IMO Sheppard had to have permission from his superiors to allow Wallace to sacrifice himself.
The SGC is high security facility.
Sheppard had to get permission to have the Wraith brought to the SGC. No one can be snuck through the stargate without it being recorded and brought to the attention of the person in charge, usually Landry, especially not a high profile and dangerous prisoner like the Wraith. Sheppard would be in the brig if he had tried to sneak the Wraith in without permission.
The SGC would have instituted very tight security measures to contain the Wraith. Part of that security can be seen in the choice of room as a lab for the Wraith to work in. There are at least two large windows in one wall of that room. When the Wraith collapses, two guards can be seen in the room behind the windows, one of them picks up a phone and talks to someone. These same windows can be seen when McKay walks into the lab and watches Wallace’s body being wheeled out.
There are probably security cameras in the room used as a lab, as well.
In the lab, itself, there are some SGC guards (at least one) with the Wraith. There are two more guards with the Wraith who are probably Sheppard’s men, the ones who brought the Wraith through the gate. There is an SGC guard outside the door to the lab.
Sheppard is important on Atlantis but in the SGC he’s just a Lieutenant Colonel. There would usually be some number of colonels there and a general (Landry). Someone from the SGC would be given responsibility for the security of the Wraith’s presence on base. Sheppard is a visitor there and is focused on the overall reason for the Wraith’s presence. He is, however, the available expert on the Wraith so he would be participating in security.
Sheppard could not have taken Wallace into the lab without being observed. Even if he could have ordered the guards out of the lab, there could have been no reason to order them out of the observation room. He could not have disabled any security cameras without being detected. Therefore, he would have either been in full view of SGC personnel or his actions would have been so suspicious as to call attention to the situation.
Two conclusions are possible from the lack of privacy issue alone: Sheppard had permission/orders to do what he did or he had decided to sacrifice his career and possibly his freedom to keep McKay alive and the Wraith working on the Replicator attack code.
Sheppard would have identified the need to keep McKay away from the Wraith, but he wouldn’t have the capability or the authority to revoke his access privileges. Someone with more authority in the SGC had to do that for him and he had to provide them with a credible reason for it.
Sheppard made no attempt to hide any deception when he told McKay what would be in the report of the incident. He told him in a room with, at least, five other people in it, two more in the observation room, presumably with microphones in the lab, and in full view of whatever cameras are present.
Sheppard’s ‘the Wraith got lose’ story would have been a joke to his superiors in the SGC. No one would have believed it. There is too much security and too many witnesses. Sheppard would never have even considered writing such a report unless he knew that it would be approved. The story could have been made plausible for those outside the SGC.
Allowing a man to commit suicide by being killed by a dangerous prisoner is very bad. Allowing a man to be killed by a dangerous prisoner because of your negligence is only marginally better. We don’t actually know who was responsible for the Wraith in the SGC, besides Sheppard, so we don’t know who would get blamed for the negligence. But, apparently, it was the negligence story that went into the report. Negligence with some version of ‘Gosh, no one had any idea how strong the Wraith could be when he was desperate to feed.’
Explaining Wallace’s presence in the lab is another matter. Wallace’s company had been working on nanite programming, so some story would be possible. Wallace could have been in the lab as a consultant or Sheppard could have been trying to convince him to help out by showing him the lab. Permission for this from the NID or the SGC should have been easy enough to obtain. Maybe the SGC would be suspicious as to the amount of help Wallace could be, but outside the SGC the story could be made plausible.
The most likely scenario is that Sheppard had permission from his superiors to allow Wallace to sacrifice himself. Just as Sheppard had to tell Wallace the situation so that he could save Jeannie’s life, he had to tell General Landry, O’Neill, or someone the situation so that he could take Wallace to the Wraith and let him feed without interference. Wallace would have had to convince the SGC that he wanted to sacrifice himself to keep his victim, Jeannie, from dying and to save her family. Since there are other benefits to keeping the Wraith alive, saving the Pegasus humans among them, I doubt that it was too hard for the pragmatic SGC to make the decision to allow Wallace do it. Thus Sheppard would have the permission he requested.
IMO, the SGC would make that decision, but they would not want to have to justify it to those lacking the perspective that the stargate has provided. So, like Woolsey, they would prefer the report to reflect a less controversial version of the circumstances i.e., ‘the Wraith got loose.’
Outside the SGC the circumstances of the Wraith’s confinement would be unknown. Even if the report looked fishy, it is unlikely that more would come of it.
IMO, Sheppard did not act alone. He would not have been able to allow the Wraith to feed on Wallace in secret. There is too much oversight by the SGC. The ‘official’ version of the incident that Sheppard tells McKay is the version the SGC wants reported. If Sheppard acted alone, without permission, he would be awaiting disciplinary action, not reading comic books in Atlantis.
Sheppard does, however, assume the responsibility and the moral baggage that goes with it.
btw, for the purposes of this argument, I am not Landry (court martial thread)
The SGC is high security facility.
