Stargate Universe ”Twin Destinies” Detailed Analysis & Review

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In this fan favourite episode of Stargate Universe, Eli believes he can dial the gate back to Earth from inside a star, but Rush wants to remain behind with a team to complete Destiny's mission. But when the attempt thrusts Destiny and Rush back through time, they have to re-think their plan. Lots of drama in this one. But what did I think of it?

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Transcript

Welcome to Nerd Heaven.

I’m Adam David Collings,

The author of Jewel of The Stars

And I am a Nerd.

This is episode 83 of the podcast.

Today, we’re talking about the Stargate Universe episode, Twin Destinies.

This is our second time-travel story in Stargate Universe. Notice I said story, not episode. That’s because the time-travel element of this story will reach beyond just this episode.

The description on gateworld reads

Rush expresses concerns when Earth approves Eli's plan to dial the Stargate home from inside a star -- and is proved right when a duplicate of himself shows up with a warning from the future.

This episode was written by Brad Wright

It was directed by Peter DeLuise

And it first aired on the 14th of March 2012

Destiny is in bad shape. Remember, it went through a massive space battle in the last two episodes and that damage has not been magically fixed. Again, something I wish Voyager had done more of. We don’t get a lot of space battles in Stargate Universe, but when we do, they matter. They have consequences.

Most systems are technically working, but Brody says it best. “We’re down to our last everything. There is no redundancy left.”

Rush’s perspective is that there’s nothing we can do about it, so let’s quit whinging and carry on with the mission as best we can. It’s not like we have a choice.

But Eli thinks there may be a choice.

Back in early season 1, the brains back on Earth formulated a plan to get the crew home. The idea was to dial the stargate while inside a star. Telford was a big proponent of this plan, although technically, that was alternate Telford, under the control of the Lucian Alliance.

The plan never worked and it was shelved, but recently, Eli and Gin started working on it again. Gin had some new insights to offer. Eli believes he can now dial the gate while Destiny recharges, without blowing up the ship. He has a simulation to prove it.

Rush doesn’t think the plan can account for the many things that could go wrong.

But, of course, Rush doesn’t want to go home anyway.

He says the plan could cause the same kind of overload that happened at Icarus, which would destroy the ship. Scott doesn’t see why that’s a problem, if they’ve all successfully gated home, but Rush makes it plainly clear that he intends to remain on board, even if everyone else gates home. He wants to stay here and complete the mission.

Young admits he was on board with trying to fulfil Destiny’s mission, but things have changed. They’re in really poor shape, and his first responsibility is to the people on this ship.

I don’t blame him. In his position, if he has a viable plan for getting home, he has to try it. He owes that to his people.

But I do feel for Rush as well, who would choose to remain. I think he should have that choice, but it may be taken away from him if the attempt will destroy the ship.

Young has banned Rush from anywhere he can push buttons, including the bridge. Armed guards are in place to enforce it. He’s not taking any chances that Rush might sabotage the attempt. And I wouldn’t put it past him. He’s done stuff like that before.

But Rush may have some genuine concerns regarding this plan. He points out that Eli is not an astro-physicist. He’s a maths whizz. But the inside of a star is inherently unpredictable. The best mathematical model can’t predict the unpredictable.

But then, that’s why Eli is running it all past the best minds of Earth.

It’ll be interesting to see if they agree with Rush, as he suspects.

Rush wants to address the crew, to try to make his case for the importance of remaining on the ship. He says it’ll carry more weight if Young stands beside him.

And it warms my heart when Young says “I can do that.”

Young doesn’t trust Rush as far as he can throw him, but I do like it when they work together like this.

Rush seems satisfied.

Telford is very dismissive of Rush. He can’t imagine why anyone would want to stay. He hasn’t been here long and he’s ready to leave, which is interesting, given how desperate lucian-controlled Telford was to get on board back in season 1.

But there’s a nice shot of Young at the end of the scene. You can tell, by his facial expression, that he’s thinking deeply about all of this. He’s taking all opinions seriously, including Rush’s.

It’s so cool to see Doctor Lee again. He’s the one who has traded places with Eli using the stones. He’s surprised that “The Gamer” came up with this model.

