The Game is episode 15 of season 3 of Stargate Atlantis, first aired in 2006.
For months, Sheppard and McKay have been playing a strategy game they found in the city: two virtual countries, two styles, a battle of egos. Except the game isn't a game: the screen controls a real planet, and their two very real peoples, draped in their players' colors, are arming for a holy war in the names of Sheppard and McKay.
Why it matters to the mythology
A standalone episode: non-interference, video game console edition, and two nations that bear the faces of their gamer gods.
The review
The season's cleverest concept: our heroes discover that they are, literally, the irresponsible gods of a civilization of human Tamagotchis. The satire of colonialism through video games is crystal clear without being heavy-handed, and the two countries in their players' image, one cool and militaristic, the other anxious and technocratic, make a hilarious mirror. The final unplugging, with apologies to those concerned, saves the moral. A very successful geek fable.
Written by Sebastian
Founder and editor-in-chief of Stargate Initiative
Gallery · 2
Stills from the episode, via TMDb.
The community watches the episode
Creators watch it, react to it, break it down. We're just the bridge: the views stay on their channels.
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