Writer:	Joseph Mallozzi, Paul Mullie
Director:	Martin Wood
Star:	Joe Flanigan (Major / Lt. Colonel John Sheppard),  Rachel Luttrell (Teyla Emmagan),  Jason Momoa (Ronon Dex),  Amanda Tapping (Colonel Samantha Carter),  David Hewlett (Dr. Rodney McKay)
Recurring Role:	Kate Hewlett (Jeannie Miller),  Robert Picardo (Richard Woolsey),  Jewel Staite (Dr. Jennifer Keller),  Heather Doerksen (Major Meyers),  Andee Frizzell (Wraith Queen),  Chuck Campbell (Technician),  Christopher Heyerdahl (Todd the Wraith),  Kavan Smith (Major Evan Lorne),  David Nykl (Dr. Radek Zelenka),  Connor Trinneer (Michael Kenmore)
Guest Star:	Kory Grim (Recruit),  Christian Sloan (Hybrid),  Dan Kashagama (Doctor)

Rachel Luttrell did not appear in this episode. A body double was used for the one scene she was in and Martin Wood used creative camera angles to show as much of the body double as possible without making it clear that it wasn't Rachel Luttrell (edit) Sheppard was originally supposed to return to an ice-covered Atlantis instead of the city covered in sand. But since the Stargate SG-1 movie Continuum was partly shot in Antarctica the imagery would have been too similar. Therefore, the Ice Age was changed to a period of extreme heat due to the sun turning into a red giant. (edit) Rachel Luttrell (Teyla) briefly appears in this episode, but has no dialog. The same is also true for David Nykl (Dr. Zelenka) whose name appears in the guest credits. Kate Hewlett (Jeanie Miller) also appears briefly, and though she does speak, the voiceover takes away from her lines making her role virtually non-speaking as well. (edit) This episode aired in the UK on March 11, 2008 on Sky One. (edit) This episode aired in Canada on March 10, 2008 on The Movie Network and Movie Central. (edit)

Holo-McKay: If I don't get you back within two months of when you left, then it'll be too late.
Sheppard: Too late. What the hell's that supposed to mean?
Holo-McKay: Things, didn't exactly go well for us, after your disappearance. Once I figured out what happened to you, I realized there was nothing we could do. The Air Force pronounced you KIA. Gave you a very nice military funeral back on Earth. Obviously the casket was empty, but um, you know it's the thought that counts. From there, well, from there things went from bad to worse. (edit) Holo-McKay: (of Carter) With her last breath, she took out three of Michael's hive ships. And we buried another empty casket. (edit) (Sheppard is trying to get through the sandstorm)
Holo-McKay: Sheppard? Sheppard can you hear me?
Sheppard: Yeah, I hear ya.
Holo-McKay: How you doing?
Sheppard: Never better. (struggles through the storm) Rodney?
Holo-McKay: Yeah, I'm still here.
Sheppard: Tell me about Ronon.
Holo-McKay: What, now?
Sheppard: Yes, now. Talk to me Rodney.
Holo-McKay: Right, uh, well, after what happened to you, and then Teyla, I guess he didn't feel comfortable on the base anymore. He persuaded Sam to let him go offworld to recruit a strike force. (edit) Holo-McKay: (after telling Sheppard about Ronon) I'm sorry. I wish some of these stories had happier endings. (Sheppard doesn't reply) Sheppard? Sheppard, you still with me? Sheppard!
(Sheppard falls through the door out of the sandstorm, and falls down unconscious)
Holo-McKay: Your bio-signature's barely registering. Sheppard! Oh, God. (edit) (Sheppard wakes up after his walk through the sandstorm)
Holo-McKay: There you go. You can do it.
Sheppard: Rodney.
Holo-McKay: I'm still here. Look, I'd help you up but I'm a...
Sheppard: How long was I out?
Holo-McKay: All night. Look, you don't look so good, maybe we should get you to the stasis chamber as soon as possible.
Sheppard: Agreed. (edit)

Naquadah technology advanced a great deal in the 25 years McKay worked to solve the problem. The Mark XII Naquadah generators are 10 generations more advanced then the Mark II's currently being used. A single Mark XII was able to power the shield of Atlantis for nearly 400 years, after laying dormant for 48,000 years. (edit) When Keller takes a splinter out of McKay, he is typically Rodney about it ("splinter acting" David Hewlett calls it) in much the same way as he did in the Season 2 episode "Conversion" when he and Sheppard were brought to the Infirmary together. (edit) Other instances of time travel using a solar flare were the Stargate SG-1 episodes "1969", "2010", and the DVD Movie Stargate Continuum. (edit) In the future when "Holo-McKay" tells Sheppard the history, what has happened after Sheppard disappeared, he says that all that can be prevented if and when Sheppard will return back because he would already know all what was going to happen. In the Stargate universe, when somebody time travels they create a parallel universe from the point they arrive, so all that stuff happened in that universe, but as soon as Sheppard returns he's in a different universe than the one he spoke to "Holo-McKay". (edit) This is the second time that McKay talks about inventing a new kind of math. Here he believes he'll have to invent one to get the answers he needs. In the Season 3 episode "The Tao of Rodney", McKay, whose intelligence had been artificially accelerated, claimed to have created a new kind of math. (edit)

Ronon: Force of habit.
Todd the Wraith: Indeed.

This might be a reference to a previous episode of Atlantis "Midway" and tribute to Stargate SG-1's Teal'c (Christopher Judge) who appeared in that episode and quite frequently said "indeed" in his dialog. (edit) The Last Man:

The episode seems to be named after the Mary Shelley story, The Last Man, which is regarded as one of the first science fiction novels and in which the world has been decimated by a plague, similar to the Hoffan Drug. Furthermore, as John Sheppard emerges forty-eight thousand years into the future, Rodney states that he may be the last human alive. This is similar to the predicament of the main character Lionel Verney, as he exists at the end of humanity as well. (edit) Star Trek: Voyager:

The idea of the Emergency Medical Hologram surviving into the future was explored in several episodes of Star Trek: Voyager, and oddly enough, Robert Picardo played the EMH in that series. (edit) Red Dwarf:

Sheppard is the last man alive far in the future with his only companion a holographic simulation of the person who bugged him the most. This is the premise of the classic British Sci-Fi-Comedy series Red Dwarf. There is even a Red Dwarf novel called The Last Human. (edit)