Original subtitles

[Dr. Nicholas Rush]: I may be on the verge

of discovering the true nature of Destiny's mission.

[Eli Wallace]: You've had control of this ship

the whole time!

Why wouldn't you tell anyone?

[Camile Wray]: The Lucian Alliance

is planning an attack on Earth.

[Colonel Everett Young]: I killed Riley.

I suffocated him with my own hands.

[Lieutenant Matthew Scott]: You are a good commander.

[Young]: There is no mission

other than getting these people home.

[Rush]: It was never about going home.

It's about getting us to where we're going.

That is the mission.

[Rush]: Well, I've just completed a thorough diagnostic

on one of the stasis pods.

Very informative.

We've been searching

what we were able to transfer from the archive.

The ALS cure wasn't in there.

[Lt. Tamara Johansen]: The first symptoms presented

five years after we arrived on the planet.

I died a few years after that.

We got drones, dead ahead.

[Young]: The drones cannot track us,

so instead, they've blockaded the stars

from which Destiny recharges.

[Eli]: This could be it, the end of the line.

[Dr. Lisa Park]: There's new hybrids in the dome

we could lose forever.

[Rush]: The hydroponic dome's been breached.

[Screaming]

[Rush]: Flash blindness. Hopefully it's temporary.

[Park]: I can't see!

How you feeling?

Oh, great.

I haven't had this much rest in weeks.

I never thought I'd say this,

but I'm actually looking forward to getting bleary-eyed

analyzing data.

Well, let's see where we're at.

I've been seeing occasional flashes of light.

I think that's a good sign, right?

Okay. Open your eyes.

Lisa?

Uh, it's still dark.

I can't see.

Anything?

No.

[Crying]

Colonel, you got a second?

Can it wait?

You look terrible.

Thank you.

You're running yourself ragged, okay?

Get some rest.

Way ahead of you. That's where I'm going.

Colonel Young, this is Rush.

Ignore that, you're no good to us exhausted.

Colonel Young?

This is Young.

Could you join us

in the control interface room, please?

We've something we want to show you.

We did it.

Fantastic.

What'd they do?

I have no idea.

We found a way to track the command ships

that control the drones.

How?

We managed to isolate

the subspace signals they use to communicate with each other.

Then we plugged the data

into Destiny's long-range sensors,

and it worked.

[Wray]: So we know where they are.

Then we can avoid them

and find safe planets to resupply.

That was the idea, anyway.

Let's see it.

[Beeping commands]

This is the path

that seed ships plotted for us through this galaxy.

[Entering commands]

These are the upcoming gates...

And these are the command ships.

Oh, my God.

[Rush]: We've pushed this

as far as sensor capability will allow,

and the results are the same.

As far as we can tell, they're waiting at every gate

between here and the edge of the galaxy.

We're screwed.

♪ Stargate Universe 2x20 ♪ Gauntlet Original Air Date on May 9, 2011

== sync, corrected by elderman ==

Colonel Young?

No, I'm Rush, this is Young.

Colonel Telford's waiting for you.

You sure your sensor data is accurate?

Of course it is.

And they're at every single gate?

Well, they've figured out how we operate.

They know which stars we use to recharge,

they know that we use the gate to resupply.

They're everywhere we want to be

along that path.

So go off the path.

Use the shuttles and check out ungated worlds.

We can't do that.

There's over 300 billion stars

in that galaxy.

Only a small percentage of them have planets.

An even smaller percentage are capable of sustaining life.

The seed ships did the legwork.

They found the needles in the haystack.

If we go off on our own, it could be months,

maybe even years between viable worlds.

It's not an option.

What's your supply situation?

We're looking at about a month's worth

of food and water.

What about power?

We'll die of thirst

before that becomes an issue.

We could really use a supply line

from home, David.

Well, the only planet we know of

with the power requirements to reach you

is still refusing to help.

Woolsey is still pushing diplomacy,

but he's not making much progress.

Whatever the solution is,

you're gonna have to make it happen on your own.

Hey...

I'm collecting inventory reports.

Guess it could be a while

before we can use the gate again.

So I hear.

