SGA Legacy Book Series

[Starsaber]

For the whole Wraith Pregnancy thing, maybe they only use human style reproduction to create queens, a different technique for wraith commanders ("named" Wraith), and cloning for drones.

[Hagazussa]

Hmm, by this logic we should never entertain anything other than what we have seen on the screen, so speculation is out of the proverbial window. So, in that respect, I don't think you should bother with the books, as most of this is developed in a way that you will find disagreeable.

If you read my posts you will see that I do several times say jay speculation. What I am saying is that we do not know as a fact other things than what is shown on the series and that all else is well, speculation. Also I do like most of the Stargate books I have read, having one or two issued here and there do not mean I do not like the books. However why do you seam so upset over this, have I insulted you in any way but not agreeing with your speculations, for that have not been my intention.

Yeah, I know. And so do the rest of the WDC, as this is a subject discussed ad nauseam. You're forgetting we've been talking about this stuff a lot longer than you, hon.

Well since it is obviously not possible to have a discussion without either having to agree on every point or the other person getting upset then obviously this is not the place for new members to have a debate either. I am sorry, however I really do not understand your reaction, we are speculating the reproductive process of a fictional race of vampires in a fictional universe, I do not really see why you are offended that I do not agree with you on this topic, is it really so important to you that any dissonance or disagreement from another equals an insult in your eyes?

Fertilisation by numerous partners is best in this regard as it would ensure a greater genetic variation within the species.Too much inbreeding is not a good thing. However, I am at a loss as to why pregnancy would weaken a female Wraith? Teyla wasn't weakened and neither are most human woman, though of course there are exceptions to any rule.

Most doctors would disagree with you, a woman who is pregnant usually suffers fatigue, is more in danger of illness, and the last few months of pregnancy she is reduced. Pregnancy do take an enormous toll of a woman's body and there is no reason to think it would not take a toll on a Wraith. In all mammalian spices pregnancy weakens the mother, ask any biologist.

Pregnancy is a natural thing, and if it carried so many risks as to leave a mother vulnerable, I believe it would not be the way we reproduce now, as evolution would have put a stop to that.

Pregnancy is a leading cause of death among women in many parts of the world, and it was in the West as well before we had hospitals and advanced medical science who can prevent many of the complications. Why do you think pregnant women are generally followed very closely by her doctors when she is pregnant? A rather large percentage of all pregnancies lead to complications. Now the last few months of a pregnancy a rather huge amount of woman can not work, you have hormones in unbalance I could go on and on on medical problems with pregnancy. Most women are tired for a long time after having given birth, and it is seen in societies where women still have many children that mothers who have gone through many pragmatics have more health problems and die younger than those with few children. Pregnancy is natural yes, however something being natural do not mean it is good for you.

The other thing about Wraith is that as an apex predator, it behoves them to keep their numbers small, as their food source i.e. us is vulnerable, and takes a looooong time to mature. The only reason there are so many about in Pegasus is because Team Shep wandered in and essentially threw a hand grenade that upset the whole balance. In that respect, rapid reproduction is counterindicative.

Yes their numbers have to be kept low that is true. However think of it this way, if a hive lost three members during a culling the Queen would be weakened with pregnancy for over two years to replace them. With so few females their numbers would go constantly down, not up.

[WraithTech]

For the whole Wraith Pregnancy thing, maybe they only use human style reproduction to create queens, a different technique for wraith commanders ("named" Wraith), and cloning for drones.

The author's blog leans toward live birth for faced officers and Queens, each being individuals. So far, what we have seen in "Homecoming" is that Snow honored Guide with a son, then a daughter (p34).

[WraithTech]

Yes their numbers have to be kept low that is true. However think of it this way, if a hive lost three members during a culling the Queen would be weakened with pregnancy for over two years to replace them. With so few females their numbers would go constantly down, not up.

The loss of faced officers could be minimized by how they usually send one at a time and let the team of masked warriors do the heavy battle work.

