SGU S02E12 Twin Destinies (SPOILERS)

[Adrian McNair]

Well, here we are at episode twelve of Universe's second season. Here are my thoughts for this week:

- So, Destiny has just been significantly re-supplied. While it was nice for the supply and damage issues to be addressed it was rather convenient. They had a major problem on their hands and suddenly the solution just drops into their collective laps. Does this mean that they have a third shuttle now (given that the second Rush docked with Destiny on one)?
- The SG-1 references in this episode were great. Dr. Lee in Eli's clothing was hilarious and McKay just couldn't help but get an eyeful of Lieutenant James. The latter was no doubt Spoiler

foreshadowing for his and Woolsey's appearance in the upcoming episode

.
- Oh hey it's Varro. He just vanished from the infirmary in the previous episode and I almost thought that he'd been discarded by the writers. It looks like they trust him more now seeing as he was able to join the re-supply mission as a team member.
- A Destiny solely crewed by copies of Nicholas Rush? Could the universe withstand the combined egos? It was rather predictable that the second Rush would die but the way they established it was completely contrived. Though they were emphasizing the animosity between Telford and Rush throughout, how it came to a head was ridiculous. Telford must have overdosed on stupid pills before they went to the other Destiny. What the hell was he thinking, provoking Rush when the fucking ship was falling apart? I thought that we'd seen the last of Telford the Jerk when his brainwashing was broken. Apparently not. Thanks to his idiocy they lost a golden opportunity to increase Destiny's firepower. I guess they were looking for an excuse to slightly reset things to the season one dynamic, what with the second Telford now having to interact with the crew via the communication stones.

Three out of five (just barely for aforementioned reasons) from me this week.

[JME2]

Not a bad episode. It was great seeing Dr. Lee again beyond his cameo in the pilot. Loved the references to Daniel, Cater, and Rodney -- especially McKay as that's foreshadowing the events of "Seizure".

So let me see if I get this right, the second Telford on Earth is the one from the first dialing attempt?

[Adrian McNair]

So let me see if I get this right, the second Telford on Earth is the one from the first dialing attempt?

That's correct. This promo for the next episode confirms as much.

And a sneak peek.


Although now that I think about it, it seems that I was mistaken about the third shuttle being an issue. They actually only have two shuttles now. The first was left with Caine and the others on that planet, then returned. The other one was lost in the incident that killed Riley. Now the temporal duplicate that the second Rush arrived with has brought the complement back up to the original two.

Regardless, it still doesn't excuse my issues with the episode.

[Themightytom]

Destiny is definitely challenging Voyager for the bottomless shuttle pool, not in quantity, but in quality, as the explanations for each shuttles return proves more absurd than the last.

I am not satisfied with any exposition from Rush as to what happened with the first dialing attempt. His animosity towards Telford seemed completely unfounded given the story he told. yes Telford pushed sending everyone home but he didn't "Try to kill them all"

I seriously, SERIOUSLY expected Stargate Command, upon Rush's contacting him with the stones to tell him "What? There were others?? When Telford gated over, he told us to close the Iris!"

i also expected Telford to Do Something while Rush was on Earth, and Telford had his body, maybe open a secret cargo hold full off ursini or something and reveal he was brainwashed once more.

Nope. Apparently Rush was just mad because Telford interfered with his speech

Now, given the time travel antics involved here, could the wormhole that destabilized and then restabilized,have deposited alternate versions of the crew somewhere else?
Hello fanfics...

For character observations, Holy shit, Chloe was being both useful and witty while collecting the plants, Young was backing Rush, and seems behind him 100%. Rush, upon meeting his duplicate, was not only rude, but didn't seem to either trust, nor like, himself. We haven't sen that kind of pathos since


So anyway, on the business as usual front, Young stayed behind with Rush to complete the mission. Grear stayed behind because he is a Loyal Son Of A Bitch. (Man he didn't even hesitate, he just rolled forward when Young was done, no questions.)

Volker went, which WAS a surprise, Tamara went, which was not, she STILL hasn't decided what happened to her baby, and maybe she is loyal to Young.

Chloe stayed behind possibly because of loyalty to Young, Grear and Rush, as well as Rush's suggestion that there was a Plan.

