Stargate SG-1 ceased production in 2007. The show has been documented and studied through multiple wiki sites, fan Websites, forum discussions, podcasts, videos, and conferences. It’s hard to find obscure facts everyone isn’t well aware of.
The following points may make for interesting bar topics the next time you’re at a Stargate or SF convention. There’s nothing Earth-shattering in this list, but as best I can determine they haven’t (yet) been talked to death by the detail-oriented, minutiae-obsessed fandom of the Stargate franchise.
I didn’t have time to re-watch the specials and DvD extras, so it could be that I’m including something that everyone knows by heart and I just missed the memo. Still, I hope you find something (sort of) new and interesting in this list.
1 – They Used Their Field Gear
In the original movie Stargate, Daniel Jackson (played by James Spader) emptied his pockets after exiting the pyramid on Abydos. He left everything behind when he was dragged away by the beast of burden.
Throughout the TV show, various members of the SG-1 team reach into their pockets and pull out food, small pieces of equipment, explosives, ammunition, water, and more. The show consistently made use of the military kits the team carried with them to other worlds.
Major Samantha Carter once pulled goggles out of her kit so she could fire at close range into the basement wall of the Abydos pyramid.
Although the team occasionally left their kits behind, many episodes show them picking up the vests and packs before transiting from one scene to another. Not only was continuity important – but so was consistency with true military practice.
2 – Every Regular Season Had a Sam, Daniel, Teal’c, and O’Neill-centric Episode
Although Jack O’Neill was often the focus of character-centric episodes, each season allocated 1 or 2 episodes to the skills or personal lives of each of the other major characters.
After Ben Browder replaced Richard Dean Anderson was the leader of the team, Lt. Cameron Mitchell (and later Vala Mal Doran, played by Claudia Black) also became the focus of a episodes in seasons 9 and 10.
3 – The Story Arc of the Furlings Lasted 10 Seasons
Although members of Stargate Command never encountered living (or asceneded) Furlings, the ancient species was first referred to in the season 1 episode “Torment of Tantalos” (and first mentioned in “The Fifth Race”). The last reference to the mysterious species was in the season 10 episode “200”.
Furling technology was used or mentioned in at least 2 other episodes, but their story arc was the least developed among the four ancient star-faring species that formed a great pre-human alliance: the Alterans (Ancients), the Asgard, the Furlings, and the Nox.
Of those four species, the Nox outlived all the others, but their last appearance was in the season 3 episode “Pretense”.
4 – Thor Never Has Any Crew on His Ships
Technically, Thor mentions his Asgard crew members a couple of times. But though several episodes featuring the Asgard include footage with multiple little grey aliens, Thor is always the only Asgard ever shown on any ship he commands.
The absence of background crew members may enhance the intimacy of Thor’s relationship with SG-1 and Earth.
5 – Jonas Quinn Appeared in 3 Seasons
Yes, everyone knows Corin Nemec had guest-starring roles in seasons 5 and 7. But when you look back at online fan discussions of Jonas’ short-lived career on Stargate SG-1, it’s generally implied he only appeared in season 6.
Technically, Jonas is a multi-season character. As popular as the character is, many fans feel he appeared in too few episodes. But he appeared in more seasons than some repeating characters.
6 – (Nearly) Every Aspect of the Alterans Was Foreshadowed in Season 1
By all accounts, the Ancients were not fully thought out from the beginning. But the ideas that were used to flesh out the story arc of the Ancients were all used in the first season.
As ascended beings, the Alterans (also known as the Ancients), had learned to shed their physical forms and become beings of pure energy who sought to enrich their enlightenment. They wanted to learn and understand more, even though they had surpassed all other (known) living beings within the universe.
Although the idea of ascension wasn’t introduced until the 2nd season, the Ancients and the idea that beings of pure energy could exist were introduced in the 1st season. “Cold Lazarus” introduced alien beings in crystal form who were “pure energy”.
The Ancients’ principle of non-interference also appeared in the 1st season episode “Enigma”, which introduced the more advanced Tollan humans, who refused to share their technology and science with Earth.
The Ancients’ pre-ascended healing powers were introduced in “The Nox”. The Nox also showed SG-1 they had a flying city, which foreshadowed the star-faring Atlantis-class city ships (of which 3 were encountered in Stargate: Atlantis).