We're actually in pretty good shape down here

for the moment.

Matt told me about Lisa.

Do you think her condition's permanent?

I don't know.

I mean, there should have been some progress by now.

It's not your fault.

You don't have the right equipment,

the resources--

even if I did, it wouldn't make a difference.

There's no treatment.

Her corneas were burned by ultraviolet radiation.

If they don't heal on their own...

Well, I know it seems unfair,

but sometimes

you just have to play the hand that you're dealt.

Why do I get the feeling

you're not just talking about Lisa?

There's still hope,

for her and for you.

[Sniffles]

Als is a death sentence, Chloe, you know that...

And it's not gonna be pretty.

It'll start with muscle weakness

and cramping.

Then I'll have trouble walking,

talking,

feeding myself,

and eventually, full paralysis will set in,

but my mind will be unaffected.

I'll be a prisoner

trapped inside my own body.

Like I said...

You play the hand you're dealt.

So, no help from home.

No.

Well, that doesn't leave us with many options.

Well, we can't run, we can't hide, we'll have to fight.

There's a lot of them out there.

We don't have to take on all of them,

just as many as we have to

in order to resupply when necessary.

That's still a pretty tall order

considering we've only taken out one of their command ships.

And that was with help.

Well, we do have the element of surprise

now we're able to track them.

Okay, we choose a target,

drop out of FTL,

and open fire before it's got a chance to respond.

But what if it does manage a response?

Well, if we don't destroy it immediately,

we can at least cause enough damage

to gain a huge advantage.

So, let's say this works once,

maybe even twice,

but we're going to start taking damage,

and it's going to take its toll.

Well, we find a way to minimize that damage.

Oh yeah?

And I suppose you've got an idea

on how we manage that.

As a matter of fact,

I do.

So you're saying we dial up the shields?

Well, no, not exactly--

it's more like... We tune them.

When we're in battle,

the shields continuously cycle through various frequencies,

in the hopes of matching

incoming energy-based attacks.

The closer the match,

the easier the attack is to absorb,

and, consequently, the less damage we take.

It's a guessing game, like rock, paper, scissors.

But in the case of the drones,

we don't have to guess.

Thanks to someone's brilliant idea

to bring one onboard...

The energy signature of their weapons

is a fairly limited range.

We can target specifically for it.

We just need to override

Destiny's normal randomized shield pattern.

And paper covers rock every time.

If all Destiny has to do

is find the right match,

why does it bother cycling in the first place?

Because matching and maintaining

a single specific pattern

makes it vulnerable to all other forms of attack.

Right, like if they throw scissors,

and we're guessing, uh, rock...

Not to push the analogy too far.

Too late.

So if we are wrong,

it would be like we have no shields at all?

We're not wrong.

Main weapon is charged and ready.

[Beeps intercom] Rush...

What's your status?

Looks like Destiny's accepting our override.

Shields are at maximum,

modulation is limited within target range.

[Bridge hydraulics hiss]

Who calculated the FTL jump?

Chloe.

Think we'll come out in range?

Well, it's a bit like

trying to hit a dime with a bullet

from a thousand yards,

but she's pretty good.

[Proximity alerts blare]

What is that?

Collision alarms, we're about to hit!

Hold on!

[Metal groaning and rending]

[Chuckling]

I take it back, she is very, very good.

We've got incoming.

It's working.

Their weapons are having almost no effect.

Concentrate on the command ship.

Ignore the drones.

I don't have a shot!

Working on it.

The command ship is damaged, but still operational.

Bringing us around again.

[Explosion rumbles]

What's that?

The shields just dropped 10%.

What's going on?

All of a sudden their shots are getting through!

That's not weapons fire.

It's the drones.

They're flying right into us.

It's a kamikaze run!

[Explosions rumble]

Shields are down to half and still dropping.

We've lost power in multiple sections.

I'm down three gun positions.

I can't hold 'em off.

Forget it, there's too many anyway!

Just give me another whack at that command ship.

She's trying to out-maneuver us.

I need some more time.

We don't have it. Shields are failing.

Almost there.

We got 'em.

Direct hit.

The command ship's been destroyed.

