#but it's very possible that kolya is believed to be dead but is still alive and just. never appeared for some reason

[akuma-tenshi]

wait how did kolya die. im p sure it was a long time ago during one of olya's stalker missions or whatever but i dont know the details. what happened to u funni man

dissolved in the grinder. in the incident where olya lost her eye and sergei got all fucked up. it's depicted in the mill n you can see sergei's scars in that one scene in punch it, punk! and some official art. i think nikita got his neck scar there too. iirc sergei saved olya instead of kolya and nikita (kolya's brother?? i think??) was upset at him for it, which.. understandable but also that's a really fucking hard decision to make.

my thing is we never saw his exact death, and we don't know if olya, sergei, and nikita saw the moment he died either (plus trauma kinda changes memories so they may remember it differently); we only know the aftermath. meanwhile with nikita we saw him get shot and like.. heard / saw his final thoughts in message lost (very underrated song btw i sometimes just go listen to it on loop for a bit). it's extremely unlikely that kolya is alive and is probably just getting attention / spotlight bc yura is becoming more entangled with the stalker lifestyle and therefore closer to both past and present stalkers, but i think it's a funky theory and fun to speculate on. i also just rlly like kolya's design, he feels like he'd be fun to chill with (i know nothing about his personality). if he's actually well and truly dead i won't be too fussed abt it but i like theorising lmao

[dr-futbol-blog]

The Storm/The Eye, Pt. 6

Upon hearing that Sheppard managed to cut the power to the gate room and having apparently crippled the Genii strike force, McKay also shifts to a higher gear. He tells Weir that if called upon, she needs to lie for him. He realizes that they need to help Sheppard any way they can, knows that he's not very good at that kind of thing and also knows Weir is a world-class negotiator, so he anticipates what they're going to have to do and makes sure that she knows to do her part.

And even then, when called upon to do it and believing himself a terrible liar ("I'm a terrible bluffer. I've lost small fortunes at poker. Look, my eye twitches, I laugh inappropriately, it's not pretty"), he immediately jumps in to reinforce the lie Weir tells Kolya. All to help Sheppard.

McKay says that he's a terrible liar. He believes that he's a terrible liar. But we see again and again that he can pull it off quite well when it's really needed.*

And Sheppard also seems to be trying to help them (or him, thinking Weir is dead), managing to cut power to the grounding station, too. It's possible that this was motivated by his belief that the Genii would need McKay to fix it and hence continue keeping him around and therefore alive. You can see that while McKay was having real trouble bluffing, as soon as the power is cut, he's able to use the truth much better to stall the Genii. Like Sheppard actually did help him, unwittingly, to do something he wasn't able to do without his help.

Again, it's very noticeable that when Kolya tells his people to "take Sheppard with overwhelming force" when their reinforcements arrive, he is looking directly at McKay.

Why? Why does keep looking at McKay every time he mentions Sheppard? What possible reason would he have to do that if not to gauge his reaction to Sheppard's name being spoken? To let him know through a look that he better not try any funny business because they're going to get the Major sooner or later. He's looking at McKay when he says this even though Weir was the one just lying to his face.

Also noticeable: we keep getting shots of Sheppard doing his little commando routine, and he seems extremely focused. Not upset, not mourning, not enraged. Focused. He is executing a strategy methodically. He also has the life signs detector on him the whole time and keeps glancing at it. While he's using it to look at the whereabouts of Genii soldiers, the fact that he cut power to the grounding station suggests that he had a pretty good idea that one of the three dots there was likely McKay. Keeping an eye on him the only way he knew how. If the Genii were able to discern which life sign was Sheppard earlier, it follows that Sheppard likely would have been able to discern which dot is Rodney, especially having much more experience using it.

This is lampshaded by the conversation Ford and Beckett have in the jumper bay:

Ford: Life signs detector. Beckett: These wee dots don't tell us much about who's who. How do we know which one's the major? Ford: He'll be the dot getting rid of the other dots.

Ford knows his commanding officer. But Sheppard also knows McKay. As we've seen, he knows McKay well enough to anticipate his actions.

This, again, is lampshaded later in the episode as Beckett tells Ford: "I really only have a basic understanding of how Rodney and his team configure the power." Sheppard may or may not be more intelligent than Beckett, we're never really shown or told either way. Sheppard is not a mechanical engineer. But he's still able to figure out exactly how McKay has set up the generators probably because watching McKay work is like his favourite pastime.

Sheppard then kills fifty five (55) people by lowering the shield as the Genii company are attempting to enter. Fifty five actual human beings.

