Atlantis (Stargate)

<span class="SFPTagline"> From SCIFIPEDIA </span>

In the fictional Stargate universe, Atlantis is an Ancient city ship built several million years ago, possibly on Earth. It was abandoned in the Pegasus Galaxy for over 10,000 years until it was rediscovered by the Atlantis Expedition in the pilot episode of the series Stargate Atlantis. The legend of the lost city spread through Earth cultures via the Greeks who likely had contact with the Ancients several thousand years ago.

On Stargate Atlantis, the city is the base of operations for the Atlantis expedition. They have occupied the city and the main goal of the expedition is to learn more about Atlantis, the people who built it, and any technology that may help defend Earth. Although the team has been living and working on Atlantis for over two years, there are many mysteries yet to be uncovered in the city.

Spoiler Warning: Plot details and/or information about the ending follow. If you wish to enjoy the work first, stop reading here and return at another time.

1 Search for the Lost City
2 The Discovery
3 Atlantis History
4 The City
5 Interior
6 Technology
7 Key Episodes
8 Related Articles
9 External Links

Search for the Lost City

The search for the "Lost City" began during the sixth season of Stargate SG-1. While searching for the Eye of Ra on Abydos in the episode "Full Circle", SG-1 discovered a tablet written in an ancient language. Dr. Daniel Jackson, while he was ascended, was able to read the tablet with ease and told SG-1 to keep the tablet, as it was important and referred to an Ancient city with powerful weapons. Daniel also realized the other ascended beings were the Ancients referred to on the tablet.

Jonas Quinn made attempts to translate the tablet based on Daniel Jackson's notes which led him to the city of Vis Uban. Vis Uban was not the lost city but there they found an amnesiac Daniel Jackson, in human form, cast out by the other ascended beings for his inability to follow their rules. Daniel was able to translate the information on the tablet and realized the city had been "made lost" by the Ancients.

SG-1 continued to search for the city, trying to stay ahead of Anubis, an evil half-ascended goa'uld also searching for the same. On the planet P3X-439, SG-2 and SG-3 discovered Ancient writings that Daniel translated to reveal the location of an Ancient repository of knowledge on P3R-272. When SG-1 visited the planet, they were attacked by Anubis and Jack O'Neill downloaded the library into his mind for a second time and then destroyed the repository to prevent Anubis from using it.

Proclarush Taonas

Under the influence of the Ancient knowledge, Jack led the team via a Tel'tak piloted by Bra'tac to Proclarush Taonas (lost in fire), an Ancient outpost. The written name of the planet also represented its gate address. Proclarush was covered in lava but they discovered a shielded bubble on the surface and used the ships rings to transport into it where Jack extracted a Zero Point Module from Taonas' control room.

The ZPM was quickly brought back to Earth, where Jack altered the ship's ring transporters to bore a hole in the Antarctic ice revealing an Ancient outpost much like Taonas on Proclarush. The ZPM was used to power the Antarctic outpost's drone weapons, just in time to defeat Anubis' fleet.

After the battle, the Atlantus Outpost became a research station for Dr. Elizabeth Weir and her team of scientists studying the Ancient technology. Daniel Jackson discovered the address to Atlantis and realized the city was further away than they previously imagined, in the Pegasus Galaxy. Dr. Weir immediately put together an expedition to visit the city in what they believed would likely be a one way trip.

The Discovery

The Atlantis expedition team dialed the city's address from Earth, using remaining power provided by the outpost's ZPM. They were the first humans to enter the city in over ten thousand years. They soon discovered the city sat at the bottom of the ocean protected by a powerful energy shield. As they entered the city, it began to come to life, lighting up as they explored. Dr. Rodney McKay soon discovered that their arrival would lead to the collapse of the protective shield unless more power sources could be found to maintain it. They needed a ZPM.

Unable to find a ZPM, and under threat from an enemy known as the Wraith, the expedition prepared to evacuate the city. Before they could leave however, the fail-safe was activated and the city saved itself by rising up to the ocean surface.