This was enough to get Scott to stay behind though I think i at least heard him think "FUUUUCK!" really loudly,, as Chloe seems to have had an invisible cord around his dick. but Wait, James appears to have an invisible cord to Scott's dick as well, Varlo goes with a few Luci's, and finally Eli, seeing his social group about to disappear succumbs to peer pressure.

i enjoyed Grear's subtle reminder that he kicked Telford's ass in Subversion when Telford threatened to try to stop them. as well.

Ans as usual Rush let's his passion accidentally get someone killed, this time it was Telford.

i sincerely doubt anyone bought Rush's story about not finding his double, but they probably assumed he killed himself. literally here, not figuratively, which is essentially what he did.

I would not be surprised if the reason the were next to a solar flare when the ninth chevron locked was because Destiny itself had decided this is how it wasn't going to lose it's crew.

[PREDATOR490]

3

Kinda saw this being an alternative reality episode from the title which is pretty much what it is.

I always find these duplicate stories to be insanely funny consider SG-1 deliberatly set the precedent that two versions of the same person CANNOT exist within the same universe. Then they decide to fuck that over to do several of them across multiple series.
All of this for a few bits of seeing actors play against themselves in the same generic manner. Really, whats the fucking point ?

Then again, this episode pretty much fucked up the general rule of Time Travel.

Rule #1 = If your younger self dies your future self dies as well

Apparantly Telford from the previous timeline survived and continues to survive after his younger self got fried.

Result = Why was everything disappearing in Continium when Baal went back in time ?

Ahh, fuck it.


Personnally, I was expecting the original timeline crew to magically appear back in the Destiny before it finally died like they slingshotted into the future.
I.E What happened to Sheppard or they got slingshotted back into the past

Considerably more difficult on the latter without a lot of work but it would make for a good few episodes running around on Earth... say during the Goa'uld days ?
Alternatively, they got slingshotted to the future after the Lucian Alliance have invaded Earth and do a repeat of the 2010 situation to warn Earth of the impending attack. Might still happen mind you.

There was an outside chance of them simply hitting the Iris Earth side.
When Telford said they couldnt send radio traffic through I was thinking - How the fuck are they gonna get the Iris code... this could be a really funny way of the writers satisfying the folks who wanted to see this as a joke but keep the series running. Might even respect them a bit more if they did.

Chloe - Huray, useful and not the primary focus
Mkay - Really, did they have to slap in that stupid reference as a means to overshadow his appearance. Ok, Mkay is a dick but I can just see SGU destroying the character by turning him into the dick he was in SG-1 rather than show some growth he went through in SGA.

Dr Lee - Oh come on, Math boy magically outsmarts all of the SGC for fuck sake !
A cameo that pretty much indicates a jobless bum can outsmart the ENTIRE experience and training of SGC personnel including Dr Lee who has been around for years. Not even the slightest mention of... hey dialing wormholes around stars has been known to cause timetravel.
Yeah, Rush said it but noone on the SGC thought this would be EXTREMELY relevant to mention ?

Incidentally, this episode makes for a really interesting dynamic to exploit a loop hole. Duplicating this event would result in multiple Destinies appearing and result in a hilarious copying mechanic.

This episode simply reeks of being a convienient reset of the battle damage and a vehicle to start new drama chains going.
I.E What did Earth-Telford say that suddenly makes everyone look cautious about Rush ?
When is Rush going to spill about what happened aboard the ship ?

Oh and... when are we going to see Chair-Rush again. ?

Yeah, we never saw what actually happened to folks that sit in that chair or if they are killed, transformed, Ascended etc.
Future appearance from an Ascended Rush that magically clicks his fingers and sends the ship home in the end of the series as a rush job finale ?
(Pun intended)

[Lonestar]

"These are our number one priority."

"What are they?"

"I don't know. The things that make things go."

[Kodiak]

"These are our number one priority."

"What are they?"

"I don't know. The things that make things go."

I really liked how they addressed the issue of spare parts and repairs. As an Engineer I keep thinking- I have no idea where the hell I'd even begin with an alien spaceship, and it's nice to see people responding with an "I dunno, grab the flashlight" mentality toward figuring things out rather than the typical all-technology-in-a-universe-is-equally-compatible-and-intelligible theme.

