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    The Tower (215)

    Visit the Episode Guide
    STARGATE ATLANTIS - SEASON TWO
    EPISODE NUMBER - 215

    The team finds a world that possesses Ancient defense technology, where Colonel Sheppard finds himself a pawn in the rivalry between the heirs to the throne.

    VISIT THE EPISODE GUIDE >>
    Last edited by Darren; 24 January 2007, 06:04 PM.

    #2
    this should be a good episode

    Comment


      #3
      Hi folks. Kaibosh here. Just finished watching "The Tower" on TMN. Overall not a bad episode but by far not the best.

      SPOILERS:
























      The tower is basically a bit of filler episode that from what I can tell only serves as a plot mechanism to re-supply Atlantis with new Puddle Jumpers and Drones. You see the tower in question is an exact replica of the central spire of Atlantis. But more than that: buried in the ground overgrown by vegetation is a second Atlantis complete with a full Jumper bay and a healthy supply of Drones that the Lord Protector uses to defend the planet form the Wraith while also keeping the peasants in line by demonstrating his power every once in while.

      When the Lord Protector demonstates his power by bringing a single Drone down on the villiage Sheppard agrees to be taken to the Tower to meet with the Lord Protector and the royal court in order to avoid bloodshed in the villiage. Once there Sheppard finds that the interior of the Tower is identical to Atlantis (good way to save money by not having to build new sets..just use the one you have and add a bunch of curtains and Baroque furniture...if ain't Baroque don't fix it....thats awful I know)

      It turns out that the society is feudal where the peasants live in poverty and the royal court indulges in the finer things in life. While Sheppard is attending a lavish dinner with the royal court where noone uses cutlery and eat with their hands belching and laughing; Teyla, Ronan and Rodney are invited to a very modest dinner in the villiage where Teyla muses out load about how unjust the society appears to be. Rodney can't be too quick to agree because despite the apparant inequities; this is after all a society that has managed to avoid a Wraith culling in several hundred years.

      And quicker than you can say Prime Directive, Sheppard is getting some Kirk action when Mara, the Lord Protector's daughter comes into Sheppard's room later that night to seduce him. This was one of the funnier moments of the show. It went something like this:

      Mara: Maybe there is something I could do to make you more comfortable.

      Sheppard: No. I don't think so.

      Mara: Are you certain? (Undoes her robe and drops it to the floor. She stands in front of Sheppard naked.)

      Sheppard: (looking her over) Oh...wow. I never see this coming.

      Mara: You don't find me pleasing.

      Sheppard: Oh no its not that. Its just that......(Mara quickly moves in to kiss him)

      Sheppard stands somewhat bewildered while Mara is kissing him. She pulls away briefly and kisses him again. He kisses back. They kiss briefly and she pulls back again smiling and excited.

      Mara: What you said at dinner. Did you mean it?

      Sheppard: (leaning in to kiss her) Absolutley. (Kisses Mara then moves to her neck)

      Sheppard: What did I say again?

      Mara: About the villiagers. My brother thinks its a sign of weakness but I know it means you will make a great ruler some day.

      Sheppard: (not really listening in a half whisper) Right.

      Sheppard and Mara continue to kiss then it hits him and he pulls away looking confused.

      Sheppard: RULER?!...wha...what are you talking about?

      Mara: (beaming) My father has promised that if we are married, succession will fall to me.

      Sheppard is still looking a little perplexed while Mara pushes him backwards onto the bed and happily moves in to join him.....end scene.

      I know I described that scene in detail but I just thought it was a really funny scene. Basically the rest of the show has Rodney finding his way through the interior of the underground which is unstable and subject to cave ins looking for the ZPM for some means to disarm the Lord Protector who has been poisoned to death in an apparant plot by his son and the Chamberlain who has taken the Ancient Gene Therapy when Dr. Beckett reveals that they have the means to make many on the society's people capable of using the Ancient weapon. Beckett by they way was called in by Sheppard to see about helping the Lord Protector when he becomes really sick at the dinner party.

      Long story short (too late I know) The Chamberlain sees this as a threat and locks up Sheppard, Beckett and the Lord Protector's son. He then makes plans to use the drones to wipe out the villiage that the others are in when Ronan kills one of the Constables defending a villiager that had a poor crop to offer. When the Constables are defeated the villiagers begin to rise up and speak openly of revolt.