In the episode "Before I Sleep" an aged Dr. Weir is discovered in stasis. She explains to her youngerself that in their first visit to the city, the expedition team died and Atlantis was destroyed when the shield collapsed and the city flooded. She and Lt. John Sheppard were able to get to one of the Puddle Jumpers before the city was destroyed and they escaped. The Puddle Jumper they chose had a time travel machine and they were sent 10,000 years back in time to when the city was inhabited by the Ancients. The small ship was immediately shot down by the Wraith and only Dr. Weir survived, rescued by the Atlanteans.

Dr. Weir was determined to prevent the catastrophe from occurring once gain and requested a ZPM to bring back to her own time but she was refused. They offered to bring her back to Earth and prevent the expedition team from visiting at all. The builder of the puddle jumper, an Ancient scientist known as Janus defied orders and helped Dr. Weir plan for the future. He set up the failsafe system that allowed the city to rise and put Dr. Weir in stasis. He gave her the task of rotating the three ZPMs powering the city every few hundred years so that the power could be extended. Dr. Weir succeeded in her task and Atlantis and the expedition team was saved.

Atlantis History

One of the first things discovered on Atlantis was a holographic projection of the Ancient Melia. Melia gave a brief history of the city and how it came to be abandoned.

Several million years ago Atlantis carried the Ancients to the Pegasus Galaxy where they proceeded to seed human life and build a new stargate network on the local planets. At some point, they came across and awoke a sleeping enemy known as the Wraith. The Wraith proceeded to devour human life on planets all over the galaxy.

The Ancients sent their most powerful ships to negotiate peace, assuming their technological superiority would be enough. The Wraith were not interested and killed the delegation setting of a war between the Ancients and the Wraith that lasted one hundred years. One on one the Ancient ships were more powerful but the Wraith were vast in number and the Ancients were eventually overwhelmed. They lost all the planets to the Wraith until only Atlantis remained.

Atlantis was under siege for several years until the Ancients decided to give up the fight and save as many as they could. The Ancients abandoned the city and returned to Earth, locking out dialing to Atlantis from any other address but Earth. They one day hoped to return with a solution but never managed to do so.

On Earth they found a primitve world and the prospect of trying to rebuild was daunting. They spread out across the Milky Way. Some ascended to a higher plane of existence and others lived among humans passing on their genes and knowledge.

The City

Atlantis has been compared in size to the city of Manhattan. Its size and technology accounts for its vast power requirements. The city was designed to operate using three Zero Point Modules. The power modules provided enough power to power the shield against Wraith attack and hold back the weight of the ocean for ten thousand years. Assuming the shield isn't in constant use, the ZPMS could possibly last for hundreds of thousands of years before depletion. The Atlantis expedition powered sections of the city with Naquadah Generators in lieu of a ZPM but the defense systems require a ZPM to function.

The city is shaped like a giant snowflake with wide flat piers on the outskirts, lower buildings moving in toward the center and a high spire containing the control room in the center surrounded by other sky scrapers. The control tower holds the gate room which is accessible by the puddle jumper bay above it. Distant sections of the city are accessible by transporters, similar to the ring transporters also designed by the Ancients.

Interior

Gate Room — The gate room of Atlantis is an open, bi-level room located at the top of the city's highest spire. The Puddle Jumper bay is above it and Puddle Jumpers gain access to the gate room via large doors that open up above the gate platform. The stargate is partially sunken into the platform floor and has no moving parts unlike Stargates in the Milky Way. Several stairs lead in different directions. A short set of stairs across from the stargate leads to the operations center

Operations Center — The center provides control of all major systems on Atlantis. It is where the DHD, similar to Earth's Dialing Computer, is located. Atlantis' DHD is able to recognize the origin of an incoming wormhole. Atlantis' gate shield, an energy barrier, is also controlled from this location. The Atlantis expedition uses their laptops in combination with the Ancient systems. The Ancient computer system uses a series of clear crystals that can be moved around. The operations center is also manages communication, internal sensors, and long range sensors.

Auxiliary Control Center — On the lower levels of the city, along with the drone weapons, auxiliary control can be accessed if the control center is unavailable. Access to the city's stardrive can also be gained from this location.

