Stargate: Atlantis

The Return, Part 1 - S3-E10

Question: When the ancients return to Atlantis they are greeted by 2 star general O'Neill but later in that episode and the part 2 episode he only had one star on his uniform. This same thing happened in a SG-1 episode when Dr. Jackson became a prior for the Ori.

The Defiant One - S1-E12

Question: The crew happen upon a crashed Wraith vessel from 10,000 years ago, with a hibernating Wraith inside, Problem is, why haven't other Wraith already found it sometime before then? They've been ruling the Galaxy, with a surplus of people and machines, for thousands of years - it's not like it was hidden at the bottom of the ocean like Atlantis, its distress beacon was working.

dizzyd

Hot Zone - S1-E13

Question: The protective suits Teyla & Sheppard put on to keep them from getting infected have a "helmet" piece that does not appear to have an airtight seal; the bottom of the hood just sort of lies on top of the body suit (it's not even tucked in). Is there some way they would be protected from the airborne virus even with what appears to be a very viable opening?

Answer: Those are actually suits that protect from hazardous chemicals. They are cheaper for the prop department and look nearly the same as biohazard suits. A real biohazard suit would indeed have a helmet that seals to the neck.

Grumpy Scot

Season 1 generally

Question: Why can't they use every last iota of energy they've got and dial earth and ask them to send them any ZPM's that they could find?

Answer: Because even all 4 Naquadah generators (one was destroyed) together is only enough to dial Earth for approximately 1.2 seconds (As seen in the episode "Letter from Pegasus"). Further, if Earth had found a ZPM, they would dial Atlantis and let them know. After all, the SGC has no other use for a ZPM than to dial Atlantis.

Grumpy Scot

Answer: It's never explicitly stated in the show.

Answer: No. In "The Third Path" (book from Legacy series), he even appeared on travelers ship.

Enemy at the Gate - S5-E20

Question: Sheppard (under orders from Jack O'Neill) is sent to Earth to operate the chair weapon in case the Wraith make it there. Why wouldn't O'Neill man the Earth chair himself? He's the one that operated it in the first place, and Sheppard has lots of experience with the Atlantis chair. Pulling Sheppard from Atlantis leaves a very inexperienced and nervous Beckett to fly and defend the city, as well as leaving Atlantis without its military commander.

Answer: Because Sheppard instinctively operates Ancient technology very well. He is better at it than any one else Earth has ever found. O'Neill has to think hard and work at it. Sheppard is the best choice with the fate of the Earth at stake.

Grumpy Scot

Show generally

Question: Doesn't it seem like the Wraith have been scaled down over the course of the season? In the beginning, they were beings with superhuman strength and speed who could heal bullet wounds (The Defiant One) and create illusions. Now they are only slightly faster/stronger than humans, and Ronon beats them on a regular basis, as does Sheppard. Doesn't it seem a bit too convenient?

Answer: Not necessarily. Atlantis has had several captured Wraith to study and they have been fighting them for years. They've clearly learned Wraith vulnerabilities. Sheppard also carries a much more powerful .45 instead of the 9mm M9 after the first season. Ronon never had much trouble beating a Wraith and he and Teyla have both been training Sheppard. Wraith darts create the illusions, not the Wraith themselves. And finally, the Wraith are slowly starving as they were awakened far too early and are correspondingly less powerful.

Grumpy Scot

Answer: It was very obvious that they nerfed the Wraith a lot during the course of the show. No question about that. Probably it had to do with the access to food was limited thanks to the Replicators, and also because they needed to give the humans a chance to beat them. But in universe it is explained that Wraith who feed at slow intervals are not that strong. And it makes sense when you think about the Wraith and how they survive.

Show generally

Question: Part of being in the Pegasus galaxy is that the 8th chevron is for travelling across galaxies. They say the first 6 are for the destination, and the 7th is for the point of origin. My question is, how do they always know the 7th symbol for the planet they are on? They always know how to dial out, even under fire, but how do they know the 7th chevron all the time?

Answer: All DHDs have a set of symbols, either 38 or 35, the former being the Milky Way gate system, and the latter being the Pegasus. They each have an individual Point of Origin Symbol, making them have 39 and 36 symbols in total for each set of gates in the different systems. Like a phone, the DHDs and the Milky Way gates have a standard order and placement of the different dialing symbols, with the PO symbol would be placed somewhere, lets say at the top on the outer rim of the DHD, between two of the constellations, always the same.

The Siege (1) - S1-E19

Question: It was said earlier in the show that the Atlantis crew did not have enough power to dial Earth. Earth Control had no idea of the fate of the Atlantis crew until they sent the video package telling them what was going on, then Earth Control sent reinforcements to help out. My question is; if Earth Control was able to send reinforcements to Atlantis to help out, why could they not send a crew to check on the status of Atlantis? They knew the Atlantis crew made it in the 1st episode.

SAZOO1975

Chosen answer: Because the ZPM allowing them to dial Atlantis was being used at the Antarctic defense outpost. They couldn't risk making Earth vulnerable to attack from Anubis by depleting it with repeated dialing to the Pegasus galaxy. Once they knew Atlantis was in serious danger, they had no choice.

Grumpy Scot

ZPM from Antarctic was depleted in first dial, dial in Siege was done via ZPM from Egypt (SG-1: Moebius Part-1/2).

Show generally

Question: I've been told stargate Atlantis was cancelled because it was too expensive to make. Is this true?

Answer: True, and the reason is complicated. Production costs were rising and it was announced that Season 5 would be the last, but there was to be a direct-to-DVD movie after the series ended, with more movies to follow. The movie was never made, and while there were later discussions about a revived Season 6, the MGM studio was undergoing financial difficulties, eventually going bankrupt. The project, after numerous failed attempts to negotiate with other production companies, was eventually shelved.

raywest

Show generally

Question: What's with the earth ships lowering or raising shields for beaming and ships to come in and out, and why do they keep changing it all the time?

Dan23

Answer: Shields are shields, and until Odyssey got the Asgard treatment in Unending, nothing can go through them. No transporting and no docking. After Unending, it is shown in Atlantis that beaming can be done through the shields, but not docking. They never changed this but once. Anything else is just a goof.

Well you do see X302 flying out of the ship during a battle and shields are up, but in Atlantis season 5 episode 1 they lower their shields for puddle jumpers to come on on board. I understand that some ships can pass through Shields and some can't. Ancient ships can go through Atlantis shield. Pegasus Asgard could go through an Atlantis shield until they made modifications to prevent that.

Dan23

The shields only work in one direction. Things can travel out of the shields, such as the missiles and railgun fire. This includes the F-302s. The puddle jumpers needed to enter the shields, which cannot be done without lowering them.

Show generally

Factual error: Anytime a character fires a missile at an airborne target, it's invariably from an M136 antitank launcher. The M136 is designed to hit relatively slow moving ground vehicles and is useless against fast moving airborne targets. (This is because used M136 tubes can't be reloaded and are very cheap to use as props).

Grumpy Scot

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Trivia: The show's two hour premier broke the SCI-FI's ratings record by attracting over 4.2 million viewers. It was also the most watched cable program that day.

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