As for other Wraith reproduction methods, the Wraith hive in "Nightfall" did have the means for growing Wraith children in pods, including Queens (p. 222).

[Hagazussa]

The author's blog leans toward live birth for faced officers and Queens, each being individuals. So far, what we have seen in "Homecoming" is that Snow honored Guide with a son, then a daughter (p34).

Yes I know, that is why I mentioned it as this seams strange to me from how it seams in the series and the number of Queens. It is in no way a deal breaker as it is a great book so far, it is just a tiny little thing that bothered me.

The loss of faced officers could be minimized by how they usually send one at a time and let the team of masked warriors do the heavy battle work.

Yes that is true. However if Wraith was birthed like humans that would make every faced officer extremely valuable.

As for other Wraith reproduction methods, the Wraith hive in "Nightfall" did have the means for growing Wraith children in pods, including Queens (p. 222).

I had completely forgotten this part of the comic, but yes you are right about that, and that could reduce the pressure off Queens birthing children I agree with that.

[Isolde]

Spoiler:

If you read my posts you will see that I do several times say jay speculation. What I am saying is that we do not know as a fact other things than what is shown on the series and that all else is well, speculation. Also I do like most of the Stargate books I have read, having one or two issued here and there do not mean I do not like the books. However why do you seam so upset over this, have I insulted you in any way but not agreeing with your speculations, for that have not been my intention.

Well since it is obviously not possible to have a discussion without either having to agree on every point or the other person getting upset then obviously this is not the place for new members to have a debate either. I am sorry, however I really do not understand your reaction, we are speculating the reproductive process of a fictional race of vampires in a fictional universe, I do not really see why you are offended that I do not agree with you on this topic, is it really so important to you that any dissonance or disagreement from another equals an insult in your eyes?

Most doctors would disagree with you, a woman who is pregnant usually suffers fatigue, is more in danger of illness, and the last few months of pregnancy she is reduced. Pregnancy do take an enormous toll of a woman's body and there is no reason to think it would not take a toll on a Wraith. In all mammalian spices pregnancy weakens the mother, ask any biologist.

Yes their numbers have to be kept low that is true. However think of it this way, if a hive lost three members during a culling the Queen would be weakened with pregnancy for over two years to replace them. With so few females their numbers would go constantly down, not up.

Causes of Maternal Mortality

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

I was one of those women, having had one pregnancy that ended in stillbirth and another in a neonatal death, from which I nearly died, due to a massive haemorrhage. I have first hand knowledge of what constitutes a viable pregnancy or not, and yes, this is a sticky subject for me.

I don't mind that you disagree, but we're beginning to feel patronised, because you continually explain everything, and that's not necessary. We get it, your reasoning, we ain't daft.

*shugs* Still, Wraith need to keep their numbers low, as outbreeding your prey is the short way to extinction. And as specialised feeders their number is up unless they address it.

With regard to your assertion about pregnancy, I have searched for scholarly articles to support the claim and can't find any. Perhaps you could provide a link?

[CedrusTuri]

Wasn't going to comment, but all things considered, if I'm getting this worked up about things that I'm reading, then maybe I should just get it off my chest after all.

A few points then:

Firstly, I freely confess that I haven't read the books yet, for a number of reasons. I resisted for a long time because I was wiggy about 'dodgy book canon.' I'd seen it happen with Pocketbooks' continunation of Star Trek: Enterprise and I was afraid it was going to happen to Stargate Atlantis. However, I do follow the blogs of both authors, and have read their considered and informative comments to their readers. I have a great deal of respect for them - except maybe when I'm already pi$$y because of my computer transforming into an iratus doorstop. Secondly, a reason I haven't read yet, is because I'm still busy writing, and try to avoid reading works that cover the same or similar ground, so as to avoid unintentional influences from said works. That said: a) What I've found as a universal given is that authors writing any body of works concerning the Wraith seems to travel frighteningly similar roads of reasoning and plot development, and I'm sorry, whichever side of the bed you're lying on regarding the Wraith, the books, and all the things being so hotly debated here, that's got to speak volumes, and b) to return to the concern about the naming of Wraith, even if it were simply a matter of making it more convenient to the writer, (which I don't believe for a second is the motivation for their naming), then unless and until YOU have tried to write a scene involving the Wraith, Haguzussa, and managed to make it coherent and unencumbered, please don't use that as some kind of veiled put down. It's incredibly difficult. I, personally, don't hold with naming them 'among themselves' in single word 'labels' and tend to go with the 'telepathic image' idea in my own writing, but I fully respect where others are coming from with regard to the 'naming of Wraith' (Hmmm, T.S. Elliot, eat your heart out).