Pop quiz: did he do this a) to avenge the death of an authority figure (as a man with a known problem with authorities) he was ready to send to another galaxy in the previous episode and whose presence he had largely ignored returning from his earlier mission and in Rodney's lab earlier or b) to save a man he hand-picked for his team, who has saved his life at least twice, who he keeps talking about to other people, whose company he seeks out in his free time, he can't stop looking at, is physically drawn to, whose abilities he has blind faith in, who he has observed keenly enough to be able to anticipate his actions, who he keeps poking good-natured fun at, expects to finish his sentences, and is a vital asset to the entire mission?

I wonder.

Anyway, again something Sheppard does makes Kolya turn to McKay:

Kolya: Tell her the procedure! McKay: I can't! I don't know what he's done! Kolya: Tell her! McKay: Well, he must have entered his own personal command code! Kolya: What is it? McKay: I don't know! Weir: Only Sheppard would know it! McKay: Trust me – I'm not that brave! I would help you if I could!

That's what he says. Earlier, he told us that he's a terrible bluffer so he must be telling the truth here, right? But it doesn't seem like Sheppard did anything particular to the shield besides raising it. We are later told that he entered a code to lock the gate but raising the shield was a simple task operated by the pushing of a single button they stumbled onto as one of the first things they ever did upon arriving at Atlantis (and he hardly had time to enter two codes). There is no reason to believe that McKay didn't know exactly how to undo it. When push came to shove, McKay could lie to help Sheppard, and extremely convincingly at that. Note also that McKay already lied about the command codes previously to save Weir's life.

Note also that "trust me" is something often said by liars. McKay tells Kolya, "Trust me, I'm not that brave!" But the entire reveal at the end of the episode is that McKay has been lying about not being able to raise the shield, and he's been lying about this so convincingly that he not only fooled Kolya, he fooled the whole audience. So not only can he lie when he really has to (even when he's being beaten), he can lie well. When the occasion calls for it. And he's doing all of it to save Sheppard. Rodney was just that brave.

Even though he clearly fears for his life, he continues to "feel the fear and do it anyway". Kolya is enraged, having lost a company of men in one fell swoop. He very much wants to take it out on McKay (and note again that he wants to punish McKay for what Sheppard does, like they're an extension of one another).

And McKay is able to save both himself and Weir by again reminding him that they're both needed. This is also a lie, since he's been lying about Weir being needed the whole damn time. He has saved Weir's life several times by now.

And make no mistake, he did that for Sheppard. To help him any way he could.

Even though they are separated, they are both trying to keep the other safe. Just like they did in the Genii home world, the first time Rodney was being held hostage by them along with Sheppard.

Kolya gives in and contacts Sheppard via the intercom. They have the following exchange:

Kolya: Major Sheppard, I have a proposition for you. Sheppard: Kolya, I'm having a hard time keeping up. What's the score again? Kolya: My men have informed me that not only have you disabled some crucial generators but you've stolen key components that make it impossible for them to be restored. Sheppard: Yeah. I did that. Kolya: There are two flaws in your plan. Sheppard: Always open to constructive criticism. Kolya: One: the assumption I would believe you'd rather destroy the city than let it fall to us is childish. Sheppard: Doesn't sound like me.

He's flippant. He's sarcastic. He's antagonizing Kolya, attempting to keep the man's attention on himself rather than on anyone or anything else. He is neither enraged nor mourning the loss of the love of his life, or potential love interest. In fact, this is a direct continuation of the conversation they were having before Kolya threatened Weir and pretended to kill her ("I guess we're even!"). And this is precisely when we return to the topic:

Kolya: Second: if and when I determine Atlantis unsalvageable, Doctors Weir and McKay become obsolete. Sheppard: Weir's alive? Kolya: Doctor McKay was able to make a strong case for keeping her alive. Sheppard: Let me talk to her. Weir: Sheppard! We're both here! Sheppard: It's good to hear your voice. Weir: Yeah, it's good to hear. Kolya: We have less than one hour before the storm hits full force. If the power is not returned to Grounding Station Three within the next ten minutes, Doctor Weir dies. Sheppard: Again, you mean? Kolya: Her death will buy you another ten minutes, after which – should the power still be out – Doctor McKay dies. We will then leave with what we can, and the city will be destroyed.

I want to point out a few things.

While Kolya is trading with Sheppard using the fact that he didn't kill Weir but had only pretended to, he still feels the need to tack on McKay's life into the bargain.

Of course he's happy Weir is alive. Among other things, it means this guy isn't a complete psycho and it might be possible to negotiate with him.

