...wait a second. Replicators? Have the writers forgotten!?

[s09119]

So as I was thinking over my fanfiction, I came across Replicators, which made me remember the God-awful bit with them in Ark of Truth, and I suddenly stopped cold when I realized something; if Replicators become made of whatever material they replicate from, and the Odyssey, like all 304s, is made with trinium, then how were the people onboard able to destroy them? Isn't it 100 times stronger than steer? I imagine they'd be able to take a good number of bullets before going down then, if at all. This is kind of a glaring plot hole if true, as the writers would have just violated one of the key elements of the Replicators without even thinking about it.

Thoughts?

[PG15]

We know for a fact that we can blow up replicators made up of Asgard ship material; at least after 2 shots.

So reps made of our ships' materials should be just as easy to destroy, if not easier, assuming our ships' material is weaker than Asgard ship material. I don't see a plothole.

[AVFan]

I thought that the bullets just physically disrupted the bonds between the blocks- it didn't blow up the actual blocks themselves.

[s09119]

We know for a fact that we can blow up replicators made up of Asgard ship material; at least after 2 shots.

So reps made of our ships' materials should be just as easy to destroy, if not easier, assuming our ships' material is weaker than Asgard ship material. I don't see a plothole.

Asgard ships don't have any indication to have massively-strong hulls, though. They, like the Ancients, rely on defense shields to take all the damage. So for all we know, that material makes them very easy to destroy. I just think that given trinium's supposed incredible strength, it should've made the Replicators nigh indestructible.

[PG15]

It would make no sense to me that the Asgard's hulls are weaker than ours. They are more advanced, after all.

We use Asgard shields for defense too.

If you assume the Asgard hulls are as strong or stronger than our ships' hulls, then there is no plothole. If you assume it's weaker, than there is a potential plothole. Since we have no indication either way, I'd rather assume the former as that would mean there is no plothole.

Do you want there to be a plothole?

[s09119]

It would make no sense to me that the Asgard's hulls are weaker than ours. They are more advanced, after all.

We use Asgard shields for defense too.

If you assume the Asgard hulls are as strong or stronger than our ships' hulls, then there is no plothole. If you assume it's weaker, than there is a potential plothole. Since we have no indication either way, I'd rather assume the former as that would mean there is no plothole.

Do you want there to be a plothole?

Of course I don't want there to be a plothole, it just seems silly that a material billed as 100 times stronger than steel can still be blasted apart by a few bullets like it's nothing.

[Crazedwraith]

Asgard ships don't have any indication to have massively-strong hulls, though. They, like the Ancients, rely on defense shields to take all the damage. So for all we know, that material makes them very easy to destroy. I just think that given trinium's supposed incredible strength, it should've made the Replicators nigh indestructible.

Asgard ship use trinium in their construction as well. Specifically the O'Neil's hull is made up of an alloy of Naquadah, Trinium and Carbon. And we've seen replicators from after the introduction of this material been destroyed by firearms.

[Puddle-Jumper]

Well Ive always thought that earths weapons work well against replicators as they move fast and strong enough to physically break the bonds between the induvidual replicator blocks..

[PG15]

Of course I don't want there to be a plothole, it just seems silly that a material billed as 100 times stronger than steel can still be blasted apart by a few bullets like it's nothing.

Ah, but as AvFan, helpfully pointed out, we didn't destroy any trinium blocks; we merely severed the connections (kieron connections?) between them. Big difference.

And thank you Crazedwraith for that bit of canon.

[s09119]

Ah, but as AvFan, helpfully pointed out, we didn't destroy any trinium blocks; we merely severed the connections (kieron connections?) between them. Big difference.

And thank you Crazedwraith for that bit of canon.

No, the disruptor severs the connections between blocks. Projectile weapons supposedly just blast the bricks.

[PG15]

Whatever the case, we never destroy the actual blocks themselves, right? We merely pull them apart/shock them enough that they can't pull themselves back together anymore; thus, the actual strength of the metal doesn't seem as important as the ability for the kieron connections within the blocks to be powerful enough to pull the blocks back together.

And this is all moot anyway, since once again the reps made of Asgard material can be blown up by a few bullets. if you want to call this a plothole, then so is their initial intro in Nemesis.

[s09119]

...And thereby sever the connections between the bricks.

Whatever the case, we never destroy the actual blocks themselves, right? We merely pull them apart/shock them enough that they can't pull themselves back together anymore.

Well, that's the way it works now anyway haha. I remember when the Replicators first showed up, they could just reform themselves. Speaking of which, do we know why they stopped doing that, or was it just TPTB phasing out a detail that made them a little too hard to kill?

[PG15]

Oh man, I massively edited my post after you quoted it.

Sorry; my thoughts come in spurts.

Actually, the reps in Nemesis stopped coming back together after 2 shots from Jack's shotgun.

[TrueLordOfNetu]

No, the disruptor severs the connections between blocks. Projectile weapons supposedly just blast the bricks.

Indeed. Whereas the Disruptor/ARGs interrupted communication between blocks/cells/nanites, our projectile weapons damage the blocks themselves. Hence the ineffectiveness on the cells/nanites. As for the strength of the trinium blocks, the way I see it is that each is like small computer, for the sake of comparison lets say a laptop. Now you can subject this laptop to physical force, ie. dropping it 5/6 feet, and although the casing may only have a few scratches or cracks, the inner workings will be damaged to a point where they no longer function. So going back to the blocks, our weapons may do minimal damage to the blocks exterior but the concussive force will damage the inner workings to a degree where they can no longer function and so will separate.

EDIT - Green for PG15s high speed typing, and finding a simpler way of explaining what i've said.

[Crazedwraith]

Well, that's the way it works now anyway haha. I remember when the Replicators first showed up, they could just reform themselves. Speaking of which, do we know why they stopped doing that, or was it just TPTB phasing out a detail that made them a little too hard to kill?

Well i think in the following episode, they stopped reforming themselves because they were made of earth material rather than superior Asgard stuff. In fact in the massive running shoot out in Enemies some of the large bugs are reforming after the first time they get blasted but its hard to tell in that scene.