And the worst part is that you're totally right, it feels completed, but at the same time I really, really don't want you to end it there, because sad! sad! sad!

*nods* I agree completely. Part of me wants the happy ending, but hte rest of me *feels* that it's done. It's finished. I don't need to worry about it anymore. (And an ending tacked on would feel precisely that: tacked on. Not organic at all.)

I'll just chose to believe that Rodney, returned to earth, did exactly what he said he'd do, secluding himself and studying like hell until it all made sense again, working himself harder than anyone, and he kind of scares the people at the SGC, but, on the other hand, he always has, so it's not that different, really, it's not (except for the ways it is). And it works, he gets it--given the opportunity, he picks it all up faster than he has any right to, and so eventually he goes back, back to Atlantis, because they need him, and, even more, because he needs them.

Actually, that's a lovely interpretation of events. I think I'd like to believe that too, and have Rodney return as a young adult (say, 17) and only be away for a few years.