Plot
The Atlantis team suddenly loses control of their puddle jumper and crashes. Investigating the electromagnetic field that made them crash, the team discover that the planet they've landed on has no one over the age of 25. They soon learn that upon turning 25, the people of this society commit suicide because they believe it keeps the Wraith from coming back to the world. The team discover this isn't the case when they try to find out what brought their puddle jumper down. They find a device powered by a Zero Point Module (ZPM) which acts as a sort of an electromagnetic pulse device which disables all electrical devices within the radius, including those of the Wraith and the Atlantians; the Wraith have never returned because, even if they simply landed outside the field, they would subsequently lose their technological advantage.
Dr. Rodney McKay believes that the ZPM will allow the Atlantis team to power the Atlantis shields and takes it upon himself to bring it back to Atlantis, but Sheppard tells him to be quick, as one of the natives he has befriended — Keras, one of the village 'elders' — is going to kill himself the next day. However, upon returning, he is ordered by Dr. Weir to return it; the ZPM is effectively useless to Atlantis, as it only has enough power to keep their shield running for a few hours, while it is the planet's only defense and could maintain its shield for at least several more years.
McKay also learns that the suicide pact is actually connected to the device; the shield has only a limited range, so the suicide pact was created as a means of population control to stop them expanding too far. Prior to McKay's re-activation of the emitter, a Wraith scout's radio, long deactivated due to the emitter's activity, becomes active and begins broadcasting a distress beacon. Wraith scouts are immediately dispatched, nearly resulting in a confrontation between John Sheppard's team and some of the natives who believe they are responsible for this change, but McKay reattaches the ZPM, the emitter is re-activated, and the scouts are unable to broadcast any data back to their hive ship of origin. As they depart, McKay reveals that, although the ZPM's power is limited, he has managed to work out a means of expanding the shield, allowing for population growth and rendering the suicide pact unnecessary — at least for the next couple of generations. As he departs, Sheppard gives Keras a birthday present of a bag of chocolate, commenting that such a thing is traditional on birthdays back on their planet.
Read more about this topic: Childhood's End (Stargate Atlantis)
Famous quotes containing the word plot:
“After I discovered the real life of mothers bore little resemblance to the plot outlined in most of the books and articles I’d read, I started relying on the expert advice of other mothers—especially those with sons a few years older than mine. This great body of knowledge is essentially an oral history, because anyone engaged in motherhood on a daily basis has no time to write an advice book about it.”
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“We have defined a story as a narrative of events arranged in their time-sequence. A plot is also a narrative of events, the emphasis falling on causality. “The king died and then the queen died” is a story. “The king died, and then the queen died of grief” is a plot. The time sequence is preserved, but the sense of causality overshadows it.”
—E.M. (Edward Morgan)
“The westward march has stopped, upon the final plains of the Pacific; and now the plot thickens ... with the change, the pause, the settlement, our people draw into closer groups, stand face to face, to know each other and be known.”
—Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924)