Masters of War (Pegasus Rising Remix)

Vid
Title:	Masters of War (Pegasus Rising Remix)
Creator:	bironic
Date:	12.8.2012
Format:	digital
Length:	4:02
Music:	"Masters of War" by Bob Dylan
Genre:
Fandom:	Stargate Atlantis
Footage:	all five seasons
URL:	vid announcement post
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Masters of War (Pegasus Rising Remix) is a SGA vid by bironic that premiered at Vividcon 2012. It explores the imperialism of the Atlantis expedition in Pegasus from the natives' POV. "I've seen this argument before (hell, I've made this argument before), but man, watching it in vid form is just brutal."

(reaction at VVC?)

Summary: The Atlanteans came, they explored, they destroyed lives and families and whole civilizations. The people of Pegasus have had enough.

Recs and Reviews

This is amazing. What a gorgeous, sharp, perfect vid. I am so glad that you didn't abandon the project, because it's an incredibly valuable piece of art and commentary to have. I've really been waiting for someone to make this vid for ages (a pal of mine was working on a similar concept once) and I'm happy that it was you and you did it so beautifully and mercilessly. By the end I was right there with the Pegasans, cheering for the deaths of the interlopers, cheering for the homemade guns that bring down the fancy spaceships, calling out for their blood. Beautiful and stark and just gorgeous. I love it forever.

Yes, yes, yes and yes. Some people thought it could've done without the last line; I thought it was perfect. It's a line I've heard so many times, from the mouths of fictional characters and real people both, and every single time it makes me so furious that I can't breathe.

Awesome look at the SGA that TPTB didn't realize they were showing us. Another fine offering to go with fiercelydreamed's fic Pegasus Ethics and yevgenie's vid Open Secrets of the Pegasus Galaxy (streaming here), in the "not quite the heroes they thought they were/wanted to be" genre.

(As someone else recently said, "Why did it take me this long to understand that SGA is the story of technologically advanced alien invaders told from the point of view of the alien invaders?")

bironic makes great use of close-up shots, effectively uses SGA's candy-colored palette to show the contrast between intent and reality, and tells an intimate and immediate story of suffering caused by supposedly good intentions.

I loved the Stargate world, I don't know how much I could go back to it now. Much as I love the characters and many of the plots, it is very much in favor of the US military-industrial complex. This vid takes that on, flipping the script. In the show, people who didn't like Atlantis were misguided or wrong or bad. But as this vid points out, most of the time they had reason to think and feel and act as they did.