Next, I'd like to turn my attention, hopefully briefly, to the troubled topic of Wraith reproduction and make the following points.

I don't think anyone is objecting to the debate, per se, Hagazussa, merely your 'I'm right and you're all wrong' condescending attitude, and like it or not, that is what comes across in your postings, sorry. You misquote, or intentionally omit parts of a quote that do not hold with your opinion when you're answering others, and then seem to get annoyed when they call you on it. You gotta roll with it, kiddo. When you do that to people, of course they're going to get upset. What's good for the goose is good for the gander, as the saying goes.

For my two penneth, and only briefly so as not to entangle those following my VS up in spoiler country. Wraith are far too sensual creatures /not/ to engage in physical pleasures, and what other ways would have have discovered them in the first place than from the biological imperative. My own opinion follows that certain subsets among the Wraith are cloned, certain are mass gestated, rather like the ant idea you are promoting, and others, Commanders and Queens are fully gestated to preserve individuality and genetic diversity. I believe that at such times, Queens withdraw and are heavily protected and, weakened or otherwise, gestate and birth the live young. It wouldn't be something that would be seen or experience, even by some of the more senior Wraith Commanders/Scientist, but it remains. Without boring people too much with where this thinking came from I'll simply say briefly that there was a) some speculation a while by on Malozzi's blog as to an episode that might have made the cut in season 6 had SGA not been cancelled that would have explored the concept of Wraith young and it's accociated intricacies. b) What we already know from various sources in the show about the Wraith, and c) a throwaway comment by Michael in Search and Rescue, So while the thoughts are only my opinion, they do have /some/ basis in the show's mythology/canon.

Anyway, I think I spent more than two pennies, so... posting this now, and going to do... other things. Might read something!

[Ouroboros]

I am currently reading Stargate Atlantis Homecoming and for the most part I love the book, I highly recommend it. There is one thing I do not like however, the Wraith are named. Now for names we have for example Bonewhite, Iron, seriously I know they are green but they are not orcs and that is what they sound like. When I hear names such as Bonewhite I begin to think, I am Bonewhite bone crusher, waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaggggg, your bones will be given to our shaman as tribute...hum...oh I was not reading Warhammer my bad.

My main problem with the Wraith being named is that it is a major mystery in the series why the Wraith never give their names, to just name them cheapen that. Now there are a few scenes in the series where the Wraith speak amongst themselves with no humans present and they do not use names then either, they refer to one another by position in the Hive, something which is rather natural. Many societies have not used names the way we do, your name where your profession, that is why we have names like Baker or Smith today. In Japan this was even more prevalent. There is an old Japanese novel, in fact it is one of the first examples of a book being written just for entertainment, and is often called the world's first novel. This book is called The Tale of Genji and it is extremely hard to follow the story as hardly anyone is named. At the time in Japan personal names where considered so private that to even name a fictional character was not done. Everyone is referred to by position. Governor, Lady's Maid and so on, the problem is that as time go on in the fictional world people's positions in society chance, and then their description do as well and as there is no names to go by it get problematic to keep up. However back on track with my post here, it would make sense if the Wraith had something similar, they have a hive based society, the hive is everything, it would make sense that they might not even have personal names but they are Hall Guard, Commander, Dart Pilot and so on.