Looks like the drones have gone dormant.

Away teams to the shuttles, let's make this quick.

We don't want to stay here any longer than we have to.

Go.

We can't do this

every time we need to resupply.

No.

We need another plan.

Second shuttle just docked.

I guess they found a few edibles,

but the pickings were pretty slim.

Get us out of here.

Colonel!

Do you have a minute?

Well, I know it sounds like a crazy idea, Eli,

but I was actually thinking of getting some sleep,

so unless you have some genius idea

that solves all our problems--

As a matter of fact, I do,

but you're not gonna like it.

Well, that goes without saying.

I am notoriously hard to please.

So...

Let's hear it.

Okay.

Another day, another galaxy.

What the hell does that mean?

This is just one of a thousand galaxies

in Destiny's path,

and I think you'll agree

it's turned out to be something of a hostile environment.

So?

So... we skip it.

One continuous FTL jump,

out and around the length of this galaxy,

across the gap to the next one,

until we reach the first gate

on the other side.

Well, how long's that going to take?

That's the part you're not gonna like.

We're only about a third of the way

through this galaxy,

plus the gap to the next one

is quite a bit larger than last time.

On top of that,

thanks to the ass-kicking that was just handed to us,

we've got power issues,

and some not insignificant damage to the FTL drive

that we won't have time to fix,

which means we'll be operating at reduced speed,

which means we might actually run out of--

Eli!

How long?

Three years, give or take.

[Chuckles]

Wow, three years?

We barely have enough for a month.

What do you suggest we do for food and water

while all this is happening?

Nothing.

That's the genius part, by the way.

Once you're sealed inside the stasis pod,

your metabolism shuts down.

You don't need food or water.

Basically, you just sleep through the whole thing.

And we've found several other corridors like this one.

There should be enough for everybody,

and thanks to the, uh...

Uh, research

that Brody and I have already done,

we know they work.

Three years.

Give or take.

You keep saying that.

[Rush]: What Eli is neglecting to mention

is that a jump like this

is going to require every last ounce of power we have,

and if his calculations are off--

They're not.

And we fall short even by a fraction,

a tenth of one percent--

We won't.

Then we're going to drift the rest of the way,

and instead of three years, it'll take a thousand.

Or more.

I assume you were going to get to that part.

Look, I've run the numbers.

This could work,

but we have to do it soon.

We're bleeding power from a dozen systems,

and we can't risk dropping out to recharge--

too many things that could go wrong.

We have to find another way.

All right, uh...

How long would it take you to prep the rest of these pods?

A... a day, maybe.

Get to work.

Colonel--

You've got 24 hours to come up with a better idea.

[Wray]: Three years?

Yeah, that's in a best-case scenario.

[Sighs]

The thought of being sealed in one of those things

for so long,

it kind of creeps me out.

I don't like it much either,

but we're quickly running out of options.

Well, if we're going to do this,

I recommend that everyone be permitted

a final visit to Earth,

say their goodbyes.

All right, you make the arrangements,

but it's gonna have to be pretty quick.

We pretty much have to shut down everything

to make this work,

and if we take too long, we're going to run out of power.

[Sighs in frustration] Oh, bollocks...

[Chalk clatters]

[Chloe]: How's it going?

Huh?

It's not.

For what it's worth, I went over Eli's numbers.

It's true there's not much margin for error,

but I think it might just work.

Yeah, if we're lucky.

Destiny is on this path for a reason.

We've only strayed from it once,

and that's what caused all this trouble

in the first place.

But we're not going off the path,

at least not for good.

We're just skipping part of it.

Yeah, but that's what bothers me.

This ship was launched to solve a mystery,

not by arriving at some ultimate destination

where all the questions are answered at one time,

but by accumulating knowledge bit by bit.

We skip over this galaxy,

then who's to say

we won't skip over some vital piece of the puzzle,

and then all of this,

everything we've been through,

will be for nothing.

There's got to be a way to defeat them.

I just need more time.

Which we don't have.

Look, you're right,

if we go into those pods, we're taking a chance.

We might miss something,

or we might sleep

a lot longer than we planned

and never see our loved ones again,

or we might never wake up at all,

but Destiny will keep going.