Sheppard had to get permission to have the Wraith brought to the SGC. No one can be snuck through the stargate without it being recorded and brought to the attention of the person in charge, usually Landry, especially not a high profile and dangerous prisoner like the Wraith. Sheppard would be in the brig if he had tried to sneak the Wraith in without permission.
The SGC would have instituted very tight security measures to contain the Wraith. Part of that security can be seen in the choice of room as a lab for the Wraith to work in. There are at least two large windows in one wall of that room. When the Wraith collapses, two guards can be seen in the room behind the windows, one of them picks up a phone and talks to someone. These same windows can be seen when McKay walks into the lab and watches Wallace’s body being wheeled out.
There are probably security cameras in the room used as a lab, as well.
In the lab, itself, there are some SGC guards (at least one) with the Wraith. There are two more guards with the Wraith who are probably Sheppard’s men, the ones who brought the Wraith through the gate. There is an SGC guard outside the door to the lab.
Sheppard is important on Atlantis but in the SGC he’s just a Lieutenant Colonel. There would usually be some number of colonels there and a general (Landry). Someone from the SGC would be given responsibility for the security of the Wraith’s presence on base. Sheppard is a visitor there and is focused on the overall reason for the Wraith’s presence. He is, however, the available expert on the Wraith so he would be participating in security.
Sheppard could not have taken Wallace into the lab without being observed. Even if he could have ordered the guards out of the lab, there could have been no reason to order them out of the observation room. He could not have disabled any security cameras without being detected. Therefore, he would have either been in full view of SGC personnel or his actions would have been so suspicious as to call attention to the situation.
Two conclusions are possible from the lack of privacy issue alone: Sheppard had permission/orders to do what he did or he had decided to sacrifice his career and possibly his freedom to keep McKay alive and the Wraith working on the Replicator attack code.
Sheppard would have identified the need to keep McKay away from the Wraith, but he wouldn’t have the capability or the authority to revoke his access privileges. Someone with more authority in the SGC had to do that for him and he had to provide them with a credible reason for it.
Sheppard made no attempt to hide any deception when he told McKay what would be in the report of the incident. He told him in a room with, at least, five other people in it, two more in the observation room, presumably with microphones in the lab, and in full view of whatever cameras are present.
Sheppard’s ‘the Wraith got lose’ story would have been a joke to his superiors in the SGC. No one would have believed it. There is too much security and too many witnesses. Sheppard would never have even considered writing such a report unless he knew that it would be approved. The story could have been made plausible for those outside the SGC.
Allowing a man to commit suicide by being killed by a dangerous prisoner is very bad. Allowing a man to be killed by a dangerous prisoner because of your negligence is only marginally better. We don’t actually know who was responsible for the Wraith in the SGC, besides Sheppard, so we don’t know who would get blamed for the negligence. But, apparently, it was the negligence story that went into the report. Negligence with some version of ‘Gosh, no one had any idea how strong the Wraith could be when he was desperate to feed.’
Explaining Wallace’s presence in the lab is another matter. Wallace’s company had been working on nanite programming, so some story would be possible. Wallace could have been in the lab as a consultant or Sheppard could have been trying to convince him to help out by showing him the lab. Permission for this from the NID or the SGC should have been easy enough to obtain. Maybe the SGC would be suspicious as to the amount of help Wallace could be, but outside the SGC the story could be made plausible.
The most likely scenario is that Sheppard had permission from his superiors to allow Wallace to sacrifice himself. Just as Sheppard had to tell Wallace the situation so that he could save Jeannie’s life, he had to tell General Landry, O’Neill, or someone the situation so that he could take Wallace to the Wraith and let him feed without interference. Wallace would have had to convince the SGC that he wanted to sacrifice himself to keep his victim, Jeannie, from dying and to save her family. Since there are other benefits to keeping the Wraith alive, saving the Pegasus humans among them, I doubt that it was too hard for the pragmatic SGC to make the decision to allow Wallace do it. Thus Sheppard would have the permission he requested.
IMO, the SGC would make that decision, but they would not want to have to justify it to those lacking the perspective that the stargate has provided. So, like Woolsey, they would prefer the report to reflect a less controversial version of the circumstances i.e., ‘the Wraith got loose.’
Outside the SGC the circumstances of the Wraith’s confinement would be unknown. Even if the report looked fishy, it is unlikely that more would come of it.
IMO, Sheppard did not act alone. He would not have been able to allow the Wraith to feed on Wallace in secret. There is too much oversight by the SGC. The ‘official’ version of the incident that Sheppard tells McKay is the version the SGC wants reported. If Sheppard acted alone, without permission, he would be awaiting disciplinary action, not reading comic books in Atlantis.
Sheppard does, however, assume the responsibility and the moral baggage that goes with it.
btw, for the purposes of this argument, I am not Landry (court martial thread)
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