That's pretty much what I was saying. To make all the pieces work for that epilogue, there has to be some fan wank going on -- either the reader has to make up how it all worked together, or someone -- another reader or the author herself -- has to explain externally to the story why it worked that way. My personal preference would have been for the author to have explained it within the universe she created, but as I mentioned before, that would have required a full and complete story just from Rodney's perspective. But nothing requires her to write that; it's just something I would have liked.