- "What I am is not a disease you can cure."
- ―Michael
Lastlight, known more commonly by the name given to him by the Tau'ri of Michael Kenmore, or often simply as Michael, was a Human-Wraith Hybrid who was transformed from a Wraith into a Human by the crew of the Atlantis expedition using the Iratus bug retrovirus. The name was given to him by Lt. Colonel John Sheppard, but everyone, including other Wraith and Hybrids, call him by this name.
Biography
2006
Michael Kenmore as a human
Michael Kenmore in his original Wraith form.
The transformation was made possible by using an Iratus bug retrovirus developed by Dr. Carson Beckett and his team. The drug suppresses the Iratus bug DNA and allows the Human DNA that is naturally absorbed to come through. When a Wraith is transformed in this way, they lose all their previous Wraith memories in the process. The Atlantis team thought it would be wise not to divulge this information to Michael, and instead created a cover story in which he was captured by the Wraith and was rescued by Lt. Colonel John Sheppard's team. They also fabricated a back story for Michael which said that he is originally from Texas. However, all of that changed when he found a disc in the infirmary which eventually exposed the truth about his Wraith origins. He then kidnapped Teyla Emmagan and escaped Atlantis. Teyla was rescued while being taken to his Hive ship, although Michael, now transforming back into a Wraith, got away and returned to the hive. (SGA: "Michael")
Upon telling his queen of the Iratus bug retrovirus, their Hive ship allied with the Atlantis expedition on the pretense of using it to feed on other Wraith turned Human. The alliance, however, was a trap to learn the location of Earth (a new, abundant feeding ground), and acquire a means of getting there. (SGA: "Allies")
Mistrusted and betrayed by his hive and queen, who now saw him as an aberration, Michael chose to ally with Lt. Colonel John Sheppard in his attempts to stop the Hive Ships from reaching Earth, as well as in rescuing Ronon Dex and Dr. Rodney McKay. They were successful and escaped the Hive in a Wraith scout ship. Once on the Daedalus, Michael suggested that they use the new gaseous delivery method of the Iratus bug retrovirus on his Hive as he had disabled the Jamming code. (SGA: "No Man's Land")
Even after flying the Hive ship back to Atlantis, he was still mistrusted by the expedition. He was forced back on to the retrovirus, and was grouped with the other transformed Wraith on an uninhabited planet without a Stargate. He and about thirty of the other transformed Wraith suspected something was wrong, and killed the squad assigned to guard Dr. Carson Beckett, who had remained to continue the experiment. Having already begun to revert a second time, Michael and the Wraith summoned another Hive. Lt. Colonel John Sheppard ordered Dr. Rodney McKay to bombard the surface of the planet from orbit to prevent any Wraith from leaving. Michael was presumed dead. However, possibly anticipating this move, Michael was able to avoid the fire and survive to be picked up. (SGA: "Misbegotten", "Vengeance")
2007
- "So now I find myself hunted by both humans and Wraith. So you can understand my need to protect myself -- to survive."
- ―Michael
Michael Kenmore as a Hybrid
It was later discovered that Michael had indeed survived the attack and was transported onto the other Wraith Hive Ship that arrived on the scene. However, after being rescued, Michael was seen with suspicion by the other Wraith who realized that he was not 'clean' or 'pure' due to the Human taint in his DNA. He barely managed to escape from the Hive Ship after being rejected by the Wraith. Later, he began setting up labs on four planets and experimenting with the Iratus bug. His first experiment was a failure, resulting in ravenous, blind mutants that even he could not control. Because the mutants could not see, they relied on sound and sonar to move around and emitted a kind of fog from gills on their necks as a defense mechanism to hide them from view. He abandoned the project and it was later discovered by the Atlantis expedition. (SGA: "Whispers")
Later, he more successfully created a genetically engineered species to take over the galaxy. One of the planets employed by Michael was that which was settled on by the Taranians after they fled Taranis. When Lt. Colonel John Sheppard's team went to investigate the resulting disappearances, they encountered Michael. He took Teyla Emmagan hostage and planed to have an Iratus bug feed on her. When Sheppard's team got close he fled and they arrived in time to kill it. Sheppard went after him and cornered him in a hallway. He escaped after one of his experiments attacked Sheppard. Sheppard's team escaped by stealing his Wraith Dart, while Michael and his army were forced to abandon the planet through the Stargate. (SGA: "Vengeance")
2008
- Main article: Michael's crusade
- "Just another dead world destroyed by the Wraith, abandoned by the survivors, forgotten by both. A perfect place to conduct my work."
