Atlantis is surprised when they make contact with a world which is obviously advanced and the people are using Ancient technologies, initial doubts are repressed when they are invited to visit if their intentions are friendly so Elizabeth gears up hoping for a productive first contact with a people who could truly aid Atlantis. On arrival they find a duplicate of the gate room but behind the Stargate the building goes on into the distance, an inspiring example of Ancient design and construction made more significant by the friendly greeting of Niam and his companions. He confirms that they build their own ZPM units and that they are or at least were part of the Ancient civilisation before the fall and the dominance of the Wraith but they had removed themselves from that conflict and have been at peace. The leader of these Asurans doesn’t seem overly friendly despite being polite but it’s obvious things are not quite as they seem and when Weir confirms they are from the city of Atlantis they are taken prisoner and mentally interrogated using highly advanced technology which when revealed explains quite a bit.
Progeny is a pivotal episode of the third season, it not only adds to the overall Wraith arc which may at this point be getting a little stale even with the addition of Michael but also ties in some elements from SG1 despite there not being a direct link but we know a lot about how this type of lifeform operates but this time the Stargate personnel are dealing with a very centralised and goal orientated society. It’s curious that the aggression built into the replicators was never removed, it’s a stretch to believe the creators of the machines were never in a position to remove the threat of violence although we know the Ancients were arrogant so perhaps they never questioned the strength of the code which prevented the machines from attacking them. That arrogance also explains why they chose to bombard the replicator city despite the extreme odds of destroying every piece of technology but from that perspective you can understand the attitude of Oberoth ( David Ogden Stiers ). It was also a nice touch to have some of the replicators looking at the Ancients and Ascension as a goal for themselves, yes a lot more of their creators it seems was passed over then was intended and that level of desire and hope is why Niam and his friends help the team and why it is such a betrayal and manipulation even before the Asurans fight back.
Overall Progeny is every bit as good as it has to be being used as the first piece of a new arc within the third season of Atlantis, excellent guest stars and some very good use of existing sets, CGI and matt extensions to bring the huge city of the Asurans alive. This weeks promo is for The Warp Ten Podcast and next week we return to SG1 for the episode 200 which will feature Alan along with Thomas and Adriana, hope you join us for that and don’t forget if you have a minute leave us an itunes or stitcher review and rating and as always we would love to know what you think of our show and Stargate in general so feedback is most welcome.
Promo…
Links…
- Progeny IMDB
- Progeny Wiki
- David Ogden Stiers
- John O’Callaghan
- Hellena Taylor
- Kerry Sandomirsky
- Andy Mikita
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