      Things look grim for our heros as The Chanberlain plans to marry Mara and use the Ancient weapon to destroy the villiage. Trapped by a cave in and unable to reach the ZPM. Rodney while communicating with Sheppard on the radio manages to power up the star drive engines and depletes the ZPM just in the nick of time. The villiage is saved and Sheppard confronts the Chamberlain in the throne room. The Chamberlain draws his knife and they scuffle briefly. As Sheppard disarms him he cuts the Chamberlain's hand. Because the knife was poisoned, the Chamberlain falls and dies.

      Fade to the now very common shot of Weir standing on the deck looking over the water on Atlantis. Sheppard comes out to join her to report a job well done:

      Sheppard: Got the Drones, got a few Jumpers... I even got the girl.

      Weir: You got the girl?

      Sheppard: (somewhat boastful and matter of fact) Well I mean I could have got the girl. I turned her down. (Weir narrows her eyes, smiles and nods)

      Weir: What did you offer them in return for the Drones and the Jumpers?

      Sheppard: Supply of medicines and an IDC if they need to reach us. We also offered to help them come up with a new way of running things when the time comes.

      Weir: They didn't offer you King?

      Sheppard: (smug) Turned that down too.

      End Credits.

      Well thats about it for me. Like I said. Not the best episode but still entertaining.


      Cheers.
      "You're giving me the its not you its me routine? I invented its not you its me. If its anybody its ME!"

      Comment


        #4
        Anyone saw it already??? We are languishing for spoilers

        Comment


          #5
          You got long wait people are shopping/papering for charismas.
          "Love is not for life, it's for one week only" Wass

          “You have to stay in shape. My grandmother, she started walking five miles a day when she was 60. She's 97 today and we don't know where the hell she is.” Ellen DeGeners

          “You tried your best and you failed miserably. The lesson is 'never try'.” Homer Simpson

          “It took me fifteen years to discover I had no talent for writing, but I couldn't give it up, because by that time I was too famous.” Robert Benchley

          “What is it with McDonald's staff who pretend they don't understand you unless you insert the 'Mc' before the item you're ordering? It has to be a McChicken burger...a chicken burger gets blank looks. Well, I'll have a McStraw and jam it into your McEyes, you f**cking Mc******!” Billy Connolly

          “Before you judge a man, walk a mile in his shoes. After that, who cares? ...He's a mile away and you've got his shoes.” Billy Connolly

          Comment


            #6
            wow

            that was the worst episode EVER!

            Just can't believe how bad it was. That was so cliché, kind of a bad remake of "Shakespeare in love".

            How many girls will Sheppard have sex with in this season? Honestly we're getting bored of the kirk thing especially when the other characters are left behind.

            I think we understood that the writers had a thing for Shep and Mckay ... now let's see the others.

            Can't believe this ep was writen by a professional writer. After 5 minutes we understood what would happen, who was the bad guy ... that was soooo cliché... And when Sheppard goes back to find the blond chick... COME ON GUYS!

            What about what happens in the village? Does anybody find it usefull or the writer just didn't have enough imagination to fill in the gaps?

            If it was a parody it was a bad one.... If it was serious, it's even worse.

            There are not that many episodes left, I hope they won't be that disappointing....

            ( Geeez I'm not even mentioning all the actors that we can recognize from SG1 ... Is it a competition? there is at least one per ep !)

            going to bed now.... hope they'll hire new writers for season 3

            PS: I read at least 5 fan fiction a day .... better than this ep! Come on guys send your scripts!
            *~'.:GTA 199:.'~*
            Je me souviens


            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by dark_faith
              wow

              that was the worst episode EVER!

              Just can't believe how bad it was. That was so cliché, kind of a bad remake of "Shakespeare in love".

              How many girls will Sheppard have sex with in this season? Honestly we're getting bored of the kirk thing especially when the other characters are left behind.

              I think we understood that the writers had a thing for Shep and Mckay ... now let's see the others.

              Can't believe this ep was writen by a professional writer. After 5 minutes we understood what would happen, who was the bad guy ... that was soooo cliché... And when Sheppard goes back to find the blond chick... COME ON GUYS!

              What about what happens in the village? Does anybody find it usefull or the writer just didn't have enough imagination to fill in the gaps?

              If it was a parody it was a bad one.... If it was serious, it's even worse.

              There are not that many episodes left, I hope they won't be that disappointing....