But I seem to remember Doctor Lee being quite into World of Warcraft. Although, technically, that was a false Doctor Lee created by energy beings in the Pegasus Galaxy, based on the crew’s memories. I always thought that Lee came across geekier than normal in that episode, which might make sense, since that’s probably how Doctor Weir viewed him.

I know this is off-track, but it’s just cool to see a familiar background character from SG-1 and Atlantis.

There’s an amusing moment between Brody and Eli. Brody tells Lee that Eli is possibly the smartest person he’s met, but doesn’t want Eli to know. It gets super awkward when he realises Eli heard part of the comment.

But it’s actually a little sad when we can’t bring ourselves to tell people what we really think about them. I think the world could use a little more positive encouragement like that. As people, we’re always so quick to point out the negative, but too often, the positive goes unsaid.

Anyway, the people back on Earth are happy with Eli’s maths. The plan is a go.

They drop out of FTL and everyone gathers in the gateroom.

Rush is looking a little nervous. Is he going to be able to convince anyone?

Young approaches Rush and asks a very interesting question.

“Can you operate this ship?”

“With some help.”

“What’s the minimum you need to be able to do it? I need a number.”

Rush says twelve.

And then Young says “plus you and me?”

Rush is very taken aback.

What? Is Rush thinking of staying?

“No, including,” he says.

“So ten.”

Before they can talk more, Telford calls them to the bridge.

Something very weird is happening.

They’ve received a subspace transmission from Rush. He’s aboard the shuttle, except the shuttle is currently docked with destiny.

The alternate Rush warns them not to dial Earth, or they’ll all die. He says the only reasonable explanation is that he’s somehow travelled back through time.

I love Telford’s reaction to this, as he scoffs under his breath “reasonable explanation.”

C’mon Mate. You’re on a spaceship billions of lightyears from Earth. You know time travel is possible.

Rush is from 12 hours in the future.

And he gives strong evidence for his story by recounting their previous conversation about the number. Ten plus two.

Back in the gateroom, people are eagerly waiting to go home. Scott tells Chloe how he was so excited to go on this mission, but now, all he can think of is seeing his son. Nice that they’re remembering and acknowledging that detail.

But Scott is more nervous about meeting Chloe’s mum than he is going through the Stargate.

Eli wants to make sure that once they return to Earth, they’re all going to continue hanging out.

Scott says there’ll be a reunion every year. Eli was hoping for something more regular. But it all depends if he’ll be stationed on Earth. Eli is a little taken aback. Stargate Command are not going to ask him to join.

And everyone else is a little taken aback by that.

Of course they’re going to ask him. He’ll be right up there with Doctor Jackson, Colonel Carter, and who was that guy who kept staring at your…” Mackay, James says.

That’s awkward. I’d like to hope that Mackay and Dr. Kellar are married and enjoying their happily ever after at this point. But who knows.

TJ is right about that, of course. The SGC would be insane not to put Eli to work somewhere.

There are looks of concern when Scott and Greer are asked to report to shuttle bay two. Especially since they only have one shuttle.

The being that emerges from the shuttle certainly looks like Rush. He rushes at Telford, saying “He’s gonna try to kill you all. Don’t listen to him.”

That’s when Young calls TJ to the infirmary.

He’s got a burn from an overload. Explosions all over the ship. The air got so toxic he had to abandon ship.

But the time travel must have happened inside the star. They must have passed through a solar flare just as they locked in the nine chevron address. But rather than re-directing the wormhole, it seems to have thrust the entire ship back through time. So a new twist on an existing established method of time travel in the Stargate universe.

They also suggest that the Destiny from the future is still out there somewhere.

Future Rush starts to recount what happened in his timeline.

After they agreed on the number, 10 volunteers, Young explained his offer. Basically, if they get ten volunteers, they’ll remain behind.

In his speech, he repeats what we know of Destiny’s mission. Over a million years ago, the ancients discovered the fingerprint of an intelligence from very near the beginning of the universe. Destiny was launched to find that intelligence. They didn’t dedicate an entire generation to making this ship on a whim. They saw it as very important.

