STARGATE UNIVERSE # 12: Divided (2)Season 1/2010

[coyote6]

A little "fridge logic":

1) How do the communication stones work again? Why did the stones from Rush (the stone Rush smuggled and the aliens stole/captured) and Young connect in the previous episode? I thought the stones were fixed to a particular other stone?

They work according the rules of plot, as far as I can tell.

Refreshingly, the characters on SGU seem to know that they have no idea how they work.

2) So the Aliens can burn holes into the Destiny and capture people, they can dock their shuttles. But they cannot get aboard? What's stopping them again?

I think they had (temporarily) knocked out/weakened the shields, and were thus able to afix themselves to the ship and zap their way in. Note that shortly after they did that, Destiny covered the hole with a force field. Maybe when the shields are working properly, they can't cut into the hull. And the reasons the shields weren't up to snuff was because Destiny was shooting back.

This last time, Destiny didn't shoot, so they couldn't get through.

That's just a guess, though.

 

[Merkuri]

Pretty sure this is something of a ret-con. When the stones were first found, it was implied that they were linked completely to one other stone. I think Carter even mentioned that they might work on a quantum entanglement principle. Which would DEFINITELY make them linked only to one other stone.

Wasn't the very first one of these stones found by some random guy at a garage sale who ended up getting visions of O'Neal's life? At that time the stones didn't do a true consciousness switch, it just gave each possessor visions of the other possessor's life. So they stones already worked differently than they did when they were first discovered.

I'm fine with the explanation of, "We really don't know how these work, we just know it's worked this way in the past."

I'm guessing that the particular alien that was getting switched had actually taken the stone from Rush and was carrying it around with him. Or possibly it was the alien closest to Rush and the stone, and Young didn't switch with Rush because Rush was unconscious (I doubt you can switch with an unconscious being).

There is the question of, "Why did it switch with Rush's stone and not one of the earth stones?" Perhaps the stones aren't actually keyed to one other individual stone but they switch with the closest stone further away than X feet. So you can't switch with somebody standing across from you, but you can switch with somebody on a nearby ship or somebody across the galaxy. When Rush had the stone on the Destiny he was too close to be the other end of the body switch whenever they used the other stones, but when he was on the alien ship it was far enough away to be a valid endpoint.

That's how I'd explain it if I were writing the show.

 

[Mark]

I wonder if Rush was in contact with anyone by using the stone before the aliens picked him up on the planet where he had been abandoned?

 

[fba827]

Rush said that the aliens have been obsessed with Destiny, presuming Rush is even speaking the truth/with knowledge, then it begs the question: why? what is on the ship, or about the ship, that the humans haven't realized yet that the aliens want?
Rush's statement suggests that they are more interested in the ship than the people, though abducting people suggests being more interested in the people .. so, not really sure.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Cowardice? Or maybe it's as simple as not having a "Rosetta Stone" for Ancient language. Hieroglyphics were impenetrable until that stone was found, after all -- and all of those involved were *human* languages. For complete aliens, deciphering an alien language and script would probably be ridiculously difficult. Granted, I would assume they know it now, based on their capture of Rush.

Well, if they hadn't before, it seems capturing Rush gave them their Rosetta Stone. They were able to answer on an Ancient message in plain English: "Surrender*".

Let's look at it from a slightly different angle -- what's the downside to them at the moment? These aliens are aboard (that breathe the same atmosphere, even!) and fixing the thing up. If I was one of those aliens, I would have just hung back until the ship is working a little better and *then* invaded.

Only if you can be certain that they can still invade once the humans have control of the ship and returned it to full functionality. They can't break the shields down as it is now!

Maybe when the shields are working properly, they can't cut into the hull. And the reasons the shields weren't up to snuff was because Destiny was shooting back

That actually seems like a possibility.

Rush said that the aliens have been obsessed with Destiny, presuming Rush is even speaking the truth/with knowledge, then it begs the question: why? what is on the ship, or about the ship, that the humans haven't realized yet that the aliens want?
Rush's statement suggests that they are more interested in the ship than the people, though abducting people suggests being more interested in the people .. so, not really sure.

They might be interested in the people as a means to get to the ship. And they wanted to know why other were interested in it or how others got aboard (and still live).

Seems invading via the Gate never occurred to them, or fails for other reasons. (or getting aboard was never the issue, surviving and controlling was? Survival must have been an issue, since the humans lack control, too. Maybe the Alien and Human atmosphere is compatible over the short-term, but not long-term? Or the Destiny has defense mechanism we haven't seen yet. Or the life support was entirely inactive until the humans arrived.)

*)
"Abandon all hope" would have been cooler. [/Space2063]

 

[Hand of Evil]

Fun idea!