- ―Michael
After the incident, Michael was able to acquire a Wraith Cruiser which acted as his main mode of transport. He believed that the initial experiments were crude and altered the retrovirus to create a newer life form that was the perfect balance between Human and Wraith. This was a being that was far stronger than a normal Human but lacked the greatest weakness of the Wraith: the need to feed. Michael tested the process on himself and he lost the feeding organ in his palm. Unbeknownst to the Expedition, Michael also abducted the Athosians and subjected them to the altered retrovirus, creating his own personal army of Human-Wraith Hybrids. At this point he learned - possibly from Kanaan - of Teyla Emmagan's pregnancy. Though how Kanaan knew is a mystery as Teyla herself only found out after the Athosians were kidnapped.
With his Wraith cloning knowledge, he was at some point able to create a clone identical to Dr. Carson Beckett using DNA he collected during his second capture by the Atlantis Expedition. With the cloned Carson Beckett's help, he re-engineered the Hoffan drug and began a covert campaign of distributing it around numerous Human worlds in the Pegasus galaxy. The people effected suffered a 30% fatality rate from this new galaxy-sweeping plague. His plan was to bring about the extermination of the Wraith by replacing them with Michael's hybrids, who would become the new dominant race in the galaxy. Many Wraith Hives would continue their culling, dying in the feeding process after being poisoned by the drug.
He then engineered an elaborate scheme to capture Teyla by entering her dreams through telepathy that spanned 10,000 light years. He used an illusion of Kanaan, the father of her child, to leave clues for her. Michael dispatched a Wraith Dart to capture her and bring her aboard his cruiser where he revealed his plans and stated that she and her child had an important part for the future. His Cruiser headed towards his base of operations. However the Tau'ri vessel Daedalus, tipped off by Todd in exchange for Hoffan drug information, was already in orbit over his destination. After a brief firefight, Michael retreated into hyperspace.
Michael Kenmore as a Hybrid
Michael took his ship to a dead world whose people were destroyed by the Wraith. There, he had another one of his laboratories to create more Hybrids in his quest for galactic domination. He showed great concern over Teyla's child due to the fact that it was the offspring of two individuals with the 'Gift'. This made it important for his plans to further enhance his Hybrids. He eventually discovered that the Atlantis expedition had uncovered his base of operations and decided to terminate the individuals undergoing the process rather than leave any loose ends to be found. He took Teyla back to his ship in order to escape during an assault by Atlantis's flagship team. After Teyla's guards were killed by the clone of Carson Beckett, Michael came to take Teyla away. He revealed that in all his creations, including Beckett's clone, he implanted a biological imperative that made them susceptible to his telepathic influence which meant the clone could not kill him. He stunned the clone and took Teyla to his ship where they escaped from the world. (SGA: "The Kindred, Part 1", "The Kindred, Part 2")
After returning from the future, Lt. Colonel John Sheppard was able to use the information he had learned from the alternate timeline to go to the planet where Michael planned to take Teyla so she could give birth. Sheppard and his team arrived before Michael and Teyla had arrived but they triggered a booby trap set by Michael that caused the complex to implode. At the point the trap was triggered, Michael was sent an automated message informing him of this. He traveled to the planet to retrieve any survivors and torture them for information. Teyla confronted him about his plans for her and he seemed to almost regret that he was going to have to kill her as he had a hard time bringing himself to tell her saying he'd hoped she would understand, indicating that perhaps on some level he still does care about her after their brief friendship when he was human. (SGA: "The Last Man", "Search and Rescue")
The Daedalus damages Michael's cruiser
Just as his drones were about to retrieve the last two survivors (Sheppard and Ronon) they were beamed away by the recently arrived Daedalus. Just before they had beamed the survivors, Michael attempted to escape but the Daedalus was able to disable its hyperdrive engine just before he jumped into hyperspace. As the Daedalus had to drop its shields to beam the survivors, Michael's ship was able to cause considerable damage to it, disabling sublight and hyperdrive engines as well as the Asgard plasma beam weapons. As only the shields were going to hold for a short time, the Daedalus launched an F-302 fighter-interceptor strike against Michael's cruiser to which darts were launched in response. This attack disabled the cruisers main weapons as well as allowing a cloaked Puddle Jumper with Sheppard, Ronon and McKay aboard. This strike team was able to rescue Teyla (with the help of Kanaan) and escape in a Wraith Dart as well as permanently disabling the cruisers hyperdrive engines. As soon as the team was confirmed safe, a recently repaired Daedalus destroyed Michael's cruiser although his fate remained unknown at that time. (SGA: "Search and Rescue")
Michael, moments before his death.
