Episode of the Week: ‘Aurora’

AUGUST IS VIRTUAL REALITY MONTH!

When the team finds an Ancient warship adrift on the edge of the galaxy, its crew still alive, Colonel Sheppard enters their virtual reality stasis to communicate with them.

Our rewatch of favorite moments in Stargate history continues! Each month we’ll pick a theme, and feature a key episode every week. Join us by watching the episode this week, and then head to GateWorld Forum (or posting below) to talk about it!

In Another Life …

• The Stargate series often made use of a mainstay of modern science fiction storytelling: technology-based virtual reality.
• One way into a VR universe is with the virtual reality unit devised by the residents of P7J-989, in order to ride out an apocalyptic event on their world.
• Or, you could test-drive the Earth-modified version of the tech. But watch out for Kull warriors!
• The Ancients also developed VR technology …
• … and the deep-space vessel Destiny has a VR system built into the heart of the ship, including a chair interface that will put a user into a virtual Destiny environment.

“Aurora” Facts:

• “Aurora” was our team’s first time meeting living, breathing Lanteans. (In an alternate timeline Dr. Weir met some in “Before I Sleep,” but that version of Elizabeth then grew old and died.) The Lanteans would be back in the next season, in the form of a different ship of Lanteans who survived the war against the Wraith 10,000 years ago (“The Return, Part 1”).
• Strangely enough, a major guest character — the Captain of the Aurora, played by Bruce Dawson — never received a name in the episode.
• This wasn’t Dawson’s first Stargate appearance. He previously played a crewman on the Seberus (seen only in the ship’s video logs) in the SG-1 episode “Forsaken.”
• It’s tough sometimes for the Marketing Department to avoid giving away the end of an episode. Who on board the Aurora is a Wraith in digital disguise? Well, this photo was originally released before the episode had aired.

“Aurora” on GateWorld:

• Episode Guide
• Photo Gallery
• Screencap Gallery
• Discussion Thread
• Stargate Atlantis Season Two Podcast

• Interview with David Hewlett (2005)
• Interview with Joe Flanigan (2005)
• Interview with Mitch Pileggi (2005)
• Interview with Rachel Luttrell (2005)
• Interview with Torri Higginson (2005)
• Interview with Brad Wright & Robert C. Cooper (2005)

Download “Aurora” now from Amazon or iTunes!

Rewatch “Aurora” this week! Then post your comments below, or head over to the “Aurora” discussion thread and see what people were saying back in the day. What are your favorite moments?

Every month we’re featuring a new theme from Stargate’s 17 seasons. Watch the weekly episode with us join in the fun!