SGA - 4x17 - Midway [SPOILERS]

Overheal

conjecture ftw -_-

Sherifu

I like that idea alastair_doom. Another explanation I thought of was: do the pegasus gates have some extra components to make them dialable from the jumpers? Could a jumper dial a milky way gate? Are the midway gates milky way gates or 1 from milky way, 1 from pegasus?

BKtje

I was under the impression that it was one of each as it was the midpoint of the two galaxies and where the gate networks coverge but don't know if that was ever mentioned.
Of course you could dial Pegasus to our system but thats when you need the extra power of a zpm.

I'd never even have thought of the dialing home if you hadn't of brought it up here, demmit.

Sherifu

B-K-DzR wrote: »

I was under the impression that it was one of each as it was the midpoint of the two galaxies and where the gate networks coverge but don't know if that was ever mentioned.

Yes, I think you're right. It seems to be one of each.




I happened upon another possible explanation:

GWF wrote:

One of the biggest questions post-midway seems to be whether or not the gates were destroyed when the station self destructed; and the reason why most people seem to think the gates DID go bye-bye is that they didn't simply dial up the Pegasus gate and head back to Atlantis rather than waiting for rescue.

However, I was thinking; it's quite possible that the jumper at Midway didn't have a copy of the forwarding macro, and unless McKay knew the exact co-ordinates of every gate in the chain, I doubt he'd have be able to re-write it without access to the gate positioning data (probably held on the Midway computers & Atlantis's database).

Essentially meaning the gate may have been sitting there (and fully functional), but with no means of dialing it.

OR, the gates were most likely powered by Midway's power generators; after the station went boom, there would have been no way to power the gates and therefore dial out without doing an EVA and hooking up a Naquadah generator to the gate manually... considering they took Shepherd out of that spacesuit before getting in the jumper, there would've been no way to do so.

Ivan

Wasnt there a whole plot arc about the token black guy from season 1, being fed upon by a wraith and then the wraith dying mid-feeding. This made the black guy all uber and bat-**** crazy... so when the precise same thing happened to teal'c, why did nobody bat an eyelid?

Also, I am all for Teal'c and Ronin being badass', but 2 of them killing that made wraith bordered on the ludicrous. Especially where in one scene teal'c manages to pull a wraith off of Ronin and snap its neck in a matter of seconds. While only a few short scenes later gets over-powered by a single wraith and fed upon.

This series is full of plot holes and terrible writing, it just saddens me that it is still going and being followed by people supposedly sound mind, with an almost religious fervor

End Atlantis now or for the love of God, fix it

Sherifu

Ivan wrote: »

Wasnt there a whole plot arc about the token black guy from season 1, being fed upon by a wraith and then the wraith dying mid-feeding. This made the black guy all uber and bat-**** crazy... so when the precise same thing happened to teal'c, why did nobody bat an eyelid?

That was Aidan Ford played by Rainbow Sun Francks. Haven't seen him since that Wraith ship exploded in season 2. Hope he makes a comeback at some stage. Good point about teal'c, could be
1. that he wasn't at the same stage ford was at; he hadn't got a dose of enzyme yet
2. the tretonin stopped the enzyme having any effect
3. the enzyme doesn't make jaffa go crazy

Ivan wrote: »

Also, I am all for Teal'c and Ronin being badass', but 2 of them killing that made wraith bordered on the ludicrous. Especially where in one scene teal'c manages to pull a wraith off of Ronin and snap its neck in a matter of seconds. While only a few short scenes later gets over-powered by a single wraith and fed upon.

You don't think there are weaker and stronger Wraith?

Ivan wrote: »

This series is full of plot holes and terrible writing, it just saddens me that it is still going and being followed by people supposedly sound mind, with an almost religious fervor

End Atlantis now or for the love of God, fix it

Can't say I agree, there will always be plot holes in tv shows. Perhaps even more so in sci-fi. I still enjoy the weekly installments.

Overheal

1) Teal'c is a not a token black guy. Jaffa Krie!

1.5) Rainbow was a tool and I'm glad he's gone. "Some funky alien bug attached itself to his neck!"

From Matter of Time, SG-1 wrote:

"Funky!? Is funky proper military terminology soldier?"

"No, sir!"

I rest my case.

2)

Sherifu wrote:

Another explanation I thought of was: do the pegasus gates have some extra components to make them dialable from the jumpers? Could a jumper dial a milky way gate?

The Return Part I: Sheppard's team and Weir bust through Stargate Command after being refused permission to return to Atlantis after the Replicators attack the ancients now there. They manually disable the Iris and dial to Midway. According to Sgt. Walter, the Dialing Computer was not used to establish the wormhole, hence why he was unable to shut down the gate when ordered to by General Landry. A jumper descends from the ceiling and they're off.

3) Yes, The Carter McKay bridge used an equal number of gates from each galaxy. Midway is where the 2 system of gates joined up, so naturally there is one of each at midway.