Michael did in fact survive, by stealing the Puddle Jumper that Lt. Colonel John Sheppard's team used to sneak in to his ship. He then used that ship, in conjunction with a stolen IDC from Major Nelson to infiltrate Atlantis, and combining Wraith and Ancient technology, managed to create a force field with similar results as a Wraith stunner, disabling anyone who attempted to access the control tower. He then used the power from the Jumper to power the devices in the tower while cutting all power to the rest of Atlantis. His goal, once again, is to capture Teyla Emmagan's son. Ronon Dex eventually escapes from his original capture, as he was in Stargate Operations when the stun field was established. However Michael was able to overpower and render Ronon unconscious. This distraction allowed Teyla to escape. In frustration, Michael activated Atlantis' self-destruct in an attempt to draw Teyla out, but this was unsuccessful. He then attempted to retreat with the DNA of Teyla's son that he had already taken vowing to clone him. During that time, Dr. Rodney McKay and Sheppard had devised to plan to use a jumper from the underwater Jumper bay, dial the Dial Home Device and use the Unstable vortex (for which Dr. Radek Zelenka had minimal control enough to drop the Stargate shield) to destroy Michael's jumper, thus rendering the stun field inactive and restoring Atlantis to its natural power. The plan succeeded and Michael was forced to flee with Sheppard in chase. As they battled on the outside of Atlantis' central tower, Michael was about to throw Sheppard over the side, but Teyla intervened and pushed Michael over the edge. His grip failing, Teyla kicked his hand from the ledge, finally killing him in the fall. (SGA: "The Prodigal")
Alternate timelines
- "You know the irony is I never asked for any of this."
- ―Michael Kenmore
Michael Kenmore in an alternate timeline
In an alternate timeline where Sheppard was stuck 48,000 years in the future, Michael killed Teyla after she gave birth to her child. The baby was all he needed to perfect the hybrids. He swiftly tainted the Wraith food supply with the Hoffan drug and brought them to their knees. With his combined army of hybrids and coerced Wraith, he took over the Pegasus galaxy. Earth was reluctant to mount a strong defense against Michael, finally committing the new ship Phoenix, which was destroyed. Deciding the situation was unsalvageable, they decided to let Michael rule the Pegasus unchallenged and keep all expedition forces in Atlantis. (SGA: "The Last Man")
Personality
- "You kill to protect yourself and your own. So do I. Of course, circumstances require me to do it on a slightly larger scale, but the principle is still the same."
- ―Michael Kenmore.[src]
Michael was devoted to his own survival. (SGA: "Michael", "No Man's Land") At one point, he stated that he had no trouble in dying as long as he saw his enemies destroyed in the process. (SGA: "Vengeance")
The two times when he was converted into a Human has made him deeply resentful of the Atlantis expedition for what they had done to him. (SGA: "Michael", "Misbegotten") This was enhanced after his near death at the hands of his fellow Wraith as they rejected him for the Human they could smell on him. This forced Michael into extreme measures in order to survive. (SGA: "Vengeance")
It's been stated by Michael on one occasion that he did not wish any of this action and that he only wished to have rejoined his fellow Wraith. (SGA: "The Last Man")
- It should be stressed that this was in an alternate future timeline and as such it might have developed when Michael dominated the galaxy.
