The Daedalus Variations

"The Daedalus Variations" is the 84th episode of the science fiction television series Stargate Atlantis, and is the fourth episode in the series' fifth season. The episode first aired on August 1, 2008 on the Sci Fi Channel in the United States, and subsequently aired on October 9 on Sky One in the United Kingdom. The episode was written by Alan McCullough, and directed by regular Stargate director, Andy Mikita. Richard Woolsey (Robert Picardo) and Jennifer Keller (Jewel Staite) do not appear in the episode, despite being credited during the opening title sequence. Talking to journalists, McCullough linked the story to that of the Flying Dutchman, a mythical ghost ship that drifts forever in the ocean with no chance of returning home. The episode received generally favourable reviews. Episode writer McCullough described the episode as a one-off "wild romp", with much use of visual effects. The episode follows John Sheppard and his team, who investigates the mysterious appearance of the Daedalus over Atlantis, where they soon find the ship is from a parallel universe and makes its way through various alternate realities with an "alternate reality drive". Stuck on the Daedalus, the team seeks to find a way to return, while they run into contact with a newly introduced alien race and find the ship's new drive is slowly burning out, and they could be stranded in another universe forever. Plot A spaceship appears out of nowhere over Atlantis. John Sheppard (Joe Flanigan) and his team discover that the ship is the Daedalus, which is strange as Stargate Command confirms that the Daedalus is actually two days away from Earth. Sheppard's team boards the new Daedalus and find it apparently abandoned with signs of battle damage. Teyla (Rachel Luttrell) views a log entry from the Daedalus commander, Colonel Sobel, who the team has never heard of before. Suddenly, there is a power spike and the Daedalus disappears from above Atlantis, while from the perspective of Sheppard's team, Atlantis disappears. McKay finds that they have been propelled into a parallel universe by what he terms an "alternate reality drive", and thus the Daedalus is actually from an alternate reality. The team finds another version of themselves, dead, who come from yet another parallel universe and were trapped aboard while investigating the ship, just as they are. Soon, the ship jumps again, into a reality where Atlantis is under attack from an unfamiliar alien ship.