Of course, this doesn’t explain why the ancients never followed through on this mission. We still don’t know why that was.

If they abandon this ship now, there’ll be no coming back. That knowledge will be lost forever.

And he’s probably right about that. This may be their one and only chance to discover the secrets that Destiny was created to uncover.

Rush can’t do it alone. Despite all of his ego, his belittling of others, and his over-inflated sense of self, Rush needs others. He can’t run the ship single handedly.

So he asks them to stay with him.

Young takes over. He believes those who want to go home deserve that chance. But he joined Stargate Command for a reason. So he is willing to stay aboard with Rush.

And I have to say, this is huge.

This is a huge gesture on Young’s part. Honestly, Rush couldn’t ask more of him.

What Young is asking for is ten volunteers.

Those who want to be here step forward.

And I was shocked to see that the very first to step forward, with almost no hesitation, was Greer.

Even though I’ve seen this episode more than once before, I never remember that detail, until it happens, and am surprised all over again.

But at the same time, I’m not surprised. Because I can really see Greer making this choice. He is loyal and dedicated. At his heart, he’s a good man who wants to do his bit.

Volker also steps forward, giving Brody a little look, as if to say, “you gonna come join me, Mate?”

TJ is next, which is interesting, because she was all set to retire from Stargate Command before she ended up here, but I guess she’s been inspired by her experiences.

Scott doesn’t want to stay. Remember, he’s got a son back on earth.

But when Chloe steps forward, he had no choice but to follow her. That’s the woman he loves, afterall.

Man, I hate the idea of having to choose between your spouse and your child. The difference for Scott is, he doesn’t know his son. But he knows Chloe.

I think Chloe has been deeply impacted by her experience with the blue aliens. I don’t think she’d fit in back on earth very well after all she’s been through. And there’s not really a place for her at the SGC. She worked for her father, the senator.

James also volunteers.

That’s 6 so far.

Then a bunch of extras step forward. At this point, I think they’ve got their ten.

Eli is thinking really hard.

And he starts to move forward.

But Telford has had enough.

He has to speak out against this.

“You’ve already accomplished our mission,” he says. “Our goal was to investigate the ninth chevron address and you’ve done that. I do not deny that there once was a mission, but if it was as important as Rush claims it to be, they sure as hell couldn’t expect us to do it. There is no noble voyage to save the universe or to meet God, or whatever it is that Rush has sold you on. There is only the day that this ship dies.”

I’m not sure why Telford is so against this. Young is still going to allow those who want to go home to do so.

Maybe he genuinely doesn’t want these people to throw away their lives on what he sees as a fool’s errand.

Telford is convinced this mission will end in tragedy and failure.

Young isn’t so sure. “We don’t know that.”

Telford has a mind to try taking them all home by force.

I had a good laugh when Greer said “Good luck with that.” Yeah, my money is on Greer.

It’s funny. Whenever I start watching this show, I find myself not really liking Greer, but by the time I reach this part of the show, I absolutely love the guy. He really grows on you as a character.

So now Telford takes charge for those still taking part in the evacuation. He orders them to form two straight lines.

They’re going home with the clothes on their backs, because, as we learned in the pilot, everything you carry with you becomes a projectile when gating through a nine-chevron address.

Eli has wanted them to expect us but they can’t radio across a wormhole of this distance. Telford is gonna go first, to warn them everyone is coming.

“In fifteen minutes, we go home.”

Rush finishes his story. “And fifteen minutes after that, you were all dead.”

Camille sees this as a second chance. “Tell us what went wrong so we can do it differently this time.”

Eli’s program is based on precise timing, and the required time is fast approaching.

They dialled successfully. They made the connection.

You can feel the excitement as the wormhole engages.

Telford yells “Wait three seconds then follow me,” and he steps through. But just as he does, we see that shimmer effect on the event horizon. We know what that means.

The wormhole is unstable and Eli’s program can’t compensate. Rush is trying to compensate manually. Credit to him, he may want to stay, but he’s doing everything in his power to help those that want to get home to do so.

Rush gets it as good as he can. Young yells for them to go, and they start flooding through the gate.

