Letters from Pegasus Week

[em_kellesvig]

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Sheppard: I'm not sure if Colonel Sumner's parents are still alive. Um, I'm not sure he even has a family back there -- not all of us do. But if he does have a family, they should know that he died with honor and courage in the performance of his duty. He carried the burden of a leader, and he carried it well. I didn't get the chance to know him well, but I know this: considering the type of man he was, and what we're up against, well, I wish he was still here.

Translation: We're fucked. We're fucked without Sumner. We're fucked without Earth. We're fucked without the Milky Way and everything you've got to throw at these bugs. Not even the Ancients could beat 'em. But we'll stand our ground anyway. They won't get through us to you.

Oh, and Dad? Dave? Fuck you.

I didn't run away from you; I ran to this, the most distant sky. And if I crash and burn, so be it. You never understood it and you could never stop it: I was born to fly.

"Letters from Pegasus" 1x17

Comments

[melagan.livejournal.com]

This moment, these words have been much examined. First by assuming John has no family and after we find out otherwise, that fuck you, as you say, is aimed at his own.

There's something else in here though. Something more profound for me.

not all of us do

For me that refers to all the members of the expedition. John's claimed that responsibility and this is his family now. (later that will include the people of Pegasus)

I don't think he knows it yet, or maybe he does. He's smarter than he lets on after all. This is John's first step in making Atlantis home.

[selenic76.livejournal.com]

This is John's first step in making Atlantis home.

Love that thought, and I agree with you. They became family, which shows in everything John does to protect them.

[selenic76.livejournal.com]

In this moment I always see how John realizes just how much things have changed.

It was a big decision to come to Atlantis, yet he made it, in part because there wasn't that much to leave behind. And because it was a new adventure to look forward to. But when he had to shoot Sumner, and take his place, the weight of responsibility on John's shoulders grew a hundredfold.

Here I see him, accepting that responsibility, and later on we see how he grows strong enough to carry that weight.

[tygtig.livejournal.com]

Squee!