Rising (Stargate Atlantis)

"Rising (Stargate Atlantis)"

"Rising" (Parts 1 and 2) are the pilot episodes of the science fiction television series Stargate Atlantis.

Plot

Part 1

Several million years ago; two Ancients meet, one of them is Ayiana, from the season six episode Frozen, the other walks away and the city of Atlantis rises from Antarctica while only a small building stays back and Ayiana. In present time, Dr. Elizabeth Weir is managing the Antarctica outpost while others continue their research. She discusses the Ancient control chair with Dr. Rodney McKay and Dr. Carson Beckett's reluctance to sit in it and activate it. Dr. Beckett has the random Ancient Technology Activation gene necessary for the chair, while McKay does not. Dr. Jackson hurriedly calls them into a meeting to inform them that they found the Stargate address for Atlantis; it is an eight-symbol address meaning it is in another galaxy.

Meanwhile General O'Neill flies to the outpost in a helicopter piloted by Major John Sheppard. Back at the base Beckett is finally required to sit in the chair, despite his protests, and he activates it as well as a Drone Weapon, which then proceeds to exit the facility and fly to the surface. It attacks the helicopter, but Sheppard is able to evade it until Beckett finally deactivates it. Later Sheppard and O'Neill enter the base, and O'Neill talks with Jackson, Weir and McKay about Atlantis. They found out that the address leads to the Pegasus galaxy and that they need the ZPM to get there. After some deliberation O'Neill allows the mission.

Meanwhile Sheppard looks around and talks with Beckett about the control chair and the necessary gene. The major then sits down and is able to easily control it, astonishing Dr. Becket and many others. Later Weir tells O'Neill she wants Sheppard on her mission since he carries the ATA gene. She pleads her case that the journey to Atlantis could prove beneficial, and they could meet actual non-ascended Ancients or find beneficial technology. O'Neill then talks with Sheppard and tells him he should do it.

Later the main members of the expedition say goodbye to their loved ones, and at Stargate Command final preparations for the mission are made. Dr. McKay connects the ZPM with the gate, and later Weir delivers a speech about the mission and how proud she is of everyone here. Afterwards the gate is dialed and makes a connection, much to the joy of everyone. They send the MALP through it, then the military team, followed by the rest of the expedition members. They find themselves in a large complex which seems to awaken from sleep. After all members of the expedition went through the gate it is deactivated with a bottle of wine rolling out with a note saying: "Bon voyage! General Jack O'Neill."

Later the complex is further examined and several interesting things like spaceships and a shield which protects the Stargate are found. Later Col. Marshall Sumner, military component commander of the Atlantis expedition, calls them since they are under water which means that it really is Atlantis. Afterwards they look on a holographic video in which an Ancient woman tells the history of the galaxy and a strange new enemy. This enemy had technology that rivaled that of the Ancients and they took control of the Pegasus galaxy until only Atlantis was left. The city itself was protected by the powerful shield but in the end the Ancients decided to submerge the city after long years of siege and leave for Earth. The city remained for them to return. Rodney then concluded that the story of Atlantis was true except it didn't happen on Earth. The Greeks must have heard it from the surviving Ancients. Suddenly Peter Grodin comes in and tells them that there is a massive energy loss. It turns out that the city is powered by three ZPMs and while two are already empty the third will be empty in a short while. This means that the shield which protects the city from the water will collapse.

To find a place to which they can evacuate, Col. Sumner, Maj. Sheppard and a team go through the gate on a dark planet. The team looks around and finds two kids playing and then meet a man named Halling, who takes them to his people, the Athosians. Sheppard and the kids exchanged masks. They ask why they don't know about the Wraith. They also meet a woman named Teyla Emmagan and start to talk with them. On the next day they find a ruined city and decide to examine it. Meanwhile Teyla takes Sheppard to a cave with old pictures that tell about a species named Wraith and how they destroyed their civilizations. They also find a pendant which Teyla lost years ago.

Part 2

In the evening the gate suddenly dials and three ships fly through. They head towards the village while the people there run away but many of them are sucked up by some sort of beam. The military personnel starts to shoot at the ships but suddenly ghost-like creatures appear on the ground. Teyla senses the Wraith and tells Sheppard that the ghosts are only illusions. Sheppard warns Sumner and they are able to shoot down one of the Wraith darts but they suck up a number of people, including Teyla and Sumner. Afterwards the gate again activates and the two remaining ships flee while Ford tries to burn the symbols into his mind. At the site with the downed Dart Sheppard finds a moving arm and shoots it down.

Back in Atlantis the shield has become weaker and will fail soon. Suddenly the city starts to shake and Weir orders the immediate evacuation. Suddenly the gate activates and Sheppard and his team come through with the remaining Athosians. The shield finally breaks down but instead to crushing the city it starts to move upwards. Finally Atlantis rises to the surface of the water where it remains, much to the joy of the people.