[JME2]

"These are our number one priority."

"What are they?"

"I don't know. The things that make things go."

I really liked how they addressed the issue of spare parts and repairs. As an Engineer I keep thinking- I have no idea where the hell I'd even begin with an alien spaceship, and it's nice to see people responding with an "I dunno, grab the flashlight" mentality toward figuring things out rather than the typical all-technology-in-a-universe-is-equally-compatible-and-intelligible theme.

It's a nice reminder that even with all the advances made since 1997, the SGC still doesn't fully understand alien technology.

[CaptainChewbacca]

I found myself still not sure what the hell happened. Did alterna-Rush deliberately kill everyone because he knew he could go back in time and 'save' them, completing his mission? Or did things go exactly as he said?

Also, if the wormhole was destabilizing then wouldn't the Destiny crew get spread out across a dozen or so worlds?

[PREDATOR490]

I found myself still not sure what the hell happened. Did alterna-Rush deliberately kill everyone because he knew he could go back in time and 'save' them, completing his mission? Or did things go exactly as he said?

Also, if the wormhole was destabilizing then wouldn't the Destiny crew get spread out across a dozen or so worlds?

Actually the Stargate should logically displace them throughout TIME since thats the observed effect of dialing around stars. Funnily enough that means the SGC might be recieving incoming wormholes in the future / present that magically appear, have something hit the iris then disappear with them scratching their heads trying to figure out what the fuck it was.

Answer: its the poor Destiny crew fuckers getting killed because they never sent an iris code and the SGC isnt going to keep their iris open 24/7 forever just to catch them.

I wonder if the writers really thought that through cause its going to make for one hell of a fanfic archive with various Destiny characters potentially appearing in the future and or past during the Goa'uld years etc. if the gate is somehow left open 'convieniently'.

That said, Rush's reaction seemed entirely stupid towards Telford. Telford couldnt be blamed and the ending makes it appear Rush may have done something. If he did... that makes it the third time he has deliberately fucked the Destiny crew for his own selfish desires. I would be really hard pressed not to see the Destiny crew reduce Rush to a cripple that gets fed through a straw when they found that out.

[Lonestar]

I guess I'm the only one who thought that they simply arranged a time with SGC when the Iris would be open.

[PREDATOR490]

I guess I'm the only one who thought that they simply arranged a time with SGC when the Iris would be open.

The other Telford arrived at SGC TEN hours before they were ready to even begin.
Standard procedure for an incoming wormhole is to close the iris automatically and wait for an IDC. Thus someone arriving ten hours before the mission was even meant to begin should have been splattered against the iris if no IDC can be sent through.

As for any poor fuckers that got slingshotted in time, they are absolutly going to get splattered with no IDC.

[Lonestar]

The other Telford arrived at SGC TEN hours before they were ready to even begin.

Err...he stepped through, and then the wormhole went unstable. I might add that this wouldn't be the FIRST TIME that wonky space-time shenanighans on one end of the wormhole screwed it up on the other as well. This literally is a scenario where based on precedent in the series(and I'm surprised that you aren't latching on to it since you've done nothing but bitch that SGU wasn't as campy as SG1 or SGA) you can wave your hand and say "the time travel thing made it possible".

[Alyeska]

I rather think they should have had everyone survive going through the wormhole. That would have made things interesting. The crew wants to get home, except they already got home and the first set take over the lives of the people still on Destiny.

[Chris OFarrell]

I just presumed they used a stone offscreen to tell the SGC the timing, so when the wormhole connected they knew.

Hell, if they see a 9 Chevron connection happen, that along is kind of a dead giveaway.

[hongi]

I rather think they should have had everyone survive going through the wormhole. That would have made things interesting. The crew wants to get home, except they already got home and the first set take over the lives of the people still on Destiny.

That would be interesting, but then the crew would sort of be forced to stay on the ship. For the rest of their lives?

I found myself still not sure what the hell happened. Did alterna-Rush deliberately kill everyone because he knew he could go back in time and 'save' them, completing his mission? Or did things go exactly as he said?

