Everett Young

Col. Everett Young

WARNING: SPOILERS

The following article contains SPOILERS. Proceed at your own risk.

Summary

From MGM: Far into an impressive Air Force career, Col. Young took a step back to oversee Icarus security in hopes that he could spend more time with his wife. Reluctantly thrust back into a leadership role, he does his best to watch over those stranded, both civilian and military. Torn between what’s best for survival and what’s most likely to get them home, he comes into constant conflict with both Rush and Wray. Like a father figure to Lt. Scott and others on the ship, his actions don’t always follow his advice.

Personal Data

• Birthday:
• Birthplace:
• Marital Status: Married, Emily Young
• Children: None
• Parents:
• Siblings:
• Stargate Program Rank: United States Air Force Colonel
• Stargate Program Position: Commanding officer of Icarus Base and by circumstances, leader of Destiny

Stargate Command

Col. Everett Young: 40’s handsome, capable, former SG team leader. Like the Jack O’Neill of ten years ago, but Young’s edges have tended to sharpen over time. He requested permission to serve the remainder of his commission on Earth upon marrying his wife, Hailey, two years ago, but for now he’s temporary commander of a secret off world base. The loss of two members of his team several years ago has taught him never to take anything for granted, and be prepared for anything. He stays on top of his team so they stay alive. (Casting Breakdown)

Icarus Base and Destiny

The day that Young told his wife that he was taking a new command, the two had a bad argument. Emily wanted to remain where they were, while Young tried to reassure her it was just for one more year. (Stargate Universe: 1.01 "Air Part 1")

Young's new command was that of Icarus Base. Six months into the assignment, his base was attacked. He had told his wife that it was safe, but now everyone was scrambling for their lives as energy blasts from the enemy ships bombarded the planet. Only a few hours before the attack, Young had welcomed Senator Alan Armstrong, Chloe Armstrong, and Eli Wallace to the base to witness the dialing of the nine-chevron code that had been written about in the Ancient Database. Senator Armstrong was in charge of the $1.6 billion that had already been put into the Icarus Project and he was there to celebrate the realization of its goal. The attack changed all of that. (Stargate Universe: 1.01 "Air Part 1")

Dr. Nicholas Rush was the lead scientist in the Icarus Project, and he had dedicated his life and career to dialing the ninth chevron to its mysterious destination. The attack on the base created an overload in the power systems that were already considered unstable because of the naquadria core that was powering the Stargate to reach the inevitably large distance dictated by a nine-chevron address. With one last chance to dial the code, Rush explained that he chose the unknown destination rather than Earth, as Young had ordered for the base's retreat, because he was afraid that the imminent explosion would translate through the wormhole and harm Earth. With time running out, Young okayed evacuation to the nine-chevron destination and ordered that as many supplies be taken as was humanly possible. (Stargate Universe: 1.01 "Air Part 1")

Young was the last to leave Icarus before the entire planet exploded. He almost didn't make it as he was delayed while looking for the case containing a set of Ancient Communications Stones and their console. He was caught in the explosion and thrown violently through the Stargate and clear across the 'gate room on the other side. Before losing consciousness, he gave command to the fresh-out-of-training Lt. Matthew Scott. (Stargate Universe: 1.01 "Air Part 1")

Lt. Tamara Johansen, the surviving medic, treated him. He had a head injury that resulted in a seizure and neuropraxia, a temporary paralysis. He had cracked ribs and numerous bruises. When the ship's atmosphere was leaking from a damaged shuttle that was attached to the Destiny, Young, thinking he was no good in his condition, volunteered himself to be the one to close the door from the damaged side, but Scott and Johansen persuaded him not to because they needed him to be in command. Senator Armstrong, who had also been severely injured during the attack and evacuation, sacrificed himself instead, knowing that his own injuries were mortal. (Stargate Universe: 1.01 "Air Part 1", 1.02 "Air Part 2")

Fortunately, Young was able to recover some of his mobility, relying on his Hekler & Koch UMP submachine gun as a crutch. (Stargate Universe: 1.02 "Air Part 2")

Young and Rush have the most intense relationship among those stranded on the Destiny. From the moment that Rush made the decision to dial Destiny rather than Earth—to go against Young's orders—the two men were at constant odds. Young second-guesses Rush's decisions and doesn't trust the scientist whenever he announces certain problems on the ship that seem counter to Young's orders. At times they seem to call a truce, usually whenever Young attempts to treat Rush with respect, but still, Young simply does not trust Rush at all. He often says to his trusted subordinates that Rush is "a lot of work." (Stargate Universe: 1.04 "Darkness", 1.06 "Water", among others)

His relationships with Lt. Scott and Sgt. Greer are far different. When he's with them, he's in command and is respected. Lt. Scott is his second-in-command, and Young expects him to answer whenever he is called. Sgt. Greer was in detention for his altercation with Col. David Telford when the Base was attacked, and Young freed the soldier and dropped the charges. Since that time, Greer has become Young's chief enforcer. When they thought that they were going to die when the Destiny was heading for a sun, the two men agreed that Telford had it coming. Young called Greer a "good man" and Greer saluted his commanding officer for what he thought was the last time, apologizing for disappointing his commander. (Stargate Universe: 1.01 "Air Part 1", 1.02 "Air Part 2", 1.04 "Darkness", 1.05 "Light")

When Telford first body-swapped with Young with the communication stones, he treated Young's injured body so severely that Johansen gave him a sedative instead of the pain killer he asked for. The second time they swapped, however, Telford used the crutch. The ship was in dire condition, having depleted a good portion of its energy reserves, and Telford was so horrified at the situation that he wanted Young removed from command. When Young heard of Telford's demand, he actually agreed with it, but the link was terminated before any actions could be taken toward that end. (Stargate Universe: 1.03 "Air Part 3", 1.04 "Darkness")