Another possibility I have considered is that their names might be telepathic. A good example of telepathic names would be in Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time where wolves are nearly as intelligent as humans are, they can walk people's dreams and they are telepathic. One of the main characters have the rare ability that he can speak with wolves and in the beginning grasping their names is hard, as a wolf's name might be a stretch of riverbank with paw prints in the snow a sunrise playing on the water and the sound of a fish breaking the surface. How do you translate that into words a non telepathic creature can understand?

I am just guessing here, however what we know is that no Wraith have ever given their name, not one and there have to be a better reason than their names sounding stupid, also none of the named Wraith have minded their new names. Someone who look at names the way people do will usually be rather testy if someone try to rename them. A nickname among friends is one thing, however take various societies who have had slaves, for example America, there exist interviews with slaves and former slaves and one of the things which was mentioned as a debasement, right alongside rape and physical violence is often having their names changed. Names is important to people, allot of our identity rest on our names. However the Wraith in Stargate do not even flinch when they are given names by Sheppard, they just shrug in a oh well if you need to put such a handle on me way.

Bottom line it seams unlikely to me that the Wraith have names the same way humans do, there have to be a reason why they are so unwilling to give their names, perhaps they can't, perhaps they do not have names as we would see it, or their names are telepathic and impossible to translate into a short, physical sound. Naming the Wraith Guide, Bonewhite and Snow is just disappointing, it just takes that great mystery and throw it out the window for convenience as it is easier to write a character who have a conventional name, and that is disappointing.

Another thing which is disappointing is that Todd remembering back appears to have had two children with his first Queen. What? First he have a name and now he do the hubba hubba which a Queen? It is not described exactly how Wraith produce young in Stargate Atlantis but it is said that it is not done as humans do it, and it would be impossible to do it the way humans do it, there are thousands of males per one female, the female can not just get pregnant and give birth that is to slow, the race would plain die out with so few females. It is said that the Queen provide the genetic material for new Wraith, probably it works like with many insects, the Queen are fertilized once and then the males are not needed anymore other than to protect her and attend upon her. Wraith Queens do not, and I repeat do not do the hubba bubba with their Commanders and then birth them daughters and name them Snow! I feel that the authors of this book tried to much to humanize the Wraith, however that do not work, they are alien, and they should then be alien, their names and reproduction should be alien, do make them seam more human is to cheapen them.

Wow, some of this sounds pretty terrible.

Cute little Wraith children with cute little names, Todd's dead wife, Wraith having sex and romance like people and getting drama pregnant.

I generally avoid novelizations/comics of the shows I watch for fear of running into things like this. I haven't even read the Farscape comics yet and those are written by the creators and generally praised by the community from what I can see.

As far as the naming thing I can see where the need to name them in a written work might arise from. I do think it would be possible to do it without naming them so long as you were selective about how many characters you created though. It might also be possible to name only the queens/families and then refer to all the others in that way. Anyway though, that's not the part that would bug me the most as a reader.

The unfounded assumptions about Wraith reproduction all coincidently pushing them in the obvious direction of being more human like and romantically relatable to humans is what would bother me.

Simply cut and pasting human sexuality and emotion onto an alien species is pretty much the laziest and most boring way to do such a thing, and doing it with a hive species like the Wraith is hardly going to score you any points for believability.

I'd be willing to buy the idea of some sort of sexual experimentation akin to the food experimentation born from their recessive human traits, likely viewed as deviant or abnormal by their larger societal norms, but full blown, "mommy, daddy, 2 children and a Labrador stuff" not buying it.

The Wraith cloning machine made guys in tubes and required a queen to do it. Todd also mentions in some of his dialog that queens "create warriors" which strongly implies something akin to the cloning machine only on a smaller scale.