Later McKay reveals that the last ZPM is empty and Sheppard asks him to find out where the Wraith brought their victims. While he does so Weir talks with Sheppard on some sort of balcony. She isn't pleased with his plan to rescue the others but Sheppard insists on the rescue mission. She finally agrees to let him go if there is at least a remote chance of success and he agrees and then leaves.

In some sort of cell Teyla wakes up and a short time later three Wraith enter and take a man with them. Both Teyla's and Sumner's pleas remain unheard. Back in Atlantis they dial the Stargate to the only address they got from Ford's symbols but it turns out that the gate is in space. McKay then brings Sheppard to one of the spaceships they found and the major tries to find out how they work. Dr. Beckett in the meantime shows Weir what he found out about the severed arm of one of the Wraith. It turns out that the Wraith have powerful regenerative abilities and are practically immortal. Later Sheppard shows her that he can fly the ship and that it also has a cloaking device.

Weir then authorizes the mission and thus Sheppard, Ford and a military team head in the spaceship (which Sheppard calls Puddle Jumper) through the gate. Thanks to the technology in the Jumper they are able to find out to which place they have to go. They land in a forest and see a large mountain-like building to which Sheppard and Ford head. Inside the base they find the cell and place C-4 on several locations. They also find the prisoners

In the Wraith base, Sumner is taken by the Wraith and brought into a large room where he is confronted by a Wraith woman. She tells him about their race and then uses her telepathic abilities to find out about Earth which she hopes to use as a new feeding ground for her race. Meanwhile Sheppard uses an Ancient life-sign detector to search for the Colonel and finds him when the female Wraith is about to feed on him. When he sees that Sumner has aged for years he shoots him but is then stunned by a Wraith. He is confronted by the female Wraith who then finds the life-sign detector but then Ford appears, detonates the C-4 and kills the remaining Wraith. Meanwhile Sheppard kills the female Wraith but before she dies she tells them that she is only a caretaker for the ones who sleep. When they look up and see many beings moving in some sort of stasis pods the group decides to leave.

Outside the base they are attacked by Wraith Darts but the ships are not able to capture any of them. They finally all enter the Jumper and flee from the planet. However in space they see several Darts guarding the Stargate. So they decide to draw them away and then double back. During this action the Jumper is damaged but it turns out that the Jumper is armed with Drone Weapons which they use to destroy three Darts. They are finally able to dial the gate and fly through it. Although three Darts follow them they are destroyed when they crash against the shield of the gate which was activated after the Jumper flew through. The Jumper then enters the hangar.

In the evening Sheppard, Ford and Weir talk about their situation and Sheppard apologizes because he hasn't made them any friends. However Weir then shows him the Athosians and Teyla agrees with her since they will help them find more friends. In the end Weir asks Sheppard what members he wants in his team since they have to go out there.

Production Notes

• The Pemberton Glacier in British Columbia doubles for Antarctica during the opening flying sequence.
• Simon, Elizabeth's fiancee, was played by Garwin Sanford, who had previously played Narim on Stargate SG-1.
• Weir claims that the Atlantis Expedition consists of people from more than a dozen countries; fans have identified at least 30 flags on the scientist uniforms. Dr. Beckett wears the Scottish flag on his shoulder, although other British characters wear the Union flag.
• The debris of the destroyed Wraith Dart is different from those of darts seen in season 2. The debris shows that the dart is mostly made of metal inside, whereas later darts are shown to be more biomechanical.

Trivia

• During the conversation between General O'Neill & Major Sheppard in a helicopter, Sheppard tells O'Neill that he has flown an UH-60 Blackhawk, AH-1 Cobra, AH-64 Apache, and OH-58 Kiowa.
• The large Wraith complex will later turn out to be a Wraith Hive-Ship.
• The life signs detector was capable of differentiating between Human (blue) and Wraith (red) life signs in this episode. In subsequent episodes, however, the device cannot tell the difference.
• Early in the episode, General O'Neill describes Antarctica as "One of his least favorite continents." In the first season of Stargate SG-1, then-Colonel O'Neill and then-Captain Carter were stranded in Antarctica after a Stargate malfunction (Solitudes). Both were nearly killed in the incident. In the sixth season, he was infected with a life threatening alien virus in Antarctica (Frozen).

External links

• Official Stargate Atlantis site. MGM. Visited June 8, 2006.
• Transcript of Part I from GateWorld. Transcribed by Callie Sullivan. Visited May 14, 2006.
• Transcript of Part II from GateWorld. Transcribed by Callie Sullivan. Visited May 14, 2006.
• Summary of Part I from GateWorld. Visited May 14, 2006.
• Review from GateWorld. Reviewed by Taylor Brown. Visited May 14, 2006.
• Gatenoise from Moon-catching. Visited June 21, 2006.