              ( Geeez I'm not even mentioning all the actors that we can recognize from SG1 ... Is it a competition? there is at least one per ep !)

              going to bed now.... hope they'll hire new writers for season 3

              PS: I read at least 5 fan fiction a day .... better than this ep! Come on guys send your scripts!
              Ok so you did not like this epsiode then LOL
              "Love is not for life, it's for one week only" Wass

              “You have to stay in shape. My grandmother, she started walking five miles a day when she was 60. She's 97 today and we don't know where the hell she is.” Ellen DeGeners

              “You tried your best and you failed miserably. The lesson is 'never try'.” Homer Simpson

              “It took me fifteen years to discover I had no talent for writing, but I couldn't give it up, because by that time I was too famous.” Robert Benchley

              “What is it with McDonald's staff who pretend they don't understand you unless you insert the 'Mc' before the item you're ordering? It has to be a McChicken burger...a chicken burger gets blank looks. Well, I'll have a McStraw and jam it into your McEyes, you f**cking Mc******!” Billy Connolly

              “Before you judge a man, walk a mile in his shoes. After that, who cares? ...He's a mile away and you've got his shoes.” Billy Connolly

              Comment


                #8
                Probably the weakest episode since 'Childhood's End', IMO.

                Except for the guy playing Otho, none of the guests were really that good of actors. Sets and costuming were mostly very generic; I think this episode needed a larger budget to really work. They did do a good job of redressing the village set previously seen in 'Babylon' and 'Epiphany'. I wouldn't have recognized it if I didn't know it was the same set.

                For a plus, there was Ronon decapitating a guy with a knife! He's got some scary intensity.

                Compared to the spoiler info in the Gateworld file on this ep, it looks like there was some rewriting done. Weir was barely in this episode, when she was initially reported to be there, doing the negotiating.

                ETA: I think the tower itself has potential for future plots. Given the spoilers out for that ep, it could be relevant in "Coup D'etat".
                Last edited by Hatcheter; 20 December 2005, 12:49 AM.


                a time to mourn

                Comment


                  #9
                  Basically they are on a planet, McKay is heckling the others about making friends with every untechnological civilization in the Pegasus galaxy. When Eldred, a village elder appears & tells them about 'The Tower' & that it protects them all from the Wraith by launching bright objects that appear from the ground & swarm the Hive ships. Shep asks Eldred about meeting the Lord Protector, he says that can't be done as only members of the royal court are allowed into the tower. Teyla suggests that they might make a one off exception in this case. The villager says he will do what he can & wanders off. The team talk about what they have just learned & McKay says that if they have Drones then they must also have a ZPM to power them all. McKay goes off to do some scans at the base of the tower, While Shep goes back to the PJ & informs Atlantis of their discovery. When Shep arrives back to the village, it's full of soldiers from the tower, they strike Eldred & he falls to the ground. Shep shouts 'Whoa', 'Whoa', 'Whoa' take it easy & the team run over to find out what's going on. The leader asks who are they & reveals himself as a constable of the lord protector, he then reveals that he struck the villager for defying him. He them says they are going to have to make an example of him & they pull out whips, The team pull out their weapons & tell them that they aren't going to allow a man to be whipped in front of them.

                  Then a voice appears from behind them, it tells the soldiers to stand down. This man pulls out a life signs detector & medical scanner(same thing that Beckett used in 'Runner' on Ronin).He tells them that his name is Otho & he is chamberlain of the lord protector. He begins to scan them using the medical scanner. Making small talk while doing his scans, he lets them know that they will never be allowed into the tower armed with weapons. Shep says that's too bad & that they best be off on their way then. By this time having discovered the ATA gene that Shep carries by now thanks to the scanner, he says that it's too late for that & orders the soldiers seize Shep. The weapons are pointed at the soldiers, when they are told that the lord protector sees all & resisting will do them no good. Otho seeing that they don't buy it, says that they obviously will need a demonstration. A whizzing noise can be heard now in the distance, it gets closer before you see a bright yellow light. It's a single Drone that is closing in on them, it impacts in the village causing a large explosion, luckily nobody has been injured. It was just a warning shot. Seeing that they are outgunned, they give up & have their weapons seized in the process.

                  Teyla informs McKay by radio that the weapons are gone & that Shep has been taken. McKay immediately makes his way back to the village when he learns of what has just transpired. McKay, Teyla & Ronion are standing over the impact site, when Shep makes radio contact with them. He asks McKay about the scan results, he in turn reveals that there is definitely an active ZPM. However the signals that were recived back were faint, so it's either one of two things, the first is that the ZPM is almost depleted or the other is that it only used negligible amounts of energy when launching the weapon. More importantly his scans revealed that their is a structure that is similar in size to Atlantis under the surface. The tower protrudes out of the ground but the rest is buried under the surface. Shep says thaty doesn't surprise him & the scene swiches to him in the tower, he looks around & it's an almost identical duplicate of the Atlantis control room (minus the gate though), in the gate's place is an ancient control chair.