Young tells his wife Emily about his situation

While in Telford's body, Young had the chance to visit his wife Emily. She kept her distance and told him she didn't believe that the man standing before her was her husband—she was actually seeing Telford. She was so angry and distraught at the news that she could barely continue the conversation. Young tried to reassure her that he'd do everything he could to get back home, but she didn't seem convinced. He told her he loved her, but she didn't say the same. And when it was all said and done, Emily wished for his safety, but didn't appear to want to wait for his return because she sincerely believed he wouldn't be coming back. (Stargate Universe: 1.04 "Darkness")

Young thought the same at the time. The ship was heading for a sun. Eli Wallace wanted to record a message in a bottle through the use of the Ancients' floating camera device that Eli called a "kino". Young's words in his farewell recording: "Hi, Emily. I just…um…I just wanted to say, um, well…you know…" (Stargate Universe: 1.05 "Light")

After sending Scott, Johansen, and fifteen others to a nearby planet in the only working shuttle, Young calmly saw to the safety of everyone else before he went into his quarters, cried while holding his wedding ring, and laid down on his bed to await the end...which didn't come. To everyone's surprise, the Destiny normally flew into stars in order to recharge its power reserves and the ship came through without a problem. They recalled their shuttle and continued on their way. (Stargate Universe: 1.05 "Light")

They had handled finding calcium carbonate for the air scrubbing systems and energy for the ship's power reserves, but the stranded crew had more problems that threatened their survival. Their water supply was dwindling so rapidly that Young had Eli use the kino to spy on people to find out who was hoarding it. In the meantime, he was feeling recovered enough to go with Scott to the next planet where the Destiny had indicated that pure water existed. They found it in the form of ice on a planet that had a thin and poisonous atmosphere. The two men used Ancient protective suits to go to the planet to harvest the ice. After Scott fell through the ice and got stuck in a crevasse, Young opted to spend his remaining hours of oxygen trying to free Scott rather than load up a second batch of ice, even though Rush urged him to do otherwise for the sake of the rest of the people who were depending upon him to bring in the water. Young had experienced "too many times" in the past when he had lost people and he refused to let this be another such instance. (Stargate Universe: 1.03 "Air Part 3", 1.05 "Light", 1.06 "Water")

Injuries, Illnesses/Sicknesses, Deaths

• Injured during evacuation of Icarus Base: Young was the last to leave Icarus Base through the Stargate because he stayed behind to look for and obtain the case containing the Ancient Communications Stones and their console before going to an unknown destination. As he was running up the ramp, he was thrown violently through the Stargate and clear across the 'gate room aboard the Destiny. His injuries were serious. He had several cracked ribs, was severely bruised, and had a concussion that resulted in neuropraxia. He suffered a seizure and temporary paralysis and had to resort to using his Hekler & Koch UMP submachine gun as a crutch. When Telford first did a body-swap with him via the Stones, Lt. Johansen gave him a strong sedative to prevent Telford from doing more harm to Young's body. Telford was more accommodating during his next swap by using the crutch Young asked him to use in a hand-written note he had left near the Stone's console. (Stargate Universe: 1.01 "Air Part 1", 1.03 "Air Part 3", 1.04 "Darkness")

Key Episodes

• SGU 1.01 "Air Part 1"
• SGU 1.02 "Air Part 2"
• SGU 1.03 "Air Part 3"
• SGU 1.04 "Darkness"
• SGU 1.07 "Earth"

Gallery

• MGM: Character Profile and Gallery

Related Characters

• Alan Armstrong
• Chloe Armstrong
• MSgt. Ronald Greer
• Lt. Tamara Johansen
• Dr. Nicholas Rush
• Lt. Matthew Scott
• Col. David Telford
• Eli Wallace
• Emily Young

Related Articles

• Ancient Communications Stones
• Ancient Shuttle
• Ancients
• Destiny
• Destiny's Planets
• Icarus Base
• Icarus Project
• Kino
• Stargate
• Stargate Program

Further Reading

• "Colonel Everett Young is the commanding officer on Icarus Base when this series of events forces us through the Stargate and they end up aboard this ship, the Destiny. And then, of course, within that, I, as the colonel, certainly take it seriously the responsibility of that. But boy, do I respect the man that I play; there's a lot of strength and stillness in him." (Louis Ferreira, MGM Character Profile video)
• "If we start at the top in terms of crew ranking, Colonel Young is my character’s nemesis, there’s no doubt about that, and it’s quite serious. These guys are not having a petty conflict. Without giving too much away, there’s an episode, which we’ve yet to shoot, where a tragedy takes place aboard the Destiny and Rush tries to frame Young. They hate each other that much. Young is a soldier, while Rush is a scientist, and they just don’t get one another. As soon as they end up on the Destiny, the colonel is all about getting everyone home, and Rush is all about ‘How do we avoid that?’ So they’re against each other from day one and that’s been developing beautifully over the past six or seven weeks of filming." (Robert Carlyle, Reprint: Official Stargate Magazine Interview, Issue 29, July/August 2009)
• "TJ had an affair with her colonel so that's kind of a very icky subject because he's her senior and that relationship is sort of dealt with and it's a little bit of an elephant in the room. You're military and then you're stuck on a ship in the middle of space with a guy you had an affair with, that's weird." (Alaina Huffman, Moviehole interview, August 11, 2009)

Actor

• Louis Ferreira

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--DeeKayP 10:17, 21 July 2009 (UTC)