The reason for this is simple. Look at how the cloning machine interfaces with the queen. Look at how drawn out and complicated it is. If it were true test tube style cloning like we understand it the queen's continued and prolonged presence throughout the whole process would not be required. A queen would not be required at all, only genetic material from one and possibly not even that. Once that's provided to the machine even Mckay or Zelenka could create a Wraith army for himself, despite being aliens. That's not how it works though. You need a queen, she needs to stay connected to the machine, and afterward she's sapped of strength and energy and needs to feed, despite the ZPM allegedly powering this thing.

The queen has to sit there and operate the machine for an extended period of time and only then does it produce a bunch of Wraith drones. Her lieutenant can't jump in and operate it himself, neither can Mckay or Zelenka, only she can.

That's their reproductive process right there folks. The cloning machine piggybacks on the natural way queens create more Wraith. The only difference is that the cloning machine vastly increases the number of offspring born from it.

It fits with what Todd says about queens creating warriors, it fits with what Sheppard and McKay said about it likely not being sexual, it answers the question of why the cloning machine needs a queen in the first place. It even explains why those queen thrones are for in all the hiveships.

The only thing it doesn't fit with is a need to humanize the Wraith into a potential object of romance.

There is material in the show a writer can use to construct some sort of reasonably supportable theory about how the Wraith might make more Wraith. None of it really points in the direction this book seemingly took off in however. About the only thing that I can think of that even could is that Ellia started out as a child. That's so easy to work into the cloning machine/batch production type theory it hardly merits tossing out and ignoring all the other information in favor of making them virtually indistinguishable from humans though.

[Hagazussa]

I don't mind that you disagree, but we're beginning to feel patronised, because you continually explain everything, and that's not necessary. We get it, your reasoning, we ain't daft.

It is not meant as patronizing, it is meant as a way to debate, a way to prove a point. For example let us say that someone says there can be dangerous waves in any body of water, and I then hold up a water glass and say, really? That is not patronizing it is arguing one's point in a debate using extremely exaggerated examples. In Norway we call this putting it on the point, I do not know if it has a English name but it is a common debate technique and not one meant as an insult.

In addition I have Aspergers syndrome, so I do not always know how much context I have to include to make my point understood, that is not an attempt to look down at someone but rather that I can not easily read unspoken social rules nor how much information I need to give to make myself understood.

*shugs* Still, Wraith need to keep their numbers low, as outbreeding your prey is the short way to extinction. And as specialised feeders their number is up unless they address it.

I agree Wraith have a problem with being so specialized. One of my friends like to call them panda vampires, however I still think there will be to few new Wraith by conventional pregnancy, I am not saying that you are necessarily wrong, however I am saying that for me that do not seam to be very likely.

With regard to your assertion about pregnancy, I have searched for scholarly articles to support the claim and can't find any. Perhaps you could provide a link?

Spoiler:

I could go into a debate on this however since I said I have Aspergers syndrome making me not always very skilled at knowing when I step in the salad I do not feel comfortable with it after you have told me about the problems with your pregnancy as I do not want to accidentally say something that hurt you as that have never been my intention.

b) to return to the concern about the naming of Wraith, even if it were simply a matter of making it more convenient to the writer, (which I don't believe for a second is the motivation for their naming), then unless and until YOU have tried to write a scene involving the Wraith, Haguzussa, and managed to make it coherent and unencumbered, please don't use that as some kind of veiled put down. It's incredibly difficult.

First off all reading the link further up the thread then yes it was sort of the author's intention to name them to make it easier to write them, though I grant her that she have done allot of work in thinking out how their names would work. Secondly yes I have tried to write Wraiths, I do not publish anything I am just a hobby writer, however I do write both fanfiction and RPG adventures and I know it is difficult to work in unnamed characters. However that do not change the fact that I think it is a bit strange way to do it.

Or to say it differently, I live with a computer programmer, I know that making a PS3 game is difficult, that do not however excuse bad graphics or wonky camera making it hard to see the character or any other flaw, nor do it make a customer with no programming skills disqualification from pointing out such flaws.