Kolya mentions McKay three goddamn times here.

Weir is real quick to let Sheppard know that McKay is alright, it's like the first thing she does; she clearly understood that he would want to know this and would not be able to directly ask about it. The relief we can hear in this "It's good to hear your voice" is at least partially in response to this. It's good to hear your voice [that just told me McKay is alright].

He's real flippant about the possibility of Weir dying again here.

McKay's life is still the final bargaining chip, still the thing Kolya seems to think Sheppard cares the most about.

The phrase "Doctors" Weir and McKay again presents them as a package deal.

And once more, while he's able to joke about Weir dying again, it's threatening McKay's life that seems to really agitate Sheppard:

Sheppard: Well, that's not enough time! Kolya: If you don't mind destroying Atlantis, stay where you are for the next twenty minutes, starting now.

That is when he steps into action. Twenty minutes, starting now.

Continued in Pt. 7

.* And, as discussed previously in connection with the Rodney from the alternative timeline, lying is especially necessary when you're a civilian gay dude working in a military environment where your peers are going to need your help upholding DADT. You would learn to lie like a pro. Never mind that he's likely also lied to himself for most of his life. But Rodney, big brother Rodney that comes from a dysfunctional family, definitely lies really well when he's doing it to protect someone other than himself.

[akuma-tenshi]

tell me ur theories abt 100 epitaphs

had to go back to get screenshots bc i felt like i was going insane. so:

at the very beginning, during the lyrics "lay your emotions with them like a mourning wreath", there's a shot of kt's face on a headstone. which makes me believe she may have been terminated at some time during this whole thing and there's going to be a twist where yura gets into the facility with whoever the hell decides to join him only to learn she's been dead this whole time and all this was for nothing

my friend pointed this out when the video first came out but there's a shot of yura during the first chorus where he's surrounded by several mostly-unnamed characters when they say "another apathetic epitaph". iirc he's between kolya and nikita, both of whom are dead, and their faces are shown in frames, likely symbolising those photos that are displayed during funerals. which could very possibly foreshadow yura dying, probably during the mission to save kt.

olga being shown with flowers sprouting out of her does not give me hope for her. this is especially worrying considering the fact that she's shown in occam's razor during the line "but some ventures require a sacrificial lamb" - this could refer to her taking the fall for yura after the whole incident in the zone but it's still concerning. oddly enough i'm less confident in this than in my yura and kt dying theories bc it just doesn't feel like olga would die (wouldn't make sense or be satisfying from a narrative perspective) but it's still possible. if she doesn't die then she's definitely not coming out of this the same

this is not the last we've seen of sergei. this may just be wishful thinking (love that square......) and ik he basically just gave up on sanya. but anyone who's tried to help an especially difficult person will tell you it's not that easy to just let them go, especially considering that he's already done so much for her and still has skin in the game even if he does completely drop his sister (*gestures vaguely at that one drawing of him reading a book on "breaking your girlfriend out of jail" or smthn.... ik it's just a silly joke but i'd be fuckin hyped if we got sergei breaking olga out of prison). something tells me he's going to keep trying to influence things from afar without getting too invested; whether he'll keep trying to help sanya or just focus all his effort on olga, i'm not sure.

sanya is becoming another yura. she's getting more hopeless and desperate, not to save kt but to protect / help yura. she's doing crazier and crazier shit and has managed to stay in contact with him even though sergei tried to stop them from meeting. the shot of her laughing surrounded by candles, the shot of her sitting so nonchalantly against the wall talking to dima, the shot of her standing up to sergei to protect yura... she feels very yuracore and it worries me. also the shot of her strangling her past self, the one that was much more optimistic and bright yet sheltered.. any writer will tell you that having a character literally harm / kill their past self is the number one way of indicating that they're completely cutting off their past and moving on.

this is a very stupid theory but kolya isn't actually dead. he plays way more of a role in 100 epitaphs than he ever did before. and yes nikita has content too but there are just.. so many shots of kolya (the one that stands out most to me is of him sitting in the center of the screen with headphones on). he may not be the same person but like. what if the grinder didn't kill him?? what if he's alive, just far away from all this?? what if he comes back?? changed and injured but still kolya. ((god i hope i'm talking about the right person here if that isn't kolya i'm going to look like such a dumbass))

also the title "100 epitaphs" and the prominent presence of two (supposedly) dead characters.... it doesn't inspire confidence in a lot of these characters' chances of surviving.

sorry if some of this is incoherent or just downright weird, i've been up for a while. but i will always take up an opportunity to rant about this video it's had me positively ill. i was literally fucking shaking while typing this