Control Chair Room — Atlantis' main weapons can only be activated by a person with the ATA gene using the control chair. The user sits in the chair and mentally activates and controls the drone weapons. the Chair requires the power provided by a ZPM but has been powered for a short while using a Mark II Naquadah Generator. The available drones can be ascertained only by activating the chair.

Drone Weapons Storage — The individual drones are stored in the lower sections of the city in racks that resemble honeycombs. The control chair may fire thousands of drones. Atlantis is likely capable of storing several thousand drones.

ZPM Room — Atlantis was designed to operate using three ZPMS. if necessary, as is the case with the expedition, a single ZPM may be used with limitations. The ZPM outlet has three slots on a triangular platform with a nearby console for operation.

Conference Rooms — Atlantis has two known conference rooms. The smaller of the two has a large triangular table while the larger room has a U-shaped table, with inward facing chairs.

Holo Room — When the Ancients were in residence this room was used as school room where young children could learn from a hologram designed by Ganos Lal also known as Morgan le Fay. The room is circular in shape with a central platform that allows activation of the hologram. The hologram can be questioned or show prerecorded messages as in the case of the original message left behind by Melia. In addition to its education potential, the room can show large 3-D holographic images. It was used by Shepphard to display a visual history of the war between the Ancients and the Wraith and how the Ancients lost territory over time.

Puddle Jumper Bay — The bay is located above the control room. It is a large circular two story room with Puddle jumpers lining the walls. Above and below the center of the room are large bay doors that open up to allow the jumpers to leave through the Stargate below, or through the opening to outside above.

Medical Facilities — Atlantis has large medical facilities equipped with a combination of the best Earth and Ancient technology. In addition to patient areas with beds, there are research labs and observation areas.

Laboratories — Atlantis has several labs some of which appear to be devoted to specific experiments. One lab was discovered to hold an alien virus. In another, the Ancients appeared to be studying a sentient energy creature. An aged Dr. Weir was discovered in stasis in one of the labs.

Brig — It is unknown how many prisoners could be stored on Atlantis but at least one brig has been seen. It is a room with a large cage with horizontal bars at its center. The cage is further protected by a force field.

The city has expansive living quarters of varying sizes. It also has a an eating area surrounded by a balcony and a gym most often used by Teyla Emmagan and John Sheppard.

Technology

Offenses — Atlantis' main weapons are its drones, operated by the control chair. Both offensive and defensive systems use enormous amounts of energy, ultimately requiring a ZPM.

Defenses — In addition to its drone weapons, Atlantis is protected by its shield, which can cover the entire city when provided enough power and protect it from numerous threats. A ZPM is required to operate the shield. However, in a massive storm, as seen in the episode "The Storm", the city's grounding stations can be disabled allowing lightning to flow through the city's corridors, providing enough power to the shield to protect the city.

The expedition scientists have been able to link the cloaking device from a puddle jumper to the city shields in order to hide the city from the Wraith leading them to believe the city had been destroyed.

The Ancient Database — Quite likely the most valuable item on Atlantis, the database contains millions of years of Ancient knowledge. The database is so vast that Dr. McKay's most efficient storage method could only store 9% of the whole. It holds all the Stargate addresses, information on ZPMs, ascension, alien species, and weapons. The database can be accessed from various terminals throughout the city.

Stardrive — Although Atlantis is a city, it also has flight capability. It has a working Stardrive that brought the city from Earth to the Pegasus Galaxy. Use of the stardrive requires the city to be fully powered, as merely starting up the engines can deplete the ZPM.

Sensors — Atlantis has long-range sensors allowing the city to scan distant star systems. The sensors are set to identify any Wraith vessels making their way towards Atlantis. The internal sensors are biometric and can identify individual life signs in the city.

Transporters — Transporters are small rooms much like elevators that transport the user from one section of the city to another. They are similar to ring transporters. They can also function as elevators, moving people to different levels.

Grounding Rods — They were designed to protect the city from lightning. The city has several lightning rods that channel electrical energy to the four grounding stations. If the stations are disabled, the energy from the lightning surges through the city's corridors and into the power generators. Anyone caught in the corridors during this event would be killed.