4) I'd be willing to accept McKay wouldn't be able to rewrite the macro with the gates wandering in space if again, as I mentioned earlier, any single set of gate coordinates would appear to function for a very, very large sector of space. Examples include the X-302 jump, as well as when Carter blew up that sun, by flinging an active gate into it. Granted it was hooked into that black hole..

Ivan wrote:

Also, I am all for Teal'c and Ronin being badass', but 2 of them killing that made wraith bordered on the ludicrous. Especially where in one scene teal'c manages to pull a wraith off of Ronin and snap its neck in a matter of seconds. While only a few short scenes later gets over-powered by a single wraith and fed upon.

This series is full of plot holes and terrible writing, it just saddens me that it is still going and being followed by people supposedly sound mind, with an almost religious fervor

I was just thinking this myself. They've written so much material over the 12 or so years that it must get exceedingly difficult to write good episodes without breaking the rules here and there. That doesn't excuse Teal'c and Rambo there though. And yes, it was just like Rambo - you're sitting there and wondering when are they going to reload that 30-round clip? NEVER~!

alastair_doom

Its fiction. And its fun. And I like it.

Overheal

I excuse it for the good episodes. Quarantine was a disaster. This was hilarity in a jar and i loved most of it.

Feral Mutant

Ivan wrote: »

Wasnt there a whole plot arc about the token black guy from season 1, being fed upon by a wraith and then the wraith dying mid-feeding. This made the black guy all uber and bat-**** crazy... so when the precise same thing happened to teal'c, why did nobody bat an eyelid?

I think that happened because he spent hours attached to the wraith and so got a huge dose.

Also, I can kinda see the sense in Midway not having an iris. If it takes half an hour to get to Midway from one galaxy, there's no way of getting confirmation it's open so there'd always be a risk of hitting the iris when you get there.

Overheal

Feral Mutant wrote: »

I think that happened because he spent hours attached to the wraith and so got a huge dose.

Also, I can kinda see the sense in Midway not having an iris. If it takes half an hour to get to Midway from one galaxy, there's no way of getting confirmation it's open so there'd always be a risk of hitting the iris when you get there.

the man makes a solid point. according to McKay's explaination the total straight through travel time to macro to Earth from Atlantis is 30 minutes.

AlmightyCushion

Surely they could send the transmission when entering the first gate. This would get stored in the gates buffer when everyone else is too.

Sherifu

Regarding the "previously on" teaser for Midway from season three’s episode "The Return, Part 1" the Rodney dialogue included is new. The line "The program is completely secure, no need for a shield or an iris" was not in the broadcast episode of "The Return, Part 1" and if you listen closely, you can hear the drop-off in the sound that possibly indicates the dialogue was edited to include this line.
Somewhat similar to what happened in the fifth season Stargate SG-1 episode "The Sentinel" where new video was filmed to show Grieves and Kershaw being taken prisoner at the end of season three’s episode "Shades of Grey".


The weirdest thing is that there was originally an iris, at least on the Milky Way gate shown in "Adrift" but the writers seemingly went against that.

Midway gates side by side

Iris on the milky way gate

I think it would have been better for this episode if they had an iris on each gate on midway and had a GDO signal from Atlantis. The Wraith were at a Stargate that they knew was part of the bridge (via Todd), and they waited there until Atlantis dialled Midway. Then they just connected a keylogger to the gate and waited while McKay's code activated the gate. Then they just pressed Ctrl + C. If a GDO signal had been sent through, they would have copied that along with any other signal that was sent through. Then simply forward the same signal to midway before the invasion. I think this would've made the episode sit better with most viewers.

is_that_so

Ivan wrote: »

Wasnt there a whole plot arc about the token black guy from season 1, being fed upon by a wraith and then the wraith dying mid-feeding. This made the black guy all uber and bat-**** crazy... so when the precise same thing happened to teal'c, why did nobody bat an eyelid?

Also, I am all for Teal'c and Ronin being badass', but 2 of them killing that made wraith bordered on the ludicrous. Especially where in one scene teal'c manages to pull a wraith off of Ronin and snap its neck in a matter of seconds. While only a few short scenes later gets over-powered by a single wraith and fed upon.

This series is full of plot holes and terrible writing, it just saddens me that it is still going and being followed by people supposedly sound mind, with an almost religious fervor

End Atlantis now or for the love of God, fix it

I find the off switch is the best answer to this problem. It's a TV programme and life is just too short.

AlmightyCushion

Sherifu wrote: »

I think it would have been better for this episode if they had an iris on each gate on midway and had a GDO signal from Atlantis. The Wraith were at a Stargate that they knew was part of the bridge (via Todd), and they waited there until Atlantis dialled Midway. Then they just connected a keylogger to the gate and waited while McKay's code activated the gate. Then they just pressed Ctrl + C. If a GDO signal had been sent through, they would have copied that along with any other signal that was sent through. Then simply forward the same signal to midway before the invasion. I think this would've made the episode sit better with most viewers.