If we stay,

and we don't find a way to defeat the drones,

we'll all be killed,

and this ship will be destroyed,

and then this really will have all been for nothing.

Colonel, this is Brody.

We're ready to put the first group into stasis.

Please just step into your assigned pods.

Don't worry, I'll be monitoring your progress.

See you soon.

Soon.

It's me, mom.

Eli...

I don't have much time.

Just long enough to say goodbye.

We've got smart people working on it,

really smart,

but still, three years.

Even if it all goes well,

three years at least.

I'm sorry.

No, no, Eli--

I can't help thinking

that if I had made different choices in my life,

you wouldn't be alone right now.

If you had made different choices,

you wouldn't have seen

the incredible sights you've seen,

done the amazing things you've done.

I feel like I've abandoned you.

You haven't abandoned me.

You're living your life.

I mean, it was hard when I didn't...

When I didn't know where you were,

or what you were doing,

but now I understand.

You don't have to be here, Eli.

I just, I just need to know--

are you happy?

In spite of everything,

yeah.

I am.

That's good enough for me.

[Pod alerts beep]

[Keying in commands]

[Alert beeps]

[Keying in commands]

[Alert beeps again]

Volker.

Yeah.

You on the bridge?

Yeah.

Good, I need you to run a diagnostic for me.

[Knocking on door]

[Sighs wearily]

Come in!

[Door cranks open]

What?

Well, as you know, we've been powering up

all the stasis pod corridors,

and it's been going...

It's been going pretty well up to now,

but, uh...

Well, what is it?

It's the last section.

It must have taken some damage,

possibly even before we came onboard the ship.

We can't bring those pods online, so...

We're not going to have enough for everyone.

The damaged pods put us eight short

of the total we need.

What's the problem?

Well, the ship's very old, that's the problem.

All right, we'll try that again.

Can we fix it?

Not with the material we have on board.

We need something called palladium hydride.

It's a component

of the high-temperature superconductors

that are critical to the pod systems.

Where do we get this stuff?

In ores in alloy with other metals,

ideally on planets in systems

that have seen substantial meteor activity.

Right, now, we do have a possible candidate,

and it's locked out for good reason.

The meteorites would make the place dangerous,

if not toxic,

but there is still a command ship in the system.

They know nothing

about human physiology,

or what makes a planet viable.

They just know there's a gate.

We can still get around the lock-out, if we want to.

Can we survive another fight?

Even if we did, we'd use up far too much power.

The ship would never make the jump

to the next galaxy,

which kind of defeats the purpose

of going to this planet in the first place.

So what are you telling me?

We don't have a choice but to leave eight people out?

Tell them, "good luck,

you've got as long as the food and water lasts?"

[Brody]: We can't even do that.

The power requirements needed

to maintain life support for eight people for that long

would make us fall short.

Whoever stays out would have to--

Kill themselves, yeah.

You have no choice, Colonel.

If you want Eli's plan to work,

you're going to have to come up with eight names.

It just goes from bad to worse.

So what's Colonel Young decided?

He hasn't yet, but--

Don't even think about it.

What?

Volunteering to be one of the eight.

I know you, Ron.

Maybe I would, if it came to it,

but I wouldn't ask seven others to do it with me,

and I don't think Colonel Young would either.

I mean, the way I see it, we all came here together,

and, if need be,

we'll all go out together.

Maybe it won't come to that.

What?

Take me to Colonel Young.

Why? What are you thinking?

We need to fall back to this section

and seal off the surrounding corridors,

shut down life support to those areas,

and then re-route power--

Okay, we're here.

Sergeant?

Dr. Park has something she'd like to share.

We'll use a decoy.

We drop off one of our shuttles,

unmanned,

a short FTL jump from the planet.

Then we set it to broadcast a powerful subspace burst,

mimicking a gate dial-out.

It'll take a lot of power,

and it might damage a few systems,

but I'm guessing

the shuttle doesn't survive this plan anyway.

No.

The command ship will investigate,

taking the drones with it,

and probably attack the shuttle,

but in the meantime,

we take advantage of the distraction

to dial in and get the palladium hydride.