Also, starting to get the feeling that Rush was part of the group that was using the second Star Gate and other means to "gather" tech. Young may know this and that is why Rush is kept on a short leash. Too valuable in his knowledge to put away, just has to be monitored and kept under control!

What was that group called?

 

[FoxWander]

The thing that's starting to bug me about the show is that everybody knows there are major problems with everyone getting along and working together on the ship- it's is starting to strain credibility that the various leaders (Young, Rush, and Wray) haven't just sat down together and figured out a way to make things work! And if they're to pig-headed to do it themselves, then at least TJ and Eli should lock them up together and MAKE them work it out.

The idea that they HAVEN'T tried to work things out yet is really starting to feel a bit unbelievable. Especially since all of them know they NEED each other to survive. If this conflict continues to be the main plot of the show, I don't know if I'll be able to keep watching.

 

[wolff96]

Rush said that the aliens have been obsessed with Destiny, presuming Rush is even speaking the truth/with knowledge, then it begs the question: why? what is on the ship, or about the ship, that the humans haven't realized yet that the aliens want?

Rush's statement suggests that they are more interested in the ship than the people, though abducting people suggests being more interested in the people .. so, not really sure.

Abducting the people makes a lot of sense to me if we go back to the idea of them having problems with the Ancient language. After humans got aboard, the ship has been slowly improving/changing and they've achieved a very minor level of control. Thus, the aliens know that humans can interact with the ship -- kidnap one or two and get information on the language and these aliens aboard. Granted, they got *THE* most useless member of the crew if their goal was to learn more, but it's not like they had a ton of choices.

And I would guess they want the technology on Destiny, just like the humans. Alien tech has shown no signs of fast transport -- no attempts to dial the StarGate, no transporters, nothing but a shuttlecraft assault. They actually remind me a lot of human tech before we got the Asgard database... the mind-reading device and the energy weapon on their ships are more advanced, but that's it.

On the other hand, we have Destiny. It's *millions* of years old and still functions. That's huge right there. It refuels by flying through STARS. Even decrepit and falling apart, the shield is strong enough to (barely) stand off THREE of the alien ships. It even has a portable worm-hole generator aboard! It's a flying treasure trove of ridiculously advanced technology.

Heck, the shuttle even blew apart at least five or six of their attack/boarding craft during the last attempted assault -- and it's just as old as the main ship. And it has shields, which their craft did not appear to have.

Not to mention that they can pick up any incidental tech that the humans brought aboard that might help in one way or another, even if it's ludicrously primitive by Destiny's standards. Rush knows what technology humans have *already* gotten from the Ancients, so it's possible he could have tricked them into thinking more of that was brought aboard by the humans.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Just having the address for the Star Gates are big, we don't know IF the aliens can access them. But, it could also be something as simple of the Destiny being seen as proof of their creators, being a seeded race!

 

[fba827]

Abducting the people makes a lot of sense to me if we go back to the idea of them having problems with the Ancient language. After humans got aboard, the ship has been slowly improving/changing and they've achieved a very minor level of control. Thus, the aliens know that humans can interact with the ship -- kidnap one or two and get information on the language and these aliens aboard. Granted, they got *THE* most useless member of the crew if their goal was to learn more, but it's not like they had a ton of choices.

And I would guess they want the technology on Destiny, just like the humans. Alien tech has shown no signs of fast transport -- no attempts to dial the StarGate, no transporters, nothing but a shuttlecraft assault. They actually remind me a lot of human tech before we got the Asgard database... the mind-reading device and the energy weapon on their ships are more advanced, but that's it.

On the other hand, we have Destiny. It's *millions* of years old and still functions. That's huge right there. It refuels by flying through STARS. Even decrepit and falling apart, the shield is strong enough to (barely) stand off THREE of the alien ships. It even has a portable worm-hole generator aboard! It's a flying treasure trove of ridiculously advanced technology.

Heck, the shuttle even blew apart at least five or six of their attack/boarding craft during the last attempted assault -- and it's just as old as the main ship. And it has shields, which their craft did not appear to have.

Not to mention that they can pick up any incidental tech that the humans brought aboard that might help in one way or another, even if it's ludicrously primitive by Destiny's standards. Rush knows what technology humans have *already* gotten from the Ancients, so it's possible he could have tricked them into thinking more of that was brought aboard by the humans.

Yeah, I also had another thought -- what is the goal in getting humans was to implant the tracking device (like they did to Rush) to keep track on the ship (pulling back to the idea that the ship is more important, and the people are just tools to get the ship). But then why not implant a device in Chloe ? maybe they realized how expendable she was to the crew or (more seriously) they didn't have time...