Hmm, that would have worked a lot better. I'm surprised they didn't do it.

Overheal

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

Surely they could send the transmission when entering the first gate. This would get stored in the gates buffer when everyone else is too.

Personally I wouldnt jump through without confirmation I wasnt gonna get splattered because some techie at midway didnt open the iris in time. Relatively speaking if I send the signal and jump through - thats how much time the techie has to open the iris. What happens if he went to the jacks?

SPLAT.

Sherifu wrote: »

Regarding the "previously on" teaser for Midway from season three’s episode "The Return, Part 1" the Rodney dialogue included is new. The line "The program is completely secure, no need for a shield or an iris" was not in the broadcast episode of "The Return, Part 1" and if you listen closely, you can hear the drop-off in the sound that possibly indicates the dialogue was edited to include this line.
Somewhat similar to what happened in the fifth season Stargate SG-1 episode "The Sentinel" where new video was filmed to show Grieves and Kershaw being taken prisoner at the end of season three’s episode "Shades of Grey".

Theres been a number of times its happened. Whole new cutscenes have been plugged into to explain stuff that happened in the interim of some episodes though I cant recall specifics. I just know its happened. Spotted this one too but I let them sink their own hole this time.

The weirdest thing is that there was originally an iris, at least on the Milky Way gate shown in "Adrift" but the writers seemingly went against that.

Midway gates side by side

Iris on the milky way gate

Shallow evidence really. You frequently saw the monitors in SG-1 show an opened or closed iris (or even an active/inactive wormhole) when that just wasnt the case. Slip of detail to be honest.

I think it would have been better for this episode if they had an iris on each gate on midway and had a GDO signal from Atlantis. The Wraith were at a Stargate that they knew was part of the bridge (via Todd), and they waited there until Atlantis dialled Midway. Then they just connected a keylogger to the gate and waited while McKay's code activated the gate. Then they just pressed Ctrl + C. If a GDO signal had been sent through, they would have copied that along with any other signal that was sent through. Then simply forward the same signal to midway before the invasion. I think this would've made the episode sit better with most viewers.

That would work. I wouldnt try it in the same week though "Oh hey sheppard! Wha? Receiving sheppards IDC....?"

But yeah I'd have agreed with this.

Also would have made a much better story arc if they had managed to rewrite the Milky-bound macro to establish a foothold elsewhere besides Earth. Make for a nice 2 parter or next-season ep.

Sherifu

Overheal wrote: »

Personally I wouldnt jump through without confirmation I wasnt gonna get splattered because some techie at midway didnt open the iris in time. Relatively speaking if I send the signal and jump through - thats how much time the techie has to open the iris. What happens if he went to the jacks?

SPLAT.

Isn't the IRIS open by default and only closed under orders if no IDC is received. If he went to the jacks it would be ok.

Overheal wrote: »

Shallow evidence really. You frequently saw the monitors in SG-1 show an opened or closed iris (or even an active/inactive wormhole) when that just wasnt the case. Slip of detail to be honest.

Well the one in the sgc is in a lot of episodes and I know there has been plenty of slip ups, but this one was specially for midway with the two gates side by side. It could be a slip up or it could be the writers changing their minds.

Overheal wrote: »

That would work. I wouldnt try it in the same week though "Oh hey sheppard! Wha? Receiving sheppards IDC....?"
But yeah I'd have agreed with this.

I imagined it being just a general Atlantis IDC like the Midway IDC SGC received.

Overheal wrote: »

Also would have made a much better story arc if they had managed to rewrite the Milky-bound macro to establish a foothold elsewhere besides Earth. Make for a nice 2 parter or next-season ep.

That would have been sweet. Preferably to somewhere like Tulac for a 3 way, Jafa-Wraith-Ronan/T'ealc bust up.

Overheal

Sherifu wrote: »

Isn't the IRIS open by default and only closed under orders if no IDC is received. If he went to the jacks it would be ok.

and seems to vary wildly but in common practice the iris/shield protocol will always Close after the wormhole is established if not before, hence stopping anyone from sending in a Quickie Nuke. I believe the Iris was always opened for Scheduled connections and this may have been the case.

Sherifu

Overheal wrote: »

and seems to vary wildly but in common practice the iris/shield protocol will always Close after the wormhole is established if not before, hence stopping anyone from sending in a Quickie Nuke. I believe the Iris was always opened for Scheduled connections and this may have been the case.

I didn't think it was automated because we used to hear Hammond give the order to close the iris so often. But maybe they changed it along the way.

As reagrds the GDO and going splat i'm not sure how they could fix it unless there was something like a gdo built into the last gate in the chain and the macro sent a signal to the SGC, then paused until it gets a confirmation and only then resume the macro to complete the final gate trip to Earth.