At some point during all of this, they realise that the ship is overloading. It’s going to explode, just like Icarus did. That means everybody has to go through. Even Rush and Eli. So much for Rush’s dream of staying behind to fulfil the mission. I do feel sorry for him.

Rush holds the wormhole open long enough for Young and Greer to escape. The wormhole disengages. He’s left alone on Destiny.

Rush just stood there waiting for the end to come, but the ship fought to stay alive.

He uses the stones to check in with Stargate Command. He asks how many made it through.

But it was only one. Telford.

Telford, who was so determined to get home, who is now standing back on board Destiny in Rush’s body, waiting for the ship to explode.

So what happened to everyone else who went through the gate?

Young calls off the attempt. And Telford wants to use the stones to confirm Rush’s story with his other self.

So at this point I’m trying to get my head around which form of time travel this story is using.

Traditional time-travel doesn’t cause people to be duplicated. Yes, you can go back in time and meet yourself, but you’re both the same you, just at different points in your timestream.

In that theory of time travel, once Rush convinced Young to call off the attempt, that alternate Rush would cease to exist, because his history has been erased.

What we’re seeing here is two distinct Rush’s with different histories. This is the more modern idea of time travel where an incursion into the past creates a new timeline. A new parallel universe, if you like. That explains the continued existence of two contradictory Rushes and allows for this duplication idea, but if that were the case, then Telford shouldn’t be able to find his other self back on earth, because that Telford is in a different timeline.

Right?

This is where they find the other Destiny, just outside the star.

That’s gotta be weird. It’s almost like looking at their graves.

Eli is feeling very guilty. Everyone on that ship died because of him. His program.

But Chloe says the only reason they’re even in this situation is because they were trying to save her.

That kinda makes sense. It suggests they wouldn’t have tried using Eli and Ginn’s dialling program if the ship wasn’t in such desperate trouble after the battle.

But they would have been in that battle regardless of Chloe. They got in that battle because they wanted to explore a strange reading. Not originally to save Chloe.

Of course, if Chloe hadn’t been modified, she wouldn’t have been able to navigate them there.

But at some point, you’ve got to stop following the blame breadcrumb and just accept what is.

Brody notices something interesting. Most of the damage to the alternate Destiny is confined to one side. That means they could salvage it for spare parts. There’s that redundancy they were wanting.

When I first saw this episode it bugged me. You can’t take parts from the ship to repair itself at a different point in time. It’s all the one ship.

But I was thinking about the traditional version of time travel.

This is the more modern theory of time travel. The moment that ship went back in time, it left the original timeline, and entered our timeline. The timeline of the show. So that timeline now has no Destiny, and our Timeline has two. So, yes, there can be duplication, and you can salvage parts from the other ship.

They’re going to board the other ship using the stargate. We learn here that unlike the gates in the milky way and Pegasus, the Destiny gates are not based on a known physical point of origin. Eli and the two Rushes just need to figure out the distance calculation.

The crew are briefed up on what to look for. The most people they have, the quicker they can get it done.

The two Rushes go over together. It must be weird having another of yourself, with only a few hours of difference in memory. I’m not sure how I’d react to that. Yeah…it would be weird.

But you know they’re going to do something to get rid of one of them by the end of the episode. But hold that thought, because we’ll come back to it.

Eli is really struggling with the guilt. If Rush hadn’t been sent back in time by a freak of physics, they’d all be dead now. Killed by Eli’s program.

That’s got to be hard to take.

You see, for all his faults, Rush is often right.

I like the tension of these scenes. If this was a Voyager episode, they’d probably have introduced some random aliens to add extra danger, but here, the only threat is the clock. And that’s enough, especially as we see the ship slowly exploding as it gets closer and closer to the sun.

One Rush has an idea: Take the weapon batteries. Double Destiny’s firepower. It’s not on the list. But it could be beneficial.

What’s really interesting to me is that Rush and Rush disagree on whether they should take it.

It’s interesting how just an hour or so of peril can change a person’s perspective.

The one who wants to stay and take it is the older of the two, which surprises me. I’d have thought it would be the other way around.

Things take a bit of a darker turn.