Also a book is never, ever perfect, and speaking about a flaw, or even a element one personally do not like is not a put down of the book. However I can respect an author allot, and still speak about something I see as a flaw in their works. I respect Dog Kreig my favorite author like you would not believe, that do not mean that I can not say that I find the new chapter on the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram in the third edition of his book confusing and strangely edited. I respect Blizzard allot and Diablo 2 is my favorite computer game, however that do not mean I can not say that the ally AI in their game sucks in confined spaces, even if I could not hope to make a game as good as theirs. Respecting something do not mean one have to hold it as perfect.

I don't think anyone is objecting to the debate, per se, Hagazussa, merely your 'I'm right and you're all wrong' condescending attitude, and like it or not, that is what comes across in your postings, sorry.

I have repeatedly said that it is my opinion, how I see it, so I do not understand how you could read what you do out of my posts.

You misquote, or intentionally omit parts of a quote that do not hold with your opinion when you're answering others, and then seem to get annoyed when they call you on it. You gotta roll with it, kiddo. When you do that to people, of course they're going to get upset. What's good for the goose is good for the gander, as the saying goes.

I have not done this. However obviously this is a forum where you have to agree or you get picked on. I am sorry if I have upset you, I will take my leave.

Thank you all for the debate.

[Ouroboros]

It is not meant as patronizing, it is meant as a way to debate, a way to prove a point. For example let us say that someone says there can be dangerous waves in any body of water, and I then hold up a water glass and say, really? That is not patronizing it is arguing one's point in a debate using extremely exaggerated examples. In Norway we call this putting it on the point, I do not know if it has a English name but it is a common debate technique and not one meant as an insult.

I think you might be talking about Reductio ad absurdum. It's a favorite of mine to. You can have some pretty wacky fun with the stuff some people say.

[Isolde]

I have no problem playing Devil's Advocate, as it is a fave of mine too. Lob a bomb, see people scurry... Yes, very satisfying, but I don't think that's what was going on here. I do wish Aspergers had been mentioned earlier, as I would have been better able to ignore behaviours which are seen as irritating. *sigh*

[WraithTech]

The Wraith cloning machine made guys in tubes and required a queen to do it. Todd also mentions in some of his dialog that queens "create warriors" which strongly implies something akin to the cloning machine only on a smaller scale.

Cloned batches is what was seen for masked warriors. Like you said, though, Ellia was seen as a child. It seems reasonable that the faced officers would be produced the same was as the Queens and is the direction the Legacy books have gone. Regardless, having two different castes of males is very unlike humans.

It is not meant as patronizing, it is meant as a way to debate, a way to prove a point. For example let us say that someone says there can be dangerous waves in any body of water, and I then hold up a water glass and say, really? That is not patronizing it is arguing one's point in a debate using extremely exaggerated examples. In Norway we call this putting it on the point, I do not know if it has a English name but it is a common debate technique and not one meant as an insult.

Different cultures do have different ways of debating; in some, repeating information is considered highly complimentary to the original writer. I live in the northeastern US and didn't take any offense to your writing style. My advice for this forum is that posts are better received when there are links to the transcripts to back up facts or show where speculations are coming from. Many times, I have started to look for such links and discovered I was missing information or wrong. We have all been wrong here and there, and I would personally rather be corrected than to misremember things about the Wraith.

It is helpful to know that you are from Norway, that you probably speak more than 1 language, and that you have Aspergers. As a fellow Wraith fan, I hope that you will stay and have fun on the forums and find them useful to share information.

[Ouroboros]

Cloned batches is what was seen for masked warriors. Like you said, though, Ellia was seen as a child. It seems reasonable that the faced officers would be produced the same was as the Queens and is the direction the Legacy books have gone. Regardless, having two different castes of males is very unlike humans.

I'd agree that it's possible that queens and males are created the same way. It's likely that the faced males and queens are a product of the normal reproductive batch process, the one that takes place on hives, while the no faced ones are the result of the accelerated maturity process used by the cloning machine.

