two of my favourite episodes, but this just didn't excite me one bit.

Also, I believe the Aschen never had a highly advanced space program, as that is why they had only managed to travel a short distance from their home world and were aggresively trying to get Stargate addresses, and that is why they never sent anyone to attack Earth, and how we found out that P4C-970 was possibly their homeworld.

Oh, and why the hell didn't Molem have more to do?

He wasn't one of the main guest characters.

[dosed150]

you do realise sum1 has spelt it ashen on the horizon homepage

[Alex Rubit]

you do realise sum1 has spelt it ashen on the horizon homepage

Thanks for pointing that out. We'll be fixing that. The correct way of spelling it is Aschen.

[Alex Rubit]

Also, I believe the Aschen never had a highly advanced space program, as that is why they had only managed to travel a short distance from their home world and were aggresively trying to get Stargate addresses, and that is why they never sent anyone to attack Earth, and how we found out that P4C-970 was possibly their homeworld.

Oh, and why the hell didn't Molem have more to do?

Well, I'm no where near qualified to speak for Brad Wright, and what he had in mind, since he was the one who initially created the Aschen; a brilliant and very different kind of enemy, if I may say so. But I personally always felt that they do have interstellar space travel capabilities. They do have a confederation, which suggests a fairly large region of space. Also, in "2001" the Aschen were quite interested in Stargate addresses, which would suggest they don't have too much knowledge of the Stargate. And why would they be as advanced as they are, but not have interstellar space capabilities?

I was watching both "2010" and "2001" several times as I was writing this episode, and those were the impressions that I got. Also, not too long ago there were rumors about another Aschen story for SG-1, and it would have involved ships. So, what you see in "Rise of the Aschen" is all based on what we already knew about the Aschen, and it was developed further from there.

With regard to Molem, that was more of a cameo appearance, and was added to give the audience a certain sense of familiarity. The focus of the story is on the other two Aschen characters.

[StevetheWraith!]

This was an excellent episode. I thought that it was great that this show revisited one of the craziest races in SG-1's history (IMO). I loved how this episode (and a later on) really explored new paths and further developed this specie. It also had some really dramatic moments that really showed us how honorable and resilient Col' Grant is. It was a "quieter" than usual episode, yet nevertheless it was simply excellent.

[McKay_help_us]

Ahh, the Aschen another wonderful bunch of ppl. This episode was okay. I did like how we got to see a little more of them. However not so good to see some of the vorians working with them! Oh well on to the next episode. (it is kinda nice to be behind and not have to wait for the next one!)

[andrelage]

i liked this episode because of the sole reason that the horizon team and we as readers got to revisit the Aschen.

[Alex Rubit]

i liked this episode because of the sole reason that the horizon team and we as readers got to revisit the Aschen.

I'm glad you liked it, andrelage.

If you like the Aschen, then make sure to keep an eye on the back half of Season Two. It's possible we might be seeing them again.

[Elite Anubis Guard]

More? How many more you got planned?