This is topic $$ SGU 2x09 "Visitation" $$ in forum General Sci-Fi at Flare Sci-Fi Forums.


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Posted by Fabrux (Member # 71) on :
 
So, who thinks they're heading in the direction of the planet-building aliens and the structure in the fabric of the universe being related?
 
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
 
They could be. I wonder why the aliens did return the stragglers to Destiny. Did they know the humans would die again eventually, so they figured they might as well let them have some time with their friends? Well at least there's one shuttle back on Destiny, which they were sorely missing two weeks ago.
 
Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
 
And depending on how you interpret the ending, Caine might not actually have died. (Either in the shuttle or on Destiny.)

But as interesting as the story was, what's the point? Clearly there's some alien involvement of some kind, most likely the same ones who built the obelisk and presumably the planet. But if everyone on the planet died, what was the point of "resurrecting" them and sending them back to Destiny, only to twistedly have them die again? To let the rest of the crew know what happened to them? That doesn't make sense.

At this point, literally the only solid fact we have (from an audience perspective) is that TJ saw that glowing nebula in the sky before she saw it "for real" on Destiny. In fact, that's the only remaining element of her hallucination/vision that hasn't been disproven or called into question.

So either TJ's vision was faked, or the return of Caine and the others was faked (that is, the "real" Caine is still alive in his cabin with the baby). I would say that the former would be a much simpler conclusion.

I kinda liked Rush's reaction to that "God" argument. It just goes to point out all the logical flaws in the concept of an all-knowing, all-powerful deity. (IMO, of course.)

And I loved Eli's quotation of Clarke's Third Law. Someone had to say it—I've been thinking of it for a while! [Wink]
 
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
 
One question is - why would a presumably omnipitent race build an obelisk on a planet? Interesting that when Caine called for help they came. Maybe they built the obelisk to be worshipped? A new aliens as gods thread?

Anyone get reminded of ascended ancients when you saw the glowing light at the end?
 
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
 
Blah. I was bored by this ep. I think that's all I need to say.
 
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
 
I think it's pretty clear that TJ's vision came from Destiny itself, just like Rush's two "Harveys" and Young's dreams/simulations. That nebula was probably already on the ship's sensors or in the logs from the seed ships.
 
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
 
Yeah, I was thinking that while watching the episode. The ship probably got into her brain to make her feel better.
 
Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
 
That idea sounds quite reasonable from a practical standpoint of answering the mystery. I like it.

But on a deeper level, that means that the there's a much bigger problem: the ship can lie. It doesn't matter if it's arguably a helpful kind of lie, it means that the ship could be providing false information. And that would open up a huge can of worms...
 
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
 
More to the point I think it further implies something I've suspected since the first episodes; the ship itself is conscious, sentient and possibly even sapient.

As for providing false information...that's not quite what it's doing since it's not as if this is raw data, it's an unconsciously induced vision. From a machine's perspective it might see it as a sort of software patch; making sure the ship's medic is emotionally stable just like it tried to do with Young.

Still, from the get-go the ship has been looking out for the crew, locking out addresses to certain dangers, seeking out resources and supplies that they need, etc. Even if it did outright lie, nothing that's happened so far would indicate it would knowingly endanger the crew in this way. Indeed, given how firm a grasp it's developed on the crew's individual personalities it's probably much better equipped to anticipate their responses, decreasing the likelihood of them endangering themselves by being contrary.
 
Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
 
Oh, I agree with all that. Certainly the ship seems to have the crew's best interests in mind. ...So far. It's easy to imagine some kind of "ship run amok" story coming down the road. That's what I'm worried about.
 
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
 
I doubt they'll go down that route. I mean if the thing hasn't gone crazy after spending millions of years with only the CMB for company then it's not about to go all HAL 9000 now...hang on. An AI spending millions of years listening to an intelligent signal from the dawn of creation? What if the ship wasn't launched with an AI to begin with at all? What if that universal consciousness has at least partially imprinted itself on the ship's computer? Sounds very Carl Sagan. [Wink]
 
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
 
I wonder what the ship thinks of Rush? [Smile]
 
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
 
That he should have told the crew he had control of the bridge? [Razz]
 
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
 
Life imitates art.
 
Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
 
Okay, so who was saying that the Destiny mission is implausible? [Razz]
 
Posted by Reverend (Member # 335) on :
 
Not I, but still that's not quite the same thing. There's nothing about suspiciously artificial patterns, just that the big bang may not have been the first, or the last. Mind you, it would actually fit into SGU's story if those patterns originated from an intelligence that existed in the previous incarnation of the universe, so not necessarily evidence of a creator or universal consciousness after all.
 
Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
 
Oh, I know that the real-life article says nothing about artificial origins or anything like that. Certainly the premises are not EXACTLY the same. But I think the point is that some people were ridiculing the idea of a pattern in the CMB and the concept of something predating the Big Bang.
 


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