The Wraith, especially in wartime, probably wouldn't care if their clone armies looked like awful abominable mockeries of their normal species, so long as they hatched at full maturity and were ready to fight immediately it was a more than worthwhile trade.

It fits with how they're treated and depicted to. They apparently have no free will or real intelligence of their own and rely on instructions from queens or normal males to do anything.

What I'm getting at is that it's entirely likely, given the massive numbers of them that must have been created, that all the current noface guys are just left overs from the original cloning runs in the ancient war. There's probably even more of them still in cold storage.

I just don't get how anyone can look at what we've seen in the show and arrive at "Todd had 2 kids with his former queen" unless you're starting with "wraith reproduce like humans" as an assumption/desired outcome and then trying to work backwards to justify that somehow.

Nothing really points to it at all. We've never seen anything even approaching romantic affection between Queens and Males. The males seem utterly terrified of the mere mention of the Queen in the Queen episode. Something more befitting a sometimes cruel and mysterious mother figure that "made you" than a potential romantic interest.

[WraithTech]

I just don't get how anyone can look at what we've seen in the show and arrive at "Todd had 2 kids with his former queen" unless you're starting with "wraith reproduce like humans" as an assumption/desired outcome and then trying to work backwards to justify that somehow.

The books do not portray the Wraith as being like typical suburban families. Males must compete for the Queens's attention and she chooses her favorites. More about that is explained here:

http://jo-graham.livejournal.com/99875.html

The males seem utterly terrified of the mere mention of the Queen in the Queen episode. Something more befitting a sometimes cruel and mysterious mother figure that "made you" than a potential romantic interest.

The Queen in "SOW," yes, she was quite nasty to her Commander, but not all of the Queens treated all of their officers cruelly. The way the scientist from "Allies" looks at his Queen suggests a relaxed admiration:

http://www.gateworld.net/gallery/dis...um=291&pos=323

[Ouroboros]

The books do not portray the Wraith as being like typical suburban families. Males must compete for the Queens's attention and she chooses her favorites. More about that is explained here:

http://jo-graham.livejournal.com/99875.html

So it's ancient royal courts instead of human suburban families then, only with probably even more incest.

It was like I said then. She starts from the assumption that Wraith must reproduce like humans do, which isn't even suggested in the show and actually denied by McKay, then works back from that, trying to make their society fit around it.

The Queen in "SOW," yes, she was quite nasty to her Commander, but not all of the Queens treated all of their officers cruelly. The way the scientist from "Allies" looks at his Queen suggests a relaxed admiration:

http://www.gateworld.net/gallery/dis...um=291&pos=323

Nothing you wouldn't see between two male Wraith either, or two of any other thinking beings on the same side. It's this supposed romantic stuff that's entirely absent. That post you linked me to takes them allegedly competing for favor in "the queen" as evidence that there must be this elaborate harem system for Wraith males.

She's their boss, of course they all want to impress her. If they don't she'll probably order them to be part of the Dart squadron that uses their fighters to intercept drones the hard way. Todd even says that Wraith males are psychologically predisposed toward wanting to be led by a queen.

If you need to make a human familial analog you could just as easily compare it to siblings competing for the favor of a parent, likely a strict and uncompromising one. Since the queen is mother to them all that is entirely a dynamic to be expected to.

It's a shame this has gone down the way it did since Wraith reproduction could have actually been a fascinating character/society study were it given more thought toward being actually alien, simply because the Wraith do have a human psyche and so much of human society is somehow based around our manner of reproduction. Everything from the basic family unit, to ancient inheritance of lofty titles, to tax laws, to the notion that through our children a part of ourselves survives into the future.

How would a human psyche develop and behave in a society where paired relationships simply don't exist? Where 99.99% of the people knew they could never have children. I don't know but I know I'd rather read about that than harems full of Wraith dudes lining up for someone who might just be their mom.