We can recalibrate the shields on the shuttle

just like we did Destiny,

and remote pilot an evasive course

that'll make it harder for the drones to connect

with a suicide run.

If we are going to sacrifice it anyway,

we can rig the engines to go critical,

ram it straight into the command ship,

give 'em a taste of their own medicine.

And we'd still have one shuttle left.

All right, I think it sounds like a great idea.

Let's do it.

Hey, that's good work, Dr. Park.

All right, we're in position.

Rush, this is Young.

Launch the shuttle.

Subspace link is in place.

We should be able to get shuttle telemetry

and access the flight controls

with minimal delay.

Understood.

Get us as far away from here as possible.

You know what we're looking for, right?

Well, I can identify the rocks,

but we can't test for concentration.

But our best bet

is to bring back as much as possible.

If this works, we should have enough time

to load up as much as the Kino sled can hold.

And what if it doesn't?

[Beeping commands]

Okay.

I think we're good.

[Beeping commands]

Broadcasting the signal now.

Let's hope they take the bait.

Come on, come on...

[Console beeps]

Whoa, that's it.

The command ship just dropped off the screen.

They've got to be in hyperspace.

They're on their way.

Gateroom, this is Young.

Start dialing.

[Stargate powers up]

This is gateroom, we have a connection.

Away team is en route.

Start removing shuttle engine safety protocols.

We're gonna have to time this overload

to the last second.

[Keying rapidly]

We got anything?

Screens are clear.

Oh, hold on.

Command ship just dropped out near the shuttle.

[Alerts beep]

They're launching drones.

Rush, you're on.

Initiating evasive maneuvers.

Barnes, what's our status

with the away team?

They found several impact craters near the gate.

They've already begun collecting samples.

Whoa! Watch out.

It's all right, I've got it.

Stabilizing.

[Console beeping]

Initiate the overload.

You sure?

If it can't get close enough--

Just do it!

[Keying rapidly]

They're launching more drones.

The shuttle doesn't have much time.

Overload in 10 seconds.

Six...

Five...

Four...

It's gone,

but it's a pretty safe bet

more are on the way.

Yeah, we're not going to wait around to find out.

Nice work, gentlemen.

You got what you need?

We're good.

Let's get this stuff out of here.

You ready to go?

I-I don't know what I'm gonna say.

He doesn't even know I'm his father.

I'm just some guy

who shows up every once in a while

to see how he's doing.

And, uh...

How is he doing?

His mom is...

Uh, I think she's a good person.

I just don't think she's a good parent.

Folks from the Homeworld Command tell me

if I was to make the phone call,

they'll step in

see he's raised in a proper home.

Well...

I wouldn't make any rash decisions.

What about you?

What are you gonna say to Sharon?

Oh, uh, I, uh...

I just got back, and I... Didn't see her.

She's at a conference in Brussels.

Not enough time.

Sorry.

You know, um...

[Clears throat]

You go back billions of light years,

across an entire universe,

and you're just separated by a couple of thousand miles.

Anyway, um, I got to talk to her on the phone.

What'd you say?

I, uh, I said I was sorry.

That, um...

This wasn't fair to her anymore,

and she should just move on.

What did she say?

Not much.

She, uh...

She just started crying.

[♪]

[Young]: Eat up, everybody.

Except for the canned goods,

this is all going to waste anyway.

For once, I'm stuffed.

I can't eat another bite.

I think I can use just a little bit more.

[Chuckling]

All right, Colonel,

how about a toast?

Really?

Yes.

All right. All right, why not?

Well, uh...

We've been through a hell of lot together,

that's for sure.

I guess it would be easy

to dwell on everything that we have lost,

but I think today

I would rather think about what we still have,

and maybe what we've gained.

We're a... We're family now,

whether we like it or not.

Sons,

daughters,

sisters--

even the slightly crazy Uncle

who, despite everything,

still manages to come through for you in the end.

[Laughing]

You are the smartest,

bravest,

most compassionate people

that I have ever had the honor to serve with.

To family.

To family.

To family. [Glasses clink]

Sweet dreams.

