Epiphany (Stargate Atlantis)

“Epiphany”
Stargate Atlantis episode
Episode no.	Season 2 Episode 12
Written by	Joe Flanigan and Brad Wright
Directed by	Neil Fearnley
Guest stars	Chad Morgan (actress) as Teer David McNally as Avrid Nicole Muñoz as Hedda Scott Miller as the pilot
Production no.	212
Original airdate	November 28, 2005
Episode chronology ← Previous Next → "The Hive (Part 2)" "Critical Mass"
Episode chronology

"Epiphany" is an episode from Season 2 of the science fiction television series Stargate Atlantis.

Plot

While scouting a planet by Jumper, the team notices what appears to be a massive crater on the surface. McKay asks to check out the rim of the crater as that he has detected energy readings, but once they get there, all they find is a doorway and some Ancient writing. However, the energy readings are coming from the doorway. Just to be safe, McKay ties a camera to the end of a stick and puts it through the door, discovering an energy barrier that it must pass through. He then pulls it out and deduces that the other side appears safe, allowing Sheppard to pass through. A problem arises, however, when Sheppard is unable to pass back through the doorway, and suffers injuries from the stresses of the barrier. What is more troubling though, is that time within the barrier seems to be passing much faster than time outside the barrier, which Rodney failed to realise until after Sheppard passed through upon further review of the tape. Sheppard could already be starving to death. McKay, Ronon, and Teyla quickly toss all their supplies through the portal. Then McKay departs for Atlantis to get help — before Sheppard dies of old age. Indeed, inside the portal, days have passed. Trapped in a cave without food, water, or word from his team, Sheppard is discouraged. The arrival of the supplies helps, but when more days pass with no further contact, he's forced to seek food elsewhere. He discovers that, on the other side of the immense mountain range above him, the cave opens into a verdant valley. Unexpectedly, a man races up to him, shouting frantically about a beast. Then the beast — a semi-invisible monster — attacks them both, knocking Sheppard unconscious. He awakens in a tranquil village. The man, Avrid, and his sister, Teer, explain that the Ancients created this valley as a place for people to meditate on spiritual truths and, eventually, Ascend to a higher plane of existence. To Sheppard's horror, they add that, except by Ascending, no one can leave the valley. Ever. Weeks turn into months as, with Teer's help, Sheppard struggles to adapt to his new life. Then, one day, the mysterious beast attacks the village. To Sheppard's disgust, the villagers hide, leaving him to face the creature alone. He barely survives. Feeling abandoned by his teammates and now by the passive villagers, the deeply frustrated Sheppard tries to make his new friends understand that Ascension won't mean much if they're mauled to death before they can achieve it. Meanwhile outside the barrier only a few hours have passed and the team has returned. Although a probe sent through the field is destroyed it locates the power source of the field and McKay also concludes that time in the field passes about 250 times faster than in real time, which would mean that a single hour in real time would equate to at least 10 days within the field. Inside the field Teer confidently responds that her lifetime of spiritual practice has given her clairvoyance. This power warns her that the beast will attack Sheppard's team. But this time he gets help from the villagers who have realized that the beast is only a manifestation of their fears. Now that they have realized this they all ascend – and although he is offered to join them Sheppard declines. Instead he leaves the barrier which will however remain to help other people to ascend.

Production notes

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• Joe Flanigan, who plays John Sheppard, helped write this episode.
• The start of this episode uses a short piece of stock footage from Childhood's End of the Puddle Jumper flying over a pond.

Series continuity

• This episode bears comparison to the Stargate SG-1 episode "A Hundred Days" in which Jack O'Neill is stranded on an alien planet for three months and becomes part of the local society.
• McKay's comment about Sheppard and ascended women is a reference to Chaya Sar, from Sanctuary.
• Carson Beckett says he has a date with Laura Cadman. This is a referance to the episode 'Duet'.

References to other media

• At one point Lt. Col. Sheppard says into his radio, "This is Sheppard. I'm pretty sure you can't hear me, but I don't have a volleyball to talk to, so what the hell." This is a reference to the movie Cast Away, in which Tom Hanks is stranded many months on an uncharted island, and spends his time talking to a volleyball he names Wilson.
• The idea of a monster created from the subconsciousness of human beings with enhanced mental powers is rather similar to the plot of the classic sci-fi movie Forbidden Planet.

External links

• Official Stargate Atlantis site. MGM. Visited June 8, 2006.
• Transcript from GateWorld. Transcribed by Callie Sullivan. Visited May 14, 2006.
• Summary from GateWorld. Visited May 14, 2006.
• Review from GateWorld. Reviewed by Sharon Fetter. Visited May 14, 2006.
• Gatenoise from Moon-catchin'. Visited June 23, 2006.