Stargate Atlantis - Definition and Overview

Stargate Atlantis Cast

Stargate Atlantis is a spin-off of the television series Stargate SG-1, which was based on the film Stargate (1994). It premiered on the US Sci Fi Channel on July 16, 2004. In this new series an outpost of the legendary city of Atlantis, a city of the creators of the Stargate, is found in the Antarctic, opening access to a new galaxy for humans to explore. After last year's cliffhanger season finale (for Stargate SG-1), Stargate Atlantis premiered with "Rising", a much awaited movie-style two-part episode.

Summary

See Stargate for a more general summary of the universe this series is set in, and Stargate SG-1 for how events have transpired to get the plot to Atlantis.

The series follows the adventures of a group of scientists and marines that have taken a one-way trip to the lost city of Atlantis in a distant galaxy. Like the SG teams of Stargate SG-1, the new team's use of the Stargate has brought humanity into contact with other cultures, some human and some alien, some friendly and some quite hostile.

Races

Ancients

Main article: Ancient

A historical, technically highly advanced race that once existed on Earth and possibly other locations in the Milky Way galaxy and the builders of the Stargates. The Ancients moved from Earth to the planet in the Pegasus galaxy (see The City below), taking their spacefaring city Atlantis with them, in order to spread new life. In the new galaxy, they faced an enemy that, for the first time, matched their capabilities, and overwhelmed them in numbers. Besieged in Atlantis, the remaining Ancients retreated to Earth, possibly passing the legend of Atlantis to the Greeks. A small fraction of the Terrestrial human race still carries the gene expression of the Ancients ("Ancient Technology Activation", or ATA), which allows them to use Ancient technology, most prominently Maj. John Sheppard of the Terrestrial human expedition team. Dr. Carson Beckett of the Terrestrial human expedition team is experimenting of transferring the gene expression by means of in vivo retroviral gene therapy.

Athosians

Humans from the planet Athos in the Pegasus galaxy. The Athosians are likely to be one nation of the human life that has been "spread" by the Ancients after they moved to the Pegasus galaxy. The Athosians were once technologically advanced and still possess advanced technology, but due to the threat by the Wraith, were living in a pre-industrial culture on Athos. The leader of the Athosians is Teyla Emmagan. No Athosians are known to have ATA, but several Athosians - including Teyla - have a small number of Wraith genes due to experimentation by a Wraith scientist long ago. These genes allow their possessors to sense the proximity of Wraith by subconciously tapping in to their telepathic communications.

Humans (Humans from Earth)

Humans from the planet Earth in the Milky Way galaxy. The multi-national human expedition team in the Pegasus galaxy consists of a civilian and military branch, with the latter one also called "security teams". The leader of the humans in Atlantis is a civillian Dr Elizabeth Weir, the commanding officer of the military branch is Major John Sheppard.

Genii Human

Humans from a planet in the Pegasus galaxy. To outsiders, they appear to be simple farmers, resembling the Amish of Earth. In truth, the Genii actually possess a technological level roughly equivalent to that of Earth in the 1930's: they have electricity, primitive television viewscreens, and mass-produced firearms. Generations ago, survivors of a Wraith culling took refuge underground bunkers left over from forgotten wars, and there rebuilt their civilization, expanding outwards into a massive series of secret underground facilities. Most importantly, the Genii have centered their efforts to fight the Wraith on a program to develop a fission bomb, to be delivered to Hive-ships. However, the Genii had not yet discovered how to make an effective trigger mechanism that would create an implosion, or an effective means of uranium enrichment, when the Atlantis expedition encountered them. The Genii were angered that the Atlantis team had woken the Wraith from their hibernation early, but agreed to help each other. A resulting joint Genii-Atlantis mission backfired, resulting in the death of a prominent Genii leader and the failure of the Genii's attempts to plant a fission-bomb in Wraith Hive-ships (although the Atlantis team feels that there are so many--over 60--that the Genii's plan would only have destroyed a few). The Genii now count themselves enemies of the Atlantis expeditionary team, and are determined to obtain C4 explosives from the Atlantis team in order to build an effective trigger mechanism.

Wraith

Main article: Wraith

This hive-based species drove the Ancients out of the Pegasus galaxy long ago, and is currently the main enemy in Stargate Atlantis. They maintain thousands of worlds populated by humans as a source of food, and they feed off the life force of other beings. The Wraith follow a cyclical feeding pattern: they lay in a dormant/hibernation stage for many years or generations, then sweep through the Pegasus galaxy to "cull their human herd", and finally stop when there are just enough surviving humans to maintain a breeding population for the next culling cycle. Although their technology is highly advanced and parallels many Ancient technologies (the similarity between Wraith Darts and the Ancient jumpers, for example), the Wraith forced the Ancients to abandon the Pegasus Galaxy through their overwhelming majority.

The Wraith civilization appears to center around massive "Hive-ships", similar to a carrier group in the United States Navy. One was seen in the pilot, although because it had been laying dormant for centuries, it was overgrown with trees. Intelligence recovered from a downed Dart flight-computer revealed that there are over 60 Wraith Hive-ships in the Pegasus galaxy.

The City and Technology

The city of Atlantis hosts much of the action in the series, and is the source of much of the technology which the characters employ. See that article for a detailed description of many of the Ancient technologies seen in the series.

Cast

ST = Security Team member

Updated as of The Seige Part 2

Episodes

Season 1

• 1.01 "Rising Part 1"
• 1.02 "Rising Part 2"
• 1.03 "Hide and Seek"
• 1.04 "Thirty-eight Minutes"
• 1.05 "Suspicion"
• 1.06 "Childhood's End"
• 1.07 "Poisoning the Well"
• 1.08 "Underground"
• 1.09 "Home"
• 1.10 "The Storm"
• 1.11 "The Eye"
• 1.12 "The Defiant One"
• 1.13 "Hot Zone"
• 1.14 "Sanctuary"
• 1.15 "Before I Sleep"
• 1.16 "The Brotherhood"
• 1.17 "Letters from Pegasus"
• 1.18 "The Gift"
• 1.19 "The Siege Part 1"
• 1.20 "The Siege Part 2"

Season 2

• "Runner"

External links

• MGM: Stargate Atlantis (http://www.stargateatlantis.com)
• SCI FI: Stargate Atlantis (http://www.scifi.com/atlantis)
• DHD: Stargate Atlantis (http://www.sgatlantis.tk)
• IMDb: Stargate: Atlantis (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0374455/fullcredits)
• Pegasus Galaxy: Stargate Atlantis (http://www.pegasusgalaxy.com)
• Gateworld.net: Stargate Atlantis (http://www.gateworld.net/atlantis/index.shtml)
• Chevron 26: Stargate Atlantis (http://www.chevron26.com)
• Gaters.info: Stargate Atlantis Forum (http://www.gaters.info)
• Sg-One-Stargate.com Stargate Atlantis (http://www.sg-one-stargate.com/z/html/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=1) (french)