Sorry, I don't trust Rush's account. Chloe staying behind after a little speech? Bull.

[Zac Naloen]

I rather think they should have had everyone survive going through the wormhole. That would have made things interesting. The crew wants to get home, except they already got home and the first set take over the lives of the people still on Destiny.

That would be interesting, but then the crew would sort of be forced to stay on the ship. For the rest of their lives?

But 4 of them could swap with themselves at any time.


It would be like having two lives. Your life on the ship and life at home with none of the moral implications of having being the wrong body.

[Alyeska]

That would be interesting, but then the crew would sort of be forced to stay on the ship. For the rest of their lives?

Not at all. When the survivors get home, now you have even more interesting moral implications with the introduction of duplicates.

[Kodiak]

I found myself still not sure what the hell happened. Did alterna-Rush deliberately kill everyone because he knew he could go back in time and 'save' them, completing his mission? Or did things go exactly as he said?

Also, if the wormhole was destabilizing then wouldn't the Destiny crew get spread out across a dozen or so worlds?

Actually the Stargate should logically displace them throughout TIME since thats the observed effect of dialing around stars. Funnily enough that means the SGC might be recieving incoming wormholes in the future / present that magically appear, have something hit the iris then disappear with them scratching their heads trying to figure out what the fuck it was.

Answer: its the poor Destiny crew fuckers getting killed because they never sent an iris code and the SGC isnt going to keep their iris open 24/7 forever just to catch them.

I wonder if the writers really thought that through cause its going to make for one hell of a fanfic archive with various Destiny characters potentially appearing in the future and or past during the Goa'uld years etc. if the gate is somehow left open 'convieniently'.

That said, Rush's reaction seemed entirely stupid towards Telford. Telford couldnt be blamed and the ending makes it appear Rush may have done something. If he did... that makes it the third time he has deliberately fucked the Destiny crew for his own selfish desires. I would be really hard pressed not to see the Destiny crew reduce Rush to a cripple that gets fed through a straw when they found that out.

It's my completely unfounded opinion that the crew of Destiny arrived at Earth 1000000 years ago and became the ancients. After thousands of years of advancement they had their descendants build the ship and send it out to catch themselves in the future, thus fulfilling their own prophecy. Also, quantum.

[aussiemuscle308]

Then again, this episode pretty much fucked up the general rule of Time Travel.

The Vulcan Science academy has deemed time travel an impossibility.

Probably a good philosophy when writing tv sci-fi.

[JME2]

Then again, this episode pretty much fucked up the general rule of Time Travel.

The Vulcan Science academy has deemed time travel an impossibility.

Probably a good philosophy when writing tv sci-fi.

Heh.

[Themightytom]

It's my completely unfounded opinion that the crew of Destiny arrived at Earth 1000000 years ago and became the ancients. After thousands of years of advancement they had their descendants build the ship and send it out to catch themselves in the future, thus fulfilling their own prophecy. Also, quantum.

Assuming Destiny didn't just dial an alpha site that is left online for schmucks who forget their GDO's the crew probably survived, not where but when. At this point the SGC BETTER have a sight like this up somewhere because SG-1 lost their codes every other week.
Spoiler

And Kodiak that is the teaser for future episode, I think the one after next, where Destiny meets an entire civilization made up of the descendents of the crew of the defiant, themselves.

Can You Also Read Minds?

[Kodiak]

It's my completely unfounded opinion that the crew of Destiny arrived at Earth 1000000 years ago and became the ancients. After thousands of years of advancement they had their descendants build the ship and send it out to catch themselves in the future, thus fulfilling their own prophecy. Also, quantum.

Assuming Destiny didn't just dial an alpha site that is left online for schmucks who forget their GDO's the crew probably survived, not where but when. At this point the SGC BETTER have a sight like this up somewhere because SG-1 lost their codes every other week.
Spoiler

And Kodiak that is the teaser for future episode, I think the one after next, where Destiny meets an entire civilization made up of the descendents of the crew of the defiant, themselves.

Can You Also Read Minds?

Spoiler

They did it as a plot of Star Trek DS9. That's where my inspiration came from.

And yes, I can read minds.