Simeon unrealistically overpowered.

[Ouroboros]

At first when I was watching this I was thinking "wow they really underestimated this guy" but after thinking about it a bit more he didn't really do anything particularly incredible on his own. He wasn't even a particularly good shot, missing the main characters several times when he had all the time in the world to line up initial shots on them from ambush.

Basically Simeon didn't do anything particularly impressive, it was just the SGU security being retarded that enabled him to be as successful as he was. First, as I think was pointed out, why wasn't security on him increased given the problems he'd been causing in the past. They started out escorting all LA people but as some of them lost their escorts those escorts could have simply be rotated on to him so he had at least 2 men on him at all times.

It was fairly obvious early on that if anyone was going to cause problems it was going to be him.

There was nothing too inherently implausible about his escape though, aside from maybe how empty all the vital areas seemed to be, thus preventing anyone calling in his location. The SGU military teams are under manned, under supplied and likely overworked. It's not surprising that things would gradually start to slip until something really nasty like this comes along and shows just how far they have.

[aretood2]

There is a reason why the Army prefers to use a small detachment of highly trained soldiers to sneak around enemy territory and cause precise but devastating damage to the enemy as opposed to a direct full frontal assault. And I think Simoen displays this point perfectly.

[thekillman]

There was nothing too inherently implausible about his escape though, aside from maybe how empty all the vital areas seemed to be, thus preventing anyone calling in his location. The SGU military teams are under manned, under supplied and likely overworked. It's not surprising that things would gradually start to slip until something really nasty like this comes along and shows just how far they have.

but on the ship there's no sense of day or night. given the utter emptyness of the ship, i'd say it was in the middle of the night.


anyway when he shoots the two guards, one guy is shot, the other is about to think WTF and gets shot, then Simeon KEEPS HIS GUN POINTED AT HIM.


up next, he defeats a guard singlehandedly. considering that Dunning was alone at the arms room, all time simeon needed was one second.


on the planet, he had the advantage of terrain and being there first. he killed two kinos, and landed a few shots.


if anything, his actions on the planet were to stall. from the looks of when rush defused the bomb, he intended to kill rush and immediately dial to escape.




but i think most of the episode was "caught offguard".

[Quallen]

That seems that a pretty unrealistic contrivance to further a story that honestly shouldn't have happened.

Seriously, it was ridiculous how quickly those marines were being dropped by a single guy with a pistol.

If the action had been displayed in typical stormtrooper effect fashion then maybe I'd see your point but he clearly got the drop on everyone he engaged. These weren't straight up fights. There is a big difference between fighting an invading army for territory and fighting one gorilla warrior who was had plenty of time walking around to understand the security deployments and plan how he was going to do this.

On paper okay maybe it sounds odd but given the context, what we were shown, his effectiveness made sense.

[The Destiny]

I rewatched it and when Simeon shoots the 2 guys guarding the armoury they are really taken by suprise. It's not like Simeon came down the hall like a target. The second guard looks around him to find the attacker before he goes down too.

Wasn't Dunning one of the 2 standing at the armoury btw?


Also when he shoots the marine outside the gateroom, he emerges ( nicely dramatically ) from smoke. What trick did he pull there?

[Kaiphantom]

Except that the whole point was they should NOT have been taken by surprise. There was plenty of time to realize something was wrong and automatically assume that someone could come to the armory. If they were truly trained, then it would have been drilled into them that when you are on guard duty, you always assume a threat until proven otherwise.

They should have had their guns out and been suitably apart, taking whatever cover they could. The moment Simeon appeared and shot, the second guard should have been returning fire. Simeon should never have reached the gate room, nor should he have even been able to get off the ship.

The better way to handle this would have been for Simeon to take a hostage before all of this, possibly Ginn/Perry, and use that to get to the gate room. Our military guys wouldn't have looked like idiots, then.

[Gatz]

In Simeon's defense, Marines are as useful as scarecrows in the stargate universe

[Puddle-Jumper]

lol, no, they were forewarned in the first case. Simeon had gained complete surprise in this ep. Considering Simeon's background, I wouldn't be surprised if he had more combat experience than every earth soldier on Destiny with the exception of Young himself.

No Id say more then even Young, like Simeon probably grew up with a weapon in his hand... he's been a warrior his entire life... Young is good... so are Scott, Greer and James.. but nothing can stand up to that kinda experience. It was the same with Teal'c and Ronan and Teyla really..

[Blackhole]

I could easily believe Simeon would get the jump on his personal guard and Ginn/Perry. Those were likely silent kills with the element of surprise. No gunshots fired.

But once Simeon went loud with shots fired, that would have been his last kill with the element of surprise. So I could reasonably believe 2 more easy kills in that manner.

It should have been MUCH tougher after that.

Spaceship doors are made to be very strong and airtight. When closed they are probably nearly if not completely soundproof. Also Destiny is a huge ship. Sounds would not travel very far. Once he made his way to the armory he didn't waste anytime.

[Blackhole]

There is a reason why the Army prefers to use a small detachment of highly trained soldiers to sneak around enemy territory and cause precise but devastating damage to the enemy as opposed to a direct full frontal assault. And I think Simoen displays this point perfectly.

I have talked with special forces and swat officers before. The element of surprise is amazingly important. That is why surgical strikes can be so effective. Even highly trained soldiers are going to experience a moment of hesitation when startled.

[Puddle-Jumper]

Spaceship doors are made to be very strong and airtight. When closed they are probably nearly if not completely soundproof. Also Destiny is a huge ship. Sounds would not travel very far. Once he made his way to the armory he didn't waste anytime.

Good point

[lars]

Taking an average SG1-episode in comparison, it just surprises me he didn't blow up the whole ship. So, I don't see any problem with his kill count or his escape for that matter

[GateroomGuard]

Just to clarify this, they could have posted as many guards as they wanted around Simeon and this still would have happend. Simeon is not an idiot, he will wait for the best oppurtunity to make his move, eventually guards will let their guard down and all he needed to do was take one hostage and he's home clear. Just keel over and act sick, guard walks over to either help or make him move, Simeon grabs guard and his gun shoots the other guards or just uses the guard as a hostage, either way he wins. The only way to have prevented this was to have killed Simeon when the first captured him, I wouldn't even exile him, a guy like him is to much of a threat to be allowed to exist.

[Joben]

Also when he shoots the marine outside the gateroom, he emerges ( nicely dramatically ) from smoke. What trick did he pull there?

He grabbed a smoke grenade from the armory and you can hear him use it before he shoots the marines outside the gateroom

[Eternal Density]

In Simeon's defense, Marines are as useful as scarecrows in the stargate universe

If marines are Scarecrows and Simeon is Batman... yeah.