                  The lord protector appears now, accompanied with his very large royal entourage. They trade small talk for a few seconds, when he leans back on the chair & it activates. THis brings up a hologram of the village & you can clearly see McKay, Teyla & Ronin talking in middle of it when he zooms in on them. They trade more small talk before he tells Shep that he doesn't consider him a prisoner & that he'd rather Shep think of himself as a guest. As such he invites him to a banquet that will be thrown later on.

                  It's a huge table, with the lord protector sitting at the end of it & the rest sat around hiim, all are gorging themselves on a lavish feast, they are talking when suddenly the lord protector collapses & the feas is cancelled. Shep is back in his chamberhe lord protectors daughter comes in. She tries to seduce him & drops her garments, she is in the buff & plants a few kisses on him (lips) & he willingly returns the favour. She then drops the bombshell that if they are married then her father will make her the lord protector. Shep is taken aback then she pushes him & he falls onto the bed, she giggles & goes towards him.

                  The scene changes to morning, when Shep goes to the chamberlain Otho's office. They begin to talk & it's revealed that the lineage of the lord protectors family, which has gone back 20 generations is fading. Only one of the royal blood can control the chair, due to them being the onles ones who carry the gene. He tells Shep that when he scanned him when they first met that he has is stronger that what has been recorded in any of the royal family for the past 300 years. He begins to get why she was in his room the previous night. The lord protector has two children, one son & a daughter. The son will claim first right to the throne should anything happen to his father, however Otho is concerned that should the sister have any children that have a more potent gene than her brothers offspring. Then this may cause a problem & he will perceive her & her children to be a threat to him. Shep tells him that there may be a way around this whole situation that will develop.

                  It switches back to the village & we see Beckett appear carrying his medical gear. Then we see the scene change to inside the tower, apparently the son & Otho have been conspiring against the lord protector & will take care of Shep after he's finished helping them. Beckett runs tests on the lord protector & says he'll need more time to analyse the test results.

                  Otho takes Shep into a jumper bay that houses a few fully working PJ's. They get talking & Shep offers them all the ATA gene, which means that they won't all have to rely on a single family lineage for protection against the Wraith any longer. The chamberlain asks what does he want in return for the gene therapy.

                  McKay has left the village with another villager accompanying him, he finds a covering & makes his way down into the city that is buried underground. Shep contacts McKay via radio to reveal that he has requested PJ's & Drones for the gene therapy & that he needs McKay to check out the Drones stock levels to see how many are left remaining, he says he will find out & goes off to have a look.

                  Beckett gets back to Shep with the examination results, he tells him that there is nothing that he can do for the lord protector as he is dying. The reason for this is that he has been poisoned slowly over a period of months. Shep looks down over the balcony at the son, who looks up at him in return & grins.

                  McKay finally finds the Drone storage area, it's totally pitch black & he is using his torch. McKay scrambles about in the torch light & eventually finds the light switch. He presses the button & all the lights come on. As he turns around to look, he is flabbergated as the scene shows entire cases of Drones. It doesn't show the whole scene & there is at the very least 100's, however I'm pretty sure that in the rest of the storage area there coul;d be as many as a couple 1000. McKay talks to himself & says okay, there is still a few left. Suddenly there is an underground tremor & the underground city begins to shake. McKay & the villager run back to the opening in order to get out, when suddenly it all caves in on itself & the whole is blocked. McKay tries to radio out for help but can't get a signal because of the cave in.

                  The constable from earlier on is back in the village, Ronin has had enough as he starts messing with the villagers again & suggests that they have more of offer than the scraps of food that they pieced together for tribute to the lord protector. The guards surround Ronin & he begins to do his stuff on them, which bascially involves a lot of throwing them around the place. After he has done with them,he turns to the constable who drawshis knife. Ronin takes a knife from a defeated soldier & they charge each other, Dex wins & cuts the constables throat with a single slice.

                  Shep informs the chamberlain Otho of his suspicions about the son, he informs them that it's too late & that the lord protector has just passed away. He tells them to go before the son gets a hold of them. McKay detects that the ZPM is almost depleted. Shep goes back for the daughter & offers to take him with her, Otho steps in & reveals himself as the one behind it all. He has arrwsted the son for the lord protectors murder. He imprisons Shep & Beckett with the son, it's very quickly revealed that Otho is the one behind the poisoning. Otho is the new lord protector & plans to marry the daughter. Worse still it was them who gave the chamberlain Otho the gene threapy, it was given earlier under the impression that he use it on the people to rid them of their dependence on the one family for their protection. However he has used it on himself & can now activate the chair himself.