Telford doesn’t believe older Rush’s story about what happened in the other timeline. The valiant Rush holding the gate open for everyone else? Yeah right. It wouldn’t be the first time Rush sabotaged something to get his own way and make Telford look stupid.

Telford brings up the first time they tried dialling from inside a star.

Rush sabotaged that attempt. We still don’t know for certain if he was right or wrong to do so, but I think it’s most likely he was right.

What do you think? Who is right here?

I tend to believe Rush, but as Telford points out, nobody else survived to verify his story.

Things get physical.

Rush accuses Telford of being the coward, of not believing in the mission. He got them killed with his insistence on dialling home. Not Rush.

And when Rush pushes Telford, he collides with the live weapon’s battery, nicely foreshadowed earlier. And he dies.

The acting from Robert Carlyle here is brilliant. He really is good at what he does, and is deserving of his star status. Rush didn’t mean to kill Telford, but he just did. And he’s horrified at what happened.

How is he going to explain this?

Oh crap.

So that’s how they deal with the fact that there are now two Telfords in our timeline. They’ve just killed off our Telford. The alternate Telford is back on earth, having made it through the gate.

I thought it was really cool when they brought Telford onto the ship at the end of season 1. It was nice to have him in Destiny with everyone else. And he stuck around for half a season. But we really didn’t see that much of him.

Almost as soon as he was here, he got stranded on the seed ship.

As soon as we get him back, he dies.

I was disappointed by this back in the day, wondering why they did that. But I think it was likely for real world reasons. Lou Diamond Phillips wasn’t a main cast member. He was a semi-regular guest star. I get the impression he was quite a well-known actor outside of Stargate Universe, so he was likely expensive to keep around all the time.

Pity.

Camille has reported to Earth that they’re alive and well. And as soon as alternate Telford heard this, he insisted on using the stones to come to the ship, preferably, replacing himself.

As Camille says, that’s weird.

Our Rush, and Scott find Colonel Telford’s body. It’s a horrible moment for everyone.

Rush thinks he knows where the other Rush is. He runs off to…do something.

Young orders Scott to let him go. They only have a few minutes left.

Alternate Rush explains it was an accident. Our Rush believes him, but warns that the others won’t.

Our Rush asks the alternate what really happens. He simply replies “I told you what happened.” He’s got no reason to lie, so I assume he was probably being truthful. But who really knows with Rush.

So where did Rush go? The chair room. He figures he's got nothing left to live for at this point. He might as well sit in the ancient chair and see what he can learn.

This makes a lot of sense. This is a very Rush thing to do.

So alternate Rush sits, and our Rush activates the chair for him.,

What he experiences, what he learns, we may never know.

But he is engulfed in smoke. Kinda like Franklin was.

But whatever he might become gets swallowed as the alternate destiny explodes in the star.

Our Rush makes it through.

You can tell by their facial expressions that Young, Eli and Camille have suspicions. Did Rush do something to Telford so they could continue with the mission? Has he done anything bad during this ordeal to ruin their chances?

From what I’ve seen, no, he hasn’t. Not our Rush. The other Rush killed Telford, but it WAS an accident.

But Young has many historical reasons to doubt Rush.

The way they got rid of alternate Rush in this episode made a lot of sense. It was a good way to go, from his perspective.

But you remember how I said we knew they’d find some way to get rid of him so we wouldn’t have two Rushes?

What if they hadn’t?

What if they’d kept him around for a while and there were literally two Rushes walking around the ship? Can you imagine?

Farscape did this. Two exact versions of one of the characters. Absolutely no sense that one was more real than the other. They were both completely real and equal. And that show did some amazing stuff with the concept.

I think there could have been some interesting drama that SGU could have milked out of the similar situation with Rush.

What they did was fine, but I still wonder about what could have been.

So that episode was a lot better than I remembered. Some great stuff, and it will definitely have an impact later in the season.

Next time, Camilla and Greer are gonna get stuck in the middle of an alien attack on earth as the Lucian Alliance finally make their move.

I’ll see you then for the episode Alliances.

Until then, have a great two weeks

Live long and prosper

Make it so.