Stargate Altantis Season 3 *Discussion Thread* 8/25

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

But that is not what I meant. Obviously the wraith don't advertise this ability otherwise Ronon and Talia would know of it. If the wraith offered this to people, the number of slaves would increase- and many of them would be of the manipulative type that can convince others to be food (one way or another).

If they reserve it to their most devoted followers, this probably means people that follow the wraith even without the prospect of wraith-healing. People that jump onto the wagon because they hope to recieve Wraith gifts are not wanted, and in fact might be disappointed in the end.

The Wraith know that they depend on their slaves, and if some of them decided that the Wraith are no longer worthy of devotion, a rebellion aboard Wraith ships could be catastrophic.

The human population in the Pegasus galaxy already seems unsuited to feed the Wraith the full time, which is why they have long regeneration cycles. If they also need to "feed" several followers, the whole system would collapse.

 

[Hand of Evil]

If they reserve it to their most devoted followers, this probably means people that follow the wraith even without the prospect of wraith-healing. People that jump onto the wagon because they hope to recieve Wraith gifts are not wanted, and in fact might be disappointed in the end.

The Wraith know that they depend on their slaves, and if some of them decided that the Wraith are no longer worthy of devotion, a rebellion aboard Wraith ships could be catastrophic.

The human population in the Pegasus galaxy already seems unsuited to feed the Wraith the full time, which is why they have long regeneration cycles. If they also need to "feed" several followers, the whole system would collapse.

I am starting to view it more like a vampire follower chart: vampire at the top, some lesser vamps, then followers that are on the waiting list to become vamps, and then followers that are going to go nohwere but the dinner table.

 

[DM_Matt]

It looked to me like the wraith can't so mucn undo the drain as reverse the flow of power. The wraith guy entirely drained a number of guys, got all juiced up and mighty, THEN undrained Sheppard. But if undraining requires draining an equal amount from another human for that purpose, this method of gaining followers would not be effective on a wide scale.

 

[BrooklynKnight]

It looked to me like the wraith can't so mucn undo the drain as reverse the flow of power. The wraith guy entirely drained a number of guys, got all juiced up and mighty, THEN undrained Sheppard. But if undraining requires draining an equal amount from another human for that purpose, this method of gaining followers would not be effective on a wide scale.

Exactly. You're litterally draining the life force from someone to regenerate yourself and extend your lifespan. He fully drained 2 people, and then "healed" or "renewed" sheppard to a younger age then he originally was (as noted by Rodney)

Clearly this is not common knowledge in the galaxy.

To comment on the Wraith's feeding habits, the current human population in the Pegasus Galaxy is clearly nowhere to scale with that of the Milky Way. There are between a few hundred, to a few million people per planet. It was clearly established in Season 1 that the Wraith were in Hibernation so they wouldnt run out of food. Cullings happened every few decades, not every few weeks. Some planets werent culled for generations. Others were culled whenever technology started to get too advanced.

One of the major plot points of Atlantis as a series is that the Wraith want to reach the Milky Way. While Humans have evolved independently of Earth in other Galaxies wherever Ancients settled, it seems that Earth (and the Milky Way) is still the most populated area in the known galaxy. We know for a fact that Earth has nearly 6 billion people on it because its based on OUR Earth.

The Gho'old spread humanity to all corners of the Milky Way as their slaves and let them grow.

The Ancients left their seeds on Earth and clearly all over Pegasus.

The Ori Ancients propgated humanity in THEIR Galaxy.