A Beginner's Guide to Atlantis

There's absolutely no good reason for this post, other than (as the description of my blog says) to exorcise something that's been knocking about in my head for a while. So without further ado, I give you an introduction to Stargate: Atlantis.

Millions of years ago, there existed a race known only as the Ancients. They were basically human in appearance, though they possessed certain powers that we do not. They might be our distant ancestors, or simply a previous evolution of the same form. Regardless, they called Earth home, and from our world they explored the galaxy.

Wherever they travelled, they would create colonies. Each world was connected to every other by a system of artificial wormholes that can transport matter instantaneously over almost any distance. These are the "stargates" that form the focus of the movie and television series.

Eventually, having completely explored our galaxy, the Ancients turned their attention elsewhere. They decided to visit what we now call the Pegasus galaxy, after the constellation where it appears. And not being ones to do things halfway, they took an entire city from Earth with them. This city, capable of interstellar flight, was known as Atlantis.

When they reached the Pegasus galaxy, the Ancients settled upon a watery world and began to explore again. As before, they established many colonies and built a network of stargates to connect them. But eventually, they explored too far, and encountered a vampire-like species known as the Wraith.

The Ancients' pride was their undoing. Never expecting to meet their match, they were unprepared for the Wraith, whose technology was equal to their own. Moreover, the Wraith were vicious and amoral, difficult to kill and nearly immortal, feeding upon other intelligent beings to sustain themselves. A long war ensued, lasting untold centuries. One by one the colonies fell, until only the original city of Atlantis remained.

Knowing their doom was imminent, the surviving Ancients chose to enclose their city within a vast energy shield and sink it to the bottom of the ocean, in the hopes that it could escape destruction. Then they fled back to Earth through the Atlantis stargate, the only one which could reach our galaxy, here to live out the remainder of their days. It is from them that the legends of Atlantis began, a great city that fell beneath the waves in a single night.

In the years that followed, the Wraith gained total domination over the Pegasus galaxy, thanks in part to the Stargate network. The Wraith hibernated for centuries at a time in their hive-ships, occasionally waking to "cull" millions of innocent lives. They subjugated the various human worlds, which they referred to as their "feeding grounds", and made certain that none would ever advance far enough technologically to threaten them again.

Ten thousand years passed. Through a series of events too lengthy to recount here, the people of Earth rediscovered the Stargates, the Ancients, and eventually, the location of Atlantis. A team of scientists from around the world was chosen for an expedition to the lost city. Their enthusiasm was tempered by the knowledge that, because of the tremendous amount of extra energy required for an intergalactic jump, they might never be able to return home again.

Upon arriving, the team found the city intact and perfectly preserved, just as the Ancients had left it. But their arrival posed a problem: as the city reawakened and powered up, it strained the nearly-depleted generators which had maintained the energy shield for so many centuries. When it failed, the water would rush in and destroy the city for good.

Luckily for the team, the Ancients had forseen this possibility. As the generators began to shut down, a last failsafe kicked in: the city raised itself back to the surface of the ocean. After so many years, Atlantis saw the light of day again.

But all was still not well: during an early mission, the Atlantis team managed to awaken the Wraith - all of them - years ahead of schedule. The scientists of Earth lack the technology to recreate the Ancient power sources, leaving the city unprotected. It is only a matter of time before the Wraith realize that their old enemies (or the descendents thereof) have returned, and come to Atlantis to destroy all who stand in their way.

This sets the stage, then, for Stargate: Atlantis. The series follows the adventures of the Atlantis team as they explore the Pegasus galaxy and search desperately for a way to defend themselves from the Wraith... before it is too late.