GateWorld spoke with Stargate writer Robert C. Cooper in late 2020, and he explained that the Ancients arose from a desire to explore spiritual themes without introducing another false religion. The false religion concept was central to Stargate’s premise going back to the original movie.
When O’Neill downloaded the Ancients’ database in “The Fifth Race” (a 2nd season episode), his subconscious led him to build a power-boosting module that helped him gate to an Asgard world in the Othalla galaxy. There, an Asgard representative told him “the Ancients moved on from this region of space long ago”.
O’Neill’s power-booster presaged the Zero Point Modules of later seasons.
Although the Ancients’ migration to Pegasus (and origin in the Ori galaxy) had yet to be explained, fans knew from season 1 onward that the Ancients were no longer living in the Milky Way or Othalla galaxies.
The mystery of the Antarctic stargate was introduced in the episode “Solitudes”, laying the groundwork for the season 6 episode “Frozen”, in which SG-1 met Ayana, the last “living” Ancient/Alteran in the Milky Way galaxy (including Orlin, who reassumed human form in the season 5 episode “Ascension”).
A mysterious illness threatens the people of The Land of Light in “Broca Divide”. Although it’s not as deadly as the plague that wiped out the Ancients, it threatens Earth when SG-1 brings it back. In season 9, Stargate Command speculates that the Prior Plague is similar to the one that destroyed the Ancients – and that the Ori may have been responsible for the earlier plague.
7 – Daniel Jackson was Immune to the Prior Plague
Daniel was never exposed to Ayana’s mysterious illness in the season 6 episode “Frozen”. Of SG-1’s members, only Jonas, Jack, and Sam succumbed to the illness. Daniel was ascended at the time.
In the season 9 episode “The Powers That Be”, Daniel, Sam, and Mitchell were in close contact with the people infected by the Prior Plague. Sam didn’t fall ill, maybe because she had developed immunity from her earlier exposure. Mitchell did fall ill. Teal’c no longer carried a symbiote, but it could be that he had developed immunity when exposed to Ayana or that his Tretonin protected him.
But Daniel had never before come into contact with the Prior Plague.
Nor did Daniel fall ill in either “The Fourt Horseman, Part 1” or “The Fourth Horseman, Part 2”. It could be that Daniel was merely lucky. General Landry only became infected after he was touched by the Prior Damaris. But physical contact was not required for the plague to spread – it was an airborne disease, which was why Dr. Lam and her staff always wore hasmat suits when treating victims of the plague.
8 – Stargate SG-1 Peaked in Season 4
There are many ways to measure the popularity of episodes. However, after more than 26 years of collecting fan ratings for television shows and movies, the Internet Movie Database reports only 4 episodes average a score of 9.0 or better for Stargate SG-1.
“Unending”, the final regular episode of the series, was broadcast on June 22, 2007 and it currently holds a 9.0 rating based on 1594 votes (as I write this).
“The Lost City, Part 2” has thus far earned a score of 9.4 based on 1398 votes. This episode first aired on March 19, 2004.
“Window of Opportunity” aired on August 4, 2000 in the 4th season and based on more than 2400 votes it’s averaged a score of 9.4.
The 2nd season episode “The Fifth Race”, which aired on January 22, 1999, has averaged a score of 9.1 based on nearly 1600 votes.
Season 10 was pretty solid, but according to IMDB votes 2 episodes from that season average less than 7.0 (“Uninvited”, which scores 6.9 based on 802 votes, and “Family Ties”, which scores 6.6 based on 845 votes). None of the 4th season episodes scored lower than 7.1.
Conclusion
The part about Daniel being immune to the Prior Plague is pure speculation, but if I’m right then this is a rare exception to the Immunity Trope, where when a plague threatens civilization one character in the story has a rare immunity that is central to defeating the plague.
There are almost certainly other obscure facts in the show that haven’t been discussed to death. But I think there are still some open questions that haven’t been resolved by the show’s writers. That is, a few weird details that bother fans have never been cleared up despite a multitude of question-and-answer opportunities (like the epic Brad Wright Q-and-A on Joe Mallozi’s blog frin 2009).
Every question has been asked, probably 100 times, but not all of them have been answered. Like, why didn’t all the time Daniel spent in the Goa’uld sarophagi cure his near-sightedness?
But maybe we’ll save those questions for another time.