The one person that Michael felt any connection with was Teyla Emmagan; at one time he considered himself foolish for trusting her but he believed that she was the closest person who could understand what he had been through(he seemed to have some measure of connection to Colonel Sheppard as well, but after he was turned into a Human again, it was ended and they had a confrontation during Vengeance). When he planned to destroy Atlantis he offered to take her with him and to take care of her and her son Torren John Emmagan as he did care about her and didn't want her to die. (SGA: "Michael", "The Kindred, Part 1", "The Kindred, Part 2")
There were indications that he was insane. His actions and galactic domination schemes are a good indicator, also Teyla believes that he was and calls him insane. Michael was actually hurt by Teyla calling him insane, but doesn't deny it instead telling her not to starve herself just to spite him. Michael likely went insane from his experiences of being turned human, betrayed by both sides and ultimately abandoned and hunted by the Wraith who were his people.
After being turned human twice and betrayed by both the Wraith and humans, he became bent on ruling the galaxy for his own purposes. Being a brilliant scientist, he was able to create an army loyal to him personally to do this and showed extreme disregard for even his followers, such as when he wanted to run and abandon his men when he knew he was no match for the Daedalus. He was merciless, killing his test subjects when he was forced to abandon his base due to a rescue attempt by the Atlantis team, although he perhaps showed a little mercy to the Beckett clone by not killing him and just stunning him. However, in this case he may simply not have cared as he knew the clone would die without the injections he gave him. He also displays willingness to kill anyone who gets in his way, such as the human populations of the galaxy just to get rid of the Wraith so he could rule with his army of hybrids. During his reign of terror in one alternate future, the hologram of Future McKay said that he eliminated everyone that was too weak for his tastes and just turned the rest into hybrids, giving him full rule of the galaxy there.
Another aspect of his personality was his thirst for revenge against those who wronged him. Both the Atlantis expedition and the Wraith did him wrong and he wanted revenge. His schemes initially started with revenge through his own personal army and evolved to galactic domination, although his desire for revenge was still there. An example of his near single-minded focus on this at points was when he invaded Atlantis. He wanted revenge so badly that he wasn't content to just take Teyla and leave, he wanted the self-destruct activated first in order to kill everyone in the city to get his revenge. At that point he had even more reason for revenge as his plans for galactic domination were severely crippled when the expedition destroyed his army. He claimed to be willing to let go of his revenge to get Teyla to come with him, but his refusal to prove it indicated that this was a lie. His desire for revenge proved to be his ultimate downfall as he delayed so much in leaving in order to get his revenge, Dr. Rodney McKay, Dr. Radek Zelenka and Lt. Colonel John Sheppard were able to find a way to counter his plans and defeat him once and for all. (SGA: "The Prodigal")
Assets
- Michael's cruiser (destroyed by Daedalus)
- Puddle Jumper (mostly destroyed/damaged beyond repair)
Behind the scenes
- James Lafazanos previously played Jimmy in the Stargate: Atlantis episode "Rising", Steve in the episodes "Suspicion" and "Poisoning the Well", Mister Hooper in the episode "The Defiant One", Gordon in the episodes "The Gift", "The Siege, Part 2" and "The Siege, Part 3", Bob in the episode "The Siege, Part 1", Wraith Commander (Runner) in the episode "Runner", Wraith Commander (Condemned) in the episode "Condemned", Wraith Commander (Aurora) in the episode "Aurora" and Wraith Commander (The Lost Boys) in the episodes "The Lost Boys" and "The Hive".
- Brent Stait, who played Kenmore in "Allies," previously played Major Louis Ferretti in the Stargate SG-1 episodes "Children of the Gods" and "Within the Serpent's Grasp."
- In the Star Trek: Enterprise novel "To Brave the Storm," Commander Trip Tucker, who was also played by the actor Connor Trinneer in the show, takes the name Michael Kenmore after faking his death at the end of the Earth-Romulan War and settles on the planet Vulcan, marrying fellow shipmate T'Pol.
- An exception exists in the Legacy series, specifically the book Stargate Atlantis: Legacy: Allegiance, in which a narrative on Michael reveals that his name as a Wraith was Lastlight. He was described as a great military leader with above-average intelligence for his profession, who had tried to see his troops to safety from an ambush before being wounded, captured, and experimented on by the Atlantis expedition.
External links
- Michael Kenmore on the official MGM website. (backup link)
- GateWorld's article on Michael Kenmore in The Stargate Omnipedia