                  It goes back to McKay, he finally figures out a way to get himself out, he fires a Drone inside the buried city that tears itself through the structure & creates ahold to the surface. It goes back to the cells & the lord protectors daughter comes in with a radio to get him to warn the villagers, Otho's first task is to use the throne chair to wipe out the villagers once & for all. Shep uses it to contact McKay & tells him to disable the ZPM. McKay responds that he's cut off from the ZPM & can't disable it directly & ht'll need to think of another way to sut it down. Otho gets in the chair & it activates, he leans back & lauches dozens of Drones towards the village. McKay still in contact with Shep, tells him that he may have a way to drain it. If he can use enough systems then that will eat up what little power remains in the ZPM. He is cut off from being able to use enough systems in time, the only one that will do it in time is the star drive. McKay starts it up as the Drones hurtle towards the village, Shep, Beckett & the lord protectors daughter run from the prison. The son is following behind when Beckett asks what will they do with it, Shep tells him to forget about him. So Beckett runs back & closes the cell door on the son & says 'Sorry wee man'. The tower is shaking like made from the effects of the star drive beneath them, then there is a hum & the drive suddenly goes dead, the Drones all fall to the ground & the throne chair also goes dead. That's it, the ZPM has been completely drained. Otho jumps out of the chair & confronts Shep about this being his doing & orders that they be seized. Shep tells them that they don't have to do that, as he is only the lord protector if he can control the chair. Being that the ZPM is done, then he is no longer & they don't have to follow him orders any longer. Enraged at this point, Otho draws a dagger & attacks Shep, he attempts afew thrusts before Shep gets a hold of his arm & drags the knife from him. At the same point cutting the chamberlain on the hand, he mumbles a few words about him having a good knowledge of posion & collapses to the floor. Obviously it's now apparent that he coated the blade in the poison & so when he was cut, he becamse poisoned himself.

                  Scene changes one final time to Atlantis, Weir is outside on the balcony. Shep comes out & informs her that they get a few new Jumpers & a bunch of Drones. He gave them medicine & an IDC in return.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    I found this episode amusing. Very lite.

                    Loved Beckett's line: "I need to stop making housecalls."

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Thanks Wraith hunter for the long summary makes waiting till evening a bit easier

                      I really really really really really really really really really really really really hope that after this episode Sheppards Kiriking will cease! It's getting more and more annoying!

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Originally posted by Dorka
                        Thanks Wraith hunter for the long summary makes waiting till evening a bit easier

                        I really really really really really really really really really really really really hope that after this episode Sheppards Kiriking will cease! It's getting more and more annoying!
                        It wasn't too bad, it was more cringeworthy in Epiphany. This had a more campy feel to it.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          spoiler question.









                          ummm.... another atlantis type city ship??? thats a big revalation was it not explained?? why was it not with the other atlantis? and whats with the lack of 3 zpms?

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Not a bad episode. Not excellent, but solid enough. A couple of points worth making:

                            - It was way, way, way too rushed. There was enough material here to make a decent two-parter with a nice cliffhanger in the middle. As it stands the episode is way too cramped. This seems to be a common problem this season. It's almost like the writers are afraid to let the material breathe a little and are trying to cram in as much as possible into each episode and its really dragging the show down. It's almost the opposite problem of Battlestar Galactica which has a habit of dragging things out a tiny bit much. Hopefully this is something that they fix in Season 3 otherwise I think that the series could really start to suffer...

                            - The coda was the most rushed part. Apart from establishing that Atlantis now has a couple of drones and that Shep isn't a total Kirk like man-whore it completely sidestepped the consequences of the episode, the fact that the Atlantis team has now left these people completely defenseless against the Wraith. Hopefully this will bite them in the ass big time at a later date.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              It wasn't a "bad" episode, but I had read teasers that said Weir was going to be with Beckett offworld and was disappointed she wasn't. I rather like Weir this season and we haven't seen enough of her. At least we got Beckett this week.

                              The Shep-h0r act needs to end now. I'm reaching the point where everyone BUT Sheppard is interesting. He has no "history" and only seems to be in Atlantis for his good looks and "makeout" ability.

                              There have been hints of an attraction between Sheppard and Weir for quite awhile and I'm not opposed to it, however, if that's the way TPTB intend to go, they need to get rid of the "babe-of-the-week" episodes (why in the world would Weir - or anyone - want a male ho?), keep the "ship" very low key, and give us some good SCIFI adventures.

                              Comment

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