You all right?

Yes, sir.

Well, I guess you're finally going to get some sleep.

Three years.

That should be enough.

Lieutenant, go ahead.

Are you sure?

Yeah. Yeah, we're going to be fine.

So, Rush and Eli are finishing up

the last of the programming.

They should be done by the time I get back.

You're not going to go see Emily?

We're done.

Why re-open old wounds?

You know, for what it's worth--

David, listen,

my, uh, marriage, that was--

that was broken a long time ago,

and I have no one to blame but myself.

Whatever happens, we're not giving up on you.

Some of us may have a few more gray hairs,

but we'll still be here.

Good luck, Everett.

Thanks, David.

[Eli]: How could we have missed it?

[Rush]: There was no way of knowing.

But we ran a diagnostic!

And it showed no problems,

because at that stage,

that particular section had yet to be fully engaged.

What's going on?

We repaired the eight pods,

but one of them was more damaged than we thought.

It came online with the rest of them,

but when we ran final checks, it just...Died.

We might be one short.

Okay, try it now.

[Console beeps in error]

It's no use.

Right. Go back down to the control interface room

and go through the database.

There's over 1,700 pages devoted to this system.

You'd better get started, then.

[Rush]: Colonel...

We have to talk.

Eli...

Before you ask, the answer is no,

I haven't found any magical solutions yet.

It's gonna take time.

According to Rush,

if two of us go into the pods now, today,

the one that stays outside

could keep minimal life support going

for two weeks

before it starts eating

into the power reserved for the jump.

Sounds about right.

Well, he's volunteered to be the one.

You're kidding me.

Really?

Yeah.

He says he's most qualified

to figure out what's wrong with the pod

and then fix it.

[Muttering]: I don't know about that.

Yeah, and I don't think I can let him do it.

You know, I think it's, uh,

it's gonna be me.

You're going to fix the pod?

I'm obviously not going to fix the pod, Eli.

Then you're talking about suicide.

I can't trust him.

I can't be sure he's going to do the right thing

when the time comes.

I'll admit he's not perfect,

but I don't think that--

and what if he doesn't find a solution,

what if after two weeks, he loses his nerve,

and then he keeps the life support going,

even for just a few days, what happens?

Then we drop out early

and drift.

And wake up in a thousand years.

If we wake up at all.

Right.

No, it's the only choice.

No, it's not.

I'll do it.

Eli...

If you stay out,

it's automatic, you're dead.

If I do it, at least I have a chance.

Maybe even a better chance than Rush.

For too long,

I've been content to stay in his shadow,

play the part of the eager Young protege,

take his orders, but...

I'm not afraid to say it anymore.

I'm smarter than him...

And all three of us know it.

Right, I-I can't ask you to do that.

And I can't take no for an answer.

Sorry.

[Quiet music plays]

[Knocks]

Hey.

He told me about the conversation.

Oh... right.

Awkward.

No, not really.

I knew he wouldn't trust me enough

to let me stay.

You did?

Well, in case you hadn't noticed,

we do have history.

Is that why you volunteered

in the first place?

Because you knew he wouldn't accept?

What difference does it make?

[Whispering] No...

The only thing I failed to anticipate

was that you would volunteer to take my place.

So you did want it to be Young.

I don't want anyone to die, Eli.

This isn't even my idea, remember?

But you didn't come up with a better one.

Not in the allotted time, no,

which just goes to prove my point.

We're going to need you on the other side.

Oh...

I'll be there.

You know, maybe I haven't said this often enough, Eli,

but you do have...

You do have tremendous potential.

I'd hate to see you throw it all away.

I'm not.

Anyway, what's the point of having potential

if you're not going to step up when you're really needed?

You've come a long way

from that video-game slacker

I discovered a year ago.

Thanks.

You've been pretty consistent.

[Beeping commands]

Colonel.

Mr. Wallace.

You sure about this?

I've never been more sure of anything in my life.

You're a good man, Eli.

Now, get this done,

and we'll see you on the other side.

Right.

Right.

[♪]

[♪]

[Power whining down]

[♪]

[♪]

== sync, corrected by elderman ==